Shadow Empire

Chapter 913 Asking for trouble
It has been three or four months since the Gold Label Wines factory and warehouse burned down in the summer.

In October, Gold Label Wines sued the insurance company in court, claiming that it was an "accidental fire" and the insurance company should pay the compensation.

In fact, the claim settlement itself is not about how much money the insurance company should pay in compensation, but about calculating the loss caused to the Golden Standard Company by the fire based on an assessment, and then paying compensation based on this loss.

For a factory with a long history like Gold Label, the compensation is actually not that much, and strictly speaking, the compensation amount may not be more than the cumulative insurance premiums they have paid.

In other words, the insurance company did not suffer losses over a long period of time.

But it’s not a question of whether or not there is a loss now, they just don’t want to lose money.

Then the process begins.

Originally, the case was not in favor of the insurance company, but last month, in November, someone suddenly turned himself in and said that he had set fire to the warehouse of Gold Label Wine Industry, which caused the entire factory to explode.

Anyway, he admitted that he did it, and then the insurance company refused to pay out on the grounds that "hate arson may not be covered by insurance rules."

They also used some connections, and the court accepted their point of view after trial.

At this time, the consequences of arson do not need to be paid by insurance companies, because there are too many insurance frauds and the imperfect laws and regulations make capitalists dare not lower the threshold casually.

Just like car insurance.

A brand new car costs more than 10,000 yuan, but after being used a dozen times, its price is only a few hundred yuan.

You pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for insurance for a car that costs several hundred dollars, and then it gets crashed somewhere. How do you get compensation?
A few hundred dollars in compensation?

Obviously, it cannot be compensated, but after prosecution, at least a few thousand dollars can be obtained.

There are too many cases of insurance fraud, making it difficult to promote relevant bills, and such cases have indeed happened.

One company was unable to receive orders during the economic recession. It wanted to stop production but it was difficult to resolve the workers' dissatisfaction. In the end, it simply hired someone to start a fire, seeking to convert the burden into cash through insurance and then flee the area.

In the end, they succeeded and took advantage of the insurance company's terms to get the insurance money, and the price they paid was not worth mentioning.

Since then, insurance companies have made some additions to their terms and conditions to cater for this situation, such as no compensation, or only a very small compensation, placing the main responsibility on the arsonist.

Things worth one million were burned, so I'll give you thirty or fifty thousand as compensation as a token of my appreciation.

If this happened to someone else, President Richard would just take it as a joke, but if it happened to him, he would find it hard to accept.

The two sides have been in litigation, but the results have not been good.

The lawyer told him that the best outcome would be that the insurance company would bear a maximum of 15% of the loss as compensation, and how to determine the amount of loss would be determined by the insurance company itself.

In the end, you may end up losing tens of thousands of dollars, and that’s the limit.

Tens of thousands of dollars were not even a fraction of the inventory in their warehouse. President Richard was so angry that he cursed in court and was expelled from the court.

The case was still under trial, and then he turned his attention to another person, Lance.

This matter is closely related to Lance. Golden Lion Wine Industry has been continuously expanding in Indeno State, and most of Indeno State's whiskey has begun to be imported from them.

These were originally the markets of Jinbiao Liquor Industry. Now not only has their factory gone, but the market has also been monopolized.

Even if I want to snatch it back, I don’t know how long it will take and how much it will cost.

So they were particularly annoyed and kept making trouble for the Lance family through the deputy governor, the state police department, and the mafia.

"They have been sweeping our goods on the roads for a long time, and now a considerable part of our goods are transported by rail."

“Once they find out, it will definitely become difficult to walk.”

“There are firefights on the roads every day and our transportation costs are getting higher and higher.”

"Should we think of something?"

Lance lit a cigarette, "Have you talked to Wade?"

After handing over the affairs of Indeno State to Alvin, Lance naturally let Mayor Wade contact him. Mayor Wade can go directly to Alvin if he has any questions, and Alvin can also go directly to Mayor Wade if he has any problems.

“I looked for it, but it didn’t work very well.”

"The new director of the state police was recommended by the secretary of state, but this candidate also has some connection with the lieutenant governor."

“Although the secretary of state did not explicitly state that he was on the side of the lieutenant governor, I heard from Mayor Wade that they had a good relationship privately.”

"As soon as they come into conflict with us, the police will come and arrest our people, but they won't arrest theirs."

“Our losses will continue to grow.”

In Jingang City and even in the entire Likalai Province, Lance used this plan to crush all his competitors.

Either you don't fight back or you get eaten away bit by bit.

As long as you fight back, you don't have to worry about any major accidents. At most, your people will be caught and thrown into jail.

The battles between gangs, families, and other organizations are ultimately a competition to see who has more people.

You have ten shooters and I have twenty. I am just better than you. After a one-for-one trade, I still have ten left.

Although it is possible that some individual shooters have very good accuracy and can hit two, three, or even four or five people, this is the limit.

The era of hot weapons is different from the era of cold weapons. In the era of cold weapons, an excellent warrior can deal with several enemies.

But in the age of hot weapons, no matter how powerful a person is, three for one or five for one is enough.

So Lance could understand how troublesome it would be to have fewer and fewer people and to constantly transfer manpower from Likalai State.

"It seems Mr. Richard hasn't learned his lesson yet."

This sentence already gave enough hints, so Erwin did not interrupt and waited quietly.

Lance thought for a long time and then said, "Assign someone to deal with him. The best way to deal with a mad dog is to beat it to death with a stick."

"Contact me if you have any new questions. Be sure to pick a reliable gunman. This is not Likalai State."

"By the way, let me ask Attorney Robben if there is any way to extradite the gunman back to Likale State for trial or imprisonment after he has done his job. It doesn't matter if it costs a little money, the main thing is to get the person back."

This time, Mr. Walter's extradition to a swing state gave Lance some inspiration. Sometimes you don't have to worry too much about some things outside the state that are difficult to handle.

At best, we can find the gunman to do the job and then extradite him back without having to worry about the gunman's safety or whether he will reveal anything.

"I see. I'll do it right away."

Lance asked casually, "How are those Sumurians doing?"

After the demise of the Golden Label, a group of Sumurli liquors began to infiltrate the market in Indno State.

That's what gangs are like.

They will not stop selling just because Jinbiao Wine is unable to produce now. They will not delay their own profit-making. On the contrary, whoever does not let them make money is their enemy.

Some of them have already formed an antagonistic relationship with the Lans family during the competition, so even if Gold Label Wines is finished, they will not buy it from Lans.

Suppliers from South Ya'an Prefecture further west became their first choice. The Sumurai people, who are currently the most powerful people in South Ya'an Prefecture, are their best choice, no doubt about it.

A large amount of liquor flowed into Indeno Province through the channels of the Sumurians. Although the two sides had no formal contact, the competition was real.

Elvin's tone was not serious. "Fortunately, they mainly sell brandy, and the quality of whiskey is not very good. I heard that their whiskey is purchased from some local distributors in Nan Ya'an, and then sold to Indeno State at a higher price."

“So we actually have an advantage in this regard.”

"If some gangs had not had a good relationship with us, our market share would have continued to expand."

"But in the brandy market, since we don't have any good products, they dominate the market."

"We don't have any strong competition between us right now, so there is no excessive contact."

The vineyards at Lawrence Farm will have to wait another year before the vines can grow to their full size and produce grapes suitable for making wine and authentic brandy.

Hearing this, Lance had no other questions, "Be safe and call me anytime."

After hanging up the phone, Alvin started to deal with this matter. The Chinese New Year was coming soon, and he planned to put an end to all this during the New Year days.

He glanced at the calendar on the table. There were still five days left.

For some people, five days pass very quickly, such as those who are a little older.

Their perception of time is even slower, so they always have a feeling that "time is going faster and faster".

On the contrary, for young people, especially children, a day seems to be as long as a year, because they are more sensitive to time.

Richard is an adult and not young anymore. Time seems to pass very quickly for him. In the blink of an eye, there are only three or four days left until the New Year.

It should be a very happy thing, but he just can't be happy!

The newly ordered assembly line would not be assembled until February or March, which meant he would have to endure two or three months of no product sales.

The continued sales of goods will produce more positive effects. People are like this. They will queue up to buy whatever they want.

Moreover, it will also give rise to what capitalists most want to see and competitors least want to see - inertial consumption.

For example, people who buy their wines will develop a habit of consumption and continue to buy their wines as long as their wines are not very different from those of Lens.

But once he stops selling alcohol for a while, these customers will switch to Lans and develop a kind of "loyalty" in the purchasing process.

People always do this, defending what they buy to prove that they have good taste.

Therefore, many times, once a major business strategy mistake occurs and the market is lost, it is really lost and it is very difficult to get it back.

Mr. Richard is now facing this problem.

There is no problem with the quality of Lans' wine, so it will not be easy for them to regain the market unless they can always maintain a low selling price.

Their competition has always been fierce before, and the market lost this time will cost them more to take it back bit by bit.

There is a high possibility that he will lose his position as president because of this, and there is even a possibility that the board of directors will kick him out.

We are keeping him now just to wait for the final decision from the insurance company.

If he wins the case, he still has a chance to stay.

If he fails to win the case, he will have to give up his power and may even leave the company.

This is also the reason why he has been going crazy recently!
He must save everything before it is too late!
The company has many shareholders, but there is only one president and only a dozen board members!

When I came out of the company office in the evening, I happened to meet the vice president.

He and the vice president have been working together for many years and the two are considered very good friends.

The glory of Jinbiao Wine Industry over the years is due to the contributions of two people.

It doesn't belong to one person, it belongs to two people.

The lack of office struggles allows the entire company to maintain efficient and accurate operations. The two are partners and good friends in private.

Seeing Mr. Richard's tired face, the vice president took the initiative to walk over and hold his arm, "You need to rest for a few days."

"You look tired. There's no need to torture yourself like this. We still have plenty of time to do everything well!"

Mr. Richard sighed, "I know, but now I...I must find a solution before my troubles arise."

"Otherwise our cooperation will end here!"

The vice president was silent for a while. "Although I would like to say that this is something I have been looking forward to for a long time, I still think that the company cannot do without you."

Mr. Richard curled his lips, "The board of directors and shareholders don't think so."

The two of them walked towards the garage, and the vice president was still comforting him, "I heard that some new materials will appear. Maybe there will be a turning point in the next court session."

"The New Year is coming soon, do you have any thoughts on taking a holiday?"

Mr. Richard shook his head. "God, do you expect me to want to go on vacation when I'm in all this trouble?"

The vice president smiled and shook his head. “It seems that I used the wrong topic.”

"So……"

They both stood by their respective cars, "Happy New Year?"

Mr. Richard forced out an ugly smile, "Happy New Year!"

Only he knows whether he is happy in the New Year or not.

Getting in the car, he lit a cigarette.

After taking two puffs and waiting until the vice president's car had left, he drove out of the company.

He was thinking about these things along the way, and his mind was a little confused.

But he believed that everything he did was right.

If we can't defeat Gold Label Wines and those people from Lance through fair competition, then we'll use what they are good at to deal with them!
Every day, State Police Interstate Highway Troopers roar along the state's highways.

They would seize trucks that looked problematic and would not release them until they had been inspected.

It may seem that this kind of random sampling may not be effective, or that the effect may not be very good. That is a big mistake!
The effect is very good. These police officers work on state highways every day and have gradually gained experience.

Just like you know how to apply glue most smoothly, and which teachers can make you excited (excited is an adjective that means very excited) so that you can finish today's glue smoothly.

This is a process of practice makes perfect.

They only need to take one look at the trucks and they will know roughly which ones are suspected of smuggling liquor and which ones are just ordinary drivers.

Of course, it is not 100% accurate, and the proportions are not pretty, but the effect is very good.

A large number of vehicles used for smuggling were seized because the people in charge of the search were from the State Police, not the Prohibition Bureau.

The police department can accept the alcohol or not, which provides them with a new solution.

The board of directors had previously mentioned a suggestion that the intercepted and seized Lans family wines be re-bottled into their own Gold Label bottles.

Many people on the board of directors have tasted Lens’s Golden Lion wine, and they admit that although Lens’ winery was established only a short time ago, it still has a certain talent in brewing.

Selling Lans' wine as their own might not be a bad idea.

In this way, they can give an explanation to customers in a short time and at least complete the orders in time.

However, Mr. Richard did not agree, saying that the wine produced by Gold Label and that produced by Lans are not of the same taste and style.

If you forcefully sell Lans' wine as your own, you will only lose more customers in the end!

He even had a quarrel with the board of directors over this. The board of directors believed that the most important thing now was to make up for the losses rather than continue to fight with the Lance family.

All in all, Mr. Richard had a hard time during this period.

"Perhaps, I should take advantage of the New Year holidays to relax myself."

After having this idea, he stopped by a flower shop and ordered a bouquet of flowers from it.

Then he went to the cake shop and confirmed the time and address, as he needed door-to-door delivery.

He returned home only after everything was ready.

Mr. Richard's wife was very gentle to him. She knew that her husband had been in big trouble recently, so she was very supportive no matter what he did.

Today, she saw that her husband had a little more smile on his face. While she was relieved, she also curiously asked, "Did anything good happen?"

Mr. Richard smiled and replied, "It's not too bad. The New Year is coming soon. I can't look sad and cry during the New Year, right?"

His wife did not delve into the matter too deeply and did not pry too much into the matter, which was the magic formula to maintain the relationship between the couple.

The two spent a night and several days happily together.

As the Chinese New Year approaches, the alcohol market in the entire state has been completely ignited. People have worked hard for a year and they always have to have a few drinks in the last and first days.

Sales are booming, but they don't belong to Gold Label or Mr. Richard.

Seeing his competitors continue to receive huge orders, Mr. Richard could only pretend not to see it.

On the last day of the New Year, he returned home early after get off work in the evening.

"Don't you have to go out for social events today?", his wife asked.

Richard walked into the restaurant and sat at the table. "No need. I came back today specifically to spend the New Year with you..."

(End of this chapter)