When Chu Dehan on the side saw this, he immediately coughed and interrupted:
"Mr. Hong is too pessimistic. Although New York has many shortcomings, it has a strong foundation. As long as it survives this catastrophe, the future will still be bright.
It’s okay if outsiders don’t believe it. We ourselves must strengthen our confidence, carry forward the spirit of hard work, and strive to build New York into the federal first underground city as soon as possible.”
"Excuse me, who are you?" the male host cautiously asked.
The more he listened to the other person's voice, the more familiar it felt.
"Ahem..." Chu Dehan quickly covered it up.
After her husband's reminder, the hostess Michelle suddenly said in surprise: "I remembered, you are Mayor Chu, right? No wonder the voice is so familiar."
Chu Dehan nodded slightly, and then warned: "I came out secretly to do research this time. Just know it and don't make it public."
The male host's eyes widened and he looked at Zhang Hao aside: "Mayor Chu, this is the executive..."
Logically speaking, the other party should be accompanying the consul at the moment, and there is no way he would have time to do any research.
The truth is already coming out.
Seeing that his identity was exposed, Zhang Hao had no choice but to take off his mask and apologized:
"I don't mean to hide it from you. I mainly want to see the real situation at the grassroots level. After all, this is far away from the capital. I don't know if Mayor Chu has concealed anything."
"No, no, Mayor Chu has done a great job. In the past few years, the area of New York's underground space has more than doubled in one fell swoop. This is obvious to all."
The male host quickly praised.
Chu Dehan waved his hand and said modestly: "I still have a lot to do. The expansion of underground space is almost over. Next, we need to speed up the construction of underground infrastructure, enhance public service facilities, and provide a better living environment for the general public.
.”
After all, the population of New York is limited, and the current underground space is sufficient.
"Well said!" Zhang Hao clapped his hands lightly a few times, and then said earnestly: "In the past ten years, the Federation has caused a lot of suffering to the people in order to save itself. Now it is time to make changes."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone at the scene immediately burst into cheers. It may be an act, it may be sincere, or it may be both.
After cheering, the male host tried to inquire: "Consul, is the socialized upbringing you just mentioned one of the policies to benefit the people?"
"That's right." Zhang Hao nodded.
"With all due respect, this policy has good intentions, but it can easily lead to very serious consequences."
The male host said bravely.
Zhang Hao paid attention on the spot: "Oh? How do you say it?"
The male host looked around, then pulled Zhang Hao into the bedroom and explained in a low voice:
"Consul, today's young people don't want to have children. There are many factors that cannot be completely solved by socialized upbringing.
As we all know, the less developed the economy, the higher the fertility rate, and once socialized parenting is fully implemented, regions such as the Tianzhu Peninsula and the Middle East will inevitably see a population boom."
Zhang Hao immediately understood the other party's subtext.
This is indeed something he overlooked.
Putting aside narrow nationalist ideas, once the mainland loses its demographic advantage, it will definitely be a big trouble, and it may even lose federal leadership.
The male host continued: "Our ancestors have an old saying, 'Those who are not of my race will have different minds.' Archon, please don't be confused!"
"Mr. Hong, thank you for your reminder. Don't worry, I will consider it carefully and will not make fun of the fate of our descendants."
Zhang Hao quickly gave a guarantee.
The worst case scenario is to implement socialized parenting in the local area first, and then extend it to other areas once the effects are achieved. This way, imbalances in the "population structure" can be avoided.
"Consul, with your words, I feel relieved." The male host couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.
Compared with the disintegration of the marriage system and allowing the Tianzhu and Middle Easterners to take advantage of the opportunity to rise, that is the worst. It is more uncomfortable than killing him.
Zhang Hao smiled and the two returned to the living room.
"Mr. Hong, Ms. Michelle, I have one last question for you two."
"Consul, you can ask whatever you want."
"If the authorities force you to send your children to a specialized foster care institution, will you agree?"
Socialized parenting is not an empty talk.
It is somewhat similar to the current compulsory education and should be mandatory.
Otherwise, some children will be raised by the family, while others will be raised by the government, which will cause long-term social divisions and even antagonism.
Michelle frowned immediately: "Forced? How to force? Can you also come to rob someone?"
"That's not the case, but there will be corresponding punitive measures, such as dismissal from public office, reduction of food stamp share, and even unfair education."
Zhang Hao simply gave a few examples.
"What?" The male host couldn't help being shocked, "This is too unfair. It is natural for parents to raise their children. How can they interfere?"
Michelle was also shocked.
Zhang Hao quickly comforted him: "I think you two may have misunderstood. Socialized parenting does not mean taking the child away from you, but changing the parenting model.
As parents, you can visit your children at any time, and you can also take your children home for reunions during holidays. There is no deliberate obstruction.
In short, to sum up, it is to focus on the government and supplement the family, which can not only reduce the burden on the family, but also strengthen the management of children and adolescents."
The male host glanced at his wife and said hesitantly: "If that's the case, it's not unacceptable."
Michelle discovered an obvious loophole: "Your Excellency Archon, I have a question. Some children are weak and cannot live without their mothers. What should we do?"
"Ms. Michelle, you are worrying too much. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to socialized parenting. The official will comprehensively consider the actual situation of each child. There will be no mandatory requirements for children who are not suitable for centralized parenting."
Zhang Hao smiled and comforted.
"So that's the case, then I'm relieved."
Michelle breathed a sigh of relief.
…
In the next week, Zhang Hao traveled almost throughout the dungeon. While collecting first-hand information about the dungeon, he tried to promote socialized parenting.
"Socialized parenting" is the most important goal during his term of office, and he must go all out no matter what.
On January 25, the inspection team arrived in Venezuela.
To be precise, it should be Maracaibo Bay in Venezuela, located at the entrance of Lake Maracaibo, with a population of about half a million people.
Looking at the entire America, it is definitely one of the largest cities.
Like other mining cities in the Americas, this place is more like a large construction site. If you ask anyone on the street, almost all of them are employees of major state-owned enterprises.
In order to welcome the arrival of the consul, the officials of Maracaibo Bay held a grand welcome ceremony. The port was crowded with people, as if the New Year was celebrated in advance.
"Welcome, welcome, warm welcome..."
The welcome song was played at the same time.
Shortly after disembarking from the ship, a group of students immediately presented flowers. To be honest, this was the first time the inspection group had received such treatment since going to sea.
However, Zhang Hao was a little unhappy about this.
Hu Changgao, the mayor of Maracaibo Bay who accompanied him, was very observant and quickly explained:
"Archon, it's winter vacation now, so it won't affect the children's study."
Zhang Hao nodded, then pointed to the flowers in his hand and sighed: "It's not easy to cultivate these flowers. Isn't it a pity to just pick them like this?"
Currently, all major cities have indoor parks.
It's not surprising that there are flowers.
"What you taught us is that we will definitely change in the future."
Hu Changgao had a good attitude towards admitting his mistake.
Zhang Hao didn't dwell on the issue anymore, turned around and handed the flowers to his assistant, then started shaking hands with the crowd and even taking photos.
No matter what, being friendly to the people is a necessary skill.
On the way to the guest house, Hu Changgao did not miss any time and took the opportunity to report on his work.
Zhang Hao took the economic data of Maracaibo Bay City last year and nodded with satisfaction:
"Not bad, not bad. The economic data far exceeded expectations, especially the GDP growth rate of 7.8%, which can definitely rank among the top ten in the entire federation."
"They are all well-led by the consuls!"
Hu Changgao boasted habitually.
Zhang Hao waved his hands repeatedly: "It has nothing to do with me. These are all the work of Dean Fan and you. After all, I have only been in office for less than a year, and with this trip, I haven't had time to get started with many tasks!"
"Consul, I am not flattering you. To be honest, in the second half of last year, a large number of investors suddenly came to our place. After asking, I found out that it was you who recommended them.
Without these investments, our GDP growth rate would never be as amazing as it is. I have had people do statistics and it turns out that it would be at least three to four percentage points lower."
"Are there so many?" Zhang Hao asked in surprise.
"Of course." Hu Changgao nodded solemnly, "In two days, I will take you to visit the oil fields, and you will know. Nowadays, more than a dozen exploration teams are working hard to find new oil fields every day."
"Really? Have they drilled new oil wells?"
Zhang Hao asked impatiently.
"They haven't been here for long. They have only found one oil and gas field so far, with estimated recoverable reserves of about 120 million tons. It's a good start."
Hu Changgao replied quickly.
Zhang Hao suddenly became interested and continued to ask: "Which company is so lucky?"
"Chang Ming Petroleum, their boss behind the scenes, is the famous scavenger Chen Chuan. He is the prototype of the protagonist in the movie "Red Dead Redemption"."
"So it's him?" Zhang Hao couldn't help but be a little surprised, and then said with emotion: "It seems that Chen Chuan's legendary story has a sequel. This guy is really not simple."
"Chen Chuan became rich overnight this time. As long as he sells the oil fields, he will immediately earn one billion, which is much more profitable than the Weiyuan Company under his name."
Hu Changgao couldn't help but envy him.
Zhang Hao immediately noticed something strange in the other party's words: "What do you mean? Is someone trying to rob someone by force?"
"Uh... taking it by force is a bit exaggerated, but there are indeed several companies that are very interested in the new oil field and want to acquire it. They are still negotiating." Hu Changgao avoided the important point and said lightly.
"Are there any state-owned enterprises here?"
Zhang Hao frowned.
Hu Changgao nodded: "There are indeed two state-owned enterprises, one is Dongfang Petroleum and the other is the newly established Federal Petroleum Group."
"Good guys, one family is a long-established 'noble' and the other is an upstart who has just entered the market. Chen Chuan has no choice but to sell now." Zhang Hao said directly sarcastically.
"Consul, don't worry, you personally started this development boom, they don't dare to do anything wrong."
"Obviously I don't dare, but secretly it's hard to say." Zhang Hao was noncommittal.
Hu Changgao smiled and was speechless.
Zhang Hao then asked again: "Apart from these two families, who else is there?"
"In addition, there are three European energy giants and several newly established private oil companies, all of which come from the north."
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I will take the time to meet Chen Chuan in person later." Zhang Hao waved his hand and then changed the subject: "What is your reaction to this state-owned enterprise reform?"
"Generally, I support it."
Hu Chang's words were concise and concise.
"Is there anyone who is doing anything wrong?"
Zhang Hao said without hesitation.
Hu Changgao smiled bitterly and nodded: "Consul, let me tell you the truth. The sky is high here and the emperor is far away. Those state-owned giants have long regarded the Maracaibo Basin as their base, and it is normal to have resistance.
"
"Normal? They are just enclosing land to enrich themselves and ignore the overall situation. Is this going to happen in the long run?"
Zhang Hao couldn't help but increase his volume.
"Consul, you are serious. They should have no idea of resisting the central government, otherwise they would not let people like Chen Chuan in. Do you think this is true?" Hu Changgao tried to persuade.
As the leader of Maracaibo Bay, my main job is to deal with these oil companies. I have many contacts with them on a daily basis, and I have more or less affection for them.
Zhang Hao nodded secretly. Most of these dozen oil companies are from Guangdong Province, which is equivalent to half of his own people. They must give him face as a consul both in public and in private.
If it were anyone else, it might not be so simple.
"You are right. In short, this wave of investment boom is rare. You must make good use of this opportunity and strive to catch up with the oil production capacity in the north as soon as possible."
Taking last year's data as an example, the oil production in the Maracaibo Basin is only about a quarter of that in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The two sides are not at the same level.
There is still a long way to go in the south, and we need to work harder.
Hu Changgao did not shirk: "Consul, no matter how great the difficulty is, we will do our best."
"If you have any difficulties, you can raise them. You must also know that I have some connection with you. I hope you can get better and better than anyone else."
Zhang Hao solemnly promised.
"Consul, first of all, on behalf of all the people of Maracaibo Bay, I would like to say thank you to you." Hu Changgao paused, then complained: "Speaking of difficulties, there is indeed one at the moment, and it is quite difficult."