Knowing that he didn't have much experience, Lin Zhicheng fully followed the principle of listening more and talking less, and when he participated in the meeting, he tried his best to treat himself as a wooden man.

But even so, it was still taken advantage of by the U.S. Navy fleet that was about to evacuate.

After leaving the naval station, recalling the whole process of being slaughtered just now, Lin Zhicheng became more and more depressed, and finally unconsciously said bad things about Vice Admiral Birmingham and the US military troops behind his back.

It's not like the leader of a faction at all, gritting his teeth and muttering like a child who has been robbed of a toy.

"Boss, the matter has come to this, don't be too entangled, you still want to open some. The depression in his heart was no less than that of Lin Zhicheng, but as a subordinate, the financial officer Carter still relieved Lin Zhicheng.

"You have to collect protection money every year, and you have to collect another wave before you leave, these bastards ....... ”

If no one accosted, after muttering a few more words, Lin Zhicheng might stop by himself. It's good now, with Carter's stubble, it makes him speak more energetically.

Let's not mention how Lin Zhicheng complained and complained for the time being, let's first explain what he mentioned in his words.

Like the way the U.S. military is stationed at other overseas bases, the U.S. military spending on the Naran Islands is divided into two parts, with a smaller part coming from the U.S. Department of Defense and more being borne by the local government.

From the point of view of the local government of the garrison, the funds and materials handed over to the US military are similar in nature to the protection money handed over to the gangsters by the street vendors.

The only difference is that the thugs will find an excuse to collect it every once in a while, while the US military is fixed once a year.

Although the military budget is not paid in vain, and a large part of it will eventually return when the US soldiers consume it, Lin Zhicheng still feels a little bit of a loss when he thinks that there has never been a war in the surrounding waters in the past few decades, and even a small group of pirates has never appeared.

Fortunately, becoming the owner of the island was a few days ago, and the US garrison troops were about to withdraw, strictly speaking, Lin Zhicheng himself did not have to go through the process of 'paying protection money', so the unhappiness in his heart was more sympathy for the previous owner of the island, that is, the uncle who had never met, and he did not have much empathy.

What really made Lin Zhicheng depressed was the last exploitation when the US troops withdrew.

In order to ensure the smooth progress of logistical work, US troops stationed on the island have built a large military base on Nalan Island. Although it does not occupy one-third of the entire island like the US military garrison in Guam, the US military base on Nalan Island occupies an area of almost 20 square kilometers.

A deep-water dock for docking combat ships, an airfield for taking off and landing aircraft, and various other ancillary facilities, large and small buildings, cost a lot of resources.

Now, the US troops on the island are about to leave, and the military bases they have built will also be vacant.

It stands to reason that this facility should be handed over to the local government unconditionally.

The reason is very simple, first, because the ownership of this land belongs to the local government of the Nalan Islands from beginning to end, and belongs to the Lin family, and the US military troops stationed on the island only 'lease' this land from the Lin family.

Well, the term 'lend-lease' is just that, in fact, for so many years, the US military has never paid rent for the use of this land, but has collected a lot of 'protection money' from this side.

Moreover, when the base was built, the Naran Islands also bore almost half of the cost.

Counting the initial construction investment and converting the rent that should have been received over the years, no matter from any point of view, the Nalan Islands should not pay more money to take over the base.

But now?

Lieutenant General Birmingham 'put the facts on the table', first came up with the argument that 'the construction cost of the deep-water wharf and airport is too high, and you can directly convert it into a large civilian wharf and airport after you take over, saving a huge amount of construction costs', and then he did not hesitate to throw out the argument that 'according to the principle of secrecy, military facilities must be dismantled after they are abandoned, so if it weren't for our old friends, you would not have had a chance to inherit this facility.'" Anyway, if you're not willing to pay for it, we're going to have to blast it' as a threat.

What else can the Nalan Islands government headed by Lin Zhicheng do?

If the U.S. military were to blow up these things, it would really be worth the loss - if these facilities were to be demolished, the noise made during the blasting would definitely frighten the ordinary people living on the island, and the construction waste left behind would be extremely troublesome to dispose of.

People have big fists, so they should spend money to eliminate disasters. In the confusion of thoughts, Lin Zhicheng could only find an excuse to comfort himself.

The car looked a little dull.

As a subordinate, in addition to having the ability to work, the most important thing is to know how to observe the eyes of superiors.

In this regard, Carter and Alexander are not so lively, after all, one is a treasurer and the other is a police chief, and every day they are faced with either numbers or crime.

However, Lawrence, who is in charge of managing civil affairs, still has a good eye, and seeing that Lin Zhicheng is still depressed, he broke his calm first, and persuaded with a smile: "Boss, in fact, we are not too much of a loss." Didn't Vice Admiral Birmingham make a promise? After he reports to his superiors, he will leave a few ships for us to use as coast guard ships. Although it will certainly not be a new type of ship, it is a warship, and even if it is an old ship that is about to be decommissioned, it is not something that can be bought in civilian shipyards. ”

Although his eyesight is not as strong as Lawrence, Alexander, who is the chief of police, also chatted about this topic for professional reasons: "That's right, if we can get a few small frigates as coast guard ships, then we really don't lose anything." Not to mention anything else, just the weapons on the ship are not available to civilian forces. ”

"It's not a missile frigate, what's there to be happy about....... ”

"Missiles with a range of more than 100 kilometers will be dismantled, but small anti-ship missiles with a range of only about thirty or forty kilometers will remain. I've confirmed this time and again. In addition, the ship's torpedo launchers, as well as naval guns and machine guns, will also be retained....... The more Alexander spoke, the more energetic he became.

Maybe he was infected by Alexander's emotions, maybe he imagined the scene of the warship in his description, or maybe every man was born with a love for weapons, in short, Lin Zhicheng imagined it, but also slowly forgot the previous unhappiness, and began to get excited.

Anyway, the mood finally recovered a bit.

However, the bright mood did not last long.

Alexander and Lawrence, who still had work to do, left first and went back to their jobs, and the old housekeeper John also temporarily left Lin Zhicheng's side - after finishing his business, Lin Zhicheng fulfilled his promise and left John time for free activities, at this moment, he was at his son's daughter-in-law's house, having lunch with his little granddaughter Lily who came home from school.

Only Carter hadn't left, and the two were in the city office at this time, eating a working meal from the cafeteria while discussing the island's finances.

Well, in fact, it's not a discussion, to be more accurate, Carter should be reporting, and Lin Zhicheng is just listening.

"I estimate that the transfer cost to be delivered to the US military units stationed on the island should be about $300 million, and even if we can cut off some of it during negotiations, it will not be too bad. As a result, according to my calculations, this expense will take up more than half of the funds available to us, which is a very large burden, so to speak. ”

"In addition, after the withdrawal of US troops stationed on the island, it will inevitably bring about a series of impacts. First of all, the per capita income of US soldiers has fallen because they no longer consume. In addition, there is an expense to renovate the military base, and at the moment, we do not have enough funds to complete the project. ”

"Finally, we have to prepare a budget to invest in the medical ....... ”

Hearing this, Lin Zhicheng couldn't help but feel a little strange: "Medical treatment? Why? This aspect should have nothing to do with the withdrawal of US troops, right?"

"Nope. Carter shook his head and gave an explanation: "Previously, because the military hospital equipped by the troops stationed on the island could be borrowed, there was no other large hospital on the island that was set up separately. And now, the troops are leaving, and the doctors in the hospital who are hanging on the military will also be evacuated. So, even if the equipment is retained, there will still be fewer medical workers left, and at most they can barely support the operation of the hospital, and if it encounters a larger situation, things will become very troublesome. ”

"Thankfully, the medical expense isn't too much. Unfortunately, at the moment, our financial situation does not allow us to invest in this. After all, there is not much liquidity after paying the transfer fee, and you have to leave some money in case you need ....... ”

"Medical care is related to people's livelihood and cannot be delayed. "Although I have never been an official, I still understand the most basic truth. Frowning, Lin Zhicheng asked a little unwillingly: "Is there no way to solve this problem?"

"There really isn't enough official funding, and at most it can only support one. If you want to start two plans at the same time, unless, the boss, you withdraw funds from your account and invest in one of them from a personal perspective. ”