When it comes to Aberdeen, the first impression of the British is not Bramall Castle, where the queen spent the summer, nor the childhood residence of the great poet Byron, but the North Sea oil fields.

So the governance ecology here is amazing, just as Fatima's father was the mayor who was compromised, because the compromise between the Tories and the Workers' Cooperatives always elects a whole bunch of Whig MPs.

The tree farm that Mr. Fisko had purchased a few years ago was on the dividing line between Aberdeenshire and Morey, barely within Aberdeenshire. Surrounded by swamps and lakes, if in the Benge mystery novel or film and television works, it is a proper blizzard mountain villa.

Well, this is not a pure forest farm like Lin Yilong, but a landlord's residence after renting a large piece of land.

Mr. Fisk's tree farm covers about 20,000 acres on both sides of the middle Spey River, of which 5,000 acres are leased to three farmers for cultivation and the remaining 15,000 acres are subsidized highland natural forests. Similar to the source of the valley forest at Lin Yilong's Bracken Forest Farm, it is also a privatized forest land that was enclosed by large landowners during the enclosure movement. When Mr. Fisker bought the property, he felt that it was profitable, and the land rent was far less than the government subsidy, so he directly fenced off a large area of forest land and regarded it as a protected natural forest land registered with the Ministry of Agriculture. He receives £600,000 a year in tax-free subsidies at all levels, and would have been even more substantial had it not been for the 20-year land lease agreement signed between the previous owner and the farmer.

However, there is nothing to see in Scotland in winter, as Conan Dowll describes in The Hound of the Baskervilles in the foggy marshy mountains, and Mr. Fisk's small castle as a residence is also immersed in fog and looks eerie from the outside.

Upon arrival in Aberdeen, the four of them had a secret discussion in the castle's study.

Mr. Fiske's study is very similar to the library's borrowing room, the brown wooden bookshelves on the four walls are full of all kinds of books, it can be seen that the owner of the study pays great attention to the maintenance of this place, Lin Yilong stroked the spine of the book several times, there is not much dust, except for the oil painting hanging between the two windows as a source of light, there is no other interior decoration. A large desk that doesn't look too old, sits in the middle of the study, and on top of it, a laptop is not very coordinated.

Mr. Howe and Mr. Merck first introduced the various situations of Scarborough and Viterbi, especially the results of the by-election; Mr. Fisk provided election ideas as a candidate, while Lin Yilong sat in the corner of his desk drinking tea and reading the Guardian newspaper that had been delivered here in the morning, without saying a word.

After several hours of intense planning, a preliminary internal Tory's campaign plan had been formed, and the seriousness and caution on the faces of the three Britons as they got off the train were replaced by a sunny smile that didn't fit the scene.

If these three people want to seize this last opportunity, it is impossible to bypass Lin Yilong, although they may not want to believe it in their hearts, they must show complete trust on the surface - Lin Yilong is not good at acting too hard, listening carefully, but never expressing his opinion.

Several farmers finally couldn't hold back their curiosity.

"Yilong, what do you think of our plan? Mr. Fisk asked, "Do you feel anything to add?"

"It's hard for me to express my opinion on this issue. "I'm not familiar with North York, I don't know much about Scarborough and Viterby other than Scarborough Bazaar and The Most Exclusive [Note 1], and I don't have a say in the situation inside the Tories. ”

"Then the competitors ......," Mr. Fisk reminded,

"The intelligence of the competitors is not very clear at the moment, and I believe that there should be no obstacles in this regard, if you prepare properly. Lin Yilong gave his assessment, "And, as a 'friend', what I can advise you is not to make a public appearance in North York before the New Year, otherwise even someone like Kaufney, who was originally going to run in Middlesbrough, will be directly elected here because of the arrangement of the Tories bigwigs, and I believe that several respectable gentlemen here understand the stakes." ”

Mr. Merck and Mr. Howe nodded from the sidelines.

"That's all I can advise, and I believe that with the help of Dennis and Volenz, you will be able to significantly increase your popularity and chances of winning the election. After Lin Yilong finished speaking, he picked up the teacup and looked at Mr. Merck and Mr. Hovey.

Throughout the process, Mr. Fisker had to have the unreserved support of Mr. Merck and Mr. Hovey at the local election meeting, and as almost the two largest "farmers" of Scarborough and Viterbi, their voices were louder than all the others combined—and because these two gentlemen played a pivotal role in North York's agricultural production, the purchase price of agricultural products was not very high, and the farmers struggled to maintain it with subsidies— Once these two men invest heavily in livestock and plantation in a given year, the price of agricultural products in the region will be pulled to a low level that is unaffordable for everyone but the two of them. Other yeoman farmers and tenant farmers would rather pay taxes to finance their spending in London than to actually invest in agriculture and squeeze them all out of business, which is a kind of economic "prisoner's dilemma".

"Naturally, we will fully support Fred, otherwise we will be disappointed by such a precious 'friendship'. Mr. Hovey and Mr. Merck looked at each other for a moment, and then said calmly, "There is no disrespect or suspicion, and I am more worried that if you 'unintentionally' disclose this matter to others, it will make everyone's faces disgraceful." ”

Everyone turned their eyes back to Lin Yilong.

"Since we are friends, please forgive me for my faux pas. Mr. Merck said, "Yilong, do you have any plans for the future?"

"Not yet. Lin Yilong replied, "But it is not a bad thing to meet some friends who have common topics and experience, you know, most of South Wales is an area where mining workers are concentrated, as an exclusive person occupying nearly 80,000 acres of land, it will always be red by some psychologically unbalanced people, to solve the problem, relying on one person's knowledge and methodology is always a little lacking, you need to brainstorm." ”

Mr. Howe nodded, and Mr. Merck bowed slightly.

"With the most sincere apologies, I should not doubt Yilong's sincerity. Mr. Merck said with a sincere face.

"It doesn't matter. Lin Yilong waved his hand, "As a friend, you should faithfully tell the truth, shouldn't you?"

"Yilong, you're right. Mr. Fisk eased the mood without leaving a trace, and said with a smile, "It's too early to open champagne, but I have a cask of 22-year-old whisky here to relax for a while." “