Yang Qiu's dagger was about to pierce his stomach, but Reggie hurriedly stopped him.
The tip of the knife was pressed against the white cloth. Yang Qiu looked at Reggie with red eyes and said, "Are you really not going to humiliate me?"
Reggie looked at Yang Qiu in confusion: "I don't seem to have done anything to humiliate you."
Yang Qiu turned to look at Swisher and asked, "Sir, has he ever humiliated you?"
Swisher shook his head and said: "My child, I have lost the battle and I can no longer protect you from now on. Put down your knife and face reality."
Yang Qiu said with red eyes: "If he kills you, I will not choose to be an only child!"
Chris nodded and said: "This is a good idea. You kill the lord first to avoid future troubles, and then let the city lord commit suicide and eradicate the roots. Doesn't it sound perfect?"
Before Reji could speak, Yang Qiu shouted loudly: "Sir, please take care, I'll take the first step!"
Chris was startled: "Let's go? Where are you going?"
Swisher said: "Let's go, which means death in the Dongsang people's mouth. He wants to die first before me, this silly boy."
Swisher actually cried. The relationship between them is really difficult to understand.
Reggie stretched out his hand and said: "You welcome me with sincerity, and I should treat you with courtesy. The war is over, why not turn the hostility into friendship?"
Chris looked at Reggie in surprise. Although Reggie spoke in common language, this way of speaking made him extremely uncomfortable.
But Yang Qiu admired Reggie's attitude very much. He put down the short knife in his hand and made a gesture to sit down.
Reggie followed Yang Qiu's example and sat upright on the floor. He turned around and looked at Chris and said, "Aren't you going to sit down?"
"Sitting on the ground like them?" Chris frowned, "Only barbarians would do that!"
Lei Ji looked at Yang Qiu and said in a very serious tone: "I have taken over the entire Camel Island. I will treat every resident on the island well. Please give me the respect I deserve. I will not destroy your
Culture and customs, but you must abide by my laws and systems, what do you think?"
Yang Qiu blinked, he was a little surprised by Reji's words.
"You're asking for my opinion?"
"Yes."
Yang Qiu nodded and said, "I feel your sincerity and friendliness, but I also have a few questions that I need to ask."
He used honorifics, which pleased Reggie.
"After you take charge of Tuodao City, can I continue to live in the city as the city lord?"
Reggie did not answer the question directly: "That depends on whether we can agree on some points."
Yang Qiu thought for a moment and then asked: "Several surrounding countries are at war, and the business in Tuodao City is deteriorating. I can only provide you with 80% of the offerings, and the remaining 20% will be reserved for my residents. Can you accept it?"
?”
80% worship?
Reggie looked at Swisher in shock. Even the Benlang Kingdom, which had the highest tax burden, only collected 60% of the tax. This greedy Marquis actually collected 80%. In such a situation, Yang Qiu was still loyal to him.
, this is simply a classic case of Stockholm Syndrome.
"According to the laws of Broken Snow, we only charge 30% of the tax for territories outside Broken Snow City."
The Shattered Snow Law does not have this clause, it was compiled by Reggie.
Before this, apart from Broken Snow City and Han Maple Fortress, Reggie had no other territory. Broken Snow City only collected half of the tax, while Han Maple Fortress collected no taxes at all.
"Thirty percent?" Yang Qiu looked at Reggie in surprise, then looked at Swisher. Swisher sighed and said, "I'm just following the empire's orders."
Yang Qiu said: "When you talk about taxes, do you mean offerings, or are they collected separately..."
Reggie said: "Taxes are just offerings. Other than that, I won't charge anything. Can you accept the 30% ratio?"
"Of course I can accept it, my lord!" Yang Qiu's tone became more respectful, which made Reggie very satisfied.
Yang Qiu confirmed with Lei Ji again: "According to what you said, I only need to collect 35% of the offerings from the people to meet your request, right?"
Reggie was startled, frowned and said, "I said 30%, why do you want to charge 35%?"
Yang Qiu was a little embarrassed. For the graceful Eastern culture, this question seemed a bit too direct.
Marquis Swisher answered this question for Yang Qiu: "The city lord and his family also need to survive. The officials here also need salary, and half percent of the income is not much."
"No!" Reggie said in a very firm tone, "From now on, I will pay you a salary, including your officials. We can discuss the specific amount separately, but you cannot increase the tax rate privately."
This made Yang Qiu a little unhappy, and the smile on his face gradually faded.
But Lei Ji didn't intend to make the slightest concession on this matter. He could let Yang Qiu watch the show, but he couldn't be allowed to become the local emperor. This was Lei Ji's bottom line.
"I have another question to ask. I have never seen the Suixue Law you mentioned. In the Suixue Law, where do the Dongsang people rank?"
"What level do you mean?"
It turns out that Swisher divided the Tuodao people into five classes: Golden Eagle nobles, Golden Eagle soldiers, Dongsang people, people who lost their freedom and slaves.
Under Yang Qiu's introduction, Reggie understood the rights enjoyed by each class of people. The Golden Eagle nobles and Golden Eagle soldiers did not need to bear any expenses. All goods and services on Camel Island were free for them. Other than that,
In addition, they have special immunity. If they kill a Dongsang person, they only need to bear the fine and do not need to pay other costs.
Dongsang people are just like ordinary civilians, except that there are no farmers on Tuo Island, and all food depends on trade. Most Dongsang people work for the Golden Eagle nobles, and a few Dongsang people run their own businesses.
People who have lost their freedom refer to special workers who have signed a lifelong contract. Their task is to make money for their bosses, but unlike slaves, they are protected by the law to a certain extent.
Needless to say about slaves, they have no rights and can only survive like tools.
Regarding this point, Reggie's attitude is still firm: "There is no hierarchy in the Snow Law, everyone is equal."
Yang Qiu looked at Reggie in surprise, and the smile from before returned to his face.
"Sir, do you mean that Dongsang and your people are equal?"
"Yes, this is my broken snow law, are you willing to accept it?"
Before Yang Qiu could answer, Swisher spoke first: "Don't believe him, my child. The relationship between people cannot be absolutely equal."
Reggie smiled and said: "There can be no absolutely equal relationship, but there are relatively equal rules. There will be deviations and loopholes under the rules, but we can slowly correct them."
Seeing Yang Qiu's happy expression, Swisher said with a disappointed look on his face: "My child, I'm leaving. He may kill me or let me go, but I can no longer be by your side."
Yang Qiu bowed deeply and said with a look of reluctance: "Take care, sir."
Well……
Everyone was looking at Yang Qiu. His attitude changed too quickly, which caught people off guard. The deep feelings before were gone. Yang Qiu no longer seemed to care about Swisher's life and death.
But Chris saw the mystery and exposed this good show in the most direct way.
"Lord of Camel Island City, the armor on your belly is exposed!"
Hearing this, Yang Qiu hurriedly arranged the white cloth on his stomach. This time, Reji could see clearly that there was an iron plate hidden in the white cloth. The young man did not want to commit suicide at all. He wanted to test Reji's attitude.
his attitude.
A puppet who has been struggling on the line of life and death for many years. His scheming is far from being as simple as Reggie imagined. Reggie is even a little afraid. Will there be samurai and ninjas in this house? If Reggie is aggressive,
Will Yang Qiu choose to fight to the death?
Out of caution, Reggie asked Jarvan, Modessa, and Ironskull to accompany him.
"Now that we have reached an agreement, why not set up a banquet to bid farewell to the gloom of the past and welcome the new sun of today!"
"I obey your orders, my lord!" Yang Qiu ordered the people to prepare a sumptuous banquet, but it was not at one table. They still maintained the tradition of dining at separate tables.
The first dish is fish, and the second dish is fish soup. Except for a plate of chicken, all the dishes are related to fish. It can be seen that Tuo Dao's ingredients are not very rich.
Everyone has a small table set up. The chef's skills are good and it suits everyone's appetite, but the weird tableware is hard to get used to.
"What is this?" Tie Shou held a pair of chopsticks and looked at them in confusion for a long time. "Why do you use wooden sticks to eat? Don't you even have a fork?"
Chris said: "This is a tableware unique to Dongsang Kingdom. Big Orc, let me show you how to use it."
Chris awkwardly picked up a piece of chicken and before he could put it into his mouth, the chicken fell into the fish soup. Chris wiped the soup from his face. After trying a few times, he chose to give up and asked the waiter for a piece of chicken.
Secondary knife and fork.
Swisher skillfully picked up the chopsticks, put a piece of chicken into his mouth, and said with a smile: "Conquering a land is not as easy as you think. You need to learn a lot of things. Just like this simple tableware, it is enough for you to spend a lot of money."
It took me a year to figure it out and adapt.”
"Maybe it won't take that long," Reggie picked up the chopsticks, easily shaved off the fish bones, and put the fish meat into his mouth, "See, it's that simple, this is talent!"