Starting Today, I’ll Work as a City Lord

Chapter 173: Target: Tariffs

Can someone who eats up to five or six silver coins per meal not be wealthy? Of course, they can. Even the prodigal second-generation nobles wouldn’t eat like that unless they were from big noble families.

Those who dared to eat like this every day had a solid background, which was why Solo and other merchants were looking at Liu Feng with uncertainty.

Tory was stunned for a moment, then his eyes swept over the dishes on the table with a complex expression. He knew that the dishes in the City Lord’s Mansion were even better than these, so he thought that Liu Feng was being humble.

These merchants recalled the question Liu Feng had asked eAnrir and realized that they were indeed poor, as they couldn’t even afford to eat good meals every day. The merchants understood what Liu Feng meant. Compared to commoners, they were certainly wealthy. But compared to other nobles and some merchants, they were still poor.

For example, they couldn’t afford to eat so luxuriously every day.

The merchants present were all thinking about Liu Feng’s intentions. Suddenly talking about wealth and poverty, could it be that he wanted to show off his wealth?

No, no way. Solo was the first to dismiss this thought. In his view, Liu Feng was not such a person.

“Lord City Lord, why do you restrict our purchases from the Shopping Mall?” a merchant tried to change the subject, raising the main question for the day.

“I’ll just ask one question. Who is the biggest beneficiary of the transactions in the Shopping Mall?” Liu Feng’s lips curled upwards.

But they saw Solo remaining silent, which made them tense up. Everyone had a clear idea of the answer to this question.

“The stuff in the Shopping Mall was originally a benefit I gave to the commoners; that’s why the prices are so low,” Liu Feng leaned forward slightly, saying, “But now you all seem to be taking it too far and are taking advantage of me.”

The merchants all lowered their heads. That was a fact. They had indeed crazily stocked up on goods because selling them elsewhere would yield significant profits.

“If I were to raise the prices, then perhaps you wouldn’t be here asking me this question today. But that would be unfair to the commoners in my territory. So, I had no choice but to increase the price, you know?” Liu Feng said calmly.

“Well…” The merchants had nothing to say. They couldn’t shamelessly ask for the removal of purchase restrictions, or they would most likely get kicked out immediately. They couldn’t threaten, either, as they would most likely be sentenced to be hanged.

“Moreover, with my wealth, I could organize my own merchant team to go to other cities to sell stuff, and I would perhaps earn even more,” Liu Feng stimulated them again.

“What?” The merchants were shocked. If Liu Feng didn’t sell the goods to them, then they wouldn’t make any profit at all.

“Lord City Lord, we’ll comply with whatever requirements you have. If there are purchase restrictions, so be it, but we hope the amount we can buy can be increased,” one of the merchants said.

“Yes, we can even pay a bit more.” Ultimately, the merchants couldn’t bear to lose such a lucrative opportunity. The goods in West Sun City were cheap, and reselling them elsewhere would earn them substantial profits.

“Pay taxes. As long as it’s within my territory, all transactions must be taxed,” Liu Feng said sternly, “As long as you pay taxes, I won’t restrict your goods, and you can buy as much as you want.”

Hearing this, Solo understood. He completely understood. The previous display of wealth wasn’t for show- it was all to lay the groundwork for taxing. Either they pay taxes and continue buying goods, or Liu Feng forms his own merchant team and sells the goods elsewhere. The eAnrir discussion of wealth and poverty was merely a way for Liu Feng to demonstrate his financial power, implying that West Sun City didn’t need them at all.

Indeed, taxation was Liu Feng’s goal. When he mentioned forming his own merchant team to sell goods, he was partially serious and partially tricking the merchants. The merchant team he planned to make would only sell expensive items and not the cheap items in the Shopping Mall.

“My lord, how do you intend to collect this tax?” the merchants asked seriously. It was important to them as it impacted their income.

“When you buy things in West Sun City, I won’t tax you. But when you leave West Sun City with goods, I’ll collect tariffs,” Liu Feng said lightly.

The merchants all understood what tariffs were. They often had to pay a fee when passing through the territories of some lords. It was commonly referred to as a toll.

“Then, Lord City Lord, how much do you think we should pay?” The merchants felt relieved. They thought they would have to pay taxes to buy things in the city.

“It will be calculated based on the amount of goods. If you have more goods, then you’ll naturally have to pay more in taxes. If you don’t buy more than a certain amount of goods within a certain period of time, then you won’t be taxed,” Liu Feng explained.

“Taxed based on the amount of goods?” The merchants were dumbfounded. Doesn’t this mean that I will have to pay tariffs for the goods I had previously stockpiled and planned to take out of West Sun City?

“Don’t worry. Even after paying tariffs, you’ll still make a profit- just not as much as before,” Liu Feng said calmly.

With tariffs in place, their relationship had shifted. The merchants could only earn a little labor fee, but they would still make more than before.

As for hoarding goods, it was no longer necessary. Previously, they thought the more goods they hoarded, the more they would profit. But with tariffs in place, they were worried that hoarding too many goods would tie up their funds.

Behind them, Anri’s eyes sparkled as she quickly jotted down notes. I finally witnessed Young Master’s brilliance. He easily solved my worries just like that.

The merchants had to pay the taxes; otherwise, their goods would rot in their hands, and the City Lord’s Mansion would collect taxes from both the buyer and the seller.

Of course, buyers would only pay tariffs if they took large quantities of goods out of West Sun City. Otherwise, buying things within West Sun City wouldn’t incur any taxes.

The merchants understood. Today’s meeting was essentially a Hongmen Banquet¹. When they walked out later, others would think they had been given a large purchase quota, and when the tariffs were imposed, the merchants present would attract all the fire.

Solo couldn’t help but marvel. Is there really such a brilliant genius in the world?

Tariffs could perfectly protect the local market while increasing the income of the City Lord’s Mansion. It was the best situation for West Sun City.

Solo suddenly felt fortunate that Liu Feng wasn’t serving in the capital. Otherwise, merchants from all over would be taxed, including his own merchant team.

Translator’s Notes:

¹ 鸿门宴. A banquet with intentions to harm the guests. Long story short, the story goes that a leader invited a rival leader to a banquet, intended to have him killed at the banquet (by having someone perform a sword dance). However, the rival leader escaped and later killed the leader who invited him.