My Wife is a Counsel Chapter 23: The Four Guards of the White Flag
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At around ten o'clock the next morning, the train arrived in Nicolo.
Following this, United Matrix personnel contacted about the train to Gravel City, additional carriages, etc.
Because extra carriages were needed, this train did not leave until after five o'clock in the afternoon.
During this period, Lu Ming went to Donghai’s representative office in the Western Alliance and asked about Liu Laocai’s case.
But the staff of the representative office said that after sending a telegram to the Batecheng Council the day before yesterday, they have not received a reply yet.
Lu Ming can only lament that public relations are never as reliable as personal friends.
Because the owner of the Donghai Telegraph and Telephone Company, his business partner, although his communication business has not yet touched the area of Bate City, his representative here helped him contact a noble in Bate City in a roundabout way.
However, he could only send a telegram to the nobleman, hoping that he would help him check Liu Shoufu's whereabouts. He also told him where to wait for him, but he had no time to wait for his call back.
……
Gravel City is the end point of the western section of the railway. Although it is only 500 kilometers from Niguluo to Gravel City. , but it stops almost immediately at the station, and the trains are full of people and even the roofs of the carriages are full of people. The train speed is extremely slow, and it is normal to be delayed. There is no normal train timetable at all.
Just like this train, because it had to meet the requirements of a large customer like United Matrix, it was originally scheduled to depart six hours later. But not to mention the transportation company and station staff, even the passengers were accustomed to it. .
This 500-kilometer journey took more than ten hours, and the average train speed was probably only more than 30 kilometers per hour.
At around ten o'clock in the morning, the train arrived at Gravel City.
Further west from Gravel City, there is no railway.
The gravel city-state has a population of more than 300,000 people. As for the gravel city itself, it has a population of more than 100,000, which is considered a big city in the west.
The United Matrix itself has armed pickup trucks, off-road jeeps, and even an armored vehicle. It also bought seven or eight trucks directly from Gravel City to load supplies, mostly ammunition and gasoline barrels, etc.
The trucks were bought from several transportation companies, one or two for each company. As the end of the western railway line, the trucking industry in Gravel City is very developed.
But the semi-new truck is twice as expensive as the original price of a new car in Donghai.
Although there are no tariff barriers between the western city-states and the empire, under current conditions, the cost of shipping goods from the eastern part of the empire is relatively high.
The United Matrix helicopter also took off, causing the whole city to marvel.
The economic and trade group chartered a bus. According to the driver, it can go directly to Bate City. There are also various refueling points in the middle. However, the last 100 kilometers or so are dirt roads, which are very bumpy. It’s not a bad thing that it’s not the rainy season. During the rainy season, large vehicles such as buses cannot travel on those dirt roads.
Lu Ming did not take the bus, but boarded one of the helicopters with Nicole, Uncle Sun and other entourage members.
The three helicopters are not the armed helicopters that Sanmai is still developing, but Sanmai's Wave series medium-sized helicopters.
However, it is considered for military use and is considered a necessary product for the development of armed helicopters.
The armor is relatively thick, and there is a special device for mounting a machine gun in the rear compartment. It can carry 10 passengers or 1.1 tons of cargo, and has a range of 450 kilometers.
The aircraft Lu Ming was riding in was purely for transportation purposes. It had no machine gun mountings or shock absorbers, and the rear cabin seats were also very comfortable.
Lu Ming, Nicole, Uncle Sun, Luo Yi, Luo Er and four black slave guards were all sitting in the back cabin.
The moment he sat in the back seat, Lu Ming let out a long sigh of relief.
The Hailang-1 helicopter has similar parameters to the H-19 from the 1950s in my previous life. Today, it is the largest helicopter.
In fact, ten months ago, the shareholders of Sanmai Company had another quarrel over the production of Hailang-1 helicopter.
It is true that this kind of helicopter is expensive to build, with the final selling price being 180,000 yuan. Although the shareholders did not know the final selling price, they also knew that this thing was extremely expensive and there was never a market. The year before last, Sanmai The prototype of Hailang-1 was stranded because the company found that the final cost of the model would be prohibitively high.
Now, investing in further testing of models? Or even start manufacturing finished models?
Few shareholders agreed. It was also because of this turmoil that Lu Ming was not only the largest shareholder in Sanmai, but also had more than 60% of the equity. Madison’s equity accounted for 100%. By about 30%, it can be said that the company's equity structure has become very simple.
In the end, United Matrix placed an order for three Hailang-1s, which immediately resolved Sanmai's financial crisis.
At the same time, the East China Navy has also begun negotiations with Sanmai Company and is preparing to order Sanmai's Hailang-1 helicopter.
This also means that the development of Sanmai Company has opened a new chapter.
……
It is said that the distance from Shashi City to Bade City is 500 kilometers, but the straight-line distance is only 300 kilometers.
The three helicopters have a full tank range of 450 kilometers and can be easily reached.
More than two hours later, three helicopters landed on the outskirts of Bate City.
Looking at the outline of Bate City from the air, it is a rectangular earth city surrounded by earth walls of varying heights. Most of the buildings inside are earth houses and thatched houses, and there are also a few magnificent stone buildings. They are probably for nobles. Palaces, official residences, private residences, etc.
The entire Bate city-state has a population of less than 50,000, and there are probably only more than 20,000 residents in Tucheng.
After the helicopter landed.
On the grassy slope, a group of people hurried down, led by a middle-aged man wearing a silk robe. They all looked at these helicopters in shock.
"Who is Mayor Lu?" Although the middle-aged man looked at the people who got off the plane, the young man seemed to have the highest status, but he was still a little unsure.
Lu Ming smiled and made a gesture.
I found out that the other party was sent by the chieftain family that I had sent a telegram to in Gravel City.
This family was the representative of Donghai Telegraph and Telephone Company in Nicolo, and they helped him contact them in a roundabout way.
In Bade City, it is the ruling model of the city lord and many chieftain nobles.
In fact, toast is described by its own Chinese vocabulary. To be more precise, it is the city lord and the big and small landowners.
In a city-state with a population of less than 50,000, the city lords and chieftains, a total of forty or fifty families, are the real ruling class. The rest, except for a small number of merchants, craftsmen, free civilians, etc., are all clinging to their serfs.
The chieftain I contacted was named Popolo. He was considered a relatively large chieftain in the Bate city-state. He owned tens of thousands of acres of land and had a total of three to four thousand manor serfs working for him.
In addition to the city lord, there are four major chieftains in Bate City, and the Popolo family is one of them.
I just don’t know what the status of the middle-aged man who came to receive me is in the Popolo family?
Judging from the fact that he can speak the Central Continent dialect, although he can’t understand the weird words without thinking carefully, his status is probably not low.
After all, don’t speak Zhongzhou dialect. Even Western languages are not compulsory for aristocratic families in a small city-state like Bade City, let alone domestic servants.
Furthermore, being able to prepare to find the place where the helicopter landed is also a matter of cultural level.
Because what I telegraphed is about three miles north of Bade City, at an angle of 30 degrees, on relatively flat grass or flat ground.
I was worried at first, wondering if the other party had any staff who could understand what I meant.
Look now, I have got all the key points I said.
"Mayor Lu!" A middle-aged man with a thick black beard walked over quickly, caressed his chest and bowed, "My name is Long Xiang, my father is the head of the Popolo family and the fourth son of Bate City. One of the famous White Flag members."
Lu Ming nodded, some feudal states in the Western Regions had weird power structures, and this Bate City was definitely one of them.
Learning from the East, the city-state has a parliament, called the Yizhengyuan, which is a legislative body, but it is also a governing body. The city lord serves as the speaker, and the four chieftains are the four white flag members; and the thirteen chieftains are the yellow flag members. In fact, The other 20 or so chieftains are blue flag councilors and are actually small landowners.
After thinking about it randomly, Lu Ming smiled at the middle-aged man: "You speak Zhongzhou dialect quite well."
Long Xiang immediately smiled, but then he restrained himself and became extremely humble: "I have longed for the culture of Central China and the Holy City of the East China Sea since I was a child. How lucky am I to receive the mayor today?"
Lu Ming nodded and said, "Most of our troops won't arrive until night or tomorrow. Let's wait for them here. Is there a cooler place nearby?"
It is noon now, the sun is high in the sky, and we are in the southwest, so it is very hot.
But forget it if you enter the city. Now, not counting the four black slave guards, you have more than a dozen mercenaries, and you have to leave people to look after the helicopters and supplies. If you are ambushed when you enter the city, even if you are very weak here, You can fight, but if you are caught off guard, casualties are inevitable.
Although this possibility is slim, we are unfamiliar with this place after all, so we should always plan for the worst outcome, even if the probability of it happening is very small.
Long Xiang blinked his sunken eyes, "Mayor, if you don't want to go into the city now, my family has a manor thirty miles to the west. The environment there is good, and it has just been cleaned. , the furniture and the like have all been replaced with new ones. My father was going to go on a spring break. If the mayor doesn’t mind, how about we go there with your entourage first?”
Lu Ming didn't know what their custom of "hiding in spring" meant. He pondered for a moment and nodded: "Okay, let's go there."
A manor, and a helicopter flew over again. From a bird's eye view, everything was in full view. If the other party had bad intentions, he could take precautions.
……
This area is a plain, with large tracts of neat green farmland, and more than a hundred serfs' mud houses. On the grassy **** in the center surrounded by thatched houses, there is a stone earth castle, two circles of wooden fences, and one on the outside. The serfs' earthen and thatched houses were enclosed inside, and a layer of fence enclosed the grass slopes and earthen forts.
All this actually shows that the place is not peaceful. If there is an enemy attack, the two wooden fences represent the inner city and the outer city. Young serfs and guards can be organized to defend against the enemy.
The helicopter happened to be parked on the grassy slope.
By the time Long Xiang and his entourage in a carriage arrived in a hurry, the serfs had already been scared away by the mercenaries firing shots.
Some serfs were obviously brutal, aggressive and ignorant. They believed that these people came from nowhere. Although they were frightened by the protection of flying monsters, if they invaded their master's house, they would die, so they had to drive away these people. Ghosts.
Led by a few diehards, dozens of mobs armed with various farm tools immediately gathered, but as soon as a gunshot was fired, one diehard was hit in the leg. He knew it hurt, and he screamed. Everyone else ran away.
After Uncle Sun took out the bullet and bandaged the diehard, Long Xiang and his servants hurriedly arrived.
Uncle Sun has a very steady hand. After following Lu Ming, he gained a lot of skills and learned simple wound treatment from the medical soldiers.
Of course, he has nothing to do with science, and his thinking is different from that of a doctor. He dared to do things like taking bullets, but there was no hospital nearby anyway, so Lu Ming just let him handle it.
After Long Xiang arrived, he first beat the injured thug with a stick. If Lu Ming hadn't stopped him, he might have beaten the thug to death.
Obviously, this was something they were used to. The mob didn't seem to resent the host family, but was just afraid of begging for mercy.
Looking at this scene, Lu Ming didn't know what to feel in his heart.
I am also very fortunate that the education I received in my past and present life has broadened my horizons. If I had been living in the same environment as these serfs since I was a child, I would not be any different from them.
Of course, if we delve deeper into the rules of human society, the vast majority of people are no different from the serfs in front of us. They support the upper class and are exploited by the upper class, but they are grateful in the information cocoon. I think I am the master, but sometimes I just don’t work hard enough.
In this regard, there is no difference between ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad.
Can I enter the level outside the Three Realms in this world? The class that actually makes the rules of society?
While Lu Ming was in a daze, Long Xiang came to apologize again, saying that it was a temporary arrangement. The mayor's aircraft was too fast, so there was no time to inform these ignorant slaves.
Although there was a phone in the castle, no one dared to go in and answer it.
Lu Ming just said it was okay.
Long Xiang then led Lu Ming into the castle and introduced him to the layout of the room.
This three-story earthen castle seems to have been washed by water a few days ago, and the furniture and other items are all new.
From the first to the third floor, the iron plates of the windows can fall down and turn into narrow shooting holes.
The first floor is a utility room, maid's room, etc.
The second and third floors are the owner’s living quarters, bathroom, etc. There is a large iron bucket on the top of the castle to supply hot water.
Lu Ming felt that in a western city-state, the accommodation conditions were acceptable.
The bedrooms on the third floor are equipped with telephones, and even the telephones are brand new.
It seems that this custom of "hiding in spring" is very particular among the local nobles.
However, the telephone is a rocker type. You shake it to the node, say you want to call there, and the node connects to the next node, and finally to the terminal you want to call.
It's very troublesome, and only a very small number of households have telephones installed, so this kind of manual switch can meet the demand.
"In Bate City, there are very few tourists or businessmen coming to invest in Zhongzhou. You should know Liu Shoufu, right? He was also mentioned in the telegram sent this morning. Which police station is he being held in now? What's going on? "After visiting the third floor, Lu Ming asked Long Xiang.
It’s a small town of 20,000 people and it belongs to the White Flag Chieftain family, so they shouldn’t be unaware of it.
Bate City has four police stations, one near each city gate, and four police officers. The convention is that each of the four Baiqi families selects one.
Long Xiang nodded lightly: "Actually, before the mayor sent the telegram, the villain and the villain's father did not know about this. We knew that Mr. Liu was visiting the local area. He has not been there in the past few days. I heard the news and thought I had left.”
"After receiving the telegram from the Mayor, I went to investigate. Fortunately, I fulfilled my mission. I found out that Mr. Liu was detained at the Dongmen Public Security Station. The Mayor should know that our four Baiqi families are one family. One station, each guarding one gate when the enemy attacks. The economic Luo family of the East Gate Public Security Station has always been at odds with the villain family. Moreover, their family has always had a marriage relationship with the city lord of Dingshan City, and Dingshan City is our city's antagonism to the White House. Lucheng’s ally is the city lord, who is very important to the economy of the Luo family..."
He paused for a moment, smiled bitterly, and said, "But don't worry, sir..."
Lu Ming nodded when he heard this: "Thank you very much. If so, please accompany me to the Dongmen Public Security Bureau. From now on, I am Mr. Liu Shoufu's defense lawyer. I need to see my client. Although Bate City has its own state law, it is only a matter of similarities and differences between the laws and regulations. The existence of courts and lawyers is inevitable according to the imperial constitution, right? And I see that under your state’s state law, the suspect is in the arrest stage. You also have the right to see a lawyer.”
It seems that what Long Xiang said is not a lie. Under this situation, it is okay to enter the city.
Long Xiang hesitated for a moment, "Okay, I'll make arrangements now."