The circular hollow conference table was very large. The nine heads of the alliance members sat in turn. On a high separate table next to it sat a very majestic old man. He was the alliance's "Guardian of Free Faith", Grand Duke Charles IX of the East China Sea.
Lu Ming was speaking, expressing his opinions on the idea of establishing a secretariat for the alliance and improving the collective defense treaty.
But Lu Ming felt a little uneasy, as he always felt that the Duke was paying attention to him. When others were speaking, the Duke seemed too lazy to even look at them, but when it was his turn, he kept staring at him.
I don’t know if Christine told her old father that she was her lover.
Or maybe the rumors from outside reached his ears.
Fortunately, I had written a manuscript in advance. Although I was a little distracted, I still made clear what I wanted to say.
…
The break during a meeting is called a tea break.
In the lounge, Lu Ming was in a class of his own. After all, the rest were elected leaders, and only this Montenegrin general was more like a dictator. However, because of his special relationship with the East China Sea Region, he was allowed to enter the alliance.
The only other Central Continental leader, Li Yuande, a senior official from Xinji Province, was also chatting and laughing with those Western leaders and was not close to Lu Ming.
Lu Ming didn't care about these. He sipped his tea and closed his eyes to rest.
"General Lu..." It seemed as if a figure was coming in front of him. Lu Ming opened his eyes and it was the Governor of Eaton State, Michaelson.
Sanmai Company is in Eaton State, so Eaton State is also a state that Lu Ming is more concerned about, and the investigation of Michaelson is also very detailed.
Of course, democratically elected governments often bring about certain uncertainties, so Lu Ming also conducted detailed investigations on Michelson’s political opponents in Eton State.
This includes Li Hanchao, the leader of the Justice Party's Eton State branch. Although he lost to Michelson in the last election, he is undoubtedly Michelson's strongest opponent. He is from Central Asia and actually has an ethnic advantage in Eton State. However, Eton State voters who are already accustomed to party politics actually still look at the candidates' campaign promises and the possibility of fulfilling their promises.
Michelson had a good reputation during his administration. Li Hanchao had no experience in governing. Before Michelson's credibility collapsed, voters should have sought stability and voted for Michelson for more security.
But the problem is that with the chaos in the imperial capital, ethnic conflicts inevitably became an unavoidable problem.
Li Hanchao seized this point and is using his Central Plains bloodline to hype up the Central Plains Autonomous Prefecture and the topic that the governor should be a Central Plains person, which has resonated with many Central Plains people.
There is a high possibility that Michelson will be defeated in the next general election.
Seeing Michelson sitting next to him with a heavy heart, Lu Ming sneered inwardly. There is still more than a year before the next general election in Eaton State, and Michelson should be aware of the crisis.
"General Lu protected many innocent Griffinni people during the Shengjing riots. It's really admirable!" Michaelson said with a sigh.
Lu Ming was slightly startled. Few people present cared about what happened in the Northern Territory. Although they all knew that xenophobic incidents had occurred in Shengjing, few of them tried to understand the real details.
"I hope that Eaton State will not become the next Shengjing in the future!" Michaelson shook his head and took a sip of tea.
Obviously, what worries him is not that he will suffer a defeat in the next general election, but rather the future fate of him and the Western community living in Eton State.
Most Westerners in the Central Asian settlements are not as sensitive as he is, and many of them are still living in a dream.
Lu Ming patted his hand gently, "Don't worry, it won't happen. I still believe in my people. The riots in Shengjing were triggered by many factors, and many of the Griffinni there are descendants of criminals and have committed many crimes."
Michelson smiled bitterly and drank his tea.
Lu Ming looked at him and said, "I will help you campaign for the election next year. Besides, if you lose the election, you can go to live in Montenegro."
Based on the results of the investigation on Michelson and Li Hanchao, if I had to choose between the two, I would rather choose Michelson.
Not to mention the secret investigation, just looking at their campaign strategy, Li Hanchao was manipulating ethnic conflicts and labeling everything done by his predecessor wrongly, including the Roswell project introduced by Michaelson, which Li Hanchao also wanted to get rid of as soon as possible.
This involves one's own interests and even threatens one's long-term goals.
I also hope that the day will come soon when people from Central China will live in the state and that the governor will be a general of Central China people, but it won't be someone like Li Hanchao.
On the other side, Michaelson was slightly startled when he heard Lu Ming's words. He turned his head and looked at Lu Ming's serious expression. Michaelson nodded slightly: "Thank you!"
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Speaking of Li Hanchao, he is from the Justice Party, right? I know a lot of old friends in the East China Sea branch of the Justice Party."
Suddenly I thought of Gao Wangling.
The leader of the Justice Party's Beiguan branch was once a very scary woman.
I don't know what kind of feeling I have towards her, it's very complicated, but the idea that I must send her to jail with my own hands has never changed.
But at the beginning of last year, Gao Wangling was already in prison.
It has been more than a year and a half now.
It was also because of the case of that little devil that Gao Wangling was prosecuted by the prosecution. Finally, she was convicted of obstructing justice and sentenced to three years in prison.
There is no crime of harboring a criminal in Donghai law. If a relative commits a crime, the relatives have the right to conceal the crime. In other words, from a legal perspective, we should respect humanity and believe that it does not violate the law for relatives to conceal the crime.
Even if you know that your relatives have committed a crime, you do not need to provide any evidence to the police or prosecutors.
However, you cannot fabricate false testimony to help your relatives exonerate themselves.
That would be obstruction of justice.
Gao Wangling was believed to have given a false confession when the prosecution was investigating the little devil, and was thus convicted.
I deliberately ignored this case, and I was too busy at the time as I was waging war in the Northern Territory.
He himself was not sure whether it was revenge by Baclo's relatives and friends.
Because of Gao Wangling, he deserved it.
But if you think about it carefully, if it was a revenge carried out by Baclo's former political allies, then Gao Wangling was imprisoned because of himself.
After all, in the former Beiguan Municipal Committee, Gao Wangling was like a mad dog she raised, always baring her teeth at Baklo.
Bucklo's old friends couldn't do anything to her and used her as a punching bag.
"General Lu, we have one minute left before we enter the venue!" Michaelson's words affected Lu Ming's thoughts.
Lu Ming smiled and stood up, "Okay, let's go!"
…
From October 9 to 11, 1953, the second summit of the Eastern Economic Union was held in the East China Sea, and the meeting issued the "East China Sea Declaration".
The main content of the Declaration is that the Alliance will maintain and promote peace, security and stability in the empire, further strengthen peace-oriented values; enhance regional vitality by strengthening political, security, economic and socio-cultural cooperation; ensure that citizens of the Alliance live in an environment of justice, rule of law and freedom; establish a stable, prosperous, highly competitive and integrated common market and manufacturing base, and realize the free flow of goods, services, investment, people and capital; based on the principle of comprehensive security, effectively respond to various forms of threats, cross-border crimes and cross-border challenges, etc.
At the same time, the Alliance established a secretariat to coordinate the concerted actions of the alliance members. The Secretary-General will be nominated by the Alliance Guardian Charles IX and voted on by representatives of all members of the Alliance.
The alliance also signed the "Collective Security Treaty of the Eastern Alliance", the main content of which includes that when any member of the alliance is attacked with armed force, it should be regarded as an attack on all members of the Eastern Alliance.
However, the proposal to establish a supreme headquarters of the alliance army in the East China Sea to coordinate the actions of the armed forces within the alliance member countries was temporarily shelved due to too much controversy.
…
Feilie Valley Women's Prison is the only women's prison in Donghai. It is located in Feilie City, a satellite town of Donghai. There are about seven or eight hundred female prisoners in the prison, which is also the entire female prison population in Donghai. Nowadays, especially in Donghai, it is rare for women to commit serious crimes that require them to go to prison. There are more than ten million people in Donghai city and satellite towns, and the population of women's prisons is less than one ten-thousandth.
There are nearly 10,000 criminals serving their sentences in men's prisons, which is close to one thousandth of the prison population.
For those who don’t pay attention to this information, it’s actually quite scary to think about it: one out of a thousand people is sent to prison for a crime.
In fact, Lu Ming studied law, so he naturally knew that the prison population ratio in Donghai was actually quite good. It was lower than that of his own country in his previous life, and much lower than that of a certain major Western country in his previous life.
Now Lu Ming is sitting quietly in the visiting room of Ferrie Valley Women's Prison.
Today is the 11th, visiting day, and the visiting room is full of people.
In fact, if you want to visit a prisoner today, you must apply at least a few days in advance.
Lu Ming came here directly after attending the meeting, but he was very eloquent and showed his lawyer's license, which scared the female warden. In the end, she granted special permission for Lu Ming to attend the last batch of visits at 18:00.
Today's visiting rooms are not separated by glass like in the past. They just have a small table where visitors and prisoners sit opposite each other, but it is strictly forbidden to pass anything.
The tall female prison guards around looked at these visitors with great vigilance.
Most of the visitors are the prisoners' close relatives, and they all stretch their necks and look forward to seeing them.
Finally, the small door over there was opened, and the female prisoners in prison uniforms filed in.
Some visitors have already started sobbing quietly.
Lu Ming was stunned for a moment as he looked at Gao Wangshi who slowly walked over and sat in front of him.
She was wearing a gray prison uniform, and it was obvious that makeup was not allowed in there. Her face was haggard, and her hair was cut short and a little dry. She was completely different from the beautiful young woman who was elegant and noble in her cheongsam in the past.
But Gao Wangshi had a happy smile on her face, "I knew you would come!"
Lu Ming smiled bitterly: "I didn't expect that I would be included in the prison visit quota, otherwise, it would be a lot of trouble!"
Gao Wang chuckled: "Why wouldn't I write you down?"
Lu Ming thought for a moment and said, "I came here to ask Li Hanchao, are you familiar with him? Your colleague in the party."
Gao Wang thought for a moment, "Is it Li Hanchao from Eton State?" She smiled and said, "You want to investigate someone, and you should know more about him than I do. Are you really here for him?"
Lu Ming smiled: "It seems that you are in a good mental state, and you still like to fantasize."
"Of course, I'm in there now, eating well, sleeping well, knitting every day, and my life is very fulfilling." Gao Wang smiled and glanced at Lu Ming, "Congratulations, and besides, aren't you supposed to be attending the Eastern Conference summit today?"
Lu Ming smiled: "You are still so well-informed."
"There are newspapers inside." Gao Wangshi had a smile on her face the whole time, and she seemed very happy.
Lu Ming felt a little guilty for a moment, but he still wanted to get back to the point, "Did Li Qinghe, the whip of the Justice Party in Eton State, have a good relationship with Mr. Gao?"
Gao Wangshi laughed and said, "That's all in the past. Who would care about me now?"
Lu Ming nodded: "I thought that with your ability, it would be easy to remotely control things outside even if you are in prison, but it seems that I was wrong."
"I want to live a simpler life in the future." Gao Wangshi smiled and still stared at Lu Ming.
Lu Ming coughed and said, "I bought you some fruits and delicious food, as well as daily necessities. They shouldn't dare to deduct them. I will give them to you in full after checking." He stood up and said, "I'm leaving now!"
Gao Wang nodded gently: "I wish you get better and better, thank you too!"
Lu Ming stood up and walked out of the visiting room, but he could feel that Gao Wangshi's eyes were always on his back.
Outside is a long corridor, and next to it is a small square separated by barbed wire. This should be the place where the prisoners go for daily exercise. However, today is visiting day, and it is evening, so there are no prisoners in the small square. Instead, there are several female prison guards pacing around.
Among them there was a particularly tall man who walked over quickly.
Lu Ming didn't care at first, but suddenly he was startled. The female prison guard was getting closer and closer. It turned out to be the prison warden who was speechless after being refuted by him more than an hour ago. Her name was Judy. For some reason, she liked to wear green prison guard uniforms. She was very tall, probably more than 1.9 meters and almost 2 meters tall, half a head taller than himself. In addition to her sturdy figure, she looked very oppressive. Her appearance was okay, and could be called pretty. According to his current aesthetic standards, those who could be called pretty and scored above 70 points were definitely considered beauties in the eyes of ordinary people.
Yes, he became a prison warden in his twenties, so he must have his own strengths. Sometimes, good looks can be a particularly advantageous weapon.
Seeing the direction she was walking towards as if she wanted to talk to him, Lu Ming stopped.
"So you are General Lu!" Unlike the dusty and angry face she had faced more than an hour ago, this female warden was now rude at first but respectful later, with a big smile on her face.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "It's me."
Judy's smile was even brighter. More than an hour ago, her nose was not a nose and her face was not a face, with her nostrils pointing to the sky proudly.
"Mary told me about you a long time ago, but I don't care much about politics. But this is the first time I've met someone like you, General Lu, and I suddenly remembered what Mary said. I just called her and confirmed your identity with her."
Lu Ming smiled: "Oh, you are Mary's good friend."
Girls like Mary Neptune are often divided into groups by their own standards, and I'm afraid Judy is the same.
Of course, this is their own sexual concept. I will not be hypocritical and look down on them, because if men and women are truly equal, there is no essential difference between me and them.
Moreover, he could not tolerate his woman being unfaithful to him. In a way, he was even worse than the two of them.
Thinking randomly, Lu Ming said, "Mary has been promoted to lieutenant colonel now? She left the military academy and returned to the Navy Headquarters, right?"
"Yes!" Judy looked at the wire fence between them and said, "General Lu, come to my office and I'll apologize to you!" She gestured and shouted, "Come and open the door." She pointed to a small door not far away and said to Lu Ming, "There is a small door there, you can come in."
Lu Ming nodded: "No need to apologize, my friend happens to be serving a sentence here, I want to hear about her situation."
Well, I originally wanted to say hello here and take better care of Gao Wangshi, at least, to prevent her from being bullied in there.
…
In the small administrative building on the second floor, Lu Ming followed Judy to her office on the second floor.
"General Lu, Gao Wangling is your friend, right? She's not in good health, why don't you help her get medical parole?"
As soon as Lu Ming sat down, Judy attentively brought him a cup of coffee and asked with a smile.
Lu Ming glanced at her, wondering whether what she said about "poor health" was true or if there was something else behind her words, trying to create conditions for himself.
"Anyway, at the beginning of next year, she will have completed two years of her sentence and will have one-third left. She can apply for parole, right?" Lu Ming asked.
Judy nodded. "Of course, she has always behaved well and should be able to be granted parole, but it still depends on the review results of the Parole Board."
Lu Ming picked up the teacup and took a sip slowly, sighing inwardly. In fact, even if it was the legal system in Donghai, it wouldn't matter. With his current status and resources, it wouldn't be difficult to get Gao Wang out on medical parole.
Of course, since I am at the top level, it might be a little better than some systems where people can do whatever they want with just a little power.
After all, ordinary people cannot feel their own privileges. What ordinary people come into contact with are the grassroots officials in power. Such group corruption is a deep pain that ordinary citizens may encounter.
Moreover, if he was still a pure Donghai politician, his political opponents, such as those who sent Gao Wangling in, would take the opportunity to expose all kinds of shady dealings.
Or maybe some reporter has been keeping an eye on this matter and is determined to get to the bottom of it.
You will be in trouble.
But unfortunately, he is a warlord outside the East China Sea and has a special status in the East China Sea, so he is not afraid of these things.
If that's the case, people like Judy will be unlucky.
"Let's wait until the parole period." Lu Ming swirled the coffee in the cup, "But during this time, I'll ask you to take good care of her." After thinking for a while, "Please arrange for her to go to Ren Ai Hospital for a comprehensive physical examination tomorrow. If her physical condition is really bad, follow the procedure."
"Okay, I understand!" Judy smiled slightly, and her tall body, which felt oppressive sitting on the sofa, moved closer to Lu Ming and chuckled, "General Lu, have you made any plans for dinner?" She placed her hand carefully on Lu Ming's thigh, and her fingers slowly drew circles.
Lu Ming was helpless. This guy probably had never had the Oriental Dictator's deluxe meal and wanted to try something new. It would also be something she could brag about in their small circle in the future.
He took out his checkbook, wrote a check for 10,000 yuan and handed it over, "I don't have time, go eat by yourself! Have something delicious, it's my treat."
Judy stared at the check in a daze, her anus contracted and her breathing quickened.
Lu Ming stood up and walked out.
She was not asked to do anything beyond her authority. This check represented the serious inequality in their status.
Ten thousand yuan can easily crush your personality and self-esteem. You don't deserve what you think.
Besides, I’m afraid you won’t dare to take it, and you will have to return it later.