Empire of Shadows

A gate to the true upper class, with the future of a listed company as the key, had finally opened a crack!

Note that it was only a crack. This crack was not enough for Lance to squeeze through. He could only stand outside the door, feeling the aura emanating from the crack and the light shining through, experiencing the taste of the upper class!

It sounded like a pervert, but that was the reality. Even if he had the key, he might not be able to push the door open. It would still require a long period of effort.

Unless he could funnel benefits to Congress like the Kodak family, he would not only fail to open the door, but the key would also be a one-time use.

The door would close again when he turned around.

Besides Senator Charles Liston, there were two other senators present, and the rest were capitalists.

Lance was not very familiar with their names, nor had he heard much about them.

The financial atmosphere in King's Port was not as strong as in New King City. Here, even if you casually asked a homeless person on the street about their views on the stock market, they could spout a bunch of their own opinions, and even recommend a few stocks to you!

There were people from investment banks, bosses of large enterprises, and a very special fellow, the chairman of the board of directors of Belden Group.

"Berman is currently in full charge of Belden Group's operations. You may not be too familiar with it. It's actually like Ligee Group, specializing in agricultural product channels."

"It's just that Belden started relatively late. I don't know much about business, but I also know that in business, first-mover advantage is very important!"

Berman Davis smiled and nodded, greeting Lance.

Ligee Group was broken up by the "Antitrust Law" after the first antitrust investigation. Basically, all early federal monopoly enterprises were broken up.

According to different regions, Ligee Group was broken up into "Ligee Group", "Belden Group", and "Dannon Group", the three largest companies. There were also some new entrants and smaller companies, but they no longer had any competitive advantages.

These three groups controlled 87% of the federal agricultural product channels. They could determine the final price and flow of these agricultural products.

Among them, Ligee Group was the largest and had the best development.

Belden currently only accounted for 17% of the market. Although it was "not large", it was already enormous compared to ordinary enterprises!

The shareholders of these three group companies had stakes in each other.

The original shareholders of Ligee Group had gradually been marginalized in Belden, and they could not even enter the board of directors.

In fact, the so-called antitrust investigation was just an excuse, under the guise of considering ordinary people, to create a legitimate channel for capable capitalists and political families to siphon blood from successful monopoly enterprises!

During a monopoly, these enterprises controlled pricing power. They themselves controlled industry resources, and one person enjoyed all the profits.

But other capitalists and politicians also wanted to take a share of the profits. They did not agree, so the Antitrust Law appeared.

In some of the better-performing industries, it seemed that those monopoly enterprises had been broken up, and into many smaller ones, but those hidden behind the scenes still controlled all the companies and still controlled pricing power!

As long as you were willing to share your profits with everyone, then the Antitrust Law might not be without a way to crack it.

Ligee Group was not willing to share, or rather, in the early monopoly groups, not everyone was willing to give away a large portion of the money that originally belonged to them!

There were still many people who chose to resist, and ultimately these people really fell under the Antitrust Law.

Berman Davis represented the group of people who wanted to get money from Ligee Group but were not very successful.

His appearance here made Lance roughly understand their choice.

The servants began to serve the dishes, and the conversation temporarily stopped until the serving was finished and the room door was closed again.

The delicacies and wines on the table showed no sign of the "Prohibition Era". Those who made the Prohibition Law were the ones who took the lead in violating it.

"Lance is a very interesting person!" After making a few simple opening remarks, Senator Cleveland used this topic as a guide to start today's "socializing."

"Actually, I had considered before that we would discuss a result, and then I would have Tom or someone else call him to tell him our decision."

"But later I changed my mind because he is a very interesting person!"

Senator Cleveland looked at Lance, and Lance smiled and nodded, expressing his agreement with his statement and his interest, with a hint of curiosity.

"At that time, I was dealing with the workers' strike in King's Port, and it was also Lance who told me that the Labor Federation planned to promote a larger-scale general strike, affecting the entire country."

The gentlemen around the dining table heard this inside story that they had never heard before, and one by one began to express their own opinions.

Most people had a negative evaluation of the Labor Federation. These people used the working class to fight against capitalists and politicians, which made them all feel a headache. They couldn't wait to remove this organization, but they couldn't do it.

In the end, they could only hold their noses and accept all the decisions they made.

Of course, the Labor Federation was not all bad. Sometimes they would also stand with capitalists or politicians to solve some problems of the working class.

But overall, this organization full of ambition and lust for power was not likable.

"Lance's information allowed us to deal with these matters in a timely manner, and you know, the president issued a decree granting refugees the most basic living and labor protection, which is also thanks to him."

"We used those refugee workers to replace those striking workers, so the labor cost of the enterprise was reduced, and at the same time, those striking workers were no longer workers."

"Other workers who might have strike ideas saw the fate of these people, and they would consider more, and ultimately did not stand where we did not want to see them stand."

"During this period, he also helped me solve some disobedient striking workers. In short, Lance has the ability, and he is very young and very smart. I like smart people!"

A very large tone was set, and Lance vaguely understood Senator Cleveland's meaning. He might do more things for the other party in the future.

He looked at Lance, "So today I called you over to let us talk about this matter face to face."

"We are not so interested in the future development of Ligee Group, but we have some ideas about some changes in finance, and Berman wants to get a part of Ligee Group's shares."

"We need to use the case in your hand, we need you to cooperate with us to do some things at the same time, and we also need the vice president who is willing to cooperate with you to stand on our side."

"Can you understand what I mean?"

Lance nodded, "Money, influence, shares, all of them."

Senator Cleveland immediately looked at the others with a smile, "Give money, hurry up!"

A guy who looked like a butler pushed a cart past everyone, and they each put a one-dollar bill on the red velvet cushion of the cart.

Lance vaguely guessed something, but he did not show it. Instead, like an actor, he tried his best to make himself look very dazed and confused.

It was less than ten dollars in total, but it made Senator Cleveland very happy. He put the money away, put it in his pocket, and then said, "Sorry, Lance, we just made a bet using you."

"I said you would be able to understand our meaning quickly, without me having to explain anything to you. They didn't trust you!"

"They didn't even believe you could do this, so I made a bet with them, and now I've won!"

Being used as a betting tool was not a pleasant thing. Lance could feel that even though he was sitting here, the people at the table did not really regard him as one of their own.

They didn't even treat him equally. These people were still full of arrogance in their bones, and a hidden contempt for him!

But now he was weaker than others, he would not say anything confrontational, just smiled and catered, "Looks like I did a good job?"

"Of course, you did a good job!"

He paused for a moment, raised his glass, "To your intelligence!"

That didn't sound like a compliment.

After everyone took a sip of wine, he continued to talk about their plans.

"Do you have a suitable lawyer on your side?"

"You can have your lawyer apply for punitive damages, and then we need people from Ligee Group to cooperate a bit and appeal to the Federal Supreme Court."

"I don't understand this case very well, but someone does, and they said that it can basically guarantee a victory, as long as those witnesses don't talk nonsense."

"You can definitely guarantee this, right?"

Lance nodded, "No one will talk nonsense. They will only tell the truth, and what happened."

Senator Cleveland was very satisfied with Lance's tact and understanding, "At this point, these..."

He pursed his lips, "The positive things are over, your..."

"The rest is our business."

"Then the 'negative' thing is that you have to convince that vice president to stand on our side, and Berman will also give you some help."

"Then, you have to make those disobedient people disappear."

Lance keenly noticed that when Senator Cleveland said this sentence, everyone's eyes were focused on him.

Vaguely, dimly, he thought of Mr. Chobaf.

Was he also at a crossroads of choice now?

Was he also going to consider being responsible for what would happen in the future?

He had a brief moment of daze, then smiled and nodded, "This is very simple."

Senator Cleland, Senator Liston, and the others, their eyes softened slightly.

They weren't afraid of Lance at all. The fact that Lance was now handing them a handle meant that Lance was qualified to enter the lowest level of their circle.

Trust is the most important link in social interaction between people.

For these people who have already reached the ceiling, they don't need to gain the trust of others; what they want is how others gain their trust!

For example, a handle.

Although this handle might not really solve Lance, it would definitely hurt him.

Lance didn't refuse, and in fact, at this point, he couldn't refuse.

"Then there's no problem with this matter!"

He paused for a moment, "Come, try this, it's one of my favorite dishes!"

Soon the people at the table began to enjoy the food and chat about things that had nothing to do with Lance.

"…The situation in Dantela is very bad recently. I heard that they have started confiscating the assets of federal merchants and deporting them."

Senator Cleland enjoyed the food while sharing unconfirmed news.

Senator Liston confirmed it, "The ambassador has already been expelled."

The gentlemen at the table were stunned, seemingly shocked by this incident!

The expulsion of the Federal Ambassador to the Republic of Dantela was a very serious and grave political event. How dare they do this?

Faced with the gazes of many people, Senator Lister curled his lips, "I heard that there are many large federal merchants in the Republic of Dantela who own large tracts of land, manors, and property in Dantela."

"The situation in Dantela is not very good now, and internal and external contradictions are erupting. So they are taking these properties belonging to the federal people to quell internal conflicts."

If the war could make some progress, a good, positive progress, then internal conflicts would be greatly resolved.

But now, not only has the war not made good progress, but they have also lost an important city. More and more people are blaming the Prime Minister for launching the war unilaterally.

If the Prime Minister of the Republic of Dantela cannot come up with a plan to resolve the increasingly intensified internal contradictions as soon as possible, then it is very likely that he will be finished even before the war ends—

Coup!

There are already some signs of it.

The easiest way to appease these middle and lower classes is to give them money, land, and upward mobility that they can see.

He can't attack the Dantela's wealthy, so he can only wrong the federal merchants.

The so-called "Federal provision of supplies to Slader is subsidizing the enemy" is just an excuse. Even if they stop trading with Slader, the Republic of Dantela will find another reason to do so.

Hearing this, the gentlemen at the table showed angry expressions, "These lowly bastards should all be thrown to their deaths!"

Senator Liston, however, had a smile on his face, "Indeed, but the person who should be most pained now is our President."

"He originally thought that winning these four years would allow him to continue consolidating his interests, but he didn't expect to encounter such a thing."

"This matter is difficult to handle well. It is impossible to satisfy everyone. He will lose a lot of points!"

If he is too tough, then the President will become the President who has been declared war on by two countries during his term. Even if the war does not really break out, it is enough to show how bad his ability in international politics is.

If he is too weak, then those federal merchants who have lost a lot of benefits will accuse him of failing to protect the interests of the federal people, and even of not having a response plan or method after being plundered of their assets.

He will be ridiculed, severely ridiculed!

Another senator continued, "No wonder?!"

"We have been meeting these past few days, discussing the navy's southward movement. So the problem lies here."

Senator Cleland said while cutting the venison, "No, they had this plan before, it's just that the speed may be faster now."

Lance's expression changed slightly when he heard this. If the most suitable place for the federal south to dock a large number of warships, it must be near Golden Port.

There are the best deep-water areas in the Federation.

Senator Cleveland seemed to remember something and casually mentioned, "By the way, there is a high probability that they will be stationed in Golden Port."

Others asked, "How do you know?"

"I talked to the…senator of the Military Committee about this matter. He said they have this intention!"

This is the "high-end game." While those politicians below are talking about some irrelevant things, the gentlemen here, even when chatting during meals, are related to international events.

Moreover, Lance also heard a very important piece of information: Golden Port is going to be garrisoned!

This is why it is said that the more prominent the background, the more able to contact high-level people, the easier it is to "start from scratch."

A seventeen-year-old beggar and the President's seventeen-year-old son, they both started from scratch, but the results are definitely different!

The level they can reach, the policies they can access, and the opportunities are completely on different levels.

Just like now, just by chatting casually, Lance already knows so much. This is the difference, a difference that cannot be made up for by acquired efforts!

Next, their topic quickly shifted to the issue of the three-party competition. The weakening of the Socialist Party meant that the opportunity for the Liberal Party to regain power was gradually arriving.

The Federalist Party has also had some changes recently. They also seem to want to make some noise.

Lance found these topics difficult to understand, but he believed that William could definitely help him explain them. What he had to do now was to remember what these people said and remain silent.

After dinner, Senator Cleveland and others left. They still had a "midnight show" to go to. Lance and Tom walked together.

Compared to Senator Cleveland's arrogance hidden behind his affable demeanor, Tom seemed much better. Perhaps because they were both "lackeys," he didn't show too much arrogance.

"This time you've entered the eyes of some big shots. You have to buy me a drink!" Tom's tone was obviously tinged with envy and jealousy.

It took him more than ten years to complete this step, but Lance only took a summer!

Although in the eyes of those big shots, Lance may just be a name, this is already the limit of what humans can do!

One day in the future, when they need it, this name will also appear in their minds. Then, as long as Lance doesn't mess things up, he will definitely gradually enter the vision of the big shots.

Lance naturally wouldn't refuse, and let Tom pick a place to get drunk together…