Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

There are no words more heartwarming than expanding recruitment and offering promotions and raises in this cold winter.

Two years ago, in a place like Kazdel, no one would be foolish enough to go without high subsidies. If it weren't for the company's generous benefits, attracting enough people to develop the Satie Oasis would have been a pipe dream. But now...

Subsidies? Having a salary that is paid in full and on time is already a huge benefit. As soon as the recruitment notice was posted, a cluster of tents resembling a refugee camp instantly appeared in the square in front of the gate.

"There's another thing, the group might convert part of the salary into in-kind benefits..." This news was like a bucket of cold water poured on everyone who was still excited. "Wh-what in-kind benefits?"

During the recession, many factories opted to convert wages into goods, which workers needed to sell to earn money. Many of these goods were essentially useless to the workers.

Xia Lin had no choice but to do the same. The widespread reduction in liquidity caused his cash flow to shrink rapidly. The reconstruction of Kazdel seemed to provide a huge number of jobs, but it couldn't provide enough Lungmen Dollars.

Of course, the simplest solution would be to issue their own newly designed currency, but Kazdel's currency has not yet gained widespread recognition and is not as strong as LMD. In other words, it's difficult to spend.

Fortunately, Lao Xia's production scale is large enough and complete enough. Since there's no money, let's all hurt each other.

In any case, he can provide all the physical goods his employees need, so the problem of insufficient purchasing power due to further reduction in circulation is not his concern.

"I don't know, we'll have to wait for further notice. But we can be content, at least we still have a place to live and free meals."

It must be said that this is a very convincing reason, and even the atmosphere that had suddenly turned cold after receiving this bad news regained a little warmth.

Compared to those on the street, receiving only a portion of one's salary in kind is already quite good, and if the ratio is right, it might even be...

"A 3:7 ratio, with 70% off in kind, shouldn't that cause resistance?" The little tiger was reviewing the plans submitted below.

"There's at least 30% left, and our products are different from others..."

For example, the gear manufacturer next door sends a huge pile of gears to its workers. What use are they, other than selling them at a low price or even as scrap metal? But the Xia Group is different because it has everything it needs.

"The physical goods list is out, and you can choose what physical goods to exchange for..." Apart from luxury goods and large equipment such as vehicles that waste transportation capacity, there are all kinds of small commodities and necessities.

"70% of your salary is converted into internal consumption points for the group. To help you have a good holiday, the group is subsidizing you with an additional 20% of consumption points. Use them as needed. However, remember, you must use them all at once. Any unused points will be invalid next time."

This can greatly reduce logistics and warehousing costs, and avoid the problems of temporary order increases and cancellations that lead to idle capacity and warehousing expenses.

Based on these orders, Satie and other places can ship the goods, centralizing logistics and transportation to further reduce costs.

Of course, the result of the cost reduction was that almost every employee with a little mathematical sense realized that it seemed more cost-effective to get physical goods than to buy them with their own money at the supermarket.

Fruits, meat, grains, desserts, snacks, daily necessities, and toiletries were all provided, except for most consumer appliances. Essential items such as heaters and air conditioners were available. The skillful planned economy measures minimized employee resistance.

"If the results are good, next time we can add vehicles and some consumer electronics, since it's more cost-effective for the group to purchase them from other factories at scrap prices..."

As for whether other companies in Longmen will survive after these consumer spending powers are cut, that's not Little Tiger's concern in this cold winter twilight.

Since we can't get our neighbors to unite against the cold wave, let's just mind our own business and beg for our neighbors' interests. At worst, we'll hurt each other. I have at least four divisions here, how many do you have?

"Six divisions!" The young emperor rubbed his forehead; after a whole day of financial meetings, he felt completely numb.

The cost of forming six new combat divisions was far higher than he had imagined. He had seen Kazdel's military reforms and was also preparing to form such new combat divisions that were information-based, mechanized, or at least horse-drawn, and were good at high-speed mobility and offense.

But when they did the math, lo and behold, even after emptying their coffers, they could only afford to form six divisions. So, where on earth did that evil doctor get the money to form a full fifteen divisions and still have the resources to do local infrastructure construction, post-war reconstruction, and even upgrade equipment?

Even their printing presses can't print money that fast!

"They only have enough for six divisions, and they're being stingy with it. When did Ursus become so poor? Kazdel's land area is less than 1/5 of ours, and that guy's territory alone is only 1/15 the size..."

“Your Majesty, it is precisely because our territory is so vast that our expenditures are greater than Kazdel's. In fact, they are also cutting back on spending.”

Witt said helplessly, "Ursus is a large country. Being a large country naturally means more income, but it also means more places to spend money."

The Doctor can focus on his own part and delegate the burdens that don't belong to him to Theresis, but the Ursus Emperor must be responsible for all of Ursus, and this expense cannot be cut.

Of course, what Witte didn't mention was that Kazdel was also free of a huge burden, namely the pensions of the nobility. They had no nobles, or rather, their ruling class not only did not need to be supported by the state, but they were also good at making money, and most of the money they made was invested in the construction of the state and the army.

With one side gaining at the expense of the other, the burden was low while the returns were high, naturally enabling them to manage a scale of fifteen divisions. However, this was also their limit.

According to Witt's understanding, of these fifteen divisions, only four were considered their main force divisions. Ten of the remaining eleven were Class B light infantry divisions, with very low expenses, not much higher than the cost of Ursus's cannon fodder—of course, their combat effectiveness was much stronger than the gray beasts.

Another one is the Mountain Clan's Mountain Division. That unit probably costs the most money because the Mountain Clan are known in Terra as the best mercenaries, but they are very expensive.

Even so, the doctor's side is starting to run out of money, and the pace of reorganization and establishment is slowing down while economic development is being accelerated.

However, in Ursus, while bearing huge national expenditures, they also have to bear the consumption of nobles. At the same time, due to geographical environment and climate, their unit output is not as good as others. The fact that they can form six shows that the royal family's economic situation has improved significantly.

Of course, this couldn't be said directly. If it were, and the young emperor finally went mad and started attacking the nobles, Ursus would immediately split into a civil war, which wouldn't be a funny joke at all.

However, Witte knew that the emperor understood what he meant. Indeed, the young emperor was stunned for almost a minute, then revealed a ferocious expression, and it took him a long time to calm down.

A baron requires at least 200 Ursus gold coins per year, which is equivalent to nearly 70 Lungmen dollars in annual pay, not including the cost of routine rewards and privileges.

These nobles weren't exactly bad at making money. However, they hid their ill-gotten gains while investing in national development. The young emperor was furious; how could the difference between people be greater than the difference between people and dogs?

The thought that these good-for-nothings can't even make as much money as the people on the other side makes me so angry that my lungs hurt.

At this moment, he truly understood why the doctor and his colleagues did not spare the nobles, but instead hanged all the nobles they captured, eradicating them completely and wiping out their entire families and lineages.

The young emperor finally understood why he preferred the lack of noble administrators, the necessity of military control, the waste of vast economic resources and the forces that could have easily crushed Theresis in governing the region, rather than the cruelty of the nobles. If he could have done it this way, he would have loved to learn from Kazdel's advanced experience.

“Witt, tell me, how can we govern a country while we’re with these worms?”

"Well, Your Majesty, even if they are insects, humans have never truly eradicated insects, not even Kazdel..."

The frequent pest control efforts led to serious protests from health authorities against hanging people up in public, arguing it could trigger an epidemic.

So Talulah and the White Rabbit readily agreed and switched to using a tower furnace for incineration power generation, which was safe, clean, hygienic, and could still make the last bit of value.

Chapter 81 Happy Birthday

Chapter 81

On the second day of the Winter Snow Festival, nobles and the wealthy celebrated the festival in their mansions. Even though they were consciously trying not to spend too much, they still prepared fine wine, dried flowers, roast pig, and fruits that were very expensive in winter, and had musicians and dancers to entertain them.

Despite layers of deductions, the soldiers at the front also received supplies from Theresis. Perhaps the pressure from the North was indeed quite great, or perhaps it was because there wasn't much to gain to begin with. Each soldier received at least one can of pork and lentils produced in the North.

Although the canned goods looked expired, being able to eat hot stewed pork was still a rare treat.

However, in the countryside and the lower parts of the city, famine and death spread with unwavering steps to every inch of space. Everywhere you could see abandoned villages abandoned by refugees and overturned, unfueled vehicles lying by the roadside.

The bureaucrats in the South were neither more virtuous nor more corrupt than those in other places. The uprisings and riots that were breaking out in various towns and cities were being very effectively concealed, at least for the time being. No one wanted to say such discouraging things on such a joyous occasion as the government was preparing for a festival.

In a sense, this is why, in officialdom, those who are knowledgeable in a particular field are often unable to become officials in that department.

Because it's impossible to keep it a secret from those below. For example, Old Xia, who is in charge of agricultural technology in New Kazdel, and White Rabbit, who is in charge of administration, are typical examples.

Whether there are problems with storage, harvesting, or planting, they know exactly what kind of problems they are, in what environment they occurred, and whose fault it is. It's too difficult to report only good news and not bad news, but ordinary, unremarkable daily work will not produce any political achievements at all.

Talulah from the Judiciary and Snowskin from the Finance Department are both people who really understand these things. The most troublesome one is Snowskin. Not only does she have some knowledge of financial work, but she also understands mechanics and engineering. This means that when allocating funds, they are truly allocated according to the actual construction cost and expenses.

Add to that Talulah, who is adept at bureaucratic and aristocratic tricks, and the difficulty of making a ruckus and causing trouble under these circumstances is almost unbelievable. There is really no project in the world more difficult than one where all the funding, supervision, and acceptance are handled by experts in the field, and finally, there is an AI in the background checking for omissions and filling gaps.

Moreover, for local officials, it's typical that doing a good job is expected, but if they don't do a good job, they'll be held responsible, and they can't even shift the blame. It's a living hell for officials!

This is also the main reason why the Southern forces supported Theresis. They originally thought that the peasants in the North would eventually have to rely on them, these skilled bureaucrats. Now they found that the peasants in the North had no intention of retaining this class or not retaining it completely. They were numb and could only grit their teeth and support Theresis.

After all, among the leaders in the North, theoretically, only Kal'tsit and Talulah truly understand politics, or rather, aristocratic and bureaucratic politics. The rest...

Actually, neither of them really understood it. The Doctor was doing it based on his experience managing the military and apocalyptic relief organizations, while Old Xia was doing it based on the Star Alliance's experience. The latter was even more impactful on those bureaucrats—after all, aliens don't need to retain the human bureaucratic system.

"Ah, Winter Snow Festival, Your Highness Regent, don't you think these snowflakes are beautiful?"

The fluttering snowflakes covered the rooftops and houses with a layer of pure white. These light and beautiful white sprites danced playfully in the air with the wind, dyeing the eyebrows and hair of every passerby with their own pure white color.

"The snow is too heavy." Theresis ignored the guy trying to get close to her, and stood by the window with her wine glass in hand. "Please let me have some peace and quiet, okay?"

"No problem, quiet and snowy nights are the poet's wellspring of inspiration..." Seeing that the Regent's expression was not good, this sycophant immediately found a good excuse to leave.

"Hoo—" The Regent exhaled a breath of white air, which hit the cold windowpane, leaving a condensation. "This is really terrible."

Looking through the glass into the distance, the desolate streets were meaningless even with the festive lights forcibly added. Only the wealthy areas had lights on; the commoner areas were shrouded in darkness, with only faint flickering lights on the windowpanes.

In order to prioritize the supply of energy to the front lines, and of course the official residence, they scavenged as much Originium fuel as possible, and everyone was subject to fuel rationing.

As a result, most people can only rely on a small amount of Originium fuel and electricity to maintain a minimal level of heating to get through the winter.

In poorer or resource-scarce areas, people can only burn wood or garbage, which inevitably causes fires. On the outskirts of the city, the scorched areas are still particularly conspicuous even under the cover of snowflakes.

"Bring me the latest intelligence from the North," Theresis said, turning to his attendant. He had a new plan and idea, an idea that had actually been brewing since the evacuation from the North.

Soon, the collected public intelligence from the North reached Theresis. The Regent skipped the upcoming New Year's Ball and spent his time in the lounge carefully reviewing the intelligence from the North, page by page, especially the broadcast records and newspapers about previous policies.

This kind of publicly available information will not be edited or altered; after all, no bureaucrat would do a bad job of such superficial work.

Therefore, Therese could only carefully deduce the North's governing methods and plans from these publicly available information.

Among this group of insects, there is a strange phenomenon: Theresis herself is not one of them who colludes with them. Theresis's reason for opposing the Doctor is simple: what the Sarkaz need is a unified and powerful regime, and a hasty civil war would undoubtedly lead to the intervention of foreign powers.

Moreover, Rhodes Island itself carries a strong foreign influence, and Theresis does not want her country to become a battlefield for multiple foreign powers, just like the two previous wars, where after the wars were over, only barren land and piles of Sarkaz infected remained.

There are many other reasons besides these, such as not believing that their system can govern the country well, that the other side has no qualified officials, yet intends to completely dismantle the aristocratic bureaucratic system, which will undoubtedly bring greater chaos.

Therefore, in order to avoid the other side winning the civil war and dragging Kazdel into an even deeper quagmire, Theresis had no choice but to confront them.

Of course, there was also a personal, biggest purpose: if he didn't stand up, he would definitely be finished.

In fact, after the initial defeat in the Central Campaign, Therese was already forced to cooperate with the nobles simply to save his own life from being purged.

Unfortunately, these fools in the south failed to see this point. They thought that by becoming regent, they had also gained the righteous cause, which was obvious. After hearing about the "brutality" of the other side, the landlords, farmers, minor nobles, and factory owners all unanimously supported the regent.

While this was a good thing for the powerful families in the South, it also meant that Therese gained considerable real power through mediation in this situation.

After all, those who joined after hearing that the Regent had restored order would not know about the power struggles at the top; they were really there for Theresis.

The more people who defect, the stronger the power of the South becomes, and the more likely it is to withstand the fierce attacks from the North.

The more people flock to Theresis because of his name, the more it means that the regent is gradually regaining some real power.

But now, forced to retreat to the south and facing the prospect of foreign intervention, Therese has come to realize a terrible reality—

The doctor's approach really works, and foreign powers have tacitly accepted this attitude. They are still sanctioning and supporting our side, but they are just preparing to squeeze out the last bit of profit they can get from Kazdel.

Any intelligent person in Theresis and the South, upon seeing this pile of raw intelligence, would come to the same conclusion: the New Kazdel Republic is now the de facto legitimate government of the Sarkaz, and they are the rebels.

It's just that a few people who are taking chances have created various illusions to obscure this information; no one can wake up a group of people who are pretending to be asleep.

As for the smartest ones, they've already crossed the mountains to the north to serve the PhDs.

"So..." Therese stared at the documents in front of her, lost in thought. She was clearly not the smartest one, but should she try to be the second smartest?

Theresis's three objectives: to save her life, to restore the glory of the Sarkaz, and to reclaim sovereignty over the Kingdom of Kazdel.

If one could somehow secure certain promises from the North to save their life, and given that the North has already largely achieved the latter two objectives, then…

"His Highness the Regent is really too cowardly. They're just some peasants. What kind of trouble could they possibly cause? Honestly, to be absent from the ball at a time like this is extremely rude."

"Hey, Your Excellency, keep your voice down. This isn't home," the attendant warned in alarm. The Regent couldn't do anything to this guy's family or even to him personally.