On Biyun Island, also known as Greenforna Island, Gao Youchang, the original owner of the rubber plantation, built a four-story apartment building for the Zhongzhou employees and their families to live in. It was originally just a stopgap measure, but gradually, not only the security personnel, but also the Zhongzhou management he hired moved in with their families, because this apartment building was built on the shore of the blue lake, with beautiful scenery, sea view rooms, and large rooms, which was better than the environment they lived in the city of Feldman.
Most of Antigua is a lake, but its area is so vast, more than one million square kilometers, that it looks more like an inland sea. However, it is indeed fresh water, and its area is huge and unfathomable. Therefore, under the sun, it appears as blue as the ocean.
Lu Ming is now enjoying the beautiful scenery of the sea and lake in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass windows on the fourth floor of the apartment building.
The four-story apartment building is a long strip structure. Each floor has six suites of about 200 square meters, each with four bedrooms and two living rooms.
The same is true for the room Lu Ming is in now, which is also the suite that Gao Youchang reserved for him.
Fifteen people from Central Asia live on the second to fourth floors of the apartment building, including rubber plantation managers and technicians.
There are more than 20 security guards living on the first floor. Those with families live with other families, and singles live with other singles.
A 200-square-meter suite with four bedrooms and two living rooms is home to four families. It may seem a bit crowded, but for these Zhongzhou security personnel, it is already an excellent living condition.
Of course, these security guards who sell their labor and even risk their lives belong to the lower class among the Central Asians in Antigua, but compared to most Mitai people, they are the upper class.
Some security guards married pretty Mitai girls.
Many of the handsome men and beautiful women of the Mitai people on the streets of Feldman are actually mixed-race, and their fathers must have Western or Central Asian ancestry.
The Mitai people are pure-blooded indigenous people with dark skin and flat noses, but after integrating with other ethnic groups, the chances of having beautiful descendants have greatly increased.
Of course, most of the mixed-race people live in big cities like Feldman. Many Mitai people in big cities have abandoned their traditions and have a complex of worshipping Westerners and Middle-Africans. The tribes on the islands in the sea and lakes are more closed and conservative.
The security guards in the rubber plantation who married beautiful Mitai girls definitely have mixed-race genes.
In fact, there were not so many security guards originally. It was after the military coup and the attack on Chinatown that Gao Youchang temporarily hired more security personnel.
Lu Ming retained all positions, from management personnel, technicians to security personnel.
Only Gao Youchang's manager was replaced. Of course, Gao Youchang's manager took the initiative to submit his resignation letter after the rubber plantation changed hands. He was also preparing to leave Feldman and live in the Central Continental settlement.
The new rubber plantation manager hired by Lu Ming is called Gao Taihe, who was introduced by Chen Huanxing as a new elite in the rubber plantation management industry.
Gao Taihe is now standing next to Lu Ming. He is a typical successful professional manager in his forties, dressed in a suit and looking elegant. He is a little worried because he proposed that the new employer solve the recent troubles in the rubber plantation through the relationship of Chen Huanxing or the inspection team, but the new employer disagreed.
"Boss, don't underestimate Gegelun. The Mitai people have different traditions from us. Although Gegelun is a young man, I have inquired and found out that he is the successor chosen by an elder of the Sandy tribe and has a very high status."
Lu Ming listened and nodded, "I understand."
The largest island away from Biyun Island is called Sanda Island, where the Sanda tribe consisting of tens of thousands of Mitai people lives.
The island nominally has an elected mayor, but has always been controlled by several tribal elders.
A few days ago, a young man named Gegelun from the tribe brought a dozen armed men to the island and demanded that the workers on the rubber plantation pay taxes to Suno Town.
In fact, the rubber plantations on Biyun Island pay taxes directly to the state, but the administrative divisions are rather vague.
This place was indeed once managed by the Suno tribe, but that was a hundred years ago. At that time, there were very few residents on the island. It was only after Biyun Island was developed into a rubber production area and industry started that the population gradually increased.
What Gegelun used was the administrative division chart from a hundred years ago, but it did not require the rubber plantation to pay taxes. Instead, it said that there was no problem for the rubber plantation to pay taxes to the state of Antigua. As for the ownership of Biyun Island, our Sandano tribe also recognizes your sales contract.
However, the Mitai people living on this island need to pay one yuan per person as "work fee" every month to the Sunano tribe.
In fact, it is similar to a head tax, and it is said that it is levied on the Mitai families on Biyun Island. However, these Mitai families, even if the husband and wife are both middle-aged laborers, on average, the monthly salary they get from the rubber plantation is only four or five yuan, or about fifty yuan a year. Because there is still a rubber closing period, there is no work and they have no salary.
Mitai workers are so cheap, even cheaper than the Black Mountain miners before Lu Ming went there.
Therefore, if a family of four consists of a couple and two children, they have to pay a per capita tax of 4 yuan per month, and almost all the money earned from the rubber plantation has to be handed over.
Therefore, if the rubber plantation wants to maintain these workers, it can only bear part of the tax burden for them. However, if it wants these workers to stay united, it may have to bear the entire tax burden. The more than 20,000 Mitai people on the island almost all live around the rubber plantation. Even if they do not work in the rubber plantation, running shops, street vendors, service industries, etc. are also an essential part of maintaining the island's life chain and cannot be allowed to leave.
Therefore, if we want to maintain the status quo, the tax burden of more than 20,000 yuan this month should naturally be paid by the rubber plantation owner.
Of course, Gegelun's request is a bit too high, and it is obvious that taxes and fees can be negotiated.
"Where are our security personnel and machine guns?" Lu Ming suddenly asked Gao Taihe with a smile.
It was obvious that Gao Youchang did not trust any Mitai people, so he believed that the security team of more than 20 people was his real reliance for protecting the rubber plantation. Even after the military coup in Feldman, Gao Youchang used some connections to buy a light machine gun and equip the security team with it. As for rifles, everyone had one.
Gao Taihe looked at Lu Ming suspiciously. "In a tribe like Sandeye, any man can carry a gun and go to the battlefield. And traditionally, when there is a conflict between these tribes and most of the men have died, women and children will also go to the battlefield."
Lu Ming smiled. What Gao Taihe meant was that the security team consisted of only twenty or so people, while the other party had a tribe of tens of thousands of people, all of whom were soldiers. Relying on force was not even like hitting a rock with an egg, but was purely a case of having a problem with their brains.
"How many guns does the Sandye tribe have? Are there any cannons or something like that?" Lu Ming asked with a smile.
Gao Taihe shook his head, "I don't know about that. I heard that they have a lot of homemade guns and bird guns. Add them together, there must be two or three thousand firearms?" He looked at Lu Ming helplessly, "Boss, you don't really want to have an armed conflict with them, do you?"
Lu Ming smiled and said, "No."
Glancing at Britney who was standing not far away, Lu Ming waved to her and said to Gao Taihe with a smile, "Come, let me introduce you to Mrs. Britney. From now on, you will report to her on the rubber plantation business by telegram."
Of course, he would not personally take care of a small business like the rubber plantation. These ladies were idle anyway, so he might as well find something for them to do. He couldn't just keep idlers around. Mrs. Britney had studied accounting and was working with Gao Taihe to audit his accounts.
Moreover, although rubber is a strategic material, a rubber plantation of more than 400,000 acres can be said to be of considerable scale and can fully meet the current needs of Montenegro. However, there are many rubber producing areas within the empire, and it is not easy to monopolize it, so there is no need to spend too much effort on it.
Britney took two steps forward and said, "Hello, Assistant Manager Gao!" Facing Gao Taihe, she turned into the graceful and elegant lady again.
Gao Taihe bowed slightly, "Mrs. Britney, please give me more advice in the future."
The new boss is extremely powerful. This charming and knowledgeable Western noblewoman seems to have become the new boss's slave somehow. The new boss is so bold and presumptuous that he is not comparable to ordinary people.
I don't know why Mrs. Britney didn't report it. According to the law, except for the South Asian barbarians, other ethnic groups are not allowed to own slaves.
However, the world has been in chaos recently and many things are hard to say. I heard that the newly independent Kingdom of Sofia invaded the state of the Gede people and carried out a bloody massacre.
The Gaides are also a Western ethnic group, but they are sworn enemies of the Sofians. The states where they are located were originally poor areas, but now have become wealthy states with extremely developed commerce, so they are even more hostile to the Sofians. The Gaides like to engage in business and operate capital, and are also regarded as the source of evil by the Sofians.
Thinking of this, Gao Taihe shook his head. In these troubled times, what else is there to say
He could not help but glance at the mature and charming Western lady in the dark red puffy skirt. Such a beautiful and noble lady became a slave. Needless to say, she must be violated in various ways. She could only endure it silently and swallow her tears.
Thinking of the wonderfulness of it, Gao Taihe felt warm in his heart and quickly turned his eyes away, not daring to think about it anymore.
Just then, the beautiful Western woman was bowing to her new boss. She lifted up her huge skirt, revealing her silver high heels and white silk feet.
Gao Taihe's heart was beating even more, and he smiled bitterly. What was going on? How did he become so obsessed? However, these were really not what he could think of. Just look at Mrs. Britney's attitude towards him, and you will know. She was still so condescending and looked down on him.
However, it is really a pleasure to think about working with her. By taking care of the rubber plantation, I am also helping her to curry favor with her new employer. I hope I can really help her and make her see myself in her eyes and no longer completely ignore her and regard her as a dead object. That would be a great spiritual enjoyment.