At night, the lakeside forest rustles, and the moon light and stars on the lake are swaying.

The night in the high-end dormitory area is also very beautiful, with the aroma of coffee brewed by Roland himself and the violin performance of Mantis, which makes people relax physically and mentally.

"You don't go to the coffee shop, can you?"

Diana didn't touch the coffee, not that she had just remembered to refuse the handout, but that she preferred to let it cool a little before determining the purpose of Roland's action.

"Niederhogg went to check the accounts today, and helped me take care of it by the way. In any case, he is also a major shareholder of the investment, and occasionally has to feel the business situation from a way other than the written word. ”

A reasonable explanation is also an obvious excuse.

V.E does have the habit of going down to the grassroots level to inspect and investigate at the top of the company, but there is no reason for a vice president to help others manage the store, and most of the people who can make Nidhogg take the initiative to go to the coffee shop are ordered by the higher-ups.

Niederhogg's Upper ...... Needless to say, I also know who it is, he will arrange it like this, I am afraid that he wants to convey some message through Roland's mouth.

Warn?

Console?

Negotiate?

Release?

Still is...... Heal?

"Sister, Diana...... Can I call you Miss Diana?"

Roland scratched his head apologetically, it was bold and rude to make such a request in front of a scribe nun, but he was not a devout believer after all, and it was essential to omit the awkward way of addressing the rest of the conversation if he wanted it to go smoothly.

For a negotiation to work, you must first secure some kind of superiority to back it up. Even if he doesn't have this advantage, at least he should make sure that the two sides are on an equal footing—that's what Li Lin taught him.

Diana nodded briskly in agreement, and after having been in contact with Li Lin and Roland, she knew very well how weak their faith was. Now that it was decided to hear what they had to say, the concession was still within tolerance.

"Miss Diana, did you know that this lakeside dormitory was much more lively than it is now?"

Unexpectedly, Diana nodded before she had time to think about it. The National School of Magic is also a sight to behold in Lüdes, and the elegant scenery of the lakeside area makes it one of the alternative places for outings and picnics for the great nobles of Lüdes, and it is not difficult to imagine that this place was originally full of great nobles surrounded by servants.

"But now the occupancy rate here is only about 40% of what it was in its heyday. ”

Roland looked at the forest line outlined by the moonlight, and explained to Diana:

"Students from the former earl class can also live in this lakeside area...... 5 years ago. This lakeside district is as bustling as the arcade streets. Every night there are dance parties, picnic dinners, and fireworks displays, sometimes until dawn. At that time, cadets from viscount families lived on the tower floor of today's baronial students, but today ......"

Roland's face facing the window didn't move in the slightest. The dark forest outside spoke for him the second half of his words.

Why do you think this is the case?

The subtext that children can hear ferments in the air. Diana looked at Roland calmly. After looking at those purple eyes for 2 or 3 seconds, he spit out his feelings:

"Is it because of the decline?"

The dormitory of the college directly shows the gap between the aristocratic classes, and can ignore the stubborn thinking of the nobility and inferiority. The only thing that disrupts the normal arrangement of titles is money and strength. And there is only one company that can interfere with the internal order of the entire class, except for the king.

Ten years ago, after the poison weed crisis, V.E Company grew rapidly, and during that period of rapid expansion, most of the nobles at the level of viscounts and counts suffered from the impact of monopoly conglomerates.

The reason is very simple, the lower nobles, the knights and barons in the countryside, because of lack of money, either turned to farmers early, or hugged the thighs of the consortium and became retail shareholders. The higher-level nobles, the marquis and duke, have a certain amount of strength in themselves, and they are somewhat related to the royal family, and the consortium is not interested in moving them. Except for churches that do not intend to conflict with them for similar reasons. The remaining viscounts and earls are not only the backbone of the opposition to the rise of the new monopoly capital, but they also have enough assets in their names to get a share, and finally, and most unfortunately, they are relatively weak. Based on the above conclusions, they are "fortunately" the main targets of the consortium merger frenzy.

Li Lin's tactic was simple - "unite a united force to strike at the main enemy".

The lower nobles hate the big nobles who are always thinking about annexing themselves, but they lack the strength and means to fight back. The nobility also always looked at potential threats with distrust, always fearing that the latter intended to replace them. Coupled with the temptation of some company shares and the subsequent distribution of spoils, the lords quickly abandoned their reserves, jumped on the clipper ship of the consortium, and launched a strategy of "surrounding the city from the countryside" and "bulldozing the countryside with the city" against the viscounts and counts who could not get up.

The income of the aristocracy came from farmland and transit merchant taxes, and Li Lin started with these two points.

After the poisoned weed incident, V.E Company established a "safety and quality rating system" to conduct safety and quality spot checks on Charlemagne's agricultural products and cash crops throughout the country, and regularly announced the results of the spot checks to the people, which won unanimous praise from all over the country. This "impartial" quality inspection system quickly checks for the quality of agricultural products in the target territory after the offensive begins. Thanks to the irreproachable evidence provided and the credibility of the public, the agricultural products in the target area were soon unsalable, hundreds of vegetables and fruits rotted in the fields and warehouses, and the unsellable poultry and livestock were driven into the river by farmers and drowned, and before that, the river had been dyed white by milk......

What can only be seen in times of economic crisis on the planet is playing out all over Charlemagne at this time. When the viscounts and counts began to notice that something was wrong, they were still thinking about saving it. An even heavier second blow came, and this time they saw the earth cracking beneath their feet, and the abyssal gate opening for them a terrifying sight.

The horrific memory of the poisoned weeds incident had not yet faded from people's minds, and in response to the strong demands of the panicked people, the dukes and marquis in the vicinity of the food problem quickly announced the closure of the trade routes, strictly ordering not to let an onion or a single cotton flower into their territory. This action quickly received a positive response from knights and barons everywhere, and they also quickly closed the borders of their own territories.

For the lords in crisis, this was tantamount to a death sentence, not to mention the main trade routes, and even the country roads were blocked. This not only meant that the sales of unsalable products were completely blocked, but also that the transit tax and commercial tax were cut off, and the lords were completely forced into a corner.

Anyone can imagine what happened next. A desperate lord borrowed money from a large business, and due to the adjustment of living standards, which did not keep up with the changes in shape, coupled with the lack of repayment ability and high interest rates, the number of debts continued to increase at 0. Ancestral property was mortgaged continuously, first for jewelry, for art, then for land, for shops, and finally for castles and mansions, and even the right to tax became the interest paid. The viscounts and counts became toothless beasts, and the attack came to an end.

Wealth itself is certainly a kind of power, but taxation is not only a source of money to maintain the expenses of the lord's family, but also a help to support them to exert their authority as a lord. The management of the policing organization, the construction of major arterial roads and municipal works – these practically fell into the hands of the consortium along with the right to collect taxes. At the same time, due to the tight supply in the market, the price of agricultural products and commodities rose, and other participants seized the opportunity to make a lot of money, plus the final share. It should be said that except for those unlucky guys, everyone is happy.

"What are you trying to illustrate by this?"

Diana listened to the instructions of the Harmony Version of Detoxification and asked coldly.

“...... People who can't keep up with the changing trends will eventually be abandoned. ”

Leaving this sigh behind, Roland propped his elbows onto the table. (To be continued......)

PS: There will be a more update later, so stay tuned!