A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

Somewhere in the royal city, in a huge house made of magnificent bluestone.

Dozens of people are gathering deep inside the house.

Anyone who is eligible to participate in this party is a big businessman with a large business house in the royal city.

The so-called large-scale merchants are places where large quantities of goods are purchased and sold.

As the center of the continent, King Aaron Landis City has extremely prosperous commerce and trade, and the amount of goods handled every day is incalculable.

Those small caravans who are doing small things will go to the market to sell and buy goods, but because the medium and large caravans carry too many goods, it is too time-consuming to sell or buy a little bit at the market.

Therefore, these caravans go directly to the merchants who can eat a large amount of goods in one go and store large quantities of goods that can be sold.

In the words of Garlan, it is actually the difference between the wholesale market and the retail market.

There has never been a taxation title like commercial tax on the mainland. What merchants need to pay are basically checkpoint tax, city entry tax, and toll tax.

However, this does not mean that all their profits belong to themselves—they must share a large part of the profits in order to conduct business smoothly.

Because every time they trade in a city, they need to offer a large amount of property to the people in power here in exchange for the protection of the other party, so as to ensure that their transactions can go smoothly.

If they are ignorant, those in power will use various excuses to suppress and confiscate their goods, so that they will lose everything.

If you encounter greedy dignitaries, you will even have to donate more than half of the profits you earn.

At this moment, all the big businessmen gathered here have backers - or simply some powerful people secretly control the business.

Relying on the power of their patrons, they deliberately bought goods at a low price, and then sold them to merchants in Wangcheng at a high price as soon as they changed hands.

They don't need to work hard to bring caravans around, they just need to sit in the trading house, buy low and sell high, and once they change hands, they can comfortably earn a lot of money from it.

If it is to save time, those caravans are willing to sell a large number of goods to them cheaply, but the problem is that those merchants have united to intercept the commodity demand of the entire Wangcheng, and those large caravans have no channels at all, and there is no way to go directly. Find someone who needs your product.

In addition, he didn't dare to offend the dignitaries behind these merchants, so he could only swallow his anger and let the profits of his hard work be shared by these vampires.

Continuing with Garlan's words, this is a commercial monopoly.

The consequence of this is that the prices in Wangcheng have remained high, and the large price difference in the middle has caused large sums of money to flow to those big businessmen and the dignitaries behind them, making them full of food.

It is almost impossible to reverse and rectify this deformed business model, like a piece of rotten wood, the roots have rotted, and it is impossible to carve any more.

Therefore, after investigating the situation in the royal city, Garlan resolutely chose to find another way.

The foundation of your hotbed is already rotten, so I just don't want it.

I rebuilt a cultivation garden with fresh soil and calm under the sun, and transplanted the living trees, flowers and plants to my side.

Although there may be some pains and troubles at the beginning, it will surely grow luxuriantly and flourish in the future.

Thus was born the Trade and Exchange Agency.

It exists not only for Garlan to collect business taxes, but also to clean up the business environment in the royal city, and to block the greedy claws of those rich and powerful.

These big merchants have been immersed in commerce all year round, so as soon as the Commerce and Trade Bureau in Garlan was established, they immediately sensed something was wrong.After sending people to inquire about the situation, and after getting together to ponder over it for a period of time, they understood the Young King's plan.

Once they figured it out, they were of course anxious.

The Young King's actions are simply drawing their salary from the bottom of the pot, and they will cut off their source of income.

Although they continue to do business honestly, they can still make profits, but compared with the huge profits obtained by monopoly, it is definitely not enough. In the past, they could make a lot of money by lying down, but now they have to get up and do things to make money. , The earning is not as good as one-tenth of the lying down before.

Of course they are not happy.

Their backers are also not happy about losing their money.

So, with the support of the backers behind them, they began to secretly fuel the flames, desperately promoting the fact that the Commerce and Trade Department would pay an extra tax, and hinted to the merchants that King Garlan wanted to collect taxes from them to supplement the finances.At the same time, he also desperately promoted the public's discussion, advocating that a wise king should not increase taxes and fees.

In fact, they did not succeed in the second point, because King Garlan ordered that merchants should not be forced to go to the Commerce and Trade Office, but by their own volition, so this is not considered compulsory taxation.

It is precisely because of Garlan's order that although many merchants are dissatisfied with the tax collection rules and regulations of the Commerce and Trade Administration, they just ignore them. It is impossible to respond to the proposals of those big merchants in the royal city and unite to boycott and demand abolition. Commerce Department or something.

Anyway, the king said that as long as you don't go to the Commerce and Trade Office, you won't pay taxes, so it doesn't matter if it's there or not, so why bother targeting it to annoy King Garlan?

If you have the energy, you might as well make more money.

And the businessmen who are involved think so, and the rest of the people don't take it seriously.

Therefore, at the court meeting that day, the ministers they bribed deliberately exaggerated their words and said that the existence of the Commerce and Trade Department would have a bad impact on King Garlan's reputation. They were simply scaremongering.

It can even be said that they are only trying to force Garlan to abolish the Commerce and Trade Administration in the name of righteousness and wisdom.

And the result satisfied them.

Sure enough, the young king began to waver because he was concerned about his own reputation.

As long as they put in more effort, while fueling the flames among the ordinary people in the royal city, they will continue to spend a lot of money to buy the ministers in the royal court, and their wish will soon be fulfilled.

"To tell you the truth, in fact, someone secretly contacted me yesterday, suggesting that I should not participate in this matter."

A big businessman said directly.

The others looked at each other, and then others said the same.

"Yesterday, someone from my place also came to visit, implying that I'd better accept it as soon as I'm ready."

"Someone came looking for me, too."

"Actually, I too..."

Among the dozens of big businessmen who gathered here, four or five of them mentioned one after another that people had come to the door in the past few days, telling them to restrain themselves.

There are also some people who have no one to visit them.

"It seems that they are in a hurry."

"Yeah, I'm afraid it's unthinkable."

"Speaking of which, there are indeed three people who did not come to this gathering, did they shrink back because of this?"

Someone laughed.

"Chicken-hearted."

"Those timid fellows are too stupid."

Another person smiled.

"You know, almost all the business in the royal city is in our hands, and the young king will never dare to take action against us easily. Without us, the commercial business in the royal city will collapse immediately, and of course he will be afraid."

The old big businessman swore,

"He sent people to look for us separately, but there was no other way but to force me to back down."

He says,

"Everyone, you must not shrink back at this time. We must advance and retreat together and persevere, so that King Garlan, who wants to cut off my fortune, will back down."

The big businessmen here have expressed that they will never be like the three cowards who fled the battle, and will persist in fighting to the end.

Thinking of the young king's concession at the court meeting a few days ago, these dozens of big businessmen suddenly felt that they could influence King Garlan's will by uniting, so they became more confident.

They had a good time, and then discussed the next action.

They all agreed that the next key is to continue to promote commercial tax among businessmen, so as to prevent them from going to the trade bureau.

It must be left there to remain deserted, empty, and utterly ruined.

…………

At the same moment, in another luxurious stone house in Wangcheng, an old man with wrinkled forehead was sitting there thinking deeply.

Although his gaze was looking ahead, he was very dazed, and he kept stroking the teacup in his hand.

The tea in the teacup was already cold, and he didn't take a sip.

A middle-aged man had been standing beside him for a long time, and at this moment he finally couldn't help shouting.

"Father."

The old man came back to his senses and looked at his son.

He sighed heavily and said, "From now on, close the door tightly, and we won't accept anyone except relatives and friends."

After a pause, he continued.

"The transactions of the commercial exchange are also tightened. During this period, do not conduct large transactions for the time being."

"Father, in this case our loss will be great..."

"Yes, the loss will be great."

The old man sighed and took a sip of the cold tea.

"But if you die, no amount of money is useless."

He says,

"Over the years, we have made a lot of money. We should know how to accept it when we see it."

"Yes, father."

……

There are two other big businessmen who made the same choice as this old big businessman.

After the three big businessmen were warned at the door, they all chose to close the door, shut down their business, and stayed at home honestly, no longer participating in the boycott of the Commerce and Trade Administration.

And the other group of big businessmen continued to fuel the flames secretly, spreading large sums of money offensively.

As a result, the call for the abolition of the Trade and Commerce Department is getting louder and louder, but the gate of the Trade and Commerce Department is still depressed.

Tal, who was constantly being ridiculed for his incompetence, became more and more ugly every day, and every time he ran to the palace to look for Garlan with a sad face.

And the boy king's attitude has changed from being tough at the beginning to becoming more silent every time, obviously wavering and hesitating.

Those big businessmen who were playing tricks behind the scenes felt happily that if this continued, Wang would soon be able to compromise, so they jumped up and down even harder.

After ten days or so, they got together again.

"it's time."

The leading merchant said,

"No one has been to the Commerce and Trade Department for a whole month, so now not only our people, but even other ministers are dissatisfied with it, thinking that it is useless at all and will only waste manpower and material resources."

"In just these two or three days, encourage those dissatisfied ministers to submit a request to the king to abolish the Commerce and Trade Department."

The young king who had already begun to waver would definitely not be able to bear the pressure, so he would back down a step.

"Thanks to you for uniting everyone and advancing and retreating together, we can get to where we are today."

Someone complimented the leader who was the most powerful and backer of Wangcheng Zhongshang.

The old man who took the lead in planning this matter smiled lightly.

"That boy king is still too young, he thinks about it as soon as he thinks about it, and doesn't consider the actual situation."

He laughed in the tone of an elder.

"If he lives a few more years, he will know that some things are not so easy to do."

Everyone sitting here laughed along with him.

Look, their strength is already so huge.

They control the business of the entire royal city.

Once they leave them, the commerce of the whole city will collapse.

They are already intertwined in this city and rooted here.

Even the king was afraid of them and did not dare to do it easily.

This feeling caused all the big businessmen present to inflate infinitely for a while.

And just when everyone was laughing and complacent, there was a sudden bang, and the outside door was slammed open.

Accompanied by the sound of chaotic and heavy footsteps, everyone was shocked to see a large group of soldiers filing in.

Dozens of guards here reflexively wanted to step forward to stop them. The leader of the group of soldiers, a dark-skinned and burly general, directly showed the golden token in his hand.

"I came here to arrest people by order of the king, get out of here!"

Teva snarled.

The guard who was about to step forward immediately bent down and knelt down in fear, not daring to move again.

Acting before the king's token is tantamount to the crime of treason.

Tewa didn't bother to pay attention to them. With a wave of his hand, the subordinates behind him rushed up, grabbed the group of businessmen without any effort, and dragged them outside.

The group of businessmen who were sitting in luxurious clothes and sitting in the luxury room just a second ago were talking and laughing happily, and the big businessmen who were complacent because they were about to achieve their goals were all pale and panic-stricken at this moment.

They were unceremoniously pushed and shrugged by the soldiers with a look of bewilderment. They looked embarrassed and staggered and were dragged out of the house.

They haven't even realized what happened.

The old man in the lead couldn't believe what happened suddenly at this moment.

How dare the young king arrest them in public like this?

Isn't he afraid that his sage name will be ruined?

Isn't he afraid of being regarded as a tyrant who wants to go his own way?

Isn't he worried that if he leaves the people who make Wangcheng's business run, Wangcheng's business will be paralyzed and suffer heavy losses?

How could he-

Countless thoughts swirled wildly in my heart, and in the end, they all turned into annoyance and remorse, as well as fear of the king.

…………

The news that this group of big businessmen were arrested spread throughout the entire royal city almost in an instant.

The three big businessmen who were honestly shrinking back were all shocked when they heard the news, and then they were very happy.

In the same spacious and tall stone house, the old man standing in the courtyard let out a long breath.

The heart that had been hanging for more than ten days finally let go at this moment.

"You're so stupid... Those idiots, relying on the people behind them to pretend to be powerful, have been praised for a long time, and they really take themselves seriously, and they can't recognize what they are."

The old man shook his head and sighed, talking to himself.

"It's just a businessman who dares to provoke the king."

It's really for the money, and I don't want my life.

King Garlan.

That beautiful appearance, that wise name, and his love for the people can easily give people the illusion that he is a gentle and benevolent king.

However, that's just one side of him.

When Aaron Landis was almost subjugated, he tried his best to turn the tide, fought hard from the sea of ​​corpses and blood on the battlefield, and saved Aaron Landis.

He did not compromise with those city lords who turned their backs on him on the battlefield at the beginning, and brazenly sent out a large army to fight as soon as they said it, so that those city lords would be destroyed.

No one dared to object to the decision to build the road in spite of all opinions.

Such a decisive king.

Where did those idiots get the confidence to think that King Garlan would dare not hit them hard because he feared them and worried about his reputation?

Alas, after all, it is still blinding.

Obsessed with money.

Do it yourself...

…………

........................

In the palace, Garlan just got up after taking a nap, and Shemuer was reporting to him about arresting the merchants according to his order.

"That's the way things are now, do you have any other orders to give?"

"Ah."

Garlan nodded.

He looked at Ximuer and said, "It's hot, let those people go bankrupt."

Ximuer: "???"

What nonsense?

Is Wang falling asleep?

"Don't you think my words are very domineering?"

Ximuer: "Hehe."

It seems that he is not sleepy, but sleepy.

he thought blankly.