After the holy sword is broken

The royal city of the human empire is the most prosperous city in the entire human territory.

There are the most beautiful buildings here, the most noble people live here, the most rigorous and solemn etiquette is passed, and they enjoy the support of the whole country and the whole race.

But even here, the existence of the poor is indispensable.

They have the most humble blood, do the most tiring hard work, and receive the meager salary.More often, they can't even find a job that can support themselves.

If you look carefully, you can also find traces of underground casinos and other illegal transactions here.

"Sir, are you looking for someone?" A boy stopped him.

The boy could barely be called clean, compared to the cramped streets full of filth and garbage and emitting a pungent smell.

He was only as tall as Alger's chest, and malnutrition made him stunted, making him look a little immature.

His face is very handsome, especially his eyes, which are big and beautiful, with watery light, bold but also shy, which is very suitable for some people's appetite.

This is a male|prostitute.

"Are you looking for someone?"

This sentence is the idiom they used to strike up a conversation with their guests.

Alger shook his head: "I'm not looking for it."

After hesitating for a moment, he took out a piece of bread from the oiled paper bag in his hand and handed it to him.This was bought by him when he came over, and it still carried a little bit of toasted heat.

The boy's eyes lit up, he took the bread carefully, and said, "Sir, I can..."

Alger waved his hand and left quickly.

The whole slum is very chaotic, and the further you go, the more it becomes like this.

Skinny people abound.As soon as they took the bread in Alger's hand, they immediately started to gobble it up, stuffing it into their mouths anxiously, rolling their eyes from choking.

Dirty hands made black marks on the bread, but they didn't care.After eating what was in his hand, he stared at Alger again.

The bread in the oiled paper bag was quickly distributed, but there were more and more poor people around, their eyes glowing green, staring at him like wolves.

"I'll come back tomorrow."

Alger took two steps back, those people were still looking at him, motionless.

That gaze is very penetrating.

It's not that Alger has never seen wolves, but whether it's the silver wolves raised by the druid's adoptive mother, or the wolves met in the wild, none of them look like this.

He knew very well that he was extremely hungry.

However, in times of peace, when there were no famines, even the beasts were never hungry to such a degree. Why did these humans, the people of these empires, degenerate to such a state?

"Mr. Alger, Lord Viscount asked me to wait for you here."

Alger returned to the Viscount's mansion, and at the door, he saw the head maid Irene.Under her leadership, came to the restaurant.

At this time, the sky had already darkened, and there were magic lamps in the hall to provide illumination, and the light was sufficient, as bright as day.

Burgess was sitting in the dining room drinking black tea, and there was a table of exquisite desserts in front of him.

The knight who changed from formal attire to ordinary attire, still wearing a sword, stood behind him.

"You came back too late." Burgess waved his hand and asked the maid to bring the prepared dinner.

"I've already had a few cups of tea."

Pulling Alger, let him sit down beside him.

The dining table is a long table, Burgess sits in front of the narrow side at one end, and Alger sits at the head of the long side, and the two of them just occupy the next corner.

While the maids were still setting the tableware, Burgess picked up a candy with his fingertips and put it into Alger's mouth.

The shape of the candy is very unique, it is a flower, delicate and three-dimensional, lifelike.If there's anything wrong with it, it's probably too sweet.

As soon as the sugar entered his mouth, Argel couldn't help frowning.

Excessive sweetness almost paralyzes the taste buds, and the rich sweet aroma seems to turn into substance.

Burgess looked at his expression and laughed: "Sweet?"

Before Alger nodded, he leaned over and kissed her.

Tongue poked in, swiped around, and rolled the candy into his mouth.

There was the sound of footsteps behind him. It was the knight who took half a step forward and then stopped.

Alger looked subconsciously, but Burgess turned his head back with his hand.

"At this time, don't look at others."

Lord Viscount said against his lips.

Sit back to the original position and hand him your cup: "Drink the mouth-watering tea, this time I promise it will not be sweet."

A white porcelain cup with red floral decorations on it, and a gold rim on the cup mouth.

Alger took the precious cup.

"Even if the black tea is very sweet, it probably won't be able to taste it compared to the one just now."

After entering the black tea, I can't really taste any taste, only the faint milk fragrance, lingering stubbornly on the root of the tongue.

Burgess frowned suddenly, a little belatedly: "What's the smell on you? Where have you been?"

The maid had already set the tableware, followed by the dinner for the evening.

The fried steak is tender, poured with a spoonful of dark brown sauce, and sprinkled with a layer of expensive spices.

Baked baby potatoes, tossed with meat sauce, served in delicate little bowls.

Then there is the thick soup, and the mouth of the bowl is covered with puff pastry.

……

One after another, seven or eight dishes were laid out one by one, and the desserts that had been spread on the table before had also been put away.

"Slums." Alger answered Burgess' question.

"What are you doing there?"

"Just go and see."

Burgess smiled: "Is it the mistake of being a priest again? Sympathize with them? Do a good deed every day?"

Some gods in the New World would ask their pastors to do one good deed every day, and over time, there was a saying that they do one good deed every day.

Alger shook his head: "I'm just a little surprised, how can there be slums in the royal city of the empire?"

Judging from the situation, it is not ordinary poverty. Many poor people living there have already lost their shape.

Burgess had eaten a lot of desserts before, so he was not in a hurry for dinner, and looked at him with his chin in his hand: "There are slums everywhere, and Dock Town may be slightly better. But I guess, you can't control it."

Alger recalled that there were indeed slums in Dock Town, but the environment was much better than the places he had just been to.

Because the priests in the church will regularly do voluntary cleaning and purification, and treat diseases for the poor for free.But how to take them out of poverty is not their responsibility.

"Isn't His Majesty the Emperor issuing a relief decree?"

"They've been forgotten, and they're remembered occasionally because of another big mess going on there."

Burgess began to cut the steak on the plate, and when he cut it down, the rich gravy overflowed and the aroma was overflowing.He appears to have lost his appetite.

"The territory of the empire is divided and occupied by the nobles. The laws of the king's government cannot pass smoothly in every inch of the empire. Almost every fiefdom has its own self-government law."

Alger nodded. He also experienced this point while walking among major towns.

Burgess put a small piece of meat into his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it.

"The skill of the back chef has improved, so it should be rewarded."

The head maid who was also the housekeeper wrote it down.

Burgess put down the tableware in his hand and continued: "Because the autonomy laws of different places are different, various policies|policies, especially taxes, are also different.

"In order to prevent the loss of citizens and eventually lead to vicious competition among the major nobles, the only common law that the empire uses is the household registration law.

"Every citizen, within seven days of birth, should register with the local household registration.

"Guess how many poor people in those slums have registered household registration? Forget it, you'd better stop talking and eat dinner quickly, just listen to me."

He raised his chin again, with a casual look: "It's not bad to have one in a thousand. It's strange why they don't register?

"I'm afraid you don't know much about the taxation of the empire. After all, priests are exempt from tax."

He smiled before continuing.

"Among the personal taxes in the empire, the population tax collected based on household registration is the highest, and the surcharges generated by handicrafts are not low, and commercials are lighter, but they cover a wide range.

"In order to facilitate the benefit of the noble class, the imperial law has not stipulated the minimum labor remuneration for civilians. Therefore, the labor they can participate in and the remuneration they can get may be unimaginably low.

"In general, make the poor poorer and the rich richer, and the end of wealth is the nobility.

"If poor people join the household registration, the first thing they have to pay is a huge population tax. They can't get that much money based on their normal income alone.

"As for those who can obtain so much property, it is also due to various reasons-you can understand, right? The means of obtaining those undeserved wealth prevents them from joining the official household registration of the empire."

Alger swallowed the food in his mouth: "Don't the empire urge you?"

"Why do you want to urge?" The corner of Burgess's mouth showed a mocking smile: "The nobles want healthy civilians and slaves, people who can farm and trade in peacetime, and can carry weapons to charge for them in wartime.

"It's not those poor people who are stealing and abducting, whoring|gambling, who can't provide taxes, and make troubles in the territory from time to time. People who don't even want the nobles who are scraping fat, how do you expect them to live?

"Expulsion from time to time, and unified detention before large-scale festivals are the usual attitudes towards them.

"What? Do you think my words are fierce and prejudiced?"

Burgess shook his head: "They may have been good people. The first poor were just poor people who lost the qualifications to cultivate the land and had no craftsmanship. Or they were cursed people, people with serious illnesses, who were squeezed out of their original place of life. There are also some widows who have lost their young and middle-aged labor force.

"However, the current slum is a city within a city, a place outside the law. If you don't integrate into it, it will be difficult to survive."

It is precisely because of this notoriety, coupled with the lack of household registration, that it is difficult for people in the slums to find normal livelihoods in other parts of the town.

Without a stable job, it means that there is no serious source of income. In such a vicious circle, slums will always be slums.The children of the poor will always be the poor.

"By the way, did you lose anything?" Burgess suddenly asked jokingly.

Alger shook his head: "I am also a swordsman no matter what."

Even a Juggernaut, who could steal from him but a top rogue or a rogue?

"However, doesn't the empire issue decrees and enforce control? If this trend can be curbed and they are given basic relief for a period of time, it may be..."

Burgess laughed: "Give them seeds, and they will eat them as food. Give them lambs and chickens, and they will treat them as extra meals. It's like a bottomless pit, only investment, no income, who would be stupid?

"And what misunderstanding do you have about the nobles? Did you think it was the era when glory was paramount? They are well-educated now, and they are not willing to use the money in their pockets to do such thankless things."

"What about your territory? Is it the same?"

Viscounts are also nobles.

Borgins was stunned for a moment, turned his head, and felt a little uncomfortable: "How rich is the Yamutaris Plain? Just sow seeds in spring, and you can harvest grain in autumn.

"Even if you don't farm, there are fruit trees and wild game all over the mountains, and you can catch fish in the lake. Where did the slums come from?"

"The Lord Viscount's territory has complete laws and regulations, and the taxes are very low. Almost all of the taxes collected are spent on the people of the territory. Lord Viscount is very popular in the territory."

The knight behind Burgess couldn't help interjecting.

"Shut up... The most important thing I need is money. I don't care about the tax, and it's troublesome to pay the bills. Don't talk about it!"

Burgess glanced back.

Alger looked at him and couldn't help smiling.

It is a good thing to love the people, after all...

"What's wrong."

"I don't have it, eat it quickly." Burgess turned back, bent his knuckles, and tapped impatiently on the table.

His eyes were deliberately staring fiercely, but the tips of his ears were red.

"Yes, yes." Argel responded with a smile.

Really awkward.