Empire of Shadows

Chapter 181: This is the Federal Dream [Monthly Ticket 666+4]

The silent theater was like before a statue in a monastery; everyone was staring intently at Lance, who was draped in golden light under the spotlight, as if waiting for a voice from the heavenly kingdom.

Perhaps it was a few seconds, perhaps longer, before Lance spoke, his voice not loud, but very clear, so clear that it felt like a hammer blow to their eardrums!

"At least eight or nine hundred dollars!"

Some people felt as if they had collapsed upon hearing this number; the old man couldn't even stand and slumped back into his chair!

They found it hard to believe the truth of this number, but they couldn't help but believe it, because Lance was telling them the truth!

"A pound of wine, as long as it's not spoiled, is currently priced at about seventy to eighty dollars on the market."

"In reality, our output is about fifteen hundred pounds, so I gave you a very low price."

"Some of you may think I'm cheating you, so, as long as you can bring me wine, don't try to fool me with bad stuff, I'll give you at least fifty dollars per bottle."

"Why not seventy or eighty dollars?"

"Because I also need to make money!"

"But, gentlemen, compared to the tenfold profit driven by a hundred and fifty dollar cost, I believe you should know how to choose!"

It sounded like a story, but it was very real, and Lance was sure that the price of grapes would skyrocket, increasing tenfold!

Whether doing "futures" or buying it back directly for winemaking, from the current perspective of the market's lack of sensitivity, now is the most suitable time!

Capital tycoons are currently focusing their attention on the financial market and a small amount of the real economy; they have not yet realized that a social experiment will create a large group of people, organizations, and enterprises who suddenly become rich due to huge profits.

By the time they wake up, the first bite will have already been eaten!

But soon they will follow closely behind; in fact, some people have already noticed, but they have not yet realized how crazy this will be!

Just like those merchants and companies that sell grapes, they would never have imagined that unsalable grapes would soon become hot commodities, and people would even fight for more grapes!

The grand blueprint of the future described by Lance no longer needed him to embellish it; it was already slowly unfolding before people's eyes.

As these people recovered from the shock of the huge profits, everyone looked at Lance with shining eyes, as if they had seen God!

Lance returned to the sofa, "This is why I said they would definitely regret it."

"This market is very large, and the money we have in hand is not enough to support us in monopolizing it, so others will definitely discover it and follow suit."

"This means that we can only eat the fattest first bite, but even the first bite is enough to make us rich!"

"You need to know that the hundred and fifty dollar cost that Nick mentioned earlier includes the winemaking tools."

"In other words, its actual cost is currently only eighty-odd dollars, and it can be sold for at least seven or eight hundred dollars, a tenfold profit, gentlemen!"

"And whether we do spot delivery or buy it for winemaking, we have a lot of room for profit."

"But this matter cannot be done by us individually; if you do it, and he does it, it will soon attract the attention of capital tycoons."

"By then, we won't earn a single cent, so this matter must be done by the Chamber of Commerce!"

"You raise money and bring it to the Chamber of Commerce, and we will determine the profit distribution according to the capital allocation, according to the rules we set before, 10% goes to me, and 5% goes to the Chamber of Commerce."

"You can get 85% of your net profit. If you have ten thousand dollars, I think your income will be about thirty-two thousand dollars in three months."

"If you plan to make your own wine, then the profit may be even higher, but that is your business. I only charge a percentage of the profit from the price of the grapes themselves."

He looked at the restless crowd who couldn't sit still and continued, "There are many opportunities to make money, and I hope you can cherish this opportunity."

"At the same time, I also hope that no one outside of us knows about this."

"At least before we get the money that belongs to us, I don't want one of you to be unable to control your mouth for a moment, exposing our plan and causing us huge losses."

"I am not those big capitalists. When I know that I am kindly leading you to make money together, but you are doing something to betray me, I guarantee that I will not talk to you about any evidence!"

He paused, "If anyone thinks this is a scam and is unwilling to participate, then feel free."

"But those who plan to make a fortune in this business, bring the money to me, I will register you, and then make a fortune from them!"

"By the way, if anyone plans to make wine but doesn't know how, you can also come to us. Nick will teach you the technology, but similarly, for every bottle of wine you produce in the future, we will take 5% of the commission!"

At this stage, the price of Luigi's wine is very attractive, even cheap, worthless, but this is only temporary.

Luigi is not the kind of person who dedicates light and heat to others. What he is doing now is essentially no different from what capitalists do.

His purpose is very simple, to open up the federal smuggled wine market. When he occupies a certain market share, he will start to raise prices.

Just like those de facto monopoly capitalists, when they are fighting for market share, they can even give you things for free.

But when those competitors are acquired or killed by them, and they are the only ones left in the entire market, when they say their goods are worth one dollar, you must spend one dollar to buy them, not twenty-five cents or fifty cents.

Monopoly brings pricing power. Luigi's wine will be sold for a maximum of half a year, a year, and he will definitely increase the price significantly.

By that time, Lance's profit margin will be very low, so letting these people make wine is essentially for a cheap source of goods later.

Everyone listened to what he said. At this time, they suddenly realized that the person who pushed the Federal Dream in front of them had destroyed the entire Camilla gang not long ago.

The expressions on their faces straightened, becoming a little more serious, and everyone promised that they would never reveal any news.

Of course, Lance also gave them a trick, "If you really want to make money with your relatives, then borrow money from them and promise them high returns."

"If they are willing to lend you money, then I don't think there is any problem with you making money with them."

"But if they are unwilling to lend you money, this will also allow you to take the opportunity to see the true faces of some people!"

Lance raised his wrist and glanced at his watch, "That's it, come with your money on Thursday."

"I must say one thing, don't borrow usurious loans!"

"That's it!"

He waved his hand and turned to leave with Nick, ignoring the theater, which was already as lively as a market.

Those people were definitely discussing how to raise the most money in the shortest possible time.

Nick couldn't help but ask, "Will anyone leak the news with so many people?"

Lance shook his head, "If they leak the news, I will let them know the price of doing so, and as I said, there are many opportunities to make money, this is not the first, nor the last."

"Compared to this, I want to see our wine more..."

Nick had been making wine for twenty days. The fermentation process in winter is much slower. The winery is located in an abandoned ranch in the suburbs.

Now the ranch and the surrounding land have been bought, and a "Private Property" sign has been erected, prohibiting entry.

They made some simple modifications to the ranch, raising some dairy cows and beef cattle as cover. In several warehouses, they were already filled with fermenting and aging wine.

There is no road to the farm, only a dirt road, dilapidated, which also happens to block some people who run over out of curiosity to explore.

Lance and the others arrived inside by carriage. Even in winter, there was still the smell of cow dung.

The smell of cow dung outside covered a lot of the smell of alcohol. As the group entered the livestock warehouse, the room suddenly became hot.

In order to give the wine a better fermentation environment, it was much warmer here than outside.

Nick picked up a bottle of wine at random, carefully released a little air first, confirmed that it would not explode, and then opened the lid and poured some out.

Lance tasted it, and it was hard to describe, "It's a bit sour, and it tastes quite sweet, with a strange taste that I can't describe."

Nick also took a small sip, "It still needs to be adjusted, the taste is very good. From my point of view, you may not be used to it."

For people who are not accustomed to this simple homemade wine, it tastes like... a bit of sour and sweet grape juice, and a bit of a strange fermented taste.

The main reason for this is that the grapes used to make wine are not grapes specifically for making wine, and the variety of grapes is not very good.

And the environment here... Although Nick has tried his best to ensure that it is clean here, there will always be some bacteria and the like. Lance doesn't understand this very well, but he thinks it should be roughly like this.

He put down the cup, "Pick a part, and we'll sell it at the Workers' Club first."

"Do you really think someone will buy this stuff?"

Hiram licked his lips next to him and said softly, "Actually, it tastes pretty good. If the price is not outrageous, why not?"

Lance turned to look at Nick. "I've been meaning to ask, what's the cost of each bottle?"

Nick did some mental calculations but couldn't get an exact figure, so he gave a rough estimate, "About... ten cents?"

"Shit!" Lance picked up his glass and took another sip. He pondered for a moment, "It tastes amazing, brothers!"

"This is the taste of fucking money!"

The surrounding people were stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but burst into laughter, each of them receiving a glass.

Ten cents cost, even if they sold it for fifty cents a bottle, they could still make four times the profit!

Thank God for Prohibition!