The lords of some other cities have also sent people to notify them, but this Viscount has always been on Ariel's side. In order to show respect, Ariel has always sent guild members to solemnly invite, rather than to other people.

Send a letter like a human being.

Now, Yi Ge was standing in front of the city hall in the center of Lagoon City. After showing the Mermaid Song badge to the guard at the door, the other party immediately welcomed Yi Ge inside and sent him to a beautifully decorated rest room.

In the meantime, give him tea and fruits and let him wait.

"Mr. Wald is having a meeting with some business partners. Since it involves factory and profitability issues, I wonder if you can wait a moment?"

The attendant was very polite and even seemed a little humble when he asked Egg.

Yi Ge didn't care. If he saw Rich earlier, he would have to go back immediately. Returning to the guild would have other arrangements, so he might as well rest here for a while. So, Yi Ge smiled and said that he could wait.

.At the same time, he also took out his lute and began to wipe it carefully.

The attendant apologized again and then left. Not long after, a lot of fresh fruits and exquisite food were placed in front of Egg as an apology.

Looking at these foods, Egg became a little amused. At the same time, he had to sigh with emotion. The badge of Mermaid Song has now become a passport. Everyone will be so respectful as long as they see this badge.

Egg joined the guild relatively late, but even so, he could still feel the weight carried by this badge.

After touching the strings, he picked a grape and threw it into his mouth.

For a moment, he forgot to ask the attendant Rich when the meeting ended.

But now, he was the only one in this spacious lounge, and he didn't bother to go out to find anyone to ask.

After thinking for a moment, Egg nodded slightly, and his fingers were already waving on the lute.

"Song of the Wind God"

As the soft tone came from the lute, Egg slowly closed his eyes and was immersed in his own music.

At the same time, his two pointed ears also stood up slightly, and the power of "Song of the Wind God" began to amplify his hearing, allowing him to hear more clearly.

At least this way, he can know when the lord's meeting will be held.

"Hmph, the empire is really getting worse and worse. It's just as we expected."

In the conference room on the third floor, a circle of people were already sitting around the huge round table. The person speaking at this time was none other than Rich Wald. He supported the side of his face with one hand and spoke in a very lazy and mocking way.

Look at the report in front of you.

In front of him were the mayors, town chiefs, and village chiefs of several other cities.

Then, Rich dropped the document in his hand on the table and continued——

"Now the empire is preparing to set up an element factory, and wants to build a weapons factory and an element depot like us. They seem to think that they can compete with us in this way."

One of the mayors seemed a little worried and said: "Mr. Walder, although our situation is getting better now, what if the empire really starts to build element factories? What if they have the same elements as us?

As for weapons and equipment, it’s hard to say what the battle situation will be like.”

Rich laughed, reached out and patted the table, and said: "Everyone, don't worry! Didn't I say it before? If the empire only uses the element machine for military purposes, the result is doomed to fail. This topic

Don’t think so much, we can move on to the next topic.”

Although the leaders of these local areas present are somewhat worried, they are able to achieve this point thanks to the team of the Marginal Province, so there is nothing else they can say.

Seeing that everyone had no objections to this, Rich patted the table again and said: "Then let's continue. It won't be long before we go to Pelican City for a work report. Many of you here just came this year.

Those who join us probably don’t know the character of our countess very well. So, this is why I gathered everyone together first and let you all see if there are any flaws in your work content.”

At this time, a mayor raised his hand, and Rich nodded to him and said, "Do you have any questions? Mayor of Feige Town."

The mayor exhaled, nodded, and said: "Mr. Wald, there is something that I have always been curious about. As far as I know, you should be the mayor of Lagoon City, right? And you, the mayor, are

The position was personally appointed by Ms. Garcia."

Richie smiled: "That's right."

The mayor continued: "If that's the case, then why did you leave your job as mayor to others, resign yourself, and just become a municipal consultant?"

In response to this question, Richie laughed, as if he had heard something very interesting.

After laughing twice, he nodded his head lightly and said: "This method was actually established by Ariel from the beginning. However, she had to be taken to Pelican City for some reasons.

In the position of mayor. But I am different, I will not make the same mistake as her."

"Wrong?" Not only the mayor who asked the question, but also everyone else was stunned for a moment.

Rich glanced at everyone in front of him and said: "None of you here were the people who were in charge of a region from the beginning. Now because of the bravery of the mermaid army, you are all in charge of the power. But I believe that,

What you are best at should be being a businessman, studying how to do business and how to make more profits. On this point, I am the same as you. Not only am I the same as you, but so is our Lord Ariel.

of."

"Well, I am a businessman. Although I also like the feeling of being a lord, but after I really started to manage a city, I found that the job of a lord is not suitable for me at all."

"As a businessman, I just need to care about my profits. I just need to make more money. I don't need to think about other things besides making money."

"But after becoming a lord, I found that I have to manage the food, clothing, housing and transportation of so many people. I have to appease the people in the city, study how to lay sewer pipes in the city, and study what kind of taxes can make the city operate more smoothly.

stand up."

"Is this really something that businessmen should take care of? Why should I waste so much energy on things that don't make me any money at all?"

"After becoming a lord, I do have a lot of things that I can make my own decisions about. It doesn't even matter if I transfer all the money used for city operations to my account. But... you also know that our dear

Miss Garcia, she is too sensitive about money. If I really misappropriate (Harmony) public funds, I can't guarantee that the false accounts I made can hide from her eyes. In addition, she is simply a little bit

Excessive mysophobia, it is stipulated that all government officials are not allowed to use the city's public funds. The direction and details of the use of any expenses must be listed for later verification. Once corruption or misappropriation of (Harmony) public funds is discovered, they will be pulled.

Go to jail. Who can bear this?"

Listening to Rich's complaints, the village chiefs, mayors and mayors all nodded with emotion.

After all, who is in power not just to make money? After finally becoming the largest official in that area, just like the previous lords and nobles, if all the money can be at their own disposal, then of course it is the best!

But now, all public funds cannot be misappropriated casually. Ariel Garcia is even cultivating a special accounting team. It is conceivable that this team will be the future tax officials. Moreover, they are proficient in mathematics and are best at catching fake accounts.

and corrupt tax officials.

It’s really tiring to be the top local official but not be able to use the money to get some benefits for yourself.

"So, I simply stopped being the mayor. Just six months later, I handed over my position as mayor and resumed my identity as an ordinary businessman."

Another mayor on the side said with doubts: "Mr. Wald, although managing the city is indeed more complicated, I was also a businessman, and I know that there are indeed many things here that we cannot handle. But.

...After all, with the power in our hands, it will be more convenient for us to do business, right? It would be a pity to just give up like this... wouldn't it be a pity?"

After hearing this, Ruichi burst out laughing again. He waved his hands and laughed.

Everyone waited, and when his laughter finally subsided, the businessman spread his hands and showed a very indifferent attitude——

"Don't forget, what policy are we implementing now?"

Everyone: "What policy?"

Rich: "Republic! Hahaha, we are implementing republican policies! It is a republic where everyone can participate in politics and everyone can speak!"

"Do you think I handed over the mayor's position casually? If it was so casual, then the people sitting in the mayor's position of Lagoon City now would not be my confidants, but those who have been working hard all day long.

The so-called people are noisy down there!”

"You still don't understand? Haha, let me tell you straight. In fact, this method was reminded to me by the girl Ariel inadvertently. She said that she wanted to create a country where there was no emperor to rule, but all the people in the entire country.

Everyone can participate and everyone can rule."

"But, obviously, it's impossible for everyone in the country to be the emperor for a day and issue orders for a day, right? That's how I thought of it, I can hold elections!"

"Then, I told the little girl Ariel that I couldn't do well in the position of mayor, so I wanted to let him go. But in order to ensure fairness, ordinary people would not think that the position of mayor was reserved.

Yes, so we adopt an electoral system. That is, let everyone in Laohu City come out to vote, and whoever gets the most votes will be the next mayor of Laohu City!"

"Ariel, the Countess, also thought this method was good, so she allowed me to do it. Then, I announced my abdication three months in advance, and at the same time, everyone in the entire Lagoon City was asked to do so.

One vote, no matter you are poor or rich, you all have the right to vote. In this way, at least on the surface what I did is fair, right? So even that girl Ariel can't see any problem!"

The rulers nearby were also confused and said: "This... allows the poor and the rich to have the same vote? Wouldn't it be even worse?! At least... at least it should be based on the amount of wealth.

Let’s decide how many votes we have!”

Richie stretched out his hand and said with a placating expression, "Don't worry, don't worry. This gameplay is actually very simple, so you don't need to be so nervous."

"Since one person, one vote has been established, it seems that the votes of the poor have the same weight as the votes of the rich, and since there are more poor people, it is very likely that someone will be elected to represent the poor, and

We businessmen are against us."

"But actually... hahaha! Actually, there are so many poor people, how do they know who should be chosen to represent them?"

"Since those poor people don't know who to choose, the next thing is very simple. At that time, I was in charge of the entire Lagoon City, all the newspaper publishers in the city, and the arrangement and placement of all shops.

, and all taxes are managed by me. In that case, as long as I say who I want to be elected, people with a little money will vote for the person I want to elect after hearing the news."

"As for those poor people, because of the damn progressive tax system, they and some small businessmen who don't have much money will not obey my arrangements so smoothly. But I can let the newspapers in the city continue to publicize my deputy's plans.

A good man and a good deed, through constant publicity, he will be made into a fighting hero who works hard to fight against the imperial army! If you have time, you can look for the newspapers from that time, which describe the guy as a man holding an elemental gun.

The lone hero who rushes into the enemy formation and fights his way in and out! But in fact, that bastard just spent a day touching the elemental gun and refused to hold it again because his shoulders were too tired! Hahahaha!"

"The poor people want to elect someone to represent them, but the person who can really represent the poor is also a poor person. Since he is a poor person, it is impossible for him to have a lot of energy and time to carry out publicity. They

You need to work, you need to make money to support your family, and you cannot leave your job. However, my people can. From dawn until midnight, I can constantly publicize the heroic deeds of my deputy, how powerful he is, and how much he has done for him.
To be continued...