Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Page 127

"Why are you so slow?" Dinia asked. She had been waiting for Ambrina and Ronan for ten minutes at the agreed meeting place.

At this moment, Dinia had red hair tied in a braid and was wearing the typical clothing worn by middle-class white women in the New World: a gray linen long skirt, brown short leather boots, and maroon knitted cotton stockings.

"It's my fault, I overslept," Ronan admitted his mistake.

Ronan was also dressed in mid-level white men's clothing: a drab gray shirt, muddy-colored overalls, long socks, and leather shoes.

Ambrina was dressed better, in a plain white long dress, white silk stockings that were easy to wrinkle due to their low elasticity, and light brown high heels with thick laces. This was the kind of clothing that only a young lady from a farm would wear. Of course, for Ambrina, this was the worst clothes she had ever worn. She wore better clothes when she was shoveling soil and planting flowers in the fields, but she didn't care about that.

Ronan carried Ambrina, with Dinia behind them. The three of them boarded a flying vehicle made up of floating shields and tough mushroom-shaped barriers and left Cardina City, heading south at high speed.

Soon, the three arrived at a market town more than ten kilometers south of the city, next to the bone china and glass factory areas.

Dinia noticed a breakfast stall that hadn't closed yet and walked straight over to it.

The stall owner was about to close up shop after a long day without any customers, since he only had a little food left and could take it home to eat. But when he saw that more customers had arrived, he quickly came over to greet them.

He's a law-abiding citizen, so communicating with Master Bai is no problem for him.

His breakfast stall sells only two things: rolled pancakes and corn porridge; they are not sold separately.

Breakfast for three was served quickly: two wraps and a bowl of corn porridge for each person.

Ambrina took a bite, managing not to show any displeasure. The flour and cornmeal were coarse and had a poor texture. The filling contained no meat, only chopped tripe and liver, onions, tomatoes, and cheap cheese, along with a lot of chili peppers. As for the corn porridge, it was thin and contained cornmeal.

The shop owner looked extremely nervous. He regretted not packing up immediately. The woman in front of him was clearly a young lady from a wealthy family. If she got angry, the stall he had bought with borrowed money would be ruined.

"How much?" Dinia asked.

“Three bronze feathers,” the stall owner replied.

Bronze feathers were the currency of the French colonies, named for the feather patterns printed on them. Four bronze feathers were roughly equivalent to one bronze musket.

Ronan reached for his money, but the stall owner quickly waved his hand and laughed, "Hehe, this meal is on me."

Ronan put his hand back, and Dinia continued, "What did you do before?"

"I used to cook at the master's house, but the master was hanged by Lord Ronan, so I started setting up my own stall." The stall owner boasted, head held high. He dared not tell the truth; he did indeed cook at the manor, but for the slaves.

Actually, he quite missed those days. Although his income was less than it is now, back then, which slave didn't treat him with utmost respect? Unlike now, there's no one he can bully.

Dinya knew, of course, that this man couldn't possibly be a cook for the plantation owner, and she didn't care about that. What she cared about was that this man, who was already in his thirties, could still have a job to make a living, even if there were no factories or farms that hired him.

This small example demonstrates the larger picture: Ronan's plan achieved its intended effect. The existence of the factory did indeed boost the surrounding area, allowing more people to live a better life.

"How many breakfasts can you sell in a morning?" Dinia asked again.

Seeing that the man and two women weren't particularly aggressive, the stall owner relaxed. "A hundred or so servings, not many. Most of the people who come here are small vendors; the workers eat in the canteen." A hint of regret flashed across his face when he mentioned the workers eating in the canteen. If there were no canteen, he could earn so much more money.

Just then, a young mixed-race indigenous man in tattered clothes approached the stall owner timidly. "Boss, are you hiring?"

"I'm not hiring. Get out of here. Can't you see I'm talking to the young master and young lady here?" the stall owner retorted irritably.

The mixed-race youth lowered his head, not daring to retort.

Chapter 288 A Stinking Outsider, a Cog in the Machine, Recruiting People

The mixed-race youth noticed the barely touched breakfast on the table and looked at Ronan and the other two.

The young man lowered his hands and clenched his fists, looking even more embarrassed. After hesitating for a long time, he finally spoke, "Honorable young master and young lady, would you like to eat some more?" The young man's voice was low and he was very embarrassed.

Ronan glanced at the young man with curiosity; it was rare to see an indigenous person with such self-respect.

Ambrina was even more disgusted by pitiful people than Dinia, but before she could speak, the stall owner jumped up and yelled, "Eat your mother's ass! You stinking outsider, you've come to our town to beg for food, haven't you? Get lost!"

After being yelled at, the young man didn't say a word and turned away.

Ambrina was a little unhappy, but seeing that Dinia didn't react, she didn't say anything.

In the past, Dinia would have been furious at the sight of this, but she wasn't. She acted like most white people in the colonies, not caring about the plight of a native. After the young man had walked away, Dinia asked the stall owner, "Why did you say he was from out of town?"

“My family has served Lord Bai in the Governor’s Office for five generations. I can tell from his smell that he comes from those tribes in the south,” the stall owner replied with pride.

"Then what is he doing here, a stranger from out of town?" Ambrina asked.

Upon hearing the young lady's question, the stall owner's boasting spirit flared up. "Your Excellency, a while ago, the Earl in the south passed away, and the surrounding tribes were in chaos. Lord Ronan ordered the officials and officers who originally belonged to the Earl's territory to quell the rebellion. In doing so, wouldn't he take the opportunity to extort money from the chiefs? Since the chiefs were extorted, they naturally had to squeeze money back from the tribespeople. As a result, many people in the southern tribes are so poor that they have nothing left. Coincidentally, we built a factory here, so many people have come here to make a living."

"Hey you three, don't let that guy's seemingly decent appearance fool you. These out-of-towners are incredibly low-class. All they ever think about is taking advantage of others. I ran into one a few days ago, with a kid, insisting on buying three wraps, refusing the corn porridge, saying water would be fine. What a bastard! Ugh! And yesterday, after I closed up shop, I ran into another one..."

The stall owner got more and more excited as he talked, but Dinia interrupted him and asked, "Why didn't that young man go into the factory?"

"To get into the factory, you have to join the union first. To join the union, you either need a guarantor or you have to pay a deposit. To be fair, Mr. Ronan is a good man. We locals can definitely find someone to guarantee us. However, Mr. Ronan is just too kind. Since no one can guarantee us, we have to pay a deposit, and the deposit can even be refunded. If you ask me, we shouldn't have refunded the money to these stinky outsiders."

The stall owner couldn't help but exclaim how wonderful Ronan was.

Luo Nan smiled slightly. The deposit could indeed be refunded, but most of the deposits for those who came from other places to work in the factory were borrowed. The factory would return the deposit to them after three months, but they would still have to repay the principal and interest to the lender. The interest for these three months was not high, equivalent to only three months' wages.

Simply put, if the locals from the south start working in the factory, they basically work for free for the first three months.

Of course, lending to workers and peasants was subject to the supervision of the Security Bureau under the Ministry of the Interior, since the Security Bureau was responsible for protecting workers and peasants.

Dinia really didn't want to listen to the stall owner anymore, so she simply bought a silver coin and left.

Ronan and Ambrina then got up and left.

The stall owner was overjoyed as he touched the silver coin, which was equivalent to three days' profit for him.

In fact, this small silver coin is not even as big as the silver earring of his ancestor from more than a hundred years ago. But more than a hundred years have passed, and he, a law-abiding citizen, has long forgotten. Even if he knew history, he would only curse his ancestors for being stupid and deserving to be deceived by clever men.

On the other side, Ronan and his two companions walked down the street, looking for a decent place to eat. They hadn't touched the wraps and corn porridge they'd just had.

Coincidentally, Ronan and his two companions saw the same mixed-race youth who had come to the breakfast stall earlier.

The mixed-race youth was sitting on the dirt road by the street, with a little girl sitting next to him. In front of him was a cloth with many small items on it, including a knife that looked quite sharp, a blowgun, woodworking tools such as a saw and a hammer, a pendant made of cow bone, and a turquoise necklace.

What really caught Ronan's attention were a few screws. Screws have been around for a long time and are not unusual, but these screws were a bit rough, and it looked like the maker's craftsmanship was very poor. However, Ronan, being an engineering student, could tell at a glance that these things were not handmade, but machined.

At this moment, a burly, overweight local man stood in front of the young man's stall with two other men. No one dared to approach them. Just by looking at the scene, it was clear that these three were the old thugs of this street.

Ronan watched from afar, and Ambrina also stopped. Dinia was a little curious, as Ronan, who had just been indifferent to the mixed-race youth, suddenly became very concerned about him.

"How much is this knife?" the fat, local native asked the young man.

“I made it myself. It grinds very well. Three hundred feathers,” the young man replied.

"Three hundred? Why don't you just rob someone? Thirty, I'll take it," said the fat native, pulling out a handful of small copper coins.

"Not for sale," the young man refused.

"Heh, I bet you stole it." The fat native said irritably. "You cheap natives can't even make a wheel, yet you make your own knife. This is stolen goods, confiscated. You two, take all the stolen goods and come with me."

Just then, someone in the crowd watching from a distance shouted, "This fat guy is just a thug; he has no right to confiscate people's belongings."

Fatty Biao instantly flew into a rage, yelling, "Who shouted that? Come out!"

Immediately, a hush fell over the surrounding area.

The young man realized something was wrong, so he rolled up a piece of cloth, gathered a bunch of things, and prepared to run away.

Unexpectedly, one of the three men, a short and stocky one, grabbed the little girl next to him and was about to pull her over when the young man punched the short and stocky man in the face, knocking him over. Fei Biao lunged at the young man, but the seemingly skinny young man was surprisingly strong and kicked him away with one foot.

Enraged, Fatty Biao drew his short knife from his waist and slashed at the enemy. Just then, Dinia moved his foot slightly, and a pebble flew out from the ground, knocking the knife away.

"Who?!" Fatty Biao roared.

Dinia stepped forward. "Me."

When Fatty Biao saw that Dinia was white, he immediately cowered, but he still shouted, "Don't think you're so great. My big brother is a friend of Lord Ronan. You just wait."

Dinia gave Ronan a meaningful look, then called out, "I'll be waiting right here."

Fei Biao and his two companions ran away. The young man was also about to run away, but when he saw that Diniya and his two companions had not left, he stopped. In his heart, he felt that he was the one who had caused this, and he could not just abandon the people who had saved him and run away.

Ronan looked at the young man and said, "You're really interesting. There aren't many natives like you."

"You should spend more time thinking about yourself instead," Dinia reminded Ronan.

"I'd also like to see who this 'friend' of mine is," Ronan replied with a smile, already mentally considering how the other person would die. Using his name to commit evil, he must be tired of living.

Chapter 289 Acquaintances, Recruitment—Someone Has to Be Exploited

A while later, Fatty Biao returned with a group of seven people. They had blue cloths tied around their right arms and headbands with feathers tied tightly with thin thread. They were from the city's market management office, a department established by Ronan. The large-scale factory area had brought prosperity to the surrounding towns, attracting a large influx of people from many southern tribes seeking a living. Most of them couldn't find stable employment and could only do odd jobs.

Given this situation, it is necessary to appoint a group of people similar to urban management officers to regulate market order; otherwise, "dynamic social organizations" will fill this gap.

Of course, these "urban management officers" are definitely not good people either.

To Ronan's surprise, the guy leading this group was someone he knew, and who also knew him.

This guy is the third son of the chief of the Shuangxiong tribe, and the person who received him back then.

The third brother actually survived and even rose to the position of a city management squad leader in this town.

The third brother didn't know Dinia, much less Ambrina, but he recognized Ronan at a glance, even though Ronan was just wearing a small mustache as a disguise.

"Attack!" the third brother commanded.

Upon hearing the unannounced "Hit!", Fatty the native grinned, but the next second, a stick struck him on the head, stunning him completely. Before he could react, the three of them were pinned to the ground and brutally beaten with obsidian batons by seven city management officers. In less than half a minute, Fatty and his two accomplices lay dead in pools of blood.

The third brother originally wanted to walk towards Ronan, but after being glared at by Ronan, he immediately went to the mixed-race youth who had been bullied. "I won't say anything more. From now on, you're my brother. If you need anything, just come to me. Here, take this." With that, the third brother stuffed a few copper coins into the mixed-race youth's hand.

"Let's go." The third brother hurriedly told his men to leave.

“Hey, city management officer, you’ve forgotten something,” Ronan suddenly said.

The third brother rushed over and took the blue cloth from Ronan with both hands. The moment they touched, Ronan said to the third brother, "Go find Elena and tell her about this. She will take care of you."

The third brother smiled and nodded repeatedly, then led his men and ran off in a flash.

Seeing that he was still laughing, Ronan knew that he did not understand what the so-called arrangement meant. Ronan believed that Elena could understand his intention and seize this opportunity to rectify the problem of the urban management team's conduct. Of course, it was impossible to really turn these urban management officers into good people; it was just about picking a few "typical examples."

In fact, honest people with self-respect like mixed-race youths are a minority among the indigenous people. Most of the indigenous people who dare to make a living on the streets are "troublemakers." If they are not bad people, you really can't control them.

The farce ended just like that, and the onlookers, having lost interest in watching the spectacle, dispersed.

Ronan walked up to the mixed-race youth and asked, "Where did that screw come from?"

“I made it myself,” the mixed-race youth replied. Seemingly afraid that Ronan would doubt him, he added, “I improved the lathe and added a screw rod so that the lathe could cut threads.” When he said this, the youth was actually still very uneasy, because he knew that most white people were actually quite stupid and knew nothing about machining.

It's quite possible that the young white man in front of him would think he was making up a lie.

Ronan pulled a small metal card out of his pocket. "Take this card and go to the Third Machinery Manufacturing Plant in Cardina City. Find a girl named Canaan. She will give you a job."

The mixed-race youth paused for a moment, then said, "I...I have no money."

Ronan gave him two silver coins directly. "Go on. If you run into trouble in the city, just say you know someone named Elena. She's blonde and half a head taller than you."

After saying that, Ronan ignored the mixed-race youth. In fact, Ronan had already made a better machine tool, which could be used in conjunction with the steam engine once it arrived. He just thought that this mixed-race youth was a talent, so he was prepared to give him a chance.

The mixed-race young man left with the little girl.

After a while, Ronan and Dinia arrived at the only hotel in town. This hotel did not accept ordinary people, but only factory leaders, town officials, and officials or technicians from the governor's office who came on business.

Of course, this is not a problem for Ronan and his team.

In the hotel, after taking a sip of cream soup, Dinia looked at Ronan and asked, "Don't you have anything to say?"

Ronan retorted, "What should I say? I can't exactly say something like, 'Those city management officers are still better than gangsters,' can I?"

Dinia tapped the soup plate. "Don't try to change the subject. You know what I wanted to talk about is the issue of treating locals and outsiders differently."

Ronan explained, “It’s not that I want to treat them differently, but locals will spontaneously exclude other locals, and state-owned factory workers will spontaneously exclude farmers from other places. If I don’t give locals and workers certain preferential treatment, this exclusion will gradually fester in the dark and eventually erupt. At least it’s under control now and can be adjusted slowly.”

Adjusting my foot! Conflicts between locals and outsiders, between workers and peasants, and even between ordinary natives and mixed-race natives are all part of his established policy. There will be more in the future. Everything is to ensure that the natives can never unite, without affecting production.

Dinia stopped talking, silently finished her food, then stood up. "Let's go to the clay digging area."

"Why don't we go check out the glass and bone china factories?" Ronan asked.

"I'm not going." Dinia refused outright. After being an official for several years, did she not know what a vanity project was?

“Alright,” Ronan agreed.

After leaving the town and flying for half a day, Ronan and his two companions arrived at a roadside where clay was transported and stood on a high point to observe the surroundings.

Over here, a long line of laborers are carrying soil. They have no clothes or shoes, only loincloths. Every now and then, you can see an indigenous laborer fall down. Some struggle to get up, while others are dragged away because they can't get up.

Ambrina gripped Ronan's hand tightly. "Can't we use livestock?"

“Livestock are unruly and expensive,” Ronan replied.

Seeing this scene, Dinia couldn't help but ask, "Ronan, didn't I say that people shouldn't die so easily?"

Ronan waved his hand. “He won’t die. Just drag him away and give him some salt water. He’ll be fine after a couple of days of rest. To be honest, people who get exhausted usually do too much work on their own. We get piecework wages for transporting soil. If you do less, you won’t collapse from exhaustion. In the past, this kind of work was done by slaves in the colonies. If they didn’t work, they would be whipped. If they died from exhaustion, they would be dragged aside and buried.”

"Oh." Upon hearing this, Ambrina instantly felt that Ronan was very kind.

“Give me a raise,” Dinia said.