People in Terra, governing a weird little country

Even if he knew he was going to be beaten tomorrow, could Ernst still resist?

I guess he would just be startled and then continue to live his miserable life.

"Then what do they want?"

Seeing Kristen deny it, little Justin frowned and asked in confusion.

Christen recalled the words of "Bridge Cliff" Cliff in the phone call from Black Steel a few hours ago, and replied:

“They want money.”

"Ah?" Little Justin was stunned, obviously not realizing that Ernst's goal was so pure.

"More." Kristen gasped.

Little Justin heaved a sigh of relief: "Sure enough, I knew it wouldn't be so simple."

Kristen stretched out her hand and pointed at the cold and indifferent sister who was leaning on the chair in the room. She had said nothing and had no extra expression since the meeting started. "They want Nastie..."

Nasti, whose name was called, suddenly came to her senses and looked at Kristen with confusion on her face.

The confusion was not about "the other party actually asked for me by name", but about Kristen "the other party asked for me by name and wanted to take me to the mountains, but you didn't refuse on the spot, and even held a meeting to ask me."

She looked at Kristen suspiciously, as if to say, "You don't really want to sell me out, do you?"

But Kristen seemed to be completely oblivious to Nastie's expression, and once again said in an epic sentence:

"Bring along the engineering staff to help them repair the infrastructure."

If you want to get rich, build roads first!

Everyone was silent for a while, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that Christen had nothing else to say. They looked at each other and said:

"Approved. The specific terms can be negotiated."

Chapter 44: I am dancing on three eggs

"Hello, Ms. Nastie."

Ernst felt particularly good as he stretched out his hand and shook hands with the stern-faced witch in front of him.

Although this idea had been there since Cliff proposed it, the road to actually contacting Rhine Life was not smooth.

Rhine Life is a large enterprise, whether on Terra or on Earth. When a company is large enough, the governments of weak countries will have no way to deal with it.

In more serious cases, even the government will be influenced by such large enterprises and even become their puppet.

The most vivid examples are the British East India Company during the British Empire, the United Fruit Company supported by the United States in Central America, and the Commercial Federation active in Casimir on Terra.

Ernst has never used the power of the government to open any backdoors for his brother Enthiotis's Kalan Trade. He is also slowly and persistently recovering some of the profits from the various industries of Shelag, which is monopolized by the Kalan Trade, in order to prevent such a situation from happening.

Establishing the Engineering Department, appointing his confidant Lola as the minister, and inviting foreign experts and teams to carry out the overall planning and construction of Kjerag's infrastructure are some of the specific actions Ernst took under the guidance of this concept.

But preventing local capitalists from becoming bigger and influencing the government is one thing, but we can't attract more powerful and more difficult to control foreign capital just to check and balance local capitalists, right?

If the former seizes power, at least the meat will be rotten in the pot. But if the latter handles it poorly, it will be a rare event!

Therefore, Ernst has always maintained a certain degree of wait-and-see attitude and suspicion towards the introduction of Tremont's large scientific research enterprise.

But the appearance of Holhaiya dispelled Ernst's worries.

The new secretary was excellent except that she liked to tease her boss. Seeing that Ernst was skeptical about the cooperation, she explained the interests involved to him in a very concise manner.

"Boss, your concerns are reasonable and farsighted. But I still have to remind you that without external help, can Kjerag really develop completely on his own? In other words, can he really develop into what you dream of by relying on himself?"

Ernst was silent.

Although Horhaiya did not use any fancy rhetoric in his words, he pointed out the simple truth incisively and accurately.

The country is small, the people are poor, the thinking is ignorant, and the technology is backward. Compared with the vast wilderness of Terra, Kjerag's only advantage is the simple and tenacious people on this land, including Yelagund.

But this cannibalistic land will not let you off the hook just because you are a good person. Under the international rule of the survival of the fittest, simplicity is equal to ignorance, and tenacity is equal to being bullied.

When Britain used naval guns to shatter the old dream of the Celestial Empire, it did not realize how noble the gentleness, courtesy, frugality and modesty that had been educated in the Chinese people for thousands of years were.

Yelagund is a god, but he cannot protect Kjerag forever. Ernst knows that a thousand years ago, the emperor of the Eastern Great Yan once used the whole country's strength to kill and expel all the gods who did not obey the king's orders. With the rapid development of science and technology, how many war machines can Yelagund's divine power resist?

In the final analysis, it is still the same old saying that has been said countless times: "If you fall behind, you will be beaten!"

He is a hammer and sees you as a nail. He doesn't hit you now because it is not the right time. If you don't become stronger, the iron fist will hit you on the head sooner or later.

But if you become stronger, the nail will become hard enough and his hammer won't be able to knock it down.

Ernst had lived in a society with a large enough territory, a stable enough society and a strong enough country for too long and did not realize a cruel fact.

The fate of a small country is a gamble. If you win, you may not be able to rise to prominence, but if you lose, you will be crushed to pieces.

"And Kjerag is dancing on three eggs."

He sighed slightly.

As a native, Enthiotis realized this earlier than Ernst, so Victoria was always included in his plan for the development of Kjerag. The second headquarters of Kalan Trade was established in Askara County, Victoria. Enthiotis spent much more time in Victoria than in Kjerag, which was proof of this.

If Ernst continued to hesitate and only wanted to rely on the pitiful strength of Kjerag and the trust of Yelagund to fight against Enthiodis, his failure would be a matter of time.

Because Enthiotis, with the help of Victoria's power, can really do more practical things, can change Kjerag more extensively, benevolent to the people, and benefit the society. As for Ernst, no matter how nice he talks, empty talk can't make a country prosperous and secure.

Therefore, in order to win over his brother in this invisible struggle, and to take his own and Kjerag's fate into his own hands, it was time to give up his fantasy and start jumping sideways.

Compared to Casimir, who is struggling fiercely between the old and the new internally, and Victoria, who has already selected her own spokesperson, Columbia is undoubtedly a better and more reasonable choice.

Besides, this wasn't the Colombian government, but RheinLife, an ordinary technology company that Ernst hadn't found anything odd about so far.

He can take more initiative.

Facing the cold wind of Tremont, Ernst held Nastie's outstretched right hand wearing fingerless gloves and said earnestly:

"Thank you for accepting our invitation. Kjerag welcomes you, my friend."

Nasti looked at the handsome boy in front of her with some confusion. She pursed her lips, withdrew her hand and said, "Are you so enthusiastic about a Sarkaz?"

"Do you feel inferior about your race?" Ernst asked back.

Nastie shook her head "Of course not."

Ernst smiled slightly. “Then Kjerag certainly won’t discriminate against his friends.”

Nasti was slightly startled, and suddenly became somewhat interested in this hard and arduous job.

“God helps those who help themselves?”

Realizing the meaning behind Ernst's words, she took another look at the boy in front of her.

At least this Prime Minister is quite interesting.

............

"Yes, this is the Kjerag government office."

In the low-rise building used as the office residence of the Kjerag government, the call to the Prime Minister's office was answered by Miss Moshi.

Because of a literal shortage of staff, she was recommended by Hugh Ruth to act as the temporary person in charge during Ernst's earth tour scam.

Ernst readily agreed to this arrangement because of the previous incident that reminded him of the location of Kjerag's general ledger.

Although Moshi is definitely not Xu Ruth's person, it doesn't matter. No matter who she belongs to, the government is just an empty shell now. The offices are so empty that even rodents can starve to death. In the absence of other candidates, Miss Moshi will have to deal with the dense crowds of people praying every day.

Mo Xi was also somewhat speechless about Xu Ruth's arrangement. What was this? She was arranged by Nosis to lurk beside Xu Ruth, and then arranged by Xu Ruth to take Ernst's work position. Was this outsourcing at every level?

Come on, I'm a spy!

I can’t even get double salary!

With a helpless sigh, Mo Xi could only deal with the job at hand. Who could blame her two superiors, one was a rational lunatic who didn't listen to others, and the other was a love-brained man who listened to others too much?

"This is Kalan Trade, I am Enthiodis."

Boss Yin's magnetic and deep voice came from the other side of the microphone, sounding a little serious.

The boss’s boss is checking up on you?

Moshi suddenly got up from his chair and replied:

"Boss? Ernst isn't here right now."

"I know. The email to him is on the way." Enciodis said slowly, "I am communicating with you, the current head of the Kjerag government."

"It's about the Duke of Windermere Victoria's husband and daughter coming to Kjerag to participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Tukarim train."

Chapter 45: The Holy Son of Kalan's Mission to Princess Victoria: Gangmen

Columbia - Shelagh, Terra Wasteland.

The bus with the Rhine Life logo was stopped halfway. The driver squinted his eyes, looked at the figure riding on the camel not far from the front of the bus, took out the horn, leaned out of the window and shouted:

"Is it the messenger?"

"Yes, yes!" The young man, whose skin was tanned by the sun, smiled and nodded. He took out his ID, walked forward, handed it to the driver, and said, "Looking for Mr. Ernst. Is he in the car?"

The driver took the ID and confirmed it, then nodded to the messenger:

"Wait a minute, I'll ask the boss."

As he spoke, he left the driver's seat, walked to the back, came to the row where Ernst and Nastie were, and asked:

"Boss, I met a messenger, looking for Mr. Ernst. His identity can be confirmed, he is not one of those crazy people from Rusty Hammer."

Nastie nodded and explained to Ernst:

"It's better to let him get on board. It's not easy for messengers to deliver messages in the wasteland."

There are pictures here, which can be viewed after the updated version

Ernst also nodded in agreement.

In Terra, where there is only an intercity network but no real Internet, messengers play an extremely important role in the flow of information. Thousands of messengers travel between the countries of Terra every day, traveling through vast wastelands, steep highlands, and dangerous swamps, delivering intelligence to thousands of households. They are the profession with the highest mortality rate in the entire Terra, except for soldiers.

They are also a group of true unsung heroes.

When encountering a messenger in the wilderness, even a homeless Sarkaz mercenary would give him a sip of water if he had the energy to spare. Since the messenger in front of him was looking for Ernst, there was no reason not to let him get on the car.

After receiving a positive response, the driver returned to the driver's seat and opened the door.

The dark-skinned, strong young man immediately boarded the bus and greeted Ernst:

"Master Ernst, long time no see."

"It's Brother Weiss." Ernst recognized the man at a glance.

His elder brother, one of Enchiodis's three most trusted confidants, Weiss, codenamed "Messenger", was a few years older than him and was in charge of the logistics and courier business of Kalan Trade.

There are pictures here, which can be viewed after the updated version

He did have a courier certificate recognized by various governments, but as the head of a department and SilverGray's confidant, Ernst seldom saw him personally delivering letters.

Ernst was surprised to meet him here, but he also had a vague premonition in his heart.

Something serious might be happening to Kjerag.

As expected, the messenger Weiss walked up to Ernst, took out Enchiodis's handwritten letter from his arms, and said:

"The master has instructed that you return to Kjerag as soon as possible to prepare for the visit of the foreign guests."

"Foreign guests?" Ernst was stunned and glanced at the envelope in his hand. Weiss nodded affirmatively.

Without any other unnecessary words, he glanced at everyone on the bus, then turned around, quickly left the car, jumped on the camel, and ran off into the distance.

As soon as he left, Ernst immediately became the focus of everyone present.

"What foreign guests?"

Vina asked a little excitedly.

There are pictures here, which can be viewed after the updated version

Ernst promised her the position of Foreign Minister, and she was very satisfied with this position where she could meet all kinds of people and learn all kinds of experiences. And the letter in Ernst's hand might be related to her first reception of foreign guests since she took office, so how could she not be excited?

Ernst did not shy away from the Rhine Life Engineering staff who were in the same car. Rather, this sudden "diplomatic affair" gave him more confidence and bargaining chips.

You see, our Shelag is quite powerful and popular, and not a money-loser!

So don't be lazy in your engineering.

He opened the envelope, took out the letter, and spread it out in front of Vina and Holhaiya who came over. There were only a few short lines of words on it.