Come to another world and become a lord

In the back hall of the palace, King Philip paced back and forth, with a slightly angry look on his face. He shouted at Samuel:

"What were you thinking? You actually teamed up with him to deal with Morton. I know you've had a lot of complaints against the earls in the North over the years because of tax collection, but isn't this a bit too much?"

"Your Majesty, it's not that I want to do this, but Carl gave too much~"

"What did you say?"

Philip's eyes widened after hearing what Samuel said. When he was about to explode, he saw Samuel took out a roll of parchment and handed it to him.

"Your Majesty, please take a look." said the other party.

"what is this?"

"This is Rickburg's income list for this month."

Philip took it and looked at it carefully, nodding from time to time:

"This, this is Rickburg's monthly income?"

"If we can maintain this number throughout the year, then the tax revenue that Rick Territory alone can provide this year will be..." Samuel gestured a number to Philip as he spoke, and then continued, "Moreover, Baron Carl told me directly that the current productivity of Rick Territory alone cannot meet the market demand, which is why he is eager to occupy both Graven Valley and Ceres Territory. Once he has established a firm foothold, he will put these two baronies into production as well. By then, the tax revenue of the three baronies can basically maintain this number."

"Oh~" King Philip nodded thoughtfully, "It seems that he did give a lot."

"It's more than just a lot. Your Majesty, you also know that the North has always been a barren land, especially that Morton. He hasn't paid taxes for many years, and there is famine every year. He has an excuse every year. If it were really as he said, all his subjects would have died long ago." Samuel took the opportunity to add.

"That's true." Philip nodded while muttering to himself, but soon he reacted and shook his head again:

"But you are asking me to condone the vassals fighting over their territories. If this precedent is set..."

"Your Majesty, this is not robbery, this is buying, and it is voluntary on both sides." Samuel said.

"500 gold coins for a barony, you are kidding me~" King Philip retorted, "How do you want me to explain this to the ministers?"

"Your Majesty, this is not the first time this has happened. Hasn't the Morgan family ever seized land before?" Samuel replied.

King Philip shook his head again. He glanced at Samuel, then at the income report of Rick County in his hand. Finally, he sighed and asked:

"Tell me what you are going to do next."

Samuel bowed first, then explained:

"Isn't it that the ownership of Ceres Territory has already been in my hands? In fact, the three of us have signed an agreement, which states that the actual occupier of Ceres Territory will sell the territory. I, Carl, and Morton have all signed. Several servants I sent also arrived at Shadow Abyss Castle yesterday to hand over the property to Carl's people..."

He paused here, cleared his throat and continued:

"Of course, it's just a gesture, but this way I am both the owner of the territory and the actual occupant. We signed a sale agreement, so when the time comes, I just need to sell him the ownership of the territory."

"Hmm~" Philip nodded again, and then suddenly asked, "How much is it?"

"Ah?" Samuel was stunned for a moment, not understanding what the king meant.

"I'm asking about the other agreement you signed and what the selling price was," King Philip explained again.

"7...700." Samuel replied hesitantly.

"Hmm~" Philip nodded calmly, "So you made a net profit of 200."

"Your Majesty, I am doing this for the country, without any selfish motives..."

"I understand~" Philip did not refute him, but continued calmly, "After this is done, I will leave 50 gold coins for you as a reward, and the other 150 will go into the national treasury."

"what?"

Samuel's eyes widened, but he saw the other party patting his shoulder while smiling:

"You're welcome. You deserve it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will follow your instructions~" Samuel said, but his face unconsciously turned into a bitter one.

"That's settled then." Philip patted his thigh and said, then he emphasized as if he had thought of something, "However, this will only happen once, and it won't happen again."

When Philip returned to the hall again, his previous anxiety was swept away and replaced by a happy face. He looked around and focused his attention on Morton and Carl.

"Your Majesty, please make the decision for me!"

Morton put on a pitiful look and shouted. As he shouted, several ministers around him began to nod:

"Your Majesty, there is something wrong with this contract, Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty, this is clearly a plot against Earl Morton. Please understand your majesty."

King Philip glanced at the ministers who were chattering below him, and then focused his attention on Prime Minister Aaron:

"Prime Minister, what do you think?"

Aaron first looked at the king, then at Samuel, and after thinking for a moment, he said:

"Your Majesty, I can't say for sure, but Morton signed the contract. This is a fact, and no one forced him to do so."

Hearing the Prime Minister's words, Philip nodded with satisfaction, then turned to Morton and said:

"What the Prime Minister said makes sense. This contract was drafted by my finance minister Samuel himself. He knows this best. Since you have signed it, you should abide by it."

"What?" Morton's eyes widened in disbelief. For a moment, he didn't know what to say. He could only keep shouting, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty!!"

But Philip continued:

"Morton, as a noble, you must have a spirit of contract. Since you have signed it, it must be counted. I am the ruler of a country and I cannot be partial to others when doing things~"

Morton's eyes almost popped out. He wanted to swear, but he held back. In the end, he could only lower his head and replied helplessly:

"I, I understand~" There was reluctance in his tone.

Carl stood aside, keeping a calm mood. He won again. But this was not surprising. The person recommended by Prime Minister Aaron must have a conflict with Morton and a certain weight. It was normal for him to win. In fact, their game was not very clever, but so what. The key point was not to make the game more clever, but whether it could take care of the interests of the superiors. In this regard, when he handed the income situation of Rickburg to Samuel, he had already won half of it.

While Morton was still racking his brains to win over the ministers, he was using the income report to directly bribe King Philip. It was because of the bill and the promise of future tax revenue that Samuel dared to accept his money with peace of mind, and the king would be more willing to stand on his side.

However, even though he won, he was not very happy. In his opinion, all this was what he deserved, and he had gambled his life to get it. But even so, when Morton brought the matter to the court, he still had to spend all his money and curry favor with the superiors to barely keep everything. And those superiors could control everything about him just by talking.

In the end, it was still a question of strength. He was too weak now. Perhaps in the eyes of most ordinary people, he was the best who had made it to the top, the high and mighty Lord. But in this hall, he was so small and insignificant. Anyone could easily crush him to death if they wanted to. He was still just a nobody now.