Gold is Justice

Ariel's eyes turned to the group of people who came in, and of course she noticed the tax official immediately.

Calculating the time, it is indeed the time for tax collection once a year, so Ariel is not really surprised by the arrival of this tax official.It can even be said that she has already prepared the Mermaid Song and Pelican City's taxes, and plans to solve this year's tax problems lightly and skillfully.

However, when Ariel saw the few people who came in with the tax officer, a little surprise and joy appeared on the expression on her face.

Of course, as a mayor, she still contained the excitement in her heart very well, nodded slightly to one of those people, then turned her eyes to the tax officer again, and said with a smile: "Oh Ah, isn’t this Mr. Tax Officer? You came so early this year, I thought you wouldn’t come until after October.”

The tax officer laughed, straightened up slightly towards Ariel, and said with a smile: "I knew that Mayor Ariel would definitely not forgive me! I apologize to you for what I did to you at that time Apologies for being rude!"

Ariel chuckled, making her expression more gentle, without revealing the slightest bias.She pointed to the narrator's seat and asked these people to sit down: "Tesla, bring some tea here."

Tesla looked at the tax officer, and then at the president of his family. Although he didn't know what was going on, he followed the instructions and went into the kitchen to make tea.

While he was making tea, Ariel also packed up the materials on her table, walked to the reception sofa, sat down in the owner's seat, and said with a smile: "Where is that, how long ago was that?" Is something wrong? Don't worry, it's okay, I don't mind at all. I also know that Mr. Tax Officer has his own job responsibilities, so I will definitely not have any thoughts. "

Hearing that Ariel was now willing to forgive herself, the almost flattering smile on the tax officer's face finally gradually relaxed.

He sat down on the sofa, but when he saw that the other three people behind him didn't want to take a seat because of this, he hesitated for a moment, then got up and said, "That...you sit too?"

Among the three people behind him, two were dressed in weapons and adventurers' attire, and they seemed to be guards.The remaining one was wearing a set of dirt-resistant traveling clothes and a cloak.Now, she took off the cloak on her head, revealing two sharp ears.

"Sister Ariel, hello, long time no see."

Under the cloak is an elf girl.She smiled at Ariel and nodded.

Ariel also smiled at her and said, "It's really been a long time...you sit too."

The elf girl looked at the seat, shook her head slightly, and said, "My words...forget it. My status does not allow me to sit in front of you."

Ariel frowned slightly, and wanted to say something else.However, the tax officer here waved his hand and said, "Mr. Mayor asked you to sit down! Where did you come from so much nonsense! She is your sister, why are you being so polite to your own sister?"

The elf girl was taken aback for a moment, then lowered her head in embarrassment, with two blushes on her face, and said, "I... I just..."

Ariel also waved her hand and said, "Hurry up and sit down! Otherwise, I will be angry with your sister Ariel!"

Hearing what Ariel said, the elf girl nodded and sat down next to the tax official.

The tax officer smiled and said, "Mayor Ariel, I came here today. On the one hand, I wanted to apologize to you in person. At that time, I was really... I was really out of my mind, you know? I don’t know? At that time, the crown prince, the second prince, and the duke were all in front of me! I really... my mind went crazy, I really don’t know anything!"

Ariel didn't mean to blame the tax official, seeing that he had been thinking about this matter for half a year, she couldn't help but waved her hand, and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, I know your difficulties at that time. Don't worry, I'm fine, I won't take it to heart." The tax officer held his chest, exhaled again, and said slowly: "If Mayor Ariel can forgive me, it's really too much. Well...Mr. Mayor, I really didn't think of it... To be honest, when I heard that Pelican City is now at the helm of you last month, I was really shocked! But then I After thinking about it, I immediately figured it out. Well, if it was you, let alone the mayor of Pelican City, even if you became the actual person in power of the entire Marginal Province! I don’t think there will be any problems!”

Speaking of this, the tax officer suddenly showed a smirk on his face, leaned over, and said cheerfully: "Mr. Mayor, why don't you tell me the truth? Are you going to... Hehe, when will the entire marginal province Take them all?"

Ariel laughed, and said in a slightly joking tone: "Mr. Tax Official's words are really interesting, let's not talk about these! You must be exhausted from a long distance, right? Have you arranged a place to stay? If not , I’ll find you a place to live right now! Guaranteed cheap and good quality!”

The tax officer laughed, and made a funny expression: "Look at what you said, Mr. Mayor, what's the matter? Can't wait for me to leave quickly? Are you trying to find a way to drive me out?"

Having said that, both parties laughed, and there seemed to be a happy atmosphere between each other.

Once the atmosphere relaxed, even Tesla's footsteps, which brought tea, seemed a lot lighter.He placed the tea in front of his president and the tax officer on the opposite side. Just when he was about to put the tea in front of the elf girl, the elf girl suddenly stood up and nodded to Tesla, looking very nervous. of restraint.

Ariel glanced at the elf girl, continued to look away, and faced the tax officer in front of her: "Hahaha! Well, I also know that Mr. Tax Officer is a person who likes to deal with things directly. Hmm... how about this? I just settled the account here, so how about we pay this year's tax first? Tesla, go, get the account book I put on the table over there."

Tesla nodded, put down the tea, and walked over to tidy up the books.

Seeing Tesla collecting the account books over there, the tax officer smacked his lips slightly.Afterwards, he looked at Ariel, with some hesitation in his eyes.

Naturally, Ariel quickly caught the tax official's sight. She put down the tea she had already brought up and said, "Mr. Tax Official, if you have anything to say, please speak up."

Tesla opened his mouth slightly, but then, his eyes fell on Tesla who was walking over again.After thinking about it, he said, "Well...excuse me, can we talk in a quiet place?"

Hearing these words, the smile on Ariel's face suddenly froze.

She thought about it for a while, and gave him a wink after Tesla put down the tea, and Tesla left with his design drawing in his arms.

After waiting until there was no one else in the guild hall except the five of them, Ariel got up, slowly closed the guild door, walked slowly to the counter, picked up the cat sleeping on the cushion, and hugged it In his arms, he returned to his seat and said, "Now, can you speak?"

The tax officer exhaled slowly, looked at the cat in Ariel's arms, and said with a smile, "You still keep this monster? Cute is cute, but it's useless."

Ariel smiled, glad that the little white cat in her arms was snoring now.

"Mr. Mayor... No, President Ariel. I am here today, on the one hand, to apologize to you, and on the other hand, to collect taxes. On the other hand, I want to announce a new promulgation to you decrees."



Chapter 270 Who made the proposal? !

Hearing the word "decree", Ariel immediately frowned.Although she still doesn't know what the content of this decree is, judging from the current atmosphere, it is probably not a good thing.

Seeing that Ariel did not speak, but was listening silently, the tax officer took a slow breath and began to say——

"As the winner of the guild championship battle, President Ariel, have you met His Royal Highness the Crown Prince? I don't know...have you met His Majesty the Emperor?"

Ariel shook her head lightly.

The tax officer continued: "When I set off to collect taxes from the three identities of Marginal Province, Tianhong Province, and Diliao Province, I got a fast-track report. The emperor of the Blue Bay Empire, His Majesty Belan XII, has already On September 1304, 9, he passed away sadly in Hanhai City. Your Majesty, he...he passed away very peacefully."

Hearing the news, Ariel was slightly taken aback, and then estimated the time in her heart.

He passed away on September 9, and now it's only September 2. In just nineteen days, the news was able to spread from Hanhai City to this marginal province. This speed can be regarded as very fast.

Regarding this, Ariel let out a long breath, took off the hat on her head, hugged it in her arms, and said: "Although I haven't seen His Highness the Twelfth, but from the few words in daily life, I can I feel the tenderness and kindness of His Royal Highness the XII. His Highness is a great monarch, and I am deeply saddened by this."

The tax official also bowed his head in silence.The elf girl next to her and the two adventurers who looked like guards behind her also bowed their heads in silence.After the 1-minute silence ended, the tax officer got up and said: "I believe it will not be long before the official documents should be sent to Pelican City. By then, Pelican City may need to make some preparations. Make some changes."

Ariel nodded with a serious face: "Thank you, Mr. Tax Officer, for your reminder. Is it just such a thing?"

The tax officer sighed, and said, "If it's possible, I really want to say, it's just such a thing."

"Due to the death of His Royal Highness the Twelfth, our Crown Prince has logically become the next emperor of our Blue Bay Empire, becoming His Highness Bilan Thirteen. Of course, His Royal Highness Bilan Thirteen's ascension to the throne is a matter of course. Everyone knows that things are logical, and no one thinks there is any problem. But the problem is... it's..."

After struggling for a moment, the tax officer raised his hand, patted his thigh, and said——

"The problem is that less than three days after His Royal Highness the Twelfth passed away, His Highness the Thirteenth signed a series of decrees. Among them, there is a decree concerning all the adventurer guilds in the current Blue Bay Empire .”

Ariel felt her heart suddenly thump, held her breath involuntarily, stretched out her hand and slowly stroked Napa in her arms.

"That is, the taxes related to the adventurer's guild have been converted from the previous accumulated tax rate to a fixed tax rate. That is to say, all adventurer's guilds, regardless of their contribution to the town, regardless of whether they are profitable or not, and regardless of their Whether or not how many employment problems have been solved, etc., are all levied at the income tax rate of 50% of the previous year."

At that moment, Ariel thought she had heard wrong?

But after this feeling of astonishment lasted only for a moment, she immediately understood the reason, and her originally tense mood quickly calmed down at that moment.

However, facing the tax official in front of her, Ariel still showed a shocked and inexplicable expression on her face, opened her mouth, and widened her eyes: "50%?! So high?!"

The tax officer saw the surprised and inexplicable president of the Adventurer's Guild in front of him, and he shook his head helplessly, and said, "Yeah, I'm also surprised... how could the tax rate be raised to such a high level all of a sudden! Ariel Chairman, have you received any news before? Is there any trace of this... before?"

Facing the eyes of the tax official in front of her, Ariel felt that she still needed to be a little vigilant.

She frowned, touched her lips, and said, "Well...there were actually rumors that the crown prince...no, the current emperor hopes to disband the Adventurer's Guild as much as possible, and use the power in it to All of them were collected into the imperial army. This kind of news... Mr. Tax Collector, haven't you heard of it before?"

The tax officer exhaled slowly, and said: "This kind of news is indeed a rumor among the market... In fact, everyone is generally nervous about this kind of thing. But... President Ariel, you Don't you really know this kind of thing?"

Ariel thought about it, and asked tentatively: "I should know... what?"

The tax officer slapped his thigh and said, "Need to talk? It's about you!"

Ariel: "Me?"

Tax Officer: "Yes! Think about it, you won the guild championship in one go last year! Everyone must have been surprised at first, but that battle was indeed very exciting. But later, as the Second Empire The news about the prince's mistress gradually spread, and if those guilds admired you for winning this game at the beginning, they basically thought that your mermaid song should be won by default."

Ariel frowned slightly, and began to think about the problems inside.

Tax officer: "Of course, it's not a problem that you won by default. Think about it, during the guild championship competition, all kinds of news about His Majesty's desire to abolish the guild have already spread. If it was someone else If we win the guild championship battle, everyone will basically regard it as a carnival before disbanding, and everyone will be panicked."

"However, later on, the guild founded by you, the second prince's mistress won the championship, and after the competition, your guild won the award from His Majesty, and was able to return here as the champion. After such a situation, Everyone began to speculate that the rumor that the guild was going to be disbanded was just a rumor? Because if the guild was really going to be disbanded, how could you, Song of the Mermaid, with such a good promotional material, leave unharmed? According to the usual practice, You need to tell me that Song of the Mermaid is disbanded, right?"

Hearing this, Ariel smiled wryly.

The tax official's guess was really accurate. The current emperor, His Majesty, really made such a statement, asking Ariel to announce the disbandment of Song of the Mermaid immediately after winning the decisive victory. Good head, its various demonstration effects.

But later, due to the appearance of the elemental machine, His Majesty the Emperor needed Ariel's power to develop the elemental machine, and the development of the elemental machine definitely required the power of Song of the Sword Mermaid, so her guild was retained.

But now it seems that the emperor's idea of ​​disbanding the guild still hasn't changed...

"So, everyone is relieved. After more than half a year, when everyone was ready to continue living with peace of mind, His Majesty's decree was suddenly signed, which caught many guilds by surprise. Unprepared. It should be said that this year's round of taxation can directly bankrupt some guilds with poor revenue."

"President Ariel, look at the current state, I can guarantee that this year's tax collection must be very chaotic. Your side... don't make things difficult for me..."

Ariel silently pondered these questions in her heart.After the tax officer in front of her finished speaking, she finally understood what he meant by these words.

Although, Ariel doesn't want to make things difficult.

But now that the decree has been signed, is it true that Ariel is really required to directly take out half of the guild's revenue to pay taxes in order not to embarrass the tax official in front of her?

Ha, no matter how you think about it, it's impossible!

Thinking of this, Ariel still had a smile on her face, but her fists under the table were slowly clenched.

really!His Majesty the Emperor!

Although Ariel also agrees that the current Blue Bay Empire needs reform, many places need to be adjusted!Especially in the face of the continuous attack of the Hunter Empire, the disaster year caused by the domestic drought, there are refugee groups formed by farmers who lost their land everywhere, and the riots among those villages... But in such a Under such circumstances, directly cutting the knife on the head of the Adventurer's Guild, which is almost equivalent to maintaining local law and order, to a certain extent, and slashing 50% of it in one breath...

Is this really good?

That fierce wave Bilan...is he really crazy about becoming an emperor just now and wanting to make achievements in politics?Or which irresponsible administrative bureaucrat put such an irresponsible policy on his desk?

While thinking about it, Ariel let a sad and embarrassed expression slowly appear on her face, so as to match the current atmosphere.

The tax officer in front of him saw Ariel's current expression, and after thinking for a while, he also said, "President Ariel, what are you thinking now...?"

Ariel raised her head, frowned tightly again, and said, "Well... Mr. Tax Officer, I have to say, this is really too sudden. I don't know what to do for a short time... ...You see, I have already calculated the tax before, many things have been prepared, even the special tax has been taken out, and I am waiting to pay it together...But now you suddenly said to me about the tax Adjusted to 50%... all of a sudden the adjustment range is so large, I can't handle a lot of work."

The tax officer also nodded again and again, and said apologetically, "I know, I know! President Ariel, I know all of this! Oops... This is really difficult... I also understand that you are here Feeling at a loss after suddenly getting this matter. This is really... oh, so, this is also the reason why I hurried over here now, I just hope to inform Bianjian Province and Tianhong Province of these things as soon as possible And the three guilds in Diliao Province, so I rushed here before October, I hope you haven't settled your accounts, so that you don't do wasted work. From this point of view... Oh, President Ariel, you really You are so outstanding, I can only apologize for the useless work you have caused..."

apology?

If she could collect money just by apologizing, Ariel felt like she could apologize to anyone she saw every second!The gesture of apology can be as standard as it needs to be, and as polite as it needs to be!A world where you don't have to pay just to apologize! That's awesome!Now I apologize to you, can you, a tax official, not collect money, and then obediently take the tax you calculated and leave? !

Ariel suppressed the anger in her heart, and continued to maintain that gentle smile on her face.After thinking about it with her head tilted, she said, "My lord tax official, your matter is too... surprising. So I may need a little time to deal with it properly. Even taxes need to be recalculated Wait... Look, do you want to go to Biejia to rest first?"

Seeing that Ariel did not flatly refuse, the tax officer was obviously relieved.He nodded quickly, and replied: "Of course, this is of course. It will take time to recalculate the tax, I understand that. In addition, I have a little suggestion for you here."

Ariel was slightly taken aback, and said, "Suggestion? What suggestion?"

The tax officer paused for a moment, looked at the elf girl next to him out of the corner of his eye, and said, "That's right, you can calculate taxes slowly, even a little slower. Even, you don't have to worry about taxes. Pay it to me, and then someone will accept your tax money."

Ariel became alert all of a sudden, but a smile returned to her face: "What does this mean?"

Seeing Ariel smile, the tax officer also laughed, and said: "Hahaha, you will know what it means soon. Then... well, President Ariel, about your mermaid song I have already informed that it is over. In addition, there is the tax of Pelican City. I believe that if the tax of Mermaid Song needs to be adjusted, the tax of Pelican City also needs to be adjusted? I understand this very well, very understand."

What is there to understand?Isn't it just telling yourself around the corner, can you make fake accounts here?

This kind of thing can only be done by Ariel, who is also the guild leader and the mayor of Pelican City.Regarding this, Ariel nodded lightly, pretending to be ignorant and smiling, "Understood? Ah... well, you just need to understand."