Chapter: 751

Astelle smiled.

“I’ve got it ready for my father. Read it.”

Based on the data Fritz brought, Astelle searched for the document in the imperial palace library herself.

There was a heavy silence between the two of them for a moment.

The Duke was the first to open his mouth.

“What is this?”

The Duke of Reston looked at the document and asked.

“Please read it.”

The Duke quickly scanned the document with an anxious look.

The contents of the document are about estate taxes.

The Reston family’s territory in the west is enormous.

Most of the western part of the country is the land of the Reston family, thanks to the succession of territories over several generations. Land obtained through marriage or trade is everywhere.

Since the income of the estate is large, of course, the taxes are also huge.

Large estates are taxed according to the laws of the Empire.

On the other hand, tax reductions are provided for small estates of a certain size or less.

This is because lords of the small estates who maintain a village find it difficult to maintain old castles with the income of the estate.

The Reston family’s estate income increased significantly after Astelle’s father took over the title.

Her father came up with an unusual way to reduce taxes by distributing the income of the estate to the surrounding small estates.

Most of the lords of the small estates are vassals or relatives of the Reston family in the past.

Of course, whatever the Duke ordered, they followed.

Unlike other nobles who openly manipulated the ledger and left loopholes in the document, her father never made such a mistake.

He didn’t even have to be careful.

Because on paper, it was a tax that other estates had to pay.

There was no problem at all if they summarized it and reported it.

The previous emperors were indifferent to the affairs of the local estates.