While in America, the system says Roosevelt was an emperor.

As for the retaliation from the construction street, the bosses' method was simple: they paid their own ethnic gangs for help.

Many business owners have long-standing relationships with gangs, and even if the gangs don't charge extra, they will proactively help the business owners resolve these issues.

Besides a steady supply of protection money, prestige is even more important.

If a gang leader can't protect people or handle things, then he can't be the boss.

Tom, the little gangster, doesn't need to worry; the Corleone family will handle everything for him.

But the major gangs in other districts are many that are no weaker than, or even far stronger than, the Corleone family, so Tom has to deal with them personally.

But the gang didn't come knocking so quickly; Tom had something more important to do now—have lunch.

During lunch, Tom watched as Luca instructed his men on how to better "collect taxes," offering occasional pointers while mentally planning his next move.

With the construction project on the street easily secured, Tom's confidence in his future plans grew significantly.

Starting with the construction street was also part of Tom's plan.

Throughout history and across the world, civil engineering has always been the legal industry closest to gray and black markets;

If even engineering companies can't resist the taxation weapon, other legally operating business owners will only be even less likely to resist after hearing about it.

Even John, the AAA earthenman, is afraid of Tom. Who wouldn't be afraid of Tom?

It went even more smoothly than Tom had expected. News of the construction project spread by noon, and many merchants in various places had already pledged their allegiance to the Corleone family before Tom had even finished his lunch.

Tom had just finished lunch when Vito's eldest son, Connie, delivered a message: in the entire constituency, only the area near the police station and a few shops remained undecided.

Shops from other constituencies also wanted to join him, but Vito refused them all.

Tom nodded in satisfaction. With Vito's methods, this constituency would become the Corleone family's stronghold in the future.

It's worth mentioning the unique aspects of the Corleone family:

Although the Corleone family started out as a bootlegging Mafia family, Vito Corleone had long desired to go legit, and under his management, the Corleone family had a "good reputation" in the surrounding area.

They will not actively loot or vandalize ordinary businesses, nor will they shoot civilians to establish a reputation for terror.

Vito Corleone never believed that money or violent demonstrations alone could build a truly stable and lasting relationship.

Mutual favors and obligations are what Vito Corleone considers a "stable relationship."

Even when it came to protection money, Godfather Vito never asked for money; instead, he would collect "friendship" as protection money.

Tom's father, Leonard, gained Vito Corleone's friendship by performing several "illegal" bullet removal surgeries for the Corleone family.

In return, the Vito Church provided Tom with a loan to attend college.

But it wasn't without its price; if he couldn't repay the money, Tom would have to sell himself to Vito's godfather's youngest daughter.

There's nothing we can do about it; Tom has a face, which at the very least guarantees him a lifetime of comfort and ease.

Besides these, there are other ways to gain friendship, which vary from person to person:

The baker at the cake shop would voluntarily offer free cakes and desserts at every Corleone family event.

The bar owner chooses to buy moonshine from the Corleone family and occasionally gives them some high-end European wines as gifts.

Even the most ordinary factory worker, fisherman, or street vendor can gain Vito's "friendship" by helping him with small, manageable tasks.

Once you become friends, Vito the Godfather will provide you with different levels of protection based on your "friendship".

The Corleone family's business acumen will likely give a glimpse into their future influence in voting.

However, it was precisely because of the Corleone family's good reputation that some merchants took a chance.

The entire commercial street has been taken over by the Corleone family. Even if one less household surrenders "friendship," the Corleone family will not ignore the security situation.

Without Vito Corleone's "friendship," the only difference was that he couldn't ask the Corleone family for favors, but that didn't affect his own business.

They were all immigrants who harbored the "American Dream" and felt that pleasing the Mafia was tarnishing their dreams.

America is a land of dreams of opportunity, freedom, and equality. The gangsters before me used violence to force me into submission; I was merely going along with their lies.

But if the Corleone family doesn't use violence, then why should I submit to them?

I still have the American Dream!

All men are created equal!

Some vendors, located near the Brooklyn County Sheriff's Office, also have no intention of surrendering to the Corleone family.

With police protection, they never pay protection money to any gangs.

The county police station is just a few hundred meters away; no gang would dare to cause trouble here.

They don't think they're afraid of taxes; you can audit their accounts as you please. Besides, we don't do heavy manual labor, so we don't need that many employees—a small family is enough.

Tom felt that the merchants mentioned above were refusing to listen to reason and were asking for trouble.

Tom would tell them one thing—in America, tax collectors are far more ruthless and thuggish than the Mafia.

Tom simply didn't have the time or energy to go door-to-door collecting taxes, and he chose to cooperate with Godfather Vito in order to strengthen his own network of relationships.

Tom wants to teach these naive bosses a lesson, to tell them—

Those who take the American Dream seriously will never achieve it.

Whoever believes in the idea that all men are created equal is only fit to be America's sustenance.

After the meal, Tom led the convoy off again, focusing on the merchants who refused to give their opinions.

Upon arriving at the entrance of a shop, Tom dropped off one of his men. After a brief training session with Luca, the man understood what to do.

So, a government tax collector dressed in a stereotypical Mafia style sits in front of a shop, flipping through account books, his Imperial tax collection weapon—a Colt M1911 pistol—revealed on his waist, and occasionally interacts with customers, asking them their names and tax payment details.

In America, a land where everyone is free to evade taxes, this action is far more powerful than looting and rioting.

Gangsters can loot and vandalize with just a repair fee and a few days of business closure;

If the tax collector does this, you can forget about having any customers in your shop for the rest of your life, at most three days.

Even if the police arrive, Tom has already taught them how to deal with them, as detailed below:

"Me? Affecting merchants' businesses?"

"Officer, on official business."

"I didn't want to either, it's work."

"A gun? A gun license?"

"Officer, you don't understand the law. It's federal government regulation that the Treasury Department can carry guns when collecting taxes, and they don't need a gun license."

"By the way, officer, what's your name? What's your home address? Have you mailed your tax payment to the Finance Bureau this year? Would you like me to come to your home to calculate your taxes?"

After this series of moves, even the donut shop right across from the county police station had to prepare special Christmas donuts from the Corleone family.

Godfather Vito promised Tom that he could eliminate the criminal activities of the local gangs within three days and completely stabilize the district, after which he would give him $400,000.

Vito Corleone's dislike of violence doesn't mean he was inaccurate with his gun. If it weren't for government suppression, he would have wiped out those small gangs long ago.

Tom's plan has progressed smoothly to the next step—laying out the "taxation" in the other four major electoral districts.