Shadow Empire

Chapter 836 Hot Summer and Competition

The sound of the phone ringing shifted Lance's attention from the points file in his hand to the phone.

The manager of the labor company wrote him a report, elaborating on the bright future of the company's development and also mentioning the current problems.

The unions are fighting back.

Workers at Lans who work with the factory are not allowed to be members of the union. If they are, they must apply to withdraw before they can register with the company.

This is tantamount to digging up the roots of the trade union.

The union protested strongly. They had already held talks with the company twice, but no agreement was reached.

Not allowing the union to interfere in the operation of the company is Lance's bottom line. As for the rest, he doesn't care.

The manager said that the union plans to promote a general strike in the supporting industries in Likale State to fight against the current "atrocities" of Wanli Labor Service Company.

As long as the enterprises have signed labor support agreements with Wanli Labor Service Company, and the enterprises that have cooperative relationships with these enterprises are within the scope of the strike.

To put it simply, if there is a company that produces pulleys, this pulley company has signed a labor support agreement with Lens.

Because the entire factory is filled with workers registered by Lans and there are no union workers, they cannot threaten the factory by going on strike.

So now they're trying a different approach.

Pulleys require screws, nuts, and bearings. They will arrange for the companies that provide these spare parts to the pulley company to go on strike and protest, asking them to terminate their cooperation with the pulley company to put pressure on the capital side.

Without screws, nuts and bearings, the pulley cannot be assembled at all. This is indeed a solution.

The manager was very worried that once they tasted the sweetness of success, it might lead to more places systematically "encircling and suppressing" Wanli Labor Service Company.

It’s a very tough nut to crack, at least from the manager’s perspective.

Once the power of the general strike sweeps in, both capitalists and politicians will have to bow their heads!
He suggested to Lance whether he could use some means to temporarily ease the relationship with the union instead of going head-on.

Lance was about to talk to his manager when the phone rang first.

He picked up the phone, "This is Lance."

"it's me."

The familiar voice in the receiver brought a smile to Lance's face. Mr. Gomez had left long ago to prepare the "local specialties".

"senator."

"Tom just told me that someone over there is planning to sell some special stuff. What do you think?"

Senator Cleveland still thinks highly of Lance. The longer they spend together, the more he can discover Lance's strengths and specialties.

He felt sorry for Lance. If Lance was not a gang leader, he wouldn't mind letting Lance take over his job.

Politics is different from wealth.

Anyone can inherit wealth, as long as the person who owns the wealth is happy.

A wealthy man transferred his assets worth hundreds of millions to his dog and even set up a foundation for this purpose.

It is said that before the dog died, the people in the foundation were thinking about how to continue to hold the money. They bred the dogs and selected the next generation with the best bloodline to inherit a foundation worth hundreds of millions.

A dog has his own estate, his own butler, his own maid, everything!
This sounds incredible, but this is the nature of wealth. It can be in the hands of anyone, even non-humans.

The nature of wealth will not change. A dollar is just a dollar. Just because the guy holding the dollar is a dog, the clerk in the store will not refuse to sell a dollar's worth of goods to the person holding the dog.

Well, they are leading people, but it is also people leading dogs. As long as they can put money into their pockets legally, they don’t care who they are.

But politics is different.

The nature of politics changes between successors because political interests are always "uncertain."

For example, Senator Cleveland completed some work with a colleague, and the colleague he helped said, "I owe you a favor."

Then the question arises, what kind of favor is a favor, and what will this person give for this favor?
When this favor was in the hands of Senator Cleveland, this person might have done his best to do something for him.

When he decides to pass on this favor, its nature changes.

If the heir is a waste, then the limit of this favor is most likely to be "I can't do anything about it."

But if the successor is someone who surpasses Senator Cleveland, then the favor will still be "I will do my best" and not even a vague statement will be made.

Therefore, the heirs of many politicians are not necessarily their own sons.

It could be your nephew, it could be your student, or even your colleague!

Choose whoever is most suitable.

Moreover, politics is about "line" and "faction" rather than "bloodline", so it is very important for top politicians to select a qualified successor to the political legacy.

Lance meets all the necessary elements for a top political successor: he is thick-skinned, black-hearted, can do good things, can do bad things, is good at acting, has a flexible mind, and has perfect social skills...

Senator Cleveland could find a lot of good points, and every once in a while, he would discover some new ones.

But his shortcomings are as obvious as his strengths, his origin, his background.

He may have many advantages, countless advantages, but as long as he has these two shortcomings, he cannot become a suitable politician, which is a pity.

So Senator Cleveland is willing to have a chat with Lance, maybe Lance can give him some inspiration and enlightenment.

Facing the senator's question, Lance was also very frank, "We need some role models. Terrorist rule is only part of the rule. If we want to turn the Yalan area into federal territory, then we must not only occupy the territory there, but also capture their people."

"Gomez is a very special person. He knows people from all walks of life in Lapa. His businessman nature gives him flexible interpersonal relationships and bottom line. He can act as a lubricant for us."

"We can set up a few models in Yalan, so that people can see the great changes in the development of these typical regions, the freedom, prosperity and stability of the people, and then let them compare them."

“They didn’t have a choice before, but now, we are here!”

Senator Cleveland listened to what he said and agreed very much, "You are right, the power of example is infinite."

“When everyone is poor and backward, they don’t complain about anything, but when suddenly someone becomes what you said, they become unbalanced.”

"You don't have to give money to the homeless, but if you do, you'd better give money to everyone."

This is a federal case about a kind-hearted man who gave some money to a homeless person on the company's street every time he paid wages.

It wasn’t much, just five cents.

One time he didn't have enough change on him, so after giving money to the first few homeless people, he found that he didn't have enough change when he gave it to the last one.

His wallet was filled with one-dollar and two-dollar bills, and he would accept five cents from a homeless person to help him out.

But he couldn't accept giving a homeless man a dollar, so he showed his wallet and said, "I don't have any change, sorry."

Then he left.

When he passed by here the next day, the homeless man who did not receive help took the initiative to find him and reminded him that he needed to pay his own five cents donation.

This makes the person feel like he is being blackmailed!

He gave the homeless people money because he was kind-hearted, but he didn't accept blackmailed assistance, so he refused.

This made the homeless man a laughing stock among the homeless people around him, and this also made the homeless people hold a grudge against him.

Not long after, the homeless man stabbed the guy to death.

This also led to some reminders in the news media at the time, such as "Please pay attention to your own safety when supporting the homeless."

The people of the Asian countries are just vagrants. If only a few of them are given freedom, development and stability, the remaining countries will cause chaos on their own.

He admired Lance's thinking and thought, "You go and contact this person about this matter. There is one more thing." "Around June, you'd better find a reason to take your people and leave Jingang City as much as possible."

Lance was shocked, "You already know the exact date?"

Senator Cleveland listened to his words, smiled and said "um", "Just let yourself know about this matter."

"Lance, I am optimistic about your future. Although your current status limits your advancement, sometimes you don't have to stand in front of the stage. Do you understand what I mean?"

They knew the exact date, which was a week ago.

Dantra was not alone in his war with the Slade Alliance, they also had their allies, such as their good neighbor, Ender.

Ender's spies obtained a piece of intelligence from Dantra, which mentioned the battle plan for "Hot Summer", and then they tried to crack it.

From the cracked content, they obtained some uncertain keywords, such as June, Jingang City, and movies.

The Intelligence Department analyzed that it was possible that they were planning to arrange their battle plan according to the movie "The Raid on Jingang" and launch a surprise attack on Jingang City to relieve the war pressure they were facing.

After discussion and consultation among a small group of people, although they asked people to continue to keep an eye on similar news, they did not announce it to the outside world, and did not even think of taking any preventive measures!
During this week, the spies planted by Slade also reported some recruitment information from the side, and the Dantra people were carrying out comprehensive maintenance on the warships.

Some military factories have also begun to produce ammunition and consumables such as shells to match these warships. It can be seen that they may indeed launch a naval battle.

But even so, Congress and the military have no plans to prevent it, but they are constantly evaluating it.

There has always been an "opposition" in the federal society regarding the issue of joining the war. If it is said that this war is for the purpose of maintaining world peace, it can be more or less justified.

Then the invasion of Yalan, which had nothing to do with the Federation, was obviously not a just war.

The war brought huge consumption and made the federal government very nervous. Every bullet and every shell cost money.

Now the "saturation tactics" on the front line have increased the military expenditure pressure on the Federation. As Yalan is the raw material supplier closest to the Federation, if they can take over this place, the military expenditure pressure will be reduced, and they may even make a profit.

So how can we make people accept this "unjust" war?
Very simple.

Yalan's existence has threatened the security of the Federation's homeland, and what Lance just mentioned, "bringing freedom to Yalan", is based on reality and humanistic care.

The conversation with Lance once again gave Senator Cleland important inspiration, so he revealed a little of the news.

Lance was smart, that was obvious, and he got the answer.

"The interests of the country are above everything else." Lance said this after a moment of silence.

Senator Cleland smiled with satisfaction, "You are an excellent talent, Lance."

"If they really come over, you'll have a big job after this is over. A real big job!"

"Anyway, let's do this for now."

“Do it well, and we will all have a bright future!”

"If you have any problems, contact Tom. If he can't solve it, call me."

After hanging up the phone, Lance sat there thinking for a while, then shook his head and continued his work.

The attack on Jingang does not mean attacking the city itself, but rather the three important places in the city: the port, the dock and the military base.

Of course, it is inevitable that shells will fall into the city, causing many casualties, but this is war.

He can only take care of those with whom he has a good relationship, and as for the others, he hopes God will bless them.

Every year federal people spend a lot of money on faith, fundraising, and donations, hoping that God can help in some way.

As for the "big job" mentioned by Senator Cleland, Lance could probably guess that it was to rebuild the City of Golden Port.

The main tasks are to rebuild the Jingang Wharf, the Xingang Wharf and the naval base.

Lance has a large amount of cheap labor at his disposal, and these reconstruction tasks do not require operators from any high-tech industries. What is needed is this kind of grassroots labor. Lance has a great advantage in this regard.

He did not ask the senator whether Admiral Miles knew about this matter. Whether he knew about it or not, it would be unnecessary to ask, so he simply did not ask.

The following period of time was no different from the past, with good news about the war every day.

The Federal Treasury Department announced that the interest rate on five-year war bonds might increase by two or three points, and the bond market suddenly became lively.

The upward trend of financial markets, free commodity markets, and the economy in all aspects made the federal people begin to accept this war. Some domestic social activists continued to spread the message that "the federation is destined to win" to the society, saying that this war would change the federation's fate of decline.

In early March, Hiram, who was "fighting" in Indno State, came back from there to rest.

During this period they opened up the market of another city, and fighting and attacks on each other happened every day.

The rules between gangs are actually very simple, that is, there are no rules.

Whoever survives, whoever is the strongest, whoever speaks the loudest.

With the support of the deputy governor, the cities that leaned towards him were working together with the police and the public to fight against the invasion of the Lance family.

Fortunately, these cities are not too large, with a population of only a few hundred thousand, two hundred thousand or three hundred thousand people, so the number of gangs is limited.

After eliminating a group of people, it will be very difficult for them to replenish their manpower. The number of people will decrease and they will soon disappear.

However, Hiram did not bring people into the city to develop the market himself, because the mayor and Mayor Wade were not in the same group. In this case, the police in the city would target them indefinitely, so Hiram and his men just fought the gangs and left after the fight, and never stayed.

Although they would not enter these "hostile cities", their wine would enter.

Some of the original gangs either disappeared without a trace or suffered heavy losses and retreated into hiding.

New gangs began to grow wildly, some of which were supported by the Lance family.

They obtained "loans" from the Lans family to buy weapons, vehicles, and even loans to buy alcohol and then sell it.

These people are locals, but their interests are tied to the Lance family, and the mayor has no better way to deal with this method.

If you eliminate this group, a new group of gangs will appear. It is unlikely to expect them to eliminate all the gangs and prevent new gangs from emerging.

As long as they leave the city, the Lance family will let them know what "firepower" and "passion" are!
So even though they didn't move into the city, the city was already full of alcohol sales channels provided by the Lans family.

After this fight, Erwin decided to take a break, so Hiram took the opportunity to run back and offer his treasure.

Lance personally met him at the train station. After the two hugged, Lance asked, "You said you brought me a gift."

Hiram nodded and waved to his men behind him. Soon they brought a box over and opened it in front of them. There were two bottles of wine inside.

This was not Lance's own wine, he could tell at a glance, although it was very similar, there was still a difference.

He picked up the wine and turned it around, looking at it carefully for a while, then said with a half-smile, "Bronze Label Whisky, Gold Label Liquor?"

Hiram nodded, "We got a tip and stopped the car. This is what was inside."

Lance put the bottle back and clapped his hands, "Well done!" He put his arm around Hiram's shoulders and said, "Want to get something to eat?"

Gold Label Wines had always been at odds with Lance in Golden State, and Lance had always kept it in mind.

It’s not that he holds a grudge, but there are too many wineries that have obtained franchises!

He had to find a way to get rid of some of it so that the price of alcohol could remain stable.

The price of alcoholic beverages has started to fall recently, which indicates that the number of suppliers in the market is increasing.

When supply exceeds demand, bidding problems arise.

Therefore, only by ensuring the healthy relationship between supply and demand can you continue to make big money!

(End of this chapter)