Empire of Shadows

”I’ve already left the Presidential Office. If you have time, you had best come to my office before five o’clock. I will give you some documents. With these documents, you will be able to get this money.”

”In addition, I also want to introduce someone to you.”

A passerby looked curiously at the phone booth.

Four bodyguards were standing around the phone booth, and inside the phone booth, a gentleman in a fur-collared trench coat was talking on the phone.

As the passerby only glanced, the bodyguards’ gazes were already fixed on him, and from these gazes, he sensed some kind of danger. He immediately withdrew his gaze, lowered his head, and quickened his pace.

This was the street outside the Presidential Palace, which should be a relatively prosperous, but in reality, not-so-prosperous place.

High-rise buildings were not allowed around the Presidential Palace. This was to prevent people from high vantage points nearby from using telescopes or other means to spy on the secrets inside the Presidential Palace.

Many people who had never been to New Golden City thought that as long as they came outside the Presidential Palace, they could see the general appearance of the Presidential Palace.

But in fact, they couldn’t.

Because most of the buildings were hidden behind walls of vegetation, for example, behind some spruces or other trees. People could only observe the dense plants.And without permission, ordinary people were not allowed to enter the Presidential Palace. There were very strict guards at the entrance. Trespassing would only lead to arrest and being thrown into the police station.

Even if you were innocent, they would make you admit that you were related to a certain case.

So there were not many people outside the Presidential Palace. On the contrary, it seemed a little deserted.

In addition, there were quite a number of patrol teams here. The patrol officers’ eyes were like knives, wanting to dissect every passerby they suspected. So ordinary people were not very willing to walk here.

At this time, Senator Cleveland was calling Lance. The President had signed the document. He would transfer this money from the treasury account and, based on its purpose, send it to different places.

As a core senator of the war hawk faction, Senator Cleveland had relatively close dealings with the federal arms industry groups. After all, the longer the war lasted, and the higher the intensity, the more orders they would get from the federal government.

Congress would also, from time to time, assign some business to these arms industry groups. For example, joint development projects. The federal government would pay, and the arms industry groups would conduct the research.

Then they would sell the product back to the federal government. It sounds as if there is no problem, but in fact, there are many problems here.

In order to repay these war hawk senators for the large profits they brought to the arms industry groups, their families would privately acquire some shares in the arms industry groups.

On the one hand, a part of the profits generated by the federal military procurement orders would go into their pockets, considered as part of the bribe.

On the other hand, the large income brought by the rapid appreciation of the stock was also a link in the bribe.

Senator Cleveland also held some shares in these arms industry groups. Rapa needed military material aid, but had not specified what kind of weapon model was needed.

A 90 million order was already a considerable amount. The total military expenditure approved by the federal government for the entire year was only a little over 5 billion.

A 90 million order accounted for about 1.5% of the total orders for the year, which was already a considerable figure. Naturally, the first ones he would think of were the arms industry groups with whom he had a good relationship.

Soon he came out of the phone booth, got into the car by the roadside and left. Some people in the distance glanced at him, but didn’t take it to heart.

The federal gentlemen were just like that. They were no longer surprised.

...

About forty minutes later, Lance appeared in Senator Cleveland’s office, not the office in Congress, but his office next to Congress.

The office inside Congress was too small. Many ordinary federal people thought that a senator was just the senator himself, or a few people including his secretary and driver.

But in fact, behind a senator was an entire political team with the senator as its core. Senator Cleveland’s team had continuously grown in number as his power increased.

So far, his team had already exceeded fifty people, and was still continuously growing. If his power became stronger, it was possible that one day in the future, the number of people in his team would directly exceed a hundred, even more than the President’s team.

So the office in Congress simply couldn’t accommodate so many people. All the senators, and even a part of the congressmen in the House of Representatives, would arrange their own offices around Congress.

The Federal Amendment mentioned the salary standards for members of the legislature at all levels. They couldn’t afford to support so many people. That salary couldn’t even support themselves.

”Please come in...” Senator Cleveland did not greet Lance this time. The main reason was that there were other visitors here.

He sat behind his desk and took off the glasses resting on his nose when Lance came in.

In the past two years, he had to read many texts. The small texts were initially clear, but as he read them, they had become blurred. Now he needed reading glasses to clearly see the letters on the documents.

Sitting opposite his desk was a middle-aged man in his forties. He had already stood up when Lance came in, his face showing a friendly smile.

Lance took off his hat and cloak and hung them on the nearby coat rack. He walked to the side of the desk.

Senator Cleveland introduced him. ”Ben, this is Lance. We often talk about him.”

Then he looked at Lance. ”You should have heard me. This is Ben, the current CEO of McGreg Industries.”

Actually, this ”order” did not require the CEO to personally make a trip, but the person who had placed this order was not an ordinary person. It was not a certain office in the Department of Defense, nor a certain department in the Presidential Palace. It was personally placed by Senator Cleveland.

So the CEO of McGreg Industries had personally come. Their relationship with Senator Cleveland was not just friends, but also colleagues, and more.

Lance shook his hand. ”I’ve been hearing people talk about McGreg Industries these past few years. The financial newspaper I read last time said your total market value has exceeded 5 billion.”

”This is an astonishing achievement!”

Ben appeared very humble. ”This is mainly due to the federal government’s recognition and trust in our products.”

For two consecutive years, McGreg Industries had received orders worth over 2 billion, and about half of that was profit. This profit, in the financial market, in stocks, was not just 1 billion.

It could be 2 billion, 3 billion, or even more.

Because the war had not yet ended, people believed that in the next year, they would be able to get more government orders from the federal government.

Moreover, their performance in the civilian market and the international market was good. A market value exceeding 5 billion was just the public’s recognition of McGreg Industries’ value in the next three to five years.

This price was not fixed. It changed every day. Even now, based on the price of their stock, McGreg Industries’ market value had exceeded 6 billion and was still continuously increasing.

There were rumors that Congress would continuously increase military orders. Just this one sentence made their stock soar another notch.

Professional analysts on Deterland Financial Street believed that after the New Year, in February or March, when the new year’s military expenditure was released, McGreg Industries’ market value might break 7 billion, and it might even become the first listed company in the Federation to break a market value of 10 billion!

This was the financial miracle brought by the military-industrial complex during wartime!

A miracle built purely with the tax revenue of the taxpayers!

Although it might not sound so good, a miracle is a miracle after all!

Facing Lance’s praise, Ben remained very humble. He also praised Lance a few times. Mutual business flattery was not something that only happened later; it had already existed and matured in the feudal period.

Court jesters would flatter each other to gain more trust from the king and manipulate the court.

After the two had exchanged a few compliments, they sat down separately. Senator Cleveland handed Lance a bank check specifically for the federal government. This was a cashier’s check issued by the Federal Bank, with a face value of 10 million.

Lance could cash it at any domestic bank or international bank that had a settlement with the federal banking industry. This was also for the convenience of fund flow and transport.

Senator Cleveland couldn’t possibly take 10 million in cash back here and wait for Lance to take it, right?

Although in the end, it would still be cashed into banknotes by Lance and transported to Rapa, for convenience, for now, it was still a cashier’s check.

Lance put it safely into his document bag and tucked it away.

”You talk to Ben about the rest. I have another meeting. If I haven’t returned after you’ve finished talking, you can leave on your own.”

”You know, I probably don’t have much time to look after you either. There are still many things to do tonight!”

The two of them nodded. As an important government official at the moment, Senator Cleveland’s dinner arrangements had already been scheduled for twenty days later. His other time was basically fully occupied.

After the two had stood up to see him to the door, they did not linger here. Letting them talk in Senator Cleveland’s office was just a matter of ”form.” They weren’t really meant to stay here.

They each took their coats and hats. At Ben’s invitation, the two went to a nearby private club.

Clubs were still prevalent: military clubs, police clubs, workers’ clubs, students’ clubs, teachers’ clubs...

It was an important part of socializing in this era.

The exclusive, high-end club Ben took him to was extremely luxurious. Its purpose was to temporarily provide a high-end venue, suitable for guests’ status, for them to converse.

After the beautiful girls had served the items and had left the room in disappointment, Ben, while inviting Lance to taste some of the food here, said with a smile, ”I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time, but you’ve been in Rapa, and I’ve also had other work.”

”When the Senator called me today, I immediately told him that I would come personally. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to meet you, Mr. White.”

”I’ve heard many rumors about you, and I had a vague idea of who you are.”

”But the moment I saw you in person, I completely overturned all my previous notions of you!”

Lance replied with a smile, ”I hope it wasn’t too bad!”

”Bad?”

”No, of course not. On the contrary, you are even more outstanding and excellent than I had imagined. I can’t even find the words to describe it!”

Ben’s face held many deceptive smiles. Any successful person needs the ability to smile and look into others’ eyes while telling a lie, and at the same time, to be able to genuinely express their sincerity.

This was just the foundation of achieving success. Ben did it very well. If you looked into his eyes, you could feel that his thoughts were genuine. Everything was real!

Lance smiled. ”You’re exaggerating. Honestly, I’m just an ordinary person who has had a few more ideas than others, and has simply gone out to realize them.”

He paused. ”I believe you must be a busy person, and so am I. Why don’t we focus on business first?”

Ben nodded. ”You’re right. That’s what I wanted to say too.”

”I hear that the President of Rapa did not request a specific brand or model this time. This order is very important to us. I don’t want to lose it.”

”If I didn’t know about it, it would be fine, but now I do, and I have the chance to be in contact with it, so I hope you will ultimately choose us!”

This order was actually negotiated between the federal government and these arms industry groups, but now all the work in Rapa was handled by Lance.

No matter who Lance chose, Senator Cleveland would not lose a single bit of the benefits he was due, so he prioritized recommending his own people.

As long as Ben wasn’t too stupid, this matter was basically settled.

Lance did not answer immediately, but was in thought.

Perhaps to settle the matter as quickly as possible, Ben continued, ”Three percent.”

”Actually, the thank-you money we usually give is only one-point-something percent. Three percent is the maximum I can offer personally. Any more would require board approval.”

”I am very sincere, and I really want this order, Mr. White.”

”In addition, I have a gift I’m planning to give you.”

He said, taking a picture album from his briefcase and handing it over. ”This is a commemorative weapon for McGreg Industries’ centenary next year. We will be manufacturing 100 pure gold commemorative sets.”

”Your name and number will be on it.”

In fact, compared to the huge kickback, these pure gold firearms were not that valuable; they just had more of a symbolic meaning.

Lance flipped through the album as he spoke. ”I have only one condition. If you can agree to it, I can agree to sign this contract.”

Ben pursed his lips. ”Please state it!”

Lance put down the album and looked at him. ”If I buy from you in the future, I hope you can give me a more favorable price.”

Hearing Lance say this, Ben immediately understood. The handling standards for personal orders, corporate orders, and federal government orders are all different.

In personal orders, the arms industry’s marketing and public relations costs are lower. At the same time, there is no need to offset the public relations costs, so more concessions can be made on the price.

For example, if the arms industry spent 200 million on public relations funds this year, then these 200 million in public relations expenditures have to be spread over all government orders. They certainly wouldn’t bear it themselves.

The benefits they give to those politicians, in the end, have to be earned back from the orders, or even more.

A government order of 1 million, because of the inclusion of this public relations cost, they might quote 1.5 million, or more.

But in a personal order, this situation does not exist.

A personal order has no public relations costs, and the cost of the order is lower. There is more room for profit, and more room for negotiation.

For the same 1 million order, if Lance buys it in his personal capacity, it might only cost 800,000, or even 750,000. This is the advantage of a personal order.

However, arms industry enterprises do not prioritize personal orders, because personal orders cannot provide them with an order amount of hundreds of millions or billions a year.

Ben nodded without hesitation and agreed. ”I can guarantee that I will give you the most favorable policy!”

Lance reached out his hand. He never worried that Ben would deceive him, claiming a less favorable policy was the most favorable one.

If he really did that, it would only make Senator Cleveland and his group suspect that the benefits and promises he had given them were also discounted.

This was the benefit of power and status.

Those who have made a promise to you will keep their promise!

Lance extended his hand and shook his. ”A pleasure doing business.”

”A pleasure doing business!”

With the decision made, Ben quickly left. He was going to Senator Cleveland’s side to get the government order contract, and then handle the procedures.

However, Lance’s 3%, which was 2.7 million, was transferred immediately.

The federal government is not short of money, and the arms industry groups are not short of money either. 2.7 million is nothing. In the blink of an eye, they would earn more from the stock market.

Not to mention, in this 90 million order, after deducting various costs, the profit was 20 million.

That same night, Ben called Lance again. Their weapons and supplies had already been loaded onto trucks and were being sent to Golden Port City. These goods would eventually be shipped from Golden Port City to Rapa.

Lance also cashed the check. 10 million in cash might not sound like a lot at first glance, but when loading it, Lance realized that it filled about seven or eight cubic meters. It filled the small storage room of his private train car.

These were all 20-dollar bills. After they arrived in Golden Port City, they would still have to be further broken down into 10-dollar, 5-dollar, 2-dollar, and 1-dollar bills.

There were even some coin denominations. After all, not many Federal Sols circulated in Rapa. If they were all 20-dollar bills, it would be very difficult to use.

Lance was not at ease leaving so much money on the train, so he left that night. And Diego couldn’t wait any longer either.

He had to send the firearms and the banknotes to Zhuolan as quickly as possible, to add fuel to the fire of the government army and the anti-government forces’ mutual slaughter!