The consultative meeting lasted for more than half a month, and the statutes were basically agreed, and a model of the legal framework, the political structure, and the electoral mechanism were all drawn up.

A three-step plan had also been adopted to establish a State within three to five years.

What are the three steps?

The first step is to build momentum!

Through newspapers, magazines, high-class banquets, gossip, and other channels, large-scale and high-intensity propaganda was carried out to publicize the advantages and merits of building a country, attract people's attention, arouse people's interest, and constantly attract people with lofty ideals to join the "Jianyuan Party."

The second step is partial statehood.

In the Hundred Cities Alliance, first win over some of the most proactive city-states (you don't need a lot, only 3 or 40 city-states), build a prototype of a state, and try to run some of the state functions, it is best to achieve immediate results and bring significant benefits, so as to continuously attract more city-states to join.

The third step is comprehensive nation-building.

Seeing the results, as well as the real benefits in front of you, although you will lose some things after joining the country, compared to the benefits that can be obtained, the ones you lose are really not worth talking about, and wise people will not refuse this opportunity.

Of course, there is the last step to sweep away the stubbornness that is not written on it, and Zhou Ming personally predicts that there will be about 10%-20% of the city-states, no matter how big the benefits are, they are not willing to join the national system, and no matter how much persuasion work, it will be useless.

These diehards will be dealt with as they deserve.

So, in the next five years, the development of things was basically in accordance with the plan of "Three Steps", realizing Zhou Ming's vision.

The first step of the campaign lasted for almost a year.

Due to the good development of education and the improvement of the literacy rate of the people, the newspaper and magazine publishing industry in the Hundred Cities Alliance is extremely prosperous, and most of these industries are controlled by the Zhenlincheng Chamber of Commerce.

The most excited and enthusiastic group of people, first of all, the businessmen, who were in favor of the imminent integration of the Hundred Cities Alliance into one country.

even ran to tell each other and lobby jointly.

In the future, the situation that we have to pay a road tax once when we pass through a city is about to change, and in the future, as long as we pay the tax once, we will be able to travel all over the world without having to pay taxes many times. ”

"The abolition of multiple road taxes is only secondary, as well as the national unified highway network, rail network, and air transportation network, which will be adjusted and transformed, which is more convenient and more reasonable!"

"I have also heard that after the establishment of the country, the army will launch a joint operation to exterminate all the bandits and bandits in the country, and to go abroad to do business, and the army will even send people to escort them to protect the safety of our merchants' goods. ”

"What? How is it possible that there are such benefits?"

"It's true, the development of the Hundred Cities Business Alliance has gradually stagnated in recent years, first, because internal thieves have risen everywhere and wantonly robbed merchants; second, because the external environment is harsh, and all forces have treated us as fat sheep and slaughtered them ruthlessly! If there is a country standing behind them, the situation will definitely be much better. ”

"Yes, support, I am willing to take out 100,000 spirit coins to support! If such a country really appears, my Lu firm, can do a lot of business. ”

"I also took out 100,000 spirit coins, hoping that the country will be established sooner!"

The merchants were enthusiastic in the collective, and the lords or controlling families of each city also had heated discussions about this so-called "country" in private, but their views were different, their attitudes were complicated, and even serious disagreements and controversies arose.

……

A certain city.

The heads of several families, with various newspapers in their hands, studied and discussed at the same time.

"I think the idea of this country is very good, but to concentrate human, financial and material resources to do some big things that benefit everyone, for example, in this newspaper, you can build a large reservoir at Jingping Lake in Jinshui City, which can not only store and flood control, but also reclaim tens of millions of acres of Lingjing rice fields in the downstream that is often flooded by floods, and the prospects are very good...... But such a large project, a single city, it is impossible to have the ability to build it. ”

"There is also a large-scale rail network, most of the current tracks, most of the cheap tracks built in the plain area, the length is rarely more than a thousand miles, once to the mountains and rivers in the land, they can't afford to build, or cut corners, change the metal rail to the wooden rail, the quality of the bridge is also very poor, resulting in the can't pass the heavy-duty locomotive at all, can only run some horse-drawn wagons, ox-drawn wagons, the capacity is greatly weakened...... If the country has the financial resources to build an efficient and unified rail network, the economic vitality will be much higher. ”

"Yes, this newspaper says that there is a city called Gaoling City, and there are very rich spiritual stone mines in the territory, worth more than 10 billion spiritual coins, but because the mountains are far away, remote and poor, they can't get the money to repair the track, and they have been guarding Baoshan to beg for food all these years, and they are eager to be expected to be funded to build a road out of the mountain, so that they can have the ability to mine that spiritual stone mine to make a fortune. ”

"The state has the ability to take this money out and help them build that road to prosperity. ”

These heads of the family are saying good things about the state system.

"No, you can't join the country, joining will do us a lot of harm!" said a certain head of the family with a gloomy face.

"What's the big harm?" several people were puzzled.

"Road tax, road tax alone, our annual loss in the future will be more than millions of spirit coins!"

"We absolutely can't bear this kind of loss, before joining the Hundred Cities Business Alliance, we have agreed to the limit that the mirror road tax shall not exceed 5%, this time we will obey them, and completely cancel the mirror tax, and make concessions again and again, lose again and again, and in the future, our rights will be taken up by them!"

Someone immediately explained: "You can't say that, the newspaper also explained that although the road tax has been reduced, after the economic vitality is improved in the future, it will make up for it from the commercial tax, and even make more, we can't just count losses, not profits." ”

He also emphasized: "The abolition of the road tax, in the future, the sales and net profit of our city's goods in other cities will also increase a lot, which is enough to offset the loss of the road tax!"

But the man looked away and said, "I know, but the amount of road tax is our own right!

Face?

It turns out that this is the crux of the matter.

Many of the heads of the family present also drank tea and pondered, thinking about this question:

Is it important to have some rights in hand?

Or is it important to have more financial benefits in hand?

Some people choose rights, thinking that rights are more important and cannot be lost at all, even if they earn less spirit coins.

But most people still choose economic interests, believing that they can give some inconsequential rights in exchange for exciting benefits.

As for face or something, everyone else is a multimillionaire and a billionaire, but you are just a millionaire, compared to them, you have face as a millionaire?

And things like face, not to see what you insist on, but to see what people like to compare?

If people love to pursue spirit coins and compete for the amount of property data, and you hold on to the little power in your hand, then I'm afraid someone will really call him a fool.

At this time, that person will lose face.

However, in the Hundred Cities Alliance, there are really many cities that regard the rights in their hands as more important than real interests.

Even prefer not to earn that money and not to join the so-called "state".

And an important feature of these uncooperative cities is that there is only one family that rules that city.

In other words, the whole city is the "private property" of a certain family.

This kind of city, Zhou Ming called it "the city of one family".

Among the 110 cities of the Hundred Cities Business Alliance, 43 cities belong to the "city of one family", accounting for a large proportion.

However, in the face of the public opinion and heated discussion on the establishment of the country, most of these cities reacted coldly, lukewarmly, and only a few responded positively.

In a few cities, even emotionally sensitive and violently reacted, strictly forbidding the common people to discuss the founding of the country, and even arrested and imprisoned those businessmen who jointly wrote letters asking to join the country!

His reaction is overdone, like a bear child who is angry at others and is afraid that the lollipop in his hand will be robbed.

Zhou Ming certainly has a plan to deal with these stubborn cities, but he does not plan to solve them immediately.

Because the second step of the campaign went smoothly after the campaign, so far, 55 cities have agreed to join the "country" that he has defined, structured, and created. 8)