Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 52 I Believe
The lobby of the Shuojin Hotel follows the consistent style of the Shuojin people. A large number of gold decorations make this already magnificent lobby even more noble. The super-large statues and the dome that runs through the upper and lower parts make everyone who enters the lobby feel insignificant.
The news of the arrival of Meteor, the Prime Minister of the Golden Shield Empire Cabinet, has spread. A large number of politicians, dignitaries, and reporters from various countries have gathered in the hotel lobby, waiting to welcome this person who can influence the direction of the world.
Of course, it is some small and medium-sized countries that actively welcome the Meteorite Prime Minister.
The politicians of major powers and those who consider themselves to be major powers are still somewhat reserved and simply send out their own intelligence personnel to gather information everywhere.
Small and medium-sized countries do not have status issues. Instead, they are more dependent on the energy from the Golden Shield Empire because of the shortage of resources caused by their land area. And the fleet they just saw on the sea made them want to make friends with the Meteorite Prime Minister to find a protective umbrella for them in the future.
At the very least, you should be able to get to know the person, and it would be even better if you can have a conversation with him.
If we could arrange a brief interview with the Prime Minister of Meteorite, it would definitely be a major diplomatic victory.
The hotel door opened, and the hall, which had been in chaos just a moment ago, immediately fell silent, with everyone looking outside the door.
Since Meteorite was invited by the Golden People to visit the Golden Valley, the Golden People gave him enough courtesy. The Golden People warriors wearing golden armor walked in neatly from outside in two rows, then turned back and stood opposite each other, separating a corridor in the middle.
A red carpet was automatically rolled out and the hotel band played a welcome song.
Then the Royal Knights of the Golden Shield Empire walked in from outside the door wearing gorgeous full body armor. The Royal Knights were the face of the Golden Shield Empire. In addition to training in combat skills, they also spent a lot of time training in etiquette. Therefore, when the Royal Knights marched in, their momentum was even higher and more powerful than the Golden Man just now. The metal boots made a consistent sound on the marble floor, and the sound caused by the friction of the armor plates was of the same frequency, bringing a strong sense of oppression.
The Royal Knights reached their respective positions, turned around and retreated, inserting themselves into the middle of the Shining Gold warriors.
The captain of the Royal Knights at the end of the queue drew his sword and shouted, "The Chief Regent of the Cabinet of the Golden Shield Empire, the Minister of Energy of the Empire, the Commander of the Saint Lun City Garrison Corps, the Governor of the Raging Waves City, and the Marquis of the Raging Waves, Meteorite, has arrived!"
All the royal knights drew their swords in unison, with the tips of their swords pointing straight up in front of them.
The Royal Knight Captain took a step to the side, revealing Luke standing outside the door.
Luke was wearing the uniform of an imperial noble, the badge of the Prime Minister of the Empire, the sash of a governor, and the sword of a legion commander hanging at his waist. He walked into the hall on the red carpet.
The captain of the royal knights followed on one side holding a sword, representing the majesty of the imperial throne.
After that came the accompanying officials, the chief minister's staff, assistants, attendants, servants...
Luke walked slowly into the hall, stopping almost every step to shake hands and chat with the people who greeted him on both sides. When he learned that the other party was an important official from a certain country, he would chat with them more cordially.
At this time, Luke's experience of traveling around the world and taking risks came in handy. As long as the other party mentioned their country, no matter how small or insignificant it was, Luke could easily name the important cities and specialties of that country. Then he would praise the characteristics of the country, making everyone feel refreshed and proud that their country was so valued by the Golden Shield Empire.
Luke walked along the short red carpet, shaking hands and chatting. At the end, his subordinates had already built a podium with five microphones set up in front of it.
Luke stepped onto the podium, and the people gathered in the hall automatically gathered in front of the podium.
"Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon..." Luke nodded in three directions and continued, "As the Prime Minister of the Golden Shield Empire, I accepted the invitation of the Golden People to visit the Golden Valley. I didn't expect to meet friends from all over the world here.
I believe that with so many world leaders gathered here, it will surely become a grand event. I also sincerely hope that such grand events can be held more often, so that everyone can sit together and talk, conflicts will disappear through discussion, and cooperation will emerge through discussion.
Just like I came to Golden Valley this time, with full sincerity, to seek comprehensive cooperation between the Golden Shield Empire and the World Bank worldwide."
Applause!
A reporter raised his hand and asked loudly: "Prime Minister of Meteorite, may I ask why I haven't seen Her Majesty Queen Clear Sky? Didn't Her Majesty arrive here with you?"
Luke smiled and replied, "Her Majesty the Queen of Clear Sky is a scholar, and being the Queen of Moonlight is more like a part-time job. Her Majesty is not good at dealing with occasions like this, and I am also the Prime Minister of the Moonlight Court. I can apologize to you all on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen."
Luke's perfect answer drew another round of applause.
Soon someone asked again: "Meteor Prime Minister! Since the Golden Shield Empire obtained the mining rights of the Dragon Country Fire Crystal Mine, the Golden Shield Empire has the ability to influence prices in the world energy market. Recently, the Golden Shield Empire has encouraged the use of the Imperial Mark in energy transactions, and we all know that gold certificates are a currency widely used in international trade.
By introducing this energy monetary policy, is the Golden Shield Empire trying to replace the international status of the gold certificate with the Imperial Mark?"
This question was asked very pointedly, and it could be said that it made clear the intention of the Shining Gold Man to invite the Prime Minister of Meteorite to visit the Golden Valley.
Everyone looked at Luke silently, afraid of missing any details.
Luke did not evade the question: "Before answering the question, I want to give you a piece of advice. Don't always think about making a big news. Creating an international crisis and provoking world conflicts can bring you fame, but it will bring disaster to all peace-loving people.
The Golden Shield Empire has never thought of challenging the status of gold certificates in international trade. The Empire has actively used gold certificates as settlement currency in other trade areas. The reason why countries are encouraged to use the Imperial Mark in the energy market is mainly because... Dragon Country has too many fire crystal reserves.
When I took office as the Minister of Energy of the Empire, I discovered a potential crisis. If all the fire crystals sold by the Empire were settled with gold certificates, it would not take long for the Empire's gold certificate reserves to quickly accumulate to a dangerous value.
If this wealth were kept in the national treasury, it would be a huge waste; if this gold certificate was invested in the domestic market of the empire, it would directly impact the Imperial Mark monetary system that the empire had just established.
Therefore, the Golden Shield Empire encourages the use of the Imperial Mark in energy transactions as a means of self-protection to maintain the balance of payments of the Imperial Gold Certificates and keep the gold certificate reserves within a healthy range.
After listening to Meteorite's explanation, the audience suddenly understood.
Countries that have completed currency reforms know that holding more gold certificates is not necessarily better. Gold certificates are dead money in the treasury, and only when there is both inflow and outflow can they generate additional value in the trade cycle.
The meteorite revealed that the Golden Shield Empire had a lot of energy, enough to generate a huge trade surplus. If all the gold vouchers were used for settlement, there would be a backlog of gold vouchers.
Politicians from various countries are envious and jealous while understanding it.
Applause to the Prime Minister of Meteorite.
For these countries, energy trade does not use gold coupons, which does not matter to them. Anyway, the Golden Shield Empire has a vast territory and a large population, and it is a huge market. In the future, they can do more business with the Golden Shield Empire to earn Imperial Marks.
The only one who was really hurt by the Golden Shield Empire's energy monetary policy was the World Bank.
I wonder if Meteorite’s explanation can be accepted by the Shining Gold Man?
Then reporters continued to ask questions, and Luke answered them one by one, showing the Golden Shield Empire's dispute-avoiding and peace-loving side to the world.
Hiding in the crowd at this time were Hulking and the Ice Cave agents he brought with him. They disguised themselves as reporters to record what Meteorite said and other details of the scene.
Suddenly, an agent said in surprise: "Chief... No, Lord Helkkin! Have you noticed that the meteorite looks a bit like... the deceased Luke Steam Engineer?"
Luke had some disguises during his time in Winter City, and if you saw both of his looks at the same time, you would think they looked somewhat alike.
Helkkin pretended to observe Meteorite carefully, and then said, "If you hadn't reminded me, I really wouldn't have noticed. Meteorite is a little bit similar to Luke Steam Engineer, both have black hair. But Luke Steam Engineer's face is thinner, and Meteorite's eyes are wider.
Asshole! Stop focusing on irrelevant things. Is this what you do after I leave the ice cave?
Go, ask Meteorite what he thinks about the war between Art County and other counties. Everyone else, listen carefully. If you can analyze important information, I will personally pay for you to have a feast!"
Upon hearing that the former chief was going to treat them to a meal, the agents became very excited and took notes carefully in their notebooks.
"The war with the Art County Alliance..." When Luke heard this question, he couldn't help but sighed: "This is an invasion war. Even if the Art County Alliance launched the war under the pretext of bringing freedom to the people of the Golden Shield Empire, it still cannot change the nature of the invasion.
I know there are members of the Art County Federation among you, and the chairman of the Art County Federation National Assembly, Botrovich, is also in this hotel.
As the Prime Minister of the Golden Shield Empire, I now urge the At County Federation to immediately stop all military actions against the Golden Shield Empire, restart the armistice negotiations, and strive for a peaceful resolution of the war as soon as possible. Let the citizens of both countries shed less blood, let parents no longer lose their sons, let wives no longer lose their husbands, and let children see their fathers return home safely.
Here I hope that all responsible and peace-loving countries in the world will actively exert your international influence to promote the early arrival of peace.
We are now in an unprecedented era of development, and the world has never been as prosperous as it is today. As a member of this era, I feel extremely proud and honored, and I am willing to contribute my strength to this brilliant civilization created by mankind.
I firmly believe that it is development that drives the progress of civilization, and war and turmoil are the biggest obstacles to development.
I firmly believe that all countries in the world love peace. Only peace can bring stability, and only stability can bring prosperity.
I firmly believe that most ordinary people do not care about the political system of their country, or the so-called free or unfree speech. What they care most about is whether they can have enough food to eat and whether their offspring can receive a good education.
The war launched by the Art County Alliance is unjust and even goes against the mainstream development trend of the world.
If the At County Union, especially those oligarchs, do not pull back in time... you will eventually face the judgment of the times!"
There was warm applause in the lobby of the Shuojin Hotel.
Small and medium-sized countries cannot withstand major turmoil. A hiccup in a big country may be a tsunami for a weaker country. The war between the Golden Shield Empire and the Art County Alliance has been going on for more than a year. The war is not just a confrontation on the battlefield. The two countries also use various killing moves to greet each other internationally. The affected countries can only swallow their anger.
The "three firm beliefs" of the Golden Shield Empire's Falling Star Prime Minister expressed the voices of most countries, especially as the war between the two countries showed signs of spillover, and all countries were afraid of being affected.
As one of the soul figures of the Golden Shield Empire, Yunxing’s statement fully represents the attitude of the Golden Shield Empire.
Cease-fire, peace, development, let us all reap the dividends of this era.
As for freedom or not...
No matter how free you are, is it as free as the Nutao City?
After the applause died down, Luke announced the end of the Q&A session , saying that he needed a rest after sitting on the boat for so long.
The people in the hall applauded again.
Luke's visit to the Golden Valley had a perfect opening. After listening to his speech, most of the important officials felt that the Golden Shield Empire had the responsibility of a great power and did not look down on small countries because of its great national strength.
At the same time, after seeing the strength of the Golden Shield Empire's Royal Ocean Escort Fleet, all countries have the most intuitive understanding of the Golden Shield Empire's strength. If the Golden Shield Empire is willing to help them become stronger and richer, their own countries will take off!
As a result, all countries felt repulsed by the At County Alliance, which launched wars and provoked unrest, and they all considered how to make friends with the Golden Shield Empire in this regard.
Some people took immediate action.
Luke's secretary, Kaileena, was overwhelmed with interview requests.
In Luke's room, Pan was waiting inside early.
Luke's room has a special living room, which is decorated extremely luxuriously, with ivory chairs inlaid with gold patterns. Sitting in the ivory chair, he couldn't help but applaud when he saw Luke come in.
"What a wonderful speech! Your talent for bewitching people is still so excellent, making people completely forget who led the fleet to bombard Rio's port and occupy the sea area that originally belonged to Rio."
Luke waved the alert attendant out.
He walked over to Pan and sat down. "I thought you had cut ties with the Golden Man, but I didn't expect you to be able to appear in my room. Are you showing me your power in the Golden Valley, or is this a warning from the Golden Man?"
Pan smiled and said, "The Shuojin people are very principled and will not easily break the rules they set. Since I am no longer a Shuojin person, I will naturally not have the same privileges as before in the Golden Valley. You can regard my presence here as a warning to the Shuojin people. You have caused the Shuojin people to violate their principles more than once, and each time has been more serious than the last.
Whether you can leave Golden Valley alive depends on your performance next..."
