In Ferman, the capital of Antigua, riots suddenly broke out, attacking the area where Central Asians gather.
Fortunately, the Central Continental armed forces were very powerful and they held out until Governor Chachai issued repeated orders before they reluctantly entered the city to suppress the rebellion.
Lu Ming became busier and busier.
If there are people who know both the "Mayor Li" in Antigua and the Lu representative in Japan and record their activity times, they will find that the "Mayor Li" in Antigua is very shy and never appears in public for more than an hour a day.
And now, "Mayor Li" has a very active afternoon.
Mayor Lee of Biyun City also has the honorary title of Phraya. It seems that his fiancé Zhang, who was originally engaged to Phraya Jr., passed away, so Mayor Lee married Phraya Jr., and his wife transferred the title of Phraya to her husband.
Recently, "Lee Phraya" has been very busy in the afternoons shuttling through the inland sea area of Antigua.
The "land representatives" in Japan usually appear in the morning.
"Captain Wang", who was fighting bandits in the White Sea, often handled official business at night.
After operating in Antigua for three or four years, Biyun City and more than twenty nearby islands have formed the "Free Island Alliance".
But they are all small islands with a population of tens of thousands, and their total population is no more than a million.
However, under the leadership of the former "Mayor Zhang" and the current "Lee Phraya", these islands have a clear division of labor. In addition, with the investment from the East China Sea and the Principality of Montenegro, a complete production chain of various daily necessities has been formed. The local small commodities with good quality and low price have impacted the market structure that was originally flooded with expensive imported goods that were transported from the core areas of the West over long distances.
The alliance also trades frequently with the minority Yasiya people and has developed a certain friendship with them.
Antigua has also changed a lot in recent years.
Especially in the Kingdom of Sonia, the persecuted Gede people were displaced, and many Gede people fled to Antigua.
This is a forgotten state and a great safe haven for the Gad people.
Subsequently, some Sonyans also came, hoping that Antigua would adopt the same policy as the Kingdom of Sonya.
Confiscate the property of the Gedi people, expel the Gedi people or put them all into concentration camps.
As a result, they also noticed the economic share of the Central Asians here.
In the city of Ferman, it is hard to say that there was no trace of Sonya in the riots in which thugs attacked the people of Middle-earth.
…
New Emerald Island is located in the center of Antigua's exotic ocean, two or three hundred kilometers away from Holman Island, the southernmost island of the "Free Island Alliance". It is a private island owned by "Lee Phraya" and is now the largest small commodity distribution center in Antigua.
Moreover, trade in large commodities from the East China Sea and Montenegro is also very popular here.
There are even various black market transactions, including guns, opium, etc.
Originally there were only a few thousand residents on Emerald Island, but now it has gradually become a free trade city-state with a population of over 100,000.
Most of the merchants from all over the country come here to wholesale small commodities produced by the "Free Island Alliance" and sell them back to their own islands.
There are also people who come here as middlemen to trade large commodities from the East China Sea and Montenegro, such as electrical appliances, namely televisions, air conditioners, etc. Of course, the ones with the largest sales are radios, electric fans, etc.
Relatively speaking, Donghai products are of better quality, but are expensive and are considered luxury goods. Montenegro products are of lower quality but relatively cheap.
Trading markets of various categories are booming.
At this time, Lu Ming was in a earthen building near the New Emerald Island Daily Necessities Trading Market.
In fact, although this is said to be a prosperous trading city-state, there are actually no traces of modern architecture. It is just earthen buildings, wooden houses and the like. It is as messy as if you have returned to the Middle Ages.
Audrey, Margaret, Britney and Kate were all on the second floor of the earthen building with Lu Ming.
Nowadays, the four ladies are doing their best and are in charge of their own affairs. For example, Mrs. Britney is mainly responsible for the internal affairs of Biyun Island.
New Emerald Isle, Audrey and Kate are both members of the Executive Committee of the City-State Free Trade Association.
Margaret is the deputy secretary-general of the Secretariat of the Biyun Free Island Alliance.
In Lu Ming's opinion, it doesn't matter whether they have talent or not. The main thing is that they can serve as his spies. Moreover, compared with the locals, they have all received extremely good education. At the very least, it should be no problem for them to give a passing score for the assigned work.
In fact, they do have other options now.
For example, Lady Audrey, who had the most profound background, was exiled to Shengjing because her family was convicted.
But after the establishment of the Kingdom of Sonia, her family has been re-employed. Lady Audrey's adoptive father, who is actually her uncle, has been appointed as the Minister of Works of the Kingdom of Sonia.
They were no longer under house arrest, so if Audrey wanted to escape to Sonia, it would be easy.
But the four of them seemed to be living a happy life and had no intention of leaving.
In front of herself, she was not so scared anymore. The four of them exchanged their experiences in makeup. The high-end cosmetics from the Donghai Yanhuang Group were very popular among them nowadays. Some of them also discussed taking a helicopter to the beach of the resort island of Xiaolu Island to sunbathe in a few days.
The scenery there is particularly beautiful, and there is Lu Ming's private beach, which is like their own home to them.
Four women are performing a drama, chattering away, but in fact they are still living the extravagant lifestyle of the aristocrats in the past, with a condescending mentality and still looking down on the lower classes.
It’s just that the things they enjoy nowadays are different, more open and modern. Unlike before, they usually only paid attention to food, clothing, and daily necessities, or how to decorate grand banquets magnificently and attract celebrities to attend.
They are indeed much richer now than they were in Shengjing. When it comes to spending, everyone's checkbook has no limit. In fact, there is a limit, but they have never spent up to the limit.
The four of them were chattering lively, and Lu Ming, standing beside them, seemed to be dispensable. He was drinking tea, feeling a little depressed.
It’s still better than before when a mouse sees a cat.
Moreover, their relationship seems to be very strange.
"Your Highness, the time is up!" Audrey reminded.
Lu Ming coughed and stood up, Audrey and Kate followed him. Before leaving, Lu Ming turned around and saw Margaret and Britney sitting together intimately, a red-haired beauty and a blonde beauty, whispering to each other, as if their noses were touching each other intimately.
Lu Ming shuddered and walked out quickly. Isn’t this relationship strange
…
Meeting of the Executive Committee of the City-State Free Trade Association.
The venue was in a mess, with a simple conference table made of wooden boards, large mugs of beer, and a bunch of unkempt Mitai men talking loudly. There were women, but they were also sitting on stools and behaving rudely.
It's like going back to the Middle Ages.
In fact, those who attended the meeting, as members of the Executive Committee of the Emerald City-State Free Trade Association, are naturally wealthy and capable businessmen.
At least in the inland sea area, they are all big businessmen with great influence in the local area, and many of them have their own armed forces.
The Emerald City's security forces were also funded by all the members of the Executive Committee. Moreover, this force is very powerful, with fast ships and armed helicopters. After all, it must be able to deal with all kinds of pirates. These pirates might be disguised as some big drug lords or armed forces of some tribal islands.
After Mrs. Audrey and Mrs. Kate came in, the meeting room immediately became quiet and they all sat down properly.
The island where the Free Trade City is located was previously owned by Mayor Zhang, whom they had never seen. It was also the first time they met the current owner, Lee Phraya, who came today.
Because the island owner actually has a land lease relationship with the association, the city-state is managed by the executive committee, and the most powerful among them are these two noble and extremely beautiful Western ladies.
"I came to meet you all because things have been a bit stuck recently." Lu Ming went straight to the point. "As everyone knows, the free trade license of Emerald City-State comes from Ferman and is issued by Governor Chachai Zonglavimon. But recently the tax department has set its sights on this place and has taken it to court, asking the court to rule that this license violates state law. I talked to them and if you want to reconcile with the tax department, the committee needs to join a Sonya businessman, and you need to elect him as vice chairman."
The committee members were all stunned.
It is true that Lee Phraya is the owner of the island, but he does not hold any position in the Free Trade Association. His relationship with the association is just that of landlord and tenant. Who would have thought that the free trade license was obtained by Lee Phraya
The members of the Free Trade Association are thousands of businessmen, large and small, who regularly come here to do business.
In fact, as long as you have been to the city-state three times and have transaction records, you can apply to become a member of the association.
There will be an audit every year thereafter. If there is no transaction record in the current year, the member will enter a probation period. If there is still no transaction record in the second year, the member will enter a freezing period and will no longer need to pay membership fees, but will not be removed from the list. If the member trades again, he or she will still be treated as an association member.
By casting such a wide net, some of the islands' middle traders may change their careers, but they are still members of the association and are proud of it.
Because if you encounter difficulties, as long as you have reason, the association will really help you solve them.
In the inland sea area of Antigua, more than 80% of the merchants engaged in circulation trade are members of this association. It is also a considerable force, but few people pay attention to this.
The Executive Committee consists of fifteen members, representing all free traders in the Association.
Mrs. Audrey was elected as the president from the establishment of the executive committee, while Kate is the secretary general of the association.
"Humph, they are blackmailing us!" The speaker was a big, muscular guy from Mitai named Zaren.
A strange phenomenon in the Antigua and Barbuda region is that many successful traders are strong men.
It is true that the security in the inland sea is in chaos and no one knows where the pirates come from. They are usually tribal armed forces, drug dealers and other armed forces. If they cover their faces, they are pirates.
To be a trader in the inland sea, you first need to be able to protect yourself.
Otherwise, they might be killed by sailors, their cargo might be stolen, or they might just disappear, and you wouldn’t even know where to report the crime.
Lu Ming looked at Madam Audrey, "Mr. Chairman, what do you think?"
Mrs. Audrey was stunned. She was wearing a gorgeous dress and was slowly enjoying a luxury product called Guilinggao produced by Yanhuang in the East China Sea that could maintain fair and tender skin. It looked like she was tasting some jelly. Her mind was not here and she was taking the opportunity of having tea to nourish herself.
With that great and terrifying man sitting next to him, there was no need for him to participate in this meeting at all.
"Sonia Merchant? What's the name of the committee member nominated by Feldman?" Audrey put down her "tea" helplessly. "We can investigate his background and see if he is someone who can be easily manipulated. If we can manipulate him, we don't have to go against Feldman, right?" She looked at Lu Ming. "Or do you think it's time to turn the cards with them and control Feldman? No one here can clearly understand your long-term layout, and no one can make wise decisions for you."
The committee members naturally didn't understand the real meaning of the following words, but they were all surprised. It turned out that Chairman Audrey also complimented others? Even though the other party was a local landlord and the real owner of the city-state's land.
But this noble, elegant, beautiful and sexy Western aristocratic lady has a mysterious background, endless money and an extravagant life.
Although she and Mrs. Kate spent most of their time eating, drinking and having fun, free trade is freedom in itself. If there is too much control, trade will die.
They didn't want to pay any attention to the natives we were talking about. Perhaps in their eyes, there was no difference between us and chimpanzees.
But it must be said that such Western aristocratic ladies, with their noble and awe-inspiring manner, spotlessly clean, extravagant attitude towards life, and lazy and glamorous style, are really charming. The committee meetings have always been something people look forward to.
Unexpectedly, she also knows how to compliment others.
The committee members looked at this "Lee Phraya" and the importance of the other party in their hearts was different.
After hearing Mrs. Audrey's answer, Lu Ming was quite satisfied and he was not a complete fool.
In fact, I also understand that although the four of them don't seem to be as scared of me as before, their views on me are also different from before.
When I first captured them, they thought they had become my daughters.
But now, he realized that he had saved the lives of four of them during the Shengjing riot, and he had no feelings towards them. He provided them with a more luxurious and comfortable life than before, with more freedom, and gave them great power.
He had gone from being an unknown little king of the Black Mountain Special Zone in their eyes to now dominating the Northern Territory and even rubbing the Kingdom of Japan at will.
I have read the detailed records written by Qing'e who was monitoring them. When they talked about themselves in private, they used a very complimentary word in Western languages, which almost means "great" in Central Asian language. They believed that even from a historical perspective, among the historical figures in the past thousand years recorded in history books, there were very few men as powerful and legendary as themselves.
They may gradually enjoy the life under their wings now.
Therefore, even Audrey was unwilling to escape and seek refuge with her uncle.
After all, you will be living under someone else's roof, and might even be married to an unknown man through a political marriage. How can you be as comfortable and free as you are now
As for their own mysteries, such as Governor Zhang faking his own death and turning himself into another person, although they were curious, they also knew that this topic was very dangerous, so they rarely mentioned it even in private conversations.
These thoughts flashed through his mind, and Lu Ming nodded and said, "Well, let's do as you say. We will first conduct a detailed investigation of the candidates they are going to nominate."
Madam Audrey nodded slightly, "Okay, I'll make arrangements after the meeting."
Lu Ming was stunned for a moment, then smiled inwardly. Apparently, they also had their own personal networks and people at the grassroots level who could handle various tasks.
However, I certainly won't rely on their information network, but it's good to listen to both sides.
We chatted for a while, mainly about some things about trade, suggestions for the expansion of the city-state, etc.
The committee members gradually developed admiration for Li Phraya.
Their knowledge is so advanced that a random sentence can make them suddenly enlightened.
Gradually it was time to adjourn the meeting.
Looking at these committee members, Lu Ming suddenly said: "I have been thinking recently, as a Phraya of this generation, what can I do for Antigua? This place is too poor and too chaotic. What can I do to bring some changes here?"
Phraya, similar to the Grand Duke of Antigua, was once the local ruler of the Mithai people, but now it is just an honorary title. Before Lu Ming got the title, the Phraya family was so poor that they could barely make ends meet.
After hearing Lu Ming's words, the committee members immediately quieted down. No matter how rough they looked, those who could sit at this table were all extremely smart people.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Everyone can help me think about it. Let's stop here today."