YM778.TV Chapter 608 - Buying An Island Given Peerage
Chapter 608: Chapter 608 – Buying An Island Given Peerage
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
If this island had a water source, the price could reach 2.7 billion USD. However, having no water source decreased the price substantially. The two sides finally agreed on a price of 700 million USD and the two islands that Tamasla had offered for the bid.
In the end, everyone was happy.
Prince Tamasla was happy at being able to retrieve the islands that he had bid. It must be known that the income these two islands gave him annually was around 3 million USD.
On the other hand, Wei Xiao Bei was also satisfied with being left with 200 million USD.
After all, it was just as Tamsla had said, the future investments that he needed to make on the island would be huge.
In simpler terms, he was very satisfied with this island.
23 square kilometers meant hat Wei Xiao Bei now possessed 2,300 hectares of land. Naturally, the amount of land that could be cultivated amounted to 1,400 hectares. This was already not bad.
It was already in the area of a small village.
Naturally, this showed how expensive the island was.
If it was American, more than 2,300 hectares could be bought for 200 million USD.
On the other hand, an island that had no water was around 4 times its price.
Naturally, this expensiveness had its reasons.
The four-sides were all water. Buying an island did not only mean buying the island. The price of an island also included a portion of the seas in all its surroundings.
Naturally, if this range was overlapped with other islands, it would depend on the distance from the center of the island.
In short, after Wei Xiao Bei signed the purchase agreement, the island now belonged to him. As long as he did not attempt to become independent from Lucenia, then Lucenia’s laws would forever protect his rights over the island.
“Congratulations, Mr. Wei. According to the convention, you can give this island a special name.”
Prince Tamasla intimately hugged Wei Xiao Bei and then expressed that he should give that island a name that would appear in the newest map of the world.
At this moment, even Wei Xiao Bei was excited. In the previous year, he was only a retired soldier that had been carrying his bag to look for work. Now, he was the owner of an island.
It could be said that the world was fickle.
However, he needed to think of a name for the island properly.
Wei Xiao Bei sunk into deep thought.
Should I name it after my myself? Xiao Bei Island?
Wretch!
Wei Xiao Bei felt a bit strange doing so.
Dust World Island? Isn’t this too striking?
...
After thinking of more than 100 names, Wei Xiao Bei had chosen to use his last name as the new name of the island.
The Wei Family Island!
The reason why he bought the island was to bring his family over. In the next few months after, this place would become their home.
“Wei Family Island? Yeah, not a bad name at all.”
Tamasla understood Chinese deeply and came to an understanding.
Just when Wei Xiao Bei planned to leave the country and prepare plans for the island’s development, he was stopped by Tamasla, “Wei, my King Father wishes to meet with you tomorrow afternoon at five and confer to you a Noble title.”
Eh???
Hearing this, Wei Xiao Bei was stunned.
Didn’t I only buy an island? Why would the king want to see me? He even wanted to confer a noble title. What kind of situation is this?
In the end, Tamasla had to explain for Wei Xiao Bei to understand the deeper meaning.
In simpler terms, this was to prevent the country’s territory from being split up by the law.
With the law of the Kingdom of Lucenia, only the nobility can possess an island. Just like that, the island could be bought and sold under the law.
The King would then judge based on the island count and size to confer rank.
Naturally, this title was not inheritable.
Moreover, if the island was sold, then the title would be returned.
In short, the Noble title was an honorary title.
However, even if that was so, Wei Xiao Bei was a bit excited.
This could not be helped. Current China was transformed from 2,000 years of the feudalistic system. The thought of honoring ancestors and returning in glory was deeply ingrained in its people.
I am about to become a noble?
Okay. although it was only a Foreign Noble, this signified that his position in society would be different.
Because the King wanted to see him and award him, what happened after would not be something he could change, unless he was to give up the island.
After an entire afternoon, Wei Xiao Bei was being taught etiquette at the palace and learned various ceremonies.
In truth, Wei Xiao Bei felt a huge headache at these kinds of ceremonies. However, he needed to accept it. If he could, then he was much more willing to go kill monsters in the Dust World.
By contrast, Tian Li was looking at Wei Xiao Bei with envy.
Being able to become a Noble of another country, even if it was honorary, was enough to make Tian Li a bit envious.
It was said that there was a famous soccer coach in England who was conferred a low-rank Noble for teaching their champion soccer team for 30 years. However, a low-rank Noble was already enough to make others envious. When the newspapers spread the news and introduced this person, they had to add a suffix to his name that made him more distinguished!
In short, becoming a Noble, even if it was honorary, was not something a commoner could simply do.
Humans were that kind of creatures. No matter which country they lived in, they worshipped those in power and royalty.
When members of the English royalty married, the entire world would continuously make news out of it. It was much more exciting than the World Cup.
At 5 in the afternoon, Wei Xiao Bei was guided by Tamasla to wait outside the Imperial Palace.
The Imperial Palace of the Kingdom of Lucenia was a mix of Chinese and local style architecture. From this, it could be seen that Chinese culture had an influence on the country.
At 6 in the afternoon, the royal guards appeared and opened the doors, respectfully greeting the guest.
The Imperial Palace’s beauty was not only at this point.
The King of the Kingdom of Lucenia was around 70 years old. The Queen was around 60 years old. As previously said, it was a Chinese person.
After this awarding ceremony, Wei Xiao Bei was now a first-rank Lord of the country.
The nobility system of this country was similar to the ancient Chinese system.
On the other hand, a prince like Tamasla who was a member of the Royal Family would need to wait until the Crown Prince became King before he could be conferred the title of Duke.
In short, in current times, anyone other than the Crown Prince and Dukes, the members of the Royal Family could be considered civilians who enjoyed the benefits of being part of the Royal Family.
Wei Xiao Bei’s position as a first-rank Lord was not low. After all, many people could buy an island but were only third-rank Lords.
Naturally, the island’s size was related to this.
According to Tamasla’s words, if Wei Xiao Bei bought another island of a similar size, then he could become a Baron.
On the other hand, if he had bought ten more then he could become a Viscount.
Luckily, Wei Xiao Bei understood that it was a complete path brought by wealth.
Buying a lot of islands might not necessarily be a good thing.
These things were being taxed.
With Wei Xiao Bei’s current island, he did not need to pay for tax for three years. He would only need to pay in the fourth year. This amount was roughly 1 million USD per year. In the seventh year, he would need to pay 1.5 million USD. In the tenth year, he would need to pay 2 million USD. Afterward, it would not increase anymore, but this amount was not insignificant.
In short, the more islands one had, the higher the tax.
If he truly wanted to be a Viscount, he would need to pay 20 million USD in taxes every year.
Wei Xiao Bei was not envious of this at all.
After the awarding ceremony ended, the King prepared a private family banquet where everyone from the Royal Family attended.
The Queen even personally invited Wei Xiao Bei to sit beside her to converse.
The Queen’s name was Xu Hu Rong. Her story of becoming a Queen was truly a Cinderella story.
In simpler terms, the King had studied in China when he was young. After getting to know her, they became husband and wife.
When Chinese people encountered their fellow countrymen and countrywomen whilst in a different country, they would always enter into conversation with one another.
After exchanging a few words, Wei Xiao Bei noticed that the Queen’s family was in the neighboring county of Bai Ta County, Xi Ma County!
They were truly from the same home town.
After leaving Chinese Borders, those from the same provinces were fellow-townsmen, while those in neighboring counties were basically relatives.
Just like that, the Queen became a lot closer to Wei Xiao Bei. She even treated him as her son. When the banquet ended, she even told Wei Xiao Bei that he was free to come to the Imperial Palace for a chat.
After all, in these foreign lands, being able to meet someone from the same hometown was hard.
Because of this relationship, the relationship between Tamasla and Wei Xiao Bei deepened.
Naturally, they dispersed afterward. After three hours, Wei Xiao Bei brought Tian Li to Tamasla’s private plane and went on their way home.
On his way, nothing unexpected happened.
However, when Wei Xiao Bei was changing planes to return to Cui Hu City, he sensed an uneasy atmosphere.
From Jian Xiang City to Cui Hu City, the planes were accompanied by two fighter planes.
Although China’s military power could be considered at the top of the world, the fighter planes would not normally escort a passenger plane for no reason.
This meant that trouble had occurred.
Luckily, no more flying fish appeared on their journey back.
When Wei Xiao Bei left the airport, he opened his phone and connected to the internet. He then noticed a problem.