Empire of Shadows

“Senator Cleveland!”

The lieutenant governor enthusiastically and quickly went to greet him, extending his hand from a distance.

The man he called “Senator Cleveland,” who was actually Congressman and Senator Jeffrey Cleveland, stood his ground and extended his right hand. As the lieutenant governor rapidly approached and extended his own hand, the two men’s hands clasped together firmly.

“I didn’t expect so many of you to come. I hope we didn’t keep you waiting long.”

Senator Cleveland looked to be about fifty-five years old. The reason for the specific number was that he looked older than fifty, but not yet sixty, so he appeared to be around fifty-five.

His hair had been styled with a bit of steam-perming, which made the front part of his hair look somewhat curly.

This curl was becoming a popular element and was continuously spreading throughout society.

He wore a very well-fitting custom suit. Every part of it was perfectly tailored, leaving even the most critical person unable to find any fault.

He didn’t wear the loose style favored by Federation men, but chose a very slim-fitting cut, which made him look extremely energetic.

In terms of his spiritual outlook, he didn’t look as old as his real age suggested at all.The lieutenant governor introduced the people who had come to welcome him, then shook hands with the accompanying congressmen, greeting them, before the whole process was over.

Although there were no children holding flowers high and no flower presentation ceremony, overall, it had reached the reception standard for a United States Senator.

Federation people are always like this. They never admit that they practice formalism, but when needed, formalism will also jump out.

Sitting in the car, Senator Cleveland looked at the calm streets outside the window, and the state police standing on the roadside. He turned his head to look at the lieutenant governor, “It’s not as chaotic here as the rumors say!”

The lieutenant governor said with a smile, “That’s because the criminals and scoundrels heard you were coming, so they’ve all hidden in the sewers!”

This made Senator Cleveland burst out laughing. “You must be joking with me!” He accepted the flattery, but very reservedly, not so directly.

He paused, then asked, “How is the situation at the docks?”

“There’s some bad news you might not be aware of. The general representative of the Federation of Labor is on his way, as well as the Dockworkers’ General Union. Some other unions have also sent representatives over.”

“If we’re not careful, this could turn into a big incident.”

The lieutenant governor looked bewildered. “Why so many people?”

Senator Cleveland pursed his lips. “There are rumors that we are going to use the militia to suppress the strike…”

The lieutenant governor gasped. He immediately understood.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that various factories are desperately exploiting and oppressing workers. Once the workers unite, this force can destroy the world.

Even the president has to make concessions when faced with the slogan “Workers’ Great Unity.” Some politicians even shout slogans like “I am a child of the workers,” which shows just how powerful the united working class is.

Such a powerful group was to be suppressed by the militia?

How could this not greatly alarm the entire Federation’s union groups?

The Federation of Labor immediately began to take action, and then the Dockworkers’ General Union also started to move. The representatives of the two organizations were already on their way, not to mention…

Representatives of other unions were also arriving one after another. The situation would become more and more unstable.

Senator Cleveland sighed. “What the Speaker of the House fears most is a nationwide general strike. The war in Tanfit has already started. Slade’s cavalry has already conquered Manra. A full-scale war on the Tanfit continent is just a matter of time.”

“If a nationwide super-general strike occurs on our side at this time…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but it was enough for the lieutenant governor to think about.

In fact, when the lieutenant governor, including the governor, thought about these problems, they would have several blind spots. First, they subconsciously thought that this was an internal problem of the state, or even just an internal problem of Golden Port, and that it just needed to be solved.

Secondly, they ignored the ambitions of the Federation’s ruling group in the international context. The economy was quietly declining. Now that the world’s leader was starting to self-destruct, this was a good opportunity for the Federation to catch up and surpass the world.

Although they didn’t know how to surpass the world leader, at least they couldn’t fall into chaos themselves.

The lieutenant governor slapped his forehead. “Too much work has left me no time to pay attention to the world. It seems I need to catch up on my studies.”

Senator Cleveland smiled. “As long as we solve these problems, there will be no problem.”

Actually, he hadn’t told the whole truth yet. The reason behind his coming here to solve the strike problem as soon as possible was not just about the militia.

Congress was planning to set up a naval base near Golden Port. If this strike problem could not be properly resolved, the local workers would definitely rally again to oppose the establishment of a military base nearby, which would be another big trouble.

However, only a very few people knew about this matter. It had not been announced to the public yet. Even on the Department of Defense side, only a few generals knew some inside information, but not the more specific details.

“What are the demands of the dockworkers now?”

The lieutenant governor handed over a document. The contents were not complicated, just three demands. After reading it, he didn’t have much of a reaction. “These are all very reasonable demands. Why didn’t the dock management company agree to them?”

The lieutenant governor smiled a bit awkwardly. He only knew a vague outline of things, but it was obvious that Senator Cleveland wanted a precise answer.

His brain was spinning at high speed, like a fast-rotating electric fan, splattering his brains against his skull, and then slowly falling back down.

“Because the dock management company believes these are unreasonable. They refuse to give so many welfare benefits at once.”

He glanced at the three demands. “These added up, the actual wage increase might be more than two dollars!”

Senator Cleveland nodded. He flipped a few more pages. He noticed that the content of one newspaper clipping was very interesting. “The workers’ union in Golden Port has already started to have them wear uniforms?”

The governor’s head instantly swelled. He knew about this, but hadn’t looked into it in detail. He could only bite the bullet and say, “That is indeed the case.”

Senator Cleveland pursed his lips. “They are very united. This kind of group is the most difficult to deal with.”

He closed the document. “Contact the people who can decide the development of the situation. The Federation of Labor will definitely demand public negotiations. We need to get to know these people.”

He hadn’t even considered the possibility of the dock management company not agreeing, because in the Federation, there was no problem that Congress couldn’t solve.

If the dock management company dared to say no, then tomorrow there would be a law specifically targeting them proposed and quickly passed. Then they could openly use legal means to make the dock management company compromise.

If they still didn’t compromise, then all sorts of methods would be used, until they agreed.

The car sped through the streets and soon arrived in the Bay Area.

“The local celebrities have prepared a grand welcome party for you and the several congressmen…”

Many people looked over. Senator Cleveland did not refuse and agreed.

In fact, the vast majority of people here were not qualified to have a private chat with Senator Cleveland. At most, they would just say hello, and then say something like “Welcome to Golden Port,” before being asked to “leave with dignity.”

After arriving at the hotel, he immediately organized a small meeting, contacting the relevant parties, including some people in Golden Port who might be related to the strike or the docks.

What Senator Cleveland found interesting was that he discovered there was a fourth party here that did not belong to the workers, nor to the dock management company, and had no relationship with the union.

A gang called the “Lance Family.”

“Add this Lance’s name to the list of negotiators,” he ordered directly. The staff on the lieutenant governor’s side immediately complied.

Some were certainly a bit confused. Perhaps to push the work forward as soon as possible, Senator Cleveland also patiently explained.

“In our past statistics and analysis of strike incidents in the Federation, we have found that strike demonstrations with gang participation are larger in scale and more destructive.”

“But similarly, if a gang stands on our side on this issue, the strike can also be quelled as soon as possible.”

“This Lance is not an ordinary person. His Wanli Firm is very interesting. He even specially provided uniform clothing for these people. Add his name to the list. He might be the special medicine for this strike.”

The news quickly reached Lance’s ears. Vaughn not only brought this news but also asked about the idea of stopping first.

Lance considered for a moment. “We can stop. You go and tell them.”

The vicious strike that had lasted for several days finally stopped for the time being. This also made Senator Cleveland breathe a sigh of relief, and his feelings towards these dockworkers improved a lot.

At least these people were willing to give him face.

During the waiting period, the people of Golden Port felt an unprecedented tranquility again. There were no sudden gunshots, no cars speeding by with two people leaning out and shooting.

The whole city became quiet, so quiet that it felt a bit incredible.

After the general representative of the Federation of Labor arrived in Golden Port, the long-prepared first negotiation finally began.

Almost all the newspaper offices in the Federation came, as well as many international media outlets.

If the Federation could not solve the Golden Port dock strike problem as soon as possible, then in order to avoid losses, they could only remove the Golden Port dock from the entire shipping process.

Those ports ranked lower might develop rapidly because of this incident, and even their countries might gain huge dividends of the era due to the surge in transportation business.

Congress was unwilling to see this.

Lance was seated in a slightly lower-ranking position, even behind the worker representatives, but he had no objection to this arrangement.

It is worth mentioning that this was the third day Senator Cleveland had been in Golden Port. In three days, he had not once gone to see the Mayor.

Now, at such an important negotiating table, with someone like Lance who was superficially unrelated to the strike, there was no Mayor.

This was enough to cause some unfriendly speculation.

(End of chapter)