Chapter 132: Fed

The eastern part of St. Peter's Province is now under the rule of Governor Ronald.

This governor from a declining noble family is really good.

He took advantage of the gap when the commander of the St. Peter's Legion was delayed in taking office to raise his own team.

Together with the sheriffs of the Augusta faction in various places, all checkpoints were covered.

According to the scheduled route, all checkpoints were recorded and the same number of tax certificates were issued.

Soon, the first checkpoint was encountered.

The local security team under the banner of the Kingdom Security Team stopped the caravan.

Several cavalrymen on horseback came in a hurry. Viscount Chavez did not reveal his identity. He wanted to see if the promise of the Augusta family was useful.

"Are you a caravan from Degen Port?"

The sheriff rode up on horseback, without even getting off the horse, very arrogant.

The manager of the caravan came forward and handed over a tax certificate.

It marked the quantity of goods, the route passed, the name of this checkpoint, and the seal of the tax officer of Degen Port.

The sheriff took it and looked at it, repeatedly comparing the seals and making sure it was correct.

"I've heard that a caravan from Port Degen is coming, and today we met it." The sheriff smiled more and waved his hand to signal his men to search: "Check if the goods are correct. If there is no problem, let them go."

Soon, the security team finished the inspection and found no problem.

"Let's go, let's go. Next time you encounter problems here, you can come to me directly."

This sentence was obviously said for the sake of the Augusta family.

Viscount Chavez didn't speak all the time. He noticed that the sheriff had several badges on his chest. If he was not mistaken, it was the emblem of the Augusta family.

After passing the checkpoint, someone familiar with the local situation reported to him: "This sheriff is from the Augusta Knights. He was promoted to sheriff and awarded the title of knight for his military exploits. I heard that he was just a civilian before."

Viscount Chavez nodded and didn't say much.

Later, at every checkpoint, sheriffs from the Augusta family appeared.

Some were from commoner backgrounds, and some were from noble backgrounds, and most of the latter held higher positions.

But without exception, they were very respectful and let the tax certificates go.

It was not until they were close to the governor that they saw the noble officers from the capital.

But like the sheriffs from Augusta's family, they all let the people go after seeing Andrew's seal.

Viscount Chavez had a smooth journey and delivered his goods to the designated place.

On the way back, he had to collect some supplies. This time he needed to leave a record certificate for each checkpoint, one for each person, with the seals of the checkpoints in various places, and then pay taxes uniformly when he arrived at Digen Port.

It must be said that this model is much faster and saves a lot of trouble.

The efficiency of the caravan has increased by 10%.

Viscount Chavez was relieved by what he saw and heard along the way.

But... is this still a province of the kingdom?

It is normal for nobles to occupy places and collude with local officials.

But the Northland, from top to bottom, even the governor appointed by the king, colluded together to form a huge network of relationships, which still shocked him.

If Count Augusta had other ideas, wouldn't he respond to the call?

If Viscount Chavez was a loyal minister of the king, he would definitely report this situation.

But... who cares who is the king, anyway, the money is made.

Simplified the process, less taxes to pay, greater profits, less trouble, and lower costs.

Count Augusta fulfilled his promise, that's all.

Going west is so smooth, and going east is even smoother.

Walking in the Saint Mile Province is like walking in your own home. On the contrary, in the territory controlled by the southern nobles themselves, there are more checkpoints and more exploitation.

The gap is more obvious when compared.

The nobles of the Southern Chamber of Commerce cursed Count Lovett, the vampire, while taking a detour through the territory of the Augusta family.

They even tried to send the goods to the barbarian territory and the Kingdom of the Holy Cross, and they made a lot of money with the advantage of cheapness.

When Viscount Chavez returned to Port Degen after a detour, Governor Ronald happened to find an excuse to visit Port Degen.

He came here not to see how the port controlled by the Augusta family was developing, but to fulfill his promise.

Derek wrote to him personally and reached a trade agreement.

To be honest, a lot of tariffs were lost, and the people below complained a lot.

And the share given by the Augusta family was much less than what they collected themselves. If the knife was not on his neck, Ronald might not agree.

Now that a piece of meat has been cut off, he doesn't want to be owed again.

Andrew was very calm when the governor came to collect the bill in person.

"Mr. Governor, according to the agreement, you can come to cash in the tax at any time, but I still suggest that you set a fixed date."

"No problem, I came here just to discuss the details with you this time." Ronald didn't feel ashamed at all. It's shameful to have no money, what's there to be afraid of if you have money?

"Okay, we've agreed in advance that our tariff is fixed, and the distribution is evenly distributed according to the number of checkpoints that this batch of goods passes through. Of course... for those with longer routes, we will increase the share a little."

"I understand."

The two reconfirmed the details. This was the first time they cooperated, and everyone took it very seriously.

Soon, the tax bureau determined the gold coins to be distributed based on the retained base.

"Two thousand three hundred and eighty gold coins, do you want to count them?"

"Okay, someone come and count for me, no... I'll do it myself."

Governor Ronald was not afraid of embarrassment and personally checked the accounts.

Yes, he counted three times, and they were all correct.

A few gold coins were randomly selected for inspection, and they were all genuine.

Andrew was speechless again, feeling that the governor was a little petty.

Ronald was very excited now. This sum of gold coins was the largest income since he came to St. Peter's Province.

More importantly, doing so was equivalent to collecting the tax power from below in disguise.

Mastering the power of resource redistribution should not be underestimated.

And the total tax amount was not much less. There were many caravans in the south, and it was an additional income.

This was also the reason why he was able to convince the nobles below.

Now, he no longer had any doubts about cooperating with the Augusta family.

"Sir Andrew, please rest assured that after I go back, I will set up a special tax inspection army to crack down on all kinds of chaos, and I will never allow anyone to destroy the current good situation."

Under the temptation of gold coins, Governor Ronald hated tax thieves very much. This was all his own money.

Andrew smiled confidently, this was the effect he wanted.

When the governor of a place had to get money regularly from the Augusta family, and when the kingdom's army's income came mostly from the Augusta family's taxes, was this the kingdom's army or the Count Augusta's army?

If Derek hadn't reminded him, he wouldn't have realized this.

Governor Ronald would probably take some time to react.

If someone in the well-fed army said they had broken with the Augusta family, the army would probably tie that person up and personally send him to Port Degen to sink him in the sea.

Even if... he was the governor.