Three Philosophical Questions for Travelers

Chapter 19: Lord of Rotten Flesh and King of Wild Horses, one

Chapter 19: Lord of Rotten Flesh and King of Wild Horses, one

Across the long table, the man with the mustache was pouring red wine for himself.

Haiwen sat on the chair without saying a word, just looked at the person in front of him.

Delair Hanslock, his former butler.

This guy is wearing a black toga, the fabric is as smooth as water, and there are gilded tulips on it; his head is smeared with oil, and his back is shiny; his beard is upturned and his eyes are squinting, and he seems to be fatter than before he was exiled.

Haven stared at him, and he also peeked at Haven.Neither of them spoke, and whoever said it was embarrassed.

After waiting for a while, Haiwen couldn't hold back anymore, so he said: "I said..." He wanted to say something about the butler, but when he got to the point of his mouth, he swallowed those two words back, and changed his mouth and said: "Delai Er."

The person opposite was stunned for a moment, put down his cup, and said with a straight face, "I'm listening, Lord Ambleside."

Haiwen asked him, "What are you doing in Xiawan this trip?"

Dreyer laughed a few times and said, "What can I do? Do business and make a fortune! You see, I'm a layman, and I don't have the lofty ambitions of yours. I just... hehe, do a little business and make a little money Money." He smiled and shook the collar of his expensive toga, and by the way revealed the seven or eight big rings on his hands, and Hai Wen's eyelids twitched, thinking: I was He should be locked up at Bear Mountain, you bastard!

Haven looked at him calmly, and said, "Dreyer, you are still in exile. According to the law, you are not allowed to leave Hesse's Rotten Flesh Beach, and you are not eligible to enter the city either. If you enter the city, you will be a refugee, and the refugee will be arrested and repatriated."

Hearing this, Dreyer smiled instead of anger, and his smiling eyes lit up, and his eyebrows danced with joy, "Oh! My lord, are you still deporting me? It's fine in the past. Now I'm not a refugee, I'm a rotten meat bank The mayor of the town, the lord of Castle Black, I have a certificate, and the Lord of the Wine City issued it!"

Hai Wen stretched out his hand and said, "Let me take a look!"

"Then take a look!" Dreyer said as he took out a stack of documents from his arms, including parchment scrolls, hard cards, and customs clearance documents, all of which were stamped with red stamps.Haiwen looked at it one by one and said, "Where did you get the guide certificate? And this... residence permit! According to the law, you are not eligible to register these things."

Just as if he was afraid that Hai Wen wouldn't hear him, Delaire said with a raised voice, "I bought it with money!"

Haiwen frowned: "You paid for it?"

"That's right! If it doesn't cost money, can people give it away for nothing?"

Haven was furious, and said, "Dreyer! With this charge, I can hold you in the cell now!"

"Hey, arrest me?" Dreyer shouted, "My lord, you said you are arresting people here? Let me ask you, where are you the official, where are you the king?"

Haven said, "I am Lord Bear Mountain, King of Mustang Land, Bear Mountain, and Pinewood Castle."

"Then let me ask you, where is this?"

"This is Shrimp Bay."

"That's right!" Dreyer spread his hands, "I'm not your subject anymore, I'm the mayor of Rotten Meat Beach in Wine City! You, the king of Wild Horse Land, arrested people in Shrimp Bay, and the ones you arrested were from Wine City Mayor, what’s the point? This is not Mustang Land, this is Shrimp Bay, my lord!” He pouted, raised his eyebrows, and slapped the table with his hands, “Shrimp Bay, the land of the Dern family! Your method, I looked, hey! Maybe, it’s not very useful, hahahahaha! I’m just saying that, don’t be angry, don’t take it to your heart, hahahahaha!”

If I hadn't asked the smiling cat to come in and kill this guy, Hai Wen's face turned black with anger.

Seeing that he stopped talking, Delaire coughed dryly and said, "Lord Haven," he suddenly changed his words, "Times have changed, you are no longer a master, and I am no longer a slave, but I am not here today to oppress you One end may come to tease you. Let's talk about business."

The official said that since Delaire said so, Haven put away his feelings, sat upright, and said, "Dreyer Hanslock, why did you come to me?"

Dreyer replied: "I didn't come to Shrimp Bay to find you. I came to do business. I walked the river from the rotten meat beach and came all the way by boat. When unloading, I heard that there was a beggar here. Wang, after a little inquiring, I knew it was you."

"Oh, that's right. I was in Shrimp Bay after the Xiongshan incident. People outside probably thought I was dead."

Dreyer sighed, and said: "Isn't it? If I don't come here, I will treat you as dead. Although we have no relationship, we are more or less master and servant. If you die, ouch , in my heart, ouch..."

"Shut up!" Hai Wen pointed at him, "I have something to say."

Dreyer said: "Oh, that's it. I'm here to find you. There are two things. The first is to confirm your life and death. This matter has been completed, and the second is to do business." Dreyer As he spoke, he looked Hai Wen up and down, and said, "My lord, if I guessed correctly, you are... very tight right now?"

He was indeed right, and Haven glared at him and said, "What do you want?"

"Hey! Don't be so pretentious, what do you mean I want to do what I want? Aren't we here to do business together?" He rubbed his fingers at Haiwen, "Let's make a fortune together!"

Haiwen is really short of money now.Military pay needs to be paid, castles need to be repaired, land needs to be reclaimed, and labor needs to be paid.If Dreyer can really bring him money, it will be a timely help.But he couldn't trust this guy to some extent, so he asked tentatively: "Tell me first, what kind of business is this? Tell me in advance that I won't do human trafficking, and I won't do deception."

Dreyer smiled and said, "Your Excellency, you are still the same, don't worry, I have already thought about it!" He patted his chest, "I will save the good business for you, and I will arrange the wicked things myself!"

Haiwen shouted: "Hey! Are you kidding me?"

"My lord, I'm telling the truth. Human trafficking is slave trading. Although you don't like it, it's legal everywhere. If I want to do it, you can't control it. If you can't bear it, I'll give it to those slaves." Improve the treatment, eat better, and dress warmer, that's all. As for the prohibition of slave trading? Haha, wait until you become the king, okay?" Dreyer took a sip of wine, and then shouted outside, "Water Lily , warm me up again."

Then he went on to say: "Let's talk about cheating again. Let me tell you that there are no merchants who don't cheat when buying or selling things. How can they make money if they don't cheat? You just made a fair fortune, so you don’t have to worry about it!”

Haiwen became interested and asked, "Then tell me, how do you get rich?"

The Lord of the Rotten Flesh and the King of the Mustangs, Part [-]

The Lord of the Rotten Flesh and the King of the Mustangs, Part [-]

Dreyer said: "My lord, getting rich depends on capital, and how much money you have to make a fortune."

Hai Wen corrected: "This is wrong, getting rich depends on skills."

Delaire laughed and said, "Skill is also capital! Look at me, I have abundant capital. Otherwise, how could I make a fortune from that shabby place like Rotten Meat Beach?"

That was a good statement, and Haven had to admit what he said.Haiwen asked him: "Then let me ask you, what capital do you have now?"

"It doesn't matter what money I have, what matters is what money you have, my lord!"

Haiwen said: "I have Fort Pinewood and Mustang Town, allies in Shrimp Bay, and I can recruit about [-] soldiers. Do you have enough capital to do business?"

Delaire was stunned for a moment, and said, "I didn't expect you to be doing well, my lord. I thought you were down."

"Stop talking nonsense, Delaire!" Hai Wen glared at him, "What exactly do you want to do, tell me quickly."

Dreyer smiled and said: "To put it simply, let's do business together, and you go to get in touch with me so that I can distribute the products to major cities in the Gulf. Rotten Meat Beach is from the South and the Gulf. Transit station, I can sell things to you, and you can also sell things to me. The two of us will do business and make a fortune together."

"That's not a problem, but in detail..." Haiwen touched his chin, "This matter is not so easy to implement, because Xiawan is not under my control, and what you need most is the port of Xiawan, right? "

Dreyer nodded, and said: How about this, Master Cat and Fassnut are here, you call them both, brainstorming, and talking about the past with everyone? "

Haven said, "Alright then, I'll call Ramon too."

Dreyer said quickly: "Don't! I've seen him before, and I think this kid is no longer the same as us."

Haiwen wanted to refute him, but after thinking about it, Dreyer had seen no mistakes so far, so he said, "Do you think there is something wrong with Ramon?"

"My lord, it's hard to say, he wants to be towards Xiawan and you now." Dreyer sneered, "In the end, his heart is still towards himself! You listen to me, just call Master Cat and Fassner Special, if they want to bring people here again, that's their business, don't come if there are any extra people."

"Okay, then I'll make arrangements. Tonight, let's go to the Blackfish Tavern outside the castle. I want a room and we can talk slowly."

"Okay, that's troublesome sir! If the tavern is inconvenient, you can also go to my boat to talk."

Oh, this guy also bought three big ships, he must have made a fortune.Hai Wen shook his head and said, "No, just listen to me."

"Okay, then listen to you."

That night, several people met at the Black Fish Tavern.The single room on the tavern's second floor was richly decorated, incense-lit, and the chairs were upholstered in leather and glossy painted.There were fresh flowers in the vases, and on the wall was an oil painting of Saint Murray.Haiwen and Smiley Cat arrived first, and Smiley Cat brought Mirsalu. The little girl was dressed very dignifiedly, but Haiwen knew that she must have a lot of knives with her.

Then Dreyer came, and he brought a girl named Water Lily, who he said was his wife.The girl was sweet, young and pretty, and looked not much older than Mirsalu.His words and deeds are also very well-regulated, either he is from a wealthy family, or he has been well-trained by Dreyer.

After they sat down, Smiley Cat exchanged greetings with him, and without saying a few words, Razor also came and opened the door.He came alone, without his female companion.

Hai Wen urged people to serve the food, and after a while, a waiter brought the dishes.There are fresh river fish, boiled scallops, lemon chicken, fried mountain mushrooms, wild vegetable dough, blue crab meat sauce.The long table has a square plate, and the meals are served separately, so that everyone has a full plate in front of them.Haven felt that the dishes were already very rich, but Dreyer still commented.What are they saying that the fish is too small, the meat is too old, the dumpling is too hard, and the juice is too thin.I don't know if he is deliberately finding fault, or if he really doesn't like it.

Old friends catch up on the old days, and there are not so many rules at the dinner table, everyone just chats while eating.Haven first asked Delaire what happened this year?Dreyer asked Haiwen in turn, saying, "My lord, I also want to know, what happened to you this year, where is Xiongshan?"

So the two told each other what happened here. After listening, Haiwen was filled with emotion, and couldn't help saying: "Your story this year is quite exciting, Delaire."

"Thank you for taking care of me." Dreyer said with a smile.

Haiwen didn't know how to respond to this sentence, so he changed the subject and said, "Now tell me, how do we do business? I haven't figured out yet what kind of business you want to do."

"Don't worry, my lord—Water Lily, bring me the map!" Dreyer asked Water Lily to take out the map, and then called the waiter to clean up the table.He spread the map on the table and said: "My lord, look at the map first, the rotten meat beach is here." He pointed to the river channel in the southeast of the valley, "Shrimp Bay is here, your territory is here, the river bend Here." He clicked a few points in turn.

Haven nodded and said, "I saw it."

"You should have seen the river too?"

"I saw it."

"Hey, it's good if you see it." Dreyer laughed. "This river passes through Rotten Meat Beach, Shrimp Bay, the Second and Fourth Forks, and then directly enters the river bend! I think, open up this golden waterway, We can make a fortune."

At this time, the smiling cat said: "These rivers have existed for a day or two. If you can make a fortune, why didn't you make it sooner?"

Dreyer said: "Isn't that because the tax is too high? How many nobles will collect the money after the checkpoints in the River Bend? Shrimp Bay a sum, Lin Wan a sum, Valley Land a sum, Ersi Fork Road a sum Money... not to mention the scattered tolls. In the end, there is still a sum of money at the mouth of Fengleibao! Who can stand it!"

Haiwen said: "But the river bends are well connected, rich in resources and rich in land. Merchants will come here even with heavy taxes. However, the tax is indeed too high. If we do water transportation in the river bends, I can't bear the tax." rise."

Dreyer nodded and said: "And, my lord! The high toll tax not only exploits us, but most importantly, it also makes other merchants unwilling to take this road. I have inquired, and the merchants in the south are all I am willing to go to Wolf City, but I would rather put up with the long distance and low prices, and go to Wolf City for business—why? Isn’t it because the tax in Wolf City is low? You go to Wolf City to pay a tax, and you go to the Reach to pay the fuck Eightfold tax! Who can afford it? Merchants stop coming, goods are not in circulation, producers are unwilling to produce more goods, and they can’t sell them after they are produced! Or think about it, why is there so much barren land and mountains in this place? So I think, we have to find a way to lower the taxes at these checkpoints and bring in merchants, and then once this golden waterway is formed, it will be able to revitalize the entire territory! By then, huh! Let’s send it together Big fortune!"

Author's message:

ps: Tomorrow is a day off

The Lord of the Rotten Flesh and the King of the Mustangs, [-]

The Lord of the Rotten Flesh and the King of the Mustangs, [-]

Haiwen said: "Having said that, how can we let those greedy nobles reduce taxes at this juncture? Do you know that wars have been raging recently, and the nobles wished to beat the people to their bones in order to raise military salaries. At this time, I and They talk about tax cuts? Don’t say I’m an earl, even if I become a king, I’m afraid I won’t have that much face.”

Dreyer waved his hand and said, "My lord, what the nobleman wants is money, not taxes! If you can earn [-] gold coins by collecting [-]% of the tax, and [-] by collecting [-]% of the tax, then tell me, they are collecting money. A few percent."

The smiley cat didn't understand, so he asked in surprise: "How can you charge more and earn less?" But Haiwen understood, he nodded and said, "I understand, you want to pay the general manager If the quantity is increased, the profits will be small but the sales will be high. In this way, the people will actively produce, and the nobles will collect more taxes.”

"That's right!" Dreyer clapped his hands and laughed, "This is the way to make money! My lord, I have figured it out after a year, crooked ways can only make small money, but if you want to make big money, you have to be upright. You see, before I collect protection fees, so I don’t earn much, and now I’m the mayor——!” He drew his voice very long, “I collect dock taxes, and sell water and goods to collect land rent, which makes a lot of money!”

Haven asked him: "Dreyer, you bought three big ships with the money you earned in a year?"

"Hey!" Dreyer smirked, "My lord, let me tell you that the money is not exposed, so I told others that the boat was rented. But with you! Let's talk heart-to-heart!" He put on a very serious look. He said boldly, "To tell you the truth, I bought this boat! Not only did I buy these three boats, I also have a lot of money."

Everyone at the table heard this, the smiling cat smiled and said nothing, and the razor was expressionless, but Haiwen thought in his heart: what he said should be true.

Haiwen is not good at doubting others. He is the easiest to be fooled and trusts others.But after experiencing so much, he also began to be cautious.So he tentatively asked: "Dreyer, how do you make money?" If you are willing to tell me all these things, then I can trust him again, Haiwen thought to himself.

Delaire looked at him and said, "I'll say it first, even if I tell you this, it will be difficult for you to make a lot of money with this."

Haiwen replied: "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it."

Dreyer shook his head and said: "It's not inconvenient. If you don't ask, I will tell you. I mainly rely on two things to make money now. The first one is the wharf at Rotten Meat Beach. You know, it takes a lot to cross the pier. Tax collectors."

Haven replied: "Yes, of course I know."

Dreyer laughed. "But what tax? How?"

Haiwen didn't understand this, but Smiley Cat understood a little bit, and said, "You have to pay for stopping the boat, then you have to pay taxes for shopping at the pier, and you have to pay taxes for hired workers. That's all."

Dreyer said, "Yeah, I'll take the money too."

Haiwen said: "The port of Xiawan is bigger than yours, but it doesn't seem like you earn so much."

Dreyer waved his hand and said, "My lord, I haven't finished yet, listen to me tell you!"

He drew a circle on the map, and clicked three more points. Inside the circle were the Hesse Valley, the Outer Swamp, and the Rocky Wilderness, which included the Cyan Mud City, Wine City, Rotten Flesh Beach, Dragon Wing City and many small towns. town.Then he said: "My lord, the rotten meat beach is different from other places. According to hydrology, if the merchant ships in the wine city, green mud city and swamp area want to go by water, they must pass through the rotten meat beach, but the rotten meat beach , they can’t enter the sea. However, there is a bad thing about Rotten Meat Beach, that is, many merchant ships do not stop at Rotten Meat Beach. Rotten Meat Beach is too close to the inland, and my upstream is the largest inland port in the south: Crocodile Bay. All the merchant ships heading north from the south will be filled with cargo and supplies at Crocodile Bay, and then go directly to the inland. I can only stare."

Haven said: "Why don't you go to your port? Because your taxes are too high?"

"There are various reasons. In short, Rotten Meat Beach cannot compete with Tianma Port. Besides, I don't plan to cut taxes."

"Why?" Haven asked.

Dreyer said: "The fish have a choice. Logically speaking, the fisherman can change the bait, but if the rotten meat beach and Tianma port bargain, the result is a lose-lose situation. In the end, it is cheaper for the fish, and the fisherman The plenary meeting starved to death. The Marquis of Wine City is aware of this matter, so he has not allowed the rotten meat beach to reduce taxes and prices. After all, Tianma Port is also the site of the Florus family, so there is no need to make trouble with yourself.”

The smiling cat said at this time: "Then don't be a fool, we want to hear how you make money."

Delaire smiled and said: "Master Cat is still in a hurry, okay, let me tell you. My solution is also simple, that is, these boats must stop once at the rotten meat beach."

The smiling cat supported its head with one hand, and asked with a smile, "What's the matter? Can you still block the river?"

Delaire waved his hand and said, "That's not necessary, but I can use a speedboat to intercept merchant ships. Crossing the river to block roads to collect taxes, and crossing the port must stop the ship!"

Haiwen said: "Your idea is too wicked, what's the difference between this and robbery?"

Dreyer raised his eyebrows and said, "Hey? Why am I so wicked? This is a legal and reasonable tax."

Haiwen said: "Then tell me, how are you legal and reasonable?"

Dreyer said: "I asked the boat to go over to intercept it. It made sense. I didn't go to collect the money directly. I checked whether it complied with the law."

"How do you say this?"

Dreyer smiled and said: "It is stipulated by the law! I will check his safety, check his certificates, check his tax returns, check his supplies, check his human rights treatment, check his employment relationship, and check his fucking family tree! This It's my right! Can you still stop me from investigating? Not letting me investigate? Good! Interfering with law enforcement! Do you dare to hit me? Good! Assaulting the police!" He squinted and smirked, twisting his fingers, "I won't let you either Just go to jail and double the fine."

The smiling cat clapped its hands and laughed loudly, "This trick really has your style, hahaha!"

Haiwen said, "This is also called compliance with the law? Where is this law?"