The dignitaries of Cold Wind City are going to have a hard time.
The Arad family, the Lehman family, the Minos family, or the chiefs of the wizard group, such as Rao and Piero.
The city is like a storm in a tea cup, no one obeys anyone when it comes to money and power.
But someone has to clean up the situation.
It took a lot of effort to invite Victor Hugo to be in charge of finance, but this old man's method of collecting taxes was really special - whoever has a large trade volume will collect more taxes.
The 'Harmony Chamber of Commerce' has the largest trade volume, so half of the tax revenue of Cold Wind City comes from Mr. Hugo himself. He did not hesitate to accept it.
After the tax could be collected, the uncle demanded that one-third of the tax revenue must be used for urban construction and two-thirds should be allocated by the parliament.
It is said that Monsignor Hugo has already provided more money, but the city council is still quarreling over this distribution ratio. But no one can do anything and can only accept it.
The 'Harmony Chamber of Commerce' made its taxes public and all accounts can be checked. In the first month, it collected more than 30,000 gold coins in taxes.
This figure shocked all the powerful people in the parliament. It means that the monthly trade volume of Coldwind City exceeds 300,000 gold coins.
No one has ever made detailed statistics in the past, and it is impossible to do so. However, the powerful people always have an estimate in their minds. The previous trade volume definitely did not exceed 100,000 gold coins.
This only shows that the 'Harmonious Chamber of Commerce' has greatly promoted the circulation of goods and increased trade volume.
In this regard, the powerful people want to evade taxes. But the Harmony Chamber of Commerce is like a network. With its advantages in logistics and technology, it can provide faster, more convenient and better services.
Even the accounting is more professional.
No one can live without it.
In order to provide subsidies to the wizards and knights, the Long-Legs family spends 15,000 gold coins every month. It also spends 5,000 gold coins on various public services.
In order to maintain this expenditure, Hanfeng City mainly collects agricultural tax, mining tax and head tax, which exploits the poor and businessmen at the bottom.
In the past, the average monthly tax amount has never exceeded 25,000 gold coins, and the cost of tax collection has been extremely high. Sometimes when the year is bad, the long-legged family will suffer losses.
Now it was Monsignor Hugo who came to collect taxes, and he actually easily collected 30,000 gold coins. Half of which he provided himself.
The dignitaries in the parliament did not know how to evaluate this matter. They wanted to have a quarrel, but found that they had no idea how to speak.
You can't blame yourself for being too incompetent in the past.
Lord Hugo was in charge of the money bag and immediately demanded reforms to various existing policies in Cold Wind City.
First, cut off the monthly salary.
Nobles and wizards no longer enjoy free salaries. If you want money, you have to earn it yourself, either by holding public office, doing business, or managing land.
This cut caused an uproar in the parliament, and Victor Hugo was about to be thrown out of office again. Even if Speaker Allard smashed the stage, no one wanted to be quiet.
Secondly, amend the law to give more power to the poor at the bottom, encourage population circulation, and establish basic medical and social security.
Veto, veto, veto!
Hearing that the poor should be treated as human beings, the Winter Hall was filled with the noise of the MPs. No one listened to Deputy Speaker Hugo's detailed explanation, they only felt unhappy.
Third, form a unified military force and reorganize the urban management system.
The congressmen strongly demanded that no matter what force or system, they must be under their control. All key positions must be held by them. Otherwise, they will not approve it.
Finally, carry out major construction of the city. Roads, houses, and sewers should be repaired, demolished, and connected. Otherwise, Hanfeng City will soon turn into a large slum.
The MPs are clamoring again, only asking for their own roads and infrastructure to be repaired, and the life and death of others have nothing to do with them.
Stupid, selfish, short-sighted, these self-proclaimed nobles sit in the Winter Hall, wearing the most gorgeous clothes, but quarreling like shrews.
Zhou Qingfeng stood on the stage and announced the plan unhurriedly. He threw cups, spat, and fought with chairs under the stage. All kinds of human bad qualities were undoubtedly exposed.
In the noisy environment, he only continued his preaching: "I'm not here to ask you to approve anything. I just want to spend money so that you don't get in my way."
With a snap of his fingers, Todd carried a large box and placed it in the middle of the hall. The lid of the box was opened, and inside were shiny platinum coins.
"This is the tax amount of 20,000 yuan from last month. It is handed over to you for distribution. As for my policies, I will implement them myself." After Zhou Qingfeng finished speaking, he turned and left.
Todd dropped the cash box and followed Zhou Qingfeng laughing.
The originally noisy Winter Hall fell silent for an instant. More than a hundred pairs of eyes were staring at the platinum coins placed on the ground in the center with unscrupulous greed.
Old Arad held a hammer in his hand, quickly rushed to the rostrum, knocked twice, and shouted: "I declare as the speaker that this money..."
Swish, swish, swish...
The eyes of more than a hundred pairs of powerful councilors in the city were all fixed on old Arad. Everyone looked at him with eager eyes, as if they would kill him immediately if they heard any unfavorable words.
Old Arad had been gloomy and cunning all his life, but he actually shuddered when being stared at by so many people. When the next words came to his lips, he was speechless, "How do you think this money should be spent?"
We have been arguing for several months, and everyone knows very well that the contradiction is too deep, and no one can convince everyone. There will be objections to anyone who gives this money, and in all likelihood it will be another internal strife.
But everyone gathered in the Winter Hall to avoid internal strife.
"I now feel that I can support Monsignor Hugo's proposal on rebuilding the city management system." A voice sounded in the hall, it was the member of the Lehman family.
Everyone frowned and thought about it.
"The proposal to rebuild the city's public facilities is also acceptable. Every time it rains, there will be waterlogging, which also affects us." On the other end, the patriarch of the Minos family also relented.
“If everyone doesn’t need a monthly salary, I think it’s acceptable to save this money,” said Rao, chief of energy shaping.
The powerful boss spoke, and the remaining members looked left and right.
Anyone who dares to embezzle 20,000 gold coins will immediately become a public enemy. But if the loot is simply divided, it will not do any good to the entire group.
What is needed now is a compromise. Even a little bit.
The noisy councilors had to calm down and agreed. If 20,000 gold coins can really be spent in the public domain, it will be beneficial to everyone.
But once the money was handed over, it would never return to Zhou Qingfeng's hands. The parliament selected a few members with the weakest power to keep the money.
As for how to spend it, that is another endless debate.
There are dozens of seats in the corner of the Winter Hall. The alchemist Jason and a group of low-ranking nobles are sitting among them. They only have the right to listen and have no right to speak.
When Zhou Qingfeng threw 20,000 platinum coins, Jason sighed in his heart. He stood up slowly and chased after the former.
Again, again!
This scene is so familiar that I can only respond with a wry smile.
When it comes to dividing and winning, Jason has never seen anyone more skilled than Victor Hugo. For money, power, and knowledge, the new lord can always offer something in exchange that is hard to refuse.
Whenever you think you are taking advantage, in the end you are just making a wedding dress for Monsieur Hugo.
After the Long-Legs family was forced to leave Coldwind City, Sir Hugo went to build his own territory. Jason once thought that he would stop causing trouble after changing his gender, but now he realized that this kid was smarter than anyone else.
The Arad family was not powerful enough to convince the public and failed to gain control of the city in six months. From the initial quarrels among the city's dignitaries to internal strife, nothing was resolved.
Victor Hugo had no interest in all this chaos and focused on building construction outside the city, while watching the fire from the other side and doing business with various parties in the city.
The reason why the internal strife in the city is serious is entirely because the trade of the 'Harmony Chamber of Commerce' has greatly activated the consumption power of the powerful.
Many people suddenly increased their strength like a shotgun for a cannon, and then the fight became even more fierce.
The internal fighting was so exhausting that every family had blood feuds, but they had to sit down and negotiate.
When the parliament was formed, Zhou Qingfeng jumped out and became the deputy speaker of Hanfeng City, taking the financial power in his hands.
Jason chased him outside the Winter Hall and sighed in his heart again, "No one can escape."
Zhou Qingfeng had already climbed onto the back of 'Swift Shadow', turned around and saw Jason approaching, and said with a smile: "You can't stand those idiots anymore?"
Chapter completed!