Shadow Empire

Chapter 900: Social Activists and Behind-the-scenes Deals
Seven days passed quickly, and Pedro left Zhuolan reluctantly and set out on the journey back to his hometown.

But they will meet again soon because Lance said he would invite them to the Federation.

Go and see what life is like for ordinary people in the federal society.

Pedro was very excited, and now he was treating this matter as a pilgrimage.

The communication during this period brought too much shock to him and all the communicators!

At the same time, it also made them understand a truth.

One person has no power.

But a group of people, united together, have the power to change the whole world!

Unite!

After a final sumptuous dinner in the evening, Lance let them leave.

These people carry the expectations of Lance and the Federation. Soon Lapa will be in chaos. I hope they can play a role!

As soon as he returned to the hotel, the people who stayed behind came to greet him.

"There was a call from the federation, saying they were from the Federation of Labor, and they wanted to talk to you."

Lance took the small card with a number on it. He didn't dial it immediately because it was already late and he had other things to do.

Roger had been waiting for him here for a while. When he saw Lance coming in from the elevator, he immediately stood up. Beside him were two people from the Chamber of Commerce and a man who looked...

Lance's gaze lingered on this guy for a moment, a Lapa man, wearing an inappropriate suit and his tie was a little crooked.

To Lance, he felt like a monkey in a suit, not even an ape.

At least the gorilla can give people a sense of oppression, but this guy just makes people feel funny.

He raised his hand to signal, and Roger took the initiative to come over and introduce him, "This is Nicholas."

"Nun Lasi is a well-known artist in Lapa. She has published some comic strips, which are very popular here."

Lance asked Roger to set up a newspaper company and plan to publish a newspaper.

The newspaper could not use too many words because the illiteracy rate in Lapa was alarmingly high.

The Confederacy completed literacy for most of the population during the Forward Movement; before the Forward Movement, three to four out of ten Confederates could not read or write.

In some states, the illiteracy rate exceeds 60 percent, which means that six out of ten people cannot read or write.

But the Forward Movement solved this problem. It promoted widespread literacy and allowed more children to go to school to receive basic education. Over the years, the old illiterate people have returned to God's arms.

Most of the remaining ones can already read and write a few words.

The federal government considers them to be literate, but some private educational institutions still consider them illiterate because they cannot read and write most words and sentences.

They can only read and write what is related to their own lives or what they have learned in literacy classes, and can only be considered semi-literate.

This is also why the audience for movies was relatively small in the past. Although the federal government has always boasted that their illiteracy rate is low, most people still cannot fully understand the content of the subtitles.

But compared to Lapa, this is a world of difference.

Most people in Lapa were illiterate, and if the printed newspapers had too much text, people would basically be unable to read them, so Lance asked Roger to find a local painter.

Comic strips are the most basic and popular art form.

People who read comics don't need to have a high level of education. All they need is a pair of eyes to see what is in front of them.

The Federation actually has suitable painters, and Lance has asked someone to invite them, but for now, the "editor-in-chief" still plans to use a local.

Because only locals know better what form of expression can be understood and accepted by everyone.

Lance extended his hand and shook it, and Nicholas was very cautious, even to the point of being flattering.

He bent over, raised his head, and had a flattering smile on his face. "I am very happy and happy to work for you, Mr. White."

After a simple handshake, Lance pulled his hand away, motioned for Nicholas to sit down, and had coffee brought.

Lapa also produces coffee beans, but the quality is not particularly good, and it lacks sufficient technology and team to produce it.

Therefore, local coffee resources have not been developed much.

Ordinary people don’t like to drink this, as it is bitter and astringent after being processed using traditional methods. However, the coffee in the hotel is different, as they are all made from imported coffee beans.

It tastes a bit bitter, which is a taste of coffee that is difficult to eliminate, but the sour taste is basically gone, leaving only the mellow aroma after the bitterness.

"I haven't read your comic strips, but I believe that your comic strips are no different from those world-famous paintings hanging in art galleries."

"You are just a little less famous than them!"

Lance's words made Nicholas very excited, and he wanted to say something to express his surging emotions.

Being praised like this by a big shot is definitely the most glorious moment in his life!
But he didn't know how to say it, and after he said "I" three times, Lance raised his hand to stop him.

If he is someone who is good at expressing himself through words, then there is a high probability that he is a novelist rather than a comic book author.

“This job is not difficult. You just need to stimulate your talent to create without any burden.”

Lance took a sip of his coffee, "Do you know what irony is?"

Nicholas nodded. “I know. I’ve used an ironic narrative structure.”

“Sarcasm is a knife that pierces people where it hurts the most!”

Lance was a little surprised. He didn't expect that a comic book author from a poor and backward place would have such concise insights. This was a good thing.

"You're right." He paused for a few seconds, "Besides you, how are your family members doing here?"

“Can your income support them?”

Nicholas' expression wasn't as happy as before, although he still had a smile on his face.

"Mr. White, I have other jobs. Comic strips can't support my family. We are living in a tight spot right now."

Lapa's publishing houses were either from the ruling group or the privileged class, and they would only pay Nicholas very little to draw comics or illustrations.

Two or three thousand para for a work is already a lot, but once he finishes the work, they will kick him out.

As for sales share and royalties, he gets nothing.

From Lance's point of view, people like Nicholas are considered to have a certain influence in society. If used well, his destructive power can be greater than that of an entire company!

Thinking of this, Lance smiled and comforted him, "You should work hard and I can give you a salary of one hundred dollars a month, Federal Sol."

"We can also help you apply for you and your family to immigrate to the federation, completely escaping from the terrible environment here, so that you can put your mind at ease and focus more on your work."

After hearing this, Nicholas was so excited that he could hardly sit still. He wanted to stand up several times.

If he had not realized in time that "kowtow" could also express his gratitude, he would have kowtowed a few more times for Lance now!

"I…I don't know how to thank you, Mr. White."

Lance patted his forearm, then looked at Roger, "Please tell the embassy for me and send Nicholas' children back as exchange students."

He then turned to look at him and said, "Let them adapt to life in the Federation first and receive a better education. When the time is right, I will send your family over as well."

"Someone will take you on the road later. This job is actually very simple..."

Then Lance had someone take Nicholas away from here and adapt to his office, which had already been built.

The printing equipment will also arrive at Zhuolan in the next few days. Although these equipment are not the latest new equipment, they are all second-hand, but they are still easy to use.

Lapa doesn't need that many colorful natanas, so it doesn't need those more colorful printing machines. Once the editors are in place, we can start considering trial operations.

"You can find more people like this who have a certain social influence and a positive image, and bring them into our camp."

"Give them money, help their families immigrate, and they need to cooperate with our work."

"The more backward a place is, the dumber the people are. They can't think for themselves, and they only trust those who are more famous or more authoritative."

After listening to this, Roger kept nodding his head and said, "I'll arrange it."

Social activists, writers, painters, musicians, any "family" is among Lans' targets for bribery.

This is a whole strategy, and Lance is not sure whether the first movement can solve the entire political situation in Lapa. He thinks the possibility is not very high.

And it's not appropriate to let them do it on their own.

It's like those plumbers in the feds, they'll carry at least seven or eight tools, or as many as a dozen, to help you just change a pipe.

They will make the whole process appear very complicated, with the purpose of telling you that you can't handle it, but they can.

It costs money to have them, that’s what plumbers are for.

Of course this example is not quite as complete, but it is essentially the same.

If the ruling group of this country can be dealt with simply through a political movement or an ordinary reform, they may not be inclined to the federation.

Only when they are unable to handle it on their own and fall into deeper despair, the emergence of the Federation will allow them to rely on it completely without any defense.

After resolving the matter, Lance returned to the study and dialed the number left by the Labor Federation.

Mr. Walter (rotating vice president of the Labor Federation) has not had a good time during this period. His legal team used some means to connect him to an assault case in a swing state.

Rape is a felony, and assault is also a felony, but rape is an attempted crime, while assault is a completed crime. So according to federal law, the swing state sent a formal document to Likalai, requesting that Mr. Walter be extradited for new interrogation and investigation.

However, the local trial has not been completed yet. Unless he is convicted and sentenced here, the swing states cannot extradite him for the time being.

The Labor Federation was at a critical moment in the establishment of the party. After several rounds of internal discussions, they decided to send Mr. Walter away while minimizing his influence as much as possible.

This call was from another rotating vice president.

"This is Robert's office. I'm Robert."

Lance looked down at the card. There was nothing on it except a phone number. "I was told to call this number. This is Lance White."

"Mr. White?"

"Hello, I'm Robert, the rotating vice president of the Labor Federation. It looks like you've received the message I left."

"I'm sorry to bother you while you're working, but I wanted to talk to you about something about Walter."

Lance waited for two or three seconds, giving him the feeling that he was thinking and agreeing after thinking, and then answered him, "Please go ahead."

"We respect the choice of the working class of Likalai State. We don't force them to choose between the two or anything else. Now it's yours."

“Let’s keep this matter of Walter low-key.”

The Labor Federation now has few options left. If they continue to confront Lance, Lance will continue to exaggerate Walter's attempted rape scandal.

Even if some people know that this is a frame-up, there will always be people who believe it.

The scandal involving the chairman of the Workers' Party Representative Committee, who was originally scheduled to be elected at the beginning of the founding of the Workers' Party, was a heavy blow to the establishment of the party itself.

So they plan to abandon some of Likale's positions, such as allowing workers to leave labor federations and unions, and not forcing factories to employ a certain percentage of union members among their workers.

In exchange for Lance's low-key handling of Mr. Walter's matter.

They knew that Lance was unlikely to let him go "not guilty", so the best outcome now was to handle the matter in a low-key manner and not escalate it further.

If you want to do this, you must get Lance's approval.

If Lance doesn't nod, Mr. Walter will remain detained in Likalai State, and the extradition request from the swing state may even be rejected.

In the process of weighing the pros and cons, Mr. Walter was abandoned.

There is nothing we can do about it. After all, it doesn't matter whether he is innocent or not at this point.

What’s important is that even if the Labor Federation suspends the establishment of the Workers’ Party, it will be difficult for it to make any effort to deal with Lans.

They do have a lot of ways to deal with capitalists and politicians, but they have no way to deal with people like Lance, so they can only choose to compromise.

Lance thought for a while and then put forward several conditions: "Remove his position in the Labor Federation, issue a notice demanding severe punishment for his behavior, actively compensate the victims, and apologize to the victims."

"Donate no less than 200,000 yuan to organizations protecting the rights of women and minors."

"If you can do this, I can ask them to hand Walter over to you."

Robert, the rotating vice president who he just met, agreed without even thinking about it. "If a scum like Walter stays in our team, it will only bring shame to us and the great working class!"

"We have discussed and decided to remove him from all positions and hold him accountable for his legal responsibilities."

When he heard this, Lance realized that the Federation of Labor wanted Walter to shut up completely more than he did at this moment.

After thinking about it for a while, he agreed.

There is no point in keeping this person, it is better to hand him over.

Throwing dirty water on the Labor Federation is useful, but if the Labor Federation is really pissed off, they will use a nationwide strike to force Lance to compromise.

Lance can resolve local strikes, but he cannot resolve national strikes. Eventually, Congress will intervene and force him to make concessions.

Since he was bound to make concessions in the end, and it would make everyone lose face - he did what he should do, but Senator Cleveland would definitely not be able to withstand the pressure of the national strike and would definitely force him to compromise.

This is equivalent to asking him to "work" on the one hand and spanking him on the other. The relationship between the two people will definitely be damaged because of this incident.

Even if Lance doesn't have any thoughts about Senator Cleveland, what about Senator Cleveland himself?

Is he having wild thoughts?
I asked you to deal with Walter, but then I asked you to compromise. Would that make you think I'm an erratic and untrustworthy person?

Rather than letting the situation develop to this point and causing some trust crisis between the two people, it is better to compromise now.

He then relayed the matter to Senator Cleveland and explained the reason very frankly.

The senator expressed support for Lance's judgment and choice.

"You're right, if they really start pushing for a national strike, we're going to be on the defensive."

"You made the right choice!"

He paused. "How are you doing over in Lapa?"

Lance recounted his work here during this period, and Senator Cleveland keenly captured the key information in his words.

"You mean, there will be some changes over there in the near future." Senator Cleveland took a deep breath, "You are more... I don't know how to describe it, Lance, than I thought."

"This will be a heavy blow to the Lapa ruling group and will shake the foundation of their rule, but you have to pay attention to your own safety. You are very important now."

"When you finish your work and come back, I will ask the president to give you a medal, the Gold Star Medal, to commend you for everything you have done..."

With Lance's call, Mr. Walter's case soon gained extremely rapid momentum.

The Labor Federation actively compensated the victims and sought their forgiveness.

The court has completed the conviction and sentencing, and he has been sentenced to three years in prison.

But because he didn't want to go to jail and the labor union there was still operating, the state of Likalai signed a document allowing extradition and sent Mr. Walter to the swing state where the labor union had the greatest influence.

(End of this chapter)