Empire of Shadows

The Mayor of Valley City looked at Lance in confusion. His slightly open mouth never closed, as if he was ready to ask Lance at any time, ”What did you invest in?”

Looking at the other’s reaction, Lance said with a smile, ”Movies. You have to know, the film companies, production companies, distribution companies, and even some talent agencies under the Wanli Group are all benchmark-level existences in the entire industry.”

Although Lance didn’t inquire about the development of the film industry every day, he still paid close attention to the development of these companies.

Movies, media, these are the main channels and media for spreading culture and ideas in the future.

You can’t expect those people who may not have even finished high school to seriously read a non-entertainment newspaper, or books, and summarize some of the knowledge that the writers need them to master.

If they could really do this, then there’s a high probability they wouldn’t have entered society after only graduating from high school.

Although the Federation’s universities are hard to get into, and there are high tuition fees, as long as your studies are really good, almost all universities have enough full scholarship quotas and a series of measures such as tuition exemption.

Whether it’s an ordinary university, a private university, or an elite league institution, they all know very well that there must be some people in the school who are truly engaged in academic research.

But those people are, after all, only a minority. Most people, can only enter society after graduating from high school or even without graduating.

They get sleepy when they see books, so image-based communication channels will be the top priority for future development.At least the image-based communication channels are not so boring.

And the ”Golden Port Television” that Lance cooperated with the Golden Port News Group on, is also in the process of continuous construction and development. Lance went against all objections to arrange some ”long film units.”

People nowadays still don’t know what a ”TV drama” is, let alone a ”TV series,” so he used the concept of a ”long television movie.”

Shooting a very long story, then cutting it into episodes of about fifty minutes, a story should have about twenty or thirty episodes, and it began to be broadcast to a limited number of users through the television network.

These things are all presided over by Lance. Regardless of whether it is the industries under his command, or Golden Port Television, they have all established shooting bases in Valley City, which is tantamount to a kind of investment.

And he is still a benchmark in this field, which will further make the power of the industry concentrate in Valley City.

In fact, Valley City has also expanded a lot compared to the past, especially to the suburbs on the west and north sides. A large number of shooting sets are constantly appearing. Here, it is as if you are walking in different universes and time and space.

One second you might be on the main street of a western town, holding a revolver and competing with another cowboy to see whose hand speed is faster, and the next second you have traveled to a medieval castle, followed by a certain palace.

Now the number of tourists in Valley City is also continuously increasing. These all rely on the prosperity of the film industry. Movie fans from all over the world come here, wanting to get in close contact with their favorite stars, and the shooting and production of movies.

The Mayor of Valley City quickly apologized to Lance, ”You are right. You have been helping us!”

Lance smiled and clinked his wine glass with him. He didn’t think the Mayor of Valley City was being unreasonable. This was the purpose of socializing—

To find opportunities!

...

The celebration party lasted until before dinner. A portion of the people took the initiative to leave. These were the guests who had not received Governor Terry’s dinner invitation. Some of them were guests with relatively ordinary status.

There were also some, like Lance, and the mayors from various places. They had all received a dinner invitation, and there were also some people with a high enough status.

The manor’s dining room could accommodate about 200 people dining at the same time. The federal people of this period were still very capable of having children, so every family was really a big family.

For a family to have one or two hundred people was still relatively normal in this period. Some even had more.

After the dinner was over, Governor Terry saw off the others. Lance was the last to leave.

”I should be able to get there on the morning of the 24th,” he said, while seeing Lance out.

The ”there” he was talking about was the Lawrence Farm. They had discussed it and were going to complete the construction of a stable interest group in Likalai State on the farm.

Governor Terry wanted to seek the post of senator, so he must have the support of the Governor of Likalai State, as well as the support of the state legislature and the party.

Not one less.

The Federal Senators are nominated by the state government and the legislature. Two people are selected from the state legislature to represent the state government and the state legislature of the place they come from, and to enter Congress to discuss national affairs.

Then, with some supplementary seats, there are now a total of 45 seats in the Federal Congress Senate.

If Terry wants to become one of them, he must be highly tied to this interest group of Lance’s, so he will not refuse Lance’s invitation.

The two finally shook hands, and said a few very empty pleasantries. Today’s celebration was considered to be over!

After watching Lance leave, Governor Terry returned to his study. His aides and some of his confidants were all here. They would not be leaving for the next two days.

After Terry became governor, there were many work changes that needed to be arranged. This was the ”dividend” that these people had been dreaming of!

Governor Terry sat back on the sofa. He rubbed his cheeks, and then lit a cigarette.

They had brought some honey milk. It was said that it could make him more comfortable, and not to be troubled by the headache after drinking.

Some said it was effective, but some also said it was not. But whether it was useful or not, in short, it was certainly not wrong to have it prepared.

Everyone’s gaze was focused on him. He pursed his lips, and looked at his deputy by his side. ”After the handover is over, I will, at the state government’s meeting, nominate you to take over my post, and to be responsible for the subsequent work of the Attorney General’s Office.”

His deputy was so excited that his face had turned red!

”Please rest assured and leave it to me!”

When he spoke, his saliva was flying out, but no one was laughing at him. Instead, they were staring at him with eyes full of envy.

The Attorney General of Likalai State. This position, within the scope of the Likalai State’s judicial field, was basically already considered to be ”holding a sharp sword.”

He could pose a huge danger to the capitalists, to the officials, to almost anyone.

As everyone knows, in the Federation, ”everyone is a villain.” Everyone has a criminal record, and no one can withstand an investigation.

Whether it’s a beggar on the roadside, or the president in the Presidential Palace who is drinking coffee, as long as you investigate them, no one is innocent!

Of course, the Attorney General has so much power, but it doesn’t mean that he can abuse this power. As for how to use it, sometimes it’s not up to the Attorney General himself to decide.

But even so, this position was still full of temptation.

The gazes of the others quickly returned to Governor Terry. Since the person by his side had already gotten what he wanted, what about them?

Governor Terry took out a list. He passed this list to these people. On it were some of the positions in the state government. Some of them already had names, but there were still many that had no names.

His meaning was very clear. They didn’t have to consider the ones with names, but the ones without names, they could try to fight for.

And those that had already been confirmed were basically all the middle and high-level officials supported by the Socialist Party or the Liberal Party. To want to move their positions was a little difficult, and the price to be paid was relatively high, so they could only, among those officials who had no backing, to pick and choose, and to delete.

The handover of work is very difficult to be completed in a short time. On the surface, it is said that the new governor will take over the entire state government after the Harvest Festival, in the beginning of November. But in fact, it may be until mid-to-late December, or even January, before the handover can be completely finished.

After all, in these few years, there are always some things that the previous governor had left behind. He either had to dispose of them, or to take them away. It was impossible to leave them for Governor Terry.

Whether it was good or bad, to deal with these things all required time.

As it happens, time is also the slowest and the fastest thing. In the blink of an eye, it was the 24th. The Lawrence Farm had already become exceptionally lively.

Lance had already been here for five days. Besides him, there were also William and Mayor Williams, as well as James. Arthur had also really wanted to come, but he was getting married soon, and there were some things that needed to be prepared in advance, to avoid any problems.

Lance’s horse still had a sense of unfamiliarity with him, but it was a little more familiar than a real stranger. At least, a real stranger would feed it a carrot and it wouldn’t eat, but if Lance fed it, it would first sniff it, and only then would it eat.

”Maybe only when I’m old, and retired, will I have the right to raise a horse from a foal to an adult,” Lance handed all the carrots in his hand to this horse. While gently stroking its muzzle—it should be its muzzle, Lance was not sure if this was its muzzle or its face—he said so.

This horse was not at all like Patricia’s. Although it was already old, it was still very active. When it saw Patricia, it would, like a small dog, take the initiative to walk over and rub its cheek against her.

Through some of its very subtle actions, it could be seen that it had intelligence, and also had feelings.

The first time Lance had taken the initiative to approach Patricia, at that time, her horse had not yet seen Lance, it had taken the initiative to try to take Patricia away.

When Patricia had not left, it would come to her side, and would try to attack Lance.

An enviable pet. Lance was also very envious, but he didn’t have this time.

To want to raise these animals to this state, it requires a large amount of time. What he lacked the most now was time.

Patricia smiled. ”It will be fine, slowly. Come twice more a year, and it will get to know you, and then remember you.”

”Actually, everyone really hopes that you can come a few more times.”

Lance nodded. ”I will try my best.”

A young cowboy was, on horseback, quickly approaching from a distance. Lance turned to look at the cowboy, and the people around him also put their attention on the cowboy.

This was a cowboy from the farm, but even so, the bodyguards by his side were still ready to meet an enemy at any time.

After the cowboy had gotten a little closer, he had taken the initiative to slow down, and had also made sure that his hands were in a place where they could see.

He hadn’t even gotten close when he had discovered the look in these people’s eyes, but he didn’t feel uncomfortable. A big shot, always has to have a big shot’s unique aura, doesn’t he?

Soon he had pulled his horse to a stop, but had not gotten down. ”Lance... sir, the governor is here. The grandfathers want you to go over.”

”I see. I’ll be right over.”

The cowboy directly turned his horse’s head and left.

These few days, for the people of the Lawrence Farm, were definitely a very inspiring and exciting time. Not only because William was now a mayor, but more importantly, Mayor Williams had also come with his son. And the most crucial character, Governor Terry, had also just arrived here!

This was definitely the grandest scene in the Lawrence family’s history, bar none!

The three old men had already changed into their most formal clothes, and were in the farm, talking to these big shots.

They were mainly responsible for keeping their mouths shut. The work of opening their mouths was left to William, but it could be seen that the three old men were all very excited. They were all thinking, if only their big brother was still alive, how good would that be, or if their parents, uncles, and aunts were still alive, how good would that be, to see what the Lawrence family had developed into, under their leadership!

This is definitely a miracle!

It was about a 20-minute journey from the racecourse to the farm’s side. The road was not boring. After arriving at the farm, Patricia had taken the initiative to leave. She was not used to dealing with these officials, although she herself was also a civil servant.

Soon, Lance had seen Governor Terry. After they had met, they had, once again, hugged. This action had made everyone have an even clearer understanding of how good the relationship between Lance and the new governor was!

”Was the journey smooth?” Lance asked.

Governor Terry nodded. ”Besides the fact that my butt hurts a little from sitting in the car, there was nothing else that wasn’t smooth!”

The journey was indeed a bit far. Governor Terry had come by car. The small space was indeed uncomfortable.

”When you go back, try taking the train. I have a private carriage. You can try it.”

”Now, when you travel in the country, if you don’t have this, it’s definitely a terrible thing!”

Governor Terry did not, with him, make any concessions or anything. He just directly nodded and agreed.

The two returned to the main hall. Here, all the people who were supposed to be here this time had already gathered. Lance looked at him. ”Do you need to rest?”

Governor Terry shook his head. ”I’ve been resting all the way. No need.”

”I have to leave tomorrow night at the latest, or the morning after. There are still many things that need my signature. Shall we get straight to the point?!”

Lance looked at the others. No one else had objected. Naturally, they were going to, around the matter of forming an interest group, to start to discuss.

The group of people had entered the farm’s house. With the instructions of old man Herbert, there was no one else in the house except for the old butler.

And outside the house, there were all cowboys, on horseback, with their guns.

Governor Terry couldn’t help but take a few more glances, and had even specially asked, ”How many such cowboys does the farm have?”

He had originally wanted to say ”armed cowboys,” but to say so was a little not-so-nice, so he had omitted the word ”armed.”

Old man Herbert had laughed heartily and had said, ”We have four or five thousand cowboys. If there is a need, we can double this number at any time!”

He seemed to want to explain it more clearly. ”In this vicinity, there are at least 300,000 to 400,000 people who have obtained a good living condition because of the Lawrence Farm. Almost half of them are cowboys.”

”It’s just that now our ’business’ is too good, and the farm also doesn’t need so many cowboys, so they are doing other things.”

”But when we ring that bronze bell on top of this house, they will, with their weapons on their backs, and on their horses, to appear in the square outside!”

Speaking of this, the three old men had all shown a proud expression. Schubert had even, specially, made a small joke. ”In fact, in all these years, it is only when we were catching the runaway slaves that we have shaken this!”

It was originally a very serious matter, but with this, a smile had appeared on everyone’s faces.

Mayor Williams liked this little joke. ”I hope those runaway slaves’ butts can clamp the bullets!”

The three old men were stunned for a moment, and then they had all laughed out loud. This was a very dirty joke, but... they liked it!

When they were young, slavery had not yet been abolished. The farm was full of those slaves who were like livestock.

That period was also what many of the Lawrence family members had regarded as the ”Golden Age.” And then the Lawrence Farm had been going downhill, until now!

As old farm owners, they liked these harmless jokes, and they also knew that Mayor Williams, the Williams family, was also a large landlord class. They had also kept tens of thousands of slaves, so when they had said this, they had a lot in common!

On the contrary, Governor Terry, perhaps, did not quite understand why they had suddenly resonated so much, but he also knew that this ”malicious” joke could pull everyone’s relationship closer.

After everyone had laughed for a while, Lance had finally said, ”This time, I have invited Mayor Williams and James, and also Governor Terry, to come over, because of a matter that Mayor Williams and I have talked about.”

”Now it’s not just us, the farm, our business. We have a huge influence in the entire Likalai State. And the most crucial point—”

He looked around. His gaze was firm and was full of a kind of power. He had reached out and had clenched his fist, as if he had grasped his destiny in his hand!

”We have a large number of votes in our hands!”

”Mayor Williams has proposed that we can, like those local, comprehensive, prominent families, to unite, to form a force, to firmly control the entire Likalai State.”

”To turn it into a, belonging to us, independent, little kingdom!”

Hearing this, the three old men had all shown a shocked expression. William was also. Although he had vaguely guessed a little, when Lance had said it personally, it had still given him a great shock!

Lance was very satisfied with their performance. After they had recovered a little, he continued, ”Of course, just us, these people, is definitely not enough. The meaning of Mayor Williams and the Governor is with us as the core, to build this prominent family.”

”Now we need to fill in some new manpower, to let more people stand on our side!”