Shadow Empire

Chapter 841 Arthur's Awakening and Using Spears to Attack Spears
"Lance, I heard your movie made a lot of money, right?"

At the dinner table, Arthur asked Lance a question.

Mayor Williams glared at him, "Do you think you're being polite?"

"Asking Lance a question like that?"

Asking others about private matters such as their income is extremely impolite.

If Lance was just a minor character, it would be fine to ask, after all, minor characters never have dignity or personality.

But Lance is no small figure. Mayor Williams turned to look at Lance and said, "Ignore him."

Lance was happy to answer this question. He first said "It's okay" to Mayor Williams, then nodded and said, "You can say, yes."

"After deducting various costs, I made more than two million yuan from this movie and also won an award."

At the end of last year, the Grand Jury Prize was awarded to "The Raid", which was the undisputed first in terms of artistry, narrative, and the use of new technologies in the film.

In addition, all the people in the Federal Film Commission were Lans, so it won many awards.

The Arts Committee was so angry that Lance registered the Film Committee in advance that they set up a "Federal Film Arts Jury" and also held an awards ceremony for films. "The Raid" won nothing.

It was like a very clear battle, a struggle, which attracted a lot of focus and attention.

But in the end, nothing happened.

If Lance can set up a film committee, others can set up committees in other film industries.

If Lance can get his own movie to win an award, then other non-governmental organizations can prevent him from winning an award.

But no matter what, it is an indisputable fact that this movie made a lot of money. More people began to negotiate cooperation with Wanli Distribution Company. They also wanted to get a share of the box office instead of selling at a fixed price.

One movie has pushed the movie buyout system towards demise, and has also directly contributed to the box office sharing becoming the mainstream.

All major production companies are setting up their own distribution channels, but until they can solve the accuracy of revenue sharing and have a way to control the box office, they are unlikely to compete with Lance's distribution company.

Hearing Lance mention such a large sum of money, Arthur couldn't help but gasp.

The family's business assets are now mainly managed by Arthur and his mother - in name only.

In fact, there is a mature team doing this, and they are just figureheads or chairmen of the board of directors or something like that.

It can be seen that Arthur seems to be on the verge of making a career.

The main reason is that James is doing a very good job now. In order to ensure that the Williams family has successors, Mayor Williams has been raising James' social status and influence.

As James becomes more and more "excellent", Arthur becomes more and more useless.

Some people have already started making this comparison, although it was not instructed by Mayor Williams or James, it may just be their own initiative.

Compared to the outstanding James, Arthur spends all day hanging out in various entertainment venues, constantly changing girlfriends, and squandering money. People say that he is a shame to the Williams family!

Originally he didn't really care, since he wasn't required to do anything in his life anyway, but his mother hoped that he could cheer up.

Mayor Williams' young wife is a very insightful person. She may not have a high level of education, nor does she come from a prominent family, but she is knowledgeable and not a pure commode without insight.

She told Arthur that Williams was the mayor and that this doting father would eventually die. Once he died, all power in the family would fall into James' hands.

If Arthur fails to demonstrate his own value, will James unconditionally tolerate him or even indulge him like Mayor Williams did?
Obviously, no.

This also made Arthur realize that his father could not hold on to the truth for many more years.

He secretly wiped away his tears all night because of this. When he woke up the next day, he seemed like a different person and began to think about the future.

But it didn't last long. In the afternoon, he felt that he had been thinking a lot and was a little tired. He wanted to relax, so he went out and didn't come back until midnight.

But something has changed after all, and he wants to do something now, to ensure that when Mayor Williams returns to God, the rest of his life for him and his mother won't be too miserable.

After thinking about it, he really knew nothing about business. The only things he could think of himself was opening a bar, a strip club, and watching movies.

If he opened a bar or a strip club, Mayor Williams might have died faster because of the anger.

So he finally turned his attention to making movies.

He can make money and have a great influence. Lance is also in this line of work. While Mayor Williams can still take care of him, he strives to become independent, so he asked this question today.

Even if there was no family dinner today, Arthur would go find Lance later.

Hearing Lance mention such a large sum of money, Arthur became obviously more interested.

"If... I also want to make a movie, what should I do?" he asked expectantly.

Lance glanced at Mayor Williams, who just laughed twice, and he understood.

"I'll give you a call, and you go find the current head of the production company. He has the script, and then you choose the actors and find a place to shoot."

"As an investor, it's actually a very simple matter. Pick a script that's not that bad, choose a few actors that the audience likes, and then shoot it and release it."

“Whether you make money or lose money, it’s clear at a glance.”

"Of course you don't have to worry about any huge losses. Even if the box office is not good, you can still make some money back."

After this little episode and dinner, the four of them went to Mayor Williams' study.

Arthur was busy calling the director.

"If he gets into trouble..." Mayor Williams sighed, "Just teach him a lesson for my sake."

Lance smiled and nodded, "Don't worry!"

"It's just a movie. The worst thing he could do is make the heroine pregnant."

Hearing what Lance said, everyone started laughing and the atmosphere suddenly became relaxed.

After James brought the coffee, a relaxed chat officially began.

William was the first to speak.

"Mayor Williams, you know, I'm going to Lake City soon to take office, and to be honest, this is like a strange trip for me, allowing me to experience everything there that I would not have been able to go to otherwise."

"I'm not sure how to be an excellent mayor, and you are already a model of a successful mayor. I want to know if you can give me some advice and suggestions before I take office?"

James was also listening carefully, working as a waiter while listening to their conversation.

Mayor Williams tilted his head and thought for a while, "Being a mayor is actually very simple. You just need to understand one thing at all times."

"As long as you don't do anything openly illegal, you have the greatest power in the city!"

"Just like Mr. President right now, he can do whatever he wants as long as he doesn't mess around."

"Even if he did something a little too much, people wouldn't question his responsibility."

“The first thing you need to do after taking office is to replace a police chief.”

"Law enforcement is very important to maintaining the stability of the city. I heard that the previous mayor was willing to take all his direct subordinates away?"

William acknowledged this with a nod, "Thanks to Lance."

Mayor Williams sighed, "It's easier this way. You can just put the people you think are suitable in those positions."

"I know you have a lot of brothers, you can consider them." "Don't care what others say, in the end it is the local citizens who can decide whether you will be re-elected."

Lake City is not an industrial city, and the power of workers is relatively weak. Instead, ordinary residents have more votes.

To please the people is the main job of these politicians.

"As long as you can get the support of more than half of the people, there won't be any problems with the election!"

He also talked about some small details about how to be a good mayor, such as certain departments are important, certain departments are not so important, and how to deal with the relationship with the city's upper class.

These are all very valuable experiences, and it is unlikely that they can be passed on if they are not from the same lineage.

All of this was done for Lance's sake. Of course, James also learned a lot from the side, which will play a big role in his future succession to Mayor Williams.

Of course, Lance still played the biggest role.

When they had almost finished talking, Mayor Williams took the initiative to change the topic to the strike.

"I heard that they have contacted a number of unions and are working on this, but the workers' opinions are not unified this time. You have done a good job."

"But I also heard that there will be another group of people joining the strike march."

Lance lit a cigarette, crossed his legs, and sat on the sofa calmly and casually, leaning his body slightly and supporting the sofa with his elbows. "Who is it?"

“Some unemployed people.”

Mayor Williams shrugged and raised his hand. "They say the current unemployment rate in the city is directly related to your company because those jobs were taken away by these illegal immigrants, so these talented people are out of work."

Lance couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. "But in fact, the labor shortage in the city is constantly increasing."

Mayor Williams nodded in acknowledgement. The outbreak of war refilled the industrial system with diesel, and high-horsepower engines began to roar again!
The belligerent countries have stopped producing many daily consumables for ordinary people, such as soap, toilet paper, laundry detergent, etc., all of which are obtained through federal imports.

The federal depression was caused by overcapacity and market saturation. Now that the international market has been opened up because of the war, some experts believe that this "sales boom" will continue for ten to twenty years after the war.

This was a long period of positive growth, and some of the country's big capitalists even proposed the idea of ​​keeping the war going.

On the one hand, it can consume the military power and renewable resources of various countries, while on the other hand, the federation can independently maintain rapid economic growth.

The benefits of overseas wars are so numerous that they are difficult to count.

However, there has been no response from Congress or the presidential office to these proposals.

Therefore, it is extremely unfair to blame the fact that some people in the city are unemployed because their jobs have been taken away by refugees and illegal immigrants.

Mayor Williams nodded and said, "So this time it's not just a part of the working class that will participate in the strike and demonstration, there will also be some unemployed people who are resentful of society."

People who don’t have a job definitely don’t have a stable income. Life in the city is different from life in the countryside. When you open your eyes every morning, you have money.

There are periodic bills, various fees, and even some fees that need to be paid for doing nothing.

These people who are unwilling to work and are dissatisfied with their current living conditions are full of resentment towards society.

They will not think that this is their own problem, they will think that this is a social problem, a national problem!
Their participation in demonstrations could lead to a series of unpredictable consequences.

Mayor Williams said another thing, "And I heard that the Labor Federation attaches great importance to your measures. They will invite many reporters to the parade on the day of the parade."

"Both domestic and foreign ones."

Lance was not quite clear about this matter. He frowned and knew what Mayor Williams meant.

"If there were so many reporters, wouldn't it be difficult for you to take action?" William looked at Lance and gave the "standard answer".

Lance didn't deny it, "It seems they used their brains."

There are so many domestic and foreign reporters here to report on this grand parade. If the Lans family gang disperses the crowd or stops them through violence, once it is reported, they will definitely need to deal with the matter in order to maintain the image of the Federation.

Even if Lance is not arrested and thrown into prison, at least some important figures under his command should be tried in his place.

In this way, they restricted Lance from taking action.

Mayor Williams also looked a little solemn. Once the demonstrations began, if he could not resolve them quickly, the state government and Congress would inevitably think he was incompetent.

Ordinary citizens feel that the mayor has no ability, and they can only continue to feel that way.

But for the top federal government officials, if they feel that a mayor is not fit for the job, then the mayor will soon find a reason to resign.

Lance and Mayor Williams belong to the same interest group. If Mayor Williams needs to resign, if a mayor who does not cooperate well with Lance is elected, or if a mayor is parachuted in, it may cause some trouble for Lance.

This is not impossible. You have to know that the Labor Federation is preparing to establish the Labor Party. They are converting their influence into political power and may consider doing their best to push a Labor Party member to become mayor.

This is a typical series of tactics. Either Lance disbands the union now as required by the union, or he allows the union to enter his labor company.

Either there would be a big demonstration, or during the war, Mayor Williams' chair would become too hot to sit on.

William also frowned. Although this matter would not fall on him, he also had to put himself in the role of the mayor and think about how to deal with it.

Mayor Williams showed no sign of anxiety, but remained calm, as is typical of old politicians.

Even though his shit was already coming out, he was not only able to sit still, but also asked the waiter for another serving of macaroni.

After thinking for a while, Lance took a puff of his cigarette and threw the butt into the ashtray. "I'll take care of this matter. I'll make sure they can't hold a parade."

William suddenly became interested, because in his opinion, there was no good way to stop the march.

Because the right to march and demonstrate is a basic right granted to the people by the Constitution.

The First Amendment of the United States is about the freedom of citizens to speak freely, express their opinions freely, and organize marches, demonstrations, protests and other activities freely.

So even if the federal government knew they were going to do this, there was actually nothing they could do except arrange police to clear the parade route for them, re-arrange traffic on city roads, and protect the safety of them and onlookers.

This is also one of the reasons why the labor federation continues to grow stronger, because it cannot be stopped and this method is very lethal.

With nothing else to do, they could only watch as the Labor Union continued to grow like a new mountain.

Mayor Williams and James were also curious about what Lance came up with.

Although Lance did not hide it, he did not explain it in detail either.

“There are only a few ways to solve a problem: compromise, deal, or confrontation.”

"As long as we don't do it ourselves, then can't we just send a group of people to stop them?"

Mayor Williams nodded slightly. He had already thought of it. "That's a good idea."

Although William already had some guesses, he was not completely sure. Among the four people in the room, only James was still confused and unable to understand what Lance was talking about in a short time.

It's not his fault. He has little experience and has never met someone like Lance who doesn't play by the rules, so his thinking is always one step slower than Lance.

Seeing that the matter had been resolved, Mayor Williams smiled more and talked about Lance's son.

He also joked that if James or Arthur could have a daughter in the future, he hoped Ace could marry a girl from the Williams family to make the friendship between the three families even more unbreakable!

Lance did not agree with this, but he did not object either. Who can tell what will happen in the future?
When he returned to the manor at night, Lance made a phone call and asked someone to find Carl (the refugee Carl, not the gang leader from New Bermingham).

Soon Carl appeared in front of Lance.

He was wearing the same iron-gray coat with red two-tone cuffs, and he really looked like one.

(End of this chapter)