Chapter 278 I Want You to Beg Me for Money (Updated Update 45)
"Who has an opinion?"
Everyone has an opinion.
Gretel's words were like cold water dripping into a boiling oil pan. The conference hall fell silent and then exploded. Opposite the discussion table, there were sixty or seventy people in five rows of seats. Half of them stood up involuntarily, or fell back down after standing halfway. Everyone was furious and spoke out:
"Why should we pay for it?"
"The river belongs to everyone! Those poor people don't have to pay for drinking water. Why do we need to pay for it?"
"If you don't pour water into the river, where should you pour it? To your house?!"
"With wars and ship seizures, business is already so difficult! If we add more taxes, we will have no choice but to go bankrupt!"
What started out as murmurs gradually turned into shouts and then accusations. Half of the people who are qualified to sit in this conference hall are the city's leading figures. Even businessmen are mostly presidents of major industry guilds, and all of them have a charter from the city hall:
President of the Silk Merchant Guild, the President of the Wool Merchant Guild, the President of the Rawhide Merchant Guild, the President of the Fish Merchant Guild, the President of the Hardware Merchant Guild, the President of the Liquor Merchant Guild, the President of the Grocery Merchant Guild...
It can be said that these people combined control half of the business in Nevis City and more than half of the tax revenue. If they join forces to protest, even the Magic Council will seriously consider their opinions:
The magician is aloof. After all, it is impossible to do business in person, so he must rely on others. It's not that force cannot be used, but it is the ultimate resort. If you can't use it, use it as little as possible.
If it were a formal order issued by the parliament, these people might not dare to cause trouble. However, public health charges are obviously still in the discussion stage. If we don’t shout out and make a fuss, how long will it take?
By the time the review meeting is closed to discuss with that little mage, it will be too late! With their status, they can't even enter the conference room door!
The group of people became more noisy and violent. Grete turned to look at the rostrum. The great magician of the transformation department had a smile on his face and raised his chin at him, indicating that he would find a solution on his own. Obviously, the parliament does not want to use physical (magic) persuasion on this matter...
Gretel's eyes slowly scanned the opposite side. On the five raised rows of seats, there are about a dozen mage badges flashing, the lowest ones are one or two, and the highest ones are six or seven. And the way those magicians looked at him was not all kind.
Gretel once heard Aurora say that many low-level or mid-level mages who are older and have no hope of advancement will start their own business or simply be employed by merchants. Earning more money will at least lead a comfortable life, or you can save money for future generations to learn magic.
Of course, there are also many magicians who receive "technical guidance fees" from their workshops through their disciples or family members to provide guidance or protection. Aurora once complained to him like this:
"How can you do business in Nevis without a backend? Tsk!"
The matter of collecting money obviously affects the interests of many people. What's even more troublesome is that Gretel doesn't know who is behind these people, which school they belong to, which great magician...
He couldn't even start with "Who are our friends and who are our enemies? This is the primary question at the moment"!
But so what? The cards I can play are far from exhausted!
Gretel simply stood still. He raised his head, crossed his arms, and tilted his chin slightly to the side, showing a "you make trouble, I'll watch you make trouble" attitude. To be honest, it's not that he can't show off this air, it's just that he rarely used it in the past——
When the emergency department is busy, one person has to be used as three people. Where is the time to go against the troublemakers?
After watching indifferently for a few minutes, the protests on the other side grew from small to loud, from gentle to intense, and then gradually declined from the peak. Gretel lowered his head and flipped through the manuscript a few times, took out a page, held it in his hand, and walked out of his seat slowly:
"Your Excellencies, great magicians, distinguished healers, ladies and gentlemen. When I was investigating the city's drinking water problem, I once walked to a river. Along the river bank, from upstream to downstream, the workshops are roughly arranged like this of:
Cheese shop, woolen shop, wine shop, dyeing shop, tanning workshop, rawhide workshop, silk cloth workshop, canvas workshop, slaughterhouse, pig farm..."
Gretel lowered his eyes slightly, reading along the paper one by one. Some people on the opposite side were indifferent, some looked slightly nervous, and some whispered:
"He was talking about Smith River."
"I know that river, but it stinks. When I go there, I always turn around two streets away."
"What does this guy want to say? - I have a workshop right there..."
Grete finished reading slowly. Then, he shook hands with the manuscript paper, raised his head, and smiled half-heartedly:
"I just don't understand why winemakers dare to take water from the river where the cheese merchants dumped their waste? Have you never felt that the taste of wine is wrong?
Dyeing workshop owners, when you failed to dye cloth, never thought that it was because the river water upstream was polluted?
Slaughterhouse people, when you use river water to wash beef and pork, don't you really think that the water you use comes from upstream where tanning waste and wine dregs have been poured? When you eat this kind of meat into a dish, don't you feel stomach discomfort?
And pig farmers, I don’t even want to ask you how many pigs die every year. Why, if people drink such dirty river water, they will die of illness, but pigs will not die of illness if they drink it? Even if it is to make more money for yourself, I advise you not to pour anything into it and keep the river water clean..."
He called a name, and there was a person opposite with a dark face. After reviewing the seventeen or eight workshops, the merchants all looked ugly and glared at each other. Looking at it like that, if we weren't in the conference hall, we would have started a quarrel on the spot:
[The last batch of silk and satin was dyed with flowers, and it was all because of you! 】
[No wonder the batch of wine from last month was sour! 】
【It’s all you! It’s all you! Make me pay for it! Hundreds of pigs! 】
Even the great magicians on the podium looked unhappy. The faces of the nobles in the auditorium were even more clouded:
They don't have to live in the slums or go to the river. They can live in the wizard's tower every day, or have fun in the garden area or in their own castle. However, wine needs to be drunk, meat needs to be eaten, clothes need to be worn, cheese and fruit snacks are needed, everything is indispensable.
When I think about the food I eat and the silk, woolen leather I wear, they are made with such dirty water...
"vomit--"
Gretel smiled triumphantly. He turned to the rostrum, bowed slightly, and said in a brisk tone:
"Your Excellencies. For our safety and health, I suggest that these workshops be re-evaluated and a group of shops with good production conditions be selected. The production water should be kept clean, the workshop conditions are good, and the hygiene standards are passed. The parliament can issue a badge or a bronze medal for certification. It is a 'safe product' and a 'safe product' for adults to choose from.
Of course, in today's world, doing business is not easy. If you don’t want to apply for certification or are unwilling to modify your production environment, we don’t have to force it. After all, public health agencies have limited manpower, and it is indeed time-consuming and labor-intensive to conduct assessments one by one.
We adhere to the principles of voluntary application and freedom of production. However, we will never issue certification to shops and workshops that do not apply for certification or fail to pass the assessment. "
Not issued?
Put lightly!
The faces of the businessmen in the rear seats turned darker. As a leader of a chamber of commerce, it is impossible not to interact with the upper class society. By then, other people’s products will have received parliamentary certification, but what’s yours?
How dirty your house is!
Don't touch me!
Okay, your stuff will instantly become inferior. Magicians, nobles, priests, officials, as long as one person rejects your family, the entire upper class society will close the door to your family!
This little magician has such a dirty heart!
And there are people supporting him... On the rostrum, six or seven of the eight review members representing the eight schools of thought in the parliament showed approval. The only one whose expression is unclear is the skeletal face of the Necromancer...
"That's a good idea."
On the rostrum, the great magician of the transformation department nodded directly. He smiled and stroked his beard: "Little Grete, how do you think the certification standards should be set up?"
"...Just like water." Gretel thought for a while:
"First we establish a standard, such as bacterial content, such as pollutant levels. If water is drawn from a river, as long as the river water quality monitoring fails, all businesses that draw water will be judged as unqualified.
If someone specially sends someone to collect water from the upstream water source, then test the water they send into the workshop to prevent the water source from being clean but being contaminated on the road or in the workshop..."
“What if the council supplied water?!”
Finally someone couldn't help shouting. Gretel tilted his head and sighed:
"The parliament cannot supply water for the time being. There is no budget and no investment. We have to save a little here and a little there. It is already very difficult to provide drinking water to the urban poor. The production water consumption is too large and we cannot afford it."
You said you have no money, spread your hands~~~
On the rostrum, the great magician of the transformation department almost laughed out loud.
Gretel is really good at cheating. Last time, I struggled with the review meeting for 3750 contribution points, but in the end I really didn’t lose a penny;
This time, for the sake of public health, it is hard for him to think of this method to get money from businessmen!
The presidents of the chamber of commerce were whispering among themselves and discussing quickly. Before the discussion could come out, a clear and high-pitched female voice sounded loudly in the auditorium:
"Your Excellency, Commissioner. The Viscounty of Roche is willing to donate 2,000 gold coins to help the parliament establish a water purification project. It is also hoped that after the completion of the project, the territory's properties in Nevis City can be prioritized for evaluation——"
Grete turned back. In the second row of the auditorium, the female knight Selina stood tall and straight, with bright eyes.
Beauty... No, boss, thank you for your help!
That sentence opened the floodgates of donations. Soon, the merchants began to shout one after another:
"I'll donate 1,000 gold coins!"
"I'll donate 500! No, 800!"
"I'll donate 1,500!"
"I'll go back and mobilize the brewing guild to make unified donations!"
Gretel raised his eyebrows towards the podium. How much money residents can make from using water needs to be paid back. Selling industrial water is the way to go!
****
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