Versatile Mage: Thunderstorm

Chapter 57 The lion opens its mouth

"Wait a moment!"

The consultant team leader suddenly spoke, and when everyone's eyes were focused on him, he looked at the old butler seriously.
"Butler Chen, are you really clear about the funding requirements for hiring hunters?"

The defense capabilities a city needs depend not only on the size of the city, but more on the size of the threats around it.

Unfortunately, Bo City is not a big city, but there are many monsters around it, and the demand for defense force far exceeds its own size.

"One hundred mid-level mages."

Butler Chen said calmly,
"I think this amount should be enough to fill the gap in Bo City's defense."

"One hundred mid-level mages?"

The senior executives of Bo City present all gasped in shock. Enough, this is more than enough!
Even in the previous Bo City, all the mid-level mages added together did not exceed fifty, including the twenty mid-level mages and officers in the military. The rest were basically the leaders of the major families and forces, and the worst were elders.

It is for this reason that, in this battle against demons, a considerable number of mid-level mages did not contribute at all. After all, their safety is related to the stability of their own power and status. If anything goes wrong, the little compensation paid by the government will not be able to make up for the loss.

If Bo City had the fighting power of a hundred mid-level mages a few days ago, how could it have suffered such heavy losses?
Before the senior executives could get excited, the old butler's subsequent words immediately gave them a blow.

"If you are interested, you can also participate. If you have money, you can donate."

The scene was silent for a moment, and I looked up at the ceiling...

Don't mention it, this ceiling...

Hey!

It looks like a ceiling!
"One hundred mid-level mages, the annual commission would probably be several hundred million."

Deng Kai and others were secretly shocked. What kind of rich man came to their Bo City to live in seclusion? Even though the Hunter Alliance, the Magician Association and the noble families can call the shots in Bo City, to be frank they are just a group of local tyrants who claim to be rich but actually don't have much money.

Back then, Mu Ningxue was extremely talented and was given special training by the Mu family in Bo City. In order to equip her with a spiritual-level stardust magic weapon worth 10 or 20 million yuan, Mu Zhuoyun and the elders of the Mu family had a huge argument. Why?
Doesn't the Mu family know the value of Mu Ningxue?

Of course not. It’s simply because the Mu family doesn’t have that much money, or rather, most of the cash flow has turned into fixed assets such as real estate, shops and land.

If any force randomly takes out tens of millions of cash, the funding chain will be broken in a matter of minutes.

Try it and it will be gone.

Unfortunately, the most unfortunate ones this time were the fixed assets of each family, which were basically destroyed. Houses and shops could be rebuilt even if they were gone, but the worst thing was that because of the demon invasion, the land prices in Bo City plummeted. After this battle, the assets of all major forces shrunk by more than 80%.

Let alone several hundred million, under this situation, even if these three companies sell everything they have, they would be considered strong if they could come up with 100 million.

Even if it can be smashed...

Don't you want to support your subordinates? Don't you want to pay pensions? Don't you want to pay wages? Don't you want to buy resources? Don't you want to rebuild the destroyed houses?

The one with the ugliest expression here is Mu Zhuoyun.

The Hunter Union and the Magic Association can at least get financial support from higher authorities. Even the Magic High School and Bocheng Municipal Government, which are the most cash-strapped, are funded by the government, so they can get some money out of it.

The only exception is the Mu family. As one of the countless branches of the Mu family, they have no chance of getting any assistance from the main family. It is considered good enough that they are not exploited by the main family on a regular basis.

"Of course, if you are willing but unable, we will take care of the funds."

The old butler looked around and knew that no one at this stall could afford to pay, and he didn't expect the other party to pay.

It was fate, because of some unexpected events, they sold all their assets in the imperial capital and returned to Bo City, originally planning to investigate the market and start some small business again.

Unexpectedly, a Cheng Yaojin appeared halfway through. Li Yu came to the door a year ago. Shi Liang, who was almost discouraged, found an opportunity and rekindled his confidence in conducting the experiment. In order to ensure sufficient funds, the old housekeeper gave up the original plan. This also led to the Shi family, which had a large amount of cash, becoming the party with the least losses in this disaster.

In this state of disrepair, the Shi family is the most powerful force in Bo City.

“What does the family need then?”

The consultant team leader asked, and the other party's eyes were full of expectation. Unless it was absolutely necessary, they were unwilling to let the people migrate. Since someone was willing to help, he was happy to see it happen.

Of course, the premise of all this is that the other party’s asking price is not too high.

Being willing to provide such a huge sum of money to Bo, I think what they are asking for is not a small matter.

"Nothing, we just need tax-free privileges for the next twenty years."

The old butler showed an extremely kind and harmless smile.
“We will provide Bo with a city defence fund of 500 million every year in the next five years.

At the same time, we also hope to obtain corresponding conveniences and hope that the state will exempt the Shi family’s industry from taxes for 20 years.”

With a five-year development buffer, Bo City’s vitality can be restored quickly, and superiors will have ample time to dispatch personnel.

but……

"impossible!"

The consultant team leader immediately refused.

"Your request is really too much. There is no way that the superior will agree to it."

Twenty years of tax exemption?
If it is a small household, twenty years of tax exemption may be no problem.

However, the Shi family is a wealthy family that can easily spend hundreds of millions of dollars. Once they obtain tax-free privileges, they will undoubtedly have an overwhelming advantage. Their power will definitely expand rapidly in a short period of time. If they are given twenty years, it may not be impossible for them to become a super wealthy family comparable to the Zhao family.

“What if the duty-free zone is limited to Bo?”

"Ok?"

The consultant team leader was stunned.
"Really?"

If this is the case, it is not unacceptable. Bo City is not very large. Even if the Shi family monopolizes all businesses in this city, they may not be as good as a branch of a family in a second or third tier city, which is only active in this small piece of land.

Moreover, this condition can be seen as the price that Bo City pays for its own survival.

Although it seems that they are still being taken advantage of, compared to the possible future benefits, the members of parliament may care more about the billions of dollars that the family has paid out in the present.

It's a good thing to be able to save a city after all.

Moreover, a small place like Bo City cannot collect much tax. All major forces have corresponding tax reductions and exemptions. With the little tax collected, the municipal government would be lucky to be able to support itself every year.

Then, the old butler took another step back.
"Moreover, we can guarantee that when operating similar businesses and selling goods, the price will be maintained at the market average level and we will never resort to price dumping."

The consultant team leader's mind relaxed a little more.

Why did he so resolutely refuse to give the Shi family tax-free privileges? Wasn't it because he was worried that the Shi family would use the tax-free advantage to directly cut prices and engage in price wars with other companies? Who could defeat this?
If product and business prices are maintained at the market average, there will be no major problems. Even if there are problems, they will be minor.

This tax-free privilege mainly confers an advantage in terms of competition, but the Hunter Alliance is made up of magic hunters, and everyone can also get commissions from bounties and commissions. The Magic Association has a monopoly on the resources of awakening stones, and basically occupies a single track, and the overlap with the Shi family's business is not high.

The most important thing is that these two companies have backers and can obtain financial support from higher-level organizations, so they will not be directly defeated.

The ones who will really feel uncomfortable because of the Shi family are the aristocratic families, as they have the widest business scope. Didn’t you see that Mu Zhuoyun’s face has become even darker?

However, the head of the consulting team also vaguely guessed that the Shi family might be hiding some secrets, which made them absolutely confident that they would make a huge profit in this transaction, and they even dared to directly promise 2.5 billion yuan as a price.

But this is none of his business, and those cunning people in the parliament will surely be able to see that.

Of course, the consultant team leader couldn't give in so quickly, but after thinking carefully for a while, he said:

"I will report your request to my superiors."

The old butler nodded in agreement.
"No problem, we're always here for you."

(End of this chapter)