"Dear esteemed administrator, I am willing to dedicate my farm to the New Alliance." Standing in front of Chu Guang in the reception room, Brown bowed his head respectfully and placed his wrinkled right hand which was shaking on his left chest to show his respect.

Chu Guang looked at him with a look of shock.

My goodness… He has such dedication?

Hearing that Brown wanted to see him, Chu Guang originally thought he was here to ask for the grain and biomass oil he had borrowed before. He didn’t expect the farm owner to come all the way over to surrender!

"Can you tell me what made you suddenly make this decision?"

Of course it’s because I want to live…

But naturally, the wise Brown wouldn’t say that.

The expression on his face changed slightly, he raised his head solemnly and solemnly, "It’s because of your speech, dear esteemed administrator."

Chu Guang carefully recalled his speech, but he still couldn’t remember exactly what he said that day. He only remembered that he advertised his Nuka Cola at the end.

Seeing that Chu Guang didn’t speak, Brown continued, "... Your impassioned speech at the celebration enlightened me. I am deeply ashamed of my past actions. I did a lot of things I shouldn’t do in order to survive, but I know that I couldn’t justify all this by saying that I had no choice. I can only hope that my sins can be alleviated in this way."

"A new world of equality and no oppression is also what I want." Brown look sincere when he spoke, but he was cursing silently.

If the New Alliance didn’t want his farm, he wouldn’t be able to run it anyway with the formation of the New Alliance.

In the battle with the Tide before, Shelter 404 conscripted almost all the biomass oil from his warehouse, but after the war, they didn’t show any intention of returning it.

Brown was naturally too embarrassed to ask for it.

After all, without those blue coats, let alone the farm, his head might have already been hanging on the chair of the Bonechewer Clan before the Tide even broke out.

However, after he lent out all his grains and oil to the outpost, his warehouse was already so empty that even rats wouldn’t visit it.

When he asked the housekeeper to do a calculation the day before, he found that he had lost nearly 10,000 chips in just the past 2 months. Thinking that he had to support more than 200 slaves and more than 40 servants, he felt a headache so severe that it was as if his head was about to split open.

Moreover, it was only the beginning of the year!

What if they wanted to borrow more at the end of the year?!

Especially now that the New Alliance was established, the entire area from the fifth ring to the Elm District in the north was included in the Restored Zone. His farm happened to be within its range.

What he was worried about the most finally came.

Brown was not at all surprised by the result. In fact, he finally heaved a sigh of relief.

At least he didn’t have to be woken up by every sound outside when he was sleeping while waiting for the sun to rise the next morning in fear.

He had enough! He didn’t wish to live a life like that any longer.

Offering his farm to the great alliance before Shelter 404 came to him to free his slaves was the only way for him to retain his last dignity.

After listening to Brown’s impassioned statement, Chu Guang smiled to himself.

He didn’t believe a single word the old farm owner said, but he had to admit that Brown was very self-aware. It saved him a lot of time.

"I’m glad you think so, but we’re not the kind of unreasonable people. We won’t take your farm. That belongs to you. As long as you are willing to abide by our order and recognize our sovereignty over the Restored Zone, you can continue to operate it under our supervision."

Brown froze for a moment after hearing Chu Guang, he didn’t understand what Chu Guang meant, and replied in a trembling voice, "Sir, I don’t understand what you mean."

Compared with the administrator of the New Alliance telling him that he could keep the farm, he was more afraid that the other party telling him that he couldn’t accept it.

If the New Alliance took over the farm, it meant he still had a way out.

He was really afraid that those blue coats would arrange a public trial for him after declining his offer, and then ask those slaves to testify to his crimes.

If that happened, he would be done for!

Reading the fear that gradually emerged in Brown’s eyes, Chu Guang immediately guessed what he was thinking, so he smiled calmly and said, "We mean it. As long as you abide by the laws of the Alliance, release all slaves, hire employees according to our minimum wage standards and labor treatment, and fulfill your tax obligations, you will be able to obtain legal protection."

Free all the slaves?

Brown said with a wry smile, "Sir... You might as well just take my farm away. There are lands everywhere in this wasteland, but without slaves, they are just a pile of useless soil. You can’t expect food to just pop out of the ground by itself. "

Greedy people are always dissatisfied with what they have.

To them, giving the employees 2 more days off and letting the employees get off work on time would cause the sky to collapse.

Can’t farm without slaves? What kind of joke is this?

Chu Guang felt that he had to make Brown understand the benefits of freeing slaves.

"How many slaves do you have?"

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Brown didn’t dare to hide anything, but he really didn’t have the habit of counting how many slaves he had every day, so he said cautiously, "There are probably more than 200..."

Chu Guang continued, "How big is your farm?"

Brown went on. "The actual planting area is about 333,000 square meters."

333,000 square meters?

Chu Guang was slightly surprised.

He had previously estimated based on the map that the actual planting area of Brown’s Farm was only about 66,600 square meters, but he didn’t expect it to be 5 times more than his estimate?

The error was a bit ridiculous.

Whatever it was, the matter could be considered later, and the process of calculating the actual size of the farm had not yet come.

"Don’t you think it’s a waste to plow 333,000 square meters of land with more than 200 laborers?" Looking at Brown who clearly had no clue about how inefficient his farm was, Chu Guang said sadly.

A waste?

A look of bewilderment appeared on Brown’s face. He didn’t understand how it was a waste at all.

He didn’t need to pay them wages. All he needed was some food. The food that slaves ate was not expensive either. After planting crops, he could simply ask them to scatter some wheat, or plant some shofar potatoes in a corner of the farm, which would be their food once matured. He could even sell the excess cheaply to scavengers.

When they could no longer work, he could simply sell them or take them outside for disposal.

"If I were you, I would sell the slaves, use the money to buy a few tractors, then equip them with seeders and harvesters. I’ll just save some money to build water towers and irrigation canals for the farm. For 333,000 square meters of land, you just need around 20 people! And if you give them some wages and bonuses, they will work harder than slaves, and even treat the farm as their own home." Chu Guang nodded to himself as he continued, "You can’t farm without slaves? This kind of thinking is very problematic!"

Brown was taken aback by what Chu Guang said.

After a while, he asked nervously in a low voice, "... Sir, 200 slaves can be exchanged for 200,000 silver coins at most. Is this money enough to buy the things you said?"

He didn’t know how many silver coins or chips were needed to buy those machines, he just felt that the administrator’s calculations might not be good enough.

Chu Guang said with a slight smile, "Maybe not, but don’t worry. For the sake of your sincerity in joining the Alliance, we are willing to provide you with a loan with negligible interest to help you upgrade your agricultural tools and get through the initial transformation period."

"Don’t worry if you can’t repay it. We will distinguish between personal and company debts. This is not Boulder Town. Even if you’re bankrupt, it will not make you a slave. As long as the accounts are fine, the remaining assets will be auctioned off at most."

…

Brown came out of the reception room in a daze. He still couldn’t figure it out after calculating for a long time.

He was already prepared to lose the farm, and he only hoped that the administrator could leave some property for himself for retirement. He didn’t expect to get a loan!

He could even continue to run his farm.

What exactly is he thinking?

Brown was utterly confused. After all the calculations, it still seemed that it was a great deal for him.

For this self-conscious feudal lord, Chu Guang did not make things difficult for him, and even encouraged him slightly before seeing him out.

It was Grandet’s [1]">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A9nie_Grandet[/ref] behaviour to hold all property tightly in the palm of his hand, and reasonable allocation of resources was what the Alliance Administrator should do.

What Chu Guang needed was not a farm, but a guarantee of the production of food and industrial raw materials in the territory. If Brown was willing to take the initiative to welcome the new order, he could certainly give him a decent life.

If the propaganda tool was used properly, Brown’s deeds may also serve as an example for the small feudal lords outside the Restored Zone.

Looking at the figure disappearing at the edge of the park, Chu Guang stroked his chin in thought. "... The New Alliance needs its own propaganda department."

Why don’t I just learn from The Voice of Boulder City and get a radio station belonging to Dawn City?

Chu Guang’s eyes lit up. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was necessary. Doing good deeds without telling other people his name was dumb.

He couldn’t rely on other people to spread his name for him!

Wastelanders in Boulder Town and even the southern area of Clearspring City had the right to know the most authentic New Alliance and Dawn City.

All in all, he also had to find a few people who were glib-tongued to operate the position of their propaganda leader!

...

1. ☜