The streets of Bunas are much deserted than five years ago. Time seems to have stopped here, and every building retains its appearance when Datang Group left.
Some buildings are covered with moss, and the windows on some buildings are broken, but some buildings are as clean as new.
The flag of the Lions Empire flutters on these preserved buildings. A car occasionally passes by on the street, and the flashing neon lights are no longer bright.
There is no way, the tertiary industry here has withered with the departure of Datang Group, and no one believes that this place can return to its former glory.
The Silver Fox Tavern is still open. A young man is wiping the shiny glass, not caring about the deserted business. There are almost no customers in his tavern, but every corner is kept spotless.
Across the street is the once busiest tax hall in Bunas. At that time, there were often huge queues here. Everyone got a number and went to the Silver Fox Tavern to drink and wait. When it was almost time, they went out and waited for their number to be called.
Enter.
There is no Bunas person who does not miss those days, when even squatting in front of the Silver Fox Tavern and selling pancakes could make a lot of money in a month.
Moreover, there was no need to pay high protection fees at that time. There were powerful gangs to maintain order and ensure that the business of every small businessman would not be easily disturbed.
Now everything has changed. The aristocrats have controlled the business here, and the gangsters collect protection fees by bullying others, making the whole city a mess.
In the tax hall, a man dressed as a businessman was begging the director of the Bunas Taxation Bureau, the great Marquis Conard of the Lions Empire, who happened to be passing by.
He wanted to block Marquis Conrad's way, but was stopped by the guard. Through the guard's arm, the businessman defended himself loudly: "Sir! I have already paid the tax! You..."
"Where did he come from?" Conard frowned in dissatisfaction and looked at the captain of the guard beside him.
"I'm sorry, sir! It was our dereliction of duty!" The captain of the guard didn't know how to answer. He turned around and scolded the businessman, telling him to shut up: "Where did you come from? Shut up! Stop making such a loud noise!"
The Chinese man with black hair and dark eyes lowered his tone and continued to introduce himself: "Sir, please come on! I am a businessman from the Great China Empire. I came to Bunas all the way to do small business..."
The Marquis of Conrad interrupted him because he felt insulted: "Small businesses also have to pay taxes!"
In his view, his time is very valuable. You can use your precious time to have private meetings with your lover, watch imported Tang movies, or go to cocktail parties to have in-depth conversations with other people's wives. It is wasted on people you don't know.
The untouchable is simply a blasphemy and insult to his life!
Such a pariah needs to spend money to see him, and he has to state his request within a limited time and pay the fee for his request. This is the normal process.
Marquis Conrad was a little overwhelmed by the straightforward way of conducting official business in such a public setting. He was really not used to this way of working.
If there's anything we can talk about in the office? There's no one there. You can give me money, and I can accept it quietly. Everyone will be happy, right?
The Chinese businessman who came from afar obviously had no intention of paying attention to Marquis Conrad's inner words. He continued to struggle closer and explained: "But! Sir! I have already paid my taxes!"
In fact, this businessman is not an ignorant person. After he came here, he paid taxes according to the regulations and made a large profit. Then he smoothed the relationship and honestly took some bribes.
But the official who took his bribe was transferred away, so the new guy didn't get the bribe, so he withheld his goods and prepared to get some benefits.
It's a pity that such a trivial matter will never be reported to a big shot like the Marquis of Conrad, so the Marquis of Conrad also looked confused.
The filial piety given to him by his subordinates is filial piety. Marquis Conrad would not care about such trivial matters as whether his subordinates overcharged or undercharged, or how many times they collected.
Therefore, Conrad coughed in embarrassment. This embarrassment came purely from his unfamiliarity with his normal work business: "Ahem! That's, that's what others collected, it has nothing to do with me!"
The businessman from Dahua still shouted aggrievedly: "But sir! Sir! If I pay another sum of money, I will lose everything!"
There is no way, as he said, if he is asked to pay the fee again, he will really lose money. In fact, because he does not know the rules here, he has not made any money this time.
Before coming here, he just felt that the officialdom in the Dahua Empire was dark, the officials were corrupt, and there was no way for people to survive.
But now he realizes that only the officials of the Tang Empire in his path are an outlier in terms of their integrity, while the rest of the countries have the same virtue!
At that time, he had just escorted the goods through the Tang Empire. There was no exploitation or checkpoints along the way. They only collected him a transit fee when entering the customs, and then told him not to unload the goods halfway, and then he arrived at Linshui without any hindrance.
He simply couldn't believe that there was such an efficient and clean bureaucracy in the world. For a moment, he even wanted to sell his goods in the Tang Empire.
Regrettably, at that time, he was still thinking about the prices of goods in the Lions Empire, and greedily fantasized that he could earn more in the Lions Empire.
Indeed, the prices here are indeed higher than those in the Datang Empire. Unfortunately, no one told him at the time that the taxes and fees here are also much higher than those in the Datang Group!
What made him regret even more was that in addition to higher taxes and fees, there were countless officials lining up to ask for money. The police wanted security fees, the ports wanted management fees, the customs wanted customs clearance fees, and the nobles wanted benefits fees.
After being exploited at all levels, he made more money than if he had just left the goods in the Tang Empire. Unfortunately, it is too late to say anything now, and there is no regret medicine that can be bought in the world.
Marquis Conrad couldn't hold himself any longer. He felt that it was too embarrassing to fight with a pariah in a place like this, so he became angry and shouted: "You unruly man! If you keep yelling, if you keep yelling, I will arrest you."
stand up!"
"Sir! Please do it! Let me go! Just do it..." The businessman, who had no choice but to do anything, didn't know what to do and could only plead.
Finally, Conrad lost his patience, pointed at the other party and ordered: "Ignorant! Catch him! Catch this untouchable!"
After hearing his order, the surrounding guards immediately began to take action. They pinned the businessman from Dahua to the ground in three strokes. No matter how hard he struggled, he could not break away from the arms and hands of so many people.
The desperate businessman was pinned to the ground and could only shout loudly. He didn't know whether he was begging for mercy or continuing to think about the suppressed goods: "Sir, sir! Sir, have mercy! Have mercy!"
His voice echoed in the hall, and soon it fell silent. The tax building returned to its usual tranquility, as if nothing had happened.
…
On the pier of Bunas Port, a ship loaded with cargo sounded its whistle, slowly docked, and lowered the gangway.
The volume of this transport ship is much larger than that of the Freewheeler, and it seems to have a displacement of at least 20,000 tons.
Similar transport ships are almost the largest ships that Bunas Port can accommodate. When Datang Group left here, there were no such huge civilian ships in the world.
Bunas Port, which has been in operation for many years, has lagged behind. The remote waterfront port can now dock giant ships of more than 50,000 tons. Because other countries have no ports that can accommodate such giant ships, similar transport ships can only
Used between Longgang and Linshui Dongwan.
I heard that soon, Chu State will have a port that can accommodate such large-tonnage giant ships, which are prepared for transporting oil.
With a deafening whistle, everyone in the port turned their attention to this huge snow-white ship.
This huge ship has a four-digit hull number. Generally, large ships with such numerical hull numbers come from the same place.
The tax collector who was originally arrogant and domineering on the pier shrank his neck, and the sentries of the Lions Empire who were carrying guns on guard also subconsciously stood up straighter.
After the gangway landed, a man in a suit walked down from the high deck. He had a cigarette in his mouth and a leather bag in his hand.
"Welcome to Bunas, sir." The Laines official in charge of tax collection walked forward with a smile on his face, rubbed his hands and said flatteringly.
Passing the leather bag in his hand to the other party, he threw the cigarette butt in his mouth on the dock and stamped it out. The middle-aged man exhaled the last puff of smoke: "I'm in a hurry."
When the tax officer opened the bag, he saw the banknotes and customs clearance documents inside. This has almost become a routine.
The documents in the bag are for customs clearance procedures, which require his signature and seal. The money inside is his bribe, and the larger part is what he has to send up, layer by layer.
No one dares to touch this money, just like no one dares to touch these giant ships from the Tang Dynasty. Everyone knows what will happen if something goes wrong, which will be very scary for the nobles who control Bunas
.
"Understood! Understood! The documents will be sent to your Excellency later." The tax official nodded and bowed in a flattering manner.
"You look good." The man took out a gold coin from his pocket, threw it to the other person, turned around and walked towards the car that had been waiting there.
The tax collector stretched out his hand to catch the gold coin. After wiping it, the smile on his face became even more flattering - it is rare to be so generous these days, which is why he treats Tang nationality ships so differently.
reason.
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Today, Long Ling was shamelessly lazy and secretly went to watch a movie. He supported the little broken ball. It was really good. Yesterday's supplementary update is still being written. It will probably be late at night. Let's watch it tomorrow morning.
