A total of 67 passengers were isolated from the refugees. Ren Xiaosu did not worry about them and just continued to shake hands with the rest with all his might and congratulate them on settling into a new home and life.
Wang Yuexi and the others were also standing nearby, lamenting from the bottom of their hearts that the future commander was way too patient. A few days ago, they thought the future commander had shaken the hands of every refugee because he was very enthusiastic at the beginning. They felt he would probably not continue doing so by the time the next few groups arrived.
After all, it would be really tiring to shake hands with tens of thousands of people.
In the end, they underestimated Ren Xiaosu’s patience and felt very ashamed of their own thoughts.
After Ren Xiaosu handed over all the refugees to Wang Yuexi, he slowly walked towards those 67 people. “Tell me, who are all y’all?”
One of the Zhou Consortium officials said softly, “We’re just normal refugees. Future Commander, why’re you asking something like that?”
Ren Xiaosu chuckled. “Look at who’s standing around y’all. I ordered the Northwest’s armed soldiers to watch over all y’all. Do you think I’d treat refugees with an attitude like that?”
But even though Ren Xiaosu said that, the Zhou Consortium officials still refused to tell the truth. “Future Commander, you’ve misunderstood. We’re really just normal refugees.”
“Since you’re so tight-lipped, I guess y’all must be spies.” Realization dawned upon Ren Xiaosu. Then he said to the Northwest soldiers next to him, “Take them to the military base’s prison and interrogate them properly. Tell Zhang Xiaoman that I’ll be heading to the Central Plains to recruit more refugees later. I hope he won’t torture these people to death before I return.”
When these cowards from the Zhou Consortium heard this, they nearly peed their pants. “Future Commander! Future Commander! We’ll talk! I’m the deputy director of the Zhou Consortium’s Ministry of Commerce. I really couldn’t stay in the Zhou Consortium any longer, so I decided to flee to the Northwest. I heard there’s a plan to make the Northwest prosperous. I think I can contribute….”
Ren Xiaosu pondered it for a moment. Actually, he could not keep these people here no matter what they said. It was not that the Northwest was prejudiced against those from other places, rather, Ren Xiaosu was worried spies were actually among them.
It did not really matter to him that the Zhou Consortium officials had fled here, but it would be very troublesome if any spies managed to infiltrate the Northwest.
Those people must have brought along some jewelry. If it were Ren Xiaosu, he would definitely care about such things. But the Northwest did not lack these. Compared to the wealth of the entire Northwest, the valuables that a dozen or so Zhou Consortium officials had brought were not even worth a mention.
But if spies were hidden among them, it could prove extremely disastrous in the future.
Kill them all? Ren Xiaosu was not that cruel.
He said to the 67 people, “Wait here for now.”
After that, he went off to the side and whispered to the Great Hoodwinker.
The Zhou Consortium’s officials muttered among themselves, “Will he send us back to the Zhou Consortium? I insulted Zhou Qingyang over the phone….”
One of them shook his head and said, “That’s impossible. We’re already here, and we even have lots of money on us, so how could he possibly make us go back? He’s just hinting that we should pay up a little. Afterwards, let’s each contribute a little to bribe this so-called Future Commander of the Northwest. I don’t believe he won’t be tempted.”
“You’re absolutely right.” Another Zhou Consortium official said, “Is there anyone in the world who doesn’t love money?”
These Zhou Consortium officials were also very open-minded. Furthermore, they had survived in the Zhou Consortium’s bureaucracy for many years, so they were well versed in the unwritten rules. As such, they were prepared to cough up some money.
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After Ren Xiaosu finished discussing things with the Great Hoodwinker, he returned. “I’m sorry, but y’all aren’t welcome here in the Northwest.”
A Zhou Consortium official was dumbfounded. “We have money.”
Ren Xiaosu shook his head. “I can’t allow it even if you have money.”
One of the Zhou Consortium officials said anxiously, “What gives you the right to decide our fate just like that? I want to see Zhang Jinglin! We want to receive corresponding political treatment and apply for political asylum! You’re not the ruler of the Northwest yet, so you don’t have the authority to decide our fates!”
Two hours later, the steam locomotive drove back to the Central Plains. A Zhou Consortium official sat in the carriage with his face all bruised and swollen. He made a call on his satellite phone and said helplessly, “Hello, Boss? I was just joking with you previously. Hahahaha, I’ll apologize to you right away when I get back…”
When the steam locomotive arrived at the Central Plains, many of the Zhou Consortium’s people actually came out of the stronghold this time to welcome it and pick up the Zhou Consortium officials who had escaped.
Before leaving, the Zhou Consortium’s intelligence officer who came to greet them said politely to Ren Xiaosu, “Sorry for the trouble!”
Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and said, “By the way, these people also brought some of their belongings with them. As you know, it’s quite expensive for the steam locomotive to make the trip here….”
The corners of the Zhou Consortium’s intelligence officer’s eyes twitched. This was clearly a superpower, so what was expensive about it? However, he understood what Ren Xiaosu meant. Before coming out here, Zhou Qingyang had specifically instructed him not to get into conflict with the man.
As such, the Zhou Consortium’s intelligence officer clenched his teeth and said, “We’ll hand over their belongings to you as the escort fee, so please accept it.”
“Smart!” Ren Xiaosu beamed and said, “Alright, deploy more of your people to maintain order while the refugees line up to board the train.”
The Zhou Consortium’s intelligence officer was left in tears of humiliation. He suddenly felt like it was them making reparations to Ren Xiaosu, and that really felt aggravating.
He just could not understand. Since you needed someone to maintain order around the refugees, couldn’t you have brought your own soldiers from the Northwest?!
However, he could not say that out loud.
The Zhou Consortium’s intelligence officer smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll see to it immediately…”
However, before coming out, Zhou Qingyang had given him other tasks. The intelligence officer said to Ren Xiaosu, “Future Commander, it’s like this. Although the refugees used to put a great burden on the Zhou Consortium’s resources, we’ve also imported a lot of grain from the South to feed them. The grain has been delivered here, but the refugees have almost all been taken away by you already. Won’t the grain all go to waste like that? Y’know, we spent a lot of manpower and materiel to gather and transport the grain. Do you think you can…”
Ren Xiaosu was touched. “Hurry up and load the grain onto the train then. It won’t be a waste if we bring it to the Northwest to feed the refugees!”
The intelligence officer was confused. Was that what I meant? Didn’t I say all that because I wanted you to leave some refugees for our Zhou Consortium?
When Ren Xiaosu saw that the intelligence officer did not say anything, he drew his black saber. “Did I misunderstand?”
“Hahahahahaha,” the intelligence officer laughed. “I’ll load up the grain right away!”
Ren Xiaosu nodded. “Mhm, you can use hemp ropes to secure the bags of grain onto the train’s roof. That way, it won’t take up the refugees’ space on the train.”
“That really makes sense,” the intelligence officer said through clenched teeth. Now that the refugees had been taken and their provisions were also given away, he reckoned that his future with the Zhou Consortium would probably be over as well. The intelligence officer looked at Ren Xiaosu and said in seriousness, “Future Commander, I also want to join the Prosperous Northwest.”