Chapter 410: “Sharing the spoils” and rewarding according to merit!
Chapter 410 “Sharing the spoils” and rewarding according to merit!
Boulder City.
In the meeting room on the third floor of the city hall, the long conference table was silent, with only the occasional cigarette ash and the nicotine that never dissipated.
The Legion left.
Or rather, it ran away with its tail between its legs, and probably didn’t care about the River Valley Province for a long time.
This should have been a happy thing.
However…
the people sitting at the conference table were not happy at all.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the conference room was so solemn that it didn’t seem like a meeting at all, but rather like a funeral.
The only thing that didn’t fit in with this funeral-like atmosphere was probably the brown shirt that Du Long was wearing inside out under his black coat. It wasn’t
until he sat here that he realized that he had put it on the wrong way, but it was too late to change, so he could only fiddle with the collar of his coat repeatedly with his hands.
This meeting lasted from the second half of the night until dawn.
Trying to hold up his heavy eyelids, Du Long once again quietly glanced around the people at the conference table, trying to read some changes in their positions from their expressions.
However, there was still no clue.
In order to ease the tense atmosphere at the conference table, he cleared his throat and spoke in a tactful tone.
”… At least, he didn’t lie to us.”
Seeing that no one interrupted him, Du Long continued.
”Not a single bullet last night… not even the shells fell on our giant wall, and the ammunition they fired was undoubtedly fireworks.”
”I think we don’t need to be too nervous. The Alliance is a very friendly neighbor. They have always cared about their relationship with us.”
When saying these words, Du Long kept a low profile and used a soliciting tone. After all, there are few people sitting here who are lower than him.
Except for Melvin, the president of the Boulder City Bank, and Jaeger, the deputy director who always has a quarrel with him, the rest are either nobles in the inner city or officers in the militia… and the latter are the real dignitaries in Boulder City.
In comparison, he is more like a servant of the city lord, a steward who takes care of his “non-core business”.
The people at the conference table exchanged glances and whispered a few words.
The expressions of several inner city nobles relaxed a little, thinking that what he said made sense. After all, the Alliance did not actively provoke them, and sold them a lot of interesting gadgets, enriching their days and nights.
Only the man in the militia uniform still had a stern face, staring at Du Long without any change in expression, and snorted coldly in response.
”Oh? So we have to thank them?”
His name is Wei Lun, the captain of the first thousand-man team of the Giant Stone City Militia, an old noble in the inner city, and also the most difficult hardliner to deal with.
Although isolation is the consensus of the residents in the inner city of Giant Stone City, how to isolate and how to isolate is something that can be discussed.
”You misunderstood, that’s not what I meant.”
Du Long sighed softly, looked at the officer with a headache, and continued.
”Let’s look at the problem objectively. It’s better for the airship… or the 400mm main gun to fall into the hands of the Alliance than the Legion, isn’t it? Even if those people in the northern suburbs are a bunch of country bumpkins and mud-playing cracked crabs, they are relatively civilized.”
The officer narrowed his eyes slightly and said coldly.
”Do you mean that I’m not objective enough?”
Du Long: “…”
Seeing that the meeting was deadlocked again, Melvin, who was sitting at the corner of the long table, coughed lightly and said in a tone of smoothing things over.
”I think Mr. Director should be saying that the situation we are facing has improved a lot compared to half a month ago, and there is no need to be so sad.”
Seeing his ally speak, Du Long immediately took over his words.
”That’s what I mean.”
Sitting next to Wei Lun, an officer in charge of city defense suddenly sighed.
”Automated anti-aircraft firepower, hundreds of artillery pieces… God of the Great Horned Deer, how did they break through that thing?”
At 7:58 last night, the Alliance set off fireworks for an hour and two minutes, and the anti-aircraft guns and missiles on the giant wall were loaded and on standby all night.
If the dense fireworks were replaced with shells equipped with proximity fuses, no plane in Boulder City would be able to take off successfully.
After all, that kind of vertical take-off and landing fighter, even if it can switch to fixed-wing mode, still needs a distance of more than ten kilometers to complete acceleration.
Before that, it doesn’t take very advanced technology to shoot it down, a round of broadside firepower is enough.
There is no doubt that the country bumpkins in the northern suburbs are showing off their pitiful muscles in the name of celebration.
Thinking of this, the officer couldn’t help but curse in his heart with gritted teeth.
It’s just a fluke victory over the Legion, and he’s showing off in front of them.
This villain’s smug face…
too much to be beaten!
”I still hold the same view,” Wei Lun said expressionlessly, “We should tighten our aid to them! Immediately!”
Du Long sighed.
”For example?”
Wei Lun said without hesitation.
”Suspend the loan! Suspend trade with the north!”
Du Long was not surprised at all that he would say this. These rough men in the militia had no idea how expensive food, oil, and salt were.
He was about to say something.
However, before he opened his mouth, a man in luxurious clothes said everything he wanted to say.
”The latter one is unrealistic. What you eat, wear, and use… all come from trade between us and other survivor settlements.”
Du Long glanced at the man. He recognized him. His name was Sid. He was a famous noble in the inner city and also the major shareholder behind the Weijia Trading Company.
This guy’s industry was not only the Weijia Trading Company, but also not only in the Boulder City. He also had shares in the farms in the south and the mercenaries there. His family background was so rich that it was difficult to calculate with chips.
At the same time, Du Long also noticed the devil silk clothes he was wearing and the leather shoes made of death claws on his feet.
In a sense, what he said was indeed correct. His food, clothing and daily expenses all came from trade with the outside world.
As soon as Sid finished speaking, another noble from the inner city, who was also of high status, spoke up.
”That’s right, and it’s not realistic to suspend trade with one party alone! Once you leave the Great Wall, those caravans won’t let you know where they’re going. Even if you close the northern gate, even if you only leave one southern gate, as long as the business in the northern suburbs is profitable, they will go around and run over there.”
Wei Lun’s brow twitched.
Although his attitude was still tough, he may have realized that his words were not thought through, so he changed his words and made a slight concession.
”Forget about the trade, at least the loan must be stopped!”
He knew that the money was in the Boulder City Bank.
It was easy to stop the loan, just move your fingers to freeze hundreds of millions of chips.
The nobles didn’t have any objections, anyway, the alliance’s money bag had nothing to do with them, but just when Wei Lun was about to show a smile on his face, the bank president Melvin coughed dryly and suddenly spoke.
”About this… I also have something to say.”
Seeing everyone looking at him, he continued.
”Those loans are more of an aid to ourselves than to them. The residents of Boulder City cannot afford to buy our goods. If we stop lending to the Alliance, at least half of the factories will go bankrupt.”
Hearing this, Sid spoke up quickly.
”That won’t do! The loans can’t be stopped!”
A group of nobles nodded in agreement, expressing almost the same opinion.
”That’s right!”
”The idea of stopping the loans is simply too stupid! Our factories have already started working. If we stop their loans, who will pay the workers’ wages!”
”Even if we have to stop, we have to wait until those country bumpkins pay off their debts!”
Seeing that he had more and more allies on his side, Melvin breathed a sigh of relief and continued to strike while the iron was hot.
”I think so too. The economy that has been stagnant for a century has finally shown signs of recovery. We can’t let it stop… at least not now.”
The officer sitting next to Wei Lun couldn’t help but clench his fists and scolded.
”Are we just going to watch them grow bigger?”
Dulong said softly.
”I have to explain this. Their strength is indeed growing, but we are also becoming stronger.”
”Let’s not talk about anything else. Let’s talk about the three thousand mercenaries hired to fight on the front line. Excluding those who died, at least one or two thousand of them returned… They are all soldiers who have been on the battlefield. Not the kind of battlefield that cleans slime mold, but the hot battle of firepower against firepower. We can definitely recruit them and train them as grassroots officers!”
He has always dreamed that the City Hall can have its own armed forces. Now is undoubtedly the best opportunity.
Seeing Wei Lun fall into deep thought, Du Long was slightly happy in his heart, but before he could be happy, his ally Melvin suddenly betrayed him.
”Regarding the expansion of the army… I don’t think it’s necessary. It’s enough for us to ensure that we and our neighbors have the ability to destroy each other. They rely on us economically, and will rely on us more in the future, and those loans are chains around their necks… This is more effective than expanding the army.”
Just kidding.
Once the army is expanded, it means tax increases. The City Hall doesn’t care, but he can’t care.
The residents of the outer city are almost being squeezed dry, and there is no money to be made. The situation has only improved slightly recently with the increase in jobs.
It is obvious where the money will come from.
Ignoring Duron’s crazy eyes, Melvin continued.
”If our city lord has no plan to expand the territory, raising so many troops will only be a burden for us.”
The nobles sitting at the conference table also nodded.
Most of them have industries in the city. If the army is expanded, it will inevitably lead to an increase in taxes, which will further increase their operating costs.
At least in this matter, their position is consistent with that of the Boulder City Bank.
Wei Lun frowned.
He could ignore the opinions of Duron and President Melvin, but he could not ignore the nobles sitting here.
Two centuries of intermarriage have made the power structure of the inner city complicated.
Especially those old nobles, many of them did not buy “tickets” to enter the inner city, but were in the original building from the beginning.
Some of them maintain the operation of the Lord Mayor’s “core business”, and some manage assets in the distant world. Even the Lord Mayor will listen to their opinions.
At least selectively.
At this time, Melvin coughed lightly and said again to smooth things over.
”Don’t worry too much, our neighbors are very trustworthy…”
After a pause, he continued.
”Just yesterday, the subordinates sent by the manager sent us 12 boxes of treasures. Those are General McLen’s collections. The valuation given by my professional evaluation team is 8 million to 9.6 million chips… This money will be used as a prepayment for the interest in the next three years.”
Before he finished speaking, he saw that the eyes of the nobles were instantly hot.
Especially the shareholders of the Boulder City Bank.
Although these treasures entered the bank’s vault and had no direct relationship with them, these treasures will soon appear at the auction.
Chips are just numbers for them. Only the money spent can maintain its value forever, whether it is the purchase of real estate, rare metals, or imported goods from the ideal city or treasures from the pre-war era.
The collection of the captain of the legion…
I believe they will not be disappointed.
The atmosphere at the conference table suddenly became lively. The excited chattering and the faces that were not sleepy at all caught Du Long and Wei Lun, who was sitting at the table, off guard.
”I didn’t expect those country bumpkins to be so generous.”
”It’s not called generosity, this is the interest that should be paid to us!”
A noble sighed.
”War… makes money so damn fast.”
Looking at the nobles talking excitedly, Melvin breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
It seems that this card was played at the right time…
…
If there is anyone who can’t accept the termination of financial cooperation with the Alliance, it is undoubtedly the Boulder City Bank.
The bankruptcy of the factories in Boulder City will make the nobles in the inner city uncomfortable and even live a tight life, but it will not cause serious damage.
However, Melvin is different.
His bank is not only a creditor of the Alliance, but also lends money to the factories in Boulder City, allowing those factory owners to expand production.
If the alliance’s loans are frozen, those factories will not be able to collect their accounts, and they will not be able to pay him back. Large-scale bad debts will instantly trigger systemic risks.
That is, liquidity will dry up.
Those country bumpkins in the northern suburbs are very cunning. As soon as they got the loan, they signed a lot of orders with the factories in Boulder City, and the production tasks were even scheduled for next year.
Melvin only now realized why the alliance’s representatives were so straightforward when signing the contract. They agreed to a series of unequal treaties, including that they could not be used for spot trading, the scope of use of chips, and the establishment of a regulatory account.
It turned out that these guys had planned to tie him to their chariot from the beginning.
There is no doubt that he is the richest man in the city, but his money is not all his own. A large part of it is placed with him by others.
Including those residents of the outer city, the nobles of the inner city, and even the city lord. In addition to private accounts, there are also taxes from the city hall, military expenses of the militia, etc.
If there is a problem… it
can’t be solved by burning a few account books and killing a few people.
Thinking of the series of consequences, Melvin had a headache, but he was also a little amused.
He had never been to the Alliance, but he was forced to become half of the Alliance, and even had to withstand the pressure from the inner city for the Alliance…
and he just couldn’t quit.
Because those people gave too many benefits…
After the meeting, he finally returned home.
Sitting on the soft sofa, Melvin rubbed his sore eye bags and couldn’t help but curse in a low voice.
”These cunning skunks…”
Alyssa, who was reading the newspaper, tilted her head.
”Dad?”
”Nothing… my dear daughter,” Melvin immediately changed to a gentle expression, and rubbed her daughter’s fluffy hair lovingly, “Dad is just a little tired, just take a rest.”
Alyssa blinked and said cleverly.
”Is it because of the war?”
”Not really, but it has something to do with it…” Melvin sighed and talked to himself tiredly, “The ideal situation is that the Alliance takes our money and fights the Legion to a draw, so that we can do business with the Alliance that needs us, and let the Alliance do things according to our requirements.” ”
But something unexpected happened, they got the airship.” Alyssa said thoughtfully.
Glancing at the newspaper in her hand, Melvin smiled and nodded.
”That’s right… They got the airship, and they used fireworks to tell us that they had fixed it and even played with it… These cunning little foxes.”
”Isn’t it a skunk?”
”Ahem,” Melvin coughed dryly, “Don’t imitate your father’s words… By the way, why am I talking about these boring things.”
He didn’t want his lovely little daughter to think about those annoying things. His two sons were both excellent people. One was familiar with the business in the inner city, and the other was traveling in the ideal city. He could safely hand over the future of the family to them.
Melvin yawned.
”It’s getting late. Your music teacher will be here soon… You’d better put the newspaper away, otherwise your mother will see it and she will be unhappy again.”
Alyssa made a helpless expression and put down the newspaper in her hand.
”Okay…”
The voice was full of reluctance, and
she dragged the last syllable for a long time…
…
Before the wasteland ushered in the dawn.
The night celebration had come to an end, but the excitement on the forum continued.
The cause of all this was naturally the announcement made by the dog planner A Guang.
[The rewards for the “Battle of Ruigu City” campaign have been distributed, and the lucky draw is open for a limited time. Please redeem your points for prizes in time! ]
[The “Ten Thousand Miles of Yellow Sand” expansion pack is officially launched. In order to consolidate the fruits of victory, we will support our neighbors and drive the legions that spread chaos and plague to the west of the desert! ]
[Registration for the expeditionary force is open! (Note: Only combat professions are counted. Players of life professions don’t have to worry. There will be exclusive expansion pack related tasks released later.)】
Tail: “Ahhh! Golden Legend! (ω)”
Meat Mountain Big Bun: “!!! What did you draw?”
Tail: “Wait a minute, let me check it out first! (ω)” Quit
Smoking: “???”
Sisi: “Oh, you are worthy of being Awei. Compared with the lottery, the first floor is more important! (￣▽￣)”
Battlefield Atmosphere Group: “I cried. I’m in Luoxia Province… I can’t get the prizes I drew.”
I’m the Blackest: “It’s okay, Pangolin, we’ll use it for you first! (Funny)”
Battlefield Atmosphere Group: “Get out! Don’t move! I’ll come back and use it! (Angry)”
Quit Smoking: “Where’s Fang Chang! The new expansion pack is out!”
Irena: “Where’s the analysis? Where’s the commentary? Why hasn’t it come out yet! Didn’t you eat enough? (Funny)”
Crow Crow: “It’s time for Cloud Planner to get to work!”
Canyon Fugitive Mole: “Damn… Could it be that this guy won the first prize and is afraid to show up!”
Fountain Commander: “(shivering.jpg)”
Debt-ridden Big Eyes: “Fuck! The Dogecoin European Emperor is out! (angry)”
Construction Site Boy and Brick: “Tell the truth about what you drew! (angry)”
Fountain Commander: “Ahem… lollipop.”
Construction Site Boy and Brick: “Hahahaha! Rookie!”
Teng Teng: “You… you really believed whatever he said. (squinting)” Ye Shi
: “Damn, that bastard Fang Chang really disappeared… Damn it, I won’t wait any longer, it’s about to be time in a few minutes, see you online brothers!”
Lao Bai: “See you online. (grinning)”
Kuangfeng: “(squinting and laughing)”
Garbage Picker Level 99: “Ahhhhh!!! Meet at the gate of No. 117 for the sewer mission! The bus will leave on time at 7 o’clock, come quickly if you want to brush the sequence level!”
“…”
Looking at the noisy little players on the forum, Chu Guang was sincerely happy for them.
Although he suffered heavy losses this time, the Alliance spent the expected annual budget in just one month, but his small players reaped a lot of rewards.
Most players received more than 2,000 silver coins, enough to buy a Miner I exoskeleton, and many players with outstanding contributions received more than 20,000 silver coins.
Excluding a series of expenses such as ammunition, supplies, weapon losses, and logistical losses, the “direct rewards” issued to players in this battle alone reached 30 million silver coins!
This does not include the cost of the lottery.
At present, the silver price on the official trading platform is also fluctuating violently, but Chu Guang does not care much.
The silver exchange is not a casino, nor is it a financial product.
It is a “financing” channel for the closed beta test of “Wasteland OL” and players, or a tool for him to “pay wages and subsidies” to players.
After the trading volume shrinks to a suitable position and most speculators leave the market, he will put some technologies that are not difficult to digest in the 21st century.
Alternative options include aviation fuel, laser components for igniting controlled fusion, etc. These are technologies before the prosperous era.
As for how to properly use these technologies, it is not his concern, and I believe he does not need to worry about it.
Chu Guang also discovered it suddenly.
Although his “business ability” was a bit rusty at the beginning, he has become more and more adept at handling these matters after staying in the position of manager for a long time.
In addition, the points accumulated from the previous expansion pack to the present have finally come in handy.
Apart from the small amount of money from the primary and intermediate blind boxes, he put most of the equipment from the advanced blind boxes as prizes for the lottery on the official website.
Chu Guang divided the rewards into three “reward pools”.
The first-level reward pool is mainly the spoils seized from the Legion, the basic weapons produced by the Alliance, the light weapons of the Boulder City military aid, etc., with a value of between 1 and 500 silver coins. The
second-level reward pool is mainly some relatively expensive equipment, including weapon accessories and exoskeletons, with a value of between 500 and 2,000 silver coins. The
third-level reward pool is mostly the prizes from Chu Guang’s own blind boxes, as well as the good things he got from the Ideal City, etc.
The quality of these equipment is quite good. Chu Guang believes that his little players can give full play to their imagination and maximize their value in appropriate occasions.
As for Chu Guang himself, the demand for equipment is not that great.
Not to mention that he has few opportunities to go to the front line, this set of divine equipment itself is almost fully equipped. If he is given an axe, wouldn’t he change from “Karl Franz” to “Hill Dwarf”?
That’s too good!
Now even Neeko is wearing an exoskeleton. Chu Guang is even confident that he can knock down a tank alone on the front battlefield.
This is not an exaggeration.
After all, the nitrogen-powered hammer is used to destroy bunkers and anti-armor.
In addition, in addition to the high-tech equipment that came out of the blind box, what surprised Chu Guang even more was the changes that happened to him.
This time he came back from the front line.
His level finally broke through level 30!
(End of this chapter)
