Chapter 135: Proposal

  Why does Mo Yan want to control the entire Eran? Of course, it's not because he wants to rule the world or avenge his father in some melodramatic way. It all boils down to interests. Although Leiting Cliff has always been at the pinnacle of trade in Eran, its development space is limited.

  Many raw materials that are not available near Thundercliff are imported from other cities in Ailan, and the goods exported are also affected by taxes from other cities, just like the sudden tariff issue last time. Although Mo Yan suppressed it with some means, it is hard to guarantee that those cities will not mention this problem again in the future. The most effective way to solve the problem once and for all is to become the de facto controller of those cities.

  There are many ways to become a leader of those cities, but in fact, there aren't many choices for Mo Yan. As a demon, Mo Yan can be said to have a significant disadvantage. The Thunder Fortress was established by Mo Yan, and everything belongs to him, which is not a problem for the people of Sart.

  Then other cities such as Santa Fe, Ancud, and Arica were established by the Salte?os for generations, wanting them to hand over the city to a demon to manage would face enormous resistance. Some old people who have been fighting against demons for most of their lives are stubbornly unreasonable, they will recognize that demons are coming to enslave them and will not listen to any advice.

  Of course, these opponents' problems will still have to wait until Mo Yan has everything arranged properly and is about to truly rule a city. For now, he doesn't have such worries yet, but is considering how to gain control of the city, trying to be as gentle as possible while not losing control.

  In the cities surrounding Thunderhead, there are many factories and workers of Thunderhead, as well as some service industry employees. These recipients of relatively high salaries from Thunderhead and beneficiaries of factory welfare may be the most loyal to Thunderhead in these cities. For them, Thunderhead can be said to be their breadwinner, and everything they have today is obtained from the factory, living in a good house in the city, eating well three meals a day, and even having extra money to go to places like theaters opened by Thunderhead for entertainment.

  In the last tariff event parade, these workers also made a lot of effort and were among the most violent protesters. It was their momentum that scared off those lawmakers who originally thought the tariff plan was good and hastily abolished the tax that had been implemented for only a few days.

  So, the foundation of the masses in Thundercliff is not completely non-existent. As long as the name of governance sounds good, it's not impossible to control other cities in Elan. After all, Elan's economy is almost under Thundercliff's control now. If Mo Yan becomes unhappy, he can make Elan's entire economy paralyzed, although doing so would also cause some damage to Thundercliff.

  This is also thanks to the Flanders, now the second largest commercial organization in Erland. If it weren't for a young man named Lauren who launched the entire business community to counterfeit Thundercliff gold coins, Thundercliff gold coins would not have become the mainstream currency on the market today. Some chambers of commerce that had hoarded Thundercliff gold coins finally began trading directly with them. The Sault gold coin with higher gold content slowly exited the Erland market.

  Anyway, the exchange value of the two currencies is the same. The magnificent appearance and unique design of Thunder Cliff require very high forging technology. Without the unique equipment manufactured by Thunder Cliff Mint, it is impossible to imitate a counterfeit that looks exactly the same, so there is no need to worry about the appearance of counterfeit coins.

  And that's also why Mo Yan decided to take action for two reasons, the mass base and economic control, making Leiting Cliff indirectly control most of the small cities nearby, and what Mo Yan needs to do is to clarify things, let these cities be under the rule of Leiting Cliff in name.

  After all, economic control is often indirect in many cases and cannot be directly commanded, a kind of inefficient governance that may be sufficient influence for a businessman, but Mo Yan is not a businessman, he is a ruler of the city, so Mo Yan needs a more direct and efficient command system.

  Soon, Kabinda, Lobito, Balchik and some small villages received invitations from Thundercliff. These cities near Thundercliff that had just become small towns would be Mo Yan's first batch of targets. Several city masters or village heads who did not know the intentions of the Minotaur arrived at Thundercliff on schedule.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm delighted that you've all arrived at Thunder Cliff." A cow-headed man dressed in formal attire with neatly combed hair spoke to the leaders of several cities seated around a round table: "As the most important city lords of each city, it's an honor for me that you can take time out of your busy schedules..."

  "What exactly did you find us for? Your letter only said that there was something very important to discuss." Su La knew it was a bit rude, but still interrupted the cow-headed man's words and looked at the well-dressed Mo Yan: "But never mentioned what exactly, now that we've met, let's skip the pleasantries, we're even more curious about what you want to say."

  "In that case, I'll get straight to the point." After hearing Su La's words, Mo Yan nodded and said: "Actually, my intention for inviting you all here this time is very simple, that is... I want to obtain your city, please hand over your city to me for management."

  "What!" Mo Yan's words shocked all the city masters present, they widened their eyes in disbelief and stared at the cow-headed man in front of them. Some even lost their composure and stood up directly from their seats. After such a long time, the cow-headed man finally stretched out his magic claws towards these cities around Thunder Cliff.

  "Do you know what you're saying?" Sula's face was stern as she stared at the Minotaur. "How could we possibly hand over the city to you? It's not our personal property, even if we agreed to it. The City Council would veto our decision, this is no trivial matter. Are you sure you want to make an enemy of all of Elen?"

  "It seems that everyone has misunderstood my suggestion." Mo Yan slowly handed over several documents to the city masters present, saying: "I want your cities, not to enslave the people of Sart, this is just a suggestion, whether or not to do it you can discuss when you return. I invited you to Leiting Cliff because I was worried that some things couldn't be explained on paper, so I let you talk to me face-to-face, so you can better understand my meaning."

  "Nova Federation." Sula gazed at the beautifully bound book in her hand, reading out the strange characters on the cover. Although she had never seen this fresh vocabulary before, Sula could roughly guess some meaning from the literal sense of the words. The three Salterian words were simple and clear: new birth, union, city-state, linked together to form a newborn urban federation.

  "Gentlemen." The Minotaur stood up, holding the book in his hand and said: "The prosperity of Thunder Cliff is obvious to all. Under my leadership, it has become increasingly powerful. In Thunder Cliff, there are many excellent systems that other cities do not have or cannot imitate. The residents of the city live a happy and carefree life, their freedom and safety are guaranteed."

  However, Thunderhead is just a city. Although its individual strength is powerful, it is limited. The non-unification of institutions between cities and the interface problems between trades have greatly reduced our profits. I think you are all worried about the shrinking finances every day, but once we form the New Erlen Federation, these problems will be solved effortlessly."

  "Is it like the Elan Council?" The lord of Lobitto asked the Minotaur after flipping through a few pages, "The new federation you mentioned is to leave the Elan Council and establish a new council with Thunderhorn as the center, isn't it? What's the difference from before?"

  "There is a big difference, of course." Mo Yan said: "The parliament organization of Ailan is too loose. Generally speaking, each city lives its own life, whether it's taxation or military affairs, they are all self-sufficient. There is mutual resistance in both economic and military aspects, which is the main problem faced by the city-states of Ailan. A lot of strength has been used for internal consumption."

  "Are you saying we should hand over our taxes and army?" A village elder shouted out loud after hearing the words of the bull-headed man: "That's not to say that we will be handed over to your hands, like domestic animals, whatever you want to arrange! We can't agree on such terms, I'm leaving Leiting Cliff now!"

  The village chief stood up suddenly and walked towards the door of the conference room. However, waiting for him outside the door were two wolfmen with foul-smelling mouths, blocking the way in front of the door. With their orange eyes staring at the human being in front of them, the cold light emitted by their weapons made the village chief shiver, swallow a mouthful of saliva and turn his head to look at the cow-headed man sitting silently at the round table, finally sat back down in his seat.

  "What does that mean." Sula looked at the two werewolves who closed the door and said to Mo Yan: "If we don't agree with your request, will you kill us all? That won't work, the city council will re-elect a new lord, and the people of Salte are not afraid of threats of death."

  "Of course, I couldn't do that." Mo Yan smiled and shook his head, saying: "I just want to make my ideas clear. Before you all understand what I mean, I won't let you leave with misunderstandings. Otherwise, the things you spread after returning may damage the reputation of Lei Deng Cliff. Please listen to me explain in detail..."