Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Just then, there was a knock on the bathroom door, followed by Alice's voice from outside, "How long are you guys going to keep going? Can't a person take a shower?"

Elena yelled back, "Shut up, Alice."

Alice retorted decisively, "You golden gorilla, you should be gagged with a plunger."

"If it weren't inconvenient for me, I'd go out right now and punch you, flattening that little shriveled chest of yours completely." Elena was even more ruthless.

Alice got angry immediately. "Hit me? You better watch out on the road. I'll rip your scalp off and turn you into a golden mangy bastard."

Listening to the two arguing, Ronan felt a long-lost sense of home.

The next day, Ronan went to work as usual. Apart from some trivial matters, he mainly reviewed the soybean planting work plan of the collective farm. As for the whistleblower letter that Dinia had mentioned earlier, he could leave it to the blind man and the mute man to handle.

They were engrossed in their work, and the day quickly came to an end. Ronan and Alice returned together in the evening. As for Elena, she had resigned from the oversight department and was now the vice-chairwoman of the Xinhai City Federation of Trade Unions and the president of the Xinhai City Women's Federation. She was currently busy with two things: one was to nominate a worker representative to run for councilor, and the other was to organize a strike and march by female workers to try to win one-third of the votes for women.

Don't underestimate a third of the votes; it's a breakthrough from nothing. Of course, Ronan didn't think she would succeed, and he never considered giving her any help.

Because the power of female workers is still too weak, perhaps one or two hundred years from now, after industrialization begins, women will have the opportunity to gain the right to vote.

In fact, Elena herself did not expect to succeed. She did this simply to learn from Ronan's trick of lifting the roof to force people to open the window. If you don't give women votes, fine, you can run for workers' representatives. You have to agree to that, right?

After dinner and a short rest, Ronan and Alice made love. After the climax, Alice lay sprawled on the bed, her legs still twitching and trembling.

After taking a shower, Ronan arrived at Ambrina's "restaurant" at the appointed time.

As agreed, Ronan began to explain to Ambrina that Ronan could not bring in anything other than his own clothes, food, or drinks, but Ambrina could bring things in.

If someone who wasn't a magician had been pulled in, they would have been shot dead with a single shot.

Ronan explained as he wrote and drew on the paper, and Ambrina could ask questions at any time.

After ten days of studying for fifteen minutes each day, Ambrina has gained a fairly comprehensive, but not in-depth, understanding of this subject.

"So, Ronan, have you ever done this?" Ambrina asked.

"Yes, I did, with Elena and Alice. Since last year, there's been no one else," Ronan answered truthfully.

“Oh.” Ambrina didn’t react much, and was even a little surprised, because she had expected Ronan to have at least five or six.

Ronan breathed a sigh of relief.

"but……"

Chapter 186 Ten, Undercover Investigation, Extracting Information

But then, Ambrina remained silent for a long time. The reason for her reaction was that her mother had brought up old grievances during an argument, saying that her father had already had more than a dozen women when he was seventeen or eighteen. Of course, Ambrina disliked this very much.

After hesitating for a while, Ambrina slowly stretched out her hands, her fingers spread wide. "Ten, no more than that, and I need to know each and every one of them."

Ronan stood up, pulled out a chair, and made a gesture of half-kneeling in allegiance, saying with a grin, "As you command, Your Majesty."

Ambrina smiled and agreed, "Get up."

That's what she liked about Ronan. He had a maturity and wisdom beyond his years, as if there was no difficulty he couldn't solve. He made her feel incredibly reliable, but he would never lecture her with a stern face like those who taught her.

He has a great understanding of life. Sometimes Ronan can be as irreverent as a little boy, and when you're with him, you don't feel the nearly ten-year age gap between you.

If Ronan also loved flowers and music, that would be perfect.

Ronan quickly pulled up a chair and sat down, his face instantly becoming serious. "Anli, don't bother me for the next week. I have some things to do."

"I need to disguise myself and go to the collective farm for a surprise visit. I know how unreliable the written reports from grassroots officials are. I won't feel at ease unless I go and see for myself."

Ronan explained the reason to Ambrina.

“Okay.” Ambrina nodded in agreement.

The next day, after explaining things to Alice and Elena, Ronan went to Dinia and asked her to give him a little "berserk" mode. Soon, Ronan transformed into a muscular, bearded man in his thirties.

The collective farm is not closed off. While it can't be said that just anyone can enter, as long as they don't act suspiciously, there's no problem.

Ronan wasn't afraid of anyone stealing the seeds, because even if the seeds were stolen, they couldn't be grown without the corresponding breeding technology, which was entirely in the hands of the Haidi people.

Find the technical personnel among the Seapipe people? That would be extremely difficult. The core technology is in the hands of the Seapipe priests, and it is inseparable from the Resonance Stone. Putting aside Ronan's relationship with them, the treatment he gave them was something that most people couldn't offer.

Besides, you need to be alive to enjoy money, right?

Those who can give a traitor enough money and save his life are either big businessmen or nobles. We should seriously consider who the major shareholder of Ronan's seed company is.

For those who can truly poach Ronan's talent, buying seeds directly from Ronan is the most profitable business.

As for learning from the collective farm model to improve productivity, that's ridiculous. Let alone whether it can eliminate the old forces, even if it could, do they really think collective farms are that simple? Ronan suggested they figure out how to play the game of capital first.

That evening, Ronan stayed at a small hotel in the No. 11 Collective Farm. Dinner consisted of bread, a thick soup with tomatoes, onions, and a little bit of minced beef, and garlic roasted eggplant, a dish Ronan had promoted. Garlic and eggplant yields were good in Xinhai City, so Ronan made this dish.

The next day, Ronan began to wander around. After his disguise, Ronan no longer possessed the unique air of a nobleman that Karl had once had, so naturally no one questioned him.

After several days of investigation, Ronan basically confirmed that the various systems were generally functioning well.

The farmers were living well and working hard, but to Ronan's surprise, despite the good growth of the soybeans, they did not show any joy or satisfaction on their faces.

That night, lying on his wooden bed, Ronan had a thought, but he couldn't be sure what it was.

On the sixth day, having nothing else to do, Ronan struck up a conversation with someone. It took a long time before an old man was willing to talk to this stranger. Ronan introduced himself as a merchant from the north named Gawain, who said he was passing through the area and found it very interesting, so he wanted to ask him some questions.

The old man sat on the rock and said, “Don’t even mention you finding it novel. I’m almost sixty, and I find it novel too. But this kind of life is quite nice. We have to thank that female mayor.”

"Shouldn't we be thanking the gods?" Ronan asked deliberately.

The old man chuckled. "When you get to my age and feel like you could die at any moment, you'll realize that thanking God is useless; God won't assign you any work to do."

"Are you still working?" Ronan asked knowingly.

"I'm certainly no good at farming and harvesting wheat, but I can still do some odd jobs, like boiling water," the old man replied.

"Boiling water?" Ronan asked again.

“Yes, people in the past also wanted to take a bath and drink some hot water. After all, noble lords did it this way, so it must be good,” the old man said. “However, in the past, each family took care of its own needs. It would be too wasteful to burn firewood just to take a bath or drink some hot water. Now, dozens of people need hot water, so they need many large buckets, and it doesn’t matter. As a result, many people are needed to boil water.”

"Both men and women have work to do, and the younger ones are afraid of getting into trouble, so naturally it's us old guys who do it. It's fortunate that there's this kind of work to do, and we can accumulate some work points. This old guy of mine is finally useful, otherwise, if there were any disaster, I would die."

The old man said this in a very ordinary tone.

Because in the Western Continent, if food production decreases, young people will never give any food to the elderly.

"Do you all have work to do?" Ronan asked again.

A hint of pride flashed across the old man's face. "Isn't it strange? In the past, there wasn't much work to do except during planting and harvesting season. Now it's different; there's always work to be done."

“You guys are doing well,” Ronan said.

"It's alright, but it's much more tiring than before," the old man said.

"Don't you feel restricted?" Ronan asked.

The old man laughed. "Hahaha, with money comes freedom, without money, your freedom means others can freely stab you in the back."

“I don’t think you’re a farmer,” Ronan said. In fact, he had felt from the beginning that the old man was not an ordinary farmer; what farmer could speak so fluently?

The old man picked up a twig and gestured with it a couple of times. “I’m not afraid to tell you, when I was young, I was a pirate in the Mediterranean.”

“You’re living a good life now, but I think once this female mayor leaves, you’ll probably go back to what you were before,” Ronan said, pouring cold water on his hopes.

Upon hearing this, the old man's smile vanished instantly. "Go back? Impossible. Do you know what's most powerful about this collective farm? It's that it brings together people who aren't from the same village or family. There are so many of us, and we even have guns. If anyone wants us to go back, we'll send them back on a stretcher."

Ronan changed the subject and asked the question he really wanted to ask, "I heard that your collective farm sells its agricultural products to local factories at a relatively low price. Don't you feel resentful about that?"

The old man's eyes instantly became alert. After thinking carefully, he realized that the "Mr. Gao Wen" in front of him was a businessman, and he guessed his intentions.

"I advise you not to get any funny ideas. That secretary-general is not someone to be trifled with; he's arrested quite a few people recently," the old man advised. Too many people have fallen victim to Ronan this year.

Chapter 187 Insatiable Ambition, Anti-Corruption, Grasping Both Workers and Peasants

"I'm just asking if you're resentful," Ronan said again, looking exactly like a cunning businessman looking to find a way in.

The old man sighed and spoke his mind, "I'm quite content, but others might not be."

At this point, Ronan realized his initial assessment was correct: these people's lives had improved, but they were not satisfied.

Because they realized that while their lives had improved under the collective farm model, they could not possibly get any better in the short term.

They now only have a slight regret and worry. They regret that they are restricted, and they worry that after Dinia and Ronan leave, their meager wealth will shrink rapidly. It is foreseeable that soon regret will breed dissatisfaction, and worry will breed impulsiveness.

Goodbye, buddy.

Ronan is gone.

In a secluded place, he let out a long sigh.

If restrictions are lifted, and collective farms are allowed to decide for themselves what to grow and set their own prices for sale, their wealth will certainly increase in the short term.

After all, once they become independent, they will definitely focus on high-yield crops and sell their products to those who offer the highest bidders.

But Ronan dared to say that if the collective farms stopped supporting local manufacturing and instead sold everything to the neighbors, it wouldn't be long before the businessmen would exploit these farmers to the point of exhaustion. They would become like leeks being harvested at will, their labor intensity would not decrease, but their standard of living would definitely plummet.

Therefore, entering the free market is undoubtedly an extremely short-sighted act, but even this old man, who had once been a pirate and had some experience, couldn't help but be tempted.

Not to mention the other farmers.

Ultimately, a few individuals may stand out and become wealthy, but most will return to abject poverty and lose the most basic human dignity.

"This small attempt ultimately failed."

Ronan remarked with emotion.

If New Sea City were his fiefdom, or if Ronan were to stay there for another ten or eight years, he wouldn't stop because of this small setback.

It wasn't that Ronan was kind-hearted, but rather that the existence of a collective farm could, on the one hand, provide cheap raw materials for manufacturing and cheap food for the urban population, thereby reducing production costs for the emerging urban manufacturing industry in Xinhai City. On the other hand, deep down, even this bad guy wanted to be a good person. In Xinhai City, where the influence of landlords, nobles, merchants, and the church was relatively weak, he wanted to give the farmers a little chance.

Unfortunately, Ronan won't be able to stay for long.

After he left, no one could maintain it, and no one wanted to. Didn't Ronan know how greedy the officials, landlords, merchants, and nobles in Xinhai City were? As for the peasants, they were invisible to them, or rather, not human beings, but just a kind of human-shaped livestock.

Collective farms will inevitably degenerate into something that exists in name only.

Since that's the case, it's time to establish a farmers' association. The farmers' association must also have a bank. From now on, we won't have any work points or rations; everything will be settled in cash.

In this way, these farmers will have money in their hands, making it easier for them to manage their finances.

At that time, Ronan will arrange policies so that only members of the farmers' association can borrow seeds at low interest rates, send their children to vocational schools with two free meals, and enjoy medical care at a preferential price. Of course, this medical care will mainly target women giving birth and children with fever, and we will also experiment with smallpox vaccination.

Seeds are impossible to refuse. Farmers aren't interested in regular schools, but vocational schools are different; they'd be very interested. Incidentally, vocational schools can also break the apprenticeship system, supplying more skilled artisans to the manufacturing industry. As for medicine, Ronan has many "wizards" under his command; these people could actually train women in the Women's Federation to work as midwives and pediatricians.

Through a three-pronged approach involving debt, schools, and healthcare, these farmers are completely bound to the farmers' association, making their lives and production inseparable from the association from birth to death.

In the end, it won't be the merchants who will profit from the situation, but the farmers' association.

Ronan only needs to indirectly control the farmers' association. Agriculture in New Sea City is the foundation of manufacturing, and manufacturing is Ronan's livelihood. He will not allow anyone to shake this point.

"The farmers' association still needs to use the excuse of protecting farmers and giving them a better future, otherwise Dinia will definitely be bombed."

Ronan pondered this.

Dinia was certainly not some austere, idealistic reformer; the amount of alcohol she drank was beyond the reach of most people. She came from a very privileged background. Although she grew up in an orphanage, it wasn't an ordinary orphanage. Before she joined the war, she had witnessed the best aspects of the country.

She can only be considered a romantic reformer who sympathized with the lower classes.

Even so, there are still some things she can't accept, such as developing manufacturing by exploiting farmers.

After leaving the collective farm, Ronan went to Dinia's house that night, where Dinia turned Ronan back to his original form.

As it happened, Mrs. Antari was also there, and Ronan directly explained to Dinia what he had seen and heard at the collective farm.

Ronan did not mention the farmers' regret that they could not improve themselves, but only their concerns, before bringing up the matter of the farmers' association.

"...With the farmers' association, firstly, they can become better, and by the way, more artisans will emerge from among them. More importantly, they can be protected. In the future, the farmers' association will unite all the collective farms to form a more powerful force, and the plans of those who covet the collective farms will only fail." Ronan said. "In this way, even if we leave, the government will not be abandoned after our death, and we will not be able to make a comeback."

Mrs. Antari looked at Ronan, and by this time she had roughly guessed Ronan's intentions. The unions and the farmers' associations—Ronan wanted to ensure that after he left, New Sea City would continue on the path he had planned. All that talk about protecting farmers and workers was nonsense.

But she chose to remain silent.

Firstly, Ronan and Dinia have a close relationship, not the kind of power struggle between a top leader and a second-in-command. If she were to point out Ronan's true intentions now, she would be asking for trouble. Secondly, she is ultimately not Dinia's person, but Ambrina's person, so she is on Ronan's side now. If what Ronan wants to do is beneficial to Ambrina, she will naturally support him. However, as Dinia's nominal private secretary, it would not be good for her to openly side with Ronan.

At this moment, saying nothing is the best response.

“Okay, we’ll do it your way.” Dinia agreed. She also hoped that Newsea City would maintain its current course after she left. Of course, after serving as mayor for a year and knowing Ronan for so long, she wasn’t oblivious to everything. There was bound to be a discrepancy between what Ronan said and what he was planning, but she had learned to compromise. At least she could compromise with someone like Ronan.

"Yes, Madam Mayor."

Ronan responded firmly.

The matter of the collective farm is now completely settled. Let those people handle the council's affairs. The only thing left to worry about is the magic school.

This is something that all the wealthy and powerful people are eagerly anticipating; if it's not done soon, they'll all be getting sick from worry.

Chapter 188 Bringing a Filial Son, Gambling or Not, Academic Cliques

In mid-August, the Magic Affinity Testing Machine, also known as the Orans Machine, finally arrived.