Looking at the crowded royal avenue, Lorist asked the Duke of Kenmes strangely: "Didn't you say that His Majesty the King wants to collect 30% of the chamber of commerce's resident tax? The chamber of commerce has run out, why are there still businesses everywhere here?" shop?"
The Duke of Kenmes laughed: "You are wrong, Locke, the resident tax does not refer to these commercial shops, but to those chambers of commerce whose general residence is set in the imperial capital. Thirty percent of the annual sales tax was charged, which forced those chambers of commerce to transfer their locations to Vandenus City.
As for the commercial shops opened on this royal avenue, there is a territorial noble standing behind them, and the tax is only 10% consumption tax, and there is no other tax. After all, His Majesty the King can't just reach out and take money out of the pockets of his subordinates' nobles, right? Being willing to pay a 10% consumption tax is already a respect for our Majesty the King.
What's more, His Majesty the King often asks us business firms to donate a sum of money to show their loyalty to the Krissen royal family. If it weren't for the Royal Avenue being the busiest commercial and busiest street in the imperial capital, it would be profitable to set up commercial shops here, so everyone can barely endure His Majesty's constant exploitation, just throw a few bones to wild dogs, and lose money To eliminate disasters, it is enough to have a few sips of broth. "
Lorist shook his head, and he had to say that His Highness had a deep prejudice against merchants, just like a traditional territorial nobleman, he probably had the impression that merchants were rich in his mind, and he always felt that merchants were under his influence. Making money by doing business within the scope is like taking money out of your own pocket in different ways. So I always think about finding some money from the merchants to make up for my losses.
The result of this was that the businessman was dissatisfied and despised the Second Highness, thinking that he was a greedy king and a vampire crouching on the businessman. It's hard for Lorist to imagine how the Second Highness came up with the 30% resident tax. This almost drove out all the chambers of commerce that set up residences in the imperial capital. Ten resident taxes are gone.
Being stupid enough to be so stupid, Lorist once again confirmed that His Royal Highness's business knowledge was still at the most basic stage of watching merchants do business, trading in cash and spot, and then he went up to collect taxes. This level is really scum. No wonder they came up with the so-called resident tax. So the more you need money, the more money you need, which is a normal behavior for the Second Highness.
The carriage finally stopped in front of a shop with the four engraved inscriptions of "Xueyan Trading Company" engraved on the lintel. According to the preference and temperament of the Duke of Kenmas, the five connected shops are naturally decorated very gorgeously and luxuriously. However, this Snow Salt Firm is a large grocery store. Most of its main products are snow salt, glassware, snowflake paper, etc. produced in the Norton family's territory. women's clothing.
Lorist, Duke Kenmes and Tiger Ross got out of the carriage and entered the shop. While the Duke of Kenmes was chatting with the managers in the firm, Lorist looked at the entire Snow Salt Firm, and he couldn't help thinking that the Duke of Kenmes could manage such a messy grocery store to earn more than one hundred dollars a year. Wan Jinford gave a thumbs up for his business talent.
The Duke of Kenmes quickly finished chatting with the manager of the firm, and then led Lorist and Tiger Ross to the back of the shop. Behind the shop is a large courtyard with two entrances. The Duke of Kenmes said that this is the material warehouse of the commercial bank and the dormitory for the guards of the commercial bank when they are on duty at night. Currently, the guards of the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce in the Imperial Capital Commercial Bank are eighteen silver A swordsman with fighting spirit is enough to protect the material warehouse and business in the yard at night.
"Safety at night?" Tiger Rose wondered why Duke Kenmes emphasized this.
"Yes," the Duke of Kenmes nodded. He said that at the end of last year, a group of thieves robbed three commercial houses on the Royal Avenue in the middle of the night. , so far the case has not been solved.
The only good thing is that these thieves didn't kill anyone. They ransacked the firm after knocking out the guards of the firm, and swaggered away all the valuables stored in the warehouse in a carriage. The Second Highness has dismissed the two patrol officers responsible for the order and security of the imperial capital for these three cases, and the day when the third official in charge of these three cases will step down is not far away, because he has not been found yet. Any leads for thieves.
After the Duke of Kenmes heard the news, he immediately sent an additional batch of silver guards to the imperial capital, which made the Snow Salt Trading Company safe and sound.
"It's really stupid. It's obvious that those thieves have left the imperial capital after they succeeded. How could they still be caught in the city..." Tiger Ross commented.
The Duke of Kenmes nodded: "I think it should be so. The scale of the three stolen businesses was not large, and the defense at night was also very lax. Maybe they didn't expect that there would be thieves attacking them in the imperial capital where the law and order situation has always been good. idea, that’s why it’s bad luck.”
"What is the business scope of those three firms?" Lorist asked.
"The Lemando firm deals in gems and jade. The pistachio firm deals in gold and silver utensils, and the White Rose firm deals in high-end crystal jewelry..." Duke Kenmes had a flash of inspiration: "I see, those thieves are obviously Seeking money, that's why I decided on those three firms. Those three firms deal in expensive and easy-to-cash properties... "
The Duke of Kenmes was still walking back, turning around the path next to the warehouse. In front of him was a large yard with a small side door open. After entering the small gate, I realized that this is a very luxuriously decorated mansion.
"This is where I stay every time I go to the imperial capital. The main entrance over there leads to the avenue in the aristocratic neighborhood. But I usually don't come here from the Snow Salt Trading Company. This time I will show you the way. The Duke of Kenmas said to Tiger Ross: "How about we hold a welcome dance here to celebrate your promotion to the Great Swordsman at night? I will find you some good dance partners, and you can stay at night here… "
Tiger Ross grinned happily: "Okay, you have the final say."
Lorist was very upset. As the Sword Master of the Nation, every action must be in line with his status. Obviously, he couldn't come to such a dance held by the Duke of Kenmes at night, especially since it was inconvenient for him to drag his family along.
"You can bring the tiger Rose here to call the house and just come here alone, why do you have to come with you?" Lorist complained that the Duke of Kenmes was wasting his leisure time for reading.
"Don't forget that your Norton family still holds 10% of the dividends in the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce. As one of the proprietors, you can't even know where your firm is in the imperial capital?" Duke Kenmes replied.
Well, what he said was straightforward and reasonable, and Lorist was momentarily speechless.
Next, the Duke of Kenmes began to order his servants to prepare various matters for the evening dance, and at the same time introduce and choose the ladies and young ladies who will come to the dance to Tiger Ross. The two discussed vigorously, but Lorist was bored. So I said hello and went back to the shop of Snow Salt Trading Company in front.
The flow of people in the shop is not bad, it is bustling with people coming in and going out from time to time. However, Lorist found that there were still many people watching, but very few actually bought the product. After looking at it for a while, Lorist left the shop and stood on the steps in front of the shop, looking at the crowds and street scene on the bustling Royal Avenue.
If he had known that this was the case, he shouldn't have agreed to Kenmes to come. Now Lorist felt a little regretful, and was thinking about whether he should call a carriage to take him back first.
Huh? What happened over there, it seemed that something happened, the crowd gathered around a lot, as if there was something lively to watch. Lorist became interested, and walked towards the crowd not far away.
"Several respectful and beautiful ladies, my master sincerely invites you to participate in the ball he will hold tonight. Please accept this invitation and these gifts. Your Excellency will be very happy to welcome the ladies. …”
This is probably some kind of aristocratic gimmick. It seems to be similar to the Duke of Kenmes, and he also uses holding a ball or something to seduce women. But Lorist looked into the crowd and became angry. With one hand apart, the crowd in front rushed to both sides like a wave, revealing a path in the middle.
Standing in the middle of the crowd were Princess Sylvia and Lorist's four concubines, and there were also four guards with gift bags all over their bodies. Well, their hands are also full of packages. These four guards were standing in front of Princess Sylvia and the others with angry faces, looking at a middle-aged man in front of him who was very polite and in charge, and the two behind him holding gift bags. servant.
This seemed to be an invitation card from the middle-aged steward to send Princess Silvia and the others to a ball, but Princess Silvia and the others ignored them. They wanted to leave but were blocked by the crowd of onlookers. And the middle-aged steward took this opportunity to respectfully hold the invitation high above his head and offered it with both hands, as if I would be sorry if you didn't accept it, so he froze.
Lorist walked in through the gap between the crowd of onlookers, took the invitation in the middle-aged steward's hand and tore it into pieces without looking at it, then waved to the four guards who were about to salute respectfully and said: "Okay, what's the point of saluting with so many hanging on your body?"
"Lock, why are you here?" Princess Sylvia and the four maids immediately became active, gathered around and started chirping to show off what good things they had bought.
What a headache, these five prodigal wives. Lorist asked, "Where are the children?"
"Playing in the sand and pool in front, my godmother and Pat are watching them, it's all right." Princess Sylvia said: "By the way, Locke, I just bought you a new buckskin coat The cloak is very soft and the style is beautiful, why don't you try it on when we go to the store again..."
"You, how dare you tear up my master's invitation, you, are you insulting our Lord Earl?" A hoarse voice sounded from the side, the middle-aged steward who respectfully presented the invitation just now was blushing, He glared at Lorist with fiery eyes.
"Get out!" Lorist scolded lightly, "Get out of my sight right now while I have some patience, otherwise I don't mind killing your whole family of that shitty Earl!"
"Bold!" To Lorist's surprise, the middle-aged steward scolded himself even louder: "How dare you say such rebellious words in public? Do you want to rebel and rebel! You know our family Who is the Earl? Killing the whole family of the Earl, you dare not even give you the courage, so many people have heard what you said, just wait until you enter the cell and your land will be confiscated and your title will be confiscated!"
Ahhh... Lorist really didn't expect that the middle-aged manager with a simple and honest face would be a sharp-tongued person. He grabbed a word of his own and played it on the spot, calling himself a rebellious and rebellious person. It's really not ordinary arrogance to keep saying that you are going to be arrested and confiscated in a cell, your territory and your title...
"Hehe, I really don't understand who the Earl of your family is. Did you kill his whole family just to rebel? How unreasonable!" Lorist sneered.
"Of course, the owner of my family is the Earl of Wexus. We all know that his father is our King. What do you mean by killing his family because you didn't want to rebel?" The middle-aged manager boasted triumphantly. If you want to see the remorseful expression on Lorist's face, the next step is to beg him for mercy and let him let go of what he said this time due to negligence...
"Hehe, I thought who it was, it was just an illegitimate child. Do you think that your lord earl represents the royal family of Christen? I don't know what the heavens and the earth are, so I'll forgive you again, get out!" Lorist waved his hand lightly, and said Like chasing a fly.
"What's the matter with you, how did you get entangled by this kind of person?" Lorist turned and asked Princess Sylvia and the others.
"Your Highness, we don't know either. Just now we went all the way into the store to pick things out. This man suddenly ran out and said that his Lord Earl wanted to invite us to the ball. We ignored him, he has been pestering us for a long time..." Fenna added Lily complained to Lorist in a low voice.
"You, how dare you be so disrespectful! How dare you slander the Krissen royal family, it's a heinous crime..." The middle-aged manager was still laying charges against Lorist.
"Your Highness, we are here. What's the matter?" Pat led a dozen guards and rushed into the crowd. One of the guards who accompanied Princess Sylvia and the others ran to report the news.
"It's nothing, cut this man off for me." Lorist pointed at the middle-aged steward. Being a Juggernaut is just such a bad thing. Lorist felt that if he wanted to kill that middle-aged steward, it was a kind of flattery to him. He even troubled a Juggernaut to do it himself. The middle-aged steward really had eight lifetimes of luck. ah! Fortunately, Pat and the others came.
"Yes, Your Highness." Pat pulled out his sword and walked towards the middle-aged steward with a grin on his face...
"You guys, you still dare to commit murder in public..." The middle-aged manager suddenly realized that he seemed to have kicked an iron plate, and turned around to try to slip away. Unfortunately, the crowd of onlookers was so densely packed that he had no way to escape.
Pat strode forward, grabbed the middle-aged steward's chest with his left hand, and with a flick of his wrist, he used the middle-aged steward to the ground, and then raised the long sword in his right hand.
This is going to be serious, the middle-aged steward who was used to the ground trembled: "Excuse me..."
"Stop! Who dares to commit murder in the imperial capital!" There was a violent shout from outside the crowd, as if a team of patrolmen had rushed over, but they were blocked from the periphery of the crowd of onlookers.
Pat had never heard of it, and of course he would ignore those patrolmen in front of him, and he would ignore other people's shouts if Lorist didn't call to stop. With a flash of sword light, the head of the middle-aged steward on the ground was separated from his body, and the blood sprayed from his neck stained a large area of the street red...
Crashing and exclamations sounded, and the crowd of onlookers retreated like an ebbing tide. None of them thought that they would really kill people. They were so frightened by the scene of beheading that they all ran back, and finally turned the patrolmen on the periphery of the crowd into front row.
The leading patrolman was a man with a beard. When he saw the corpses on the ground, he was furious: "Catch them, and those who resist will be killed without mercy!"
More than a dozen patrolmen blew their bamboo whistles in their mouths, brandished long swords and various weapons, and rushed towards Lorist and the others...
…