Yes, Madam Prime Minister

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“We could give them a small food allowance, add some oil to their meals, which would actually boost the pig farming industry,” Ronan said. He never directly contradicted Dinia’s decisions, but raising wages was absolutely out of the question. If they did, the earthworkers would earn more than the bricklayers, which was unreasonable. No, it wasn’t.

"Hmm." Dinia nodded reluctantly. At least, under Ronan's command, the factory hadn't exploited them too much.

She was unaware that this less ruthless exploitation was built upon the brutal exploitation of the city-state alliance established by O and Chip.

Chapter 290 They split it up, one room, all smeared with black paint.

On the outskirts of the capital of Nava, at dusk, O and Chip walked among the cornfields, where the corn planted in April was just beginning to sprout.

“Oh, we should talk to the people at the Governor’s Office. The prices they’re offering for agricultural products are too low,” Chip said very seriously.

"I finally got out for a walk, can you please not talk about this?" Ao said impatiently, he didn't want to discuss these political matters.

O is now the head of a city-state federation that governs hundreds of thousands of natives, but that does not change the fact that he is essentially just a sixteen-year-old boy with only a primary school education. The ups and downs in the previous battles have matured him a lot, and at the beginning of his reign, he was like a man on steroids, working hard to handle government affairs. But after a few months, once everything stabilized, he immediately began to feel weary of government affairs.

If it weren't for the enemies to the west and the slight resentment from some small tribes in the surrounding area, he would have long ago been living a life of hunting by day and roaming the wilderness at night.

“This is important,” Chip emphasized loudly.

“They all seem to be doing quite well,” O’Brien said.

“The ‘they’ you’re talking about are the people of high caste now; the others are just barely surviving,” Chip said.

O became increasingly irritated and retorted, "Isn't it enough that they're not starving to death? People used to starve to death in these wretched indigenous tribes, but they're doing much better now."

“It’s not them, it’s us,” Chip corrected. “We’re not starving now, but the population will increase, and our expansion is restricted. We must find a way to make more money and then develop manufacturing so that we can truly develop. Ronan will leave sooner or later. Once he’s gone, the new people who come won’t be as troublesome as him. That will be our opportunity.”

"Let's talk about it after the teacher leaves."

O'Neill stated directly that he had worked hard to get to his current position and did not want any conflict with Ronan.

"But now is the time for us to accumulate resources. At the very least, we need to get out of this predicament. Right now, we don't even have farm tools or flour milling machines. Otherwise, even if he leaves, we won't be able to recover in a few years. Oh, we can just slightly increase the price of our agricultural products. He won't object."

Chip said with great confidence.

“Okay, you, no, I need to think carefully about who you’ll go to negotiate with.” O’Brien agreed. He had originally planned to send Chip to negotiate, but then changed his mind and decided to send someone else instead.

Chip objected. He knew that if someone else were to negotiate, Ronan wouldn't even need to get involved; anyone from the Governor's Office could easily destroy him. But he didn't want to say anything more.

At first, he simply looked down on O. When O didn't take drastic measures against the various chieftains, he was disappointed. Now, he is utterly disappointed.

How to do?

A coup? Even if it succeeds, the indigenous people won't support him, and the newly established city-state will collapse in an instant.

If we continue like this, he'll be marginalized sooner or later.

Chip thought about it and made a decision: after some time, he would take a small group of people who supported him to develop in a small town in the south.

This city-state is no longer my concern. You can keep it for yourselves.

Just as Chip was determined to break away, on the other side, Ronan, Ambrina, and Dinia observed a certain mine during their flight. There's not much to say about the mine; it's inhumane, but isn't this labor reform? You might say it could kill people, laughable. The colony lacks everything, but it doesn't lack people who need labor reform, especially those self-righteous white people.

Coming to the New World to be a lord is fine, but to be a lord, you must follow the rules of Ms. Dinia and Ronan, otherwise you'll have to be reformed.

First be a grandson, then a grandfather.

Afterwards, Ronan and his two companions arrived at a small town in the south. They booked one room at a hotel, just one room, a run-down and small one. Don't look down on it, though, all the other hotels were full, and this run-down hotel had one room left.

The southern part of this town is a cotton-growing area, and there are more than a dozen factories near the town that perform basic cotton processing.

In the past, many distributors who bought cotton products settled here, and each secretly negotiated business with different cotton producers.

Things are different now. The Governor's Office has taken the lead in establishing a price alliance, a monopolistic organization. Distributors purchase goods in a unified manner, forming a powerful force, and price negotiations have become public.

The united front of the distributors has forced cotton growers to unite as well. Major cotton landowners from all over the south have gathered here these days to discuss forming an alliance.

So the town has been very lively lately, so lively that there is a housing shortage. Ronan and his two companions can only share one room with just one bed.

After checking into the hotel, the three of them went downstairs for dinner.

The restaurant on the first floor has a total of five tables, and with Ronan and his two companions, they occupied four of them.

As soon as I sat down, I heard a mixed-race native at the next table, who had just taken a big gulp of cheap ale, say, "If you ask me, things are much better now than when that bird of a bird, Count Louis, was in charge. I heard that the governor is a woman. Impressive."

"Of course she's amazing. I heard she's the strongest woman on Master Bai's side. She can kill a bear with one punch and a person can stand on her arm."

"If I had that kind of ability, I could easily become an official too."

The two mixed-race people at the table chimed in.

Ronan held back his laughter, but a white man at another table laughed. "Ha, natives are natives. What does force have to do with governing a place? Ha."

Seeing that the three mixed-race natives were being mocked and looked down upon, another white man got angry and quickly kicked his companion under the table.

He and his companions were just low-level foremen, the bottom of the white population. These three mixed-race natives weren't from their factory, and they had spare money to drink, so they weren't the lowest-level workers either. If they really angered these three, they could gather a group of people and sneak up on them in the dark and beat them up with sticks, and the boss wouldn't back them up.

The white foreman thought for a moment, then stopped scoffing and said in a tone that suggested he was going to "explain something to you," "You don't understand, do you? The one in charge of this colony isn't actually this female governor, but the Secretary of the Interior, Ronan. Ronan, ever heard of him?"

“Of course I’ve heard that,” said the mixed-race man drinking ale. “But what makes you say Ronan is in charge?”

"Why would I need to? Can a woman do that?" the white man retorted, then pressed his advantage, "I've heard that Ronan's territory is particularly large, and our female governor has managed to subdue it. So, who do you think is in charge now?"

The three mixed-race individuals stared wide-eyed, swallowed hard, and nodded simultaneously, indicating that they understood.

"Hey bro, isn't that female governor pretty?" a mixed-race man asked.

The white man moved closer and whispered, "See that redhead over there? She's even prettier than her."

The mixed-race man drinking ale was still a bit unconvinced, "Damn it, that female governor can kill a bear with one punch, how could she be subdued?"

"Hey bro, you've never done this before, have you? Even the wildest woman will go soft after a couple of thrusts, won't she? She'll be completely at your mercy. Besides, that Ronan." The white foreman paused deliberately, gesturing with his hands, "This big."

The three mixed-race individuals stood there dumbfounded, their mouths agape.

Ronan, listening from the side, felt his heart sink. Damn it, these guys were trying to kill him. Aside from the fact that he really was that big, they were all smearing him.

Chapter 291 Real Business Warfare, Face to Face, Immortality

Just as Ronan was pondering how to explain things later, three people at another table, who were clearly businessmen, started talking. Naturally, they disdained to participate in the vulgar topics about lower-class whites and mixed-race people, and were talking about serious matters.

The three men initially discussed buying and selling. They weren't merchants involved in cotton; they were just small-time traders selling everyday goods. However, this didn't stop them from moving on to more sophisticated topics after a few sentences about their profession: cotton plantation owners.

"Did you know that two people have died recently?"

"That's old news; three people died."

"Heh, you two probably don't know, but that guy did all three of them."

"That person?"

"It's the one who wants to unify the plantation owners."

"Isn't this a case of our own people killing each other?"

"There's no other way; it's all for the sake of unification."

"So the others won't say anything?"

"There's no evidence. Everyone knows it was him, but he has the most power. What can we do without evidence?"

Ronan quickly finished his dinner, ignored the conversations of the other three tables, and went straight to his room.

In the room, Ambrina sat on the edge of the bed, recalling what she had just heard, and muttered, "Ronan, aren't these people businessmen? And weren't they supposed to be forming an alliance? Why are they killing people?" Just now, while having dinner downstairs, the people at the next table were talking about recent events. Several cotton plantation owners had been murdered, and a few of them, after drinking some alcohol, insisted that it was the victims' competitors who did it.

"Haha, alliances like this definitely have to follow the principle of 'pacifying the internal before resisting the external,' so internal competition has to come first." Ronan explained with a smile, "Anli, what you think of as a business war might be a battle of wits, but in reality, a business war might be about smashing your competitor's head with a hammer. If the hammer doesn't work, then use a musket. If the musket doesn't work, then hire a magician."

What is the bloodshed of capital? The bloodshed of capital is cracking open people's skulls.

Dinia lay on her homemade mushroom hammock, squinting at Ronan. "You can't stand not to pour your bad ideas into her for a second, can you?"

“My dear Governor, as the future Queen, Anri needs to understand just how ‘simple’ these merchants really are,” Ronan said earnestly.

“Yes, Ronan is right,” Ambrina agreed.

She felt that the past few months, coupled with what she had seen and heard today, had deepened her understanding of Ronan's statement that "a weak man should kill a fully armed knight with a single shot of his musket." This applied to politics as well as business; in short, one should not compete with another in their area of ​​expertise.

“Once these cotton plantation owners have finished fighting, we’ll make our move, grab a few plots of land and turn them into collective farms, ah, ap choke.” Ronan said, yawning. “Anli, you sleep in the bed, I’ll sleep on the floor.”

Ronan was exhausted after a night of tossing and turning until the wee hours of the morning, and then another one this morning. He had spent half his time traveling since then. There was only one small bed in front of him, and given Ambrina's habit of sleeping sideways, she had to sleep alone.

“I’ll sleep on the floor too,” Ambrina said.

Dinia casually cast a spell, spreading a thick layer of mushrooms on the floor, and then closed her eyes.

She was generally satisfied with the results of this incognito visit. After the colonies were all brought under the control of the Governor's Office, almost everyone was engaged in a booming production effort. Even those who were the worst off were still much better off than the serfs and miners of the past.

Ronan once again solved a problem that she had been pondering for a long time but couldn't figure out how to solve.

Just like before.

Thinking of this, Dinia suddenly remembered the conversation between the two tables of people earlier. She didn't care about their foul language, but it made her think about her relationship with Ronan again.

She has known Ronan for almost five years, and now they are inseparable. This is not only because they need and recognize each other in their careers, nor is it just because they have experienced a lot and have secrets that belong only to the two of them. More importantly, they have gradually fallen in love with each other.

Although she was reluctant to admit it, Dinia knew very well.

She was already mentally prepared that their relationship would become even closer in the near future.

And this relationship will last a very long time, because she and Ronan are immortal beings.

There was only one thing that bothered her: she seemed unable to achieve her goal of taming Ronan, the evil dragon. Every time, Ronan followed the route she indicated, but it would deviate from the path as it went.

"Perhaps I should try to understand what kind of path he wants to take."

For the first time, Dinia had this thought: she and Ronan should be a community, not Ronan leading her astray, nor should she be forcing Ronan to follow her path.

The next day, Dinia got up before dawn and went outside.

Soon, Ronan arrived.

Ronan yawned. "What are you doing so early in the morning instead of sleeping?"

“A walk,” Dinia replied, then asked, “Aren’t you going to take care of her?”

“Anli sleeps very soundly. Don’t be fooled by her gentle and quiet demeanor; she’s actually grumpy when she wakes up. She gets irritable for a while if she doesn’t wake up naturally,” Ronan replied. Several times before, when Ronan woke up first in the morning and accidentally disturbed her, she would get very irritable and would bite Ronan before calming down.

"Come to my place when we get back. I have something to tell you," Dinia said earnestly.

“No problem,” Ronan replied.

“Go back, your princess is awake and looking out the window,” Dinia reminded her.

"Really?" Ronan feigned surprise, though he had already sensed it himself.

Dinia didn't answer. In that instant, Ronan suddenly stepped forward and kissed her. "I'll stamp your seal in front of a notary." After saying that, Ronan left.

Ambrina watched this scene without much reaction. She wasn't blind; she had noticed Ronan's interest in Dinia when they first met a few years ago.

She gave Ronan ten spots, and Dinya wasn't an outsider, so taking one wouldn't be a problem.

Ronan replied to the innkeeper, "My little princess, are you not angry?"

“I’m not going to get angry about this,” Ambrina replied.

“Yes,” Ronan said, “I have something important to tell you.”

"What is it?" Ambrina asked curiously.

"The secret of immortality," Ronan replied softly.

Ambrina was stunned.

"It all started with an accident last year. I went to the Twin Bear Tribe..." Ronan began by talking about the Twin Bear Tribe, and continued on to what happened in the tower. Apart from knowing about the existence of the Creator God, he told Ambrina everything else.

"Simply put, we can implant a crystal skull skeleton in you to make you ageless. If necessary, you can also get a new body, and your new body will gradually become your original body."

"Don't worry, Dinia and I have tested it, and the skeleton will not cause any harm to the human body."

Chapter 292 Politics, Women, Men Have Two Heads

Two days later, at night, in Dinia's room.

"I thought it was something else, but it turns out this is the important thing you wanted to talk about."

Ronan suddenly felt like his expectations had been dashed.

Just now, Dinia asked him what his political ideals were.

Ronan poured himself half a glass of wine and said, "I thought you already knew about this. In that case, let me tell you. I hope to establish a civil service system under centralized rule."

Dinia's glass hovered in mid-air for a long time before she took a sip and put it down again. "I thought you were going to talk about collective farms, state-owned factories, or the Ministry of the Interior."

“These are just methods devised and implemented in specific places, at specific times, and for specific people; they cannot be said to be my purpose or demands.”

"Specifically, the purpose of setting up collective farms in Xinhai City was to suppress the local faction, eliminate the inefficient manor economy, bring more tax revenue to the powerful, and make the higher-ups ignore what you did in Xinhai City."

"The reason for establishing state-owned factories in colonies is that you want to create a price cartel, but at the same time you don't allow such a monopoly organization to be too powerful and oppress the people too much. So you can only establish state-owned factories as the upstream of the industrial chain to exploit these agricultural capitalists."