Chapter 808 Good people don’t live long in troubled times
As Miss Bella said, the situation in Mengma City is completely different from the "concession" of the Silver Moon Sect believers. It can even be said that they are two distinct worlds.
The latter has beautiful marble buildings and clean streets, and most of the pedestrians walking on the street are well-dressed. It is almost the same as the Silver Moon Bay next door.
However, the former is full of messes. Not to mention the stone buildings, there is not even anything that can be called a street.
Most of the dirt roads were made by people's footprints, and only two open drainage ditches were dug along the roadside.
On both sides of the road, there are temporary shacks built with wood, branches or plastic boards.
The locals call it terraced house. Two or three households can often be crammed into a terraced house, so crowded that there is no room to stand, but you still have to squeeze in.
After all, many families here are just like the slums in the Nehak era of Golden Gallen. The family cannot afford two pieces of clothing, so they cannot stand naked on the street.
As for the privacy between several families, they can only make do with partitions in the row houses.
Besides, there are almost no young men here.
Local young adults either joined the army, went to nearby factories or concessions to help, or boarded labor export ships to the reconstructed Beidao.
As for the old, weak, women and children who stayed behind, those who had clothes to wear sat at the door and worked, while those who had no clothes to wear sat at home in a daze, waiting for meals to be served at the soup kitchen.
Speaking of suffering, the people here are indeed suffering, but the authorities did not let them eat dirt, but gave them some of the few remaining grains.
After all, the authorities still need their men to work hard.
Sisi did not go in to take a look, because the size of the meat was really inconvenient, and he was afraid of scaring the people here, so he just glanced at the endless slum from a distance.
Next to the relief point, there are rows of wooden boards with scrawled slogans on them, such as "Every family has one person, and every family has enough to eat."
"...This is simply treating people as goods." Rourou's heart was faintly touched, and he couldn't help but muttered.
She is an outspoken person, she always says what she wants without hiding it in her heart.
Just now she thought Lacy might be a good person, but now she didn't think he was such a good person anymore.
Sisi thought for a while and said.
"...It's hard to judge whether it's a good thing or a bad thing from livestock to goods, but in the end they have food to eat."
Bella didn't seem to want them to stay here any longer. No one likes to have their scars uncovered, so she said quickly.
"There is no road ahead. Let me take you to other places."
Sisi nodded.
"Well, I'm sorry to trouble you."
The group of people returned to the main road and walked towards an industrial area near the sea.
This is probably one of the places in Mengma City, apart from the leased parishes, where the reconstruction work has started most smoothly.
Especially in the Liszt Group's factory and the surrounding area, there are almost no traces of the disaster.
The tall factory building is located on a higher ground near the sea in Mengma City. A spacious cement road is closely connected to the port area, and there is a railway transportation line that has been opened to traffic next to it.
Large and small processing plants and workshops surround the central factory building, extending along the only road towards the train station.
Most of these are Liszt's industries, but some are started by local people who followed suit, especially hardware, machinery repair and even arms production, etc.
Taitail and Rourou were even surprised to find that there was a scrapped Conqueror 10 tank parked here!
"My giao! Legion tanks!"
"Good guy...is this captured?"
Looking at the screaming tail and Rourou, Sisi said thoughtfully.
"Ninety percent of it was seized. The legion wouldn't sell arms here... I guess the authorities don't have many dinars in foreign exchange reserves. This thing is not cheap."
The entire tank body structure is basically intact, except that two tracks are broken.
It was obvious that the tracks of this tank were broken on the front line. The Imperial crew abandoned the vehicle and ran away, and then were dragged back from the front line by the guerrillas.
Two repairmen wearing exoskeletons were surrounding the tank. Next to them stood an officer with a high military rank. They seemed to be thinking together about how to repair this thing.
Although the layout of this area is a bit sloppy, it already has some prototypes of an industrial area.
On the periphery of the industrial zone, there are rows of "corn buildings" with a strong flavor.
These residences made of concrete prefabricated panels can be regarded as the most "luxury" buildings in this area.
What impressed the locals was not only the sturdy roof, but also the "luxurious" supporting facilities.
In addition to the smooth cement roads, every few buildings are equipped with boiler rooms, collective bathrooms, public canteens, and literacy schools that teach children during the day and adults at night.
The configuration here is completely copied from the dormitory building in Boulder City Industrial Zone, and some improvements based on local conditions have been made on the original basis.
For example, the winter in Mengmazhou is not as cold as in the Hehe Valley Province, and the weather in December only requires a coat. Therefore, there are no radiators installed in the dormitory building, and the boiler room only boils bath water.
The workers living here are all the "new rich" in Mengma City.
If you can get a job at the Liszt Factory, even if it's just cutting vegetables in the employee canteen or working as a sorter on the assembly line, you can be considered a respectable person in the entire Mengma City.
Although the authorities have also spent money to build a number of affordable housing in the city, the supporting facilities are still far inferior to the employee dormitories of the Lister Factory.
It is no exaggeration to say that the place where these workers live is even better than that of the officers of the Resistance Army, not to mention the vast majority of civilians in the city who still live in row houses and eat relief porridge.
I'm afraid Liszt himself didn't expect that he, who was regarded as a "savage beast" by the Workers' Union in the Union, would actually become a good person in the eyes of the locals here.
The locals did not hesitate to praise him, and there was even a rumor that if anyone's family could have a worker who worked in Liszt's factory, his ancestors would be in trouble!
It is precisely because of this that when Bella came here with Tails and the others and introduced the situation here, she could not hide the envy between her brows.
"...This entire factory area is Mr. List's factory, with a total of more than 10,000 people working directly or indirectly for him. He has introduced production lines for steel, aluminum and solid-state hydrogen batteries to our settlement, but currently
The only products available here are hydrogen ejector, high-pressure storage tank and fuel electrode."
Sisi glanced at the majestic factory building and said with sincere emotion.
"You don't have any industrial supporting facilities. It's already great to be able to produce these."
Recently, the alliance's electrification process has advanced from household appliances such as TVs, refrigerators and air conditioners to the private car industry. The South China Sea Alliance is even planning to rebuild large-scale ocean current power stations. There is extremely strong demand for both small and large energy storage equipment.
Hydrogen ejector, high-pressure storage tank, and fuel electrode are all key parts of solid-state hydrogen batteries, and the latter has a market in both the Alliance and the South China Sea Alliance.
In particular, Lister Group itself operates industries such as exoskeletons and new energy vehicles. As long as the quality of the products it produces meets standards, there is no need to worry about lack of sales.
It can be seen that Liszt is really optimistic about this market, otherwise he would not put such a key product here for production.
"Indeed, the foundation here is too poor. Thanks to the help of that gentleman, we can get to where we are today," Bella nodded, with obvious gratitude in her eyes, and continued, "Before he came here,
, there is not a single factory in the entire Mengma City. But now we not only have coal power stations, railways, highways, steel plants and aluminum plants, but we can also process some export products."
"I heard that the monthly output value of this factory has reached 10 million silver coins, and the production capacity is still growing!"
"If this trend continues, it may grow to 30 million next year, which is 300 million when converted into our own currency! Mengma Prefecture can rely on it to get rid of poverty and become rich!"
Looking at the energetic girl, Sisi couldn't help but smile.
"Don't be too arrogant about yourselves. The most we can do is to bring some kindling. It is ultimately up to you to light the fire. If one day you succeed in becoming rich, it will not only be because of our help, but also because of our help."
What’s more is your own hard work.”
In this process, the alliance is of course also profitable. After all, prosperity is something that promotes each other.
Just like the Alliance and the South China Sea Alliance.
Before entering the Baiyue Province, the alliance's "蟞-type" engineering armor could only carry out onshore projects. However, after absorbing the submarine construction technology in the southern sea and contracting the project of the submarine fresh water pipeline, it immediately evolved into
"Crab style", "King crab" and other series of models.
Nowadays, whether it is the coast of the Baiyue Strait or the islands in the southern seas, development is like a rocket.
Not to mention the earlier Luoxia Province. The alliance's fertilizers, seeds, and agricultural machinery have more than doubled the food production there. Not only the residents of Luoxia Province have a better life, but also the people in the River Valley
The residents of the province also have enough to eat.
If Mengmao Prefecture and even the entire Borneo Province join the camp of the civilized world like Golden Gallen Port, it will be of great benefit to both the local people and the alliance itself.
If all the survivors in the wasteland unite, this wasteland era full of suffering and death will definitely end.
Hope that day is not too far away...
…
For a whole day, Sisi, Weiwei and the others were inspecting the industrial area in Mengmazhou.
Generally speaking, this is a booming market, and many factories have the potential to grow bigger, but they lack technology and funds, and the latter happens to be the most lacking in the alliance right now.
It is no exaggeration to say that even if you buy a few pieces of land here, develop it into real estate and wait for the value to rise, you will definitely not lose money.
Everyone wandered around until the sun went down before returning to the hotel in the parish.
This trip has been a fruitful one.
The only regret is that Taitail and Rourou did not see the mammoth that they were so longing for until the end...
The night was getting darker, and only the parish lights were still on along the entire coastline.
One of the lights belongs to the office of the General Administration of Customs.
Although it was already time to get off work, Axi did not leave here, but paced back and forth in front of his desk.
After waiting for a long time, he finally waited when the phone on the table rang. He quickly walked over and grabbed the receiver. Before the other person could speak, he asked eagerly.
"How is the situation? Are the distinguished guests from the alliance satisfied?"
He had been thinking about this all day today, for fear that something would go wrong.
An answer came quickly from the other end of the phone, and Bella, who was standing in the post office phone booth, reported meticulously.
"...Generally speaking, they are quite satisfied. Their evaluation of us is above neutral, and they are also very interested in the local development potential. I heard from the lady named Sisi that they plan to invest in opening a branch here.
Help us complete financial reform."
When Axi heard this, an expression of ecstasy suddenly appeared on his face, and he clenched his fists in excitement.
"Very good!"
Although the influence of the White Bear Knights is far less than that of Baiyue Company, it can still be considered a large-scale bank.
It started in the Petra Fortress during the Sunset Province War, and later based itself in Silver Moon Bay, developing overseas along the alliance's trade routes. Its business scope covers the Borneo Sea coast and even the southern seas, and it has incubated many potential companies.
and business groups.
If we can attract the White Bear Knights Bank here, it will be as significant as successfully attracting investment from another Lister Group!
Listening to the surprise coming from the other end of the phone, Bella was silent for a while and continued to report.
"Also, there is one more thing. Although I persuaded them not to leave the parish as much as possible, they still went to the nearby city. I couldn't refuse, so I had to take them to visit the industrial area and nearby residential areas... But on the road
At that time, we still let them see the situation in the slums.”
The slums in Mengma City are like an ugly scar. It is impossible for anyone to have any good impression of the authorities after seeing them.
Although the authorities have made some efforts, it is not a problem that can be solved in a short time.
Hearing where the distinguished guests from the alliance had gone, Ash suddenly became nervous and asked cautiously.
"Did they say anything?"
Bella recalled the previous events carefully, then shook her head and said.
"That's not true."
In fact, it can't be said that it didn't happen at all, but they were speaking a language she didn't understand, so she didn't understand what they were saying.
Aki fell silent while standing in front of his desk, and finally let out a long sigh.
"...We can only hope that they can understand our difficulties."
He could feel that the purpose of these distinguished guests coming to Mengma City was not just a simple business inspection, but they might also have carried out tasks assigned by the alliance managers, such as studying whether the Mengma Prefecture authorities were worthy of the alliance's investment.
Although it is hard to say it, the support of the alliance is really important to them.
He hoped that they could give an accurate opinion, even if it was a negative evaluation, he could first explain it and secondly make corrections based on their opinions.
Not a word was spoken, which made him most uneasy.
"Are they dissatisfied with anything? For example, they are complaining about something... No matter what it is, tell me everything!"
Bella was stunned, hesitated for a moment, and then said in an uncertain tone.
"Uh... the lady named Taili seems to be very sorry that she didn't see the mammoth. That seems to be the case."
Can this be considered a complaint?
Just when she was confused, Axi slapped the desk hard.
"Quick! Contact the Mengma City militia immediately and ask them to go to the north bank of the Tasang River to catch one - no, catch two and bring them back to them! One male and one female!"
Upon hearing this unreasonable order, Bella was completely stunned and stood there with her mouth wide open.
"Give me, give me two mammoths?"
Does this guy know how big that thing is?
However, Axi didn't take it seriously and said plausibly.
"This is a necessary investment! It is also for the future of Mengma City! Just do as I say, and you must not leave any regrets to the distinguished guests of the alliance!"
Seeing that this guy was not joking, Bella could only restrain her confused expression, cheer up and take the order.
"yes!"
…
At the same time, on the border of Mengma Prefecture, inside the military tent of the Imperial Gray Wolf Army.
General Alaya, who serves as the commander-in-chief of the Gray Wolf Army, is looking at the list sent by the logistics officer, his thick eyebrows gradually twisted into two centipedes.
The logistics officer standing in front of him didn't dare to take a breath and could only stand there tremblingly.
However, what is supposed to come will eventually come.
A sharp gaze shot at him, and Alaya slapped the list in his hand on the command table, staring at the logistics officer aggressively.
"Where are the tanks? Why haven't the Conqueror 10 tanks I wanted been delivered yet? Why are all the logistics materials arriving in this batch full of small arms and dry food!"
The logistics officer complained bitterly when he heard this, and explained quickly with a bitter face.
"Sir, you don't know something... Recently, there was a sudden dispute between the Alliance and the Legion, and the Alliance withheld the arms that it had promised to help the Legion send to the Falcon Kingdom."
Alaya was dumbfounded when he heard this, and his mouth was open for a long time.
"The Legion's weapons...were seized by the Alliance?"
The amount of information contained in these words was so great that he couldn't understand it for a while.
Why did the weapons of this legion end up with the Alliance? And they had to go through the Alliance before they could be delivered to him.
The problem caused by the information blockage was here. He was on the front line and did not know what agreement the Empire and the Legion had reached, nor what the quarrel between the Legion and the Alliance was at the Adhesion Community Conference.
There was a vague feeling in his heart that he was like a chess piece, sandwiched between two fists.
Not only him, but also Lacy standing opposite him.
From an undecided outcome, they were drawn into a new game.
His intuition told him that this war might not end so easily...
The logistics officer sighed and said helplessly.
"That's all I know... Not to mention you, His Majesty is also very anxious now, but we can't push this matter. What I heard from the legion is that if the alliance knows that the arms have been shipped in a big circle,
This is where things get troublesome.”
In fact, there was no need for him to be so polite to Alaya. If it had been before, the latter would have spoken kindly to him.
However, what is helpless is that the local forces are becoming more and more disobedient, and the only thing Tiandu can rely on is the central army that is suppressing bandits on the border.
Nowadays, Alaya is at the peak of his power in Xilan's court, and both the emperor and the dukes and marquises regard him as a life-saving straw.
Looking at the helpless logistics officer, Alaya took a deep breath and said in a deep voice.
"Then what to do now? Those rebels took the alliance's equipment and built the defense line like an iron barrel. Without the support of heavy equipment, we can't defeat it! Even if we attack by force, the soldiers will die in vain!"
The logistics officer's eyes wandered for a while, and he hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"It really can't be done... It's not impossible to slow down the frontline offensive. The message from the legion is that they will find a way to solve the problem and let us calm down for a while."
If the alliance cannot find the evidence they are looking for, they will ultimately have no choice but to fulfill the contract and release the seized arms.
And even if they found evidence, they would not be able to confiscate the arms. At most, they would send them back to the wasteland of the Wei Mansion and let the legion solve it on their own.
It’s not that the legion doesn’t have ships. The equipment will be delivered here sooner or later, but it will take a while... at least that’s what the Wilantes told them.
"Slow down a moment..." Alaya sneered, "If we slow down any longer, the rebels' railway will be built to the front line!"
I don’t know where those poor people got so much steel and cement.
The spies he sent into Mengmao City to gather information have not found out the reason yet. They just heard that some of the ships transporting building materials came from Jingallan Port and some from the southern sea.
"If it doesn't work... you can still do this," the logistics officer gritted his teeth and finally took out the last card. "Before leaving, His Majesty told me that if the battle situation is really difficult, the general can stay in Mazhou and Niaozhou.
The whole area recruits its own troops."
After hearing this, Alaya narrowed his eyes and stared at the logistics officer.
"Is this really what His Majesty said?"
Being stared at by that gaze, he broke into cold sweat, and the logistics officer said tremblingly.
"It's absolutely true! How dare I try to trick you on something like this?"
Alaya stared at him expressionlessly.
"Are there any relevant documents?"
The logistics officer shook his head quickly.
"No... His Majesty just gave me verbal instructions."
Alaya stared at him meaningfully, and then looked at the list in his hand.
No wonder so many rifles were sent. It turned out to be this...
"I understand, go down."
"Yes, sir!" The logistics officer finally breathed a sigh of relief and resigned respectfully.
Watching the logistics officer leave, staff officer Gopal, who had been silent for the whole time, looked at Alaya.
"Your Majesty allows you to recruit troops locally. Isn't this a good thing? Why is the general looking so sad?"
"A good thing?"
A trace of complicated emotions appeared in Alaya's eyes, and he said calmly after a moment.
"Can't you see... When this battle is over, we will be abandoned."
There is no written document, only a verbal decree. When the time comes, it will only be a matter of one sentence whether His Majesty will accept it or not.
It's okay if you admit defeat.
If you don't admit it, even if it is a small matter, it will drive the people to the front lines to serve as cannon fodder.
And if Your Majesty wants to go further, it will be a capital crime for treason.
If not, it might bring disaster to the family.
Seeing the concern in Alaya's eyes, Gopal just smiled indifferently.
"Whether he is an abandoned son or not, we still have soldiers in our hands."
Alaya narrowed his eyes, looking at Gopal with a hint of danger.
"What do you want to do?"
Gopal continued without changing his expression.
"The wolf people will not follow you. After all, their relatives are in the Wolf State, but the horse people and the bird people may not. In my opinion, you should not only obey the order, but also obey it sternly. It's just that you don't want to compare those horse people and the bird people.
The Bird people are used as cannon fodder, but in turn, they cultivate direct descendants who are truly loyal to them——"
"That's enough! Don't say this again!" Alaya yelled angrily, interrupting him.
Gopal was not angry after being interrupted, he just nodded respectfully and saluted.
"I'm just giving you a suggestion..."
"The empire is going to be in chaos, and good people will not survive long in troubled times."
After saying that, he left Alaya with a gloomy and uncertain face, turned around and left the military tent alone.
Just when the empire's gray wolves were stalling due to lack of heavy equipment support, the opposing Yue tribe resistance army was busy sending people across the river overnight to capture the mammoth.
Obviously, every family has problems that are difficult to recite, and the seemingly prosperous Mengmao Prefecture authorities are also having a hard time.
At the same time, new changes are brewing in the wasteland.
The morning sun of the next day had just risen from the sea level in the southern waters, and the Alliance's Conch submarine surfaced in the waters near Coral City.
At this time, a small transport plane from Ideal City flew in from a distance and slowly landed on the apron on the deck of the Conch.
It was a model that Chu Guang had never seen before. It looked a bit like the Alliance's Viper. It was probably a new gadget created by the company, and it might have been copied from the Alliance.
But in fact it doesn't matter, Chu Guang is very open-minded.
After all, the alliance also has a lot of money to gain from enterprises. The engine of the "Overlord" transport aircraft was simply obtained from the "Orca" transport aircraft. It's not a big deal for people to reciprocate politely.
And what makes Chu Guang quite gratified is that the dead houses in Ideal City have finally come to their senses recently.
The company's board of directors probably finally realized that they were also part of the wasteland, and that a lunatic really made things worse, and they would eventually have to step in to clean up the mess.
Such is the trouble with the Torch Church.
If they had intervened early in the crisis in Singularity City, things would have far more than spiraled out of control.
Based on reflection on their own problems, they have become more and more active in participating in affairs in the wasteland recently. Various long-range and ultra-high-speed aircraft have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.
Soon, a middle-aged man in formal clothes walked out of the cabin door.
With a bright smile on his face, he stretched out his right hand towards Chu Guang, who was standing next to the tarmac from a distance.