Shadow Empire

Chapter 871 Rope and Anonymous Letter

History has always asked later generations a very serious and funny question:

Why are some people willing to be dogs for outsiders and hurt their compatriots?
Such situations have been seen frequently in history: national security has been threatened, and then a group of people, under the guise of patriotism, have done things that betray the country.

Why does this history keep repeating itself over and over again, seemingly never stopping?

Why are subsequent rulers never able to avoid the emergence of this situation, allowing history to repeat itself again and again?

The reason is actually very simple, because of class stratification.

Class stratification has deprived the entire society of its motivation and forced everyone to obey the identity labels assigned to them by the rulers.

Some people are willing to be slaves, while others want more freedom.

Practice tells us that when one way doesn’t work, you can try another way.

Being a dog for the invaders is another outlet for them.

The collar around the dog's neck is connected by a chain to an invader who can break down class barriers and easily do things that many of them can't even dream of doing.

For those who have only greed and desire for power in their hearts, this is another way.

Just like Gomez at this moment, if he ignores the interference of external forces, his life will be like this and there will not be much improvement, but there will be great risks.

When his sister grows old, her skin becomes loose and wrinkled, and she can no longer win the favor of the ruler of Lapa, will he, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, still be the president of the Chamber of Commerce?
There is a high probability that he will not be the president, and maybe he can't even be a human being. Later, he will not be allowed to continue jumping around Diego, but will only be pressed down to the point where he can never get up again.

Gomez is actually a smart man, but not that smart. He is just an ordinary poor man from Lapa who has not received higher education and has a beautiful sister.

He has not received an elite education, and he doesn't know what to do and when to make the right choice. Everything he does is based on his instinct and the reminders of people around him.

He wanted to do his best to make up for his mistake, but he didn't know whether Lance could feel his sincerity.

At this time, he said somewhat implicitly, "I will serve Senator Lance and Cleveland," which was already making his attitude clear.

He wants to be a dog, a barking dog.

A smile appeared on Lance's face. "We are friends!" He emphasized, "Friends don't talk about service, but about taking care of each other and helping each other."

"I don't agree with some of your actions, but this is your choice and I won't blame you."

"You don't have much knowledge and come from a poor and backward place. I can't expect you to be as smart as the people from political families in Xinjin City."

"I can let it go this time, but that doesn't mean I can let it go again, and again. Do you understand?"

Gomez breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Mr. Lance, I don't know how to express my gratitude!"

He suddenly seemed to have thought of something, "Oh, I know there is a silver mine in Lapa..."

Lance didn't say yes or no, he just smiled reservedly, leaving Gomez at a loss as to how to start the conversation.

After about 20 to 30 seconds, Lance came out of his thoughts and said, "During this period of time, we will set up an import and export trading company. Then we will return to Lapa with you to engage in import and export trade."

Gomez was a little overwhelmed by Lance's sudden mention of these things. He was stunned for a moment and said, "Mr. Lance, if you want something, you can tell me."

"I'm not bragging, but apart from Diego himself, I can get you anything you want in Lapa now!"

Obviously he was bragging, but he just didn't want to admit it. Lance smiled and raised his hands and waved them twice, "What I want is not something you can get for me, but to send my people in. Do you understand?"

Gomez was stunned for a moment, and then the expression on his face changed uncontrollably, showing all kinds of emotions.

Uneasy, angry, frightened, surprised...

He took a deep breath, "I know."

Lance nodded. "This is your specialty. Just make the arrangements."

"Gomez, I don't mind talking to you a little more. As you can see, the Federation's annexation of the Yalan region is inevitable."

"It is definitely not a bad thing for you and your family that you can make a decision so early."

"As long as you serve the federation and the senator well, you will always get what you want."

Gomez quickly stood up and bent down, "Mr. Lance, I will fully cooperate with your work."

Lance was very satisfied with his attitude. As for whether his wish would be fulfilled in the end?

No need!

What the federal government wants is to completely annex the Yalan region, rather than to support new puppets. In fact, Gomez got it wrong from the beginning. He did not understand what the ultimate goal of the federation was.

Lance asked him to make some preparations, and it would be best if he could return to Lapa first and find some people in the country who were willing to support him, so that at least he would not appear so "thin".

This may not be a short period of time, it may last for quite a long time, and conflicts are not so easy to intensify. It also takes time and opportunity.

After Gomez left, Lance called Senator Cleveland. This time, Senator Cleveland had no meetings waiting, so he gave Lance plenty of time.

Senator Cleveland was not ignorant. In fact, he knew something about Lance and Gomez, but he chose to pretend to be confused.

At this time, Lance called and asked casually, "I remember you mentioned Gomez to me. How did the talk go?"

"That's it. He wants to get the support of the federation to become the new leader of the Lapa region."

Hearing Lance say this, Senator Cleveland was stunned for a moment, "You...why would he have such an idea?"

Lance thought it was normal. "They still don't know why we station troops in the Yalan region. Maybe many people simply think we are stationing troops there, and don't know that our real purpose is to annex the entire Yalan region."

"Gomez thinks that we are likely to re-establish some interest representatives in the Yalan region. He wants to be the puppet, so he will cooperate with all our work in Lapa."

Listening to Lance's words, Senator Cleveland already had a rough idea in his mind. No wonder Gomez would want to contact him directly without going through Lance.

After all, deciding on a country's puppet leader is not something a gang leader can decide, so it seems that he is not completely stupid.

"Did you promise him?" the senator asked, unable to help but smile.

Lance also laughed twice, "I didn't agree to his request..." He paused for two or three seconds, "But I didn't reject him either."

Senator Cleveland seemed to be in a good mood. He laughed and cursed, "You are such a scoundrel, Mr. Lance."

"You're such a compliment!"

Some of Lance's words and actions made Senator Cleveland feel fresh and novel. In such a fresh situation, it was difficult for him to have any bad feelings towards Lance.

Who can hate a humorous person?
"What are you going to do?" the Senator asked.

"I plan to go to Lapa in the name of strengthening economic ties with Lapa under the guise of the Federation's private chamber of commerce, and then sell some goods to Lapa."

“And we will buy all kinds of crops from Lapa at a higher price, including helping them find jobs.”

"And bring them the freedom and democracy of the Federation as well."

Lapa does not have a mature supporting industrial environment. They even have to import needles for sewing clothes from the federal government, not to mention other industrial products.

These things imported from the Federation are not cheap, they are more expensive than those sold in the Federation, and this is one of the ways the ruling class exploits the working people.

Almost all daily necessities are imported or produced in the hands of these people. They have absolute pricing power and the people can only pay for their greed.

You can not brush your teeth, you can not wash your face, but you can't do without soap, right?
Well, even if you don’t use soap, detergent, or anything else, you still have to use light, right?

No need for lights?

What about the candles?

Light a fire? Light a fire in the house?

And what about the clothes people wear?
Even if the clothes others are wearing are not new, they are washed white and even have patches, but they are still clothes. You can't just come out covered with leaves, right?
Lapa does not have the ability to weave. Even if some people can weave some fabrics by hand, they cannot compare with the strong and beautiful fabrics of the Federation.

When power and capital are completely combined to form a monster, dictatorship emerges.

What Lance has to do is to open a gap in Lapa's dictatorial rule and artificially create contradictions and conflicts.

A single spark can start a prairie fire. When the ruling group in Lapa finds that their rule is being shaken, they will begin to reconsider their relationship with each other.

If they can tolerate Lans's behavior that shakes their rule, then Lans will continue to increase his strength and continue to shake the rule of the Lapa ruling group more deeply.

But as long as they can't tolerate this kind of behavior and take action against Lance and others, whether it is civilized or uncivilized, this will provide the necessary reason for the Federation to take further action.

Federal is a reasonable strong man. Before he hits you, he will definitely let you know why he is hitting you.

So they have no choice but to be patient. This is forcing them to the opposite side and give Lance a suitable reason to take action.

After all, the Federation is a peace-loving and righteous warrior, how could they be invaders?

Senator Cleveland had begun to treat Lance as a man of his own political level, rather than a mere gang leader.

"The federal government cannot act rashly and without reason against them. You understand this very well. We love peace and do not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. This is the bottom line."

"You have to intensify the conflict. As long as they take action first, the rest will be easy to resolve."

"Lapa will be an attempt. There are several other places like this. I'm not saying you have to be the first to complete our task, well and quickly, but if you can, try to be a little faster than others."

He didn't elaborate, he believed Lance could understand what he wanted to say.

This is actually also a competition, a contest, and a game!
The one who runs the fastest may not necessarily get any benefits, but the one who runs the last will definitely get no benefits at all.

"I understand. I will try to make them angry and uncomfortable with my presence as much as possible, and we have Casillas and Gomez who can help us."

"And when necessary, Mr. Gomez has always emphasized that he loves the Federation and is willing to serve us and the Federation. I believe that for the future of the Federation, he is willing to make a small sacrifice."

Senator Cleveland certainly knew what Lance meant. He laughed and said, "I find out, Lance, that sometimes you are really bad!"

"But, who can hate a bad guy?"

"Do your best and let them see your value!"

The chat about this matter ended here. "If there is nothing else, I'm going to hang up first."

Lance then said, "I have another question I want to ask."

"explain."

Lance lit a cigarette and asked, "Admiral Miles, what do the higher-ups think?"

"Should we protect him or handle the matter in a businesslike manner?"

"Will the next naval commander be from their department or from the army department?"

"Or is it someone from Congress?"

The series of questions made Senator Cleveland think for a while before he came to his senses, "This is not a question!"

He emphasized it, and then asked, "If you have any ideas, just tell me directly."

Lance, whose thoughts were seen through, smiled and said, "I see that the joint investigation team has been investigating for so many days, but it seems that there is no particularly significant progress. If Congress wants to bring down Admiral Miles, I can provide some assistance."

This topic attracted the interest of Senator Cleveland. Congress hated the military's factionalism, but there was no better solution.

Because the military is an absolutely dictatorial and closed environment, "obeying orders from superiors" means that factionalism will inevitably exist in this group.

It is difficult for the federal government to control them. Currently, it can only let the Department of Defense control them relatively by tightening its budget.

It is basically impossible to completely solve the problem of factionalism.

Senator Cleveland was a little curious, "I thought you had a good relationship."

After all, Lance gave Admiral Miles a lot of money, and he had never heard of any conflicts between them.

Lance smiled and said, "There are some minor conflicts between us, so I will listen to your advice on the final choice."

He simply recounted the whole story. In fact, it is hard to say who is right or wrong because everyone has their own stance.

Lance knows that he has to protect his men, and Admiral Miles certainly knows that he has to protect his soldiers as well. There is no problem for both sides from their respective standpoints. The problem is that while satisfying their own attitudes and positions, they happen to stand on opposite sides of each other.

After a moment's thought, the Cleveland senator asked, "What assists do you have?"

"Some evidence of corruption."

The federal government began implementing the Anti-Corruption Act in 981. The sentencing for this act is very severe. It can be said that corruption is a felony in the federal government, with a maximum sentence of fifteen to twenty years in prison and multiple fines.

But why, despite such a stringent Anti-Corruption Act, is corruption still rampant in the federal government?

Because the law stipulates that corruption is the act of accepting money or valuable items and using one's job to provide work content assistance to the briber.

It seems that the explanation here has been very clear, but federal lawyers are no slouch, they easily found loopholes in the legal interpretation of this bill.

How do you prove that money an official took was a bribe?
It sounds incredible, do I need to prove it?

But in the Federation, it's all about proof!

Because "remuneration", "extra salary income", "investment returns", "unexpected income", etc. are not included in this judicial interpretation.

Sometimes the federal judiciary is very flexible, and as long as ordinary people break the law, they will definitely not escape legal sanctions.

But sometimes it can be very rigid, because as long as there is no direct exchange of benefits or the money is not directly put into the hands of officials, it is not called bribery or corruption.

This is why there is still an industrial chain for the transfer of federal benefits. Senator Cleveland receives astonishingly high "return on investment" from various channels every year!
So this is legal income, and no one has the right to say that his income is illegal. No one can say that this is a bribe, and that he is accepting bribes by collecting this money.

Basically all officials know how to make these funds flow into their accounts appear legitimate and reasonable, but sometimes there are indeed some...not so convenient times.

Lance and Admiral Miles have collaborated a lot in many areas, and no matter what kind of collaboration it is, he always keeps Admiral Miles well fed.

This is also the reason why Lance was very angry with him. Admiral Miles took so much money from him but didn't even give him face. So it would be better for no one to take it.

Cleveland Adventist Hospital thought for a while and then said, "I'll give you a phone number and address. I'll let you know in advance, and you can just have someone deliver the things there when the time comes."

"Is there anything else this time?"

"Nothing."

"Well, I'll contact you if you have anything."

In fact, Lance knew very well that some evidence of corruption was definitely not enough to be the key to accuse Admiral Miles of corruption, but it might be the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Under Lance's arrangement, an anonymous letter was soon sent to the investigation team and discovered by them.

The content described in the anonymous letter may not necessarily send Admiral Miles directly to prison, but it provides the investigation team with a very effective direction for solving the case.

Sometimes solving a case is not difficult, but the difficult part is finding the direction.

Now that we have a direction for the investigation, everything will become simple.

(End of this chapter)