MTL - Mercenaries and Adventurers-Chapter 17 , Institutions - Backward and Denial

A piece of bread made of coarse flour ground from wheat, together with a bowl of vegetable soup, filled Zhao Ji's stomach.

After eating and wiping it clean, and washing the wooden bowl, Zhao Ji left the chamber of commerce.

After arriving on the street, Zhao Ji planned to go to the government affairs center of the town first to see if he could meet some jobs that needed smart young people. Zhao Ji found that, affected by knowledge and education, the working level of the people here is generally not high, and being able to endure hardship is the main advantage of the people here. They encounter various problems, and the solutions are usually very straightforward, and it is difficult to find a proper solution. There are obviously better solutions to the problems, but they often don't use them.

It happened once a month ago. At that time, Zhao Ji was receiving a job from the Chamber of Commerce and the sawmill. The sawmill received freshly cut tree trunks from a village in the county. The roots are transported back to the city, and then sawn into planks or small pieces of wood in the sawmill next to the blacksmith's shop. They are sold to the chamber of commerce that specializes in this, and people in the town buy from the chamber of commerce.

When Zhao Ji figured out their workflow, they were shocked. Why not put the sawmill in the village where the wood is produced, so that the wood can be processed locally, and the trucks of this chamber of commerce can directly transport commodity wood with smaller volume and higher value without improving the capacity of donkey-pulled trucks .

Zhao Ji gave his plan to the people from the chamber of commerce and the sawmill, and they said they knew about these things and had considered them before, but they couldn't. The sawmill replied that their sawmill was the property of a local businessman, and the village where the timber was produced was a knight's fief, and the two had no intention of in-depth cooperation. The reason given by the chamber of commerce was that the city gate tax paid for a whole tree trunk was less than that for a carload of processed wood, and the trunk could be transported to the city for further processing, which would earn more money.

Zhao Ji is really speechless about these, because the village and the sawmill that produce timber are not the same, so they do it separately; because the whole tree trunk pays less tax, he doesn't want to improve the production method. Zhao Ji couldn't figure it out at first, but later when he was drinking in a tavern and listening to other people's bragging and complaining, he still figured it out. This is because the entire social and political system is backward.

The feudal aristocratic enfeoffment system hindered more efficient social production, and the backward tax collection method also hindered the development of social production. However, given the local agricultural productivity, Zhao Ji also felt that there was nothing to do with this method.

But today, Zhao Ji doesn't think about things that have nothing to do with him. He needs to find a job that pays quickly, not a job that locals like to last a lifetime or pass down through the family. For Zhao Ji from another world, work is just work, a means to make money. If he had money in his hand, he would have left long ago. Wouldn't it be nice to wander around in strange and strange worlds? If there is magic in this world, it would be great to learn some magic.

It took a few steps to reach the town government affairs center. Speaking of which, this place is also the center of the main road of the entire town, if not counting the residential areas that occupy more land, there is also the inner city on the top of the hill. This is also the center of the functional area of ​​the town.

Opposite the road to the town's government affairs center was a cemetery. Zhao Ji had never been there before, so he still felt a little unlucky. The town government affairs center is a four-storey tall building with masonry walls and timber beams, of course it is for the locals.

There were two town guards at the gate, all dressed neatly, with only swords and no shields. Seeing that Zhao Ji was about to go in, he stopped Zhao Ji.

"You can't go in." A guard stretched out his hand to stop Zhao Ji and said.

"Why can't you go in? I think everyone else has gone in to do business." Zhao Ji said, pointing to the town residents who were doing business inside.

"Only those who have to deal with the affairs of the town can go in. I know you, a foreigner that Jamura rescued outside, I don't think you have any town affairs to deal with." The guard who stopped Zhao Ji looked at Zhao Ji said.

"I live in Kendall now, so I'm half a city dweller?" Zhao Ji said.

"Do you own any real estate in the city? Or is there a big person who will guarantee you? Temporarily living in the Foxtail Chamber of Commerce is not considered a person in the town." The guard pointed out the loopholes in Zhao Ji's rhetoric, and then said: "And you have never handed over Tax."

No way, Zhao Ji did not pay taxes. All his jobs are short-term labor, and he pays for the work with one hand. He is not a local resident, and there is no real estate tax to teach. He doesn't have much money in his pocket, he hasn't bought any high-value goods, and he hasn't paid any of these common taxes.

There was no way, although the two guards were neither tall nor strong. After all, he has a sword in his hand and a full set of leather armor on his body. Whatever the fist says is what it is.

I can only go to the tavern he often goes to, Zhao Ji hopes not to meet those boys in the blacksmith shop. I just left from them yesterday, and I came to the tavern today to inquire about work, how embarrassing it was to meet them.