The rubber forest in the distance is lush and green, but the residential town nearby is bustling.
The traditional Mitai settlement consists of stilt houses. Mitai people are used to walking barefoot, climbing trees and diving, as if it is an innate ability. Regardless of gender, most of them wear linen shirts and shorts, which are gray in color and have a few holes. It doesn't matter on this hot island, and the clothes don't look tattered. However, almost every Mitai family has beautiful silk clothes, which are mostly produced by the Middle Continent textile factory in Feldman. They are usually heirlooms passed down from generation to generation and are only worn during grand festivals.
In the only tavern in the settlement, Lu Ming sat cross-legged with his legs crossed. On the table were grilled meat, fried fish, etc., with a lot of spices, which is also the dietary feature of the Mitai people. There were also fishermen on the island who made a living by fishing, but since the rubber plantation, the fish caught by the fishermen have been sold. In the past, they just ate the fish themselves, because when it comes to selling fish, the thing that most parts of Antigua are not short of is various kinds of fish meat, which can only be sold to the peninsula. The fishermen on the main island are often bullied by the fishermen on Suno Island. After all, the distance is only a few dozen kilometers, and this is also one of the traditional fishing grounds of the fishermen on Suno Island.
Opposite the table, there were a few Mitai men half squatting and half sitting. At the other tables, there were also thirty or forty Mitai men sitting around. They were all small foremen in the rubber plantation, responsible for gathering the workers to work, and their wages were also distributed through them.
Gao Youchang and the Zhongzhou managers did not like dealing with too many Mitai people, so they managed all the Mitai workers through these forty-something foremen.
The entire rubber plantation is divided into more than 40 areas, with each area of about 10,000 acres being responsible for each area. Each area is responsible for the annual output and maintenance of the rubber trees. These 40 areas also compete with each other and have a corresponding reward and punishment mechanism.
In front of Lu Ming, the new owner of the rubber plantation, these Mitai men were very reserved. Of course, some of them rolled their eyes around, and it was obvious at first glance that they were not good people, at least, they were the kind with many evil intentions.
There are almost no pubs here that people from Zhongzhou come to. In the apartment building called "Manager's Building" by the Mitai people, the people from Zhongzhou have their own cafeteria.
In fact, Mitai cuisine contains a lot of spices, which are not suitable for the appetite of Zhongzhou people. Of course, Mitai people cannot eat these kinds of foods with a lot of spices on a normal day.
Moreover, all the Mitai people in this tavern walked around barefoot, and the floor we were sitting on had been stepped on by countless dirty feet of Mitai people. From the perspective of the Central Plains tradition, it would be impossible for people to eat this kind of meal.
Now Lu Ming and Britney and Gao Taihe, who were sitting on his left and right, all had brand new cushions under them. They had greeted each other before coming, and the floor had been washed countless times.
The five Mitai men sitting opposite Lu Ming were the foremen of the five rubber plantation areas with the best comprehensive evaluation results last year.
The other foremen could only envy him now. When they looked over, their eyes were filled with envy, jealousy, etc.
"Your five production teams are doing the best. What are your secrets?" Lu Ming asked with a smile.
Gao Taihe was translating. Some of these Mitai foremen could understand Zhongzhou dialect, but most of them could not and needed translation.
The foremen looked at each other, but no one said anything.
Lu Ming smiled, "Okay, let's talk about what everyone is most concerned about. I know that you have been worried about paying taxes to Suno Island recently. Don't worry about this matter. I will handle it and it will not affect your lives."
Gao Taihe raised his voice slightly, not only speaking to the five foremen, but also looking around the room, telling all the foremen the good news.
Immediately, the foremen all breathed a sigh of relief. Some of them started talking among themselves, while others thanked the boss loudly.
However, the five foremen sitting opposite Lu Ming didn't dare to speak much because they were sitting at the same table with the new boss, but they all had happy expressions on their faces.
Lu Ming smiled again and said, "In addition, I plan to apply to the state legislature. The population of our Biyun Island is nearly 30,000, which is enough to form a new administrative region. I will apply to establish a city on Biyun Island. Of course, I will pay for the expenses of the court, sheriff, municipal commissioners, etc. out of my own pocket, and will not add any extra burden to the residents of our island."
A small island with a population of 20,000 to 30,000 people can itself be considered a tribal settlement. According to Antigua's local laws, it is entirely possible to establish an autonomous town.
However, Gao Youchang would definitely not have thought about this in the past, and was even less willing to do these things. The Central Asians in Antigua have always stayed away from politics and would find it very dangerous.
Under this model, if nothing unexpected happens, the administrative structure of the entire island will be decided by Lu Ming, the "island owner" who owns the entire island's land and actually controls the entire island's economic life.
If you dare not vote for the “island owner” in elections, you might lose your job.
It is similar to the islands where tribes live, but on those islands, big families control everything, or the elders of one big family or several big families hold joint meetings.
The situation is more complicated on large islands with a population of over one million. They may have so-called democratically elected governments, but they are often in a mess because of tribal conflicts under their rule. Some are seriously corrupt, and assassinations occur from time to time.
The political form of the autonomous island of Antigua is actually so deformed.
Lu Ming's words stunned Gao Taihe who was standing beside him. After a moment of silence, he translated it.
These Mitai foremen did not react much, they just listened humbly. What the new boss said was far away from their lives. No matter what the new boss wanted to do, they had no right to express their opinions as long as it did not affect their lives.
…
In fact, in Antigua, as long as you are willing to spend money, you can get things done efficiently.
In a week, Lu Ming spent half a week in Montenegro and half a week in the East China Sea respectively. When he returned to Antigua, the proposal to establish a city on Biyun Island had been approved by the Antigua State Assembly.
And for Lu Ming, it can be said that he is doing great things with little money.
They bribed five congressmen to propose a joint bill, and it was up to them to decide whether it would pass or not.
The middleman only had contact with these five congressmen and gave away a total of 50,000 yuan.
This is also because this matter did not violate any regulations in the first place. Biyun Island's application is reasonable according to the state's laws and the island's autonomous tradition.
The day after Lu Ming returned to Antigua, the first general election began on Biyun Island, and Zhang Amin was elected as the only municipal commissioner of Greenforna City, also known as Biyun City.
Mayor Chang then appointed the city's auditor and sheriff.
An extremely small and mini city government was born.
Including Mayor Zhang, there are a total of five city government officials and staff.
In fact, it was Mrs. Britney who was appointed by the Comptroller.
The sheriff was the captain of the rubber plantation’s security team, named Liu Dachui.
In the past, if there were crimes in the town, the people would be caught and sent to the security team, but now there is just an official explanation.
Mayor Zhang holds multiple powers including parliamentarian, judge, and tax officer.
In fact, in the past, disputes and illegal acts on the island should have been handled by the island owner Gao Youchang, but he just pushed them to the Mitai people to solve them according to traditional customs. For example, if someone thief was caught, he would hit his hand with a stone, etc.
The city laws subsequently promulgated by Lu Ming, which involved punishments, also incorporated some customs of the Mitai people, such as flogging, which was retained.