Shadow Empire

Chapter 1234 Another Way of Cooperation

When Lance went out in the morning, more natives had already gathered outside the manor. When they saw Lance's convoy coming out, they immediately raised their banners and started their tirade again.

Madol, sitting in the front, asked with some concern, "Should we disperse them?"

Lance looked at the number of people, which was at least two or three hundred. He considered for a moment and said, "Later, arrange for someone to let them choose two representatives to talk to me. There's no need to disperse them for now, but we need to have someone keep an eye on them."

Lance wasn't too worried that these indigenous people would try to attack him.

In fact, after hundreds of years of domestication, these indigenous people no longer possess the courage of their ancestors to launch suicidal attacks against the Federation in dire straits.

They have become completely domesticated pets under the federal "protection system." They look a bit strange, but they are not dangerous or intimidating; they are just a bit difficult to handle.

After all, in order to demonstrate their preferential treatment of Indigenous peoples, the federal government sometimes favors them on less critical issues, which is why Indigenous people in the federal government often engage in illegal businesses.

They were extremely satisfied with their lives, as they could earn a lot of money and didn't have to worry about federal laws!

Lance had a lot to do in the morning, dealing with some financial matters and various company matters.

The security plan that the Department of Defense was working on with Lance had officially begun to be implemented. However, due to President Porter's election and his taking office to preside over federal affairs, the cooperation was not continued for about half a year.

It's not that the Department of Defense isn't pushing for it, but rather that with the Porter administration in power, the finance department, the military, Congress, and all other departments involved in this collaboration have experienced personnel changes. Only when these personnel changes are completed and the new leadership doesn't oppose the project continuing can they continue to implement it.

Sometimes people admire the speed of the federal government's actions; for example, after they made the decision to enter the war, federal cargo ships were attacked.

However, the federal government is not always very efficient. For example, things that were easy to resolve were delayed until May before they were pushed forward. Fortunately, they were eventually pushed forward.

The Department of Defense gave Lance a target of 5,000 men, but now it has recruited more than 7,000 veterans.

The harsh conditions on the battlefield mean that there are far more soldiers suffering from battle syndrome than reported in the media, who need help and are unable to return to normal life. Now that this opportunity has been given to help them calm down, these veterans have naturally applied for the program.

The Ministry of Defense passed this problem on to Lance. The target was still 5,000, but he had to find a way to squeeze in 7,000. The Ministry of Defense would not provide extra subsidies for the extra 2,000 people, so Lance had to bear the burden himself.

When Lance discussed this matter with Major General Bruni, he tentatively asked a question. Although Major General Bruni did not answer directly, Lance could sense from the other party's tone and pauses that the additional subsidies for the two thousand-plus veterans were indeed available.

But it didn't exist when it came to him.

It may not seem like much, but if everyone receives a subsidy of thirty or forty yuan per month, that adds up to nearly 100,000 yuan in unplanned expenses each month.

They can stay without feeling guilty, whether they pocket the money or sit down and share it with everyone, it's a good choice.

Lance can get an extra 100,000 yuan, and they can also "extort" some from the other companies. They might be able to siphon off hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan in subsidies each month, which is no small amount.

Lance had no objection to this. The Ministry of Defense and the military had begun to complain that these veterans were causing them trouble, but Lance felt that these people still had some value.

At least... there will always be some among them who are capable of great things, won't there?
When a desperate veteran decides to burn his life, it will surely shock the world.

He hopes that day will never come, but if it really comes, this is the best solution.

When he returned to the estate in the afternoon, two indigenous representatives were already waiting for him there. When the convoy entered the estate, the indigenous people did not hold up signs and spit at him again, which showed that these indigenous people still knew some manners and rules.

Lance met with two indigenous representatives in a side hall. They both had long, black hair, tattoos on their faces, and some ancient, indigenous-style accessories, which looked rather strange.

"Please sit down," Lance said, gesturing for them to sit without shaking hands. "Can the two of you represent the indigenous tribes of South Ya'an State?"

The two representatives looked at each other, then nodded in agreement.

The taller guy said, "Okay, my name is..." He rattled off a long string of names that sounded a bit convoluted, but thankfully he had a short name for it—Kora.

Khora is the chief of the largest indigenous tribe in South Yaan State. He is in his forties and in his prime.

The man next to him was the chief of another tribe.

Strictly speaking, they can no longer be called chiefs. The Federation people have long since broken up this relationship. During the process of domestication, they cannot be allowed to maintain such a traditional, dominant social structure, as this is not conducive to the management of the Federation.

Of course, they still refer to themselves that way. There may not be many indigenous people who completely obey them anymore, but they still have a lot of prestige among the indigenous communities.

After the two finished introducing themselves, Lance nodded. "So, what are your demands?"

“I’ve seen you standing outside my estate for two days now, and the number is growing. Protests, marches, and demonstrations solve nothing. Tell me, what do you want?”

Kora rubbed his hands together, looking a little nervous. "We... we heard you're going to build a super-large commercial casino next to Scheer?"

Lance leaned back on the sofa, lit a cigarette, and then opened his other hand, which wasn't holding a cigarette, and said, "Everyone knows about this; it's been in the newspapers."

As the elected representative, Kola was well aware that it was virtually impossible to get the person in front of him to cancel the plan to build the casino.

He heard that the governor had even made a trip to Golden State to obtain a business license from Congress to ensure the casino could be built and opened smoothly.

Moreover, it is said that some local celebrities and tycoons are also considering contacting Lance to invest in the project to some extent.

Once so many forces pour in, the protests of these small indigenous people simply won't make a ripple!
At most, it will just cause them a little more trouble, but if the trouble increases too much, they might get a severe beating from the Federation.

Even now, indigenous tribes still record legends such as "foreign devils," which makes the indigenous people very afraid of the Commonwealth people.

After thinking for a long time, he came up with some seemingly less inflammatory arguments: “Mr. White, you know that the federal government doesn’t allow us to engage in many industries. Gambling and prostitution are currently our main sources of livelihood.”

Lance joked, "I thought hunting and farming were too." Their skin was already somewhat dark, and after hearing Lance's words, their faces visibly darkened even more.

The federal government does not want Indigenous people to live a good life; only in this way will their mindset change, will they transform into federal citizens, and thus abandon their hatred.

The federal government has actually made considerable efforts to achieve these goals, including a clandestine plan for the extinction of civilizations—

The federal government once passed a proposal regarding Indigenous peoples, requiring all children of school age to be sent to boarding schools for education.

On the surface, it is said that this is to improve the education level of Indigenous children, but in reality, they are using this method to instill the values ​​and ideas of the federal government into the minds of these Indigenous children.

Brainwashing is definitely a systematic process, but no matter how systematic the brainwashing is, there will always be some stubborn elements.

According to unofficial statistics, from the beginning when nearly 20 percent of children would die suddenly from illness during school hours, to now when about 3 percent to 4 percent of children still die suddenly, this is due to the federal government's bloody purge of die-hards.

They use various means to abuse, threaten, harm, and force these indigenous children to accept their ideas and values. Anyone who shows obvious signs of resistance will be punished.

The highest form of punishment is death.

The Indigenous people were always angry about this, but they never had a good solution. The Commonwealth could kill them many times, and then kill them again under the pretext of "Indigenous uprising".

Over the years, they have gradually given up some of their beliefs, customs, and habits.

Except for a very few stubborn tribes that still maintain their traditional ways, most of the other indigenous peoples have been domesticated, and even tamed.

"Mr. White!" Although Kola was angry at Lance's teasing, he was one of the tamed ones. Otherwise, as the son of a chief, he would not have been able to graduate from school if he had not been tamed.

It's highly likely that, like those "tough guys," they will suddenly disappear one day, and when you see them again, they will have turned into a box of ashes.

Lance smiled and waved his hand. "Sorry, I shouldn't have made that joke."

Kola looked distressed. "Mr. White, if the casino is established, our income will be affected, and many families will lose their income and their means of livelihood. So I hope you can consider our situation as well."

“We’re not asking you to completely abandon the casino, but we hope that it can bring you profits while also providing us with a livelihood.”

Lance seemed to have realized his thoughts. "You want to take a stake?"

Kora nodded. "This is the best solution we can come up with to solve this problem, and I've noticed that part of the new town is near our protected area, or even overlaps with it."

"If we can take a stake, according to some policies the federal government gives us, you can pay a large portion less in taxes!"

Lance thought for a moment and then shook his head.

He doesn't really have much interest in making money; there's an upper limit to how much money there is.

Just like... low-income, middle-income, and wealthy, wealth has its own unique manifestations at each stage, and these concrete manifestations of changing lives are directly reflected in people's lives.

You used to live in a cramped apartment with your whole family crammed into one bed; now you own a detached house with a yard.

You used to drive a used car worth three or four hundred yuan, but now you can afford a mid-range car worth one or two thousand yuan. That's a direct change.

However, there is a limit to this change. Once you can easily afford a manor and afford to squander money, no matter how much more money you have, it will no longer bring about significant changes to your life.

You won't drastically improve your current living conditions just because you have more money.

Therefore, making money is no longer Lance's top priority. Rather than tax breaks, he actually prefers to pay his taxes in full.

Paying taxes in full leads to local finances becoming dependent on taxpayers. The more taxes Lance pays here, the more the local finances and economic development depend on Lance, just like how the Socialist Party is now completely dependent on Lance's huge annual transfer of benefits.

Therefore, tax cuts and exemptions are not that attractive to him.

When Kora saw that his most valuable offer of exchange had been rejected, he was at a loss as to how to persuade Lance.

The room fell into a lifeless atmosphere for a moment.

If the local indigenous people don't get shares, it means they will completely lose their way of making money by running a casino. Kola didn't know what to do and could only become anxious.

Seeing the two chieftains scratching their heads until they were practically bleeding, with dandruff flying everywhere, Lance considered for a moment and then gave them a suggestion.

"Although I can't give you shares, we can find another way to cooperate."

"This kind of cooperation might allow you to earn more money than you are now!"

Kora looked at Lance, and after confirming that he was not deceiving or playing tricks on her, she revealed clear eyes, "I'm listening."

“You can have your people help my casino attract business and bring tourists to the casino to play games.”

“These tourists exchanged their chips at my casino, and you will receive a commission of five per thousand.”

"That means if they exchange 1,000 yuan worth of chips, you will get 5 yuan."

"Besides that, your girls can work in New City, as call girls, dealers, any position that needs women. I will give you priority for these positions..."

(End of this chapter)