Chapter 213 Control Group
The North City Factory District is the most terrifying blood-sucking worm that depends on the traditional agricultural territory of Innadri, but the North City Factory District is also an important economic lifeline of the city of Innadri. It is the most stable source of income for 40,000 workers and their families, as well as the tertiary industry population that relies on providing services to the workers.
After all, the number of jobs that can be provided by the caravans traveling back and forth from the south to the north is limited, and the caravans only arrive in summer and autumn every year. In spring and winter, you won't see many foreign caravans in Innadri.
To put it bluntly, the existence is like a huge abscess growing on a human body. It must be punctured, but before puncturing the abscess, preparations must be made to prevent infection.
"In this case... we must first win the trust of the workers and make them believe that we are more reliable than the factory owners." After thinking carefully for a while, Rex gave his answer cautiously, "We must be able to place these workers better than the factory owners, give them better employment opportunities and more complete job security... If the workers still firmly believe that the union is necessary, then we can also support them in rebuilding the union, but this union must be supervised by the city hall and the workers... Is that right?"
"That's right in general." Zhao Zhenzhen was very happy with Rex's growth and nodded in approval. "The first step is to build trust. This is very important, but it is meaningless to just talk about it verbally. It must be done in actual work. So what do you think, how should we take this first step?"
Rex suddenly thought of the series of measures Ji Tang had taken in Westham. He blurted them out, and suddenly realized that the situation in the city was different from that in the town. Copying them completely would only lead to more problems. He was immediately tangled up...
Seeing Rex scratching his head, Zhao Zhenzhen didn't feel disappointed. It was quite remarkable that a native of another world could gradually establish a people-oriented governance philosophy in such a short period of time, and she couldn't ask for too much from him.
Seeing that Rex was struggling for a long time but still had no answer, Zhao Zhenzhen smiled and reminded him: "When we formulate policies, we must consider the long-term, but we must also pay attention to the problems at hand. It is already the second half of December, the weather is starting to get colder, and people on the road have also changed into thicker clothes..."
Rex suddenly had an idea and excitedly slammed the table: "Oh, right, heating! Coal!"
Zhao Zhenzhen smiled and nodded, then pulled out another folder and opened it: "There are two larger coal mines in Innadelli. One belongs to Viscount Darcy, and the other belongs to the power plant."
It sounds a bit unbelievable that the power plant in Innadri does not belong to Innadri...but that is the fact.
Like the postal system, the power company of the Rhine Kingdom is also monopolized by the top nobles. All power plants and gas companies in the entire Rhine Kingdom belong to a powerful prince.
If electricity and gas on Earth could be legally monopolized by private individuals, even pigs would beat their brains out of their dogs. However, in this world... due to the poor level of infrastructure and the low consumption capacity of the lower-class people, there are not so many paying users of electricity and gas, so it is not that enviable.
In comparison, coal mines are more profitable - you can do without electricity and gas, but you definitely need coal for heating, especially for urban residents.
The coal mine of the power plant cannot be moved, but the coal mine of Viscount Darcy's family can be taken into consideration.
The question is whether the Darcy family is willing to sell the coal mine to the city hall.
"If we go to their house and ask to buy it, they will definitely not sell it. Even if they are willing to sell it, they will offer conditions that we can hardly afford." Zhao Zhenzhen said confidently, "In that case, let them take the initiative to sell it."
Rex thought hard, but still shook his head: "I can't do this."
"It can be done, we just need Lord Yang's help." Zhao Zhenzhen said with a smile.
Rex was stunned.
Half an hour later, Yang Qiu, who meditated in the City Lord's Mansion every day, appeared in the office on the top floor of the City Hall with an expressionless face.
"We need to set up a public coal company and plan to provide 300 jobs for the citizens to solve the problem of insufficient coal supply for heating in the city." Zhao Zhenzhen put the prepared plan in front of Yang Qiu with an official attitude, "Among the existing large coal mines in Nadeli, the coal mine owned by Viscount Darcy's family is closer to the city and has relatively convenient transportation."
After a pause, Zhao Zhenzhen added, "I went to investigate . The coal layer of Darcy's coal mine is very close to the surface. The technicians can directly extract the coal by using a small amount of alchemical explosives to blast the topsoil. The operation is very easy. If there are several rock crushers to assist the operation, and there are shovels, excavators and other operating equipment to remove the topsoil, and a few dust collectors and shaftless drum coal preparation equipment, the annual coal output of this coal mine should be able to reach about 200,000 tons."
Rex, who was taking the opportunity to drink some water to calm down, suddenly vomited when he heard the unimaginable astronomical figure of 200,000 tons.
The black magician, Earthling Yang Qiu, and the undead, Earthling Zhao Zhenzhen, didn't react much to this number... It was just the designed annual output of any small and micro coal mine controlled by private capital in any township in China, and it was the kind of backward coal mine that needed to be restructured or even closed down.
There is no shortage of coal in the Nadlib Territory. There are more than a dozen open-pit or semi-open-pit coal mines of various sizes discovered throughout the territory. The coal used by the residents of Westham is produced in an open-pit coal mine not far from the town.
However, the better coal mines all have owners, and because most of the townspeople really don’t have much spending power, consumables like coal can’t be sold in large quantities…
Yang Qiu had a blank expression on his face.
The national team is useful, but it is a waste of money, and he has long been aware of this. What annoys him is that the political cadre in front of him actually encouraged him to use spooky tricks to seize other people's coal mines - you guys are a black man if you cut it open!
Zhao Zhenzhen didn't care what he thought and continued to talk: "In addition, we also need honeycomb coal forming machines, coal ball forming machines, and coal crushers. If there is sufficient funding, it would be best to set up a public metallurgical plant to uniformly produce coal stoves and stoves suitable for local residents..."
Yang Qiu turned to look at Rex: "How much money is in the City Hall's account?"
Zhao Zhenzhen didn't stop him, and Rex, the honest boy, handed over his underwear: "Uh, 26,800 gold coins."
This money was actually the taxes for this year that Adela III had just put in his pocket and the dividends from the Bartles family's factory shares for this year. Due to the huge amount, Adela III was reluctant to hand it over to others, and planned to let the city defense army take it away when he evacuated... but Rex got the money.
Yang Qiu nodded, stood up and straightened his robes, and said calmly: "Take out half to pay for the machine."
Before leaving, Yang Qiu looked back at Zhao Zhenzhen and said, "I will take care of the coal mine issue ."
The door closed, the footsteps faded away, and Zhao Zhenzhen grabbed Rex by the collar, baring her teeth and growling: "Why did you tell him the truth?! You can't even cry poor??"
Rex was confused.
Zhao Zhenzhen was furious: "Lord Yang has money! He has all the secrets of the club, bar and casino. How many worthless undead coins did the Night Watch exchange with him for real money? The City Hall has enough money to build public services, and you are so stupid and generous!"
Rex was sweating on his forehead: "Calm down, Ms. Zhao, even if we used Yang's money... he will ask us to pay it back..."
"Can you call it debt if you owe Lord Yang money? That's called a low-interest poverty alleviation loan. We need Lord Yang to help us out of poverty!" Zhao Zhenzhen threw the idiot away and said angrily, "This won't happen again. Do you hear me?!"
"...I heard it." Rex's whole body was about to break apart.
Zhao Zhenzhen became more and more angry as she thought about it, so she simply moved out another stack of documents: "Read all of these plans today. How many jobs can the two public institutions provide? How can the control group corresponding to the North City factory area stand out? Analyze them all carefully and seriously!"
Yang Qiu left the city hall and quietly disappeared from Rex's perspective.
As expected of the national team, the revolutionary guns did not intend to let him, a compatriot, go...
But since Zhao Zhenzhen failed to successfully take the money out of his pocket this time, he certainly would not take the initiative to contribute his own small treasury - anyway, the money will not be lost with me, so if you have the ability, come and take it!
Yang Qiu, in a good mood, visited the Night Watch headquarters again.
This time, the fat official from the Night Watch headquarters did not try to run away when he saw Yang Qiu. Instead, he came up to him with a sad face and begged, "Dear Yang, please control your undead a little. There are really no unresolved cases in our archives, not even one!"
"Oh?" Yang Qiu sat down on the sofa. "Isn't it a good thing that all the backlogged cases have been resolved? Why are you so uneasy?"
"But your undead don't believe that Innadri has no more incidents!" The fat official said fearfully, "They keep pestering our people and trying to get missions from them whenever they see us... How can Innadri have so many missions for them?"
The rewards for the exorcist missions are generous. The bounty of several thousand copper coins is enough to make players who are addicted to monster hunting scramble for the missions... but since Nadeli is such a small place, it is certainly not enough for them to work hard.
"My undead are indeed a little too enthusiastic in helping others, but this just proves that our undead friends are friendly and will not hurt others at will. Their actions have indeed proved this point." Yang Qiu smiled calmly, "My friend, since the unresolved cases can be quickly and effectively solved by our undead friends, why don't we ask our undead friends for help with the cases in other areas?"
The fat official's expression froze.
"Yes, our undead friends look a little scary, but they will prove their friendliness with their actions, just like they did in Innadri." Yang Qiu said calmly, "If the church can solve their identity problem and allow them to appear in other areas of the Rhine Kingdom that need the help of the undead to solve dangerous and unknown events, please believe me, this will definitely be a great thing that will benefit everyone."
The fat official immediately struggled.
It took the undead only half a month to eliminate all the troublesome unresolved cases in the archives. This really made everyone in the church excited at the beginning.
Bishop Lee Gene reported the matter and even received an encouraging call from the Pope himself.
But... for the church, this matter is over, but the undead are not willing to stop; the normal behavior of the Night Watch Hall closing down has even angered them. Not only did they come to the Night Watch headquarters to harass the Night Watch, they even blocked the door of the church...
But to let the undead go - this is really disturbing!
"Don't jump to conclusions. You can ask Bishop Gene and Captain Clark for their opinions." Yang Qiu was not in a hurry at all. After all, the players were not harassing him directly. At most, they would just curse at the stupid planners from a distance. He was not bothered. "Besides, I came here today to report something to the church in advance..."
