Empire of Shadows

Capital, society, politics, and commercialization have always been happening in the Federation.

In the beginning, politicians might have been relatively pure. There were fewer free voters; the party congress nominated candidates, and most of those with votes were major parties and a few large capitalists.

The result of who could win wasn't from the election, but from political deals and compromises before the election.

According to official, though not necessarily accurate, statistics, the initial Federation had less than fifteen percent of people with legal voting rights.

There is also a saying that it was less than ten percent.

So, in that period, deciding who did what was an internal matter for the major parties.

But as the Federal government continued to give voting rights to the people, and more people participated in this, elections were no longer simply "I (the politician) have a dream," but "I (the politician) want to realize your (the voters') dreams!"

Now, campaigns rely more on publicity. Politicians have to let the people know "I can respond to your ideas and realize them." This is the essence of current elections.

If you don't promote yourself, if you don't let more people know there is such a person who says he can realize our ideas, they won't vote for you.

And the publicity itself is a kind of "self-selling" behavior, accompanied by a series of transactions related to capital, so political commercialization is an inevitable result and cannot be reversed.

Of course, this isn't to say that giving people some political rights is bad, it's just that in this evolution, capital has gotten out of control!

Two hundred years ago, a mayor could hang a capitalist just by saying "I think so," but now, they not only can't touch the interests of capitalists casually, but also have to be good friends with them, because capitalists are more important than them in elections!

As a member of the Federal government system, William was well aware of this, but he wasn't quite sure of Lance's attitude, so he was very "careful."

Lance wasn't careless. He knew very well that although political capital had been established, politicians still had considerable influence. Having his own people was the core of his "next step plan."

When William heard him say he wanted to find a 200-square-meter office in the city center, the smile on his face grew much bigger.

Pricilia was next to the city center, not a remote area, but it was ultimately not in the city center.

It's like the houses in the port area close to the Bay Area. Even if they open the door in the morning and see the rich girls in the rich area running on the hillside, they can only say they are from the port area, not the Bay Area.

The city center is the city center, and if it's not the city center, it's not the city center, no matter how close it is!

He licked his lips, "Two hundred square meters will cost a lot of money."

Lance shook his head, "Three hundred at most, a month. If you can find an office near Jin Gang Park, I can afford more on the rent."

Jin Gang Park is the largest park in the center of Jin Gang City. More than one mayor has mentioned it in external publicity, believing that Jin Gang Park is the most proud place in Jin Gang City—

The development of the city has not completely focused on commercialization. There is still a fully open, free large park in the expensive area, which is the humanistic care of Jin Gang City.

But they seemed to have forgotten that more than one mayor had planned to demolish the park and turn it into a diamond land, but it didn't succeed.

A large number of marches, demonstrations, and strikes almost overwhelmed the entire city. This is the reason for keeping it, not because of any humanistic care.

Being able to find an office near here is definitely a symbol of "strength."

"No problem, I'll keep an eye out."

He paused and said, "The main thing is these, and then there is decoration, furniture, all kinds of consumables, a maximum of fifty dollars per month."

"If we calculate according to half a year…"

He looked down at the form he wrote himself again, "About eight thousand dollars is enough."

Lance nodded after listening, "There's a bit of a problem."

William immediately moved his butt forward, "Tell me."

Lance glanced at him, "Don't be so nervous…"

"First of all, your salary is not written on this. I will also give you five hundred dollars a month. You have to take care of your family, Emily and Patricia."

"Then I will equip you with a few cars, first calculated as four, two thousand dollars each, which is eight thousand dollars."

"It is impossible for you to have no activity funds when you go to work. I will give you ten thousand first, but you have to keep accounts. I need to know where every penny goes."

"Plus the previous eight thousand…", "The total is thirty-two thousand."

William was a little surprised, "You're good at math."

Lance wanted to laugh when he heard this, and he did laugh, but William didn't know what was so funny, it was a bit inexplicable.

"I can't give you so much money now…"

Seeing William showing a strange expression, he explained, "Those legal money will be of great use next, and I won't give you those black money."

"Before you have the ability to resist risks, we have to be careful!"

William nodded in agreement. In fact, many big politicians are using black money to campaign or hold various political activities. Even the tax bureau can't figure out where every penny comes from.

Especially there are "anonymous donations" at every turn. An envelope with a stack of banknotes comes, god knows whether the money is clean or not.

And even if it's not clean, what can you do?

Everyone always says that the tax bureau is very clean and independent, but is it really 100% independent?

Is there really no dirt at all?

This is a question mark!

After missing this topic, William suddenly became a little interested in what Lance was going to do with those money, "Are you planning to invest in the financial industry?"

Financial investment and financial speculation are currently the fastest ways to make money, without one.

Barbara works in a financial company. Sometimes during family gatherings, she talks about the brokers and clients in the company.

Maybe just because of a smart all_in, assets can be multiplied several times, dozens of times overnight!

The stories of going to heaven overnight and going to hell overnight happen every day, but people pay more attention to the survivors of those financial killing fields, which also makes them mistakenly think that it is easy to make money in this industry.

Lance shook his head. He took a sip of black tea. The taste was average, "I plan to use it to order and buy grapes."

Lance had heard a friend surnamed Lin in it talk about how to use one hundred dollars to leverage one hundred million.

Of course, he listened to it as a story and bragging, but he had to admit that as long as all aspects of the factors were in line, there was indeed this possibility.

It's like people often say that two light-skinned couples can give birth to a dark-skinned child. This is the result of a small probability of genetic mutation.

As long as all the factors are appropriate at the right time, then even if there is no biological father-son blood relationship in genetics, it is possible!

William didn't know much about making money, but he also knew that grape prices had been rising very fast recently, "How much are you planning to buy?"

He had a hunch it wouldn't be too little.

Lance shook his head and said, "Not sure, but I'll keep a few thousand dollars in my hand, and the rest will be used up."

William gasped, "Are you so optimistic about the rise in grape prices?"

Lance smiled mysteriously. In order to let this future partner and Patricia's father feel his "mystery", he didn't mind showing his "incredible" side slightly.

"I don't know much about the price and development trend of grapes…"

Before he could finish speaking, William frowned.

You don't know, but you still invest so much. Do you think you have too much money?

Just as he was considering whether to persuade Lance, Lance's next sentence made him think—

"But I am very confident in the Federation's determination to ban alcohol!"

William stopped talking all of a sudden. He also quickly realized that many people knew that grapes could be used to make wine.

Federal people also have the habit of brewing their own wine.

William said softly after more than ten seconds, "But doing so is illegal."

Lance didn't care at all, "When they first told you, everything except that position was pagan, didn't many people use other positions?

"If you believe me, this is a good opportunity to make a fortune."

"Its price will increase at least five times or more, and the stricter it is, the more it will increase, and eventually it can even be priced higher than gold!"

William didn't believe it. Grapes will always be grapes, and they can be grown in the ground, but he didn't believe that their price could exceed gold!

But he would pay attention and planned to take out some money, two thousand dollars.

If what Lance said was true, then these two thousand dollars would soon become four or five thousand, seven or eight thousand, or even ten thousand dollars!

A while later, the two gentlemen who finished the conversation returned to the living room. Emily had already cut a new fruit plate.

This is a port city. Although the Federation is currently in winter, the southernmost part of Yalan is still very warm, with more than 20 degrees.

Many fruits are sent back from there.

Ordinary people may not be able to afford the expensive fruits in the window that have been picked for less than a week, but middle-class families can still afford them.

"Gentlemen, what did you talk about? Would you like to share it with the ladies?"

Emily took the initiative to sit next to William, so that Lance could sit next to Patricia.

"We talked about some work matters. You wouldn't be interested."

William ended Emily's inquiry. After all, Lance hadn't left yet, and it was a little impolite to talk about this topic now.

But this can also be seen as a sign that the two sides are very familiar, and he knows that Emily will definitely ask again at night.

This time, he must persevere. Even with cruel torture, he wouldn't speak until the very last moment.

"Alright, there will always be a time when you're willing to talk!" She didn't dwell on that but actively shifted to a new topic.

A clever hostess always knows when and how to make the atmosphere better, not worse.

Since William didn't want to talk about those things, she avoided work-related topics and instead talked about the popular new talking pictures.

"I heard that because of this movie, some cinema ticket prices have increased by five to ten cents."

"It's so popular! We even asked about it a couple of days ago. From 5 PM to 8 PM, there wasn't a single ticket available!"

She was talking about the Starlight District, a place for the wealthy to enjoy themselves and the safest area besides the Imperial District, second only to the Bay Area.

Others followed suit and talked about this topic, which reminded Lance of opening a cinema.

"How many cinemas do we have here?"

William looked at Emily, as he certainly didn't know.

Emily thought for a moment, "I don't know either, but probably over a hundred?"

She wasn't very sure but was interested. "Do you have any new ideas?"

Lance mentioned Gerald and his plan to invest in cinemas, being optimistic about the development of movies.

Emily was slightly interested, but only a little, purely because being a star was something almost all women of all ages loved.

For the current middle class, going to the cinema was something only enjoyed by the lower classes, although there were cinemas in the Starlight District.

More often, they preferred to go to the opera, even though many didn't actually understand it.

After chatting about everyday matters for a while, the sound of a car horn came from outside. Lance had called earlier to have them come and pick him up.

It was time to get up and say goodbye. After bidding farewell to William and Emily, Patricia escorted Lance to the door.

She had a lot to say but didn't know how to start. Lance simply gave her a hug.

"I have to go now. Take care of yourself. I hope my little pig is always healthy."

The girl hugged him too, and time seemed to stand still for a moment. After a while, Lance took the initiative to let go, which made her feel a little lost.

He brushed the snowflakes off the girl's head, "Go back, I have to leave."

The girl nodded, made an affirmative sound, and watched Lance leave gracefully until he was out of sight.

The next morning, after a week, Lance gathered all the people who had joined the Imperial Chamber of Commerce.

He had specifically found a theater nearby, otherwise, it wouldn't be able to accommodate so many people.

Around ten o'clock in the morning, most people had arrived, but some hadn't because they couldn't get away for the time being.

Lance stood on the stage of the theater and had the doors closed. The special architectural structure allowed his voice to be heard clearly even by those sitting at the very back.

It was said that humans had known how to use the conductivity of sound to design similar buildings thousands of years ago.

"Thank you for taking the time to come. There have only been a few people joining the Chamber of Commerce each day recently, so starting from Monday, the Chamber will no longer accept applications."

He paused here to allow them to interpret, and some people did show strange expressions.

Because some people thought that Lance would accept anyone joining the Chamber of Commerce at any time since he could collect membership fees.

But now, it didn't seem to be the case.

Lance sat on a low sofa, casually and relaxedly crossing his legs. One of his hands rested on the back of the sofa, "I've heard the rumors outside, but I don't care because they will soon regret it."

"The reason I've gathered you here today is to tell you that the first opportunity to make money has arrived."

"Grapes!"

The murmur from hundreds of people was loud, even though their individual voices were quiet, they created a considerable sound when combined.

The old man from before stood up again, "Mr. Lance, what do you mean by grapes?"

Lance motioned for him to sit down, "Because of Prohibition, the price of alcohol is skyrocketing, but if you pay attention, you'll find that the price of grapes has increased by nearly sixty percent from October last year to now, and the delivery price three months from now has already increased by nearly one hundred percent."

"It's doubled in half a year, and this is under the condition that the management of Prohibition isn't strict."

"As a large amount of stored wine is consumed, the price of smuggled alcohol begins to rise, making it difficult for ordinary people to buy cheap alcohol. Winemaking has become one of their few options."

"The price of fresh grapes is currently less than one hundred dollars a ton, Nick!" He suddenly called out Nick's name.

A person walked from behind the scenes to the front and sat on another set of sofas at Lance's direction.

"Tell our friends how much wine can be produced from one pound of grapes."

Nick's face was somewhat fanatical. At first, he didn't realize this, but when Lance told him to continue scaling up winemaking, he realized that this was just picking up money!

Even though he had known about this for a few days, he was still very excited every time he talked about it!

"Mr. Lance, everyone, approximately three-quarters of a pound of wine can be produced from one pound of grapes." His voice was still a little trembling.

At this moment, the previously noisy theater suddenly fell silent.

Everyone knew how crazy the price of alcohol was now, but they didn't expect that the price of winemaking materials would be so low!

Lance didn't give them more time to think. The feeling of pleasure, once it starts, can't be stopped. Stopping might lead to a disappointing ending. It must be bombarded round after round, stimulating the nerves to truly feel good!

"Nick, tell everyone how much wine we can make with one ton of grapes, and what the cost is."

"Okay, Mr. Lance." He took out a pack of cigarettes, "Can I have one first?"

Lance leaned forward slightly and extended a hand. "I want one too."

Some laughter came from the theater, and soon it was filled with smoke.

Nicotine eased Nick's emotions, "Even unskilled people can produce about two hundred gallons (seven hundred and fifty kilograms) of wine from one ton of grapes."

"As for the cost, at the current price of less than eighty-five dollars a ton, plus some tools and materials, the cost is about one hundred and fifty dollars."

With a whoosh, the entire theater was as if someone had burned a large pot of oil, boiled it, and then poured a ladle of cold water into it!

Everyone couldn't believe what their ears had heard. They were asking the people around them for confirmation. Lance kept raising his hand, signaling them not to speak, but it still lasted for more than a minute before the discussion stopped.

He stood up, his eyes seemed to have a light shining out, "One hundred and fifty dollars, two hundred gallons of wine, do you know how much money these wines can sell for on the market?"

Everyone held their breath. Countless times in the dead of night, they longed for the day they could change their lives, but every time they woke up, reality would give them a heavy punch.

Until this moment, they finally realized that fate was about to change!

In fact, there is a very advanced call and response here, but I am afraid that you will not be able to see it, and I do not want to tell you the correct answer, so I will remind you.

It's been several books, why hasn't the class representative appeared yet?