After the nobles quieted down, Nora turned to the next page of the treaty and said, “Next is about the taxation on trade in the Northern Border.”
Upon hearing the word “tax,” many nobles became restless again. This was a source of immense wealth, and many had long coveted this revenue, especially those Augustine families. After all, the taxes in the Royal Capital were nominally the King’s prerogative, but the tax collectors had always been firmly controlled by the Augustines.
While it wasn’t that they couldn’t collect taxes, it meant that Lilith’s little wallet often felt tight.
Even Claire, upon hearing the word “tax,” couldn’t help but swallow, but that was all.
After all, Northern Border merchants had been very domineering, refusing to pay taxes on the grounds that they had already paid in the Northern Border. They only needed to pay exit taxes to the Northern Border Governor and did not recognize the taxes from the Royal Capital.
In fact, it wasn’t that these Northern Border merchants didn’t recognize the Royal Capital’s taxes; it was simply that the tax system in the Royal Capital was very chaotic. Lilith had once managed the taxation, but the effectiveness was not significant.
It wasn’t as terrifying as having to pay taxes three times over in Doug’s territory, but the chaotic tax system left these merchants in distress, let alone the journey from the central region to the Royal Capital. Every noble in each territory wanted to tax these oil-rich Northern Border merchants.
This directly led to the Northern Border merchants resisting taxes imposed by the Royal Capital.
By paying taxes directly to the Northern Border Governor, they could ensure passage through the Royal Capital and the central region, at most having to give a few nobles and tax officials a tip. This tax was much cheaper than paying taxes to the Royal Capital.
Thus, while Northern Border goods started to flourish in the Royal Capital, the Royal Capital could hardly collect any taxes. This had originally been Lilith’s most troubling issue, but now that situation no longer existed.
“After discussion between Her Majesty the Queen and Lord Governor, Her Majesty will establish an organization specifically for taxing Northern Border merchants, and the Northern Border side will cooperate with the Royal Capital to make certain adjustments to the taxes.”
If the news about the trade certificates was like a deep-water bomb unleashing massive waves, then Nora’s brief statement was akin to a nuclear explosion, detonating the entire meeting scene.
The nobles who had come to welcome Her Majesty the Queen back from the Northern Border hadn’t anticipated that each piece of news they heard today would be more shocking than the last.
Claire even fell backward and could only stand up with the support of the Augustines.
Soon, a noble began to voice a loud question: “So are the nobles who obtained trade certificates also subject to taxation by this organization?”
Nora nodded and replied, “That’s correct.”
She further added, “This organization is directly under Her Majesty the Queen and fully managed by Her Majesty, with the tax revenues completely decided by Her Majesty.”
Upon hearing this, officials from the tax administration immediately objected: “Then what do we do? We are officials personally appointed by the Former King; this tax organization should be directly managed by our people!”
Then someone else chimed in, “That’s right, can’t we just use the existing tax system? We are loyal to Her Majesty, and we have more experience!”
Originally, these tax officials were quite low-key and did not want to involve themselves in such matters. After all, while they couldn’t collect many taxes from Northern Border merchants, they would privately receive donations from these merchants, who preferred to bypass intermediaries, namely the tax system, and directly hand money to them.
But once this organization was truly established, this portion of gray revenue would vanish, and most of these tax officials were from the Augustine family, while this organization was directly under Her Majesty.
Seeing the opposers, Nora calmly continued, referencing the treaty, “It’s clearly written in the treaty by the Northern Border Governor. If anyone in the Royal Capital has objections to this content, they may directly go to the Northern Border to discuss it with him, and he will treat the guests from the Royal Capital well.”
Upon hearing this, those who had just opposed shrank back.
Relying on their royal identity, Her Majesty wouldn’t dare to do anything to them, but the Northern Border was a different story—one could easily find themselves in a shipwreck, and there would be no one to seek reasoning from in the Northern Border.
As the nobles who listened to Nora detailed the treaty began to redden their eyes, Lilith in the throne felt that these nobles were rather frightening. It couldn’t possibly be because she was eating too messily that they were on the brink of turning on her, right?
Of course, that was impossible. These nobles were truly envious. The nobles who had just received trade certificates even found those certificates less appealing, as they had sacrificed people to obtain them. Moreover, once there was a trade certificate, it would be nearly impossible to enter this organization.
These nobles couldn’t even fathom the extent of this organization’s powers and responsibilities. Even those who had just received trade certificates must comply with the regulations of this organization, and although superficially this organization belonged to the Queen, Nora had made it very clear—whoever was dissatisfied with this decision could directly go to the Northern Border to find that governor.
In other words, the Northern Border Governor was the true head of this organization and could even provide violent support to it.
While everyone was considering this, Nora continued, “The Governor has considered that Northern Border merchants are generally more domineering and less straightforward than merchants from other regions, fearing that Her Majesty wouldn’t be able to collect taxes. This is indeed the case; previously, most Northern Border merchants did not pay taxes to the Royal Capital. To compensate for those previous losses, the Northern Border Governor decided to personally fund the arming of this taxation organization for Her Majesty.”
This was already a blatant display; the Northern Border Governor was indeed providing violent support for this organization.
Everyone understood now that this taxation bureau held vast power and was even permitted to possess its own armed forces.
There was no need to worry about tax collection; when the Northern Border merchants were ordered east, they wouldn’t dare to go west. How could taxes not be collected?
A taxation bureau aimed at Northern Border merchants? More like the Queen’s lackeys!
But what if they were dogs? The amount of taxes this bureau could collect was unthinkable to everyone. Even if they didn’t eat a piece of meat, just making the rounds would already yield a substantial profit.
“I’m happy to be a dog; do you have any say in it?” This was the mindset of most nobles.
If Claire were also a time traveler, she should understand that this organization shouldn’t be called a taxation bureau but rather the East Factory.
Claire was about to give up thinking. What exactly was the Northern Border Governor trying to do? Wasn’t this just sending money to Lilith? It wasn’t just about sending money; it was about sending both money and weapons.
At this moment, Claire even began to speculate whether her good friend sold herself in the Northern Border; otherwise, there would be no way to explain the sudden shift in the Northern Border Governor’s attitude.
But after glancing at her good friend sitting on the throne, whose feet couldn’t even touch the ground, and thinking of Lena, Claire abandoned this idea. That governor did not seem like someone who would be fond of someone like Lilith.
But what exactly had changed the governor’s attitude?
Claire said to an Augustine confidant beside her, “After this meeting, go and investigate Her Majesty’s family background again.”
