Empire of Shadows

During the Prohibition era, anyone related to the brewing industry knew very well how astonishing the super-high profits from liquor were!

Perhaps in some people’s eyes, profits of several times... might not be as high as certain special commodities, for example, some high-end tobacco, or for example, some compound industries that Lance wasn’t clear about, like pharmaceuticals.

A potion costing a few cents could sell for several dollars, a profit of dozens or even hundreds of times. The profits in these industries are far greater than the liquor industry.

But there is actually a misconception here.

High profit doesn’t mean high earnings. For example, those special medicines that have now risen to three dollars a shot, their cost might only be about ten cents. A thirty-fold profit is indeed considerable.

But a pharmaceutical factory can’t necessarily sell everything it produces immediately. Apart from the relatively large demand from the battlefield, the frequency of use on the federal mainland is not high.

After all, at three dollars a shot, how many families can afford to use it long-term?

This is also why pharmaceutical companies, even though they know some drugs will cause severe dependence in users, just deliberately ignore this problem.

The things produced are not necessarily all sold.

You have produced ten billion worth of goods, but can only sell a few million. The profit margin is high, but the income has not really increased.Liquor is different.

In this best and worst of times, whether the worst people or the best people, they all need liquor.

Liquor can be a celebratory drink to enhance the atmosphere, or a good medicine to drown sorrows and make people temporarily forget their pain.

Its price is not high, and it has no major side effects. Men, women, old, and young can all drink it.

Have a drink after work, have a drink when you’re feeling down, have a drink when you’re happy. It has so many applications, so much so that the market demand is always greater than the supply. This is where its huge profit lies.

To be able to sell 100%, with a profit of several times, is equivalent to dozens, or hundreds of times that of other high-profit commodities.

A profit of tens of millions or a hundred million a year in one state is no joke.

Governor Wade was also interested in this industry because he had genuinely learned about these industries through Lance.

And the president of Gold Label Distillery was himself a person in this industry, and had also sold these liquors. He was equally clear about how large the profits of these liquors were.

So now this newly appointed president was a little confused. He directly asked Governor Wade, ”Your Excellency Governor, forgive my impudence, but haven’t you always been in a cooperative relationship with the Lance Family?”

”Gold Label Distillery’s defeat in Indeno State was because of the Lance Family, and now you want to personally invest in Gold Label. I don’t understand.”

Everyone knew that Governor Wade and Lance were in cahoots. Before the election, Lance had given him a lot of help. Although it couldn’t be called ”decisive” help, it was also very important.

Financial support, personnel support, everyone knew this. So at this time, for Governor Wade to want to invest in a company that had failed in the competition, was something that made the president scratch his head.

Did he plan to swallow up Gold Label Distillery?

Governor Wade chuckled twice. ”We’ve had some disagreements over profit distribution. There’s an old saying, ’Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.’ I think this saying is very right.”

”This world won’t stop turning no matter who leaves. The Lance Family’s liquor can sell so well, why can’t Gold Label’s liquor continue to sell?”

Hearing Governor Wade’s words, the new president of Gold Label seemed to understand.

Uneven distribution of spoils. This was probably the main incentive for all cooperative groups to eventually split, bar none.

”May I be so bold as to ask, how much of a cut did you want from the Lance Family?”

”Of course, I won’t disclose it. I will use this to persuade the board of directors and the shareholders. You know, I am just the president. I can’t decide if you can get equity in the company.”

”I have to persuade them!”

Governor Wade’s tone was very light. ”My demand was twenty percent.”

The new president sucked in a breath of cold air. Before, when they were competing with the Lance Family, they knew that the Lance Family had promised to ”split the spoils” with the local mayors and government departments. Half of the money was used to buy off the local rulers and law enforcers.

In other words, of the profits generated by the Lance Family’s liquor, they themselves could only get half. If they were to give another 20% to Governor Wade, then their profits would only be 30% left.

Out of a 20-dollar profit, only 6 dollars would be their own. And then after deducting some costs other than expenses, it was equivalent to them working for nothing.

No wonder they had had such an unpleasantness. In his heart, this new president felt that if Governor Wade had only asked for five or ten percent, perhaps they could still maintain their cooperation.

But twenty percent was indeed a bit unreasonable.

But, wasn’t this just the opportunity for them?

”I will discuss this with the board of directors. If there is any news, I will notify you at the first opportunity.”

Governor Wade said ”hmm.” ”The liquor market in Indeno State has a scale of several hundred million a year. I can’t say that you can take the entire market, but with my support, your competitiveness will clearly be stronger than that of Lance and his group.”

”You all think about it carefully.”

Soon the two had ended their call. In fact, what Governor Wade wanted was not just 20% of the equity. He wanted more, but this was a gradual process.

His ideal holding in the end was more than 30%, or that they could sign an additional agreement, to let him get a larger share of the liquor profits.

This market was too big, and the profits were too big. His mind was full of interests.

Perhaps this was the way of thinking of a superior that best matched the hearts of the federal people. Interests first, everything else is fake.

The president put down the phone. He lit a cigarette with some excitement. If they really had the governor’s support, then they wouldn’t have to worry about some ”vicious competition.”

Lance had given the local mayors a very high profit share. This meant that as long as they had a price war with Lance, the Lance Family would definitely not be able to hold on.

As an old, established enterprise, they could totally sell liquor in Indeno State at no profit, to force all competitors to withdraw from the market. Their home-field advantage had already put them in an invincible position in a price competition.

As long as they waited for these competitors to withdraw from this market, and they had the pricing power, wouldn’t it be just as they said, however much they wanted to sell it for?

He directly called the company’s chairman of the board, and talked to him about this.

The chairman of the board was also somewhat excited after he had learned of this. To be driven out of their home market by an outside distillery was a very shameful thing.

Gold Label Distillery had already become an industry joke. But if they could, at this time, to launch a beautiful counter-attack, then everything would be rewritten!

”I’ve got it. I will communicate with the other members of the board, and also the shareholders’ side.”

”You find a way to investigate if our new governor is reliable...”

After he had put down the phone, the new president’s spirits were high. After he had thought about some things, his gaze fell on the title of the open page of a magazine on his desk— ”New Hope Mining, Gold Hidden in the Stones”

This report had disclosed the news that New Hope Mining had obtained a large number of mining rights in the Yalan region, among which there was no lack of mineral resources with huge mining value, such as gold mines, and copper mines.

The magazine had also attached a considerable number of photos. The photographer of each photo had, in the photo, added a recent newspaper of the time of the shooting, to, in a clear way, tell everyone that these photos were real.

In the Federation, there had been some incidents of fraudulent use of photos before, which had in the end, triggered a series of problems. So in all fields, if you want others to believe your photos, you have to do this.

Because a photo can’t be faked, and the newspaper in it can’t be either. Whether it was taken recently is clear at a glance.

Looking at the prosperous scene in the mine in the photo, at the picture of the refined gold ingots filling the warehouse, and also some of the photos of the procurement staff signing to buy ore or copper ingots, the president’s heart was on fire again.

This was a very suitable investment in the market recently. The financial circles had all begun to pay attention to this New Hope Mining. It was said that they had in their hands the development rights of more than twenty mines.

The annual net profit was more than 40 million, and the sustainable mining life of these mines was all more than ten years.

This meant that these mines could, stably, bring a profit return of at least 400 million or more. In some of the disclosed minutes of the mining’s board of directors, they had mentioned that they would continue to obtain the mining rights of more mines in the Yalan region.

Among them, there were already about seven mines that were under negotiation. Once the negotiations were successful, the annual net profit would increase by more than 10 million.

This magazine had reported a lot of relatively detailed things. They had said that New Hope Mining was planning to establish an ”Yalan Mining Alliance” organization, to pull in all the mines in the Yalan region, to form a large-scale industry association, and to carry out an actual monopoly.

Any business behavior that was linked to a monopoly would bring unimaginable super profits!

The president also really wanted to invest, but he didn’t have much money in his hands. He didn’t dare to casually invest in this kind of a project.

And for this kind of a project, to invest 10,000, 20,000, was no different from not investing at all. If you want to invest, you have to invest a big one!

He had called a friend of his, a friend on Deterland Financial Street. As soon as the call was connected, he had stated his identity. His friend couldn’t help but say, ”My God, have you heard?”

”Several banks are contacting New Hope Mining, hoping to acquire them directly!”

”The whole market is about to go crazy!”

For the banking industry, this kind of an industry with a stable output is always their first choice. Not to mention that these mines are not only stable, but also have a very high profit. Of course they will not let it go!

The banks had also joined in, which had made the already hot atmosphere become even more explosive.

The people who had still had a little bit of doubt, after seeing that the bank’s side had also entered the field, no longer had any doubts, and had all begun to contact their friends, to see if they could get some stocks.

New Hope Mining had not yet been listed. They had just submitted their application for listing to the Federal Financial Regulatory Commission. It was expected that at the end of the year, it would be listed on the three major exchanges.

The Financial Regulatory Commission had always said not to engage in this kind of a private transaction before listing, but how could those who played with finance possibly take the law seriously?

Someone had described Deterland, saying that this was a place that was flowing with gold, but under the gold, there was sin!

”Other companies, when they go public, may still need some contractors, but this time, they definitely don’t!”

”If you have some money in your hands, no matter if you want a stable, long-term income, or to make a quick buck, I would recommend you to keep a close eye on this stock. It will definitely create a miracle!”

The voice of the president’s friend was filled with a kind of passion that he had not had before, as if he had already foreseen the miracle and myth that this stock would create here.

This had also made the president a little moved. ”But I don’t have that much money in my hands right now.”

His friend said in a very strange tone, ”You know what?”

”This is the biggest difference between you, who are in the physical industry, and us, who are in finance.”

”In your eyes, money is those colorful little pieces of paper, but in our eyes, there is nothing that cannot be turned into money!”

”A house, a car, a bond, gold, anything, even the company shares in your hands. This is a large sum of money, brother!”

”If I were you, I would find a financial company in your local area that you can trust, and to sign a short- to medium-term loan agreement with them.”

”Mortgage all your valuable things to them. Even if the interest they ask for is a little high, it doesn’t matter.”

”As long as you get a bite of New Hope Mining, your wealth will soon double!”

”This kind of thing is too common on Deterland. Every one of us is very optimistic about this stock!”

”I’m not afraid to tell you, I am already all in.”

”Alright, if you have nothing else, I have to hang up.”

”You know, I’m very busy now!”

The president seemed to have nothing else to say. He had said a few simple, irrelevant words, and had directly hung up.

In the past, this friend of his would have taken the initiative to persuade him to buy this stock, but this time, the other party had just simply mentioned it, and had not even said that he must buy it.

Sometimes people are just despicable. The more you are asked to do, the less you want to do. On the contrary, the things that others don’t want you to do, you will definitely have more interest in.

The matter of one’s net worth doubling several times overnight was not new on Deterland. The Federation’s stocks had no so-called ”upper or lower limits.” As long as you could rise, you could keep rising.

Similarly, if a stock had a crash, then it would just keep crashing, until it was worthless.

This kind of a crazy mechanism, if it was paired with financial leverage, this was the reason why a myth could appear!

A stock of a few dollars had, overnight, become a dozen or so. If you added a ten-fold leverage, in one night, a person’s net worth could be multiplied by ten!

To be in a physical industry, you would never be able to, in a short time, to complete the feat of increasing your assets by a multiple. Perhaps this was why those in finance now looked down on those in the physical industry.

They had worked themselves to death for a lifetime, and the money they had earned, in the financial circle, might just be the profit or loss of one ”fluctuation.”

The president’s mind was full of some of the ”legendary myths” on Deterland. In addition, there seemed to be some conflict between Governor Wade and Lance. If they could seize this opportunity, maybe he would soon be able to get more of the stock dividends.

Although he had not given himself any clear idea, he was already looking for all kinds of reasons to convince himself to work towards this goal.

Who can remain calm in the midst of their net worth rapidly increasing by several or a dozen times?

No one.

He had called and had asked some of his other friends in the financial field. They were all very optimistic about this stock of New Hope Mining, and had unanimously agreed that in just two or three days, its stock price would be several times its issue price. This was also inevitable.

The stock had not yet been listed, and people’s enthusiasm had already pushed its price to a very high expected value. This meant that as long as it was listed, its price would soon explode. You didn’t even need to find someone to prop it up. There would be countless people who would do this for free.

Of course, Lance did not know that their little financial game had already begun to operate and was preparing to rake in money. He had thought that this matter would wait until the middle of next year.

He still didn’t know much about the Federation’s financial harvesting. The reason why the groundwork was laid for a long time was because the market reaction was not good enough. If the market reaction was as good as now, three or five months would be enough.

In fact, this was also related to the war. Some firmly believed that the Federation could win the final victory of this war.

But similarly, there were also some who did not believe that the Federation could win the final victory.

Once the Federation was defeated, or had not gotten the results that the Federation had expected, it was very likely that a bad situation would occur.

At a time like this, to find a project that could get through the ”cold winter” was particularly important. A mining group with a stable output was undoubtedly a very good project. This was also the reason why the outside propaganda had said that the bank’s side had also wanted to buy New Hope Mining.

The banks also needed these winter-proof industries to ensure the safety and stability of their funds.

Although Lance was not very clear about these, he had also heard. He had heard that Governor Wade had already contacted Gold Label Distillery, and they seemed to be in talks about cooperation.

Lance knew this was his way of applying pressure. If Lance’s side couldn’t hold out and chose to compromise, Governor Wade would undoubtedly refute the rumors soon after.

But if his side did not compromise, Governor Wade’s side would definitely also continue to push this project.

He was a deeply ambitious man, with a strong hunger for power. When Sidney used the chance to “nominate a gubernatorial candidate” as a means to relocate the Wade family, Lance had already seen through his intentions.

They had the characteristics of a gambler, and their ambitions were lofty, and their desires were strong.

These people were not the kind that could be maintained with just ”personal connections.” For him, every matter was an isolated incident. This was also a kind of a worldview that the federal elite class was more in favor of.

You helping me, and me having to help you, have no connection.

Before, they might have been friends, but at this moment, they are not necessarily friends. They could also be competitors, or even enemies.