Empire of Shadows

The next morning, Senator Cleveland arrived at his office and quickly convened a meeting with a group of core senators.

Almost every day during this period was spent in various meetings, because the end of the year was approaching.

Businesses become very busy at the end of the year. There are many accounts waiting to be clarified, and shareholders need to be informed of how much they have earned, and how much they can earn next year.

Of course, they also need to erase some possibly unfavorable traces, such as some bad debts, and financial reports that cannot be made public.

Government departments are the same. The federal government is like a super large group company, and each department is one of its subsidiaries.

The Presidential Palace, Congress, the Department of Defense—these are all its subsidiaries.

The people are the largest nominal shareholders of the Federation, and in fact, this is indeed the case.

If the allocation of equity is determined according to the weight of the votes, then the ordinary people, who make up ninety-nine percent of the country, hold ninety-nine point nine percent of the votes.

Therefore, the high-level executives of these subsidiaries, like the board of directors and management of those enterprises, if they want to retain the profits, they have to make a good-looking but impractical financial report—

”We earned one million last year, but we invested 1.05 million in a new project, so the actual income is negative 50,000. There will be no dividend this year.”If you say they didn’t make money...

On the books, they at least made money, and quite a bit, but there was a new project that had to be invested in, so the idea of dividing up the money this year was put on hold.

But if you say they did make money...

Such a large company, such a large year-end profit, how come the shareholders can’t get a single cent?

Oh, no!

They actually did get a share, but this sharing was different from the ”sharing” that the shareholders had imagined, because the shareholders’ wages had increased.

The President would, in a public speech in the middle of the year, organize and present some of the changes in society, just like the mid-year shareholders’ meeting.

He would tell these ”country’s shareholders” that although they would not get a single cent of the Federation’s profits, their income had clearly and unambiguously increased.

The economy recovered the year before last. The per capita income was only forty-seven or forty-eight. This year, it has risen to sixty dollars. An income increase of nearly twenty percent, spread to the entire nation. Can you say that you haven’t received a share of the money?

Who can, against their conscience, say that they have not benefited from the company’s (country’s) operations in the past year?

Shareholders are easily deceived by the company’s board of directors and CEO. After all, they are not the ones who actually deal with these things.

Just as the people are easily deceived by the ruler, they don’t know where the power is actually being used, and whether the social dividends should be reflected in the ratio change of labor converting into wealth.

Many people only shout ”Long live the Federation,” because their income has indeed increased. Some people in society will even call them the ”vested interest group of the era’s dividend.”

To put it vulgarly, you have already benefited from the changes of the era, so why are you still causing trouble?

The shareholders thought about it, and indeed, it was so. Just as the people confirmed that their income had indeed increased, everything remained calm.

They never seriously think about one question: why is it that the annual equity dividend never reaches them, and why do they feel so satisfied every year?

Senator Cleveland is currently the dominant voting power on the board of directors of the ”Congress” subsidiary. In order for the company’s CEO—”Mr. President”—to have a good performance at the year-end shareholders’ meeting, they often have to hold meetings to hide some things that might affect the stable mood of the shareholders.

And to discuss how to divide these profits, and what to do next year.

With Senator Cleveland’s convening, his private small conference room was quickly filled with people. These people are the relatively core members of his political interest group.

There were also some who couldn’t come because of their own affairs or work. Senator Cleveland also explained the content of this meeting to them.

If they were interested, or if the content of this meeting was related to their personal interests, they would arrange for a representative to observe.

If not, they would not care so much.

After everyone had arrived, the door of the small conference room was closed. Power seemed to materialize at this moment.

It was located in this small room, right in the middle of the room!

”Lance called me last night,” Senator Cleveland said, drawing a cigarette from his cigarette case.

The senator next to him conveniently took out a lighter and lit it for him. He said thank you, and then looked at the gentlemen around the conference table. ”He told me that the President of Rapa, Diego, has applied to the federal government for a loan worth 100 million.”

”He plans to use this loan to fight against those anti-government armed forces. You know, the situation in Rapa is very bad now. The anti-government armed forces are constantly encroaching on the government army’s territory.”

”I hear from Lance that if the situation continues to deteriorate, they will soon besiege Zhuolan, and the Rapa regime will become unstable.”

”Here, I need to explain a few sets of data to you.”

”In the past year and a half, the armed conflicts between the Rapa government army and these anti-government armed forces have continuously escalated. In 18 months, at least 400,000 people have died in the war.”

”And the maintainable number of government and anti-government troops in the entire Rapa, for which we have definite data, is around 700,000.”

”Lance and I are of the opinion that the number they have consumed is still too small. Our plan is to consume at least two million of the belligerent population to reach our baseline for peacefully taking over Rapa.”

The decor in this small conference room was very exquisite, luxurious, and at the same time, very low-key.

The skirting boards, wainscoting, and furniture made of valuable wood, from the outside, did not seem to be much different from the furniture in the shops that were not expensive.

But if people looked closely, and touched them, they could feel the preciousness of this furniture.

That warm and gentle touch was like stroking a young girl’s skin. The dignified and deep tone would give people a sense of solemnity.

Even just a desk lamp. The gem lampshade and the gold-plated lamp stand, just by being there, and being turned on, would exude an aura called ”nobility”!

The gentlemen here were also well-dressed and elegant. They interpreted the word ”civilization” as a standard.

But the words that came out of their mouths, those numbers that were revealed, suddenly made everything become chaotic.

You couldn’t distinguish whether this was civilization or barbarism, and you couldn’t distinguish whether these gentlemen were gentlemen or devils!

The regime and stability of a country, the life and death of two million people, in their eyes, were nothing more than some simple numbers, some simple descriptions.

None of the gentlemen around the conference table felt ashamed. Everyone listened very seriously, and some even asked serious questions.

”How to ensure that so many belligerent people are consumed?”

”I mean, how can we confirm that our actions can keep their war escalating?”

Senator Cleveland nodded. ”That’s a good question, but also not a good question. This matter doesn’t require us to operate it.”

”Now, whether it’s the anti-government armed forces or the Rapa government, they have no turning back.”

”Either the government army is annihilated, or the anti-government armed forces are annihilated. It is impossible for them to have a chance for peaceful coexistence.”

”If someone among them really tries to sit down and negotiate, it means that this person is already worthless.”

”I strongly agree with some of Lance’s methods. What we need is the result, not the process.”

”He can ensure that these two sides will fight until the end. That’s enough.”

When Senator Cleveland had decided to push this matter, they were also witnesses. In fact, its development was much better than everyone had imagined.

Lance had not used much of the war resources. He had barely used any government resources, but had made the situation in Rapa ”a mess,” for President Diego.

The ultimate purpose of this civil war was what he had said in Congress: to consume all the unstable, belligerent people of Rapa.

This way, when the federal government rules it, there will be no such troublemakers jumping out.

They can resist the current legitimate government of Rapa, and they will definitely be able to resist the future federal government. In order for the Federation’s annexation of Yalan to be a success, they can only be erased.

And the most interesting, and most satisfying part of this plan, is that they don’t have to do it themselves. There is no hatred between the Rapa people and the Federation. There will only be recognition of the Federation.

Everyone simply discussed it and felt that there was no problem. The development of the domestic situation in Rapa has always been within the range that Lance had promised.

The senator who had raised the question thought for a moment. ”I have no problem with that. So what is Lance’s problem now?”

Senator Cleveland took a puff of his cigarette. ”A treasury allocation of 100 million, and a new plan he proposed.”

”We talked about it last night. I very much agree with some of his ideas.”

”He mentioned increasing investment in Rapa. At the same time, he will request Diego to allow the regions to have autonomy before the civil war ends...”

When they heard this sentence, everyone showed a look of disbelief!

Now the domestic situation in Rapa is so rotten. If the government also agrees to regional autonomy, it can be said that this country will be completely fragmented!

Whether it is the local ruling class of Rapa, the large landlord class, these people can immediately establish small kingdoms one after another.

Even if the civil war truly ends, and the government army wins, then the president, Diego, will have to face a new war, or acknowledge and accept the result of the country being fragmented by himself.

Meeting their shocked gazes, Senator Cleveland chuckled twice. The laughter was very reserved, and the sound of his teeth was very clear, but everyone could hear the kind of high-and-mighty arrogance in his laughter!

An arrogance, a disdain, of a world power towards a weak country!

”Because he has no right to refuse. This needs to be exchanged for 100 million, and!”

He had added emphasis to the word ”and.” ”Only 10 million of this 100 million will be in cash. The rest will be paid in the form of military supplies.”

At this, more senators joined in the ranks of this reserved and arrogant laughter. Of course they would laugh, because they were all good at doing business.

Calculated this way, the actual cost of this 100 million in aid might only be fifty or sixty million. Maybe even less.

After all, the firearms in foreign trade have their own profit and tax. If you remove these, it is actually not worth this much money.

So the federal government only needs to buy this equipment from the arms industry groups at a lower price, and then pay the Rapa government at the original price. Even if they leave a profit margin for the arms industry groups, they can still save twenty or thirty million.

This way, they have both face and substance.

”Lance is indeed an interesting person. It’s a pity that his background is a bit poor. Otherwise, I really think he might one day be in the same room as us.”

Someone sighed so.

Lance is a person who knows very well how to make everything look beautiful. His every action can make people feel good, which is rare, and he is so young.

It is a pity that he is of Imperial descent and also has a gang background.

But this kind of thing cannot be forced. If he didn’t have a gang background, he wouldn’t be in the eyes of these people today.

Sometimes, when people are faced with different choices, they can only, helplessly, choose one of them, not all.

”I think this plan has no problem at all. It is very good. I can’t find any flaws.”

”I can even imagine that the federal people will help the suffering Rapa people to establish one autonomous region after another. Isn’t this the prototype of the referendum he mentioned in his report before?”

The report that Lance had submitted to Congress before mentioned that the Rapa people would be allowed to choose for themselves, to have the federal government manage them, instead of them managing themselves.

Now, they are much closer to this goal, which at first, everyone thought was impossible to achieve. It seems that it is not impossible at all. It is very possible. It even makes people feel that it can be completed in just a few months!

Senator Cleveland nodded with a smile. ”Then I will give him the answer. This matter needs to go through the treasury allocation. If you all have no other opinions, I will take it to Mr. President for his signature.”

It was too late to submit it to Congress for a vote. The only quick way was for the president to sign a presidential order.

In wartime, the president’s power is limitless. He can directly sign and confirm the implementation of any proposal.

The others naturally would not refuse. This was also a good thing for them.

As the war hawks, after annexing the Yalan region, they would certainly have to implement a higher degree of governance. Then the ruling class in the Yalan region would face a major purge.

The benefits released after the purge would be carved up by Congress and the domestic capital. They could gain a massive amount of benefits from it!

Even just getting a few mines would be enough to add some stable and decent income to the family, and also to launder a lot of money.

Although they didn’t have much money to launder, because the money that could reach their hands was already laundered, but who knows, maybe their family members could use it?

This proposal was quickly passed. Then he began to talk about other proposals, until a little after two in the afternoon, when the content of these few days was finally discussed.

After it was over, he didn’t eat. He went directly to the Presidential Palace. He bought a hot dog outside the Presidential Palace, and walked into the Presidential Palace while gnawing on it.

The President, as a member of the Socialist Party, was originally in the same camp as Senator Cleveland. Although there might be some problems with the factions, it did not prevent them from being considered friends.

The federal people are just like this. They separate work and private affairs very clearly. As long as Mr. President proactively expresses some goodwill afterward, and says that the previous unpleasantness was just a matter of work, then he can be accepted again.

”You didn’t have lunch?” Mr. President asked, looking at Senator Cleveland, who had walked in with half a piece of meat dog in his hand.

”Do you want me to have the chef make you something to eat? Steak, or lamb chops?”

The Presidential Palace has a dedicated chef working for the president. 24 hours a day, as long as the president is hungry, they can bring the food out in a very short time.

Senator Cleveland shook his head. ”No, no need. I’ve already eaten enough.”

He said ”I’m sorry,” and then stuffed the rest of the hot dog into his mouth. It had been a long time since he had eaten this kind of cheap food. Occasionally, it still tasted very good.

The soft bread dough, plus the large hot dog sausage, which was full of meat bits, and was covered with that sweet and sour sauce, was indeed very delicious. At least, in terms of cheap taste stimulation, it could satisfy a person.

Mr. President waited for him to finish the hot dog in his mouth and to clean his hands and mouth. He then proactively handed over a glass of water. ”Drink some water.”

”Thank you!” Senator Cleveland picked up the water glass and took a small sip. Then he handed over the document in his briefcase. ”Have a look. It needs your signature.”

Mr. President opened the document and glanced at it. He had seen this proposal before, and had also noticed some of the underlined, more important parts inside.

”It seems a little incredible. Is there room for implementation?” He said, taking out his fountain pen as he spoke, but he did not sign.

This would neither make people think that he didn’t want to sign, nor would it prevent him from clarifying the things he wanted to know.

In the daily conduct of these high-ranking politicians, they can always figure out the situation very well, and make a response.

For Senator Cleveland, the current ”head of the largest political group in Congress,” he had to show equal footing and respect.

Senator Cleveland nodded and repeated the words he had said in Congress. The president laughed after listening. ”I have always wanted to meet this amazing young man. If there is a chance, bring him along. I’m very curious about how he grew up, and how he came up with these... terrible methods.”

As his voice fell, he looked down at the place where he needed to sign, and then signed his name, and picked up the two stamps.

One was his private stamp, which had anti-counterfeiting measures, ensuring that this document was signed by him personally.

The other was the Presidential Office’s stamp, which represented that he was signing in his capacity as the president.

After the stamps were applied, he handed the document back to Senator Cleveland. ”You can go and ask for the allocation of funds...”