The Fourth Disaster Begins at the Dawn of the Millennium

"If you still want to continue on the path of being a prosecutor, little brother, you'd better not give up this childish idea."

After the prosecutor said some "experienced" words to his assistant, he waved his hand and told him to leave, saying that he was going to drive home. He turned and walked towards the Mercedes-Benz car parked not far away. This car was the latest model he bought a few years ago, and the body was as bright as new. The prosecutor walked to the car, took out the key, and pressed the unlock button skillfully. The car door opened, he held the roof with one hand, put the briefcase on the back seat with the other hand, and then sat in the driver's seat.

Just as he was about to insert the key to start the engine, a violent explosion suddenly resounded through the sky. With a loud bang, flames shot up into the sky, and the entire car was instantly engulfed by the fireball. The surrounding air was distorted by the shock wave of the explosion, the glass windows were shattered, fragments flew everywhere, and the flames engulfed everything in the car.

The prosecutor didn't even have time to react. His entire body was pushed against the seat by the violent impact. The blazing flames instantly enveloped him, and every pore felt the burning pain. The temperature in the car rose sharply, and the air was filled with pungent smoke and burning smells. The prosecutor's eyes went from astonishment to pain, and then gradually lost consciousness. The pair of eyes that were usually full of wisdom became dull and lifeless.

The next day, a police spokesman said in front of the media: "After preliminary investigation, it was found that the deceased may have had a grudge with someone in a previous judgment. The suspect is a retired soldier who has the motive and ability to carry out this attack. We once again call on citizens to use legal weapons to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests."

At the same time, the veteran named by the police was sitting on a small stool in a small dark room, watching the report on TV. Then he turned around puzzledly and said to the masked man beside him: "So, why did you stop me from taking revenge, kidnap me, and help me take revenge..."

"That's because your plan is too crude. Your success rate is less than 30%. We need you to maintain your image as a 'special forces king'. This image of yours can help us do a lot."

Chapter 147: Housing Cooperatives Are Not "Khrushchev Buildings"

The "underground opposition forces" in Long Beach were wiped out just after they had formed a coalition. They were physically eliminated before they even had time to speak out in public. The fundamental reason for their elimination was of course that they had secretly formed a coalition to oppose the Housing Recovery Act, but the direct reasons (public reasons) were different. Some had car accidents, some were shipwrecked, some were shot by psychopathic gunmen, and some were blown up by bombs installed in the cars of "urban soldiers".

If the "invisible hand of the market" really is untraceable and unlocatable, then the players may be helpless and can only use all their skills and think of various ways to fight against the "invisible hand", because the opponent really cannot show his health bar.

But those who conspire against the players can be tracked, located, and sent to face the devil. As long as the plan to "erase" the NPC is reported to the board of directors and the board is convinced that the other party is an obstacle to "our cause", the plan will be approved and the mission target will be "bleeding". With the "blood bar", players will be able to shoot without worrying about sanctions (shooting recklessly can result in a small black room at the least and a permanent ban at the worst).

After the conspiracy group was physically eliminated, there was finally no intentional factor to bring resistance to the city manager's new bill, at least for the time being. Now the only thing that may bring resistance to the "Housing Revitalization Act" is probably the market itself and whether the bill itself meets the actual needs. When the housing cooperative project of the "Housing Revitalization Act" was launched, some people hotly debated whether it would become a "Khrushchev building", although the city government responded that the housing cooperative would definitely take into account "low cost + better living experience".

But similar suspicions are still heard. There is nothing we can do. We can't just get rid of people just because they have suspicions. The board of directors of Universal Group will not approve it. We can only come up with some good-looking, distinctive and eye-catching housing cooperatives as soon as possible to "disprove their faces".

It is late autumn. The sky in Long Beach is blue, and the air is mixed with a slight cool sea breeze, which makes people feel particularly comfortable. The leaves gradually turn yellow, and the fallen leaves form a golden carpet on the ground. At a newly developed construction site in Long Beach, workers are busy with preliminary preparations. A tall tower crane stands in the center of the construction site, and the roar of machines and the shouts of workers are heard one after another.

Today is the official start of construction at this construction site. The city manager of Long Beach came specially to kick off this grand event. Ji Tianping's arrival attracted the attention of everyone present. Although people have seen this city manager who sometimes likes to joke and sometimes behaves tough on TV many times, Ji Tianping kept shaking hands with the architects, workers and community residents (people who will live here in the future) present. He didn't care about the smell of motor oil on the other party, nor did he care that his brand new suit would become sloppy after hugging the other party.

After shaking hands and hugging a group of people, Ji Tianping's clothes became less glamorous. He stood with the architects, workers and residents' representatives here, ready to give a brief speech. The workers on the scene stopped their work and surrounded the city manager.

"My dear friends, today is a day worth celebrating." Ji Tianping's voice was loud and clear, and it spread throughout the construction site. "This project is the first housing cooperative project to be started in Long Beach. It will provide safe, comfortable and growth-friendly housing for more than 50 residents and their children. It is not only a residential area, but also a demonstration of our concept of 'co-governance, co-construction and sharing'. I heard from the person in charge of the project that those who will live here in the future will use their holidays to personally participate in the construction and design under the guidance of the architect. Because parents participate in the design and construction, they will do their best to create a safe and interesting activity space for their children."

This is a unique housing cooperative, and its characteristic is that it is very "child-friendly". It was initiated by a group of neighbors who knew each other and had young children in their families. After the project was approved by the municipal government, with the joint efforts of the municipal government and the initiator, the project also attracted some families with no criminal records and children who were also interested in joining this housing cooperative.

The "Children" Housing Cooperative arranges parking at the entrance. The residential layout is enclosed, and the space between the two rows of houses is completely barrier-free for children to play. Every corner has been carefully arranged, full of a homely feeling. The living room and kitchen of the house have large windows facing the outdoor space. There is also a porch platform under the eaves, with tables and chairs, so that parents can watch their children play freely at ease, and the children's play facilities are completely shared.

At the same time, since the housing cooperative itself has non-profit characteristics, its commodity attributes are lower and its public attributes are stronger, and the residents here are also quite fixed, which means that every pair of parents in the community knows each other, and every child plays together, and parents do not have to worry about where their children are playing.

Ji Tianping started nagging again at the end, probably saying something like "the pure market mechanism cannot respond to the housing needs of the middle- and low-income groups. Our launch of the housing cooperative project is a manifestation of the city government's responsibility. The government's only goal is to better serve the people and satisfy their yearning for a better life."

This is nice talk, but in the current neoliberal America, many people may still feel that "If you can't get rich and live in a good house, it's because you don't work hard." In addition, some people think that the city government's assistance to low- and middle-income people will increase government spending, which is essentially "robbing the rich to help the poor", plundering the interests of high- and middle-income people to subsidize the poor...

But in reality, for the Long Beach City Government, promoting housing cooperatives will not mean a sharp increase in fiscal expenditures, but will reduce fiscal expenditures. After all, housing cooperatives are social organizations that receive professional guidance, and their lower housing prices mainly come from their non-profit nature, rather than from cost savings. First, since housing cooperatives do not have a marketing team, sales offices, or advertising expenses, their marketing costs are very low; second, housing cooperatives do not have funding problems, and their financing costs are very low, unlike some real estate companies, where financing costs alone account for more than 20% of the entire real estate project development cost.

In addition, the housing cooperative signs a contract with each participant and fully discloses to the participants the various components of the cost and the converted price per square meter. At the same time, a supervision group composed of residents is established to supervise the project progress, construction, payment of funds, etc. The full disclosure of costs has become a reason why housing cooperatives are popular.

The environmental quality of cooperative housing projects is often not inferior to that of market-oriented housing, or even better. Although the land provided by the Long Beach City Government to cooperatives has a preferential policy, it is not free or sold at a super low price, but sold at a reasonable price; the loans provided by the city government to cooperatives are also basically charged interest according to market standards. Housing cooperatives are equivalent to building, operating and maintaining a large number of inexpensive and beautiful non-profit properties with paid support from the government, which greatly simplifies the work of the government, but the management and maintenance effect is much better than that of subsidized housing.

The benefits are obvious, but the "difficulties" are naturally not small.

For example, if a housing cooperative project is very large and involves a lot of people, it is inevitable that there will be too many complex conflicts. Therefore, the Long Beach City Government is also deliberately controlling the size of a single housing cooperative project, so that there will be fewer conflicts and lower thresholds.

For example, the existence of housing cooperatives may lead to lower housing prices in the surrounding area, which will be boycotted by nearby real estate developers. However, before the boycott even started, the bosses took a plane. As for ordinary citizens protesting to the government that housing cooperatives have led to lower housing prices in the surrounding area, no matter which government department the head of, will reply: "This is market behavior. The fact that your houses can still be reduced in price shows that you do have room for price reduction."

Chapter 148: Democratic Party: I think you are very talented...

By the end of 1997, Long Beach had changed a lot compared to a year ago.

The first thing to talk about is public security. Long Beach experienced a public security problem that was affected by Los Angeles (the intuitive reason was that the radical MS-13 gang represented by "Carlos" could not fight against the gradually expanding Giant God Security in Los Angeles and was forced to develop in Long Beach.), causing a serious crisis. But after the arrival of the new city manager, he took a series of iron fist actions to show his zero tolerance for crime, which reversed the increasingly serious public security deterioration trend in Long Beach.

With the combination of "Digital Skynet" and "Community Policing", not only are the spaces for those who commit serious crimes getting smaller and smaller to hide, making them easier to track, but even the spaces for those who commit petty crimes to break the law are also getting smaller and smaller, causing great pain to the local criminal gangs in Long Beach. They complained: "Long Beach is becoming less and less free..."

After playing two "cards" in succession to punish crime, Ji Tianping took out the "housing cooperative" "card" from his "policy package" and played it. This card was not played randomly. He had two official reasons. One was to respond to the housing needs of middle- and low-income groups; the other was to create a combined effect with the "community policing" card.

But there is another potential purpose that does not need to be publicly stated at the moment, which is to subtly instill a little "collectivization" concept into the residents and let them directly experience this feeling in their lives.

"We want to unite the residents in public security. First, we need to let them participate more in public life and enhance their understanding of each other. If you don't even know what your neighbor looks like, how do you know whether the person who appears at the neighbor's door is him or a thief?"

"In this mixed living environment where no administrative orders are imposed, residents have the opportunity to practice grassroots democracy, jointly decide on the affairs of the cooperative, jointly maintain the infrastructure of the cooperative, and jointly plan the activities of the cooperative. This will make the residents feel very different from the feeling of ordinary residents about the residential area managed by a property management company. The cooperative is not only a place where everyone lives, but also has bars, barber shops, and restaurants. The residents of the cooperative have parties and dinners here. It is a home where everyone helps each other and experiences the ups and downs of life together. It can to a certain extent fight against the indifference, combing, and personal 'atomization' brought about by capitalism and modern urbanization."

Then, Ji Tianping changed the subject and said, "Of course, living in a collective life like this requires a certain sacrifice of personal privacy, and you cannot be completely indifferent to community activities. In addition, you have to accept that your personal living area is smaller, because a cooperative society requires a larger public space. Not everyone can accept such a life. For most Americans, if they have the opportunity to live in a big house, they will definitely move to a big house."

Most of the companies and organizations that undertake these housing cooperative projects are run by players, such as development consulting companies (real estate development planning, preparing application materials for cooperative members), community building teams (assisting cooperatives in screening applicants based on the positioning of the cooperatives, organizing residents' representatives to participate in the planning and design of the cooperatives, incubating autonomous teams within the cooperatives and assisting in operations), and planning and architectural design teams.

Such a result is also very characteristic of European and American capitalism, that is, "the introduction of a certain policy must serve a specific interest group." As a player, Ji Tianping proposed a bill with a wave of his hand, of course, to benefit the players and the Universal Group behind them.

"What, your business is overwhelmed?"

However, to Ji Tianping's surprise, now, housing cooperative projects are not only promoted by the players themselves, but also no longer belong only to the middle- and low-income groups. The "invisible hand" of the market has also begun to promote housing cooperatives and push them to other groups in society.

The first to appear is the market-grade housing cooperative that has been transformed by the "big hand of the market". It is sponsored by for-profit developers (real estate developers: if I can't beat you, I will join you). This kind of cooperative is mainly for middle- and high-income people, concentrated in areas of the city where land prices are high (a simple example: even company executives and elite white-collar workers can hardly afford a house within the third ring road of Beijing). The price of its members' purchase of shares is determined by the market, and the income status determines the purchase situation.

Following closely behind are a number of housing cooperatives that cater to specific needs:

One is the "shared living" cooperative. As we all know, Southern California has bright sunshine and a good natural environment. Many elderly Americans like to enjoy a leisurely retirement life with sea breeze and strolling on the beach. Although they can buy a house in California for retirement after selling their houses elsewhere, they are not so rich that they can afford to hire domestic workers to take care of themselves. In this case, a residential cooperative that integrates "old people" and "young people" has emerged.

After redesign and planning, the elderly transferred the "public space" of the house to the young people, and the young people were able to solve the problem of renting a house at a very low rent by helping with heavy physical work, cleaning, chatting, helping to change light bulbs and other daily activities, thus solving the problem of commuting to school or work.

Another type is the "co-working" student housing cooperative. As we all know, not everyone has the opportunity to live in a student dormitory when studying in the United States, and solving the housing problem by themselves is even more financially straining for young people who are carrying student loans. At the same time, on the "Tech Coast" in California, there are a bunch of ambitious college students who start their own businesses in simple garages, but their minds are thinking about the day when they will be successful.

When the city of Long Beach first launched its housing cooperative, college students who were steeped in "neoliberalism" expressed disdain for it. They wondered why the city government was still using its "visible big hand" to manipulate the market. Had the city government regressed by sixty years to the era of Roosevelt's New Deal? Even though everyone expressed disdain, the first group of smart college students quickly had in-depth communications with a development consulting company, and the two sides worked out a housing cooperative that combined "student groups" and "entrepreneurship."

Then all the students who moved into this housing cooperative compared the entrepreneurial environment in the garage with the houses they rented outside at high rents, and they all exclaimed "It's great". Then they changed their previous negative comments about the housing cooperative and the city manager, and began to highly praise the city manager and his new bill for creating a good environment for entrepreneurs.

This type of housing cooperative is between a student dormitory and a hotel. Except for the private bedroom, the rest of the space is shared, which first reduces the cost of renting a house for students. The community building team also assisted the cooperative in setting up an "entrepreneurship incubation space" so that young people who dare to start a business with a computer can "collide with passion" in this space. This not only makes it easier for entrepreneurs to reach cooperation with each other, but also allows players who have been observing them behind the scenes to quietly pay attention to which entrepreneurs and their entrepreneurial projects have great potential, and once there is a target worth investing in, they will immediately invest money to win it.

While Ji Tianping and the players were still thinking about what bills to introduce to continue their work, what they did not notice was that their policies over the past six months had already caused heated discussions among some people in the California media and political circles.

Some people believe that the government cannot intervene in these market behaviors. The poor have no houses to live in, and the middle and low-income people are under great pressure from mortgage loans. What does it have to do with the government? Our founding fathers said, "The best government is the one that manages the least."

However, some scholars and politicians believe that this city manager has demonstrated strong municipal management capabilities in a very short period of time, including strong execution, communication and coordination capabilities (referring to the fact that the bill was not blocked and that those bureaucrats who were slacking off were actually working seriously). This city manager is by no means just a ruthless lone wolf; he should have a team with strong execution capabilities to support him.

"If he is a mayor instead of a city manager, the achievements he and his team have made may give him a chance to challenge the governor in the future. Of course, that is an extremely exceptional case. This position will not generally be lost to local wealthy families..."

After much thought, the Democratic Party, which prefers to intervene in the market, called Long Beach first. Ji Tianping, who was confused, received a call from an unfamiliar number. The person on the other end of the phone introduced himself: "Hello, this is the office of the chairman of the California Democratic Party....

"

Chapter 149 Lin Dengsheng: I have a plan

"Task Name: Rebuilding a Democratic Republic (—)

Mission Reward: After completing a series of missions, your reward is the United States

Mission Description: Our comrade, Lin Dengsheng, made a bold suggestion to the board: steal America. Since the ghost of capitalism finally stole the Soviet Union, why can't we "ghosts" steal America?

Marx once predicted that the socialist revolution would be born in developed capitalist countries, but the reality is that it happened in relatively backward Russia and other countries. Perhaps Marx's idea was not wrong, but people at that time did not have the power to directly seize power in developed capitalist countries. But in the new era, our organizational system may bring about a turning point in this cause.

There are many advantages to stealing the United States and transforming it into a new source of "Our Cause". First, the United States is not a nation-state with a long history. It is a country that needs a grand narrative of "Manifest Destiny" to maintain. In this case, why can't we inject Our Cause into the new "American Manifest Destiny"? Second, we don't have to worry about "Our Cause" being isolated from the whole world. On the contrary, once we successfully seize the US regime, the massive overseas bases and global fleet will help us break the diplomatic isolation.

Are we isolated from the world? We surround the world!

Lindensheng once asked the board of directors a classic philosophical question: "If you replace all the parts of a ship, is it still the same ship?" If we use 20 to 30 years to gradually replace the capitalist ship of the United States and replace the parts that make up this ship step by step, will the new America still be the same as the old America?

Comrade Lin Dengsheng is very pleased with your reform pilot in Long Beach. The capabilities you have demonstrated will greatly help Lin Dengsheng in his next party actions. Lin Dengwan told Lin Dengsheng that he can always believe in the loyalty and capabilities of corporate warriors.

Next, we will send you Comrade Lin Dengsheng's public identity. In the future, you will receive various temporary tasks issued by Comrade Lin Dengsheng to assist Lin Dengsheng in entering the upper echelons of the Democratic Party. Of course, we will also send people to the Republican Party to hedge our bets. In the United States, a two-party country, if we want to gain power, we can only take advantage of the tattered Democratic and Republican party "caravans".

But our ultimate goal is definitely not to play along with these two parties. When the time is right, corporate warriors, I mean, once Lyndon Johnson or a comrade planted by the Republican Party becomes the President of the United States and obtains nominal supreme power, we will quickly transform this power into actual supreme power, using our infiltrated personnel in the military and the National Guard, and the direct armed forces of the Universal Group, to launch a major purge of the political, military, business, and cultural circles.

Well, the summary ends here. We still have a long way to go. Next, we will send you the specific information of Comrade Lin Dengsheng. The following is confidential:

Name: Lin Dengsheng

Public name: Francis Underwood

Position: Member of the California State Assembly (Democrat) Education/Degree: Master of Arts in International Relations, Stanford University

The sky was gray and a little chilly. Although Southern California was bathed in sunshine most of the time, the winter wind still invaded from time to time, bringing a bit of chill to people. In a towering office building in downtown Los Angeles, the office of Congressman Underwood was brightly lit. The warm light dispelled the cold outside and ignited the tense and intense atmosphere of discussion inside.

Underwood's office is located on the top floor of the building, with a view of the entire Los Angeles city through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The office is decorated in a simple and elegant style, with black leather sofas, dark wooden bookcases, and several portraits of great historical figures on the wall. Underwood often overlooks the city from his office, as if he were the mayor of the city.

At this moment, Underwood was sitting in a leather chair behind the desk, scanning the staff in front of him with sharp eyes.

"Gentlemen," Underwood said in a deep and powerful voice, "The new mayoral election in Los Angeles is coming soon. James Hahn, this old guy, has now revealed his flaws. His bribery scandal and bad economic policies have made him a fish with exposed wounds in this sea. The sharks in the sea have smelled the blood and can't wait to start a slaughter. Now, I have decided to join this feast!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several staff members began to whisper to each other, their expressions showing worry and uneasiness. The chief of staff spoke first, pushing his glasses on the bridge of his nose and slowly said: "Underwood, although the current mayor James Hahn is involved in a bribery scandal, he is a local political family after all. If you decide to run for mayor, you will inevitably clash with him head-on. He is also a Democrat, and if you do this, it will cause dissatisfaction within the party."

Underwood frowned slightly, crossed his hands on the table, and listened to him quietly. At this time, another young staff member continued: "James Hahn's family has deep political roots in Los Angeles. Even if we win the election by chance, James Hahn will not hand over his resources. You don't have a reliable team to execute your orders. Sir, being the mayor of Los Angeles requires too many professional assistance. It is completely different from speaking in the council."

Almost no one affirmed Underwood's proposal and gave suggestions. Instead, they all advised Underwood to "back off". Underwood slowly stood up, walked to the French window, put his hands behind his back, and stared at the city scene outside the window. There was not much emotion on his face, only a firm look.

"Everyone, I understand your concerns." Underwood turned around and looked at his staff with a firm gaze. "I will win the support of the party. James Hahn's poll numbers are very low, and he is out! If the Democratic Party still wants to maintain control of the position of Los Angeles mayor and prevent it from being taken away by the Republicans, it would be more useful to use resources on newcomers. Right now, I can't think of anyone in the party who is more suitable than me to compete for this position."

He walked back to the desk, rested his hands on the table, leaned forward slightly, and continued: "As for the professional team you mentioned... In fact, we have such a team now. Just last week, the office of the chairman of the California Democratic Party called the city of Long Beach. And I personally have had a long talk with the recently famous city manager...'

Now, the staff were collectively stunned. When did you, Underwood, secretly find other people to help you behind our backs? You... Well, it's a good thing that the team can grow. At least the campaign for mayor of Los Angeles seems safer.

"Then, what we have to do next is to develop a detailed campaign strategy." Underwood said firmly, "We have to attack and attack again. Don't be afraid of fighting with the Republican candidates, and don't be afraid of fighting with James Hahn. If you want to gain respect within the party, your only way is to win continuously, to win by any means, rather than to compromise and give in without any bottom line!"

In the following time, the atmosphere in the office became more tense and active. The staff sat around the conference table and launched a fierce brainstorming. The chief of staff proposed some specific campaign strategies, including how to establish a "personality" for Underwood to deal with the media's doubts about Underwood's lack of governance experience, and how to transform the reputation brought by Giant God into Underwood's "political achievements." Other staff members were responsible for following up on poll data, some thought of continuing to expand the publicity of James Hahn's scandal, and some proposed to publicize that the Republican candidate was a homosexual based on the information obtained by hearsay...

Outside the window, the night scene of Los Angeles gradually lights up, and the lights of the city are brilliant. In this cold winter night, Underwood's heart is burning with a flame. When his staff learned that he just wanted to run for mayor of Los Angeles, they showed an "unrealistic" expression. If they knew that he wanted to seek the position of President of the United States, they would definitely be shocked.

"If I hadn't known that I would get the help of the organization and the cooperation of the corporate warriors, I would have been shocked."

Chapter 150: The Campaign is a One-Man Show

"Mr. Chairman, we all know that James Hahn was once the mainstay of the party, but now he is embroiled in scandals. Continuing to support Hahn will only sink the political foundation that the Democratic Party has worked hard to build in Los Angeles into a swamp, which is tantamount to putting our entire party on the edge of a volcano, and it is possible that our opponents will defeat it at any time. I understand your concerns. Hahn's family background and his past contributions cannot be ignored, but we must face the reality. If we continue to invest resources in Hahn, the important position of Los Angeles mayor is likely to fall into the hands of the Republicans, which will be a negation of all our efforts..."

Christmas of 1997 has passed and 1998 has arrived. The various measures taken by the California Democratic Party have not been able to help James Hahn save the situation. On the one hand, the Republican Party continued to pursue its victory, and on the other hand, James Hahn himself made mistakes in keeping secrets many times and was involved in one scandal after another.

The scandal that the Republicans are pursuing relentlessly is a corruption case involving bribery in a project. James Hahn approved a $90 billion construction plan to expand and renovate Los Angeles' airports, ports and other public facilities. The Airport Commission is solely responsible for the bidding and construction of the Los Angeles International Airport project renovation.

Then, a shocking news came out. An engineering company reported to the U.S. Federal Inspector General that because the competitor of the engineering company paid a "sponsorship fee" of $10 for a political action initiated by Hahn, the Airport Commission temporarily changed the agreement with itself and handed over a multi-million-dollar airport construction project to its competitor. The engineering company certainly would not sit idly by and watch the project "missed" by itself, so it went to the Airport Commission to argue. However, the Airport Commission not only did not appease, but also blamed the engineering company, saying that it was because you did not "happily" pay the money that caused the project to change.

The engineering company could not bear this, so they took the secretly recorded evidence to the pro-Republican media and directly "exposed" it to the Airport Commission and the mayor!

So, this is the first paragraph, Underwood's words to the chairman of the California Democratic Party. These words were not only said by Underwood. In fact, many people in the Democratic Party have expressed similar concerns. They are all worried that if Hahn continues to be protected, the Democratic Party may overturn in Los Angeles. Los Angeles is an important city in California, and California is one of the most critical "voting bases" in the United States. The Democratic Party does not want a Republican mayor to emerge from an important city in a blue state. Although this Republican mayor will not overturn the situation that California is a "blue state", it is still a trouble.

Underwood acts like a person who cares about the Democratic Party, but the same words coming out of his mouth are different because Underwood has worked in the Los Angeles County Council. He has worked in the community of Los Angeles, helping the Los Angeles police deploy patrol officers in crime hot spots. He has cooperated with the recently famous Giant God Company and accepted political donations from it. The bigwigs of the California Democratic Party also know that it was Underwood who coordinated when the California Democratic Party persuaded the Long Beach City Manager and his team to serve the Democratic Party.

The chairman of the California Democratic Party smiled at the rather young newcomer, as if to say: "Why are you pretending in front of an old fox like me?" However, in the short term, there seems to be no more suitable replacement than Underwood. Hahn's poll data is still very bleak, and it is indeed not a good strategy to continue to protect him, unless the Democratic Party is willing to surrender to the Republicans.

"Maybe it's time to give these young people a chance?" Thinking of this, the chairman of the California Democratic Party stopped Underwood who was about to leave and said to Underwood: "Young man, you should talk to the Newsom family, the Getty family, the Pelosi family, and the Brown family."

--ana--.--------

Underwood's residence is located in an inconspicuous building in downtown Los Angeles. The exterior wall is shrouded in the night, which makes it look a little dark, but the house is exceptionally warm. The flames in the fireplace flicker gently, making crackling sounds, warming the whole room. Various books are neatly arranged on the bookshelf, and several important documents and a cup of still-warm coffee are placed on the table.

The communication process with the Democratic Party families in California was not easy. Underwood had to temporarily forget his identity as "Linden Johnson" and devote himself to playing the role of Underwood, a young and ambitious politician. He did a good job, allowing the political families in California to see an Underwood who was smart, talented and competitive.

"Any kid who can climb from the bottom to this position has ambition. As long as we inspire this ambition and give him a chance, he will move forward courageously." When Underwood left, these California families gave him similar comments. Of course, this alone was not enough for California's political families to fully support Underwood in his bid for the position of mayor of Los Angeles. Although they were from the same party, they just did not oppose him at most. Only if Underwood paid enough "letters of allegiance" would they be willing to give more help.

"It's enough as long as you don't object. What? Screw the letter of allegiance.........."

Back home, the exhausted Underwood took the pajamas from his wife and prepared to rest. At this moment, there was a gentle knock on the door. Underwood retracted his gaze, raised the corners of his lips slightly, and revealed a meaningful smile. He walked quickly to the door, saw the other person's appearance through the door mirror, and then decisively opened the door.

"Senator Underwood, it's nice to meet you."

Underwood held her hand tightly and said, "Come in, come in, we have a lot to discuss." While pulling her arm, Underwood said to his confused wife, "Go back to your room and rest first. I still have work to discuss. Oh, remember to bring the dog back to the room."

After several people came to Underwood's office at home and sat down, Underwood did not rush to speak, but personally poured a glass of red wine for each person. The wine reflected a deep red light under the light, as if reflecting the secrets in everyone's heart. Because they had a common secret, Underwood felt particularly relaxed, much more relaxed than when communicating with those old foxes.

"Congressman Underwood, oh, maybe we can also call you Comrade Lindensheng..."

This is the first time that players meet one of their bosses in theory. Most of the main quests that players accept are issued by Linden Wan and Linden Tu, and now there is another Linden Sheng. These people are different from the general NPCs who issue quests. In many cases, the rules and behaviors of players are restricted by them. For example, killing people indiscriminately will result in a ban. This is equivalent to meeting the administrator and dog planner of the game itself in an online game..........

It's impossible not to be curious.

Then, before the players could even finish their jokes, Underwood began discussing the actual work content with them:

"The next step in collecting scandals and inside information is to focus on the Republican candidates, because Hahn is out!"

"Giant God Company is going to arrange a community service activity to show my friendly image! Oh, I remember you have a good relationship with the Los Angeles Times. Can you arrange an interview for me? TV programs, news interviews, we have to use all methods to increase exposure..."

"Gentlemen, to be honest, I am very lacking in municipal management experience. After I take office as mayor, I will definitely need to hire an administrator (similar to a city manager) and a complete management team from corporate warriors. But before running for mayor, I cannot show up in front of the camera knowing nothing about municipal management. I need the Long Beach city manager to give me a crash course..."

Just as Underwood continued to chatter, a player sitting inside suddenly said, "Underwood...Oh, Comrade Lindensheng, I admit that what you said is relatively safe. You may be able to use it to temporarily win the position of mayor of Los Angeles, but what about when you run for governor or president? These old methods are absolutely not safe, because you can't defeat the political elite in areas they are familiar with!"

"So..." 5

The player continued: "Americans don't care what professional terms their leaders utter. They need leaders to bring them hope, passion, and a new feeling! You are good at speaking and you are young, which is an advantage, but it is not enough! Let me give you an idea. Where is this place? This is Los Angeles! This is where Hollywood is! Of course you have to use celebrity traffic methods to get attention! Now, instead of accepting a TV interview, you might as well participate in a prime-time talk show! As for the future, I think you can first shoot a few well-received TV series and movies, in which you can be a superhero or the President of the United States."

Chapter 151 Comedians, tough guys and Escape from Jakarta

Americans like two types of leaders. One type is humorous, close to the people, and not arrogant, making you feel that he is a reliable "American Daddy"; the other type is an eloquent and highly inflammatory leader, who can make everyone "excited" with just a speech; the other type is a "superhero"-like leader. For example, if the US Air Force One or the White House is hijacked by terrorists, what Americans want to see is that the US president pulls out a gun to kill the terrorists.