"Wow, it's so beautiful …."
After entering the old city and looking at the scenery in front of her, Ilya could not help but feel emotional.
In front of her, the old city was no longer as dilapidated as it used to be. The steel and iron bridge that originally connected the old city had become a spacious and clean two-way stone bridge. At the end of the stone bridge, there was even a heavy gate marked with the Starlight Technology logo. Heavily armed soldiers in black uniforms stood outside the gate to maintain order.
"Many of them are residents of the old city."
Toricia immediately introduced them to Fangzheng.
"In the old city, there were two gangs called the Holy Book Society and the Sword Snake Gang. They were also the biggest obstacle to our development of the old city. But fortunately, Lady Li Xuelu solved their problem. In the end, she recruited these delinquents into the garrison. They are not bad by nature, but because they had nothing to do, they went on the wrong path. Lady Li Xuelu also had strict training and requirements for them. Now, these people are no longer the original delinquents. "
"Hmm, they look like the real deal."
Fangzheng nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the "security personnel" standing motionless in the sentry booth with solemn expressions. If one did not know about their past, judging from the spirit of these people, it was obvious that they were soldiers who had received rigorous training. After all, Li Xuelu was the leader of a group of knights in her world, so it was naturally easy for her to deal with these delinquents.
Soon, the car that Fangzheng and his party were in arrived at the gate. The leading soldier stepped forward, looked at Toricia's ID, and saluted her. The gate opened, and everyone entered the interior of the old city.
The first thing that came into view was a park under the shade of greenery. From this circular park as the starting point, two intersecting roads ran through the entire old city in a circular shape. On both sides of the street were simple and modern apartment buildings. In the center of the old city, there were shops, schools, and affiliated community hospitals.
"Most of the apartment buildings on both sides are the employees and their families of Starlight Technology."
Toricia seemed rather excited. After all, this place was like a miniature kingdom. Although it was small, it was complete. As one of the builders of this' miniature kingdom ', she certainly hoped that this place could become better.
"Originally, Lady Li Xuelu and I considered using it to settle down the residents of the old city and the employees of Starlight Technology, but after the transformation of the old city was completed, more and more people wanted to move in. We have also received many applications, including from the residents and merchants of West Street. In the end, after discussing with the Chamber of Commerce, Lady Li Xuelu decided to rent out part of the apartment building. Other than that, we also have a shuttle that connects to the city center. There's one every hour, and it's responsible for transporting the staff from the old city area to the Starlight Tower. Of course, the citizens of Crossbell are also using it now. "
"Very good."
Upon hearing Toricia's report, Fangzheng nodded in satisfaction. It seemed that Li Xuelu had executed his plan and request perfectly.
It was impossible for Fangzheng to control Crossbell, but considering his plan, he must obtain the approval of the citizens of Crossbell.
That was why Fangzheng spared no effort in doing these things. Small things like the bus naturally cost money. After all, it was public transportation, and it wasn't easy to earn back the cost. But for Fangzheng, if he could connect the citizens of Crossbell with Starlight Technology through these small things, it would be the best if they could never leave Starlight Technology again.
Not only that, but Fangzheng also didn't give up on other places besides Crossbell. For example, he also asked Li Xuelu to sign a commercial agreement with Almorica Village on agricultural processing and tourism development on behalf of Starlight Technology. At the same time, he also spent a large amount of money on the development of Mine Town Mainz.
These were all things that Crossbell itself wouldn't spend money on, but for Fangzheng, if this small amount of money could buy the support of the people in these two places, it couldn't be any cheaper.
"There's another question, Lord Fangzheng. We've also received a lot of applications for our financial payment system."
"Oh? A lot? "
"Yes. According to your plan, Lord, we've set up a financial network connected to the Kingdom of Libel, as well as a 'star coin' system specifically for Starlight Technology. As long as you exchange your Mira for star coins, you can buy all the goods of Starlight Technology at the same price. But because many things are only sold in the old city, and foreign tourists and residents of Crossbell outside the old city don't have this right, they can't buy a lot of things. Many people have complained to the city council about this …. "
"Haha …."
Hearing Toricia's report, the corners of Fangzheng's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a smug smile.
"What did the city council say?"
"The city council hopes that we can relax the star coin exchange system. IBC has volunteered to act as an intermediary."
"There's no need for that."
Fangzheng waved his hand.
"We'll do it ourselves. Go discuss it with Li Xuelu. Tell her that people with legal identity cards can open accounts on Starlight Technology's financial platform. They can deposit their Mira in Starlight Technology and exchange it for star coins of the same value. Also, let them know that no matter where they are, as long as they have the account password and identity card, they can withdraw their Mira and star coins from Starlight Technology's platform in any country or region."
Fangzheng, of course, understood why IBC was so impatient. Ever since his "optical krypton machine" was sold to the surrounding countries, almost all countries had begun to set up their own new financial networks. After all, this was a matter of national financial security. No matter how powerful IBC was, it could not change the decision of the president of the Republic or the emperor of the Empire. Therefore, according to the information Fangzheng obtained, IBC's financial business in various countries had shrunk greatly during this period. Now, they could only barely keep their base in Crossbell.
Hmm … .but after Fangzheng's Starlight Technology took action, it would be very difficult for them to keep their base.
This was also the reason why Fangzheng designed the "star coin" system. He remembered that when he was a child, the country was short of foreign exchange. At that time, many good things could only be bought with foreign exchange or US dollars. At that time, the foreign stores sold the most advanced, luxurious, and best quality goods, such as refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, etc. At that time, they were all rare and precious goods. Only foreigners or Chinese with foreign exchange were allowed to buy them. Even if you had 100 million yuan, it was useless. People would only sell the goods to you if you had a foreign exchange.
That was what Fangzheng was doing now. He used this star coin exchange system to absorb the Mira of the citizens of Crossbell and exchange it for internal currency, which was used to buy internal goods of Starlight Technology. This was actually the same practice as the foreign state-run stores.
It was just that at that time, the foreign state-run stores only sold high-end goods that ordinary people could not afford. On the other hand, Fangzheng had all kinds of goods, and all the goods produced by Starlight Technology were of higher quality and lower price than those outside. Under such circumstances, even ordinary people would hope to obtain benefits through this financial trading platform.
Not only that, even schools in the old city and hospitals needed to be paid with star coins. From a certain point of view, this was like forcing everyone in an urban area to use Alipay to make purchases, and other physical currencies were not accepted.
Of course, if it were any other place, Fangzheng would not be able to do this even if he wanted to, but Crossbell was different. It was just a colony!
What's more, when Fangzheng signed the agreement with the city council, the other party gave the entire old city to Fangzheng as "commercial land". At that time, the city council was probably just thinking about how to get rid of such a run-down place as soon as possible. They had no idea that Starlight Technology would spend so much money to rebuild the entire old city.
So there was nothing they could do now.
It was like buying a membership card in a store, topping it up to get a discount. Could you say that this was illegal?
Of course it was not illegal.
Not to mention that the Crossbell city council did not have the power to enforce the law against citizens of other countries. This meant that even if Fangzheng did not commit any crimes in Crossbell, the city council would not be able to arrest him even if he openly opened a water fountain to make everyone happy in the park.
That was why areas without political sovereignty were so depressing, no different from concessions.
Now, with the support of Starlight Technology, the old city was like a cancerous tissue, madly absorbing Crossbell's energy and gradually growing.
In the end, it backfired on him …
Ugh, why do I sound like a villain?
I'm clearly the kind magical girl and the God of Games.
Fangzheng went through his thoughts and actions in his mind, and finally nodded.
Hmm, it makes sense. There's nothing wrong with it.
"Let's stop here."
Fangzheng glanced at the side of the street and ordered. Upon hearing his order, the driver immediately stopped the car by the side of the road.
"Lord Fangzheng?"
"I'll bring Illya around, you go back to the company first."
Fangzheng opened the car door and alighted with Illya, gesturing to Toricia.
"Let's take a good look at the scenery here. Contact me if there's anything."
"Yes, Lord Fangzheng."
Upon hearing that, Toricia did not say anything else. She only nodded and left in the car. Seeing the pitch-black car leave, Fangzheng turned his head and looked at Iliya, who was standing beside him in puzzlement. He smiled.
"Alright, Illya, let's go on a date."
Upon hearing Fangzheng's words, Illya froze for a moment, before revealing a happy smile.
"… Yes, Master!"
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