It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

Principal David concluded: "Now we need someone capable of stopping all this before the vote, and holding new elections for the city council members so that the Garcia family can't elect a 'legitimate' mayor."

After the explanation, almost everyone's eyes turned to Li Cheng at the same time, blinking rapidly.

Li Cheng: "...?"

To put a warning on the Garcia family?

Reopen city council elections to liberate them from their rule over Lincoln?

What are all these things? And why are you looking at me with such disgusting eyes? Are you expecting something out of nothing?

Faced with the intensely eager gazes of several grown men, Li Cheng frowned deeply and slowly typed a question mark.

Others might not know, but he knew that Veronica would never help Edward consolidate his rule. She would rather help Edward loosen the soil than diligently run errands for him.

Although, Li Cheng wasn't entirely unaware of their thoughts.

If they could re-elect councilors, they would seize this golden opportunity to spend lavishly on money and leverage their connections to ensure their people are elected mayor of Lincoln.

If their people are elected, Lincoln will almost certainly shed its reputation as a high-tax city overnight and transform into a business-friendly city, with all sorts of newly enacted local regulations revolving around them. Everything will be geared towards promoting commerce, and business activities will be heavily protected.

If it succeeds, it will definitely be a huge windfall, and it will be a windfall twice over.

While this would certainly benefit Li Cheng, and they would undoubtedly reciprocate his efforts, the problem is... he hadn't discussed this with Veronica at all! Who knows what she's thinking?

What if I agree on my own initiative, but then Veronica refuses?

Besides, Li Cheng couldn't possibly ask Veronique for help now; that would be like having a courier deliver a package to his own address—he'd have to come and deliver it himself.

'What the hell is going on...?'

Li Cheng just wanted to travel back to the time a few days ago when a brick knocked him unconscious, to avoid causing all the mess that followed.

But now, it's not just about helping these businessmen make a fortune. The key issue is that he has already severely offended Kevin of the Garcia family.

Once the Garcia family feels secure and no longer worried about being targeted by Veronica, they might try to sabotage them in secret, such as deliberately obstructing the Carter Merchant Guild's cargo ships.

After a moment's thought, Li Cheng made his decision.

Amidst the expectant glances of the others, he slowly spoke, "I believe it is not appropriate for Your Highness to personally intervene in this matter."

Chapter 210 Reverse Acceleration

Li Cheng's rejection surprised the four people present.

They initially thought this would be an extremely easy matter, requiring only discussions about the costs, such as the percentage increase in annual tax revenue for Lincoln City. They were confident because the profits from opening up business far exceeded the land rent income of these landed nobles, so additional taxes wouldn't be a major problem.

But to everyone's surprise, Li Cheng rejected the idea outright.

After a brief moment of confusion, the three of them, except for Smith, exchanged puzzled glances.

Why? It doesn't make sense.

Is this gentleman still dissatisfied with our previous concealment?

But this is an emergency, and we have already promised compensation.

But aside from that... wait, could it be that His Highness never intended for Lincoln to govern himself, but instead planned for the King to directly appoint the mayor? That would be outrageous! Are they just going to waste such a good opportunity?

No, absolutely not.

Principal David spoke first.

“Mr. Banana, Lincoln has existed for nearly a century, and its situation is much more complicated than you imagine. Only those of us who have lived here for many years can figure out the underlying relationships.”

Principal David, whose hair was already starting to turn gray, certainly gave people a more reliable impression: "We are extremely loyal to His Highness and have the ability to do so. If it is entrusted to us, we will definitely do our best."

The tall, thin man's attitude turned unfriendly, and he bluntly stated, "If a stranger were to suddenly become the mayor of Lincoln, it could provoke a lot of dissatisfaction and resistance."

The somewhat chubby man had a big smile on his face: "This is beneficial to all of us. If you have any complaints, we understand and we will apologize."

Smith maintained his usual serious expression and nodded in agreement.

He only knew business and was completely clueless about these things; he was just dragged along to make up the numbers. Because Veronica had appeared at his banquet, the other three guessed that Princess Veronica might have noticed some outstanding quality in him.

I never expected Mr. Banana to be so fierce.

Smith thought to himself.

?

Why did they suddenly start talking to themselves? And they even have one good cop, one bad cop, and one good cop.

Li Cheng thought about it seriously for three seconds and realized that their guesses were misunderstandings—for example, that they had other plans for Lincoln, or that they might be dissatisfied with their way of arranging meetings without prior notice, which was why they rejected their request outright.

"No, no, no, one thing is one thing."

Li Cheng spoke up, denying the allegations: "What happened before is what happened before, and I will not act impulsively again. In addition, I believe in everyone's ability to elect a new mayor who will govern Lincoln City well."

Compared to the nobles who were born with power, these merchants who rose to their current positions through their own abilities were indeed much more proactive. However, they were powerless to resist under the absolute oppression of power.

"As for why I said it was not appropriate for Your Highness to personally handle this matter, there are of course reasons."

While keeping everyone in suspense, Li Cheng used the time to quickly rack his brains and refine his ideas. At the same time, he picked up the hot tea that had just been served on the table in front of him, putting on a very calm and confident appearance.

Life is like a play; it all depends on acting skills.

This attitude fooled the three people in front of him, and they calmed down and began to ask for details.

The overweight man asked, "Then what exactly is the reason?"

What's the reason? I want to know the reason too... Li Cheng was inwardly frustrated, but he kept bragging: "Why don't you guess first? It's no fun if you just tell me directly."

He initially thought it was just another misunderstanding he'd made up, but seeing how confidently these people were speaking, he began to wonder if Veronica really had any plans of her own.

Perhaps she originally intended to tell him, but because of that mess that happened later, she stopped mentioning it to herself.

So Li Cheng's first task is to reject their plan to ask Veronique for help, then think of a solution himself, observe the situation, and only go back to ask for help if he can't solve it.

After guessing for a while, the tall, thin man shook his head and said, "I can't guess. Stop keeping me in suspense."

Li Cheng took a sip of tea: "Then give me a hint—are there any things that need to be treated equally?"

Treat everyone equally?

Principal David frowned: "Are you trying to say... fairness?"

Fairness is a tricky, albeit false, proposition. Treating lions and rabbits equally, without helping either, will only result in the rabbit being eaten by the lion. However, if the lion shows too much favoritism towards the rabbit, it might cause the lion to give up hunting altogether and simply give up.

But at least in this matter, siding with neither side as equals would only allow the Garcia family to succeed, which is tantamount to watching them fail.

"No, while fairness requires treating everyone equally, what I'm talking about is the rules."

Li Cheng rejected the idea, saying, "Regarding the mayoral election, we should abide by the rules of the game equally and let Lincoln's people decide, rather than letting His Highness directly interfere. This is not a question of whether it can be done or not, but breaking the rules is itself a loophole created for ourselves."

"It was precisely because the Garcia family broke the rule established when Lincoln was founded that the mayor was elected that Your Highness had the opportunity to interfere with their actions in Lincoln."

“If Your Highness intervenes this time, it means that you have also broken the rule. Even if you elect a mayor you like, it does not mean that you can rest easy.”

"The next time someone powerful tries to break the rules and declares your election invalid, what argument will you use to refute them?"

While this argument may be somewhat far-fetched, following rules is indeed a common understanding in Western culture in many cases. However, many of the rules they follow are not written down, because they are best at exploiting loopholes in written rules.

There are many such rules, such as not personally punishing political opponents, and continuing to exploit the lower classes in a friendly manner.

For example, the high-ranking officers of both sides in a conflict would not have personal grudges. In this way, no matter how fierce the war was, it was only soldiers and civilians who died. The high-ranking officers of the victorious side would even invite the high-ranking officers of the defeated side to a banquet and sincerely invite them to taste the fine wines they had collected.

As long as their most fundamental interests are not threatened, they will tacitly abide by such rules.

The advantage of this 'democratic' culture is that the political atmosphere is not too tense, and there are no frequent large-scale purges. However, the disadvantage is that it is difficult to change the status quo, and an individual's will is unlikely to prevail in the face of such class will; they will be attacked by the masses.

Of course, for the lower classes, this is undoubtedly the worst system—after all, they are not considered part of democracy at all. And even if the upper classes make decisions that result in the loss of countless lives for their own selfish desires, they will not be held accountable afterward, unless they go too far and incur public wrath.

The share liability of modern corporations is, undeniably, somewhat similar.

Often, the interests of company founders even conflict with the interests of the company. Instead of considering how to make the company profitable, they will exploit the company's potential to the fullest extent, go public as soon as possible to raise money, and then cash out and leave.

In the end, all that's left are companies that have exhausted their potential and gone bankrupt, employees who are forced to leave, and shareholders who have suffered heavy losses, while the entrepreneurs themselves do not have to take any responsibility.

......

Far away.

They all knew the 'rules' Li Cheng was referring to, but the problem at hand had touched their core interests, and they had no other choice.

Unless... this Mr. Banana in front of me has some...

Under the eager gazes of the group, Li Cheng calmly took a sip of tea and said, "Don't rush. I was called here to be bombarded with a bunch of questions, and I'm still not very familiar with your situation. How about someone introduces you to me?"

"Why don't you leave this to me?"

Smith finally seized the opportunity to speak again and spoke first.

Since some people were eager to do the hard work, none of the three had any objections. So Smith acted as the guide for Li Cheng, introducing each person to him one by one.

Smith first pointed to the elderly man with graying hair: "Principal David, who almost became mayor when he was young, is highly respected and has taught many famous students. Many of the officials currently working in the city government are his students."

He pointed to the tall, thin man: "President Hill, the Hill Chamber of Commerce is the largest chamber of commerce in Lincoln City. It also controls the port and gets involved in almost all foreign trade."

He pointed to the bloated man: "Viscount Rupert owns many vast pastures in the countryside where he grazes his sheep and sells wool. He also owns several coal and iron mines. Much of the coal you asked me to buy comes from his estate."

As for me...

Finally, Smith, who was the president of the Carter Chamber of Commerce's Lincoln branch and, while not badly qualified, was just there to make up the numbers compared to the other three, paused for a moment before changing his words, "You know me, so I won't go into further introductions."

He hadn't expected that this pretty boy, whom he initially looked down upon, would be so formidable, and that he would soon be introducing him to these important figures...

After listening to the three people's explanations, Li Cheng roughly understood some of it.

After pondering for a moment, he asked, "Do you have any way to change the start time of the mayoral election?"

"can."

The tall, thin man's patience was nearing its limit: "If your only solution is for the councilors to stall and not show up, they might abandon the latecomers and start the election right away. We can only stall for a few more days at most..."

“I didn’t ask how long you could stall.”

Li Cheng waved his hand to interrupt, saying, "I'm asking you if there's any way to bring forward the mayoral election."

? !

The group looked surprised, not understanding why this was being done—they felt they didn't have enough time, so why was it being sped up?

“I remember you just said that most of the councilors are controlled by the Garcia family. You can influence some of them, but not all of them. It’s neither realistic nor economical,” Li Cheng said in a deep voice, addressing their confusion. “But what if fewer people participate in the election?”

To reduce the number of people participating in the election?

The chubby man looked thoughtful, while the tall, thin man frowned and began to ponder.