Shadow Empire

Chapter 581 Miscellaneous Talk
Everyone was trying to get close to Lance. Those of his same generation and those older than him, they all wanted to be closer to Lance.

With the operating rights of the casino and the companies plundered from the Kodak family, Lance has become one of the rule makers in this city.

And because of Lance, they will also join the privileged class.

This is a core driving force. People will gather around Lance, be driven by him, and work for him in order to achieve a better future.

If Lance is the root of this interest group, then these people are the branches radiating from the interest group and are also an indispensable part.

Some of those who are still on the road to success, but who are further along than others, would tell those who come after them not to have too many nepotism-fueled people in their companies.

Uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, and all kinds of relatives, don't let them appear in the company, let alone in the management level.

The more people talk about it, the more people will believe it. In the end, some people can easily solve the problem, but they still use the most troublesome way to hire some people to work for them.

Maybe they will think behind my back… I am doing this to avoid trouble in the future, thus ignoring some issues that may be overlooked by everyone.

Family businesses often develop very rapidly in the early stages, and everyone gives their all, driven by core interests.

Everyone is eager to change their own life and the destiny of their family through hard work and everyone works together.

The real problem that makes them stop and settle for enjoyment is that their leaders can no longer provide them with higher goals, nor can they allow them to realize more self-worth!
If a company is a country, then when this country is constantly expanding outward in order to obtain more land, wealth, and population, they are closely united from top to bottom.

Everything will reflect a terrifying efficiency and execution because they have goals and the ability to achieve them.

But if the monarch of this country no longer aims at external expansion, and begins to rest on his laurels and enjoy everything he has gained in the past, then people who have lost their goals will focus on fighting for power and profit.

If a company has no intention of external expansion, a department head cannot take the initiative to develop new things. He can only set his goal on how to climb higher.

Therefore, the biggest difficulty in the development of family businesses is not nepotism, but the lack of goals.

Lance was not afraid of this happening because his goals were ambitious enough to make these people stop and think about the internal power struggle.

They will run forward with their arms thrown wide open all their lives.

As long as they don't stop, they will never encounter the problems encountered by those "experienced people".

Everyone also recognizes the goodwill shown by Lance. As long as they are willing to work and are not stupid, Lance is willing to give them some opportunities.

Lance will not be stingy with people like company managers and department heads.

But he also made his attitude clear, that is, if someone can't do their job, then Lance will replace them.

Everyone understands this and there is no resistance.

As we chatted, dinner began. Everyone sat at the long tables with satisfied smiles on their faces.

The party was held in William's villa, so William sat in the main seat. At another table specially prepared for the female family members, Emily also sat in the main seat with a smile on her face.

Lance sat in the first seat on William's right.

The Lawrence family are all devout believers, and all the pure-blooded federal people are believers. Many years ago, being a believer was not only a matter of faith, but also a matter of stance.

After everyone prayed under William's leadership, they could finally start eating.

Those children don’t understand how complicated the adult world is. All they care about is the change and the big piece of barbecue on the table.

The ladies were talking about more fashionable topics, mainly led by Emily, who talked about upper-class social gatherings and the small circle social gatherings that Congressman Williams' wife attended.

The men were talking about some broader and more macro issues.

"...Lance, what do you think about the garrison issue?"
As they chatted, they naturally talked about Lance and Patricia's marriage.

"We really don't have any free time during this period. We can hold an engagement ceremony after all casinos reopen in July."

The person who asked him the question was Bennett, who had a certain status in the Lawrence family and was Barbara's uncle.

He is also a civil servant and a lawyer. These two identities make him different from ordinary family members and ordinary civil servants.

He works in the City Hall's Urban Community Development Department and recently got a promotion because of Lance, and is now the third-ranking official in the department.

The work of this office is quite diverse, involving urban planning, formulation of social welfare for residents, and dealing with businesses.

They can ask businesses to provide more jobs for community residents to meet their basic survival needs.

This is a department that can be very strong, but it can also be very weak. The key lies in whether the specific people have their own energy and background.

Ordinary civil servants are the punching bags in such departments. Citizens will criticize them, capitalists will criticize them, and even their superiors will criticize them.

But if it is someone with a good background, then this is definitely a department that can achieve political results quickly.

Everyone was eating while paying attention to the problems here.

Although Lance is young, no one really treats him as a "child".

"That's a good thing!" Lance said as he sloughed the beef off the ribs with a fork.

"I noticed that many people in the city are very worried about whether the navy's stationing here will have some negative impact on our city. After all, some rumors in some places do make people feel uneasy."

"But we can't assume that the garrison is bad because of this."

"Gentlemen, if there were suddenly 80,000 to 100,000, or even 150,000 or 200,000 more people with spending power in this city, do you think it would be a good thing or a bad thing for this place?"

The income of soldiers is not low. Lance found out a little bit about it and even a new recruit earns ninety-five dollars.

For example, the old soldiers have a basic monthly income of more than 120 yuan. There must be many officers among the tens of thousands of people.

The officers earned even more.

This does not include various subsidies. If they are included, their income is indeed not low!
And their salaries come from federal military appropriations, not the city's output.

It is impossible for them to stay in the barracks forever. As long as they have the opportunity to leave the barracks, they will definitely spend money in such a prosperous city.

If everyone spent half of their monthly income in the city, that would be a new market of five million!

This was a lot more than Lance had initially predicted!

At the same time, the construction of a naval base and a military port is also a major project, and the jobs created are enough to help Jingang City reverse its economic depression.

This is a great thing!

Lance shared his thoughts with everyone, which indeed made many people think deeply.

William frowned slightly and asked, "But we can't ignore the damage that the army may bring to the local area. This is a problem!"

Military crimes are handled by military courts, which are the military’s own trial body. In other words, it is equivalent to “I judge myself.”

Unless it is a very serious case, it is basically raised high and then put down gently.

The federation has had more than one vicious military-related case before, but in the end, those that could be covered up were covered up, and those that could not be covered up were not sentenced strictly. Many people were able to continue serving after being sentenced to two or three years, which was unheard of.

But from the military's perspective, it all seems not so incomprehensible.

After all, the soldiers really have to work hard for them. Now they have made a small mistake and the military has paid compensation. What else do they want?
Those young men who are full of energy that cannot be released may have done something wrong, but we cannot hold on to that mistake.

What they do is nothing compared to what they pay and endure in the army.

And at the end of the day, generals need soldiers to obey them, this is the core!

So people fear them more than respect them!

Lance nodded after listening to it. "This is indeed a problem. If they really mess up, I will find a way." After he finished the topic, someone suddenly asked, "Lance, people say...you have some connection with Congress?"

Everyone's movements suddenly stopped, and they all stared at Lance.

Congress is too far away for a city's civil servants. Even if they pretend not to see their wives' resentful eyes and curl up in bed at night, they cannot imagine such a scene when they fall asleep sweetly.

How fucking lucky must I be to have the honor of meeting the gentlemen in Congress?
If Lance knew the Congressman...

Just thinking about it makes people feel excited!

The potential of their Lawrence family will probably be taken to a higher level.

With so many eyes focused on him, Lance was not nervous. He nodded calmly, used a fork to insert a piece of tender beef and rolled it in the sauce, then used a spoon to place it back on his plate.

"Yes."

"But for some reason, I can't tell you his name, but you may be able to guess it."

Some people still had confusion on their faces, but some people had already suddenly realized!
William and Bennett looked at each other and saw the understanding in each other's eyes.

Senator Cleveland.

Why would you guess this person?

Because Lance only has the chance to touch him!

Rumor has it that Congressman Williams and Senator Cleveland knew each other, so it is possible that it was at that time that Lance got in touch with this popular figure in Congress.

Thinking of this, those who knew about it whispered about it to those who didn’t know about it, and everyone’s expressions became excited!
William even raised his glass and said, "I suggest we have a toast to Lance!"

Who could resist that argument?

The men raised their glasses one after another. The future of the Lawrence family was now stable!
The most excited person at this moment is none other than William. Maybe he will have a chance to run for mayor!
But soon this thought disappeared from his mind. He had never been dissatisfied with being a Federalist, but at this moment, he felt that this was a really fucking bad thing.

The Federal Party could not give him much help in his mayoral campaign, and Likalai State was not the Federal Party's inherent territory; their territory was in the northwest direction.

Suddenly, the originally fragrant wine became a little bitter.

But it doesn’t matter. There are Socialists and Liberals in the family. If they can become mayors, the effect will be... the same.

Lance talked about a lot of things, such as the possible future development of the city and his ideas for the transformation of the Imperial District. These also provided everyone with a lot of ideas and information.

Especially after Councilman Williams came to power, he wanted to restart the construction of the new port area. Knowing this news six months in advance allowed them to take the lead in some work more quickly and effectively than others!

Everyone was very satisfied with the meal.

In the evening, all the "guests" left the villa, and the villa, which had been bustling all night, suddenly became quiet.

Lance and Patricia washed up and lay on the bed. After a short and intense exercise, the two of them were now hugging each other and chatting.

You won't feel bored under the cool moonlight. Patricia's satin-like skin is so white and fluorescent under the moonlight that you can't let go of her.

Lance smelled the natural fragrance emanating from her body, and his whole body, the whole world seemed to be quiet at this moment.

"Barbara's eyes look at you strangely," Patricia finally said what she had been holding back all night.

Although she hasn't experienced many bad things, it doesn't mean she is a fool.

The way Barbara looked at Lance was so sticky that tears could drip out of her eyes. Even if she was slow-witted, she could still notice it.

Lance ran his hands through the girl's hair, feeling the softness of her hair, "Yeah, it does feel a little bit."

"She may have suffered some blow or frustration, so this happened."

Patricia was a little confused, "Why?"

Lance thought for a moment and explained, "When she realizes that she is powerless in many issues, she will become more dependent on others for help."

"Unfortunately, I'm the one who can help her."

"She has nothing to give back to me for helping her, whether it's money or anything else. The only thing she can give is herself."

"But you don't have to worry so much. I'm not interested in her."

Lance hugged the girl, his tone calm, "Don't worry about these boring things, all you have to do now is to be happy..."

Soon, her troubled emotions and thoughts disappeared in the series of impacts.

The next morning, as the family sat together for breakfast, Lance noticed that William and Emily came out of different rooms.

He was a little confused at first, but then he remembered that Emily was pregnant, and it looked... a little obvious.

No wonder they have to sleep separately.

While eating breakfast, William asked a question, "I forgot to ask last night, are there any unfinished business with the Kodak family?"

Lance asked, while enjoying his maid's breakfast of bacon and eggs, "What do you mean?"

Lance likes to spread the soft-boiled egg yolk that is not fully fried on the bacon. The smoky flavor of the bacon and the sticky and mellow flavor of the egg yolk can create a new flavor.

But he doesn't like to spread candy on bread.

William also fiddled with his knife and fork. "Will the remaining members of the Kodak family compromise?"

"I'm worried that some of them might do something bad."

He wanted to remind Lance, although he felt that Lance didn't need his reminder, but reminding and not reminding are two different things.

Not everything requires a reminder, like wiping your butt.

If you see someone coming out of the toilet with their pants held up after taking a shit, and you say "Did you wipe it?" at this time, that person will not only not be grateful to you, but will think you are sick and may even scold you and beat you up.

But if it is something related to safety, such as "Are you sure you have killed everyone?", people will not feel disgusted, because everyone has been killed.

Lance nodded, "They were going to do that!" He put a piece of bacon wrapped in egg yolk into his mouth, "But they didn't have a chance!"

In the swimming pool of the Kodak family estate, a family was struggling in fear. They were dragged into the water by some young men. They tried to struggle out, but were eventually pushed under the water by those young men in turn.

On the side of the interstate highway to Maintenon, five cars were parked in the wilderness. Seven or eight people were kneeling in the wilderness with their hands and feet tied. The people behind them raised their weapons at them.

On the rooftop of a building, several people were crying, begging and struggling. Some were even frightened to the point of peeing, but they still couldn't escape the fate of being thrown off the roof!

Some people cursed and begged, but were still injected with snake venom in the end, and turned blue and black in the painful struggle...

These people were those who opposed Lance. They were betrayed by their own people, named by Lance, and left this world in various bizarre ways.

But they all have one thing in common, that is, all of this is just an "accident" or "suicide."

The police will quickly give their judgment and close the case quickly. No one will make any waves for them, and no one can make any waves.

I believe that those people will soon know how to get along with Lance. In fact, Lance is not a difficult person to get along with.

You see, some people died because they were against Lance.

Some people not only survived, but also retained their previous jobs and privileges because they agreed with Lance.

Disagreeing or agreeing has never been a difficult decision, right?
(End of this chapter)