Lord: Marry the villain's daughter at the beginning?

After the nobles quieted down, Nolai turned to the next page of the treaty and continued, "Also, it is about the taxation of trade in the North."

Hearing the word "taxation", many nobles became restless again. This was a huge fortune, and many people had long coveted this income, especially the Augustines. After all, taxation in the royal capital was nominally the king's power, but the tax collectors had always been firmly controlled by the Augustines.

Although it’s not to the point where taxes cannot be collected, it still makes Lilith’s wallet tight.

Even Claire swallowed her saliva when she heard the word tax, but that was all.

After all, the merchants in the North were very arrogant before and refused to pay taxes at all. Their reason was that they had already paid taxes in the North and they only needed to pay the exit tax to the Governor of the North. They did not recognize the taxes in the royal capital.

In fact, it is not that these northern merchants do not recognize the taxes of the royal capital, but that the taxation of the royal capital is very chaotic. Lilith once managed the taxation specifically, but the effect was not significant.

Although it is not as terrible as the three times tax was required in Doug's territory, the chaotic taxation has also made these merchants miserable, not to mention the journey from the central region to the royal capital. The nobles in every territory want to levy taxes on these wealthy northern merchants.

This directly led to the northern merchants' resistance to taxation in the royal capital.

If they pay taxes directly to the Governor of the North, the Governor can guarantee that they can act freely in the capital and the central region. At most, they just need to bribe some nobles and tax officials. The tax money is much cheaper than paying taxes to the capital.

So even though goods from the North began to become popular in the capital, the capital was unable to collect much tax. This was originally one of Lilith's biggest worries, but this situation no longer existed.

"After consultation between Her Majesty the Queen and the Governor-General, Her Majesty the Queen has set up a special agency to collect taxes from merchants in the North. The North will also cooperate with the capital to make certain adjustments to the taxation."

If the previous news about the trade certificate was like a depth charge that directly set off a thousand waves, then Nora's short sentence was like a nuclear explosion that directly detonated the entire meeting site.

The nobles who originally just wanted to welcome Her Majesty the Queen back from the North in the inner city never expected that the news they heard today would be more shocking than the last.

Claire fell backwards and only managed to stand up again with the help of Augustine and others.

Immediately, a noble began to ask loudly: "Are the nobles who received the trade certificates before also taxed by this organization?"

Nora nodded and said, "That's right."

It also added: "This institution is directly under Her Majesty the Queen and is completely managed by Her Majesty the Queen, and the amount of taxes collected is entirely determined by Her Majesty for use."

Upon hearing this, a tax official immediately objected: "What should we do? We are officials appointed by the late king himself. This tax agency should be directly joined by our people!"

Then someone else echoed: "Yes, why not just use the existing tax system? We are also loyal to Her Majesty the Queen, and we have more experience!"

Originally, these tax officials were very low-key and did not want to get involved in such matters. After all, although the merchants in the North could not collect much tax, they would directly give donations to these officials in private. These officials were also happy for these wealthy merchants to skip the middleman, that is, the tax system, and send the money directly to themselves.

But once this agency is really established, this part of gray income will be gone, not to mention that most of these tax officials are from the Augustine family, and this agency is directly under Her Majesty the Queen.

Looking at these people who objected, Nora just continued according to the text on the treaty: "The Governor of the Northern Territory has written it very clearly in the treaty. If anyone in the capital has objections to this content, they can go directly to the Northern Territory to discuss it with him in detail. He will treat guests from the capital well."

Upon hearing this, those who had been opposing immediately shrank their heads.

Relying on her royal status, Her Majesty the Queen dared not do anything to them, but it was not certain when they arrived in the North. The ship might sink while they were on it, and there would be no one to seek justice from, and no one dared to seek justice from the North.

After listening to Nora's detailed explanation of the treaty, the nobles' eyes became red. Lilith on the throne felt that these nobles were a little scary. Could it be that because she was so greedy, these nobles were going to stage a coup on the spot?

This is of course impossible. These nobles are really jealous. Those nobles who have just obtained trade certificates even feel that the trade certificates in their hands are not so valuable. After all, they are obtained at the cost of population, and it is basically impossible to enter this institution even with trade certificates.

These nobles dared not imagine how great the authority and responsibilities of this agency were. Even the nobles who had just obtained trade certificates had to be under the supervision of this agency. And although on the surface this agency was directly under the Queen, Nora's words just now had made it very clear that if anyone was dissatisfied with this decision, they could go directly to the North to find the Governor.

In other words, the Governor of the North is the real head of this organization and can even provide direct violent support to this organization.

Just as everyone was thinking this, Nora continued, "The Governor-General considered that most merchants in the North were rather barbaric and not as civilized as merchants in other regions, and was worried that Her Majesty the Queen would not be able to collect taxes. This is indeed the case. Previously, most merchants in the North did not pay taxes in the capital. In order to make up for the previous losses, the Governor-General of the North decided to pay out of his own pocket to arm Her Majesty's new organization."

This is not even an act. The Northern Governor really provides violent support to this organization.

Everyone understood that this new tax bureau had enormous power and was even allowed to have its own armed forces.

It’s bullshit to worry about not being able to collect taxes. As for those merchants in the North, the Governor said they would go east and they would never dare to go west. How is it possible that we can’t collect taxes?

A tax bureau targeting merchants from the North? They are more like the Queen's lackeys!

But what's wrong with being a dog? No one dares to imagine how much tax this tax bureau can collect. Even if you don't eat a bite of meat, just going through it once is enough to make a lot of money.

I am happy to be a dog, what do you think of it? This is the mentality of most nobles.

If Claire had also traveled through time, she should have known that this new agency should not be called the Tax Bureau, but should be called the East Factory.

Claire almost gave up thinking, what is the Northern Governor going to do? Isn't this just giving money to Lilith? It's not even as simple as giving money, but giving both money and weapons.

At this time, Claire was even wondering if her best friend had gone to the North to sell ditches, otherwise it would be impossible to explain the sudden change in the attitude of the Northern Governor.

But after taking one look at her best friend who was sitting on the throne with her feet not even touching the ground, and thinking about Lena, Claire gave up the idea. The governor didn't seem like someone who would like Lilith.

But what exactly caused the governor's attitude to change?

Claire said to one of Augustine's confidants beside her: "After the meeting, go and re-investigate Her Majesty the Queen's family background."