After the meeting, Jeanne walked out of the Governor's Palace in a daze. She was blown away by the cold wind outside. She looked up and saw Taylor about to board a carriage, so she shouted to stop.
Taylor turned around and smiled and said: "Lord Jeanne, my name is Taylor."
"I know!" Jeanne said, "Thank you for helping me take back the corpse pit."
"What are you talking about?" Taylor asked back: "Lady Jeanne, do you think the corpse pit already belongs to you?"
Jeanne was a little confused: "Isn't it?"
Taylor sighed and invited Jeana to board the carriage with him. After closing the carriage door, he used his wand to cast an "avoid detection" and then explained: "Although the Governor promised to give more food to the poor outside the city, they
The predicament has not fundamentally changed. As for filling the corpse pit, Lady Jeanne, do you think you alone can handle it?"
Jeanne didn't speak, and Taylor continued to explain: "I just used verbal skills to induce the governor of Changxia City. Instead of you and me directly confronting them, it is better to provoke a conflict between them and the decadent school of thought.
The officials of Changxia City rented the corpse pit and the surrounding area to the Decay School because it was troublesome for them to handle it themselves. But if they find that there is a possibility of additional income, they will naturally test the Decay School on our behalf and delay the group of necromancers.
The ritual process.”
Tyro actually doesn't have many good options at the moment. Without Xuan Weizi's assistance, the manpower around him is simply not enough to completely defeat the necromancer of the decadent school. As for rescuing the poor people outside the city, there is no hope unless he makes up his mind.
Determined to seize a piece of land and property, but that is not a simple business activity.
In fact, Taylor still had some vague ideas. After he came to Changxia City before, he inspected the nearby environment and found that the southern coastal area has undulating terrain and is full of fragmented mountains and hills. It is suitable for growing various oils and fruit trees, but it cannot produce them.
Enough food.
Therefore, the large and dense population of Changxia City itself must rely on external food supplies, either from inland along rivers or from the New World.
But this is very dangerous. Food is the lifeblood of the regime. Changxia City is very rich, but at some point, no matter how much gold and silver you have, you can't buy enough food to satisfy your hunger. Others can even use food as leverage to easily move a government.
The survival of state power.
The reason why Taylor and Changqing Chamber of Commerce are valued by the officials of Changxia City is that they can obtain a share of grain exports from the Mutual Protection Alliance. Xuanweizi has previously restricted the food exports of the Mutual Protection Alliance. In the climate
In the cold environment, within a year or two, famine fell throughout the Great Londinium Empire.
However, these grains are also cultivated by the farmers of the Mutual Protection Alliance. Taylor cannot use them all to do good deeds and give them away. There must be some profit in return, otherwise Taylor's approach will be questioned. Therefore, the poor outside the city will eventually
You still have to do it yourself, not even limited to the narrow area outside Changxia City.
After explaining his general idea to Jeanne, Taylor leaned on the back of the leather chair and said: "The teacher told me that he found a relatively flat farmland about a hundred miles north of Changxia City, but it was deserted.
It has been a long time. If it can be cultivated and the various technologies of the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce are used, it should be able to support tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people."
Jeanne looked surprised: "Why would such a piece of farmland be abandoned?"
"I don't know the specifics. Anyway, that farmland belongs to a big chamber of commerce. They are willing to abandon it and no one else can take care of it," Taylor said.
Jeanne asked: "Are you planning to buy that land?"
"Buy? How much will it cost?" Taylor smiled and said, "As a representative of the Chamber of Commerce, I personally don't have much money, and to purchase such a huge expenditure of land, I need the approval of the headquarters to do it."
"Can't you turn to your teacher for this matter? He founded the Changqing Chamber of Commerce. Isn't it just a matter of his words to purchase the land?" Jeanne asked.
Taylor stared at the female priest's face for a long time, with a complicated expression, as if he was thinking about how to explain to her: "The people of the Mutual Protection Alliance work hard day after day, and the meager profits earned from selling various types of food and medicine are not used for mutual protection.
Within the alliance, do you want the people to improve their lives and spend their money on another continent to purchase land and property? Lady Jeanne, before you try to persuade me and the teacher, why not try to persuade the people of the Mutual Protection Alliance?"
"Then, what should I do? I don't have any money either." Jeanne was in a dilemma.
"Why buy it?" Taylor said: "Although robbery is impractical, I still have a way to threaten the other party to hand over the land... Hmm? Here we are."
Taylor and Jeanne stepped out of the carriage. In front of them was a luxurious mansion, surrounded by a circle of artificial gardens and spring pools with lush flowers and plants. It was separated from other buildings and seemed quiet and comfortable. Invisible servants were going back and forth to build branches and clean the roads. It was obvious that it was extremely
Rich family.
"It's a great honor for me to have Director Taylor personally visit me!" A rich man wearing a fox fur coat came forward: "I wonder what kind of wind brought Director Taylor to my house?"
"Wind? Let me think about it." Taylor followed the rich man to the mansion and said with a smile: "Maybe it's the wind blowing from Vanua?"
The rich man was stunned for a moment and did not ask any more questions. He welcomed Taro and Jeanne into the living room with an apologetic smile. After the two sides exchanged a few words, Taro took the initiative and said: "By the way, I received a message here saying that your Excellency is currently visiting
Funding the Vanua rebels?”
"Ah? Who is spreading rumors?" The rich man said with anger on his face, "Director Taylor, you are new here, so you may not know yet. Our Chamber of Commerce has always been loyal to the empire and donated money to the empire's foreign operations in the past.
All kinds of logistical supplies, and actively mediating commercial disputes within the empire!
It is because our chamber of commerce is loyal to the empire that it is often easy to attract criticism! Director Taylor, you also know that as a city with developed commerce and trade, Changxia City has very fierce competition among chambers of commerce, and any extreme means are used. Even for me
My family and I have been assassinated no less than three or five times in the past few years!"
Taylor looked calm and took out a flat silver box from his arms, pushed it to the rich man and opened it. Inside were several letters with the seal of the secret seal ring.
"This is your correspondence and cargo list with the Vanua rebels. There is also a ship loaded with weapons and equipment." Taylor stared at the expression of the rich man opposite, and his tone gradually became colder: "When the ship walked out of the Finger Bay,
Encountered a storm and hit the rocks on the seaside. Almost all the crew members died. Fortunately, they were rescued by a passing ship from our Evergreen Chamber of Commerce."
The rich man's expression was stiff at first, and then he said with a smile: "Oh, brother Taylor, what do you mean?"
"Your Excellency, what do you think the empire would think if it now learned that you, a businessman with franchise rights, was colluding with the rebels and providing weapons and supplies?" Taylor asked.
"Brother Taylor, the empire is now divided into three parts. Which empire are you talking about?" the rich man said.
Taylor showed a sly smile: "The empire is in civil strife. Every party is in urgent need of money to raise military supplies, and they are doing everything they can to plunder it. Your properties are spread across many parts of the empire. Once the news of funding the Vanua rebels is released, they can't do anything to you.
If you start, can't you confiscate all your properties?
And without the support of various industries, can you keep a foothold in Changxia City? Or you can look forward to the success of the Vanua rebels. But looking at the current situation, the war will not end in two or three years. I don’t know.
How long can the Chamber of Commerce sustain itself?”
"Brother Taylor, look at what you said, I am also thinking about the future of my family!" The rich man sighed: "Brother, I am also very sad that the empire has reached this situation. Which side do you think I should support? Lundi
The Senate of Newm City? Queen Kayla of Dreihem City? Or the Grand Marshal in the east?"
"I guess the income from traveling among the three families is higher than before, right?" Taylor asked: "But some things can still work hidden in the dark. Once they are revealed to the public, it will force all parties to do so.
No action."
At this moment, the rich man's face showed a trace of anger: "What do you want to do with this thing?"
"More than a hundred miles north of Changxia City, there is a piece of abandoned farmland, together with the surrounding mountainous areas, I want it." Taylor said.
The rich man understood immediately and said with a gloomy expression: "Director Taylor has such a big appetite! It is a rare contiguous field in the nearby area, and it is surrounded by mountains and has a natural defensive barrier. I will keep it in my hands and wait for appreciation.
Everyone wants to leave as soon as Director Taylor opens his mouth? Aren't you afraid of dying?"
Taylor blinked, then took the silver box back and said, "Okay, I don't want it anymore."
After Taylor said this, he stood up and was about to leave. This time, panic flashed across the rich man's face, and he quickly tried to dissuade him: "Wait! Leave your things to me!"
As soon as he said these words, there was a clanging sound in the corridor of the mansion, and a constructed shield guard directly blocked the path of Taro and Jeanne.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Taylor turned around and said with a smile, "That's fine. Anyway, I've been feeling a little tired recently. I'll just be a guest at your home for more than ten days. No one will bother me. If anyone comes to see you,
I, even if the teacher comes in person, I won’t see him!”
The rich man was sweating. He gasped and asked, "Are you threatening me? Is the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce too overbearing?"
Taylor asked: "Your Excellency funded the Vanua High Seas Fleet and tried to rob our Evergreen Chamber of Commerce ships several times in succession; you also sent people to the New World to try to steal pharmaceutical formulas; and you hired 'pipers' to publish in newspapers,
There are rumors that the material used in the Evergreen Clothes is corrosive and will cause ulcers on the wearer’s skin... Do I need to go on about similar examples?”
These things were not all collected by Taylor himself. Some of them were learned from the New World headquarters, and some were discovered by the psykers in the "Sky Eye" organization who cracked several cases of commercial espionage, all of which ultimately pointed to this wealthy businessman.
In fact, this was the first time that Taylor relied on the reputation of the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce and the "Duke of the Heart" to directly intimidate. There were some things that he had never experienced in the past, and he was worried about whether his words had enough weight.
But now it seems that if Taylor is pretending, these rich and powerful people with astonishing power and wide influence are actually not so inviolable.
"You just want that piece of land, right?" The rich man finally had to give in. He really didn't have the guts to openly confront the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce: "Return those letters to me, and I will give you the real estate contract immediately."
"No, you have to bring it to me in person." Taylor said: "I will wait for you to come to the branch of the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce and invite a notary to confirm the transfer of real estate ownership."
The rich man's face was extremely ugly. Taylor turned to look at the constructed shield guard and said: "If this thing doesn't give way, I don't mind smashing it directly."
The rich man had no choice but to control the constructed shield guard to get out of the way. Taylor walked to the door and turned back and said: "By the way, I will only wait for one day. If you don't come by this time tomorrow, then please pay attention to the various places in Changxia City.
It’s making headlines in every newspaper.”
After saying this, Taylor strode away from the wealthy mansion, with Jeanne following behind, not daring to say a word the whole time, and just boarded the carriage with Taylor.
"Okay, now we have the land." Taylor hid in the carriage and wiped his sweat.
"So... it's settled?" Jeanne couldn't believe it: "I haven't figured out the situation yet, why did he give in?"
"I am also betting." Taylor said: "First of all, these rich people are indeed rich and powerful. They are the real owners of Changxia City, but the environment of Changxia City is destined to rely on a huge business system to make a fortune.
Get rich. And now the leader of this commercial and trade system has gradually shifted from the Great Londinium Empire to the Mutual Protection Alliance.
The things I just said, if the empire is still as strong as before, there is no way to threaten this rich man. These big chambers of commerce think that the empire is divided into three, and they can make huge profits from the cracks, but they don’t know the old system
The collapse will also shake their business advantage. Although they can indeed make a lot of money at this moment by placing bets on each company."
This is the first time Jeanne has seen such a scene: "But what if the rich man just won't compromise?"
"Then I have nothing to say. Setting up a trap to intimidate is not always successful. Anyway, that guy doesn't dare to really attack me." Taylor said.
Jeanne looked worried: "I just didn't expect that you would openly blackmail a wealthy man from a large chamber of commerce. This kind of thing..."
"I really can't do this kind of thing." Taylor said with a wry smile: "Lord Jeanne has never seen the chief priest Sandori of our Star Order. She is much more decisive in attacking big farmers. She won't give him anything.
If there is any chance to refute the explanation, we will surround the manor and farm with the manpower of the cult, and forcibly conduct an inventory of the land and slave population."
"Now that we have land, can we relocate the poor people outside the city?" Jeanne asked.
"It's not that simple. We have to ask the poor to give up their days of barely surviving outside Changxia City by receiving relief food, and move to the abandoned land more than a hundred miles away. We also have to encourage them to cultivate and work, let alone a lot of them in the future.
Management and operational issues." Taylor sighed: "Sometimes when one difficulty is solved, countless difficulties often follow."
"Just leave it to me to persuade the people to leave! I guarantee that they will move to their new home with longing for it!" Jeanne patted her chest and said: "Also... don't call me 'Sir' in the future, just call me 'Sir'