You call this the god of etiquette?

Chapter 125 Pioneer Action and Local Industries

In the center of the conference room on the second floor of the "Talek" City Lord's Mansion is a rectangular conference table.

It was made of heavy oak and inlaid with carved ornaments made of ivory brought from the Delaware forests.

A row of expensive yellow wood chairs were placed around the long table.

There are wide fireplaces on both sides of the hall, with roaring flames, providing warmth and comfort to the attendees in the still chilly spring.

There are two conference rooms in the City Lord's Mansion.

One is on the fourth floor of the City Lord's Mansion, which is also the top floor.

The other room is the current one.

The decoration of the conference room on the top floor is simple and plain, but what is held regularly there are meetings of the most powerful black-clad priests in "Talek".

Although the current conference room exudes luxury in every detail, a considerable number of participants are non-believers.

The reason behind this has nothing to do with showing off, or at least, the core motivation is not showing off.

For many unbelievers, the lives of believers seem to exist in another world.

The sublimation of the spiritual realm and higher-level pursuits brought about by belief in gods are incomprehensible to those who have not joined the church.

Naturally, a large number of civilian non-believers believe that apparent wealth is a reflection of the strength of the church or any other organization.

Although this is not a complete fallacy, it does appear to be obviously biased.

From the church's perspective, accumulating wealth is actually far less important than accumulating strong people.

It's a simple "neighbors stock up on food, I stock up on guns" principle.

Many churches that do not show wealth on the surface may not necessarily have no money, but they just like to invest money and other resources in the cultivation of strong people.

When the strong ones mature and can provide new resources to the church, the church will then use the obtained resources to select and train new strong ones.

Form a virtuous circle.

However, this is all left to the established middle and upper reaches of the church.

After all, the reputation these churches have accumulated over decades or even centuries is enough to attract residents of this city and even other cities.

But for a silently growing church like Black Rite and a city like Tarek that is still on the rise, blind simplicity may lead to trouble.

Therefore, it is inevitable to pursue a certain degree of luxury in various external situations.

The effect seems to be indeed significant.

The twenty or so shopkeepers who attended this meeting generally looked restrained, as if they were afraid that someone might accidentally scratch the ivory pattern on the table.

From time to time, my eyes linger on the various exquisite decorations in the conference room.

The undisguised expression of amazement was like witnessing some kind of spectacle.

There may be an element of showmanship and exaggeration, but Iger doesn't care.

The purpose of decorating this conference room is not to make the participants think highly of the Lisavanier Painting Society and "Talek", but just to prevent people from prejudgmentally scorning them.

"Talek" is a city that thrives on trade, and Ige meets with big foreign businessmen in the conference room almost every few days.

He has no interest in deliberately using shabby decorations to make outside businessmen look down on himself and the painting agency like in third-rate knight novels, and then finally slaps the other party in the face through something.

Seeing that everyone in the conference room was almost seated, Ige looked around and began to explain his purpose of holding today's meeting:
"Everyone here is a bakery owner, a stone mill owner, and an oven owner who have made contributions to the city in Tarek in recent years."

"For this, on behalf of the City Lord's Mansion, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone!"

After Ige finished speaking, there was warm applause in the conference room.

Among them, Puchenisha, the owner of the wheat-colored bakery sitting closest to Ige, applauded the most enthusiastically.

This is not only because his seat today represents the city lord's palace's high recognition of his contribution, but also because he knows that the current meeting is held to resolve the concerns he raised to the city lord a few days ago.

The applause in the conference room lasted for a long time.

This is because there are only about twenty people in the entire conference room, so the one who stops clapping first has a certain probability of being discovered.

Half a minute, 1 minute, 2 minutes
In the end, Ige pressed down with his hand, and everyone stopped applauding as if they were still unfinished.

Puchenisha's hands were burning with pain, but his wonderful mood was not affected at all.

Just kidding, I finally waited until the wise and wise city lord came to save "Maize". The slight physical pain was nothing.

Seeing the excitement and anticipation of everyone in the conference room, Ige knew that they must have heard the news.

But that doesn't matter.

He had originally intended to spread the news first so that the whole city would be more prepared.

He even took the initiative to ask Puchenisha to disclose the contents of the conversation between the two to some loyal and reliable businessmen.

Today, I am afraid that many well-informed people among the civilians know about it.

"One thing I want to tell you first is that Tarek's next focus is on pioneering."

“Create the fertile lands on both sides of the first half of the road to prosperity!”

Ige's voice was sonorous and powerful, and the hearts of everyone present were filled with excitement.

Pioneer!

What a strange and beautiful word.

In the past, when Father Earth Church ruled, why didn’t the Tarek people open up more farmland?

Don't you want to?

Or is there too much food?
Of course not.

Wheat has already been planted in all the places around "Talek" that can be used for farming.

Most of the remaining places are either too rugged or too far away from water sources, making it impossible to draw or pump water.

Although the terrain of the dirt road between "Talek" and "Fue" is fine, and there is Lake Macaton to the west, there are obvious abnormalities in the soil.

Problems such as plant lodging, root rot, plant stunting, etc. emerge in endlessly.

According to the extremely muddy soil conditions at that time, in fact, even if it was used for farming, even walking on it would be like trekking in a shallow swamp.

It's just a wasteland.

But since the Lisavanier Painting Society began to rule "Talek", everything has changed.

The most intuitive thing is of course the emergence of the “road to prosperity”.

The road that was originally difficult to pass and was muddy all year round suddenly turned into compacted hard soil.

The soil outside the stone edge of the road has also turned back into ordinary land.

Already, people are using the vast soil on both sides of the Road to Prosperity to grow wheat.

However, these are all trivial matters.

Without the official power of the city to organize the construction of basic irrigation facilities, individuals would simply not be able to carry out effective land development.

After Ige ascended to the position of city lord, "Talek"'s political focus has always been on three things: rebuilding the city, standardizing the law, and establishing the dominance of the Lisavanier Painting Society.

Now that these three things have been done, it's time to turn to a new focus.

Food is a good starting point.

"And today, the reason why I want to call you loyal Tarek merchants here is to encourage you and give you the determination to persevere."

As he said this, he glanced at Puchanisa, who returned his grateful gaze.

"By this time next year, Tarek plans to open up about 100 hectares of land and produce an additional 900 tons of grain."

“By then, the price of wheat in our homeland of Tarek is expected to drop by more than one-third!”

Hua Hua Hua - applause sounded like waves again.

The people present were all engaged in the upstream and downstream industries of food, especially bread processing.

When there were no foreign businessmen eyeing the local food industry, they were not too sensitive to the price of wheat.

The price has been about the same for decades. We can negotiate the high and low points if we can, but forget it if we can't.

After all, although food is expensive, the salary offered by the tannery factory is higher than that of workers and farmers in most cities in the north.

But now, traveling merchants in the south have discovered the relatively high food prices in "Taleq".

Then the smell came one after another.

The local food industry of "Talek" has been greatly impacted.

Although those merchants engaged in processing can purchase wheat directly from other places, after including transportation costs, the price offered to bakeries is not as good as buying finished flour directly from other places.

Although bakeries can buy finished flour, they can't compare to merchants who directly bring finished bread.

The source of all these problems lies in the high price of local wheat.

The relatively high local wheat prices are caused by limited local farmland and insufficient production.

It can be said that solving the problem of farmland can break this unsolvable vicious cycle.

Ige smiled and looked at the local businessmen with happy faces and rosy faces on both sides of the long table.

They are not idiots, and there is no need for Igor to explain it more clearly.

However, at this moment, a person suddenly spoke out. His voice was not loud, but he was obviously nervous:
"Lord Eagle, can I ask you a question?"

All eyes turned to the speaker.

Ige also followed the sound and looked over, recognizing the tall and thin man.

His name is Eden Hicks and he is the owner of Morningside Bakery.

Chenxi only has two stores in "Talek", which is considered to be the one with the weakest financial strength among everyone present, which is barely enough to meet the standards for participation in the conference.

Ige held this meeting to boost confidence in the local food industry of "Talek". Of course, he didn't care if anyone asked:
"Please, Mr. Eden."

Eden looked at the friendly Lord of the City and seemed to muster up the courage:
"Lord Ige, your plan for Tarek is so appropriate. As an honorable resident of Tarek, I would like to pay you my highest respect before asking questions!"

After saying that, he stood up and saluted Ige in front of the long table.

The next second, everyone present stood up and saluted Ige like stone statues that had been awakened.

Puchenixia was disdainful and secretly thought that Iden was a flatterer, but his body movements were faster and more standard than everyone else's.

At the end, he raised his hands and started clapping excitedly.

Then there was another round of applause that seemed to never end.

It wasn't until Ige waved his hand again to signal that it was okay to stop that Eden had the chance to continue:

"Lord Ige, I was extremely frightened when I heard the news you conveyed. I am determined to open my two small shops and contribute to the development of Tarek."

"But after all, it takes a long time to open up fields, and the drop in wheat prices may not be immediate."

"I'm a little worried that my store won't be able to survive until then."

As he spoke, Eden observed Ige's expression. When he saw that the Lord's expression was not strange, he bravely continued:

"So Lord Ige, I'm wondering if the city can introduce some policies."

"For example, impose additional taxes on imported bread and flour?"

Eden's expression was extremely respectful, and after speaking, he saluted Ige again.

The conference room suddenly became silent.

Although everyone has been impacted by external competition, their respective situations are still different.

For example, Wheat Bakery, which is relatively large and has a good reputation in Tarek, can barely sustain itself.

For businesses like Dawn Bakery, it will indeed be more difficult to persevere.

Of course, no matter what the situation is, the city's increase in taxes on foreign goods can always alleviate the pressure on these local merchants.

After listening to Eden's words, Ige fell into a brief silence.

He wants to preserve the local food industry of "Talek".

After all, food is the most important material to maintain the operation of every city.

Exploring and stabilizing the local food industry therefore has a strong strategic significance.

However, the exact extent of protection is still open to debate.

In fact, this series of plans are still in the preparation stage.

In fact, the core issue of land distribution has not yet been decided.

Not to mention issues such as compensation for farmers’ livelihoods and agricultural infrastructure construction after food prices fell.

However, I am afraid it will be too late to boost confidence in the food industry after all these pending matters are finalized.

Ige had already sent people to check and found that half of the bakeries still open in the city were on the verge of closing.

A foreseeable wave of store closures is brewing.

Then there will be a chain reaction, causing the stone mill and oven house to close down.

Finally, the market was completely handed over to foreign businessmen.

If it weren't for this, Pucheninisha wouldn't have asked to see Yig so many times.

The original reservation had to be postponed due to Rodney's problems, and the two finally met three days ago.

And then there was this meeting.

Eagle thought for a while, then looked around at everyone present, taking in all their nervous expressions:
"Mr. Eden, I can't give you a definite answer at the moment about the tax increase you mentioned."

Seeing everyone's expressions dimming, Ige smiled slightly and then said:

"However, raising taxes is indeed a measure that the city government may take."

“It’s just that we need time to study exactly when to start, how to add, and how much to add.”

As soon as Ige finished speaking, he saw the businessmen's eyes widening due to sudden excitement.

It's funny.

They probably thought that after raising taxes on food from other places, they could go back to the good times a year or two ago.

As everyone knows, such "protective measures" cannot last long.

During this "protection period", whoever can truly complete the adjustment and make good use of the advantages brought by the policy will be the final winner.

"Talek" is still too small.

After the meeting, Ige stayed in the conference room.

He sorted out the situation of this meeting in his mind and began to think about tax increases.

It's just that there are so many things that I can't think them through at the moment.

Perhaps, it’s time to have a minute-taker
Sudden.

"Lord City Lord, I'm sorry to disturb your thinking."

A voice suddenly sounded from behind Ige.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

Eagle's heart skipped a beat!
　Thanks to book friend 20210301105378621092, Eat Old Sheep’s Tender Grass, AAA Fishing Workers, Forgetful Garden Revival, and book friend 20180725230002911 for their monthly votes!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)