Securing It-This Chapter Sponsored by Mu Yi Yang Hua, Bonus Chapter 48
]"Thanks a lot!"
The next morning, in the Emperor's study, Jenia relayed to him the news that he had bought from Lin Qi at a "high price." Upon hearing this, the Emperor immediately expressed his gratitude to Jenia.
"What you're saying is very important to me. It provides a way of thinking that we hadn't considered before. How did you convince Lin Qi to tell you this?"
Jenia sat in an exquisite upholstered chair, legs crossed, holding a lady's Cigarette Holder with a hole in Cigarette Holder. She glanced at the Emperor and shook her head. "Are you sure you want to know?"
The emperor was momentarily stunned by her attitude, but curiosity ultimately prevailed over his reason.
It's normal for people to be curious; even emperors are curious.
The methods conveyed by Jenia from Lin Qi could indeed alleviate some of the problems in the Amelia Region in ways they had not previously considered. This was a unique approach and a valuable solution.
His Your Majesty the Emperor believed that if he were Lin Qi, he certainly wouldn't have revealed this unless he was given sufficient benefits.
Even though Jenia's question, "Are you sure you want to know?" contained a potentially unpleasant suspicion, the Emperor still wanted to ask.
Curiosity played a major role, while another part was the desire to ensure the effective value of this information through its "price".
It's like someone spending a dollar to buy something that looks like a gem. When he tells others that he bought it for a dollar, no one will think that the shiny thing is a gem.
But if he tells others that this thing cost him hundreds, thousands, or even more money, people will immediately associate that sparkly object with a gemstone.
This principle applies not only to gemstones, but to anything that can be valued, whether it has substance or not.
Jenia took a drag of her cigarette. The delicate ladies' Cigarette Holder, adorned with beautiful patterns of gemstone beads, was nestled within her red lips. The cigarette tip glowed briefly, and as she exhaled a puff of smoke, she revealed the price she had paid for obtaining this information.
"I slurped..." She didn't feel embarrassed at all; on the contrary, she looked at the emperor with great interest.
The emperor was taken aback at first, and then his expression turned very unpleasant.
As the most well-known Imperial Family Member, Jenia, his sister, was hailed as the "Imperial Flower" by the people of the Empire and was the dream lover of countless men in the Empire.
She actually went...?!
Lin Qi deserves to die!
However, his anger quickly subsided; he knew he couldn't do anything about Lin Qi.
If Lin Qi were killed by him, a war might be inevitable.
The Federal aggressively expanded its international influence, but their methods differed from the Gefra's approach of expanding influence through war. They were more subtle, less aggressive, and easier for people to accept.
But this doesn't mean we can just swallow our anger over the death of a diplomat; that would definitely cause a lot of trouble. All of this is just wishful thinking.
But the thought of his sister, sitting less than ten meters away from him, possibly doing those things naked, made him very unhappy, very angry, and... a little excited.
Fortunately, he quickly adjusted his mindset and finally said, "Thank you for your hard work."
"You just said it!" Jenia retorted sharply. "I'm not doing this for myself or for you, but for the royal family and the country, and I must tell you, this is the last time."
"I don't want you to make me do this every time you run into trouble in the future. I'm not a slut!"
Jenia rarely expressed her stance so firmly. Feeling somewhat guilty, the Emperor, facing his sister who was rarely so assertive, ultimately chose to express his attitude by apologizing.
"I'm sorry, this is the last time!"
Jenia's expression softened quickly. "I accept your apology!"
After a few seconds, the emperor snapped out of his reverie and continued, "So that's all he has up his sleeve?"
Jenia shook her head. She took a drag of her cigarette, pulled the butt out of the Cigarette Holder, and threw it into the Ashtray. "I can only tell you what he means and how he's acting, which is all he's willing to tell me. He has better methods, but he's adamant about not telling me. I think you should meet him."
The emperor nodded. "If he really has a better way, then I should indeed meet him..." He thought for a moment, "You can talk to him, invite him to the palace, and we can have dinner together. Perhaps we will make some new progress."
Jenia stood up and packed some odds and ends into her bag, such as a lighter, cigarettes, and Cigarette Holder. "I will invite him, but I can't guarantee he will come."
"Thanks!"
The emperor was eagerly anticipating his meeting with Lin Qi, but that evening he received some bad news: Lin Qi refused to meet with the emperor, stating that he would not meet with the emperor privately until the negotiations were concluded.
This was also to ensure that the negotiation process would not be disrupted by this unplanned invitation. Lin Qi's reasons for refusing were so compelling that neither Jenia nor His Your Majesty the Emperor could find any reason to refute Lin Qi's reason.
As a member of the diplomatic mission, it was a major taboo for him to contact Gefra officials in private. No one could find fault with that. Gefra Emperor could only urge his subordinates to settle these negotiations as soon as possible, at least the main points.
The two simpler methods Lin Qi offered to Gefra Emperor were then discussed by the emperor with his trusted ministers.
"Is this really Lin Qi's own idea?" the Defense Minister, somewhat incredulously. "I think it's more likely that the idea was provided to him by someone behind him. A young man in his twenties couldn't possibly have the ability to come up with these solutions, and you even said he has a better way!"
The other ministers nodded in agreement, their attention quickly returning to the written description.
The two solutions Lin Qi relayed to the Emperor through Jenia were actually quite simple: the first was immigration, and the second was opportunity.
Lin Qi also mentioned that the large-scale immigration changed the basic social structure of the Amelia Region, and that the main group of immigrants was not the Upper Class class, but the lower class.
By filling the Amelia Region with more ordinary imperial citizens, the proportion of people who hate the ruler in the region can be diluted, which can also play a certain role in stabilization and supervision.
Most of the people living in the Amelia Region now are businessmen, middle and upper-class. These people do not live with ordinary people there. They have their own residential areas in each city and do not have contact with the outside world.
This approach gave the locals a very wrong impression: that the Gefra had not truly accepted the region or its people, but rather that they had established a "class" antagonistic stance, which led to the gradual deterioration of the situation.
Secondly, Lin Qi mentioned giving the locals a chance. The Gefra are arrogant, as can be seen from how they treat other races. In an environment where they have an attitude of "we are superior," how can the ruled calmly accept that they are inferior? And the fact that they are not even given a chance is the most terrifying thing.
Human society has proven countless times that as long as there is even the slightest possibility, even the slightest possibility of a future, people will strive for that future that is actually impossible but seems possible! This includes their stable work and study.
By opening up channels for locals to access the Upper Class of society, increasing the number and scale of promotions for locals, and granting them a degree of autonomy, the "enemy-us" conflict between the Gefra people and other locals in the Amelia Region can be transformed into an "internal conflict" among the locals, thus reducing the pressure.
These two methods might have been considered by some of the Gefra people before, but they didn't take them seriously. The noble Gefra people were the ruling race of the universe. How could a group of inferior races without even a name be on equal footing with the noble Gefra people? No... impossible!
Now they need to face this problem and seriously consider Lin Qi's advice. In the end, their discussion concluded that it was very feasible.
But soon they faced another problem: all the Gefra knew that the situation in the Amelia Region was dire and extremely dangerous, with various Anti-Government Armed Forces groups frequently attacking the Gefra.
At this point, calling on everyone to immigrate to the Amelia Region? Even the emperor's words wouldn't carry any weight; only a few lunatics would go, and normal people wouldn't.
"These methods are suitable for use in relatively mild times, not now. The problems we need to solve now are more demanding, and these can only be used as a reference."
This was the Defense Minister's final summary; it was valuable, but useless now.
The emperor hesitated for a moment, and the Defense Minister noticed his hesitation. Then, the ministers exchanged glances and made a quick exchange. The Army Minister stood up.
"Your Majesty, does Lin Qi have any other good suggestions? Perhaps we should talk to Lin Qi!"
The Amelia Region is a sensitive issue for the country, and ministers are willing to give people a chance if someone claims they can solve these problems.
The emperor nodded and then shook his head. "He does have it, but he is unwilling to meet with us now. His reason is that we are currently in the process of negotiations, and he will not contact any of us privately until the outcome of the negotiations is in.
He then revealed a helpless expression and urged that these negotiations be completed as soon as possible, so as to demonstrate Gefra's tolerance and generosity without compromising national dignity.
The Minister of Finance, who remained silent throughout, sensed that things were spiraling out of control, but he seemed indifferent.
Compared to the shared interests of nobles and royalty, an international speculator and some money would not be an obstacle to his pursuit of his true self!