On the grass slope outside Wolong Fort, under the parasol, Lu Ming saw that Liu Laocai's hands were still shaking as he held the juice, and he sighed softly in his heart. He seemed carefree, but this experience must have caused him considerable psychological trauma.
Being locked in a small hut and fed to dogs, with the possibility of having your head chopped off at any time, it is difficult for people living in the civilized world to imagine the psychological pressure unless they experience it personally.
"Sister-in-law just has to be busy." Lu Ming looked at Hasang who was busy peeling and juicing a local specialty fruit with Papaya in the distance.
In Wolong Castle, Sanjinpo and Papaya have the lowest status, far inferior to Luo Yi and Luo Er. But Hasheng, the legitimate wife of Liu Laocai, is willing to serve others with the lowest servants. Moreover, facing Sanjinpo and Papaya, she also has the mentality of a slave.
After all, Sanjinpo and Papaya, one is the ancestor of a local prominent family; the other is the beloved wife of the patriarch of a local prominent family.
Hearing Lu Ming's words, Liu Laocai smiled bitterly, "How could she dare to sit with you and chat with you? So, I told her about the wedding. She said she disagreed and just wanted it to be fair. Moreover, she would not go back to the East China Sea with me. She said that after I go back to the East China Sea, I can write her a divorce letter. If I don't write a divorce letter, she will wait for me here forever. I can come here occasionally to see her."
He gritted his teeth and said, "I will definitely take her back to the East China Sea! When we get back to the East China Sea, I will hold the most grand wedding."
Lu Ming smiled: "This is my brother Liu, I support you."
After thinking for a while, he said, "Next, it's the dispute over the oil field. You have a copy with you. The original deed is in the safe of Baoyin Bank, right? You may need to bring it over when signing some formal agreements."
Liu Laocai's face turned bitter. "Qianhang, this problem will bother you from today. I will give you the oil field. However, I know you will not agree. So, after the oil field is mined, you will give me 200,000 a year for 50 years. If I die first, the income will be given to Hasan, okay? I feel that my health has been ruined after coming to the Western Regions. I am afraid that I will not live for many years... In the future, Hasan, please help take care of me..."
Lu Ming was stunned for a moment, and said helplessly: "Don't be so pessimistic, you have just been released, you will be full of energy in no time after a few days of recuperation."
Liu Laocai looked at Lu Ming and his face became serious. "Let's not talk about the body, let's talk about the oil field. Qianhang, I'm serious. I think it's very clear. No matter how big your head is, you should wear a hat that fits your size. Otherwise, it will be a disaster. I can't afford that oil field. Even if you help me win the lawsuit this time and get the land rights, there will still be all kinds of things in the future. I can't always ask you to be available at any time. What's more, even if you are available at any time, it's a problem whether I can see you next time something happens."
"Qianxing, among all my relatives and friends, only you can hold this golden bowl firmly. It is my blessing for me to eat some meat from your bowl. Moreover, Qianxing, your character is beyond words. If you promise to give me fifty years, you will definitely be able to do it. I really don't trust others."
As he spoke, Liu Laocai smiled strangely and said, "Besides, I always feel that this oil field was originally given to you by God, but it was just given to you through my hands. It is the reward for your many great good deeds. I did a small good deed, and I got to drink some soup because of you. And if there is too much soup, it will still scald me to death."
Hearing his sincerity, Lu Ming was about to say something, but after hearing the last part, Lu Ming was helpless, "Brother, you are still the immortal Liu, Liu Guolao..."
"Liu Guolao, who is he?" Liu Laocai's eyes lit up, "Why do I feel that this name is very congenial to me? I will change my name after returning to Donghai!"
Lu Ming waved his hands helplessly, thought for a moment and said, "How about this, if we can really get the oil field, I'll find someone to develop it together. In the next year, I'll give you 70% of the profits and 30% will be mine."
Liu Laocai shook his head: "Don't talk about it. No matter how much you give me, I will keep 200,000 yuan. The rest will be transferred to your account. If you are not afraid that someone will focus on our strange account transactions, just do it this way." Looking at Lu Ming: "I am only worth 200,000 yuan, and in 50 years, that is 10 million yuan. I can only live this long. You really want me to die tomorrow, right?"
Lu Ming pondered and smiled, "We haven't got the oil field yet. It would be funny if we started fighting. There's a joke in my hometown. Two people got into a fight and their heads became dog heads. They were taken to the police for questioning because of the uneven distribution of the lottery winnings. These two guys haven't even collected the money to buy it yet. They discussed how to divide the winnings first, and then they started fighting."
Liu Laocai was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, "What a funny couple..." He laughed for a while, then looked at Lu Ming, "However, I still need to talk to you clearly, right now. You have too many tricks up your sleeve, I'm afraid I'll fall into your trap later. Qianhang, just tell me, do you want your brother to live a few more years in peace?"
Lu Ming pondered, "How about this, two million a year, and I will start paying this year without waiting for the oil field to be developed on the right track."
Liu Laocai smiled and said, "That's one hundred thousand, one hundred thousand a year."
Lu Ming was helpless.
Liu Laocai laughed: "Didn't expect me to bargain like this?"
Lu Ming thought for a moment and said seriously, "500,000 yuan. I will start paying this year, and it won't take 50 years. It would be best if you and sister-in-law have a child, or you designate a bloodline. My Lu family will pay this 500,000 yuan every year in the future, and will also increase this payment according to inflation. Unless my descendants are unpromising and squander my family business, then there is nothing we can do."
Liu Laocai waved his hand and said, "That's not necessary. Qianxing, I understand your intentions, but our descendants will have their own blessings. We don't care about the things in the future. Don't let our descendants become enemies in the future. Do you think I'm right? It's better to have a time limit, maybe a hundred years. I guess Qianxing, you can make decisions for at least a hundred years."
Lu Ming was thinking and was about to speak when Luo Yi came hurriedly and whispered, "Master, the powerful City Lord Luo is coming this way. He is three miles away."
Lu Ming smiled, knowing why he came.
He said to Liu Laocai, "Okay, if you say oil field, we'll get it." He added, "Five hundred thousand, according to what Fila Petroleum said, the profit is 2% of the entire oil field. Just don't regret it later!"
Liu Laocai spat on the ground, "Bah, Liu Laocai, ah Liu Laocai, someone treats you like a pig or a dog and looks down on you! You have lived your life in vain! Even your best friend treats you like a scoundrel!"
Lu Ming spread his hands, stood up and said, "I'll go and wait to see Zhong Quan Luo."
In fact, the overall economic situation today, roughly speaking, multiplied by 50-70 US dollars, is similar to that of later generations.
Of course, there is still a certain deviation between income and prices.
But overall, we can make an intuitive comparison like this.
According to later generations, Liu Laocai's annual income of about 30 million US dollars was quite enough. He continued to cultivate immortality and happily became a wealthy man. He had no pressure, a fixed income and his own brand. This was probably the life he had always dreamed of.
Calculated in this way, the Tianhai Desert Oilfield has a net income of more than one billion US dollars a year. However, due to the limitations of current technology, it certainly does not have the daily production volume of later generations, and there is no limit. Therefore, the actual value of this oil field should be similar to the super-large oil fields in later generations with an annual net profit of 700 to 800 million US dollars.
…
In the reception room on the second floor of Wolong Fort, Zhongquan Luo had a worried look on his face.
Lu Ming said to Luo Yi, "Send a telegram to the Fila Petroleum headquarters in the imperial capital. Regarding the development cooperation of Tianhai Oilfield, we will only talk to Rabbi Fila. No one else will be discussed."
Then he smiled and said to Zhong Quan Luo: "This old Fila's youngest son, when I was running for election, he donated 300,000 yuan!"
The interpreter whispered in Zhongquan Luo's ear.
Zhong Quan Luo's expression changed immediately.
Lu Ming smiled again and said, "The Tianhai Desert has been owned by Bat City for generations. When your grandfather was the city lord, it was awarded to meritorious officials. It was originally a desert and was of no use. Now, this desert belongs to me. I need your support, the powerful city lord Luo."
As the powerful Luo Tingtong was translating, his expression looked even more strange and surprised.
Lu Ming added: "Although there are many territorial disputes between Bat City and Bailu City, the Tianhai Desert has never been involved. It was only after Fila Petroleum discovered the oil and gas in the desert that Bailu City suddenly announced that it has sovereignty over the Tianhai Desert, right?"
"Since the desert belongs to me now, if he wants to seize my property, there is no need to sue him. It depends on what he does. Why should I sue you for land that is not disputed? If I sue you, it means that I think the land is disputed, which is a disadvantage. It is equivalent to taking a step back and letting the other party take a step forward for nothing. Lord Luo, do you think this is reasonable?"
Zhong Quan Luo said nothing.
Lu Ming added: "To be honest, the territorial disputes between Bat City and Bailu City are the basis for consolidating the patriotic enthusiasm and sense of honor of lords and even serfs."
"This is the case even for disputed lands. What if the people of Bat City, who are living in the undisputed Tianhai Desert, go against the teachings of their ancestors and the will of all the people of Bat City-State and admit that it belongs to Bailu City?"
Lu Ming shook his head. "If the news gets out, this guy will probably be beaten into a pulp by the angry crowd! No matter who he is."
“Lawyer Lu, I think you may have a misunderstanding. The Tianhai Desert belongs to our city-state, and there is no dispute about that.” Zhongquan Luo finally straightened up.
Lu Ming smiled slightly: "It's good to be able to reach a consensus with the city lord on this point."
He added: "Once I have discussed the cooperation and development with the young master of Fila Petroleum, we will also set up a fund and allocate about 50,000 yuan every year to support the construction of Bat City. Moreover, our other related matters, including the cooperation between our Beiguan business community and Bat City, will become larger and larger. Lord Luo, you should have great confidence in the future of Bat City!"
Zhong Quan Luo smiled bitterly and thought for a moment, "Mayor Lu, since I'm here, I won't hide it from you. The trial the day before yesterday caused a big trouble."
Lu Ming nodded: "I understand, someone informed me. The media in the capital has gone crazy, right?" He smiled.
Even now, Richard and his party have just arrived in Nicolo and are still far away from the imperial capital. But yesterday, the largest newspapers in the imperial capital reported the case of Liu Laocai's murder. The public was very excited and he became a disgrace to the legal community and was severely criticized.
As for the barbaric place called Bat City-State, many media outlets unanimously stated that it was the cancer of the empire and should be expelled from the empire's jurisdiction.
Zhong Quan Luo sighed: "Mayor Lu, you only know one thing. This morning, my uncle who was in Nicolo City is the alliance councilor representing this city. He..." It seems that Lu Ming didn't understand how to explain his identity.
Lu Ming nodded: "Alliance Councillor, I understand, please continue."
The Parliament of the Western Free Cities Alliance consists of hundreds of city-states, large and small, with one representative from each city-state, and the parliament is stationed in Nicolo.
Zhong Quan Luo shook his head and said, "He called me this morning and said that he has been banned from participating in all activities of the parliament. It seems that the Alliance Parliament is going to pass a resolution to expel Bat City from the City-State Alliance and remove our qualifications as a member of the alliance..." Zhong Quan Luo's face became paler and paler as he spoke.
It’s no wonder. If Bat City were really expelled from the alliance, the entire clan would be wiped out in an instant.
Although Bailu City was powerful in the past, Bat City had allies and the City-State Alliance Council. Although it was of little use, they could still fight and talk, and Bailu City did not dare to do anything extreme.
Moreover, some larger city-states in other regions do not want Bailu City to become too big and will always try to check and balance it.
But once Bat City is expelled from the alliance, the allies will no longer help it, and even if the Bailu City’s troops approach the border, no one will care about direct genocide.
Zhongquan Luo was only in his thirties and had just taken over as the city lord. At this moment, he was at a loss and had none of the calmness that a leader of a country should have.
Looking at Lu Ming, his face was full of despair, "Mayor Lu, can you, can you help me, help us Ba Te people?"
Sighing, "It's not the custom of this city-state..."
This bad habit also exists in Bailu City, and it is even more serious, but unfortunately, public opinion outside is directed at Batcheng City.
Lu Ming waved his hand: "You can't think like that. When dealing with public opinion, the worst thing to do is to be sloppy and say that we are not good enough and there are people who are worse than us. That will only lead to more fierce criticism."
He added: "Moreover, this time the public opinion is not only directed at you, Bat City, but also at me. Now you and I are on the same boat."
Zhong Quan Luo's eyes lit up, and he looked at Lu Ming as if he had found a life-saving straw, "Then you..."
Lu Ming nodded: "As soon as possible, convene the city-state parliament and let's discuss it."
Luo, the powerful man, nodded repeatedly and said again and again: "I will now call the three flag councillors, Mayor Lu, before the council convenes, I will grant you the title of Hurricane Councillor. From now on, you will have the same authority as the city lord in this city. Moreover, as long as you are in this city-state, you will be the highest judge if there is a court business."
Perhaps, this was thought of on the way here, and he was determined to tie the crisis of the city's destruction closely to Mayor Lu.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "This title is a bad omen. It's like it's going to blow everything away."
Zhong Quan Luo was stunned, "Then I will grant you the title of 'Unique Monsoon Councillor'. This title, like Hurricane Councillor, can only be enjoyed by you."