Give Me the Name of God

Manda has been busy lately as he discovers that governing a city is more complicated than he thought.

Financial operation is a very complicated matter. The lord's income comes from taxes, but in this era, the tax structure is much more complicated than in later generations.

There are three categories of people who pay taxes to Almen. The first category of people are farmers, farmers under the direct jurisdiction of Almen. There are two forms of farmers paying taxes. The first is voluntary labor. They have to spend one-third of their time every month working in the lord's fields. The second type is the autumn tax. In autumn, farmers have to pay 30% of the grain harvested on their land to the lord. Taxes from farmers were the main source of food for the lords.

The second category of people who need to pay taxes is merchants. According to the laws of the Romulu Kingdom, merchants must pay taxes to the lord every time they pass through a place, and the amount is generally 20% or 30% of the value of the goods. Commercial tax is an important source of finance for lords. Blackwater City is located on an important road, and its annual commercial tax revenue can reach almost 10,000 gold coins. However, in the remote Hongye Town, its annual commercial tax revenue may not exceed one hundred gold coins.

The third category of people who need to pay taxes are the nobles, who are the vassals of Almen, and Manda is logically one of them. All nobles under Elmen's rule must pay 30% of their income to Elmen every year. This amount of money is large and of great significance. It represents Almen's status and dominance, and also represents the influence of vassals on them. His respect and obedience.

Now these three types of people have some minor problems, and Manda must resolve them one by one.

First of all, the farmers did not want to pay the autumn tax. The reason was that in order to prepare for the war, they had already paid military rations to Aiermeng.

This matter is understandable. If the military rations have already been paid, asking civilians to pay the autumn tax is equivalent to cutting off their livelihood. They will become refugees or even become mobs. This is obviously not the result that Manda wants to see. .

Manda's treatment of farmers was relatively mild. He opened the account books and compared them one by one. As long as the amount of farmers who had paid military rations reached 30%, they would be exempted from the autumn tax.

Next came the nobles, who provided soldiers for Elmen and donated a lot of weapons and food. This contribution was enough to withstand their taxes.

Manda understood this, it was the same as exempting farmers from taxes, but he still encouraged the nobles to pay taxes and make a proactive contribution.

There are still many smart people among the nobles. There are eleven nobles under the rule of Ermen. Eight of them paid taxes under Manda's persuasion, but there are still three nobles who are like a piece of iron and can't make any money.

Manda kept his word and did not embarrass these three nobles. Unfortunately, these three lords encountered robbers and were robbed and bankrupted.

Through this incident, the nobles understood a truth, that is, don't talk too much truth. The more truth you talk, the greater the disadvantages you will suffer.

The last remaining ones were the merchants, and their situation was more complicated. During the preparations for the war in Elmen, and the transition period until Manda took over Blackwater City, due to management negligence, many merchants fished in troubled waters and failed to pay taxes.

This group of merchants is easy to identify. Every merchant who has paid taxes will get a piece of wood engraved with the Elmen clan emblem. This piece of wood is the tax payment certificate.

Manda did not hold them responsible for tax evasion, but only required businessmen without documents to pay taxes when passing through Qixing Mountain.

But the merchants always used different tricks to refuse to pay taxes. Some said they had lost their vouchers, and some said they had never passed through Blackwater City. Manda sighed and said: It is hard for merchants to travel all the way. I am a tolerant person. Just let them go once, and when they get out of Qixing Mountain, ask Roman Wilkins to take care of them. Remember, you must be tolerant, just grab all the goods, and try not to kill anyone.

Roman Wilkins had a heavy task, but as soon as the taxation work got underway, Jenkins, the actor who played Roman Wilkins, actually ran to Blackwater City.

Manda was furious: You are guilty of leaving your post without permission!

My lord, Jenkins explained, I have a very serious problem that I must report to you in person.

I asked Che Erdan to assist you. You can discuss anything with him. Besides, you can also write to me. Why did you leave Gray Fish Town without permission?

I discussed it with Che Erdan for a long time, but this bastard lied to me. This matter must be resolved by you personally. I don't dare to write a letter. If the news leaks out, the consequences will be disastrous.

Manda frowned and said, What on earth is going on?

Jenkins took out a letter and handed it to Manda. After reading the letter, Manda's expression became very complicated.

This letter came from Bucken and was written eloquently for six pages. The first half of the letter gave high praise to Roman Wilkins, and the second half was a detailed battle plan.

He will let Larn Pigu join forces with the Gray Werewolves to attack Blackwater City again, and at the same time, he will send an army to travel through the mountains and attack Seven Star Mountain.

He asked Roman Wilkins to cooperate with him in attacking Seven Star Mountain and annihilating the heretic Krechi Monchik.

Bucken had Roman Wilkins destroy Krejci Monchik.

Manda had the urge to laugh, but she didn't laugh after all.

You said Che Erdan lied to you, how do you say that?

Jenkins said: He asked me to reply to the messenger face to face and agreed to the matter. He also boasted that I had three thousand troops and was sure to win this battle. This was completely trying to trick me. What should Bucken do if he believed it to be true? He also wanted to give you Sending a letter, how can such an important matter be explained clearly in a letter?

This time Manda smiled, not laughing at Jenkins' panic, but sincerely praising Cherdan's wisdom.

Manda received the king's order and also received some news from the royal capital. He knew that Bucken had captured the royal capital and also knew the situation in the entire kingdom.

Bucken wanted to start from the southwest and then conquer the entire south. This was expected by Manda, but she didn't expect that he would think so highly of Roman Wilkins.

This time, Bucken asked someone to deliver the letter. On the one hand, Bucken was testing Wilkins' identity. He still suspected that Wilkins and Monchik were the same person. On the other hand, it was to test Wilkins' strength. If he was just a minor role, Bucken wouldn't put much thought into him.

The Roman Kingdom has fallen into chaos, and the conflict between the God of Punishers and the lords of various places will intensify. The identity of Roman Wilkins is becoming more and more important to Manda, and it is an important guarantee for him to have both sides in the future.

Cerdan's response was completely correct. There should be no doubt about Roman's identity, nor could he be completely ignored by the Archbishop. This matter must be agreed decisively and confidently.

Return to Gray Fish Town, the sooner the better. I'm worried that there will be Bucken's spies in the town. You are not allowed to leave without my permission in the future. I will send Worm to go with you. If you need anything, just tell him directly. good.

After seeing off Jenkins, Manda called Manu: Choose a few trustworthy people and go out with me. We are going to fight. Let's get familiar with the battlefield first.