"oh?"

Thomas looked at the disdainful look on Allen's face, combined with his just-spoken words, and had already guessed what this gentleman was going to do at the Russell family today. If he intended to swallow up Swansea, then the Russell family would be the so-called stumbling block.

Of course... this stumbling block may not be that big, not that uncomfortable, and may not be difficult for this Excellency.

"Sir, what you mean is... how do I need to cooperate with you?" Thomas said with a grim smile on his face.

"Hmph, you can get involved in the affairs between nobles?" Allen glared at Thomas. There were some things that he could know, but he couldn't get involved directly. Although the Russell family seemed a bit weak in his opinion, that was in his opinion. If it were Thomas...

It would be too easy for people to kill him. Ordinary people should not get involved in disputes between nobles because they are not qualified.

“Yes, yes, yes…”

Thomas' face turned pale, and he realized that he had just spoken too casually, and quickly admitted his mistake.

…

"You can raise this issue at the Welsh Assembly at the end of the year. We have cooperated with China on the achievements of our unitary administrative area over the past year. We can send some people over there. Sometimes we don't have to invest there alone. We can also ask them to invest here."

"Them? They are so poor, what can they invest in?"

Although Carmarthenshire's economy is not as good as Swansea's, it is much better than China's...

Let's put it this way, no matter how poor people in Wales are, no matter how unemployed they are, and how they do nothing but lie around and collect welfare benefits every day, they can still get a subsidy of a few hundred pounds every month.

The exchange rate of these pounds is several thousand Chinese yuan. Compared with them...

The gap is huge. Over there, how can someone earn several thousand yuan a month without doing anything?

This gap in economic foundation cannot be made up in a short period of time.

So, when Alan suggested inviting Chinese people to invest in Wales, Thomas was overwhelmed. He really couldn't think of anything about the town of Carmarthen that could attract them.

If it’s a small industry... I guess the other party won’t look down on it. If it’s a big industry, the other party can’t afford to invest in it. This feeling of being neither up nor down is the worst.

…

"Um……"

Alan squinted his eyes and hummed.

Nowadays, whenever people mention that place, many people think they are poor and look down on them.

But this is the reality. It's like the person in a group of people who wears the worst clothes and has nothing valuable on his body. This will indeed give people a bad first impression. But being poor does not necessarily have no advantages.

"When doing things, don't always look at the people above you. Are you comparing Carmarthen with London? The overall economic environment is not good now. Do you think the people below can still spend money like before?"

Thomas frowned and thought about it, not quite understanding what Alan meant.

"Sir...I still don't quite understand what you mean."

“You…”

…

Alan lit a cigarette, took a slow puff, and thought back to the information he had read in the past few days.

The half-year financial report summary is almost here. For some industries, Alan has already learned some information here and there, such as his food delivery company.

Although the food delivery company has been expanding, Allen has not made much money and has to put money into it, but in the first half of last year, the food delivery company did make a profit. Although it was not much... but it was a good sign.

But with the outbreak of the pound crisis in the fourth quarter of last year, which lasted until the beginning of this year, the entire food delivery company returned to its old path...continuously losing money.

The biggest reason is that the food delivery company has been expanding and selling membership cards to save some money. Allen used the money to buy land for expansion.

But apart from this, another reason is that fewer people are ordering takeout overall!

The reason is very simple. Everyone is broke, their assets have shrunk, and fewer people are willing to order takeout.

The number of takeout delivery sites and deliverymen is increasing, but the number of people ordering takeout is decreasing. When these two factors offset each other, the financial reports of takeout companies are even uglier.

Although he lost money, Allen can still hold on for now, because during this period of time, he can buy land cheaper!

This feeling of pain and happiness is very uncomfortable, but he can't stop. If the company stops, there are so many deliverymen who need him to support, and the company he has worked hard for several years will go bankrupt in an instant...

Even if he loses money now, he has to continue to expand and make it look like this industry has a bright future. On the one hand, it is to stabilize people's hearts, and on the other hand, it is to support his deliverymen, who are disguised private soldiers. People's hearts cannot be scattered...

But the more money he lost, the better he became. Allen also gained experience from his losses. He felt a sense of familiarity with the current environment. To put it bluntly, this thing is just a general downgrade in people's consumption...

If a person who used to spend money lavishly suddenly has a decrease in income, he or she will definitely have to make compromises in terms of consumption. What should he or she do?

In the past, a meal cost 10 or 20 pounds, or even dozens of pounds, but now... bring your own meal!

In the past, I would spend dozens of pounds on a piece of clothing without blinking an eye, and I would not feel bad about spending hundreds of pounds on a pair of shoes.

Now... I only buy discounted clothes, clothes that cost 20 or 30 pounds a piece, it's not like I can't wear them...

Just buy cheap things and make do with them, this is consumption downgrade...

In this environment, many low-end products in the past have found a large living space, and some things that many people used to look down upon have now become very cost-effective!

So whose products are cost-effective at this time?

Of course, it is the things produced by those countries that were very poor before!

No matter how poor the Chinese people are today, they still need food, clothing, shelter and transportation, right?

So what clothes do they wear?

How many Huayuan does one piece cost?

What if such clothes were imported in large quantities, or a batch of cheap goods were ordered using special templates to minimize costs, and then sold in Britain or Wales?

Take ordinary short-sleeved shirts for example, even if the cost price is 20 yuan, can it be made?

If you go there and buy it at this price these days, you can definitely buy it. You can even buy it cheaper than this!

As long as there is foreign exchange, they will sell it even if they lose money!

Ten or twenty Chinese yuan, how much is that in British pounds?

Single digits, single digits of two or three pounds!

You can increase tariffs as much as you want, even if you multiply them. How much can you increase?

After deducting shipping costs, sales costs, etc., even if it is sold for 9.9 pounds, there is still profit!

Of course... Allen is not doing this purely for charity. There is no need to lower the price to such a low level. The British are not starving. He only needs to raise the price a little bit, a few pounds cheaper than the cheapest clothes on the market.

Not only clothes, but other daily necessities as long as they are cheap will do!

When he gets a TV station in a while, he can promote the product well on TV and then set up a large supermarket in Llanelli to sell these things in one go.

If you want to mess with others, you have to make yourself look like you are doing it, so you have to develop yourself...

When it comes to developing the economy, Alan is really not very good at it. Being able to resell things at low prices is already his limit. His current industry needs money everywhere, so this way, he can make some extra money.

…

And Swansea...

Llanelli, which is so close to them, will be in stark contrast to them.

Alan is not good at economics, but he is good at causing trouble. If he wants to disrupt the public security in Swansea, can't he do whatever he wants?

If we can’t compete to see who is stronger, then everyone will compete to see who is weaker. As long as you are weaker than me, I will appear strong!

As long as Swansea gradually gets back into chaos, we can do it.

What is the most important thing for Wales as a whole?

Stable, stable, and stable!

Wales used to be peaceful and no one would pay attention to it, but what if Swansea’s security index suddenly plummeted?

Will this attract people's attention?

By that time, Carmarthenshire next to Swansea will naturally attract attention.

Swansea is such a mess, why is Carmarthen not chaotic?

Because Master Allen is in charge!

Because the town of Carmarthen has great traditions and good public security!

This is the preliminary plan that Alan came up with in the past few days. He will deal with them first, and then take one step at a time after he has messed up Swansea. However, Alan generally does not do business that loses money, and the takeaway company has already caused him enough losses.

So while messing up Swansea, he made a little money and then forced the Russell family away. This was the interest he collected.

When they thought about the fact that in just twenty years, the Russell family had changed three earls in succession and their property was almost depleted, they, the Russell family, were now the most vulnerable to losses. With Earl Conrad's character, he might want to run away if they scared him a little.

Alan is not as broad-minded as his father. Since he plans to swallow Swansea first, he has to find a way to drive the Russell family away. However, nobles generally cannot fight each other with swords and guns, so they can only play dirty.

Anyway, the Russell family is not from here. In the past, they had to sell their estate and move from Cardiff to Swansea because of the heavy inheritance tax. Now, they can move to another place because of the instability and fear in Swansea.

…

After hearing Allen's idea, although Thomas felt that it was a bit unpresentable, he still had to comply.

"Your Excellency's intention is to ask the Ministry of Commerce to attract investment after we return?"

"Didn't we send an inspection team last time? We can send a purchasing team this time. By the way... we can contact the chambers of commerce in the coastal areas. We just need to let them know that we welcome them to come here to do small business."

"I understand, Your Excellency. I will... start making arrangements when I return."

"Um."

Alan stood up. It felt good to discuss things in a coffee shop like this. It didn't feel as depressing as the study room at home.

…

"Go, shoot down that seagull for me and give it to those kids!"

As soon as he walked out of the cafe, Alan looked at the children in the distance who were still being walked like dogs by the rogue seagull, and instructed a bodyguard to shoot the bird.

In Wales, even a bird must die if Master Allen doesn't like it!

…

The convoy passed the gate of the old manor without turning, but continued driving straight forward.

Alan has moved now!

If you go further in, this road almost becomes a dead end, and it leads all the way into the protected area.

His new manor was built along the east side of the reserve. For the sake of the entire manor's landscape, he also deliberately cut down a large area of ​​trees along the edge of the reserve, which was considered to be an encroachment on some of the reserve's land.

The new manor and the old manor are only a few minutes' drive apart, only a few kilometers away.

Even the general layout of the two estates is similar, except that the new estate covers a larger area, is more exquisitely designed, and has more modern interior architecture.

Far away...

Under the cover of night, under the illumination of car lights, the outline of the manor wall in the distance gradually emerged. Unlike ordinary stone buildings, the wall outside Allen's new manor, after being illuminated by car lights, the whole wall showed a dotted dark orange light, just like... magma flowing over the wall.

This is the most expensive item that was added later, the full sodalite wall decoration!

The outer wall of the manor covering hundreds of acres is decorated entirely with sodalite. This sodalite is generally blue or cyan in color. During the day, it looks like pebbles. At night, or when a flashlight is directly illuminated, the inside of the stone will show blue star-like light, which is very transparent.

Some places also produce another type of dark orange sodalite, which has the same effect as ordinary blue sodalite, but the color is different.

Compared to the dark blue color, Alan prefers this dark orange color that looks like Mars. He has had enough of the gloomy atmosphere in his previous home. He likes brightness. In the middle of the night... the light looks so domineering.

Even the exterior walls of the theme buildings inside his estate are decorated with sodalite.

This kind of stone reflects light instead of emitting light by itself. Even this kind of star-like light will not make people feel dazzling. It is a dim and hot light.

…

It is not cheap to process a pebble-shaped sodalite into a building material suitable for the exterior of a wall. The cost of this thing is a bit expensive now, and some harmful substances will be produced during processing. However, all these shortcomings are not worth mentioning compared to its advantages.

After this thing is processed, it is extremely fire-resistant and hard. After being installed on the surface of the wall, the visual effect is also very impressive. On the exterior wall of the entire manor, there is a spotlight shining on the wall every few steps.

From a distance, the manor in the dark night looks like it is standing in magma, mysterious and domineering. Only such a house is worthy of being inhabited by the famous Welsh bully - Master Allen!

…

In the old manor, there was no corridor at the entrance of the hall. After all, it was a residence converted from a war fortress, and the influence of the architectural form could not be changed. As a result, the front door of Alan's house used to be reached by climbing a few steps, which was not grand.

The main building of the new manor is different now. The lobby door is more than eight meters high, and there is a semicircular corridor at the entrance, just like the lobby of many hotels, but the overall shape of Allen's new manor is more like a palace.

The front door of the new house looks majestic and real.

Hut led a few servants and watched Alan get off the car with a smile. The male servant had even changed into new uniforms and looked more imposing than before in the old manor.