New Choices

Nagaril has become a huge treasure in the eyes of many, especially within the Progressive Party.

From the President down to the ordinary Progressive Party member, everyone is well aware that Nagaril has everything the Federal desperately needs; otherwise, the Federal wouldn't have gone to such lengths for a Preton pirate force.

So what exactly are the benefits involved? Some people know, and these people are often the planners of the scheme. They must be clear about the benefits they will gain from doing this before they will act.

However, others were less clear-headed; they simply followed the trend instinctively.

Just like the mayor of Sabine City, Landon, who led him into the Progressive Party and helped him a lot during his rise, spoke to him privately, suggesting that if there was an opportunity, he should talk to Lin Qi to see if he could obtain some important political resources for Mayor Landon.

Once you reach the level of mayor of Sabine City, the next step to become governor or a member of Congress is not about personal ability; in fact, personal ability has become irrelevant.

The important thing is how many people are willing to help you.

This is important because in Federal politics, every politician who wants to climb the ladder knows the formula: money equals upward mobility.

Those who hold money, capitalists, can invest in building factories to revitalize the local economy, provide jobs, and fill people's pockets with money.

Capitalists can enrich the variety of goods on the market, allowing more goods to enter ordinary people's homes and improving people's happiness index.

They can bring even more: advancements in healthcare, education, industry, and even technology, all of which are inseparable from money and those who possess it.

If the mayor can gain something from this Nagaril incident, even a small one, it will be a huge step forward for him.

He doesn't aspire to such an important position as governor, but surely becoming a member of Congress shouldn't be a problem for him?

With his good relationships with some businesses and his close personal connections with people like Lin Qi, committees that have ties to capitalists would likely be interested in recruiting him, which gives him the qualifications to become a member of Congress.

Congress is composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and members of Congress come from these two places, but there are differences between Congress and its members.

For example, the difference in status between a member of parliament who holds positions on multiple parliamentary committees and a member of parliament who holds no positions is significant.

According to the Federal charter and Federal laws, Congress can have a maximum of twenty-four committees, eight of which are permanent, meaning they are always in place. These include the Military Committee, the Development Coordination Committee, and the Appropriations Committee.

Of these eight Standing Committee, six belong to the Senate and two to the House of Representatives.

Next, the Senate and the House of Representatives will each form eight non-departmental committees to handle the work of the country.

Committees like the "Medical Reform Committee" may be established or dissolved as proposals or issues pushed by the president change. However, in general, the Senate always controls the most and most critical committees, while the Member of the House of Representatives, does not give them many opportunities.

But whether it's the Senate or the House of Representatives, Standing Committee or a special committee, they all need money! Money is a good thing!

If his nephew Mark can obtain substantial funds through the development of Nagaril, and if he can secure the assistance of some capitalists by taking care of some large local businesses—they will inevitably want to have a representative in Congress, even if that representative is useless and can only pass on messages to them.

But Congress is Congress after all, and members of Congress are members of Congress after all. Their credentials are more effective than those of a mayor, and sometimes even more effective than those of a governor.

That was the purpose of his meeting with Lin Qi: to see if he had a chance, and if there was a chance in Sabine City.

Lin Qi pondered for a moment. He also needed someone to help him. Any successful businessman or capitalist needs to have political advocates to express their views. This is especially important.

He once heard a joke: a group of politicians sat together discussing who should go to the front lines to die. They discussed it all night but came to no conclusion. Everyone had their reasons for not going, and no one could convince anyone else.

The argument and silence continued until midnight. Many people were exhausted, but they had to send people to the front lines to die the next day, so they had to reach a conclusion at this time.

At this point, an Old Gentleman, unable to hold it in any longer and needing to relieve himself, suggested pausing the discussion to go to the restroom, and everyone naturally agreed.

After the Old Gentleman left, someone suddenly suggested, "Why don't we let this Old Gentleman represent us?" His reason was perfect: the Old Gentleman was "highly respected."

The problem that had been arguing all night was resolved in an instant. Everyone voted in favor, and as soon as the Old Gentleman returned, they immediately told Old Gentleman the "fair and just" voting results.

This story may not be very funny, but it is worth pondering.

Sometimes when we face huge troubles, what we need is not someone who can turn things around for us, but someone who can say "no" to us.

There is a huge difference between having it and not having it; no one cares about the opinions of those who have lost their voice.

Lin Qi also needs his own political representatives. The politicians who have already achieved success have a long line of people behind them, and Lin Qi's business cannot expand to Bu Peien in the short term. Perhaps investing in the mayor is a good choice.

After a brief silence, he offered some of his own opinions.

"We need to abandon some of our current views and opinions..." Lin Qi said frankly, "We don't actually have any advantages that we can boast about. Light industry and processing industry, as long as there is investment, any region can quickly form an industrial chain for these things."

"Supply chain, do you understand what that means?"

The mayor nodded; the word wasn't actually that difficult to understand.

"What we have, others also have, and may even have better ones, so we should give up on industries where we cannot have an advantage and look for new directions for development."

"Of course, the local things will not change, but we will do something different in Nagaril."

At this point, Lin Qi asked a question, "What are your thoughts on the use of human resources?"

This is not an easy question to answer, and it immediately reminded the mayor of several periods of great social development in the history of the Federal, when large numbers of cheap foreign laborers were sent to work in the Federal by various Criminal Organization.

Their wages are a fraction of, or even a dozen times, of Federal, those of Federal workers, but their working hours and workload are several times greater.

These people were consumed like expendable resources in the desert and wilderness, their corpses laying the foundation for the country's most important mode of transportation and constructing all sorts of astonishing rivers and buildings.

However, the vast majority of them were deported after the project was completed because the Federal no longer needed them.

This is a history that no one in the Federal wants to recall. It's not that people are filled with guilt and remorse, or that they can't face that history; it's simply that they don't want their expensive clothes to get a little dust on them.

Even history books have overlooked this part. If you only read history books, historians hundreds of years from now or even longer may be full of confusion about this period of history, wondering how those railways and canals came about.

Perhaps some charlatan will attribute these to miracles, and they will ultimately become unsolved mysteries in history.

People still can't completely forget it. The mayor quickly realized what Lin Qi meant. "You want to do human trafficking?" he said, and couldn't help but add, "Human trafficking is now banned internationally. If we do this, we will be condemned. Not only you and me, but the Federal will be implicated."

Lin Qi shook his head. "No, it's a labor export business. We organize Nagaril's surplus labor force to work abroad and earn foreign exchange. During this time, I've observed many places in Nagaril, and I have a very clear idea."

"Most Nagaril People' daily routine consists of getting up, waiting for food, and then waiting to go to sleep."

"You will see a lot of Nagaril People lying on the roadside, doing nothing all day, just lying there."

"On the one hand, women in Nagaril have a low status, and men will leave the work to the women, which may sound a bit ridiculous."

"On the other hand, apart from temporary work, they find it difficult to find stable, paid jobs, so they prefer to lie still and not consume the energy stored in their bodies rather than move around."

"This is money!"

"Gefra's construction in Li Ya has gradually begun. Do you know how much the hourly wage is there?"

The mayor's attention was quickly drawn back to this question, and he instinctively asked, "How much?"

"Sixty-seven minutes per hour, Gepu!"

The Gepu is the currency of the Gefra, but nowadays people only use the official term Gepu for small denominations. When dealing with large denominations, they prefer to refer to the currency as "Gold Emperor (100 peso)," "Silver Emperor (50 peso)," "Prince (20 peso)," or "Minister (10 peso)."

Lin Qi's answer made the mayor raise an eyebrow slightly; the price exceeded his expectations.

Do not apply systems or regulations to reality, nor apply them to real-world situations. Any resemblance to actual events is purely coincidental.