Shadow Empire

Chapter 876 Treat everyone equally

Mr. Richard came to the police chief's office with a gloomy face. He sat down opposite the chief very unceremoniously, sitting sideways.

With one hand on the table and the other on the armrest of the chair, he leaned slightly sideways with his legs crossed, with an expression that said "I'm not someone you can mess with" on his face.

"It's been three days. I want to know if you have found any results from your investigation."

"If you can't do it, it's okay, just tell me the truth and I'll arrange someone to do it."

For three days, the police department and the fire department investigated the cause of the fire, but they did not get much valuable information from the scene.

Under the high temperature, these steel-structured factory buildings could not withstand the pressure and collapsed quickly, directly destroying some evidence that might have been left at the scene.

It is difficult to find all the evidence accurately.

The director put his hands together, but quickly separated them. He held the edge of the table with both hands and leaned forward slightly. This was not actually an aggressive state. He was "resisting."

"Mr. Richard, the scene is very large, and there are many pieces of evidence that need to be identified. I can't tell you for sure what kind of fire this was."

"but……"

"But?" Mr. Richard's eyes were a little creepy, "Are you saying this is man-made?"

The police chief sat back in his chair, his hands clasped together again, "I didn't say that. It's just that from the testimonies of some people at the scene, the fire in the warehouse did not spread to the production area. It was the production area that started the fire and exploded."

"Although we have not yet found any explosives at the scene, we have found traces of explosions on some of the production equipment, traces of external explosions."

"As to whether this is man-made, we cannot be sure yet, after all, there is no crucial evidence yet."

Having said that, Mr. Richard roughly understood that the police chief just didn't want to take responsibility when there was not enough evidence, but it was very likely that this was man-made.

Mr. Richard nodded and stood up. "I will donate 50,000 yuan to the police station. Thank you for your hard work."

The police chief smiled and said "thank you". Small cities cannot be compared with big cities. 50,000 yuan is already a lot.

But...it's only 50,000 yuan.

Mr. Richard left soon and returned to the company, which was now crowded with people.

Seeing Mr. Richard coming back, these people immediately surrounded him. Fortunately, Mr. Richard's bodyguards were still useful. They cleared a passage as quickly as possible and allowed him to enter the company.

When he returned to the office, there were already many people around him.

"Why are there so many people?" he asked.

A board member immediately responded, “They are all our customers who ordered whiskey from us. Now they heard that our distillery and warehouse are finished, and they are chasing us for compensation.”

Just one sentence made Mr. Richard's head feel a little swollen and painful. He used his knuckles to press hard against his right temple. The pain brought a hint of comfort and also made his mind clearer.

"Have we signed the contract?" He looked up at the director, who was stunned by his fierce gaze, and then looked at the secretary.

The secretary shook her head. “We just reached a verbal agreement and then received their deposit.”

The Prohibition Act stipulated that "trafficking" was an illegal act, and it was impossible for Gold Label Liquor to break the law, so no contract was signed at all.

Mr. Richard showed a cold smile on his face, "We don't have a contract, why should we compensate them?"

Then he became a little impatient, "If they want compensation, they can sue us in court, damn, these sons of bitches!"

The director seemed to be hesitant to talk about it, but finally decided to say it when he was alone with him.

It is not so easy to explain the money stolen from these gangs.

In addition to these illegal people trying to blackmail Gold Label Wines, a large number of suppliers also hope to settle their payments as soon as possible.

Brewing wine requires a large amount of agricultural crops. Now Jinbiao Wine Industry has opened up brewing and has kept its profits very low. Of course, the money they spend on paying the farmers for their food is definitely enough.

But after paying for the food, they will have a considerable amount of funds left, and then they will have to deal with the workers who died and were injured in the fire, and then rebuild the factory. Almost everything requires money, a lot of money!
Mr. Richard sneered and asked his secretary to bring the bills that needed to be signed. He selected some of them and signed his name.

"Tell them the rest. I don't like the way they come to make trouble."

"It's not that we can't afford it, we just don't want to be coerced."

"If they want, they can, apply, go through the process. If anyone tries to use methods like making trouble to force us to pay early, let them sue us, we won't give it to them!"

It is not easy to be the president of any large company. At the very least, they need to be capable enough and ruthless enough.

You know clearly that this money is the hard-earned money of the farmers and that the goods were obtained by the channel dealers with advance payment, but you don't pay a penny when you shouldn't.

The purpose of signing some contracts is to tell these people that the company still has money and can afford it, so that they can weigh the pros and cons themselves.

As for whether someone will make a fuss?

There will definitely be people who will continue to make trouble. After all, there will always be people who think that others are not good enough, but they may not be incapable.

And, what if?
But this time, no matter who makes trouble, he is not going to give it to anyone. At most, he will sue.

Food is worthless.

For those who only earn thirty or forty yuan a month, food may be a little valuable, but for someone like Mr. Richard and a large company, food is worthless.

A ton of grain only costs a few hundred yuan, and a hundred tons is only a few tens of thousands of yuan. Go to court!
Hiring a lawyer, collecting evidence, and every court hearing means hundreds or thousands of dollars are gone. How long can those people last?
In the end, you still have to be obedient and honest. Capital has plenty of ways to deal with these people.

After finishing this question, the secretary said, "Many families of injured workers came today..."

Mr. Richard became even more annoyed. "Let them go to the insurance company. We have bought accidental work injury insurance for them."

"The insurance company said they would investigate whether this was a work-related injury before deciding whether to pay the money."

“They need money for treatment now.”

Mr. Richard spread his hands and looked at the secretary innocently, "Then why the hell are you telling me this?"

"You should tell them that this has nothing to do with us. I bought insurance for them, so they should ask the insurance company for the money instead of coming to me!"

"We are also the ones who suffered losses. I don't even know who to ask to compensate me for my losses. What's the point of them asking me for compensation?"

The secretary was scolded and couldn't utter a word. His face turned pale.

In fact, the families of those workers have already contacted the insurance company, but the insurance company's response was rather perfunctory and general, and they even put forward a point of view.

That is, if the fire was caused by a business dispute, then they would refuse to pay compensation.

Not only were the workers’ accidental injury insurance claims rejected, but the factory’s property insurance was also rejected.

Nowadays, many federal companies, especially formal and large-scale companies, purchase property insurance.

During the industrial development of the Federation, countless fires and accidents witnessed the entire process of rapid industrial development!

This is also the stage that industry must go through in its journey from immaturity to maturity.

In order to avoid unexpected losses, many factories will purchase commercial property insurance for their factories and equipment.

Once these properties are damaged due to accidents such as fire and flood, the insurance company must make claims in accordance with the contract.

But this does not include arson. If there are signs of arson, the insurance company will also refuse to pay.

That's what insurance companies do.

Before you pay, he tells you that even if you fall while walking, they will give you fifty dollars.

But after you pay the money and actually fall while walking, they will say that the shoes you were wearing are not covered by the contractual compensation.

Or they may find reasons to refuse compensation from other aspects, for example...you take the first step with your right foot when you leave the house.

After cleaning up some chores, Mr. Richard asked, "Have the people from the insurance company arrived?"

The secretary suddenly felt like laughing for no apparent reason, but luckily she held it back. "He's already here. Do we need to let him in?"

Mr. Richard did not agree immediately, but looked at the director who had not left the room. The director gave the secretary a look, and the secretary immediately picked up the documents on the desk and walked towards the door, "I'm just outside the door."

After she left and closed the door, the director said, "Richard, will there be any trouble if we deal with those gangsters so roughly?"

Richard frowned, and he sat there with his chin propped up. He would be dead for more than ten or twenty seconds. "I will find a way to deal with them."

The director breathed a sigh of relief. "These people are rats from the sewer, and we are all gentlemen in formal suits. We are not afraid of rats, but there is no need to let rats dirty our shoes."

He then stood up and said, "I'm leaving now. Call me if you need anything."

When the secretary saw the director come out, she ran to call in the people from the insurance company.

Insurance companies attach great importance to Gold Label Wines as a customer because they provide insurance premiums of approximately 30,000 yuan every year, which is not a small amount of money.

Because they had experienced two major fires, Gold Label Wines was keen on buying property insurance.

This time, Mr. Richard stood up on his own initiative, walked around the table and shook hands with the manager of the insurance company, then walked over to the sofa and sat down with him instead of sitting at his desk.

"Mr. Richard, I'm deeply sorry about this fire!"

Mr. Richard nodded and said, "The difficulties will eventually pass. What I am more concerned about now is when the compensation will be paid."

"We still have a lot of orders to process. It takes time to order machines, and I don't want to affect the orders ahead."

The manager of the insurance company smiled and agreed with him, "You are right. After we finish our investigation, if everything is in accordance with the insurance contract we signed, we will transfer the compensation to the account you specified as soon as possible."

Mr. Richard frowned slightly, "Isn't this necessary?"

The insurance manager had a regretful look on his face. "From a personal perspective, Mr. Richard, we have been dealing with each other for a long time. I am willing to trust your character and credibility, and I am willing to pay you first."

"But you know I'm just an employee of the company. I don't have the authority to sign such a large amount of compensation. The president or the board of directors must agree before they can pay you."

"I have explained to them that Mr. Richard and Gold Label Wines are our important friends and customers, but you should be able to understand that those hateful capitalists don't care about these at all. They only care about the money in their pockets!"

"I have tried my best to lobby for you, and they promised that they would only pay if the results of the investigation were in line with the contract."

"Don't worry, Mr. Richard, I will help you keep an eye on the results. I will call you as soon as the results come out!"

Mr. Richard's face turned visibly red, and he stared at the insurance manager with a very unfriendly look, but the insurance manager still had an expression and look of "I'm innocent".

He asked slowly, word by word, "What are you doubting?"

"Do you suspect that I... ordered my own factory?"

"Do you know how much money my factory makes for me every day, every day?"

"Just the time wasted is enough for me to earn hundreds of thousands or even millions!"

"Fake!"

The insurance manager immediately comforted him, "I believe you. How can I not believe you?"

"Mr. Richard, you have to understand me. It's not enough for me to believe in you. You also have to make the president or the board of directors believe in you."

Mr. Richard stared at him fiercely, but the insurance manager didn't seem to be affected.

If this level of impact could affect him, he wouldn't deserve to be here, nor would he deserve to be the key account manager of an insurance company.

He had seen people who were more terrifying and direct than Mr. Richard.

He used to be just an ordinary account manager. Until an old soldier put the tip of a knife to his neck, he did not waver in his determination not to pay. This made him appreciated by the company's top management and became a senior partner.

He would not ruin his future in the hands of a capitalist who was afraid to kill.

Mr. Richard took two deep breaths and suppressed his anger. He looked at the insurance company's key account manager who would always come over to greet him enthusiastically when they met occasionally, and nodded without comment, "If..."

The insurance manager knew what he was talking about "if". "If the investigation is correct, I guarantee that the funds will be in your account within 24 hours."

"But if the investigation finds that the cause of the fire is beyond our insurance plan, then unfortunately, Mr. Richard, even if I am willing to give it to you, the president and chairman will not agree..."

Mr. Richard stared at the insurance manager with what he thought was a very fierce look, but the latter still had that playful smile on his face and didn't seem threatened at all.

After sending away this "friend" who always pushed the responsibility onto the president and the board of directors, who always said that they were of one mind with him but whose eyes showed that he "would never pay", Mr. Richard returned to his chair and sat for a while.

He then picked up the phone and dialed the number for the police chief's office.

"This is the police chief's office..."

Because it was an external call, the director's voice was very soft. Who knows who called? What if it was an important person?

After all, a small character doesn't deserve to know this number.

"It's me, Richard."

"Mr. Richard?"

"Do you have anything to say or any additional clues or evidence?" This was the only thing the police chief could think of.

But what Mr. Richard said next was beyond his expectations.

Mr. Richard lowered his voice and asked, "Can you provide a certificate to prove that it was a fire caused by a production accident?"

The police chief was stunned for a moment. Chief Richard had just come here not long ago and was already certain that it was arson, which put some pressure on him.

But now they suddenly changed their tone and asked him to say that this was not arson... He was a little confused.

"Mr. Richard, I don't quite understand what you mean."

"Thirty thousand yuan."

"what?"

"30,000 yuan, transferred to the account you specified. This is an accident."

The police chief did not answer immediately. After about ten seconds, he said "um" with hesitation in his tone.

"Fifty thousand dollars."

The police chief was stunned for a moment, and quickly explained, "That's not what I meant..."

"Sixty thousand yuan!"

"I am the victim, you only need to take responsibility for me, now I think it was an accident."

"You issued an accident report, so there's no need to waste police resources, and no one gets hurt. This case ends quickly and well."

"Hello, I'm fine too, what do you think?"

The police chief of a small city rarely has the opportunity to get so much money. Usually he only collects three to five hundred or one to two thousand.

It was a big shock for him to suddenly make 60,000 yuan.

The 50,000 yuan that Mr. Richard donated before was donated to the police station, which actually had little to do with him, but this 60,000 yuan was given directly to him, and his breathing gradually became rapid.

"The fire destroyed a lot of evidence at the scene. It is difficult for us to restore the cause of the fire, but it does not look like it was man-made..."

Mr. Richard immediately corrected, "It's not 'unlikely', it's an accident!"

The police chief agreed with his point of view, "Yes, it was an accident."

"Very good, give me an account number, and when the investigation results come out, you will see my sincerity!"

Then he called the fire chief and got him on board for only 40,000 yuan.

If the fire was an accident, the insurance company would have to compensate them at least one million.

But if this fire was not an accident, the insurance company will not pay a penny!
These damn vampires, that's not how they act when they take money, fuck!
Mr. Richard had never thought that although he was a celebrity in this city, he would actually be blackmailed one day!
This is the day when he and those injured workers are treated equally!
(End of this chapter)