Sam went to the inn and took a separate room.
He would discuss the plans with Raunak tomorrow after confirming which area he was assigned to.
If he was assigned to the same area where the sugar cane fields are great in number, there will be little room for development. If there are no new products in a certain area, it would be hard for Sam to create something new out of it and increase the tax.
Sam is certain that Raunak is definitely not going to be assigned to the city administration. He is a junior in this place. And he has to get another promotion to be assigned to this city business administration and that too for only partial administration of the city. After the second promotion would he be able to manage the whole business administration of the city.
The next day, Sam went to Raunak's office.
Nobody really cared much about him and just let him be. There are many people who have good relations with administrative officials and many people visit them on daily basis.
As long as they don't seem too close, it would be alright.
"I am assigned to the southeast region. The area with most orchards. There are many towns and cities that grow various fruits. Most of them are exported to this city. There is a special winery that belongs to faction 2.
Just like the sugar industry of faction 1, this industry is completely occupied by faction 2. Most wines that are exported to Planet 1 and other planets are made here." Raunak explained casually.
"Alcohol industry? Not bad. I was thinking that you might be assigned to the area with sugar cane fields."
"Like hell, I would. That area's tax has definitely increased because of the new method of sugar refinement. They are not going to let go of that opportunity that easily.
In fact, I was supposed to be assigned to that place. But there is another bureaucrat of the same rank as mine in this city and he belongs to faction 1 which made it easier for him to be transferred due to the inside information within the faction. Now he is going to reap all the benefits we worked hard for."
Raunak said with a sulky expression. Sam just chuckled and replied.
"It is for our own good. If you really are assigned to that place, I would have had some trouble. The tax amount is more or less fixed in that area and it would take too long for your promotion."
"But this south east area is also same. The tax amount is almost fixed and stagnant from many decade. The amount of fruit they can grow is the same and the amount the winery pays for that fruit is also same.
The tax amount is certainly a bit higher than the former sugar cane field area due to the lower maturation period of the fruit and the cost of the fruit, but now the sugar cane field area is going to have more taxes.
It would not be beneficial for me."
"Don't worry about that. I am already planning to enter the alcohol business anyway. This way, you will be promoted faster. But for this, we need a much more extensive plan."
"Promote faster?"
"Yes, this is what I wanted from the start."
"I will give you more details tonight, but I would need some details and samples. I want a batch of different fruits that come from that area as soon as possible.
Do you have any trustworthy people?"
"Trustworthy people?"
"Yes, people that you are sure wouldn't betray you. The transactions happen in millions of spirit stones. If they become greedy, then we would have trouble. If they are really trustworthy, you can even promise them about the civilian identity."
"How many do you need?"
"Two for each town under your administration."
"There are five towns, are ten people really sufficient."
"Of course, there is no need for too many people. Meet me at dinner time in the restaurant opposite the inn I am staying. Bring them there."
"Sure."
After that Sam left and continued his exploration of the city. While he is at it, he focused on the wines that are sold in this place.
Some wines are extremely expensive, but Sam didn't really care and just tasted any wine that he could get his hands on. As long as it can be bought with money, he tasted it. In fact, he even attracted the attention of some not-so-pleasant people and had to waste some time dealing with them.
At night, he once again met with Raunak. Since it is the first day of his duty, he was somewhat busy. He had to complete the takeover procedures from where his predecessor left.
He came with five more people. four humans, three elves, one half-elf, and two centaurs.
They went to a private room. The restaurant is large and could accommodate the centaurs, in fact, the owner of the restaurant himself is a centaur.
Raunak took out some fruit samples from the storage for Sam to see and even took some wines that are made with those fruits respectively.
Sam has already tasted the wines, so he focused on the fruits. Most of the fruits are new to him and some of them have an uncanny resemblance to the fruits on earth.
He tasted them and felt surprised that there are such good fruits in this place.
In comparison, the wines are clearly not doing any justice to the fruits that are used to make them.
Even the wines are not extremely good. Most of the Ape's wines are quite superior to the wines in this place.
He took out his own fruits and wines from this storage and let them taste it.
All eleven of them are surprised.
"These are some of the wines that are made by a friend of mine. I like the fruits here and I am sure he can make even better wine with them than this brewery could ever do."
"Are you down for our next business?"
"What are they here for?" Raunak asked as he pointed at the ten.
"Well, they would be buying fields in the towns. I hope you can do that. Even if the fields are small, all I need is a field that is enough for a small orchard in each town. And they will be growing some of my fruits and some of the local produce.
On top of that, they will be opening a bar in each town. Selling wine in all five of these places.
They will pay the taxes for the fruits and the bars directly."
"There are a few problems here. One of them is that we can't buy fields easily."
"What if you increase the price?"
"How much can we pay?"
"Is the price of agricultural land regulated by the government?"
"No, it is all between the buyer and seller as long as the tax is paid."
"Okay, try to pull your strings and increase the price five times the normal and also tell them that we would pay the tax on their behalf. They can put the tax money in their own pockets. Will they agree?"
"Five times is too big of a price."
"Of course, it is the maximum price. Increase it bit by bit. I am pretty sure that someone would be interested. After all, who would want to stay in this place forever? From what I observed, everyone wants civilian identity and everyone wants to stay on Planet 1. I think with this deal I can offer them both."
"There is a chance."
"Apart from that, help them rent the shop and residence in the town. I also need a place in the nearest town from here so that I can open my small brewery.
In this way, you will get the taxes from fields that are bought, the wines, the fruit orchards, and the brewery.
All ten of those people will also be able to pay enough taxes to gain their civilian identity. I want you to get promoted in the next four months and after that I want you to get promoted once again in the latter six months.
Anyway, if my estimation is right, since faction 2 has too much at stake in the elections and also the wine industry they had a firm hold on would be in a crisis if my wine sells fast enough.
If that happens, they would come for the recipes and brewing processes as soon as they can and all I have to do is resist them for a while and I would be able to bleed them dry.
On top of that, faction 1 will also take this chance at penetrating the industry and try to get their hands on the brewing methods.
The prices will jack up and it would be a great business. Anyway, I have a hidden card that could make up for the remaining taxes, and everything would be successful as long the execution is handled perfectly."
