[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence":3,"chapter-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-48":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Warlord: Starting with Daily Intelligence",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2338511,4572,"Chapter 48: The Tax Evaders!","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-48",48,"\u003Cp>“Manager, I said there’d be a large quantity of furs today— the Storm Lord’s people have really come!” Nel’s face glowed with excitement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stay sharp—if we meet today’s quota, I’ll give you a bonus!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Manager!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Storm Lord’s party pushed through the crowd and drew near. “Who is the caravan manager here?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Excellency, we are the Tulip Caravan’s manager, Doro!” Doro stepped forward quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Manager Doro, I’m Thomas, civil administrator of the Storm Lord’s domain; this is our lord, Gervas!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Greetings, Lord Gervas!” Doro bowed warmly—after all, this man was his savior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, on ordinary days, the Tulip Caravan, as a branch of the Tulip Duke’s family, wouldn’t need to be so eager.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas nodded; Thomas continued: “Manager Doro, our Storm Lord’s domain has brought over a thousand furs. Have you agreed to raise your purchase price by ten percent, as promised yesterday?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course, Your Excellency!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What followed was simple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Tulip Caravan’s purchase list was posted publicly in the town square, so they only needed to verify quantities against the listed prices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Notably, since all of Gervas’s furs were intact, with no extra wounds or damage, they were priced at the highest tier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lord Gervas, your Storm Lord’s hunting team must be extraordinarily skilled—these furs are not only fresh but completely undamaged. How is this possible?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Verifying the furs took time, so Doro invited Gervas to sit at the inn and ordered tea and snacks from the innkeeper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During this time, the oddities of the Storm Lord’s furs became Doro’s primary curiosity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For instance, the furs were uniformly fresh—indicating the animals had been hunted simultaneously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Second, the furs were unnaturally intact, nearly flawless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even a seasoned man like Doro couldn’t fathom how this was achieved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas had no intention of answering every question Doro asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He changed the subject: “Manager Doro, besides this purchase, will your Tulip Caravan continue buying furs in the future?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though disappointed by the lack of answers, Doro dared not show it: “Of course, Lord Gervas—but premium pricing isn’t always offered. This time, it’s because one of our major clients urgently requested furs, so we put up a reward.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So we can establish long-term cooperation?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Doro’s eyes lit up. “Lord Gervas, will your Storm Lord’s domain continue producing so many high-quality furs?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fur products never lacked buyers among the kingdom’s nobility—the finer the fur, the more the lords and ladies desired it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So if Gervas could consistently supply such quality, Doro would gladly cooperate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Correct. Quantity can’t be guaranteed, but quality will mostly match today’s—each fur intact.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lord Gervas, if that’s true, I can petition the Southern Regional Headquarters in Eagle City to establish a dedicated caravan route to your Storm Lord’s domain!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course. The frequency depends on volume—each trip requires at least four to five hundred furs to be worthwhile.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas understood. This was his goal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this world, trade and communication relied entirely on caravans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regular caravan traffic would make the Storm Lord’s domain prosper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if a caravan came only once every month or more, given the four-to-five-hundred-fur requirement, it was still a good start.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Next, the two discussed details of caravan operations: minimum guaranteed fur quantities to prevent wasted trips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, tax concessions for trade within the Storm Lord’s domain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, Gervas reduced the Tulip Caravan’s trading taxes in the Storm Lord’s domain by two-thirds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From ten percent down to four percent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as their negotiations neared completion, the furs were fully counted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The total value reached eighty-three gold coins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Gervas had no intention of taking the gold back—he exchanged it all for goods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, the eighty-three gold coins returned to the Tulip Caravan’s hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In exchange: dairy cows, oxen, sheep, chickens, and ducks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also iron ingots, seeds, medicinal herbs, cultivation potions, and more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, not a single copper coin remained—clearly, developing a domain was extremely costly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the transaction was complete, Gervas prepared to leave when he noticed the caravan member named Nel entering the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Manager, another group has arrived with over fifty furs. They say they have more—at least two hundred—but they insist on trading outside the noble territory!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Which domain are they from?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Manager, they didn’t say, but I overheard slaves whispering they saw the group traveling near the Storm Lord’s border.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Could they be refugees from the Chaos Wastes? Tell them we’ll go outside the territory to trade—but we’ll bring sufficient guards.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Manager, I told them. They have no objections—only insist on trading outside the territory.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good!” Doro nodded, then turned to Gervas. “Lord Gervas, I apologize for dealing with fugitives.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But we’re not the only caravan that trades with them—even if we refused, others would.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Manager Doro, no explanation needed—I understand.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Gervas loaded the goods and departed from Cain Town.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But upon reaching the town’s outskirts, Gervas split his party into three groups.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Laurence led fifty soldiers to escort the cart train back to the Storm Lord’s domain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Migen, disguised with another knight, returned to the town.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas himself, with Lei Meng and three remaining knights, headed toward the Viscount of Beckert’s territory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Migen, remember—only follow the trail from afar. Those men are likely professional hunters; get too close and you’ll be spotted.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Lord!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Migen and the other knight turned back toward the town.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their task: track and observe the Tulip Caravan’s trade with the hunters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Manager Doro assumed the hunters were refugees from the Chaos Wastes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Gervas, with intelligence at hand, suspected they were the hunters rumored to hide southeast of his Storm Lord’s domain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, few refugees could produce such a large volume of furs at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were too poor—they’d trade their haul immediately for food, never hoard it for long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And such a group of “tax evaders”—Gervas would surely root them out.\u003C\u002Fp>",966,"2026-06-20T22:44:01.160Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","793b7e0a8842ee4a2086b010672f3342f75b86bf1c663639c5e3f7154613aa56","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-49","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-47",521,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-cover.jpg"]