Chapter 890 (1/2)
After leaving lottel, it took the dark haired wizard and his party nearly a week to cross the border between El mans and Bain and go from the avenue of loyalty castle in the north to red blood castle.
Looking at the bustling, lively and prosperous red blood castle in front of him, Loren had only infinite emotion in his heart.
The spacious streets were clean and tidy, and there was little to see except ruts and footprints; But this is because there is nothing else on the street except pedestrians; The original vendors on both sides could no longer find one, leaving only a pile of fences and ragged tents.
Outside the door of a closed shop is a lonely wooden sign with red paint that reads ”our bakery actively follows the instructions of the Holy Cross, closes on weekends and afternoons, and will not engage in any trading activities”.
Several farmers carrying grain bags passed the store door, shook their heads with a sigh, and turned away.
People come and go under the gate, which is very crowded; But in fact, only a few businessmen are trying to shout, and the vast majority are just passers-by in a hurry, as well as caravans leaving with a sad face in a carriage.
There was a lot of excitement outside Bain Cathedral, but in addition to the priests who tried to preach the doctrine and some ”reformed” believers, most of the rest were still ”watching the excitement”, and it seemed that they didn't even know what happened.
Only the inner city behind the city wall is as prosperous and stable as ever, except that things are a little more expensive; Salt is twice as expensive, fine fresh meat is three times more expensive, fresh vegetables and refined flour are five times more expensive... Lauren glanced at the shop and found that the price of fresh eggs is almost the same as that of equal weight aged wine.
Prices are falsely high, public resentment is rising, there is no vitality, and the atmosphere is heavy
I made up my mind to return early... I did the right thing!
”It must have been young Joad of the United Chamber of Commerce.” glancing at the pawnshop with ”booming business” and the bakery with few people, Lucian said with some hatred:
”I remember a similar thing happened in El mans before... Falsely raising prices and hoarding goods. These profiteers can do anything for money!”
Dark haired wizard smiled and did not answer.
”Why didn't anyone stop him?” the little wizard's expression was equally confused and blinked. ”The round table Council can't ignore this situation. Won't it make Byrne very dangerous?”
Behind her, Harlem van achamay wanted to stop talking, but silently looked at his favorite student with a confused face and didn't make any explanation.
Some things, it's better not to explain
A quarter of an hour later, the palace guard Knight came to meet the returning delegation; After a brief meeting, master achamei took ayin back to the wizard Union first, while luzen must go to the barracks of ”wings of the sky” as soon as possible to hand over the work with the acting head during this period.
Loren alone followed the knights to the round table.
Holding down the court Herald who wanted to inform when he entered the door, the lone black haired wizard went straight into the door, through the garden in the vestibule and towards the hall.
Charles glenwell, the serious court steward, found him before he went up the stairs, and stepped forward to meet him. He looked stunned and a little flustered:
”Your Excellency, why did you come back so soon? And... Why didn't you hear the announcement from people outside...”
Bang -!
A dull noise came from the hall.
The inexplicable black haired wizard and pale Charles turned back at the same time and turned to the direction of the voice in the hall - the countess who clapped her hands on the table suddenly got up and glared at little Yod sitting in front of her.
The red faced Charlotte may be too excited. Her shoulders fluctuate and her pupils are killing;
Little Joad, who sat opposite her, was very quiet, with an indifferent expression, as if the guard knights in the hall behind him did not exist, and was calm in his seat.
This is really... A rare sight.
”Dear treasurer, you are the most trusted confidant of the Duke and the president of the United Chamber of Commerce. You have a reputation in the whole principality... No! You are a businessman of half the Empire.” Charlotte clenched her teeth and stretched her cheeks very cold:
”But you have to tell me that you can't do anything about the current situation of the red blood castle...!”
There were only two people in front of the empty round table. They were clearly unarmed, but the atmosphere was tense, as if both sides would pull their swords out of their scabbards and splash blood five steps at any time.
”To be exact, there is no effective solution.” with his hands crossed on the table, little Joad raised his head and looked at the angry Countess with surprising calm:
”I must remind you, Countess; I am the tax official of the principality, but those businessmen and caravans are not my vassals; I am the president of the United Chamber of Commerce, and behind them are the dignitaries and giants from all over the Empire; they are our partners and customers, and I have no right to order them to stay or control the price of goods.”
”In fact, just to maintain the price stability in the inner city and ensure that the principality's finance will not collapse, you and the Duke's humble servants have done everything they can.”
As he spoke, little Joad, with an indifferent expression, deliberately showed a meaningful smile.
Unfortunately, Charlotte didn't notice at all.
”Price stability - are you telling me that the bakery is closed and the price of salt doubled is price stability?”
The countess sneered, and her excited expression was slightly ferocious: ”this is Bain, the richest, most prosperous and most fertile Bain in the whole empire!”
”I'm sorry, but the price of goods is only related to market supply, demand and cost, which can't be controlled by a small tax official.” little Yoder shook his head again and shrugged calmly:
”If I force them to cut prices, the businessmen who flee from red blood castle will only close more shops - because it will make them unprofitable.”
”So you and your Chamber of commerce took the opportunity to raise the price first and make a profit at the most critical moment of red blood castle?!”
”This is a very common business trick. If the increase reaches a certain level, it will tend to be stable, and everyone can earn money, so we will no longer consider the price increase; as for why it is the United Chamber of Commerce, it is certainly for the sake of the principality; after all, if you think about the result of other people's price increase, the people's savings of the principality will be lost and robbed by others!”
Little Joad's righteous words: ”rather than let foreign businessmen search for the wealth of our people, we should search for it ourselves; in this way, in any case, these wealth will still be in the money bag of the principality!”
The countess with tight cheeks took a deep breath.
”What about the merchants of the country, the grain merchants, the bakers and the vineyard owners? Will you also tell me that you can't do anything about them?”
”Of course, there's nothing I can do... This is also to follow the Duke's support policy for the church before he leaves!” little Joad nodded seriously:
”They took the initiative to follow bishop Byrne's orders, did not carry out any loan business, did not carry out business activities on weekends and afternoons, and refused to make too much profits, so they decided to close the door - this is a manifestation of their piety. How can I scold them?”
Little Joad's expression was natural and full of grievances: ”you know how terrible the price of goods outside is now, but the United Chamber of commerce still bears the high price and uses the past parity to supply the red blood Castle army and all the needs of the court.”
”Why? Because the United Chamber of Commerce and your humble servants regard this as a dedication and obligation to the principality. They would rather bear the losses themselves than ensure that the principality's finances will not collapse - we have done our best to do this alone!”