Chapter 1485: Chapter 1485

1485: Chapter 1481: The Responsibility of Being Tall 1485: Chapter 1481: The Responsibility of Being Tall The times always throw a boomerang when you least expect it.

“Easterners will migrate, and our people will become the mainstream, but now, we need more labor, especially since the large local machinery can’t be used…”

“The Nirvana Plan was never just an Eastern Country’s plan.

In this process, many countries have gradually formed friendly trade relationships.

Don’t misunderstand, my country has always been non-aligned, but as leaders of the Nirvana Plan, we must shoulder the responsibility bestowed upon us by the times…”

Lu Ping’an’s cooperation made the officials much more approachable.

Everyone knew of Lu Ping’an’s crucial role in the entire strategy—no one would be foolish enough to offend this “civilian (military empty rank).”

Lu Ping’an listened for a bit, did not understand at first, and after it was explained again, he finally came to the realization.

His own “awareness” had deviated once again due to the differences in the world lines.

Although my Eastern Country is non-aligned, having some friendly neighbors is quite normal, isn’t it?

Unlike Huaqi across the ocean, which forms gangs and cliques at every turn…

Although it might seem far-fetched, essentially, it’s the same thing, just phrased differently.

The biggest difference between the two timelines has always been that the contamination appeared too early, leading to the relative independence of each country and region.

Since the 1950s, Huaqi, unable to leech off the rest of the world, naturally didn’t have the strength that Lu Ping’an remembered.

Thus, East Asia Continent was naturally within the sphere of influence of traditional Eastern Country, which was also why the Nirvana Plan managed to involve the neighboring countries.

Some small countries are very pragmatic.

Reality has taught them that if they want to live well, they must lick the boots of—or cough, maintain good relations with—the powerful neighboring nations.

And as the old leader of the region, when your little brothers are in trouble or getting beaten, you definitely need to step in.

Otherwise, the people would lose heart, and the leader would seem as good as fake, without anyone recognizing you as the leader anymore.

The Aus Independent State was in trouble, and Huaqi was actually very annoyed, but they had to deal with it.

This directly led to an overflow of illegal immigrants in their own country and a sharp decline in public security.

The same was true in the east.

Some of the island countries along the coast even sank directly.

If you, Eastern Country, really don’t take care of it, the leading position of the Nirvana Plan would be equivalent to a hollow title.

“…This would kill several birds with one stone.

It can be used to settle refugees, and at the same time, turn those who have nothing into a labor force.”

The needs of the refugees are not on the same level as ordinary citizens.

Many of the tough jobs are only willing to be taken by them, especially after they have left their homeland and lost protection; they become much “tamer”…

And if they’re not tame, there are ways to make them so.

Looking at the workers with darker skin in the designated new city construction area, Lu Ping’an found it difficult to comment…

He hadn’t seen humans working in construction sites for many years as that sort of work had generally been taken over by the Long Hand Clan and the Fishmen.

“Bring over some local heavy machinery.

If this continues, they might be subjected to poor working conditions, the quality of the work won’t be guaranteed, and most importantly, local labor unions might start protesting against us…”

Whenever you start managing things, there will always be troubles that arise completely beyond your expectations.

The locals welcomed the outsiders, especially when they found out that most of them were human…

but when they discovered that these non-Easterners were actually eyeing their own “transportation” and “concrete mixing” manual labor jobs, they immediately became unhappy.

They didn’t protest openly, but old-world Earth’s ‘sand tyrants’ and ‘brick tyrants’ — these “labor force gangs” — have always been around.

Once blood is truly shed and racial blood feuds emerge, the trouble could be significant.

On the other hand, the issue of labor compensation for these people is also a troublesome matter, and it’s not just about the money.

The currency currently in circulation in the New Kingdom is still Eastern Country’s coins, which in itself isn’t a problem, because if the New Kingdom cannot achieve a uniform “warlord” policy to forcefully implement new currency, it would directly lead to many regions refusing to use the new money.

If such a scenario happens, it would cause economic instability throughout the entire country.

And if these people are given Eastern Country’s coins as compensation… In a way, the amount of that compensation is basically at an insulting level, even inferior to the meager earnings of a sweatshop.

“What should be done about this…”

Lu Ping’an felt a headache coming on.

It wasn’t impossible to pay them using Eastern Country’s standards, but he estimated that if he did so here, then the local laborers would likely go through the roof.

Unequal pay for equal work, with a difference in the hundreds in magnitudes, would incite more than just a little discord…

Moreover, if such a “fortune” were given directly to these outsiders, and they spent it locally, they would all become rich instantly, and the local economy would likely collapse.

“…Forget it, never mind.”

Lu Ping’an stopped thinking about the problem and just handed all these troubles over to the officials.

Their administrative duties were professional, and if things collapsed, they were the ones responsible.

As it turned out, they indeed had the ability.

They created a token currency…

earn at the construction site and spend at the construction site, not a single coin to take home.

In essence, this was equal to setting a super low wage.

If these tokens were circulated locally, an extremely low exchange rate would be set, but as long as they didn’t exchange them, these foreign laborers could deceive themselves.

As long as the supply of goods was maintained, this wouldn’t be a problem in the short term, and in the long term…

“Eastern Country is negotiating with New Kingdom.

We plan to support them in establishing a new currency, initially pegged to Eastern Country’s coin at one hundred to one, but it would gradually decouple.”

Hearing this, it took Lu Ping’an quite a while to comprehend, and finally, he could only give a thumbs-up.

“So you’re planning to take direct control of New Kingdom’s economic lifeline.

That’s much stronger than our little political privileges.

“That might be overstating it…

This is clearly mutual benefit.

Their currency, their financial system, requires our support.

“Alright, alright, military and economic control has been taken away, and it’s still win-win…

Hasn’t this completely turned into a comprador government?” Lu could be honest about it now.

Although he remarked cynically, Lu Ping’an was not displeased.

After all, he was an Easterner, and he estimated that he could gain a lot in this process.

Economic finance, especially in this world’s relatively primary commodity-based economy, ultimately relied on the “production side.” And it was no secret that the largest arms dealer, the logistics manufacturer in this world, was that Chamber of Commerce.

The new employees were diligent, although their mental state was generally quite poor, as many of them had faced total disasters and lost everything within the last six months.

And consequently, the security here would likely plummet…

“Twelve refugees died?

Were they killed on the street?”

“They’re from the gangs among the refugees; they didn’t want to work honestly and started to extort protection fees on the streets…”

“There are professionals everywhere here…”

“Uh, I haven’t told them that yet.”

While those who lost everything could easily fall into depravity and extremism, the infrastructure in place was one aspect and, on the other hand…

“The local homicide and disappearance cases were already terrifyingly high.

A few more won’t make a difference.”

In this hard world, it seemed there was really nothing to fear.

When Lu Ping’an was planning to open the Courtyard to the outsiders according to the expected plan, he was stopped.

“They are working very hard every day, they have no time to become professionals…

cough, we can prioritize the people from Eastern Country’s military.

At least, let them have some peace of mind.”

With the current throughput of the Courtyard, if the priority did end up being set after the locals, it could be years before their turn came.

But this was probably what Eastern Country needed.

The Easterners must always maintain absolute dominance, integrating into this mixed world slowly, which was good for both sides.

“Okay, do you want me to raise the threshold and the fees?”

cough, I mean, isn’t that a bit too much?”

Look, the Resistance Commerce Association needs more forced laborers and believers.

Isn’t it only natural for the Devotees to get priority?

Should only the good people go to Heaven?”