Farming in the Magical World

study

Angus was sitting behind his desk writing something and didn't look up at Lanny as he entered. He simply gestured with his right hand to the seat opposite him, indicating that Lanny should sit down.

Although the behavior was extremely contemptuous and commanding, Lanny felt very uncomfortable, but he didn't say anything. He silently walked to the opposite side and sat down, looking at the busy Angus with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

This must be the famous "study time"?

I never thought that I wouldn't be entitled to this kind of treatment when I was a nobody, but I am enjoying it here. I wonder if the other party often uses this trick to put other lower-ranking nobles in their place!

Fortunately, perhaps because a meeting was about to start, Angus didn't have much time to "study." As soon as Lanny finished counting the gray hairs at Lanny's temples, he put down his quill and looked at Lanny.

"Have you considered?"

After staring at Lanny for a long time, Angus suddenly blurted out something that, though it seemed abrupt, Lanny knew what he meant. Just like the last time they met, he hoped that Lanny could voluntarily apply to have his title removed.

He could not possibly agree to this request, neither in the past nor now, and he firmly shook his head.

"Oh! Why are you so stubborn? I'm only doing this for your own good!"

Angus braced himself on the table, leaned forward slightly, and looked at Lanny with a sincere expression. "You are Tiffany's husband. Even if you lose your baronship, how could I abandon you?"

"How about this? There's a salt shop on Elfen Main Street. If you voluntarily request to have your noble title revoked, I'll give it to you and Tiffany. What do you say?"

how about it?

Of course it's not very good!

Looking at Angus's sincere, kind, and well-meaning face, Lanny could only say two words: "Heh!"

Putting aside the question of what kind of shop it is and where it is, what good is having just a shop? When he loses his title, crushing a commoner will be much harder for him than stepping on an ant.

Even if he can't, can Louise?

What about Chris, who called him a bastard before he came in?

What about Tiffany's older brother, Harrison?

No matter what, you must always keep the initiative in your own hands; otherwise, you'll be like meat on a chopping board, at the mercy of others.

Lanny shook his head firmly again, not even wanting to say a word.

Seeing Lanny shake his head, Angus, who rarely lost face, immediately felt a surge of anger, his brows furrowed, and he looked like he was about to explode in anger at any moment.

Just when Lanny thought he was about to face the Earl's wrath, the other party unexpectedly suppressed his anger quickly and smiled again, though the smile was inevitably somewhat forced!

"So, do you have a way to pay off the debts your father owed?"

Hmph, the same old trick again. Lanny just wanted to laugh. Couldn't he come up with something different?

But I still have to act. Life is like a play, and it all depends on acting skills. Now is the time to test my acting skills, Lanny.

Lanny frowned slightly, revealing an expression that seemed to be both troubled and constipated, and slowly shook his head. "No!"

Then, he raised his head and pretended to be determined, "I will find a way, I will never give up the family title!"

Seeing that Lanny remained unmoved, Angus lost patience and leaned back in his chair, looking at Lanny with a half-smile, his tone low and brooding, "You probably don't know, but the main purpose of this Northern Security Conference is to implement the Northern Cleansing Plan approved by the Duke. The aim, of course, is to protect the safety of the Northern people and suppress the development of the Grummans..."

When the other party turned around and explained the purpose of the meeting, Lanny nodded slightly to show that he understood, but his heart sank slightly.

Using the Duke to pressure me? That's... a bit tricky!

Although Lanny was reluctant to admit it, the sudden increase in pressure on him was an undeniable fact.

Angus paused before finishing his sentence and added that since the Northern Expedition was to be carried out, he would demand that the Wells family repay their previous debts in advance.

After all, arranging such a military operation requires some expenses, although most of the cost will be shared by the lower-ranking nobles, but the count cannot possibly not spend any money at all.

Given this plan, he demanded that the Wells family repay the loan in advance. The other nobles seemed unable to voice any objections. After all, if the count reduced his share of the expenses, they would have to bear more. It was a matter of choosing between the nobles and the consequences.

"You can't do this, the agreement was for a year..." Lanny immediately interrupted him, her face flushed red, looking furious.

Although he knew it was pointless to say such things, he did it anyway. To make his face look even angrier, he kept recalling angry things he had encountered in the past, trying to make himself really angry.

Is he an experiential learner?

With an angry expression on his face, Lanny suddenly had this idea pop into his head!

"Actually, I didn't want to either, but since the Duke has made the arrangements, there's nothing I can do!" Angus shrugged, looking helpless.

Looking at the pretentious Angus, actor Lanny felt a surge of resentment even though he no longer thought about the injustice.

Although acting alongside the Earl was thrilling, seeing how meticulously the other man plotted against him while feigning innocence still made him somewhat unable to suppress his anger.

If he hadn't made a deal with Ford early on, he probably would have been in Ford's clutches by now. 500 gold coins is no small amount, and even if he asked someone to lend him that many gold coins, he wouldn't know who could lend him that many.

Half-true, half-false, Lanny's face turned extremely ugly. He originally wanted to imitate a look of dejection, but he really couldn't think of how to express that dejection. Helpless, he could only try his best to make himself look like he was crying.

After a long silence, he finally spoke with difficulty, "I will try my best to return the gold coins!"

Seeing Lanny's unpleasant expression, Angus seemed to be in a good mood, looking at Lanny with a smile and amusement.

Just when Lanny thought that was all the other party had to say, Angus chuckled and spoke again.

"Hehe, there's one more thing. This year's taxes for all barons will be collected before next month's operation. However, since the purge of the Grummans is about to begin, I've decided that this year's annual tax will only be paid in gold coins, and no more deductions in kind will be allowed. I figured since you're one of us, it wouldn't hurt to tell you first!"

Looking at Lanny, Angus smiled with feigned kindness and said, "Let me think, last year your Wells family's annual tax was 500 setirs of grain and 3,000 furs... ...which seems to total around 201 gold. I'll round it up for you to 200 gold. Be prepared this time too, child!"

Lanny was genuinely surprised to hear this news, and his expression changed again. Before, there was an element of "An Actor Prepares" in his reaction, but this time it was different; he was truly astonished.

He hadn't expected that Angus had arranged such a big surprise for him.

He had always known about the annual tax; he had seen it when he checked the castle expenses with Frank before. After all, it was impossible for him not to have seen such a large expense.

He hadn't paid much attention to it before, because the annual tax was usually paid in the dead of winter, and people generally paid in kind, such as grain, fur, cloth, etc. In an era when commodities were not well developed, this method of taxation was more acceptable to nobles, and the upper-class nobles preferred it.

However, this does not mean that higher-ranking nobles can only accept in-kind deductions; they have the right to demand that lower-ranking nobles pay in gold coins directly, a right granted to them by the kingdom's laws.

Therefore, some higher-ranking nobles in certain regions have room for maneuver. For example, in the first few years, they only accepted goods, but suddenly in a certain year they changed to only accepting gold coins. Then, unfortunately, the nobles whose territories were all in goods had to exchange their goods for gold coins, and they found that the prices of goods in the market plummeted.

Two years later, once all the nobles had gotten used to paying in gold coins, they suddenly switched back to accepting only goods, and the prices of some rare commodities on the market immediately skyrocketed.

This back-and-forth exchange, like the tide of US dollars, can drain the lower-ranking nobles dry, while the upper-ranking nobles reap huge profits.

Of course, this kind of operation is not possible in big cities or near the capital, since the trade in these places is more developed. However, there is plenty of room for such operations in places like Elnor County in the North.

Lanny remembered that the kingdom's history recorded such an event, about a hundred years ago, in the eastern part of the kingdom near the border of the Kingdom of Cyria, where an earl used such means to make dozens of lower barons suffer, while he himself lived a carefree and comfortable life.

These barons, true to their border nobility, possessed incredible martial prowess. Three of them, accompanied by their retinues, stormed into the castle and beheaded the count.

Although the book is vague, only stating that the three barons were executed for harming a superior nobleman, Lanny felt that they might not have died, and what their fate was was unknown.

Regardless, the kingdom suppressed the matter, and it did not become known throughout the country.

Even so, the kingdom did not abolish this privilege of the upper-class nobles. Instead, it added a clause to the law that upper-class nobles could not arbitrarily change the way they paid their annual taxes. Each change had to be justified or required the consent of more than half of the lower-class nobles.

It has to be said that Angus took this opportunity to change the annual tax, whether individually or in its entirety, which caught Lanny off guard and put him in a difficult position.

Although he had earned a lot of gold coins through his trade with Ford, he had also asked Ford to buy a lot of magical materials, iron, food, etc., so he didn't actually have many gold coins left.

He had thought he had time, but now it seemed that his "father-in-law," Angus, was not planning to give him enough time.

It seems I can no longer just wait for Ford's return; I need to actively seek out other chambers of commerce. Otherwise, relying solely on Ford is too passive.