newbobooks Chapter 152 Negotiation and Franchising
Chapter 152 Negotiation and Franchising
On the afternoon of October 25th, Li Chenglong, Zheng Yong, and others arrived at the west gate of Dawn City, along with many residents of Dawn City, to welcome Wei Lanxin and her delegation. Before even reaching the west gate, Wei Lanxin's convoy stopped. She then stepped out of the car and quickly led her group to the city gate, repeatedly saying, "How dare we trouble you, City Lord, and so many people to come here to greet us? This is unacceptable!" Zheng Yong smiled and said, "Our two bases are eternal allies, and we are friends too. It's only right that we come out to welcome you." At this moment, a little girl presented a bouquet of flowers, sweetly saying, "Welcome, Chief Wei." Wei Lanxin smiled and patted the little girl's head, saying, "Thank you."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the group got into the car and slowly drove towards the Dawn Building. Along the way, Wei Lanxin looked at the neat buildings and clean streets on both sides, and smelled the autumn wind without any unpleasant odors. She couldn't help but sigh to her adjutant, "Dawn City is indeed much better than us." Yang Liu, in the passenger seat, introduced some of the facilities along the way to Wei Lanxin one by one, revealing a sense of pride in his words.
The car traveled slowly, taking 16 minutes to reach the Dawn Building from the West Gate. As soon as Wei Lanxin got out, she was awestruck by the magnificent Dawn Building. Yang Liu explained, "This is the core of our Dawn City, the Dawn Building. In front is Dawn Square, and the road in the middle has now been upgraded to a wide 12-lane asphalt road, the best road in Dawn City." Then, Li Chenglong, Zheng Yong, and Ma Tiancheng led Wei Lanxin to inspect the Dawn City honor guard. Afterwards, Li Chenglong introduced each of the ministers and deputy ministers present to her. Wei Lanxin exclaimed, "Dawn City is well-organized, rapidly developing, disciplined, and united. I dare say without exaggeration that it is a model for the whole country."
Li Chenglong said, "Not at all, Dawn City still has a long way to go. Why don't we go to the council hall first?" Wei Lanxin nodded, "That's a good idea. To be honest, my first purpose in coming here is to visit, and the second is that I need your help, Dawn City." After arriving at the council hall, Li Chenglong and Wei Lanxin sat on opposite sides. Some of Dawn City's ministers and clerks accompanied Li Chenglong to the meeting, while the other side was occupied by members of Wei Lanxin's visiting group.
Wei Lanxin cut to the chase, saying, "Let's not beat around the bush. I'm here to negotiate." Li Chenglong was somewhat surprised, "We don't seem to have any interests or conflicts of interest between us, so there's no need for negotiation." Wei Lanxin's adjutant then spoke up, "Our main reason for coming here is to join you." This statement caused a huge stir, astonishing everyone present from Dawn City. There was almost a minute of silence. Li Chenglong, Zheng Yong, and Ma Tiancheng exchanged glances. Ma Tiancheng then said, "This is a serious matter; it's not something to joke about."
Wei Lanxin simply told them everything. It turned out that after the last major battle, the troops at Langley Base had already suffered heavy losses. Later, because Langley Base itself lacked strong fortifications, many residents left one after another. Even some small groups that had attached themselves to Wei Lanxin left, causing their situation to plummet to rock bottom. Now, their entire force numbered only a little over 2000, with only about 300 ability users remaining, and the population had dwindled from 40,000 to less than 20,000. And it was still decreasing. Considering the dwindling numbers, and with November approaching and the weather getting colder, Wei Lanxin decided to come to Dawn City to see what was going on. If it wasn't suitable, she would leave; if it was, she would join.
She had almost decided to join the city the moment she arrived outside its gates. Her experiences along the way had deepened her understanding of Dawn City, and after careful consideration, she decided to join. Seeing Wei Lanxin's sincere expression, Li Chenglong immediately said, "This matter is of great importance and cannot be decided by me alone. We will issue the notice today, and tomorrow we will convene the General Committee and the Dawn City People's Representative Assembly. We hope that Lord Wei can attend." Wei Lanxin immediately agreed.
The next morning, the General Committee held its first plenary session. Zheng Yong, Ma Tiancheng, and several ministers gave speeches, Li Chenglong gave a concluding speech, and Wei Lanxin also elaborated on her position. Finally, the General Committee voted, with 80% of the vote initially approving the inclusion of the Lanli Base. In the afternoon, the Military Committee convened, where Li Chenglong, Yun Lan, Wu Gang, and others spoke, considering the arrangements for the army after the Lanli Base's inclusion. It was unanimously decided to reduce the size of the Lanli Base's 2000-plus personnel to form the Sixth Regiment, with Wei Lanxin as its commander. She would submit a list of deputy commanders, but the political commissar, battalion political commissars, and company and platoon instructors would be appointed or assigned by the Dawn Army. Wei Lanxin also became the third vice-chairperson, ranking after Zheng Yong and Yun Lan.
On October 27th, the Dawn City People's Congress convened again. The sole agenda item was the admission of the Lanli Base. Many Dawn City representatives spoke, including former Dawn Base members, those who had joined from the Huaxing Base, and those who had followed Li Chenglong from Jinghai City. Ultimately, the Congress approved the Lanli Base's admission with 90% of the vote. Wei Lanxin was surprised by Dawn City's democratic nature; even ordinary citizens could speak, and the entire meeting was being broadcast live for public scrutiny. She felt reassured.
At 8 PM, in the staff canteen on the third floor of the Dawn Building, Li Chenglong hosted a banquet for Wei Lanxin and her team. After joining the Dawn Army, Wei Lanxin would not only serve as the Vice Chairman of the Military Commission and the Commander of the Sixth Regiment, but also as a Secretary of the General Committee's Secretariat. Her subordinates would also be properly accommodated. Li Chenglong said somewhat seriously, "Comrade Wei Lanxin, I don't know if you've read the Dawn City laws I gave you yesterday. Regardless of which faction you belonged to before, once you join Dawn City and become a member, you must abide by the relevant laws and consciously accept supervision." Wei Lanxin nodded, "That's only right. Without rules, there can be no order. Our Lanli Base was too lax, which led to our current difficult situation."
In the following two weeks, everyone at Langley Base, led by Wei Lanxin, joined Dawn City. Thanks to the efforts of all parties, there was no major chaos, and everything proceeded in an orderly manner. After their arrival, Dawn City's population reached 80,000, with over 2000 superhumans and an army of 11,000 in the Dawn Army alone. Within just a few days, all identity cards were registered and distributed, and residential areas were arranged. Now, almost half of Donghai Province was under Dawn City's control.
To facilitate the electricity needs of the people of Dawn City for production and daily life, the city now has 20 crystal generators and 5 identity card manufacturing machines. More people are working in the light industrial zone and industrial manufacturing zone. The products manufactured not only meet the needs of the people of Dawn City, but also facilitate trade with Feiyun Base in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province to the south and Black Gold City in Xishan Province to the west, obtaining a lot of scarce materials.
The anti-corruption campaign has been progressing steadily. In the past month, 20 corrupt officials have been dismissed, over 50 have been demoted, and many have been given warnings but retained in their positions. Several managers in Dawn City who committed serious violations were even executed on the spot, while others were expelled from Dawn City to fend for themselves, much to the delight of the city's residents. Wei Lanxin did not protect her former subordinates or officials from the Lanli base; those who made mistakes were punished according to Dawn City law, making Li Chenglong's work much easier.
It was November 10th. That evening, Li Chenglong invited Wei Lanxin to his home. Li Xue and two other girls had gone to the medical department and weren't expected to return, so only Li Chenglong, Yun Lan, and Wei Lanxin were present for dinner. Yun Lan smiled and asked Wei Lanxin, "Sister Wei, are you settling in well at the government compound?" Wei Lanxin replied, "Actually, I rarely stay there. I usually stay at the military camp, but there haven't been any major battles lately, so it's been quite relaxed." Li Chenglong brought out all the food and said, "I checked everything today, and the heating is basically all in place. Thankfully, we've had several transactions with Black Gold City and acquired a large amount of coal, so all our residents can have a warm winter."
Yun Lan continued, "Today, I went with the special forces, the military affairs department, and the logistics department to visit many families of martyrs and distribute gifts. We also visited the Shuguang City Nursing Home and the Shuguang City School. The people of Shuguang City are very satisfied with us." Wei Lanxin was deeply moved, "Compared to what you have done, what I did at the Lanli Base was far inferior. You truly treat the people's affairs as your own and build the people's home as your own."
Li Chenglong suddenly remembered something: "By the way, the level 3 virus protection agent and vaccine have been successfully developed, and preliminary experiments have been conducted on humans. Once they are more stable, we can start mass vaccination." Yun Lan said with delight, "This is really good news. After so long, they have finally been developed. We must give our full support to virus research." The three of them discussed work while eating. Wei Lanxin also took out a gift for Yun Lan. It turned out that she had personally made several sets of maternity clothes and newborn clothes for Yun Lan. Yun Lan thanked her repeatedly.