Empire of Shadows

For the current rulers of the Federation, using gangs to restrain gangs was one of the simplest and most effective methods, and the key was that it worked very well.

Unfortunately, Charlie and Bandy had made a mess of the internal stability of Golden Port City, leaving them with an incredibly passive situation.

If the police force were still in their hands, they could have easily dealt with Lance. Whether it was by investigating his criminal businesses or directly finding trouble with him, they could have made Lance quickly disappear within Golden Port City.

Or, if the Five Families had not had any problems, then any one of the families could have easily dealt with Lance.

These people were fucking useless!

But neither Mr. Hoff nor Mr. Charles had realized a problem.

The internal “stability” of Golden Port City had lasted for so many years. Why had it suddenly collapsed in these past few years?

Was it because the system was not perfect?

No, this set of city rules and regulations had been implemented for twenty or thirty years and had always been very stable and efficient. This was not its problem.

Was it because the people who implemented it were not capable?No, either. Whether it was Charlie, Hunter, or the heads of the Five Families, they were the best choices for their positions in this era.

There were no problems with the rules and regulations, and there were no problems with the personnel. So what on earth had caused everything to go to ruin?

No one had noticed this. They would not think about it, nor would they go looking for it. After all, for these gentlemen, they were just one after another, countless “small matters.”

It was not until these small matters had accumulated into a big one that they wanted to find the root of the problem and make up for it, but it was already too late.

In fact, the problem lay in this era itself.

If Lance had had a decent job, and the boss had not withheld his wages.

If Ethan had not faced huge extortion because of some small problems.

If…

Lance, plus too many ifs, had ultimately toppled everything.

People couldn’t see the ant next to the first domino that fell. They could only see the domino that fell and the Empire State Building that was ultimately toppled!

The one who had proposed this idea was Mr. Hoff, so it was also he who contacted Joshua. And here, only he and Joshua knew each other.

It was possible that others also knew him, but they would not take the initiative to take on this matter, because the reputation of the Holy Bell Party was really too bad.

Since they had already agreed on a method of handling it, everyone’s mood also relaxed a little. At this moment, the butler suddenly came to say that someone had come to visit.

Mr. Charles had the butler bring the person over. The unlucky merchant was holding his hat in his hand, his shoulders slightly forward, looking as if he were curling up his body.

Although he also lived in the Bay Area, living in the Bay Area did not mean that he was at the core of the Bay Area’s interests.

Just like not everyone who lived in New Golden City was a senator; some could also be homeless.

“Is there something?” Mr. Charles glanced at this unlucky merchant. He had seen this guy several times, but he could never remember his name.

However, he had never thought of remembering this person’s name, whether in the past or now.

He didn’t need to remember the name of such a minor character, just as a person would not care about the name of a ditch on the way to and from work.

For them, the general term was “dog.”

The unlucky merchant nodded. “Customs says my goods have some warning risks and need to be inspected before they can be cleared.”

Mr. Charles, and the other gentlemen in the room, looked at him with a condescending gaze. That look made him feel a strong sense of inferiority and discomfort.

His voice also became smaller. Originally, he was holding his hat with one hand, but now it was with both hands.

The hat covering his chest could provide him with some sense of security. He himself didn’t know it, but he had done it instinctively.

Mr. Charles frowned slightly. “Is there a problem with that?”

He himself was also in the import and export trade. He also knew that exported goods had to first be inspected by customs, and only after being cleared could they be loaded onto a ship and leave the port.

This was to prevent some possible criminal acts. At the same time, recently, because of the tense international situation, the federal government had already begun to impose trade sanctions on the member states of the Dantra military alliance.

A large number of materials that could be used to produce military equipment had been completely stopped from being exported and sold to these member states, so the inspection would be stricter.

The unlucky merchant swallowed. “But my goods are just some cold-resistant cotton clothes and some heating things. They have detained my things and said it will take at least two weeks for my turn to be inspected.”

Mr. Charles was getting a little impatient. “So what on earth is the problem?”

He didn’t wait for the unlucky merchant to open his mouth and reminded him again, “You’d better get to the point, gentlemen.”

“Our time is very precious. I hope you can understand this!”

He added some emphasis to his tone. “Get to the point!”

The unlucky merchant quickly nodded in agreement. He didn’t dare to continue to be tactful and directly stated his thoughts. “Customs may be making things difficult for us factory operators. If this batch of goods can’t be shipped out, I may face a huge claim.”

“If it really doesn’t work, I… can only go and ask Mayor Williams for help.”

Mr. Charles finally understood what he was trying to express, and at the same time, his tightly furrowed brows almost knitted together, because he found that this was indeed a problem.

The matter of claims… the capitalists of the Federation already had a good understanding of it.

Claims that were beneficial to oneself must be written high, and claims that were not beneficial to oneself were best not to have.

But international trade was also a game between capitalists and capitalists. The other party would definitely also demand a huge claim.

If this was really done by Mayor Williams’s side, he had to admit that this punch was very heavy!

“You wait a moment. I’ll make a phone call.” Mr. Charles went to another room, but the atmosphere in this room did not ease because of this.

The unlucky merchant stood at the edge of the wall. Every gentleman here needed him to look up to. He even had to breathe carefully and slowly, for fear of causing these gentlemen’s displeasure.

After waiting for seven or eight minutes, Mr. Charles came back from the other room. He glanced at the unlucky merchant. “It seems that there is indeed this problem. You leave your contact information. I will contact you later.”

The unlucky merchant wanted to say something, but in the end, he just nodded in agreement.

He left his personal contact information and then immediately left.

After he had left, Mr. Charles finally said, “They have detained several batches of containers that are about to leave the port. The customs declaration companies for these countries are all those companies in the old industrial district.”

The former mayor, in order to better serve the commerce of Golden Port City, had specially taken out the work related to companies from the Social Services Bureau and established a special Bureau of Commercial Services, which was the government department where Patricia worked.

This government department controlled the enterprise information of the entire Golden Port City, which naturally also included the factory information of the old industrial district.

So for customs to block these customs-declared containers, from a technical point of view, there was absolutely no problem. It was a sure catch.

After the door was closed again, someone couldn’t help but ask, “Is what he said true?”

Mr. Charles nodded. “There’s a high probability that it’s true.”

The Federal Customs is subordinate to the Federal Department of Commerce, but at the same time, the State Department also has a certain degree of management authority. On the surface, it is a department under the direct management of the federal government, but it also needs the cooperation of the local government, so the local government also has a certain influence on it.

In other words, it was indeed possible for Mayor Williams to influence the decision of the customs.

“Does anyone know the local customs commissioner?” Mr. Charles looked at the others, his gaze mainly on the few people with a political face, such as Mr. Hoff.

But it was a pity that these people, including Mr. Hoff, remained silent. They didn’t have much room for contact with the customs.

After all, the appointment of the internal members of the customs was not appointed by the local government, but by the General Administration of Customs and the Department of Commerce. Even people like Mr. Hoff, who had a local Socialist Party or Liberal Party political face, found it difficult to interfere with these appointments.

There was no conflict of interest between the two sides, nor was there any exchange of interests. At the same time, they did not do import and export business, so there was even less of a friendship.

Seeing that these people were all remaining silent, Mr. Charles closed his eyes.

“I’ll make an appointment to talk to him later and see if I can find a way to solve this problem.”

“If it can be solved, then that’s the best result.”

“But if it can’t be solved…” he shook his head, “then gentlemen, we have to consider our next response!”

At that time, more factory operators would break away from them and bow their heads to Mayor Williams.

Once there were fewer and fewer people on their side who resisted the tyranny of City Hall, and fewer and fewer people left, their resistance would become meaningless in the end!

City Hall could issue a mandatory policy and regulation, stipulating that the old industrial district is not allowed to have chimneys smoking, not allowed to use large industrial machinery, and not allowed to produce noise above a certain decibel.

They had ways to prevent these factories from starting work. At the same time, the land they took back was enough to support the development of a district. Their persistence became optional.

“This is a special time. I hope that each of us can make some small contributions for our common interests!”

He paused for a moment. “Alright, that’s it for today. I have to go and make an appointment with the commissioner later, so…”

He glanced at Mr. Hoff. “You get in touch with Joshua as soon as possible and settle this matter.”

“It’s best if, within a week, I see the news of Lance’s assassination in the newspapers.”

Then he looked at a few other people and gave them their work and tasks. The gathering ended here.

He stood by the window and lit a cigarette, watching those people leave his house and walk out the main gate.

For some reason, he always had a bad premonition.

It was like a crazy gambler in a casino. They had already opened so many times in a row. Wouldn’t it be a small one this time?

Definitely not!

It’s still a big one this time!

(End of a Chapter)