"Three months?" Almost at the same time, in the study room of a house in the east of the city, the middle-aged man who was as fat as swallowing baking powder was also repeating the word. After a moment of pause, he suddenly grabbed the roast lamb leg at his hand, took a heavy bite, and chewed: "If the new lord survived forty days smoothly, the Chamber of Commerce Alliance can become synonymous with incompetence!"

The fat man had no majesty at all, but the merchants beside him seemed to be extremely afraid of him and kept bowing their heads to say yes. However, one of the bald old men said with a worrying look on his face: "President Mott, this matter is probably not as easy as imagined. Since the new lord can arrive here smoothly, it means that the thieves and knights we bought have been defeated. What's worse, none of those people have survived, so we don't know at all..."

The fat man, known as Mott, raised his hand gently, interrupted his speculation, and sneered: "Edmund, is your courage inversely proportional to your age? That's just a tentative attack. If the new lord can't even resist such a method, what qualifications are there to fight for Falle's dominance?"

Edmund was stunned for a moment and did not dare to refute. Mott bit the roasted lamb leg and swallowed it for a while before continuing: "Just just now, I sent someone to send an invitation to the new lord and invite him to come to my house to attend the dinner tomorrow. If he talks about business tax, I think everyone should know how to do it!"

The merchants looked at each other and showed a heartfelt expression. In this era, the boss is the one who is hard on his fists. If the new lord wants to gain real power, he must collect commercial taxes and then use this money to form a city guard. According to the agreement of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance, once the new lord proposes to collect commercial taxes, they will apply for a postponement under the pretext of a market depression. As long as this is delayed for a few months, everything will be done.

But at this moment, the bald Edmund hesitated and asked: "President, do you see if the loan the nearby lords applied for by us should be approved? They have sent people to urge us several times."

This question obviously destroyed Mott's appetite. He put aside the roast lamb legs, rubbed his greasy palms, and said with a gloomy face: "Is there any other way? I can only agree! But you have to make sure that they will really stand on our side. I don't want to be useless."

"Please rest assured about this!" Edmund showed a little joy and bowed, "You may not know that the new lord is the confidant of His Highness the Princess, and the lords around us belong to the Prime Minister's camp. Therefore, we can look forward to a good show."

"Hmph, let them fight. I just want my Folare!" Mott moved his lips slightly, but looked at Edmund thoughtfully and said softly: "But Edmund, you seem to be too close to those lords! Be careful, they have been coveting Folare for more than a day or two. I don't want to drive away the jackals, but welcoming the evil tiger!"

"Yes, I'm just perfunctory!" Edmund met his fierce wife like a coward. The cold sweat on his forehead formed the Huangguoshu Falls. "But they hold 50,000 troops in their hands and have strong economic strength as a backing. If we offend too much, it may attract..."

"So, we need to strengthen the construction of the private guard!" Mott interrupted and grabbed the roast lamb leg again, waving it like a saber. "From next month, every member of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance will donate five thousand gold coins as an additional cost for the expansion of the guard."

"Five thousand gold coins!" Several businessmen with weak economic strength exclaimed at the same time, but quickly shut up under the aggressive eyes. Nodded with satisfaction, Mott smiled in a sharp voice that was completely different from his body size: "I know this is a bit too much, but don't I also want to donate myself? In short, please remember that this is also for Freir's tomorrow!"

The dinner to invite the lord was held on time after sunset the next day. Although there were many beauties present, the Duchess in a long lilac dress undoubtedly became the biggest focus. In addition, the Duchess' newly hired young tutor also aroused the interest of the female guests with his gentle temperament. Unfortunately, the three girls surrounded him were like iron walls, blocking all their eyes.

After the unnutritious greetings and laughing, the beautiful Mrs. Weiya raised her glass and greeted the merchants attending the banquet, and gradually revealed the theme of the dinner. Without surprise, her first request was to hope that the commercial tax could be re-exposed from next month, and the tax rate could be reduced by 30% compared to the regulations of the principality.

"Your kindness really makes us admire you!" President Mott kept a faint smile and bowed to Mrs. Weiya. But when he raised his head, his face was as painful as attending the funeral: "But I'm sorry, due to the rampant thieves nearby, the number of outside buyers has continued to decrease, which has seriously affected the market of Fleir. So can the levy of commercial tax be delayed for a period of time?"

This reason is indeed impeccable. Mrs. Weiya frowned slightly and pondered: "Are there really more thieves? So I also plan to rebuild the city defense force for the expedition, but if this amount of funds..."

"I'm afraid you can only bear this." President Mott sighed, showing a shy expression like a girl, "But we can guarantee that as long as the nearby thieves and pirates are completely wiped out, the commercial tax can be immediately regained. Even if you ask us to pay twice the amount, there is no problem!"

The smooth answer blocked Mrs. Weiya's other plan. Seeing this, she had no social experience, so she could only look at the man beside her with help. He Taiping signaled to receive it with a slight cough, then coughed lightly and said lightly: "It turns out that Falle is so depressed? To be honest, when I learned yesterday that President Mott owned eighteen shops, I thought the business here was very good!"

"For your blessing, monthly income can barely offset the expenditure, but if this continues, it may not last long." Mot was not surprised by He Taiping's previous investigation, but instead waved casually, "It seems that Mr. He doesn't believe me very much... I heard that you just bought a store yesterday, so why not try it yourself?"

He Taiping smiled slightly, rubbed his chin gently and said, "I do have plans to open a store, but now I'm a little hesitant. To be honest, I'm very worried about sweeping your face. After all, you just said that the market is depressed. If I make a big profit, wouldn't it make you very incompetent?"

This is a naked provocation. If someone can still maintain the normal state under this verbal attack, then he must be a deaf man. Five or six big merchants looked at each other, and the fat Mott sneered with a pale face: "If you have such a method, you can do it well, but you don't know what you plan to do?"

"Well, I plan to do the catering industry first!" He Taiping seemed to be a blind man, and continued to speak in his angered eyes. Mott forced a smile and turned to look at the middle-aged man with a mustache next to him: "Caing industry? It's the best. I think Mr. Moon will be willing to talk to you..."

Muen, who was named, had a slightly slight head, straightened his body and looked at He Taiping, his eyes full of compassion and disdain. The guests around him had already stopped eating and turned their attention to the confrontation here. He Taiping gently brimmed his high-highlights, and smiled as if nothing had happened in the face of mocking and pity among the crowd: "So that's it, but it's just that the competition is too boring. Why don't we make a bet?"

Mot and Moon looked at each other, and the anger in his heart disappeared without a trace at this moment, replaced by the sudden realization of falling into a trap. However, facing nearly a hundred guests at this time, how could they escape as their identities? So after a little hesitation, the two finally nodded slowly and said, "Okay, I don't know what Mr. He plans to bet?"

"This is simple, it's just a bet on operating income. It depends on who reaches a certain amount first, and then decides the outcome." He Taiping seemed to know that they would agree, and replied lightly, "As for betting, if I win, then the business tax will start to be collected again; otherwise, I think the Duchess will get into some kind of strange disease and have to return to the imperial capital for recuperation..."

Moon remained silent, as if thinking about his gains and losses. A few minutes later, he suddenly nodded softly and said, "Whoever can get a profit of 100,000 gold coins first will be the winner. For justice, I suggest that Mr. Fallow and Mr. Sout be supervised in the two stores."

The two names he reported were both hereditary nobles with great prestige in the local area, so He Taiping naturally would not have any objection. At that moment, the two sides signed a bet at the dining table and the guests present witnessed it. At this time, the atmosphere of the dinner had been almost destroyed. As the host, Mott was certainly unwilling to end like this, so after signing the contract, he gently tapped the glass in his hand, attracting the attention of many guests.

Without waiting for him to smile and speak, several guests who knew how to flatter him had already spoken first: "Mr. Mott, I heard that you spent a lot of money to invite a famous performing arts troupe this time. I wonder if we have any chance to enjoy the wonderful singing and dancing performances tonight?"

"The news is indeed very informative!" Mott narrowed his eyes slightly, revealing a bit of unconcealable complacent. "This time, in order to welcome the Duchess, I specially invited a famous performing troupe to perform. I believe many people should have heard of the name of this performing troupe - Jixiang performing troupe. Do you have any impression?"
Chapter completed!