Chapter 952: The Minister's Question

The motorcade slowly left the slums, followed by the factory area, and some new factories were rising from the ground.

"The Federals spent very little time building these buildings; you see, they have already led us too much in industry."

The secretary continued to introduce those buildings under construction to the Minister of Foreign Affairs; the workers wore safety helmets, tied safety ropes, and sat on steel frames to carry out operations.

Tightening the arm-thick screws, then welding them dead, or carrying out later anti-rust treatment on some parts, etc.

Although it was only a frame, the Minister of Foreign Affairs could already see what it would look like in the future from this frame.

"It's not that they lead us too much...", he was a bit emotional, shaking his head slightly, and said with despair that only he could detect, "We are not on the same level at all."

Yes, not on the same level at all, so naturally, there was no talk of how much they led.

They were still using the most primitive methods to smelt steel on a small scale; when they really needed steel, they either spent money to buy a batch from the Jiede Republic.

Or they used iron ore to exchange with the Federals.

Most of the time, they would use iron ore to exchange for steel from the Federation, because this didn't require them to pay an extra sum of wealth.

If they bought from the Jiede Republic, they needed to pay a foreign exchange reserve of Federal Sol, and the steel parameters bought were even worse than the Federation's, so it was better to exchange directly from the Federation.

Anyway, they didn't need to pay those miners much money; the cost of human development was extremely low; the only cost might be transporting iron ore from the mine to the port.

But with the Jiede Republic building a large number of railways, this problem was also solved.

They couldn't produce high-quality steel themselves, so how could they study how to use steel structures to build high-rise buildings faster?

It seemed that this was just a very, very simple thing, but behind such a simple thing was a despairing gap.

In fact, after reaching a certain degree, one could instead look at these things with a normal heart.

Those workers insisted on working in the scorching sun; he could see that those key workers, technical workers, were all Federals.

Only those workers engaged in heavy physical labor were Lapa locals.

The car turned around the construction site and then headed toward the Lanse White manor.

On the way to the manor, the Minister of Foreign Affairs had been thinking about some problems, his positioning, and how far he could go after defecting.

As a member of the ruling group, his requirements were actually not high.

Either he could guarantee his wealth, or he could guarantee his power; he had already given up other unrealistic ideas.

The difference was too big; mentioning those conditions would appear a bit stupid.

If Lapa were the Jiede Republic, he would still try; after all, the Jiede Republic had their capital, but Lapa, had nothing.

After the car arrived at Lanse's manor, it was soon approved to enter; looking at those Federals holding guns everywhere in the manor, his mood became both heavy and relaxed.

What was heavy was that these people could arm themselves so unscrupulously, which meant they must have a relationship with those who supported the anti-government armed forces; perhaps it was Lanse who was supporting them.

What was relaxed was that after knowing these truths, there was no such great anxiety; because deep in his heart, he already had a result for the meeting and testing that hadn't been carried out yet.

He didn't think about this in detail, but he had subconsciously realized this point; he would go with the flow!

"Sorry, Mr. Minister, if you want to see Lanse, we need to check the things you are carrying."

"And, you are only allowed to bring one accompanying person to see Mr. Lanse.", before entering the elevator, a young man blocked his way.

This made the Minister of Foreign Affairs' secretary suddenly become annoyed!

Even Diego's office, the Minister of Foreign Affairs went if he wanted to, and didn't go if he didn't want to.

How come when he got here, a non-governmental organization place, he had to follow so many rules?

His face flushed red, and he was just about to open his mouth when the Minister of Foreign Affairs' hand pressed on his shoulder; he turned his head and glanced at his Minister in a bit of astonishment; the moment their eyes met.

The secretary's eyes changed from anger to doubt, and then to obedience, finally extinguishing all flames and maintaining his previous silence.

The young man who stopped him saw that they didn't refute or do anything impulsive, so he let two young girls check the things they were carrying, and incidentally helped them search their bodies.

After confirming that they weren't carrying any dangerous weapons, the Minister of Foreign Affairs took his secretary and took the elevator to the top floor.

The moment the elevator door opened, he took a deep breath.

The entire corridor was still a corridor, but in his eyes, it had become a bridge leading to the future!

He walked to the end of the room, someone pushed the door open for him, and told him that Mr. Lanse was waiting for him.

After about two doors, he finally saw Lanse sitting in a chair.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs' face was immediately piled with smiles; he took the initiative to walk over, and Lanse stood up on the side of the table. In the past, how those masters "treated" him, now he took out how to treat this Minister of Foreign Affairs.

People who took the initiative to defect like this would definitely lose some things in status.

After all, things that were too easy to get wouldn't be cherished by people, whether it was a girl's first laugh or the loyalty of these people.

After shaking hands, Lanse invited him to sit down, sitting on the opposite side of the table; this was a very obvious attitude inclined toward official business.

If Lanse wanted to show more closeness, he could completely invite the Minister of Foreign Affairs to sit on the sofa, so their conversation wouldn't be so formal, and some questions that were very choking or not easy to answer wouldn't be so easy to ask.

But now they were a bit too formal, which made the Minister of Foreign Affairs a bit worried.

"How should I address you?", Lanse asked.

He only knew the Minister of Foreign Affairs' surname, Labuer.

This surname was considered a surname with status in the entire Yalan region, including Lapa, at least seven countries had the surname "Labuer," and they all belonged to the local wealthy families.

It was the same in Lapa; the Labuer family possessed vast farms, several mines, and some real estate in the city.

They hired many workers to work for them; this was definitely a famous family in the true sense.

The ancestors of the Labuer Minister were once tribal chiefs; they had deep enough foundations and popularity in some regions.

"Baola, you can call me Baola."

Actually, there were many middle names here; the more noble the status, the more they wanted to show their nobility in their names; like Baola, if he introduced his name completely, there would be at least a dozen middle names.

From the origin of their family to the proudest thing his father did when he was born, these elements would become middle names and join his name.

When someone read his full name, they would know he had such a prominent background.

But actually, not many people were willing to remember those meaningless things; he knew it himself, so he didn't introduce it to Lanse, and Lanse didn't ask much.

"Kaxia said you and he are very good friends.", Lanse said.

Labuer Minister didn't deny this point, "Kaxia... we are indeed very good friends; I have always hoped that he could come to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help me, but he always felt that commerce was the department to change Lapa's status quo."

"But fortunately, now in a strict sense, he really became my subordinate, and at the same time, we are very good friends."

Kaxia ambassador was the deputy minister of the Ministry of Commerce before, also considered a member of the privileged class, but his status in the privileged class wasn't high.

Being able to connect with a famous family like Labuer Minister was mainly because Kaxia was indeed a capable person.

The main work of the Ministry of Commerce certainly wasn't developing the domestic commercial environment; they simply couldn't develop it, at least there was no hope for fifty years.

Kaxia ambassador once hoped to change this country through free trade, although he failed in the end, he still got the appreciation of some people.

Now he was engaged in diplomatic work, naturally considered a subordinate of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

He observed Lanse's expression after saying these words; in fact, his relationship with Kaxia ambassador wasn't to the extent he wanted to express; it could only be considered a good friend, but not the best kind.

"We talked a few times some time ago, and also talked about some problems we were avoiding."

"Mr. Lanse, I have a question: between us, Lapa, the Federation, does the possibility of peaceful coexistence really not exist?"

This question was a bit "out of bounds"; if he asked a Federal Senator, or the Federal Secretary of State, President, Vice President, it would at least look appropriate.

Lanse was just a gang leader!

However, Kaxia also told him a lot on the phone, letting him understand that Lanse could play a key role.

Those big shots couldn't come to talk to him, a Minister, about these things; Lanse became a link he had to contact to reach Federal big shots.

He wouldn't look down on Lanse, instead treating him as an equal person, so he asked such a question that shouldn't have been asked to Lanse.

Lanse didn't fob him off, just thought for a moment and said, "When your neighbor is just a seven-year-old child, but he has a large sum of wealth that makes people covet."

"And you happen to need money now, and you know that even if you do something to him, you won't get any terrible consequences, what would you do?"

Without waiting for Labuer Minister to answer, Lanse said his thoughts, "Countries cannot use morality to constrain the behavior between each other; the ongoing war explains this point very well."

"Between countries, there only exists interest!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 953 =====