After taking his leave from City Hall, Wayne then went to the Beaton Family estate.

By the time he arrived, the sun had already set, but it wasn't completely dark yet.

What Wayne wanted to do involved taxes. Although Tax Officer Quinn seemed quite swayed, the power of a tax officer was concentrated on the concrete implementation level. Whether it was allowed to be implemented was a decision-making matter.

To be safe, it was better to find influential political figures in advance to clear things internally. Perhaps a few words from them during a casual chat would be more effective than going through the formal application process.

Unfortunately, Mr. Basque, the most influential 'grandfather' in the Beaton Family, was not present, and the 'grandson' Victor Biddon, who seemed to have a promising future, had not yet returned from organizing militia training in other counties within the state.

Only 'Papa Biddle' Paster Beaton was at home, idly passing the time.

"How is it? This horse isn't bad, right?"

After being led by a servant to the spacious stable, which was like a large warehouse, Paster Beaton took the opportunity to show off to Wayne.

Wayne took a quick look at the horse being groomed by the trainer and felt that although it wasn't as good as his Little Chestnut Hat in Blackstone Town, it was indeed quite impressive.

He nodded and chose to flatter, "Tall and majestic, bright-eyed, strong breathing, smooth muscles. It looks like it combines strength, speed, and elegance. It's an excellent horse."

Paster Beaton felt that Wayne's words made a lot of sense: "Wayne, you truly are an outstanding talent from the West. Your eye for horses is much more accurate, unlike some ridiculous upstarts who think a racehorse's lineage means everything."

In current America, horse racing was a relatively popular entertainment, especially in the Southern States, where the profitability of racetracks was quite considerable.

When an old hand like Paster Beaton played, it was naturally different from ordinary people. Others at the racetrack could only say which horse they bought in which races today, but he could genuinely point to a racehorse and say that horse was his.

However, to be fair, a racehorse's lineage was still very useful. If Little Chestnut Hat were brought to Virginia, its value would certainly not be as high as those racehorses with certified lineages.

Unless it could win enough awards or achieve good enough results, it would be nothing more than a roadside stray in the horse racing market.

After a short walk and some small talk, the two slowly moved away from the stable, and the conversation gradually got to the point.

After roughly understanding the situation, Paster Beaton's first reaction was to frown, "Levying taxes on the gangs in the Dock Area? The Dock Area hasn't become what it is today overnight. Shouldn't we avoid rashly causing too much upheaval?"

Wayne could not agree with this view. He roughly speculated on the reasons for his thoughts and tried to persuade him:

"This is just a personal attempt I wish to make. Although it may not necessarily become a regular practice in the future, I believe it is by no means a bad thing—at least it can serve as a 'case' to prove that the gentlemen of Richmond always have the power to restrain the gangs in the Dock Area."

At this point, Wayne also took the opportunity to bring up the Church, "Some gangs in the Dock Area have indeed been a bit excessive recently. This time, not only me but even the monks of the Cathedral were attacked. When I visited Monk Grant on the way earlier, he is still unconscious and needs to be fed liquid food through a tube."

The Beaton Family clearly had their own intelligence channels in the Dock Area, and Paster Beaton seemed to have a general idea of the situation:

"It was the Aierlan Gang who attacked you, wasn't it? We also thought that was clearly a result of the gang members' arrogance, but I thought you had already punished them—weren't several bodies thrown into the Aierlan territory the next day? Was that not done by you?"

That happened?

When I went to talk privately with O'Sullivan today, he didn't tell me any of this...

Wayne suddenly had a deeper understanding of why Mr. O'Sullivan had been willing to cooperate at the time.

However, that guy's mental journey wasn't important, so Wayne continued to tell Papa Biddle the truth, also planning to have him help clarify the matter in the upper-class social circle:

"I just found out about this too. That wasn't done by us, and it shouldn't have been done by the monks of the Cathedral either.

"If we encounter an attack or severe resistance during an arrest, our Detective Agency would indeed choose to kill the criminals, but we would not use extrajudicial punishment or such methods to provoke. This is also why I intend to deal with them by checking taxes; our Detective Agency is a civilian organization that stands on the side of civilization and law."

What happened in private was one thing, but the public image still had to be maintained as much as possible.

That thing was like a racehorse's pedigree certificate; having it was always better than not having it.

Paster Beaton pondered for a moment after hearing this, then slowly nodded, seemingly approving of Wayne's statement.

However, he clearly still had concerns, "Those gangs are right there in the Dock Area. Many people in Richmond City have dealings with them, and the situation is very complex. Even if our family expresses support, some people will probably object."

"That's what I hope to achieve," Wayne shrugged. "Actually, in my personal opinion, completely getting rid of gangs and fully extending city governance to the Dock Area is indeed unrealistic in the short term.

"But then again, letting gangs become too deeply entrenched is also not a good thing; they can easily get out of control. I believe some gentlemen in Richmond might also think this way—the gangs in the Dock Area may have their reasons for existence, but this doesn't specifically refer to one particular gang, nor to certain individuals within it.

"Just like the bloodletting therapy some doctors are fond of using, regularly draining some 'waste blood' and cultivating new blood might be more beneficial for health."

Paster Beaton seemed to be persuaded by this reasoning and began to inquire further about the details: "Is this additional taxation only targeting the Aierlan Gang?"

Wayne thought for a moment, "Perhaps not only them. At least the Sailor Gang was also involved in the attack, and they might even be the real masterminds. As for other gangs, if some of their actions clearly cross the red line, I believe it's necessary to deal with them as well.

"But you can rest assured, I know that the normal operation of the Dock Area cannot be affected, and I will not try to disrupt the business of certain gentlemen. The entire matter is purely for public benefit. I believe a less violent Dock Area might be more conducive to urban development."

Paster Beaton pondered for a good while before finally nodding slowly, "What you said indeed makes sense. Guests I've invited to visit before have all encountered theft in the Dock Area. It is indeed a bit too chaotic there now. I will have the Tuto Gang cooperate with your actions; they have been quite well-behaved recently, and you can negotiate with them in a more peaceful manner."

I knew it.

Judging by your reaction just now, the Beaton Family must also have gangs under their wing in the Dock Area.