Chapter 780: People’s Joys and Sorrows Are Not the Same

  Chapter 780 People’s joys and sorrows are not the same

  ”… Mr. Lister, please think about it again! I can assure you that the things you are worried about will never happen in White Elephant City.”

  Dawn City, Embassy Street, Embassy of the Xilan Empire.

  Personally pouring a cup of black tea for Lister, Duke Galava spoke with a sincere face – even attentively.

  However, after listening to his words, Lister just sighed.

  ”Then how can you guarantee what you are saying now?”

  Duke Galava said with a sharp look in his eyes.

  ”I can swear to the God of White Elephants and my family emblem and title!”

  The corners of Lister’s mouth twitched, but in the end he maintained his superficial politeness and did not laugh out loud.

  ”Excuse me, this is the most insincere promise.”

  Duke Galava was stunned, and his face gradually became a little unhappy.

  ”You…you actually said that this is not sincere enough! Then what is a sincere enough promise?”

  Lister said with a sigh.

  ”Let me give you a very simple example. To do business in the Alliance, you only need to abide by the law, and the law is something that can be negotiated. The Workers’ Union can negotiate, the Consumers’ Association can negotiate, and of course we can negotiate…”

  Before Lister finished speaking, Duke Galava’s face lit up and he couldn’t wait to speak.

  ”We don’t have that much trouble!”

  Seeing the smugness on this guy’s face, Lister spread his hands.

  ”That’s the problem.”

  Not only did this guy not have it, but he also regarded those “safety measures” as trouble.

  He didn’t even realize that the more he showed off his supreme authority there, the more he was afraid that he might do whatever he wanted.

  Some of the “new money” who have become rich in the Alliance recently may not have experienced it, but he, the “old money” who had done a lot of business in the Boulder City period, knows too well what it feels like to be a dog.

  So when the manager invited him to be a person, he threw away the black card that he had obtained with great difficulty without hesitation.

  Facts have proved that he did not make a mistake. The manager did everything he said, and did not do anything extra on this basis.

  The latter is the most valuable. He even wanted to write “always follow that lord” in his newly compiled family tree.

  This guy wanted to coax him to be a dog with a bone that looked delicious. He underestimated Liszt.

  He saw it at the first sight of Duke Galava. This guy was actually the same kind of people as the nobles in the inner city, and even worse than the latter. After all, Master Sid was a little reserved about how to use the power in his hands, such as “not going out to earn chips in person”.

  But this guy almost wrote the words “I am the sky” on his face. The more he humbled himself now, the more he would be arrogant in the future.

  Doing business with this kind of guy, don’t think of taking a penny home. Even if

  he took a step back, for an emerging market that was still in its infancy, he would prefer to invest in a capable person rather than the market itself.

  And this guy was obviously not the kind of person worthy of his investment, but he just happened to have a huge amount of resources in his hands.

  For this guy who doesn’t know when he will be finished, he is more inclined to negotiate a short-term deal rather than a long-term one.

  However, Duke Galava completely misunderstood Lister’s unmoved attitude and thought that the guy was interfering again.

  A trace of resentment gradually appeared on his face, and he whispered.

  ”Did that guy really say something to you?”

  Lister was stunned for a moment, and it took a long time before he could see a clue from his expression. This time, he couldn’t help laughing out loud.

  ”Mr. Galava, I hope you understand that our manager doesn’t care much about how we run our business. He is much busier than you think. If it is profitable to do business in White Elephant City, we will naturally go there… Don’t say profit, I can’t even find where the settlement is on the map.”

  Speaking of which, his only impression of White Elephant City came from a column in a certain issue of “Survivor Daily”, which reprinted an anthology called “Red Soil”.

  All signs can be seen that it is still a poor place with a manor economy as the main economy. And as we all know, it is meaningless to sell goods to livestock.

  As for turning livestock into humans, that is the job of managers. You can’t expect a profit-seeking businessman like him to do such a thing.

  He is not a resident of the shelter, and he is not interested in charity.

  Speaking of which, Jingalon Port has developed well recently, and the local education level has also improved. He has considered opening a branch there, such as producing some batteries, turbines, inverters, etc. that are urgently needed in the southern waters, but it is just a plan.

  There are too many uncertain risks that make him dare not make a decision easily.

  The Duke of Galawa showed a hint of disappointment on his face, but he was not discouraged.

  He comforted himself in his heart that at least Lister did not explicitly reject him. Maybe it was just that the chips on the table were not enough, and he had to grind it out again…

  In the second half of the greetings, the two of them tacitly stopped talking about business matters, but simply drank tea and chatted to keep in touch.

  Although he knew what the duke was thinking, Lister did not reject keeping in touch with him, which also helped him understand the situation in the Borneo Province.

  After the meeting, Duke Galava politely escorted him to the door of the embassy, ​​and only returned to the embassy when his car disappeared around the corner.

  On the other side, sitting in the back seat of the private car, Lister had completely put aside Duke Galava’s affairs, and casually picked up the latest issue of “Survivor Daily” that his secretary had bought for him in advance and flipped through it.

  The headline was about Coral City.

  This pearl located in the southern sea area has been the hottest topic in Dawn City recently. Many people have booked tickets to French Fries Port for this purpose, intending to take a submarine there to take a look.

  Although most people only regard it as a resort or a tourist destination, Lister knows what the real value of that place is.

  The construction of Coral City used a lot of materials science and engineering technology recovered from the Heavenly Court. The settlement on the seabed will become the bridgehead for the Alliance to develop the space heritage of the Prosperous Era. The

  Alliance’s scientific expedition team and biological research institute have already taken action, and some powerful private enterprises are also following suit.

  If he could dig something out of it and develop it into something that the alliance society needed, his career would undoubtedly be able to rise to a new level.

  Just as Lister was thinking this, he suddenly noticed a piece of inconspicuous news at the bottom of the third page of the newspaper.

  ”…The Moon Clan resistance army entered Mammoth City and announced the occupation of Mammoth State. At the same time, the spokesperson of the new Mammoth State authorities called the editorial office of the Survivor Daily in Jinjialun Port and published an announcement that Mammoth State would be the first abolitionist state in Borneo Province. The leader of the resistance army, Laxi, said that he would abide by the joint program advocated by the Federation and called on people of insight from all over the world to unite and fight against the tyranny of the empire.”

  Mammoth State?

  What is that place?

  Lister was stunned for a moment, then went to find his tablet, opened the world map and took a look, and finally found this land in the upper right corner of “Zoo Province”.

  A Tasang River, which is much shorter than the Yongliu River, flows into the Borneo Sea from Mammoth State, and on the other side of the Zhuobal Mountains is the Silver Moon Bay, the pearl of Luoxia Province.

  ”This location is quite good,” Lister laughed and shook his head gently, “It’s a pity that a group of natives occupy it.” It

  would be great if Baiyue Company could go one step further.

  Thinking so in his heart, he turned the newspaper to the next page, but saw that the next page was still Mammoth State news transferred from the “Survivor Daily (Jinjialun Port)”.

  According to the resistance army’s telegram, the Imperial Army blew up the riverbank of the Tasang River, causing severe damage to Mammoth State and displacing a large number of survivors.

  The resistance leader Lacy said that the resistance army would not give up the survivors of Mammoth State, and they would do their best to provide disaster relief. At the same time, they also hoped that people of insight from all walks of life in Golden Galleon Port could help them carry out reconstruction work and help the resistance army resettle some of the displaced survivors.

  At the same time, Duke Bamute, the former governor of Mammoth State, was tried in public at the Mammoth City Dock Square and admitted all the charges in court. It was his personal idea to blow up the riverbank, which caused millions of survivors to be displaced.

  Affected by the boiling public resentment, the resistance army’s temporary military court approved the execution of Duke Bamute on the day the trial ended. In addition, eight resistance soldiers who committed robbery and six who committed rape were executed.

  Roger, secretary general of the Golden Galleon Port Federation, said in an interview that this reflected Lacy’s determination to rectify military discipline.

  There is still debate within the Jingalon Port Federation about whether Lacy is a qualified leader, but most of the top leaders of the Federation are optimistic.

  It is understood that Lacy was born a slave, and when he captured the Lowell Camp, he also executed the person involved because his soldiers robbed women.

  Some people in the alliance criticized his behavior for being too rude, but he obviously learned lessons from the criticism afterwards, such as setting up courts and disaster relief offices, etc., which is one of the reasons why the top leaders of the Federation are optimistic about him.

  According to the editor of this newspaper, in the past two hundred years, there have been countless civil wars in the province of Borneo. It is a customary activity to allow soldiers to loot after breaking through the settlements, just like the looters in the valley, Jinchuan, and Yuema provinces imitated mutant cannibalism, and it is extremely rare to prohibit soldiers from burning, killing and looting after breaking through the settlements…

  ”This guy is something.”

  After reading the report to the end, Lister’s face suddenly showed a trace of interest. He read the news from beginning to end again, and the more he read, the more he felt that this guy was not simple.

  There are many poor imitations in his behavior, and some crude improvements have been added, but putting aside these poor methods, this man is much stronger than the one he just met.

  Moreover, as a member of the Moon Clan, this guy has conquered a state of the Empire, which can be said to have pierced the lungs of the Empire. Tiandu will definitely not let him go.

  In order to maintain the balance between the Legion and the Alliance, the Alliance will probably not interfere in the situation in the Borneo Province, and the possibility of directly sending troops is very small.

  And if this Laxi wants to gain a foothold under the nose of the Empire, he has to cling to the thigh of the Alliance.

  ”Han Long, the opportunity to make a fortune is here.”

  Looking at the boss with a happy face, Han Long, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, was slightly stunned and asked in confusion.

  ”Boss, didn’t you say that Borneo Province is not worth investing in?”

  Shaking the newspaper in his hand, Lister said with a faint smile.

  ”It means you didn’t understand what I told you. In emerging markets, people are worth investing in, not markets, because people are usually the dominant force in such places. A fool is certainly not worth investing in, but a strong man is still worth investing in.”

  After a pause, he continued.

  ”How about this, you go there with Qian Duo in a few days.”

  Qian Duo and Qian Lai are his subordinates, and they have been with him for a long time. He thought it was time to let them go out for some training.

  Han Long hesitated slightly after hearing this.

  ”But… what about your safety?”

  Liszt laughed.

  ”What kind of security problem can there be in Dawn City? You should change your mindset. This is no longer an ’emerging market’.”

  …

  Unlike the civil war in the southern seas, the Moon Clan resistance army’s entry into Mammoth City was far less spectacular and sensational than the South Sea Alliance’s entry into the North Island, and it did not affect the nerves of anyone in the wasteland, even though the latter’s area was not even half of the former.

  Dawn City TV reported on this incident in a small amount of space. After seeing what happened in Mammoth City, the Legion’s ambassador to the Alliance, Bennot, did not call his allies, but took a look at the map.

  When he found out that the place was on the east coast of Borneo Province, several states away from the West Sail Port on the west coast, far beyond the sphere of influence of the Legion’s civil service group, he immediately put the matter aside and didn’t bother to care about it.

  The Hump Kingdom, which is next to the Mammoth State, was a little nervous, mainly because they were worried about a large number of refugees pouring into the kingdom.

  The royal court of the Hump Kingdom is an enlightened theocracy, but no matter how enlightened, it is still a theocracy.

  They can tolerate the Silver Moon Church’s new interpretation of the original doctrine, and they can tolerate some pagan merchants bringing their favorite treasures, and they can even tolerate the Alliance sending troops to station in Silver Moon Bay… After all, that was what they asked for, but they can’t tolerate pagans coming to the territory of the Sand Sea Spirit to beg for food.

  On this point, the merchants and nobles of Silver Moon Bay and the royal family were surprisingly consistent. After all, if the beggars entered the territory of the Hump Kingdom, Silver Moon Bay would be their first stop.

  Many local chambers of commerce immediately took action and took the initiative to contact the leader of the resistance army, Lacy, to express their gratitude for his protection of the church and their willingness to provide him with an interest-free loan of 10 million silver coins in the name of disaster relief.

  Upon hearing about this good thing, Lacy immediately agreed and even set aside a “parish” for the charlatans outside Mammoth City.

  In the parish, in addition to abiding by the laws of the authorities, there is no need to pay any taxes, and the residents of Silver Moon Bay can do whatever they want there.

  It was originally a wasteland, and it would be idle if it was left there, so it would be better to throw it to the group of Silver Moon Bay believers who are keen on colonization to develop it.

  Anyway, the residents of Silver Moon Bay have lived together with the residents of Borneo Province for so long, and the locals are not very averse to those cat slaves who can do business.

  After they have completed the development, he will consider whether to take it back or continue to rent it to them at a higher price. At least in his opinion, these are all negotiable.

  Just as the Laxi authorities were taking advantage of the disaster in Mammoth State to expand their army, asking for money everywhere under the pretext of the flood, and vigorously implementing the “New Deal”, the empire suddenly realized that a large piece of its 4 million square kilometers of map was missing.

  In the Tiandu Palace, Wu Tuo quickly summoned his ministers and confidants and discussed behind closed doors in the meeting hall.

  The officials were scratching their heads and arguing in a hurry, but no one could come up with an idea.

  Finally unable to bear it, Prince Dilip stepped forward and asked tentatively.

  ”How about ordering the local armies of Bird and Horse States to assemble in the direction of Mammoth State in the west and south? The Moon Clan Resistance Army has not yet established a stable foundation in Mammoth State, and the local disaster is serious. I am afraid that once our army presses on, they will collapse.” Nihak

  was shocked when he heard this, and before Wu Tuo could speak, he stepped forward and advised.

  ”Your Majesty! You must not do that! The Tiger Army and the Black Panther Army have become a big problem! It’s easy to gather the troops of Bird State and Horse State, but it’s hard to disperse them!”

  Wu Tuo was thinking about nodding his head when he heard Prince Dilip’s suggestion, but when he heard Nihak’s voice, he broke out in a cold sweat and thought to himself that it was a close call.

  Seeing the change in Wu Tuo’s expression, Nihak couldn’t help but sweat a lot, thinking that it was a good thing that he called out quickly. If he was a little slower, there would be no room for maneuver.

  After a pause, he ignored Prince Dilip’s unhappy expression and continued with his head down.

  ”Your Majesty, Mammoth State is a small matter. We must not lose our composure. If the thirteen states of Borneo Province follow the example of Tiger State and Leopard State and raise troops to defend themselves, the two sides of Yongliu River will probably be in chaos. Borneo Province will probably see the chaos of a hundred years ago again!”

  ”Then what do you think we should do?” Prince Dilip looked at him unhappily and continued, “Should we just ignore Mammoth State?”

  ”We must take care of it!” Nihak raised his head and stared at Wu Tuo with his eyes, “But in this situation, only the central army can take action! We need a victory to let the locals see our strength.” After a

  pause, he said again.

  ”Let Alaiyang go!”

  There was an uproar in the hall, and a group of officials showed stunned expressions on their faces, looking at this guy who was locked up by the alliance.

  Asking Alaiyang to take action?

  Isn’t that repeating the mistakes of Kingaleng Port again? !

  Hearing this, even Wu Tuo, who was sitting in a high position, frowned.

  Without waiting for the nobles and officials to protest, Prince Dilip stood up first and glared at Duke Nihak who was singing a different tune.

  ”That guy is just a defeated general of the Alliance, how can he be a match for Laxi!”

  Duke Nihak said in a deep voice.

  ”It is precisely because he has fought with the people of the Alliance that he knows how to deal with the Alliance!”

  Prince Dilip was about to argue, “I have also lost before, why don’t you let me go?” But soon he thought that this would be equivalent to putting himself in trouble, so he blushed and changed his words, and found fault from a different angle.

  ”But if the Gray Wolf Army is transferred from the border of Jinjialun Port, wouldn’t the Tiger Army and the Black Panther Army control the entire border line!”

  Duke Nihak said with great sorrow.

  ”What’s the difference between letting them stay there and transferring them away? All the officers trained by the legion have been corrupted by those traitors! We might as well take this opportunity to transfer the remaining people who are still loyal to us to the north, at least to suppress the restless Mazhou and Niaozhou!”

  The wolf tribe is the most loyal warriors of the empire, and the Gray Wolf Army, as the central army, is the only non-combat army that is absolutely loyal to Tiandu.

  As for the local army, they have successfully proved their unreliability with their actions.

  Unless the empire has time to clean up the two warlords, the Tiger Army and the Black Panther Army, using any local forces now will only add fuel to the fire!

  After hearing what Nihak said, Wu Tuo also fell into deep thought.

  Although he is an outsider in foreign wars, he still has some knowledge of the internal affairs of the empire.

  ”…Just do as Duke Nihak said, and transfer the Gray Wolf Army to Mammoth State to suppress the bandits. In addition, Dilip, you go to the capitals of Mammoth State and Bird State and tell the local nobles not to panic, and just take care of the supply of the Gray Wolf Army.”

  Although Prince Dilip was unwilling, the order of His Majesty had already come down, so he could only nod and accept the order.

  ”Yes, sir.”

  Seeing that His Majesty did not arrange his own tasks, Duke Nihak could not help but speak.

  ”Your Majesty, I can also share your worries!”

  Since returning from Golden Gallon Port, he has been idle for a long time.

  As a duke with a title but no fiefdom, if he continues to be idle like this, I am afraid that he will have no place in the court.

  Seeing Nihak’s anxious look, Wu Tuo was not in a hurry, but just spoke slowly.

  ”You have a more important task. I want you to take a boat to the southern seas and settle the loan I mentioned earlier.”

  Nihak was stunned. He didn’t expect His Majesty to suddenly talk about the southern seas here. His mind couldn’t help but turn around for a while.

  Especially since such a serious thing happened recently, he thought His Majesty had forgotten about it, but he didn’t expect him to still be thinking about it.

  ”But Your Majesty… With the rebels in front of us, is it appropriate for us to do this now?”

  Wu Tuo said indifferently.

  ”The banditry is in the Tasang River, which is far away from the Yongliu River. Besides, a group of bandits are just a flesh itch, not to mention that the most urgent thing is to get that economy going.”

  Mammoth State is not a state where the Moon Clan is the majority. What’s more, all the Moon Clan people in the entire Borneo Province have been purged by him, and those who are still alive are living on farms or slave camps. Although he is anxious, he doesn’t think that a resistance army led by slaves can cause any big waves.

  Moreover, he has recently experienced some of the benefits of being rich.

  Especially after he saw the photos of the Ideal Hotel taken by Galawa, he was even more jealous.

  Although his palace was floating, it was still much shorter than the height of the Ideal Hotel. No wonder the people of Willant didn’t care about his palace.

  When the empire has money in the future, he will also let the people of Ideal City come here to build him a palace that can touch the clouds.

  But you have to eat one bite at a time and dig a corner little by little.

  He can take advantage of the fact that the “War of Heaven” in Haiya Province has not yet ended and start from the southern sea area that the alliance can’t take care of for the time being.

  It is the safest place.

  The alliance is not a legion. The administrator said that he would end the wasteland. It is impossible for him to send soldiers here just because he does some “small business” there?

  When the empire becomes the largest creditor in the southern sea area, the South Sea Alliance will be his dog. Even if the alliance wants to regret it, it will be too late.

  After talking about the plan in his mind, Wu Tuo’s face was full of smug smiles, and a group of officials also showed expressions of sudden enlightenment, and praised His Majesty’s wisdom.

  Only the smile of the Minister of Finance was somewhat intriguing, or it could be said that it was filled with a hint of grievance that could not be expressed.

  Although the province of Borneo is vast, there are many mouths to feed.

  He thought that lending Xilan currency to the southern sea area was indeed a good idea to solve the problem of unsalable cement, but this method of borrowing was somewhat imitative. What

  if they default on the debt?

  Can the empire send a fleet to knock on the door to collect the debt, or is there a large investment from the South China Sea Alliance in the country that can be used to pay off the debt?

  How to deal with this bad debt at that time would be a big problem.

  It would be good if they were willing to take care of it. Using the coral tokens there to pay off the debt would also save face for both parties.

  If they are not willing to pay attention, I think the creditor can only be more “open-minded”…

  At the same time that the Empire took action to suppress the Moon Clan rebels, Li Minghui, the interim president of the South Sea Alliance, was worried about the shortage of labor.

  It is now the end of October.

  The reconstruction of the northern islands has been going on for almost a month, but it has not been going smoothly due to insufficient manpower.

  The construction team of Baiyue Company is mainly responsible for the North Island Naval Base and the Ocean Current Power Station, but there are more than just these two places that need to be rebuilt.

  It is precisely because of this that the South Sea Alliance has encountered a very embarrassing problem.

  Although their technical reserves are outrageous and there is no shortage of highly educated talents, there is a serious shortage of capable laborers.

  Even if automation can solve some of the problems, it will have to wait until the advanced productivity of the Ocean Current Power Station and the islands is completely restored.

  To put it bluntly, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. What they need now is not doctors and engineers, but a large number of plasterers and bricklayers.

  They don’t even need these people to be literate, they just need to be able to understand human language.

  Recently, French Fry Port opened an immigration channel from Kinggallon Port to the Baiyue Strait. He was thinking whether the South China Sea Alliance should also attract some immigrants.

  However, there are many problems.

  The South China Sea Alliance’s representative council is much more exclusive than the Alliance’s representative council, and distrust of outsiders is one of the natures of the island residents.

  Including the most pro-Alliance Ring Island, it has always opposed the influx of foreign populations, and does not care about the emigration of local survivors.

  If he forcibly passes a bill to relax immigration thresholds at this time, although it will help the South China Sea Alliance’s post-war recovery in the long run, it will definitely stand on the opposite side of the South China Sea Alliance’s survivors and will definitely stand on the opposite side of the representative council.

  Why bother?

  He counted on his fingers and realized that his term as interim president would only last a few months, so he was just waiting for the “War in Heaven” to be over.

  Having just won a great victory, Li Minghui now only wanted to ensure that he would not make any mistakes during the remaining term of office, and finally hand over the power in his hands as a hero, completing the last and most glorious page of the heroic epic, and then serve as his naval commander peacefully until he reaches retirement age.

  In the future, he would go to war when there is a war, feed seagulls and fry fish when there is no war, and go to the bar in French Fry Harbor to have some wine and brag when he is free.

  His life has been wonderful enough.

  As for that grandson of Charas, he will never hear drunkards bragging about his “achievements” in his life. If that guy is still alive now, he will definitely be jealous and crazy.

  Li Minghui thought about it and finally figured it out. It seems that there is really no need for him to be sad in the last few days of his term of office. However,

  just when he finally figured everything out and was about to throw the report in his hand aside and leave all the difficult problems in front of him to future generations, there was a knock on the door of the office.

  Li Minghui picked up the teacup and took a sip of black tea, sat up straight, cleared his throat and said.

  ”Come in.”

  The door opened.

  In came his political secretary.

  ”Mr. President, someone is looking for you.”

  Li Minghui put on a concerned look on his face, crossing his fingers on the table.

  ”Who wants to see me? What’s the matter?”

  Looking at the president who was working diligently for the affairs of the southern sea area, the secretary said respectfully.

  ”It’s a representative of the Mammoth City authorities. He said he can solve your urgent problem…”

  Mammoth City?

  Li Minghui was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously reached out to take the map of Baiyue Province, wanting to see when the alliance had written a new recipe at his doorstep.

  However, the secretary standing in front of the desk coughed awkwardly and reminded in a low voice.

  ”It’s another one…”

  (End of this chapter)