Alien Knights

After waiting for the carriage to drive for a while, Alfonso folded his arms on his chest and said to Huggins, "Tell me, what's going on?"

"Before you left Muxi City, you should know that there is a textile brand in the city called Liliel, right?"

"I know that Queen Mary created the brand, what does that have to do with what I see?"

Huggins shrugged: "Don't worry, I haven't gotten to the point yet. The success of Liliel's brand has made a large number of merchants in Muxi City see the business opportunities."

"Business?"

"You don't know? Liliel brand textiles, whether it's the land of the north, the holy city of the east, or the southern empire, have become a sought-after commodity that is in short supply." Huggins pointed to the tailoring on his body Well-fitting clothes: "A men's suit with six golden suns in Liliel's store can be sold at the price of twelve golden suns when it is shipped to the Pope's country."

Alfonso asked incomprehensibly, "How could this be?"

"Do you remember those paintings His Majesty once presented to Queen Mary? Those paintings from Heaven."

"I remember."

"It was those paintings that set off a wave of renaissance in the city. Artists of different styles and genres found inspiration in this city and applied these inspirations to actual business and life, including textiles. ...So, on the one hand, the success of the Liliel brand, and on the other hand, the added value of goods brought about by the Renaissance, has made the textile industry a major pillar industry in Muxi City."

Alfonso was a little impatient: "You have said so much, but you still haven't mentioned it. How can there be citizens begging on the street."

"My friend, be patient." Huggins said with a smile: "I continue to explain...Before, the Muxi Knights repelled the Southern Empire and ensured the safety of the western route. Merchants can expand the scope of business by sea. The combination of all these factors directly led to the rapid rise of the garment and textile industry; and the rise of the industry created a shortage of textile raw materials, such as flax, ramie, jute, and wool; and the demand for these raw materials directly led to The absence of a scarce resource - land."

Frowning, Alfonso repeated: "Land?"

Huggins leaned back and exhaled lightly: "Yes, there is not enough land, so naturally there is no way to grow hemp plants and raise sheep... However, because Muxi City is close to the sea, there is no way to How much vacant land is available for use, so the merchants in the city turn their attention to those farmers who have arable land."

Alfonso shook his head: "The merchants took the land of those farmers?"

"Seize is not an accurate word. It should be said to be a purchase. Due to the decree issued by His Majesty, as long as you engage in farming outside the city for a certain number of years, you can not only obtain the qualifications of citizens, but also have the right to use the land permanently. Therefore, farmers are very interested in the land. The person who has absolute control." Huggins opened the curtain and looked at a group of men and women in gorgeous costumes, gathered together to talk: "In order to obtain land from farmers, merchants rely on business alliances and guilds to raise Raising the price of livestock, manure, tools, and lowering the selling price of conventional crops.”

"During last year's wheat harvest period, the purchase price of a ton of third-grade wheat in Muxi City was even less than four silver months. Listen, four silver months! If it were Silver Ring City during the war , this amount of money can’t even buy a bag of wheat bran!”

Alfonso frowned: "What did those farmers do later?"

"Some farmers think the price is too low, and would rather store their agricultural products at home than sell them. As a result, the stored agricultural products slowly rot and become worthless in the end; Their respective products were shipped out for sale, but the ports and post stations controlled by the major chambers of commerce rejected the requests of farmers; some people were finally forced to sell their land to merchants.”

After hearing what Huggins said, Alfonso gritted his teeth and asked, "Is the cabinet turning a blind eye to these things?"

Huggins replied with a wry smile: "The cabinet has tried to intervene, including actively purchasing agricultural products, building temporary agricultural product storage points, warning and punishing those businessmen who bought land, these things have been done by the cabinet. When the conflict was the most serious, Lord Emerson, Prime Minister of the Cabinet, even tried to introduce a bill banning the buying and selling of land."

"Then what?"

"The decree was not passed at the cabinet meeting or the enlarged knight meeting. For this matter, Prime Minister Emerson was furious in the office, and later became seriously ill."

Alfonso felt strange: "Master Emerson has been empowered by His Majesty, how could the bill he proposed not be passed?"

"Before the Muxi Knights sent troops to Lone Rock City, the Prime Minister ignored all the cabinet members and used the method of the wartime cabinet to forcefully pass the war bill. This incident caused dissatisfaction among most cabinet members and honorary knights. Many people behind the scenes Accusing Emerson of implementing a dictatorship and seizing the kingship. After that, the Prime Minister became extra cautious in handling affairs and never dared to make decisions on his own. Therefore, this time the bill prohibiting land sales, he He didn't dare to make his own claims, and chose to listen to the opinions of the cabinet members and honorary knights."

Alfonso clenched his fist with his right hand and smashed it under the seat under him, saying angrily: "Then just watch those businessmen seize the land?!"

Huggins sighed: "Academicians need financial support from businessmen to publish their publications when they publish works; researchers need to seek funding from businessmen to conduct experiments to purchase experimental supplies and pay assistants; artists need Businessmen pay to build studios and open personal exhibitions; even the cabinet’s expenditure on public finances depends on the taxes paid by businessmen.”

"Not only that, cabinet members, honorary knights, nine out of ten of these people's families run more or less industries. Just check the positions behind them, the vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, the director of the Shipping Alliance, the industry The executive consultant of the Raw Materials Association... There may be more than a dozen or even twenty of such titles..."

Huggins shrugged, and said helplessly to Alfonso: "What's more, compared to those dull farmers, merchants are indeed superior in persuasion... You know that at the knight's hearing prohibiting the sale of land, commercial How did the representatives of the league justify themselves?"

"What did they say?"

"They took out a 300-page analysis report and told everyone present that there is a huge difference between whether an ordinary piece of land is used to grow wheat or to raise sheep. Considering the product comprehensively Factors such as value, employment rate, tax payment, national competitiveness, population diversion, etc., the contribution of land used to harvest woolen raw materials is dozens or even a hundred times that of farmland!"

Huggins closed his eyes, and said slowly: "So, the merchants merged the farmers' land and won the support of most people. The latter had to sell their land to the merchants at the so-called "assessment price". These If the money leaves the high-priced Muxi City, it may last for a while, but if it stays, any peasant family will spend it in less than half a year... So, those beggars you saw before, It’s farmers who run out of money and lose their livelihood.”

Alfonso stood there motionless. After a long time, he scratched his forehead in distress: "There are some things I can't understand, but I always feel that something is wrong."