427: Chapter 427: Being tricked by Bailiji

Therefore, the defensive battlefield in the Lasa region has now become a natural breeding ground.

Bad things have turned into good things.

Within Huaguo, Huatong Construction's collaboration with various Settlements to establish underground survival bases is still progressing in an orderly fashion.

Five months have passed since the first batch of four underground survival bases was completed in January. In these five months, more than 40 additional underground bases have been successively completed.

The crystalss earned by Settlements from raising rats are continuously flowing into the hands of Oriental Chen and the Huaguo Assembly.

According to the tax rate stipulated in the "Wartime Taxation Regulations," the final proportion of crystalss falling into the hands of Oriental Chen and the Assembly is roughly 6:4.

It is evident that the Assembly has also made a fortune during this period.

Furthermore, most of the crystalss are deposited in the Huatong Chamber of Commerce's account.

Therefore, strictly speaking, the Assembly's income is merely an accounting entry.

Initially, Chen Guanxuan of the Finance Department was very pleased. With money on the books, he felt at ease. But later, this good news turned into a headache.

Why?

These funds are merely numbers, and they are accounting figures held by a civilian organization.

In the unlikely event, and this is just a hypothetical, if something were to happen to the Huatong Chamber of Commerce, whether these crystalss could still be withdrawn would be a huge unknown.

For this reason, Chen Guanxuan has approached Baili Ji several times.

He has repeatedly reminded him that these crystalss need to be spent quickly, as keeping too much on the books carries too great a risk.

Each time, Baili Ji simply brushed him off with a few perfunctory words before dismissing him.

That is why he was so troubled.

On the other hand, aside from the Central Military Region, construction projects for underground bases in the other four Military Regions have all been initiated.

Now that everyone has an abundance of crystalss, they are all frantically engaging in infrastructure development.

The Southwest Military Region has always cooperated directly with Oriental Chen, and with the foundation of the first phase of underground defensive works, subsequent projects are directly managed by Oriental Chen.

The other three Military Regions sought out the Huatong Chamber of Commerce.

It was not until now that the Commanders of the various Military Regions realized that Baili Ji was an old fox.

At that time, to ensure the smooth implementation of the "Wartime Taxation Regulations," especially to gain the support of Huatong Chamber of Commerce, a major taxpayer, he specifically granted some special privileges. One of these was to grant Huatong Construction military construction qualifications.

At the time, everyone had a slight doubt about this.

If he wanted to open the door wide for them, giving a civilian Class A construction qualification would have been appropriate. But why did Baili Ji insist on adding a military project construction qualification?

Now they understand that they were tricked by Baili Ji.

If the four Military Regions want to build underground survival bases, should the Military Political Department pay for them?

According to the rules, they are certainly obligated to pay, and must pay in full.

Historically, each Military Region has relied on the Military Political Department for military appropriations and supplies, with no precedent for self-sufficiency or finding their own way.

However, the last Assembly meeting ended on a sour note, with the Commanders of the four Military Regions declaring that they would no longer participate in the construction of the Mosang Ark project, but would instead build their own bases. In response, Baili Ji neither expressed approval nor disapproval, nor did he impose any penalties, maintaining a completely neutral stance.

And so, the projects of the four Military Regions were all launched.

Now, the Assembly has not spent a single cent, yet it still collects taxes from them.

Furthermore, the bases of the four Military Regions have all been established.

By the time everyone realized what had happened, it was already too late, like putting up spring couplets on the fifteenth of August.

No wonder Baili Ji could be the Speaker!

Even if the four Commanders were stacked together, they couldn't hold a candle to him.

...

It is now nearing the end of June, and according to previous years' weather patterns, it should already be very hot and dry.

But this year is different; the highest temperature in the past few days has only been around 28°C.

Discussions are rife in streets and alleys across the country, with everyone believing that the rumors of an ecological crisis are true.

However, people are not overly concerned.

Life this year is much easier than last year.

Now everyone has work to do, food to eat, and various material supplies are slowly becoming abundant. Moreover, the Settlements either already have underground survival bases built or are in the process of building them. And the living conditions in the underground bases are far superior to current conditions. So, even if the crisis comes, everyone will continue to eat and drink as usual, with no one feeling afraid.

The situation in the Northeast region is slightly worse.

Currently, the highest daytime temperature there is surprisingly only 16°C, and it is still below freezing at night.

This is very uncomfortable.

It is important to note that, in previous years, the temperature would certainly have exceeded 30°C by this time.

For this reason, Baili Ji specifically had a conversation with Shang Yangping of the Civil Affairs Department.

After the conversation, he personally called Suo Tonghua.

During the call, he asked Suo Tonghua to fully cooperate with Shang Yangping's work.

Suo Tonghua agreed without hesitation.

Baili Ji's plan is to select three locations in each of the Guandong Three Provinces, entrusting Huatong Construction to build a total of nine large underground survival bases to centrally resettle survivors who cannot meet the conditions for self-building in the short term.

Of course, many Settlements that have the conditions to build their own bases are certainly unwilling to merge, and the Assembly does not force them to do so.

To implement this plan, the Civil Affairs Department needs to take the lead, Suo Tonghua needs to provide security and transportation support, and the Finance Department needs to allocate funds.

Chen Guanxuan was already worried about the crystalss being too hot to handle in his hands, so when he learned there was a project to invest in, he waved his hand and declared: Spend!