Empire of Shadows

The next morning, Lance arrived at the appointed place, in another manor not too far from Senator Cleveland’s.

These rich people, these upper-class people of the Federation, were all keen on buying manors.

Owning one’s own manor had become a symbol of status and position. Lance was also considering whether to take the plunge and buy a new manor in New Golden City.

The owner of this manor was not a politician, but a broker.

The profession of a broker was very special in all of Golden State. One should not underestimate these people who seemed to be able to sell their souls to the devil for money.

Many brokers were themselves former high-level officials of the Federation. For example, some senators, presidents, and the like, who were unwilling to be lonely after retirement, would form an “office” and use the network of relationships in their hands to continue to be active in the political arena.

The influence and ability of these high-level brokers were very amazing, especially the top ones, who should not be underestimated.

The owner of this manor was one of them, a former senator, already in his seventies, of medium height, and his figure looked very sturdy.

A head of silver-white hair without a single strand of another color, it could even shine in the sun!

His face was very ruddy, and he looked very healthy. No matter who the guest was, what their status was, he would very enthusiastically greet them.Including Lance.

“You are Lance, Lance White!” The old man grabbed Lance’s hand and patted the back of it with a smile.

His voice was very loud and full of energy, and his tone was also filled with some pleasant surprise. “Actually, at first I thought this was another colleague, or even a trick of some old fellow!”

“Unexpectedly, Mr. Lance, you have shocked me. Are you really only twenty-three years old?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to check your personal information. I was just too curious.”

“This is the first time I’ve been curious about such an outstanding young man!”

The continuous flattery also brought a smile to Lance’s face. You can’t just say “no” to such a person with status and position who is constantly praising you.

“You are too kind, Mr. Rao.”

The old man shook his head. “You may think I am just saying some pleasantries to praise you, but in fact, I am just speaking my mind.”

He tilted his head slightly and leaned closer to Lance. “I can also get a share of the money from this!”

“It’s very little, but I have my share!”

He gave Lance a look of confirmation. After all, it was not an easy thing to persuade the Prohibition Committee to slap their own faces.

The two key points in Lance’s plan were that the military had to approve and accept such an operation, and the Prohibition Committee would not have too much of a fierce reaction.

After all, it was they who had said that brewing and selling liquor was not allowed. Now they had to go back on their word. For a politician of the rank of senator, the potential impact was still huge.

People would think that their stance was not firm, or that they were not very good, which would affect their future development.

This Mr. Rao had found a way to deal with the two executive committee members of the Prohibition Committee. As a price, he had gotten the promise of three senators, as well as an annual dividend of 0.03%.

About 200,000 or so.

A not-so-large dividend and the personal favors of three senators. This was a way of life for a broker.

The personal favors of these three senators, in the next “sale,” each could be sold for a height of a million or even several million!

They always maximized their interests in every transaction, eventually becoming “shadow politicians,” influencing Congress and the entire political arena.

Looking at the convoy slowly approaching in the distance, the speed slowing down, Mr. Rao shook Lance’s hand again. “We’ll talk later. I have to continue to welcome our guests!”

Under the guidance of the staff, Lance entered a small chapel they had prepared.

Lance’s arrival made the people here all look at him sideways, because he was too young.

There was only one “participant” who was so young, and that was Lance.

“Mr. White?”

A middle-aged man who looked to be in his late forties and was not far from him took the initiative to greet him. Lance nodded and walked over and extended his hand. “Lance White. And you are?”

“Joseph, Joseph Goldberg.”

“Mr. Goldberg!”

“You’re too kind. Just call me Joseph. It makes me feel young again!”

A somewhat witty person. Lance nodded slightly. “Joseph.”

For these capitalists, Lance did not need to show much “respect.” Capital was the most terrible force in the Federation. It could melt anything in this country, everything!

No matter what it was, steel, morality, or politics, it would become corrupt under the erosion of money.

But the power of capital was not as strong as people imagined. In particular, the people who possessed wealth were always just “human,” not gods, which was destined to make them weak.

This was a very strange circle.

Gangs had a relatively high deterrent effect on capitalists, and capitalists could protect themselves by corrupting politicians. At the same time, the politicians were constantly wavering.

They had formed a special closed loop!

Lance was very happy with his title. “Did you know?”

“This discussion is not easy. Someone just expressed his malice towards you,” he said, looking at a middle-aged man with golden-brown hair in the distance.

Lance followed his gaze and frowned. “I don’t know this guy. Are you sure he’s dissatisfied with me?”

“He is the president of ‘Gold Label Distillery’…”

Lance immediately understood.

His Golden Lion Wine had, to a certain extent, imitated the appearance of Gold Label liquor. This kind of imitation was of great help to the sales of a new product.

Just like Rebi, you could easily buy the wrong one if you weren’t careful. But if the person who bought the wrong one tasted it and felt that it was okay, not worse than the real thing, but the price was a little cheaper, they would become a new user of Rebi.

Previously, Gold Label Distillery had proposed to find the producer of Golden Lion Whiskey and sue them into bankruptcy.

Unexpectedly, they had run into each other here now.

A portion of the liquor that Lance had transported to the front lines had already flowed back. Not much, but enough for all these people to get some samples.

Most of the liquor merchants were concerned about its packaging, its taste, its alcohol content, and the like. What Gold Label Distillery was concerned about was the lion head on the bottle that was the same as the Golden Lion Whiskey label.

Lance smiled and nodded. “Thank you for the reminder. This has helped me a lot!”

Mr. Joseph smiled. “It’s nothing. I’m glad I could help.”

“Actually… we can unite.”

Lance did not object and continued to nod. “You’re right. I will support you.”

Mr. Joseph also said with a smile, “I will also support you!”

In fact, this person was not as good as he imagined. Lance had already seen through all of this. As soon as he arrived, someone had found him his “opponent,” creating a sense of confrontational tension, thereby using him.

He had reacted, so there was no question of who was using whom. It might even be Lance using him.

After separating from this “enthusiastic” Mr. Joseph, Lance got to know two other liquor merchants who had taken the initiative to befriend him, and then came to his own name-plated seat and sat down.

After waiting for about ten minutes, Mr. Rao came in from outside. He came to the main seat. The liquor merchants also returned to their own seats.

Mr. Rao sat in his seat with a smile on his face. Only a very small number of people knew that he was actually not an easy person to talk to.

During his tenure, he had pushed for the passage of some relatively harsh laws. His attitude towards slaves was very bad—when he came to power, it was during the post-slave emancipation movement. His undisguised expression of disgust for the slave group had earned him many unfriendly social evaluations.

Everyone is like this, with different “faces.” He didn’t look at all like those executioners who specialized in dealing with slaves, but when he picked up a weapon, the slaves only wished they had grown a few more legs.

Some people say that the dark-skinned people of the Federation run fast because those who run slow are no longer there.

“Gentlemen, I believe you know what you are here for,” he looked around. The people were all silent, whether they didn’t want to talk or out of respect for Mr. Rao.

“What we need is a qualified product, not some kind of inferior product to make do. The soldiers on the front lines need good liquor and even flasks, not to make do.”

“I hope that the samples you provide are of the same quality as the products you will ultimately supply to the front-line soldiers.”

“Some people are not convenient to say these things, so they have entrusted me to say them.”

“If anyone makes a mess of these things, then you should understand the consequences!”

He paused for a moment. “The liquor that is to be sent to the front lines, that is, the liquor from the samples you have received from the front lines, is all provided by Mr. Lance White. The Department of Defense has a new requirement, which is to expand the capacity. Each flask must be able to hold at least three ounces of liquor.”

“And they hope that these flasks will have two sides. One side is a mirror surface, facing inward, which can reflect light.”

“The other side is for the outside, non-reflective.”

“And…”

He raised many of the problems encountered by the front-line soldiers in the process of use. These were all improvements required by the Department of Defense.

Lance was also writing and drawing with a pen, recording these things.

After he had said enough, he said again, “Prohibition will not be lifted in a short period of time and will continue to be maintained.”

“I believe some of you should have already heard some news!” He paused for a moment, his gaze lingering on the faces of these people one by one, to infer the strength of the people behind them from the subtle changes in their expressions.

After his gaze had made a circle, he finally said, “Congress will issue you a franchise.”

Some of the uninformed gentlemen immediately straightened their backs. Although they had had their guesses in this regard, they were still very surprised when it was really confirmed!

Anything related to “franchise” represents a huge profit!

For example, the casino operating license that Lance held in his hands. In the entire Golden Port City and even Likalai State, only his casino was legally operated.

This represented a huge profit. If you want to play cards in a big casino, you can only go to his place.

And now, these franchises represented that they could legally brew liquor!

Do they care who they can sell to and who they can’t?

If they cared about this, they would have changed their profession long ago!

What they really care about is being able to brew liquor on a large scale, industrially!

In these days in the Federation, as long as you have liquor in your hands, you can definitely sell it. You don’t have to worry about the sales channels at all.

Seeing the excited expressions, a smile appeared on Mr. Rao’s face. He then said, “But we all know one thing. Even if you get a franchise, on this issue, you will also be subject to supervision.”

“The Prohibition Committee will establish a special management committee to be responsible for monitoring whether your liquor has flowed into the market.”

“At the same time!” Mr. Rao emphasized, “…the executive committee has asked us to form an industry committee that faces Congress.”

“The reason I have asked you to come here today, besides needing to tell you some of the basic specifications and requirements of this liquor, the other matter is to establish this committee.”

“Entrusted by Congress, I will become the honorary chairman of the committee. You need to elect a rotating committee chairman and four executive committee members. Do you understand what I mean?”

Lance glanced at Mr. Joseph. Mr. Joseph seemed to have also felt Lance’s gaze. He turned his head to look at Lance and nodded with a smile.

It seems that this Mr. Joseph is not that simple. Lance was not sure if he had known something in advance, or if it was for other reasons that he had wanted to unite with him as soon as he came up.

Lance also nodded, which was considered a response.

There were a total of seventeen liquor merchants here. Besides the rotating committee chairman and the executive committee members, there were also twelve ordinary committee members.

At this point, no one was willing to just be an ordinary committee member. People were more inclined to become an executive committee member, or even the committee chairman.

After Mr. Rao had said these words, the atmosphere in the room visibly became a little serious and solidified. Although they were not sure what power this rotating chairman and executive committee members could have, having it was better than not having it.

Someone asked, “Mr. Rao, how should this candidate be chosen?”

People’s attention was once again focused on Mr. Rao. Mr. Rao replied with a smile, “Everyone can recommend themselves, or recommend others. The person who is recommended can get a vote. The person with the most votes will become the rotating chairman, and the executive committee members.”

As soon as his words were finished, Mr. Joseph suddenly said, “I recommend Mr. Lance to be the first rotating chairman of the committee. After all, the entire plan was proposed and promoted by Mr. Lance.”

“The reason we can sit here today and discuss these things is all thanks to Mr. Lance.”

“I think Mr. Lance deserves to be the first rotating chairman!”

Lance squinted his eyes slightly and looked at Mr. Joseph. The latter showed him a “don’t thank me” expression.

This dog is really not a good person!

But since this dog had already started to act fast, Lance did not intend to back down either.

He looked at Mr. Rao. Mr. Rao nodded slightly. “Of course, no problem!”

(End of a Chapter)