296: Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-Four: National Debt 296: Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-Four: National Debt Cui Bo and the others shared the same idea as Gao Yang: it wasn’t their place to manage someone else’s money, nor was it good to ostentatiously take out money, lest they unintentionally stand on the moral high ground and embarrass those who didn’t want to contribute.
So, one after another, they delivered their money to Maide’s hands, and quickly met others who shared their sentiment.
After taking a deep breath, Maide hugged Gao Yang with his remaining arm and chuckled, “You five, even the way you talk is similar.
You really are all of the same kind.
I— I really don’t know what to say.”
Gao Yang said casually, “Enough, no need for that talk.
We’ve taken quite some money from you too, and besides, we aren’t short of cash, so why fuss over it so much?”
At that moment, Cui Bo clapped his hands loudly and said, “See, didn’t I tell you?
I knew Brother Yang would definitely come forward with the money, wasn’t I right?”
Li Jinfang rolled his eyes at Cui Bo and said with disdain, “Idiot, as if no one else said the same thing.
Hey, Little Ma, stop dawdling, they’ve started serving food.
Let’s hurry to eat, I haven’t had a chance to eat all day and I’m starving to death.”
Glolov approached Maide with a smile and said, “Come on, I’m still the Commander of the Navy and Artillery, though I’m retired now.
Alright, this amount of money isn’t much for us, so you really shouldn’t worry too much about it.”
Maide nodded solemnly and said, “I don’t know what to say anymore, nor do I want to say much.
Thank you, thank you all.
As long as the Skull Gang exists, as long as its members are alive, you will always be our closest comrades and friends.
And about the money, consider it a loan from me— no, no, not from me, but from the Skull Gang.
If we manage to unify Somalia, then treat this money as a national debt.
I guarantee you, we will definitely pay you back.”
Gao Yang laughed heartily and replied, “Alright, that’s some ambition, treating the money as national debt already.
Okay, we’ll be waiting.
When the Skull Gang unifies Somalia, you can pay us back then.
Remember to include some interest; after all, it’s a government bond—being too stingy won’t do.”
The group burst into laughter.
Gao Yang casually patted Maide’s shoulder and said, “If you really manage to take over all of Somalia, you’ll be president, right?
Just don’t forget that I’m the first General Commander of the Four Armies.
When the time comes, get my name into the textbooks.
Haha, by the way, my real name is Gao Yang.
It’s the ‘Gao’ from high and low, and ‘Yang’ from soaring, not the ‘Yang’ from poplar trees.”
Maide also broke into laughter and said, “Finally, I know your real name.
So, Commander Gao, should we get to know each other anew and then formally discuss the issue of how the national bonds provided to the Alliance of Fairness and Justice-governed Somalia by you in a private capacity will be repaid?”
Gao Yang also laughed and replied, “Why rush?
We’ll have lots of dealings with each other in the future.
I never told you that the few of us will still be active in the Gulf of Aden.
We’ve set up a Maritime Security Company; just make sure your people don’t come asking us for money, that’s all.”
Maide immediately said, “Really?
That’s great, we can meet more often then.
When our circumstances improve, I’ll take good care of you all.
As for your company, that goes without saying.
Within the Skull Gang’s territory, whatever concerns your company is our concern too.
Just give the word if you need anything.”
After sharing a knowing smile, Gao Yang shook Maide’s hand again, but this time as friends, not as a mercenary and his employer.
Cui Bo and the others also shook hands with Maide in turn, giving their real names and getting to know each other again.
Then Gao Yang gestured with his hand and said, “Let’s go, find a place to eat.
Rabbit, go call Test Tube and tell him to rest after he has had his meal.”
At that moment, Frey spoke up urgently, “Attention, Test Tube is coming out.
Act natural.”
Gao Yang looked back and saw Bruce approaching with his bag.
After giving Maide an apologetic smile, he said, “Test Tube has just joined us; he’s not as well-off as we are.
Some things…
it’s better he doesn’t know.”
Maide nodded repeatedly, “I understand, I understand.”
Bruce, who was approaching, was visibly taken aback when he saw Gao Yang and the others together with Maide, but he still came over and said in a deep voice, “Weren’t you going to eat?”
Cui Bo immediately said, “Aren’t we waiting for you?
We were just about to call you.
Since you’re not asleep, let’s go eat together.”
After hesitating for a moment, Bruce said firmly, “Alright, let’s go then.
I’m starving.
Oh, you guys go ahead; I’ve got something to tell Maide, about, about the injured.”
Gao Yang shrugged and said, “Okay, then we’ll go on ahead.
You finish your business first, and we’ll let you know where we’re eating.”
After that, Gao Yang winked at Maide and then he and the other four went to look for a place to cook.
However, they hadn’t gone far when Maide called out from behind, “Come back, no need to go.
Test Tube did the same as you guys; he brought money too.”
Gao Yang and the others exchanged glances, sharing a moment of understanding.
As they turned back, Li Jinfang suddenly said, “This guy can be trusted.”
Glolov also spoke solemnly, “From the way one treats money, one can discern their true nature.
I believe Test Tube is ready to officially join us.”
“Agreed.”
“Agreed.”
As they walked and talked, just as they were about to approach Maide, Gao Yang hammered the point home, saying, “Alright, Bruce is now officially accepted as one of us.”
After returning to the original place, Cui Bo boisterously said to Bruce, “Test Tube, weren’t you just short of money?
Why did you also donate your money?”
Bruce shrugged nonchalantly, “I used to be short of money, but now I’m not anymore.
The share that was given to me has already pulled me out of my financial difficulties.
Moreover, I’ll still have money coming in from the security company, so why not give it to those who need it most?”
After finishing, Bruce spread his hands and said with a twist of his mouth, “The Skull Gang has just taken Bosaso.
Well, there are too many expenses, at least a large batch of medicines needs to be purchased immediately.
If there’s no money, how can we buy medicines?
I definitely don’t want to see the wounded I saved die due to a shortage of drugs.”
When Bruce mentioned the medicine issue, Gao Yang also became solemn, “Now that we’ve taken Bosaso and have a deep-water port, a lot of things can be purchased in bulk.
Maide, have you thought about what you want to buy?”
Maide immediately replied, “Food and medicine.
As long as we have these two, I believe the residents of Bosaso will wholeheartedly follow the Skull Gang.
Although Bosaso is a city, the problem of food scarcity is very serious.
Although it’s not expensive to buy food from other places, I plan to purchase a large batch of food from Uriyangko right away.
As long as the first batch can solve the city’s needs, the rest can be bought at any time with toll fees.
The key is this first batch.
I was worrying about the funding for the first batch of food, but now I don’t have to.
With four million US dollars, there’s enough to buy the first batch of food and medicine.”
Although Bosaso was considered a large city in Somalia, the problem of food scarcity was still extremely severe, with over eighty percent of the population living in hunger.
Although the price of food was not high, the locals had no money to buy food, and even if they did, they could not find any to purchase.
The ruler of Bosaso, Mokadi, would not dig into his own pocket to feed a city’s people.
He too would buy food but only enough to fill his own army’s bellies.
If there was a surplus, he would only sell it at a high price.
Filling the bellies of one’s followers, in a country where hunger is the norm, doing just that is enough.
This trump card can lead to invincibility.
Since the Skull Gang has taken Bosaso, they must take responsibility for the residents of Bosaso.
Maide’s decision to buy food first was definitely correct, but the problem was that the Skull Gang’s previous followers, or gang members, had received food without payment, and Gao Yang did not know if Maide intended to apply the same practice to Bosaso.
“As long as there’s money, the food issue is easy to sort out.
Uriyangko can deliver in up to three days at most.
The question is, how do you plan to distribute the food to the residents of Bosaso?”
Energized by Gao Yang’s question, Maide replied, “I already have a plan.
Bosaso has a population of about fifty thousand.
Excluding the money for medicine and transportation, the rest is enough to buy five thousand tons of wheat, which is sufficient to feed the entire city of Bosaso for a year.
I plan to provide daily rations – one kilogram per adult and half a kilogram per child each day.
Overall, as long as the toll fees can continue to be collected, solving Bosaso’s food issue is not a problem.”
Gao Yang sighed and said, “You really are an idealist, but the problem is your method doesn’t work.
Listen, you can’t just hand out food to everyone for free; that will only breed a bunch of lazy people.
You need to make them contribute to the Skull Gang before they can have their food, understand?”
Maide frowned and said, “I know that blindly giving handouts isn’t good, which is why I planned to distribute food daily.
But the issue now is that aside from the military, the Skull Gang literally has no other jobs to offer.
If people have nothing to do, how can we distribute food based on their labor?”
Gao Yang shook his head and replied, “Since you’ve become the masters of Bosaso, you’ve got to show some initiative.
If there are no opportunities, then create them.
Look, the city of Bosaso is dirty and chaotic; it’s basically a huge dump.
Have people clean up the streets.
Whoever works can receive a certain amount of food for a day’s labor.
That’s a job opportunity right there.”
Glolov immediately chimed in, “Before doing anything, we first need to register the population by household and establish a residency system.
The standing army will definitely need to be scaled up, and families with members in the army should be provided with food.
If everyone has it, then those with military relatives should get more.”
Gao Yang nodded and said, “Exactly.
Speaking of the army, soldiers need to have salaries as well.
Not much, but there must be something.
And there should be compensation for the families of fallen soldiers.
You can’t expect them to fight for ideals alone.
That might work for a short time, but it’s not sustainable in the long run.
For most soldiers, it’s all about having enough to eat.
Since they’ve largely achieved their goal now, proper rules must be set from the start to give them the motivation to keep fighting.
If there’s no money now, everything can be simplified.
Compensation can be reduced, whether in money or goods, even if it’s just symbolic, but it must exist.”
Maide nodded and stated, “After hearing you talk, my thoughts are clearer now.
Let everyone have something to do, even if we have to make up tasks.
Alright, there are indeed many things to be done in Bosaso.
Cleaning the streets, building fortifications, those with skills can exchange their expertise for food, and those without should be helped to find some simple work.
We can’t nurture a bunch of lazy people who just wait to be fed.
Only those who genuinely lack the ability to work should have access to unconditional supplies.
As for the purely lazy, let them go hungry.”
Gao Yang clapped his hands and exclaimed, “Exactly, that’s the spirit.
We can’t delay buying food, and acquiring medication is even more urgent.
Have you called Uriyangko yet?”
Maide smiled and said, “I was just worried about not having enough money; how could I dare call Uriyangko?”
Gao Yang nodded and remarked, “I see.
With Uriyangko, everything is negotiable if you have money, but if you don’t, then there’s nothing to talk about at all.
Alright, hurry and call Uriyangko.
If you’re quick, he could deliver a batch of food the day after tomorrow.
By the way, Test Tube, are we short on medicine yet?
Do we need to arrange an airdrop?”
Bruce thought for a while and then shook his head, “Medication isn’t exactly short yet, but there are a few types that we’re using up quickly.
It would be best to get a new supply in three days, or else we’ll run into shortages.
I’ll make a list as soon as possible.
Moreover, the residents of Bosaso need many standard medications, and the Skull Gang might encounter combat at any time, so this time when we purchase medication, I think we should consult with the local doctors more.”
Maide laughed heartily and said, “Weren’t you guys hungry?
How come you all forgot about eating once we started talking about business?
Come on, let’s talk while we walk.
The soldiers have already started eating in shifts, so we need to hurry.”
They all left joking and laughing on their way to eat, little did they know that the casual suggestions Gao Yang and Maide joked about would eventually become reality.
Of course, that’s a story for another time.
(To be continued.
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