Xu Yi turned his head and revealed a faint smile, "You're seeing it on behalf of his majesty, isn't it the same?"
"Perhaps … …" Seveni nodded with a faint smile.
After three months, Seveni was no longer as sad as she was when she received the news of Lampuri Thirteenth's death, she had regained her usual calm smile.
Compared to before, her smile was much more sincere and gentle, making people feel closer to her.
Thinking of the things Seveni had done during this time, Xu Yi couldn't help feeling a bit of admiration in his heart.
Being able to remain calm and strong in the face of great change, as well as being able to stick to her own ideas without being tempted by power, there weren't many people in this world who could compare to her in terms of determination.
"Speaking of this, you still call royal father your majesty." Seveni looked at the Porter Chamber of Commerce's ships moving across the river and suddenly said this.
Seveni suddenly said, "Big brother hasn't done anything to you or the New Flyer since he took the throne, are you still not willing to accept him?"
"It's not about accepting or not accepting." Xu Yi shook his head.
"This is just a habit.
I've only seen his majesty the king in my life, as for his highness Eric ….. I've never seen him before, so I'm not used to calling him by his name.
Then again, I'm just a normal small merchant, so what I think of him doesn't affect anything. "
"Xu Yi, your old habit is acting up again." Seveni revealed a naughty smile as she reached out to point at Xu Yi.
"Don't always look down on yourself.
You're saying you're just a normal small merchant?
There might not be a second person in the kingdom who would believe that other than you.
If someone who can influence the decisions of half the cities in the kingdom is just a small merchant, then what are the other merchants in the kingdom? "
"Your highness, don't tease me." Xu Yi shook his head with a bitter smile.
"The decisions of the cities are just for them to earn more revenue, it isn't related to me.
If your words fell into his highness Eric's ears, I might be in trouble. "
"This is another one of your old habits." Seveni pursed her lips into a smile.
"Every time you don't mean what you say, you'll use honorifics to address me.
Don't worry, Big Brother promised to treat you and the New Flyer well, and from the looks of it, he has kept his promise.
Look, Big Brother has already inherited the throne for three months, but he hasn't done anything to you or the New Flyer.
So you can be a bit bolder and continue developing the Frestech Chamber of Commerce like before. "
Xu Yi looked at Seveni, "Are you here to persuade his highness Eric?"
"No, I'm here to persuade the Lampari Kingdom." Seveni shook her head as her expression became serious.
"Xu Yi, please don't abandon the Lampari Kingdom, alright?"
Xu Yi was silent for a moment and said, "I never said that I would give up the Lampari Kingdom."
"But you are doing this." Seveni said with a serious look.
Seveni said with a serious look, "In the past three months, not only did you not follow your plan to expand the New Flyer's base in the Falling Rain Valley, you even moved all the people in the Falling Rain Valley.
According to what I know, the Academy of Magic and the magic machine development center in the New Flyer have been moved to your company's base in the Principality of Constantine, right? "
Xu Yi had no expression, but he didn't deny it, "Where did you learn this?"
"Could it be that you think that such a large move can be hidden from everyone?" Seveni asked back without any politeness.
"Other than this, Stiel and your daughter Freya have been sent to the Principality of Constantine by you.
Aren't you doing this to leave the Lampari Kingdom? "
"You're thinking too much." Xu Yi said with a smile.
"The climate in the Principality of Constantine is better than here, so I'm sending Stiel and Freya there to make their lives more comfortable."
"Don't lie to me." Seveni stared right at Xu Yi as she said in a firm voice.
"Xu Yi, I've been with you for this long, how could I not see through your thoughts?
You've clearly made your plans and you've already started implementing them.
Actually to be honest, when you went to the Principality of Constantine for the first time two years ago, you already had this plan, right? "
Looking into Seveni's eyes in silence for a bit, Xu Yi said with a sigh, "This is just leaving a way out for myself.
Your highness, three months ago, didn't you remind me to prepare ahead of time?
Now you're accusing me, why is that? "
Seveni had a sad look on her face as she gritted her teeth and continued, "I understand your actions.
But Xu Yi ….. Can't you be a bit more patient?
Give big brother some confidence, at least see if he really wants to target you and New Flyer before making a decision, alright? "
"It'll be too late then." Xu Yi gave a soft snort.
"You want me to be more patient and confident?
Seveni, if you take the throne, I can give you enough patience and confidence. As for his highness Eric ….. He, he … … "
"But I feel that big brother has done very well in the three months since he took the throne.
At least he didn't do what you were worried about. Once he took the throne, he wouldn't make a move against you and New Flyer, right? "Seveni didn't give up on persuading him.
"Is that so?"
Xu Yi asked back. After looking at Seveni for a bit, he suddenly asked, "Your highness, I heard that after you handed over all your duties, you've been living in seclusion in your territory and never left?"
"Yes." Seveni gave a nod.
Seveni nodded, "This is to make big brother feel assured.
Coming to see you this time is the first time I've left my territory in the past few months. "
"Did his highness Eric ask you to persuade me?" Xu Yi asked.
"No, this is my own decision, big brother just told me the situation." Seveni replied.
"Then it's no different from him asking you out." Xu Yi gave a shrug.
"Looks like His Highness Prince Eric knows your personality quite well.
Alright, no matter what reason you have for coming to see me, you've been living in seclusion in your territory for the past few months, so you don't understand the situation outside at all. "
"What?
Is there something strange? "Seveni was a bit doubtful.
"I didn't see anything strange on the way here?
Rather after coming to Banta City, I saw that Banta City was even more prosperous compared to before, which made me very happy. "
"Of course you can't see it on the surface, but as for the truth ….. I'll give an example.
Seveni, do you know that Banta City's company policy has been adjusted recently? "
"Adjust the business tax?" Seveni slightly knit her brows.
Seveni slightly knit her brows, "How was it adjusted?
Was it adjusted lower or higher? "
"What do you think?" Xu Yi gave a cold laugh.
"Just six days ago, the City Lord Manor announced the new business tax standards for Banta City.
According to this standard, including our New Flyer, all magic machine companies will be classified as new industries and enjoy the new business tax standards.
Specifically, it's a special tax on magic machines, ranging from 5% to 8%. "
"Extra taxes?" Seveni knit her brows even more.
Seveni knit her brows, "The previous business tax hasn't changed?"
"No, the previous business tax has also been increased.
Take our Frestech Chamber of Commerce as an example. Because our Frestech Chamber of Commerce's annual income is over five million gold coins, we are a first class company, so the business tax rate has increased from the previous 43% to 56%.
It's directly increased by 13%.
“
"13%?" Seveni was surprised.
"How could it suddenly increase by this much?
Adding in the extra tax, wouldn't it suddenly increase by close to 20%? "
"Taking our New Flyer as an example, it's not close to 20%, rather it's over 20%." Xu Yi said with a cold laugh.
"Of course, other than our New Flyer, most of the other companies don't make magic machines, so the tax increase isn't that high. The Amsterdam Chamber of Commerce has only increased it by around 17%."
"This is too crazy!" Hearing the numbers Xu Yi gave, Seveni's face sunk.
"Suddenly increasing by this much, how much profit do you have left?"
"Your highness, if I told you that our Frestech Chamber of Commerce's profits this year would be cut in half based on this tax, would you believe me?" Xu Yi asked with a taunting smile.
Seveni was silent for a bit before nodding, but then she was a bit confused.
"If it's like this, why is the current Banta City even more prosperous than before?
Look, there are all kinds of goods being sent out and most of them are magic machines.
Why is that? "
"It's very simple, it's because the profit margin is too low. If we don't make more things to sell, we can't earn any money at all. It's even a problem to maintain the basic operations of the company." Xu Yi said with a sigh.
"Seveni, when we were wandering around the city, could it be that you didn't notice that there were fewer smiles on everyone's faces compared to before?"
Seveni remembered the situation when she and Xu Yi had been in the Magic Sedan touring Banta City and found that Xu Yi was right.
Banta City did seem more prosperous and there were more goods being transported, but the people's faces weren't filled with nervous and happy smiles like when she was the City Lord. Rather they all had serious expressions and tightly knit brows, looking like they were under a lot of pressure.
"The company isn't making money, so naturally they will think of ways to cut costs.
The most important part of the cost is the wages of the workers. "Xu Yi continued to explain.
"Just last month, there were fifteen worker riots in the factories of the large companies in Banta City. They were all protesting against the wage cuts."
Seveni looked at the old Banta City in the distance and was silent.
"The workers aren't satisfied, but there are many merchants in the city who are even more dissatisfied.
There are many chairmen of magic machine companies who have complained to me, saying that they can't keep going. "Xu Yi's expression was also ugly.
"I can't do anything about this, I can only advise them to keep going."
"Then ….. can they keep going?" Seveni asked in a hesitant voice.
Xu Yi gave a soft cold laugh, "What do you think?"
Seveni looked at Banta City in the distance again and fell into deep thought, not saying a thing for a while.