After spending several months steering various matters back on track, Xiang Fei had hoped to take this opportunity to truly relax and take a break. Unexpectedly, that restless Iridium Star Chancellor suddenly threw him a heavy bombshell.
The Iridium Star people intended to use the technology of the ancient cosmic civilization to establish an administrative region on Earth, one that would be significantly larger than many provinces in Country C.
What was more crucial was that this seemingly honest, but absolutely not naive, Iridium Star Chancellor planned to place this island in the South China Sea, encompassing all the current Spratly Islands.
This situation instantly overwhelmed Xiang Fei.
The Iridium Star people were as generous as ever; during its time on Earth, the administrative jurisdiction of the island would belong to Country C, but it would also be directly governed by the Star Alliance.
Xiang Fei reviewed the document drafted by Bai Zhongqi dozens of times; essentially, all the cities on Spratly Islands could elect their mayors appointed by Country C, and the head of Spratly Islands Special Zone as well.
Yet, Spratly Islands were actually under dual jurisdiction, with the Star Alliance Council and various agencies issuing directives that all cities and officials of the Spratly Special Zone must fully execute.
For Bai Zhongqi, he had constructed the framework, allowing the people of Country C to directly fill in, which would increase their willingness and attention to migrating there, and he would also save on manpower.
Xiang Fei understood exactly what game His Excellency the Chancellor was playing, but the suggestion, once it reached the Imperial Capital, stirred intense interest. The Chancellor's maneuver touched a sore spot for the people of Country C, making it irresistible in every aspect.
"Spratly Islands have always been of great significance to our nationals, and in addition to its pleasant tropical climate and beautiful scenery suitable for tourism; moreover, the given land, take it for free if it's free; with all sorts of advanced Iridium Star technological infrastructure in place, newcomers to the island could immediately start enjoying a fully Iridiumized lifestyle.
Moreover, according to the plans, residents of the Spratly Special Zone would enjoy all the social benefits of the Star Alliance just like those in Ruyi City. This means that all residents of the Spratly Islands would receive a monthly basic income, various subsidies for daily necessities, free housing, and job allocations..." Xiang Fei explained to Ye Qing.
The two now shared a good relationship; Ye Qing had already moved to Ruyi City and had started working at the Star Alliance Research Institute. He was an exceptional genius; after months of in-depth sleep learning, he had mastered a vast amount of Iridium Star knowledge and was now able to independently design applications of Iridium Star technology on Earth, achieving many accomplishments.
Ye Qing, flicking through his own research report nonchalantly, said offhandedly, "Understand, it's essentially a communal society."
Xiang Fei paused, then sighed, "I can't help but wonder if this is His Excellency the Chancellor's ultimate plan."
Ye Qing closed his report, looked at Xiang Fei, and said, "A chancellor who has reincarnated from an alien, has his ideology shifted left because he has lived in our country for a long time?"
Xiang Fei replied, "Not necessarily, the original model of the Iridium Star is similar."
Ye Qing naturally said, "When productivity reaches a certain stage, this is inevitable. The Iridium Star people went to Emerald Sea Star, set up some farms on the Legendary Continent, and have already stockpiled a massive amount of agricultural products.
Were it not for the domestic fear of a direct collapse in the agricultural market, the moment Iridium Star people start distributing, our nationals wouldn't have to pay for food ever again."
Xiang Fei frowned and said, "But we can't do the same; we have hundreds of millions of farmers, cutting off their livelihoods and that of related enterprises in the industry chain, would be a tremendous blow to our economy."
Ye Qing pushed his glasses up and said, "I'm not an economist, I don't understand, but if everyone can eat, what's the big deal?"
Xiang Fei smiled bitterly, "Things are never that simple."
Ye Qing looked down to continue reading his report and said, "Actually, it is quite simple, you just can't break away from the concept of money, even the Chancellor is playing it safe. But he's also smart; if the Spratly Special Zone really gets established, the local economy will face a huge impact from Spratly, ultimately forcing you to undertake a major economic reform."
Xiang Fei said, surprised, "You seem to really support the Chancellor of Iridium Star's methods, huh?"
Ye Qing said, "Doing science also involves politics, in my view, at the level of the Star Alliance, communization is the most efficient. Private capital, after all that hassle, doesn't amount to much."
Xiang Fei sighed, "Even if we need to change, the magnitude of this project is too great. Just taking the agricultural issue you mentioned, even if we now completely stop importing foreign agricultural products and internalize consumption within the Star Alliance, guiding hundreds of millions of farmers to change their way of living is extremely difficult, and the same goes for other industries.
It's like when Sky Net came online, the national network company reforms, it's still mainly a mess up to now."
Ye Qing looked up again and asked, "That's all in the future, what's interesting now is, since we're building Spratly Island, how exactly do we handle those pests currently on the island reefs?"
Xiang Fei laughed, "That's actually the easiest part, I reckon it'll just be a matter of finalizing the decision, then issuing some kind of final ultimatum, instructing those countries to withdraw their people."
Ye Qing nodded and said, "Currently, Fei Principality is quite weak, expressing goodwill towards us repeatedly, even if there's public discontent, their government can suppress it. The president of Fei Principality has also cooperated with us, we can talk. Malaysia can't play any tricks on this issue either.
These countries now don't have the courage to confront us, and if some exiled regime tries to make trouble, it probably won't be much of an issue."
Xiang Fei agreed, "The associations of Taiwanese businessmen on Siwei Island are clamoring to join the Star Alliance, originally the Taiwan Office was very positive about it, but they met a cold reception from the Iridium Star Chancellor."
"How normal, why would they graciously yield benefits for nothing? After all, the prevalent view now is to handle Siwei Island with a cold attitude, wait a few years, especially once we've developed further, and they have dragged themselves down, they'll beg to come back and still have to look at our faces.
Honestly, although I haven't seen Chancellor Bai often, he appears humble, but he really doesn't suffer losses or take insults, he is willing to treat others as equals, but he won't place himself below anyone."
Xiang Fei also said, "After all, he is The Chancellor."
Ye Qing thought for a while and asked, "Do you anticipate the possibility of a conflict with the Americans? That blabbermouth President is making his presence felt everywhere, it seems like a carrier battle group is loitering around the South China Sea, showcasing to the world that their power is still formidable."
Xiang Fei scoffed, "Just puffing up their cheeks to look imposing. They have a carrier battle group, so do we, and one of ours is worth ten of theirs."