Chapter 185 Such a large hat
Three days later, when the people of Banta City woke up in the morning, they found that Banta City was different from normal.
The most obvious thing was that the streets were filled with fully armoured city guards. Each crossroad had two guards standing there and all the streets were guarded.
After looking carefully, they would find that all the small and large streets had been cleaned very strictly.
The stalls that were along the normal roads had all disappeared today, it was like they had been erased by someone.
The stores by the roads were all different from normal. They didn’t display their products outside and had taken them all into the store, placing them neatly without a single speck of a mess.
On the streets that would be a bit messy normally, they had been completely cleaned today. It was even so smooth that people could see their reflection.
Everyone was a bit surprised at first, but they soon quickly reacted.
Three days ago, the ?Banta Times? had already announced something big would be happening today! The changing of City Lords!
Since the current king took the throne, Count Sean had been the City Lord and fifteen years had already passed.
After such a long time, everyone in Banta City was already used to him being there.
For most people in Banta City, when they mentioned the Lord City Lord, it was referring to Count Sean. Many people in Banta City even forgot the Lord City Lord’s name, they just knew that he was the Lord City Lord.
After being used to something for so long, now that the City Lord was suddenly changing, Banta City’s people felt a bit strange after learning this matter.
In the fifteen years that Count Sean had been the City Lord, he had been very proper.
Although for the first ten years, because of Banta City itself, Count Sean couldn’t make Banta City richer, to the citizens, the City Lord had always fulfilled his basic duties. 𝙗𝙚𝒅𝒏𝙤𝙫𝙚𝒍.𝒐𝙧𝙜
In the first ten years, Count Sean didn’t drive the economic development of Banta City, but he had properly managed the city.
In these ten years, although Banta City didn’t have a high standard of law and order, it was still in good order without any major turmoil.
Moreover, what the citizens praised the most was that he didn’t allow the small and large nobles to bully the citizens.
Under his management, there were few events each year where the nobles bullied normal citizens. Moreover, if it was discovered, the noble that committed the crime would be heavily punished by Count Sean.
To the citizens, just this alone was enough to make them support this Lord City Lord.
After these first ten years, when the Frestech Chamber of Commerce appeared, driving the development of Banta City and greatly increasing the economy, Count Sean didn’t hesitate to use the extra taxes collected to increase the standard of living for Banta City.
In these two years, Banta City had completely changed.
First, not mentioning large projects like the Sandy River bank project and roads connecting all over the place outside the city, just the fact that Banta City had a public transportation system made it much easier for people.
Just a few days ago, there were Magic Street Lamps that were installed on the major streets of Banta City.
It was like in the new city square, every night, those Magic Street Lamps would light up and illuminate those streets. It would allow the people of Banta City to walk around on those streets without heading into the darkness like before.
The street lamps were just the first phase. According to the plan announced by the City Lord Manor, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce would be building street lamps on every street of Banta City during the next period of time, lighting up the entire city. It would be like Count Sean had said in the ?Banta Times? before, Banta City would be the “city without a night”.
The people of Banta City were waiting and expecting that day to come.
But since three days ago, when they saw the news in the ?Banta Times? that the City Lord would be changing, people couldn’t help feeling unsettled.
If Count Sean was to leave, all the city changes that were good to citizens in Banta City, would they continue as planned?
“There is no need to worry at all.” Count Sean had the same confident smile as he said to the ?Banta Times? editor in chief Nakhi, “Although I am leaving Banta City, chairman Xu and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce are still here. The Banta City changes that you mentioned, most of them came from chairman Xu’s suggestions to me. Even most of the money used to implement these projects came from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, the City Lord’s Manor doesn’t have that much money. So that means that as long as chairman Xu and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce are here, everyone doesn’t need to worry about this.”
The two of them were waiting with a large crowd of people outside Banta City’s northern gate.
Today was the day Count Stagg would take over, so as the previous City Lord, Count Sean had led all the people with power in Banta City to come greet Count Stagg.
Before Count Stagg arrived, Nakhi was having a short interview with Count Sean.
“But most of the projects could only continue with the support of the City Lord’s Manor.” Nakhi said with a frown, “Now that Lord City Lord is leaving, everyone is worried that the new City Lord Count Stagg won’t support these city renovation projects like you did.”
“I’ve already said it, there is no need to worry.” Count Sean’s smile disappeared and he said with a serious look, “Since Count Stagg is taking over for me, naturally he will work hard to develop Banta City. These city renovations are all helpful to Banta City, so Count Stagg will definitely continue supporting them on behalf of the City Lord’s Manor.”
Nakhi hesitated a bit as he secretly gritted his teeth. Then he asked, “But Lord City Lord, I’ve heard that the Stagg Family is very biased against chairman Xu and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. You’re not worried that after Count Stagg becomes the City Lord, he will stop supporting the Frestech Chamber of Commerce because of this and even suppress them?”
Count Sean’s face sunk, “Where did you hear this from? Get it clear, even if the Stagg Family is biased against Xu Yi and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, that is not related to Count Stagg holding the position of Banta City’s City Lord. Count Stagg will be the City Lord of Banta City from this day forth and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce is one of the most important companies in our Banta City, for the development of Banta City, naturally he will support the Frestech Chamber of Commerce like me. How can you make wild guesses!”
Although Count Sean’s tone was very strict, while Nakhi nodded in response, his lips couldn’t help curling slightly, revealing his true thoughts.
Because Count Sean’s words sounded very righteous, it sounded like he supported Count Stagg, but if one carefully analyzed his words, they would find that he was trying to put him in an awkward position before he even arrived.
According to the meaning of Count Sean’s words, since Count Stagg was the Banta City’s City Lord, of course he has to consider the development of Banta City. That means that he would have to support the Frestech Chamber of Commerce that is very important to the development of Banta City.
If he didn’t support them, it would mean that he didn’t care about the development of Banta City.
With such a large hat on him, how could Count Stagg not have any scruples at all,
Moreover, Count Sean had even put a definition to this support, which was “supporting the Frestech Chamber of Commerce as much as him”.
How did Count Sean support the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
As long as it was people who frequently read the ?Banta Times?, they would be able to see how Count Sean supported the Frestech Chamber of Commerce from the articles in the ?Banta Times?.
Moreover, the current Banta City renovation plan that the citizens paid attention to, Count Sean had given responsibility to Xu Yi and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
This was treating the Frestech Chamber of Commerce as part of the City Lord’s Manor.
This kind of support was not something a normal City Lord would give.
But if Count Stagg didn’t do this, it would become him not caring about the development of Banta City.
It had to be known that the ?Banta Times? sold over fifty thousand copies a day. The people of Banta City were already used to getting information from the ?Banta Times?.
Now that Nakhi had interviewed Count Sean at such a sensitive time, naturally it would be reported in the ?Banta Times?.
This meant that Count Sean’s words would be known to all of Banta City’s people through the ?Banta Times?.
To the citizens, the words that Count Sean had said was completely a warning for Count Stagg.
If Count Stagg didn’t do well, he would lose the trust of the public.
“Chairman Xu, when Count Sean meets Count Stagg later, will he focus on introducing you and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce?” In the crowd not far away, the Amrit Chamber of Commerce’s chairman Cruise asked Xu Yi this in a low voice.
“Probably not.” Xu Yi shook his head, “I specially mentioned this matter to the Lord City Lord yesterday, I hoped that he wouldn’t introduce me and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, which he agreed to.”
“Why?” Chairman Cruise was a bit confused, “Although I understand that you want to remain low key in front of Count Stagg, do you think that’s possible? Count Stagg had definitely researched our Banta City before coming here and adding in the Stagg Family…..Ke, it’s impossible he wouldn’t notice you and your Frestech Chamber of Commerce.”
“This is what Count Stagg needs to consider, it isn’t related to me.” Xu Yi gave a shrug and casually said, “Without a need, I would rather stay as low key as possible.”
“But…..”
Before chairman Cruise could keep asking, he heard the sounds of coming from around him.
Looking into the distance, they saw a line of horse carriages slowly heading in this direction.
There was no need to guess, this was the arrival of Count Stagg.
Chapter 186 Which identity would you choose
Count Stagg and Count Sean were around the same age, they were both over fifty years old this year, but Count Sean seemed much more vigorous. Count Stagg was only a few years older, but his appearance was much older and his face was much more strict.
After getting out of the carriage, other than revealing a friendly smile when looking at Count Sean, when he met the others, he had a strict look that wasn’t easily moved at all.
Moreover, when his expression was different when it came to facing nobles or merchants.
His face still had the same strict appearance, but when he was facing nobles, his expression could be considered normal.
But when he was facing the merchants, although it wasn’t clear with his strict appearance, it was very easy to perceive the disdain that it carried.
The only exception was when he met Xu Yi.
When Count Sean led him to Xu Yi, Count Stagg’s serious expression became a bit relaxed and his expression became a bit strange.
After looking at Xu Yi for a bit, Count Stagg suddenly shook his head and gave a soft snort, “It was hard enough for his majesty to give you a noble title, but you continue lowering your status to be a merchant. It really is a waste of his majesty’s recognition of you and losing face for us nobles!”
The surrounding business circle representatives have ugly looks on their faces.
Although their position as merchants in the Lampuri Kingdom was below that of nobles and couldn’t even compare to the farmers, even if the nobles felt disdain towards the merchants, there was no noble that would put it so straightforward in front of the merchants
The merchants had very low positions, but successful merchants had large amounts of money.
Money was always easy to use, whether it was earth or the Sines Continent. As long as one had enough money, even if the merchants didn’t have a high status, they lived better than most peasants and even nobles whose households were in bad conditions.
Moreover, it wasn’t easy for large nobles to engage in business with their status, so they mostly used representatives to do business or directly cooperated with merchants.
In the end, one couldn’t feed themselves with their position no matter how high it was.
If they wanted to live a high scale life of luxury, if they didn’t depend on business to make money, normal nobles weren’t that much better than peasants.
So there had always been a strange relationship between nobles and merchants in the Lampuri Kingdom.
The nobles looked down on merchants, but they wanted to live the same luxurious lives as them.
The merchants envied the nobles’ positions, but they actually looked down on those nobles who felt superior and didn’t actually know what the real situation was.
Both sides had what the other side needed, so cooperation was the best choice for both sides.
In the end, the nobles and merchants had close knit business deals, while looking down on each other.
This relationship seemed messed up and even twisted, but this was the real situation in the Lampuri Kingdom and most of the other kingdoms on the Sines Continent.
Take the large merchants of the Lampuri Kingdom.
First, not mentioning the Falcao Chamber of Commerce that was clearly set up by the large noble family of the Jole Family, even the Armani Chamber of Commerce, the Amrit Chamber of Commerce, and the Sarank Chamber of Commerce that didn’t seem related to any nobles actually had nobles behind them to some extent.
The chairman of these companies frequently came in contact with nobles, but this was the first time that a noble had been so straightforward with his disdain towards merchants.
If it was a small noble, for veteran merchants like chairman Rank, chairman Cruise, and chairman Vincent, they wouldn’t care at all and could even reprimand that noble without any courtesy.
But the one who said this was a Lord Count and it was a Lord Count that came from the Stagg Family, one that would take over as Banta City’s City Lord.
No matter how dissatisfied they were, they could only lower their heads. They didn’t dare look at Count Sean and they didn’t dare reveal a single bit of their true feelings.
Only Xu Yi slightly raised his lead and looked at Count Stagg before saying with a faint smile, “Lord Count Stagg, I don’t feel that being a merchant is lowering my status and it isn’t losing face for nobles. To me, this noble status was just one that his majesty granted me and the status that I really care about is my status as a merchant.”
Count Sean raised a brow, “What? You want to wallow in degeneracy?”
Xu Yi’s face sunk slightly before he said with a serious look, “Lord Count, I don’t understand what you mean. If you’re saying that me being willing to be a merchant is wallowing in degeneracy, I don’t agree with this view.”
The surrounding people were surprised.
No one thought that Xu Yi would actually contradict Count Stagg in front of all these people.
Count Stagg came to Banta City today to take over the City Lord’s position. According to customs, he would definitely do some things to establish his authority.
Everyone knew that at this time, it was better to be as honest as possible in front of Count Stagg and not face the muzzle of his gun, otherwise the consequences would be dire.
So even if they were dissatisfied with Count Stagg’s words that had no traces of courtesy, the business circle representatives here didn’t dare say a thing.
Now that Xu Yi was directly opposing his words, it was simply turning the muzzle onto himself.
Chairman Cruise’s heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t help looking at Xu Yi, wanting to signal to him to withdraw his words with his eyes, but he found Count Stagg’s ice cold eyes looking over him. He quickly lowered his head and didn’t dare breathe too loudly.
When he lowered his head, he realized something.
The meaning of Count Stagg’s ice cold gaze was that he specially came here to provoke Xu Yi.
When he thought of the attitude the Stagg Family had towards Xu Yi and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, chairman Cruise’s heart turned cold.
Xu Yi might be in trouble this time…...
As expected, after Count Sean was silent for a bit, like he was surprised that Xu Yi dared to contradict him, he asked in a deep voice, “What? Why don’t you agree? Did I say something wrong?”
Chairman Cruise couldn’t help looking at Xu Yi again, praying with all his heart that Xu Yi could admit his mistake. It was easier to talk once he avoided this problem.
As long as he passed today, even if Count Stagg wanted to cause trouble for Xu Yi, he had time to deal with it.
However, chairman Cruise’s prayers were all disappointed.
With his understanding of Xu Yi’s character, he knew that this person either didn’t express his opinion or if he did, he definitely wouldn’t change it easily.
If it was described in a good light, it was considered tenacious and in a bad light, it was considered stubborn.
As expected, once he heard Count Stagg’s question, Xu Yi said with a nod, “Yes, Lord Count, I think that there is a problem with your views. According to the laws of the kingdom, nobles do enjoy more benefits than normal people and merchants, so their positions are higher. But I have always believed that for a person, no matter what status they have, they will have corresponding duties when enjoying rights. Since nobles enjoy more benefits, they must also fulfill more duties. Otherwise, what difference is there between them and bugs?”
“Ah!”
As soon as Xu Yi’s voice fell, there were cold gasps from around them.
Everyone looked at Xu Yi in shock, simply not daring to believe the words that came from his mouth.
Perhaps he wasn’t wrong, these were his real views.
But he actually dare to say them in front of a Lord Count and he had said them after Count Stagg had expressed his views, this was simply planning on going against the Lord Count!
Wasn’t this seeking death?
Count Stagg slightly narrowed his eyes and they betrayed a trace of surprise. He clearly didn’t think that Xu Yi would not only not take back his words, he would make them even more intense.
“Chairman Xu, are you saying that we nobles are bugs? Don’t forget, you are also a noble!” Count Stagg said in a cold voice.
Seeing the surrounding Banta City nobles expressed looks of doubt and shock, Xu Yi revealed a faint smile as he shook his head and said, “No, this isn’t my meaning. I just wanted to say that whether it is a noble, a merchant, or a peasant, no matter who they are, if they can’t fulfill their duties and responsibilities, they are a bug. Lord Count, do you think that I’m right?”
Count Stagg really wanted to say that Xu Yi was talking nonsense, but he found that he couldn’t refute the righteousness in Xu Yi’s words. He could only give a reluctant nod as he said, “These words are indeed correct, but chairman Xu, your words didn’t have this meaning earlier, right? You’re saying that the nobles have more benefits, so they should have more duties. This is accusing most nobles that they aren’t fulfilling those duties, right?”
Xu Yi in a thoughtful voice, “Lord Count, I think that you’ve misunderstood me. I only want to say that nobels need to put in more effort to maintain their high positions. If you’re not willing to put in the effort to enjoy more benefits and a higher position, this doesn’t sound reasonable, don’t you think?”
Count Sean said with a strong snort, “What isn’t reasonable? If one cannot have a higher position and enjoy more benefits, is there a need for nobles? For example, chairman Xu, if his majesty were to take away your noble position, would you be willing?”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, “His majesty is wise, how could he take away my noble status without any reason?”
“Just the fact that you’re both a noble and a merchant, that is enough to take away your noble status.” Count Stagg said with a cold snort, “Chairman Xu, let me make it clear to you. The Royal Parliament is currently considering your dual status and once the Royal Parliament considers you holding both positions unacceptable, you will be forced to pick one. When that time comes, do you still want to remain as a noble?”
Everyone was stunned again.
No one had thought that the Royal Parliament was conducting special considerations towards a small baron like Xu Yi.
And Count Stagg’s question was very correct. When the time comes, what will be Xu Yi’s decision?