Shadow Empire

Chapter 171 Imperial Chamber of Commerce
The news of Lance's return spread quickly in the Imperial District. He is now a super celebrity in the Imperial District, and soon people came to visit him.

It was Bolton. He had recently recruited a group of people. Instead of wearing uniform clothes like Lance and his group, they were wandering the streets in casual clothes.

When they find something abnormal, they can call Lance or notify Bolton.

This approach has effectively curbed street crime. Some criminals didn't even know what had happened before they were beaten up and thrown in front of the police station.

The whole neighborhood has become very quiet and peaceful, much better than before.

Many people were grateful to Lance from the bottom of their hearts. After all, only Lance really did something instead of just thinking about blackmailing them or exploiting them.

But not everyone is jubilant, or feels excited or happy. Some people are worried, such as... the business owners on the block.

Regulatory fees are unavoidable, and the Lance Family has never said that they will not charge regulatory fees. What they are worried about now is how much the Lance Family will charge each month, whether it will be too much, and how often they will charge.

The amount collected by the Imperial District Police Department is actually not a small amount. If the Lance family collected more, they might... be unable to hold on.

Bolton has been showing off on the streets recently. Now everyone knows that he is from the Lance family. Although he doesn't have clothes like theirs, Mr. Lance gives him money every month, and he gives the money to those who wander around the streets all day.

So some people took the initiative to find Bolton.

At around nine o'clock in the morning, Bolton walked out of the elevator. He had bought himself a set of clothes similar to those of Lance and the others, but without the cuffs.

That thing looked like just a red silk ribbon, but he knew that it was also a representation of identity and a symbol.

He couldn't do that until Lance agreed.

But he is very satisfied with his current life, and he can save more than 100 yuan every month.

In fact, he could have kept more, but he knew that this was the limit of what he could get, and he couldn't blindly get more, otherwise he might get into trouble.

Although he is a very materialistic and petty person, he is also somewhat sensible.

Now he has quit his previous job. Actually, it makes no difference whether he quits or not. He was already on the verge of unemployment during the Anti-Imperialism period, and many of the people in his previous company were supporters of the Socialist Party.

These people are not only conservative, but also very hostile to outsiders.

Sometimes they would stand in the tea room or at the door of the tea room in groups of three or five, chatting and laughing while drinking coffee.

But when Bolton walked over, they would immediately stop smiling and disperse.

This kind of blatant, undisguised workplace bullying and isolation is not uncommon in the Federation.

After the anti-imperialist movement broke out, the company found a reason to point out some of his mistakes and asked him to go home and think about it. Until now, they have not allowed him to go back to work.

But fortunately, he has a new job.

When the on-duty manager on the first floor of the apartment saw him coming out of the elevator, he immediately stood up and gently raised his hand on the brim of his hat, "Mr. Bolton!"

Very polite, that's what Burton wanted, "Good morning, Kaufman, I hope Rob and Nancy haven't caused you any trouble these past two days."

"How come?" The administrator named Kaufman smiled enthusiastically, "I helped them clean up some garbage these two days..."

Nancy is a very lazy girl, especially after Gerald came to their house, she left all the work to Gerald.

Now that Gerard had left, she herself was reluctant to do the work, so she often left the garbage piled at the door instead of taking it away and cleaning it up.

The administrator would check the corridor every day when changing shifts, and if he saw garbage at their doorstep, he would throw it away.

You think this is his job?
No, he just wanted to please Bolton because Bolton was doing well now.

Bolton also took off his hat and said, "I am really worried about the future of those two children. Anyway, thank you for your help, Kaufman."

As he spoke, he walked to the mailbox, opened his own, took out the newspaper and several letters, and walked out while looking at the letters.

He walked from the alley across two streets and came to a place a little west of the center of the Empire District, where there was a nice bakery and coffee shop that served bread and coffee.

As soon as he came in, many people greeted him. After taking off his coat, he sat in the seat by the window that everyone had reserved for him.

The owner brought breakfast and coffee. After he said thank you and paid the bill, some people kept coming over to say something to him and then kept leaving.

He liked this kind of job. Although he...didn't become super rich or have super power because of it, there were already some people who needed to rely on him for a living, and he loved this feeling.

And the way other people looked at him was with respect, which was what he liked as well.

Looking at today's newspaper, as a rising...social elite, he naturally needs to know more about what is happening in the world.

He ordered all the newspapers available in Jingang City, including those that solicited prostitution, in the hope that they might be useful someday.

While I was appreciating the policy actions of the big shots in the newspapers, several shop owners nearby came over.

"Mr. Bolton..."

Bolton put down the newspaper, picked up the coffee and took a sip. The owner of the bakery and coffee shop next door immediately came over with a pot of coffee to refill it.

Others have to pay for refills, half price, but Bolton’s refills are free.

It seems to be just a difference of a few cents, but in people's eyes, it is the class gap and the meaning of privilege!
"What's up?"

"Gentlemen?"

Several shop owners stood in front of them and did not sit down. One of them, who should be their representative, stepped forward and said, "Mr. Bolton, the Lance family has stabilized the territory left by the Camilla gang. Should we talk about the fees?"

"Honestly, Mr. Lance has made this place very safe. We are actually happy to hand over the money to them, but... we want some further information."

Listening to their words, Bolton vaguely understood that they were afraid that the Lance family would ask for too much.

But this is indeed a question. He thought about it and said, "Let me ask Mr. Lance. Wait a moment."

There is no telephone here. His things are all on the table and no one will take them. There is a public telephone booth at the entrance of the coffee shop.

Originally, the others wanted to follow him, but when he opened the door of the coffee shop, he looked back and immediately stayed where they were.

They knew he didn't want them to eavesdrop on his conversation with Mr. Lance.

He walked into the phone booth with his head held high and chest puffed out, even with a bit of dignity, and picked up a cigarette elegantly. The moment he turned around, the calmness on his face turned into fawning flattery.

He held the phone in both hands, avoiding other people's sight, and the call was quickly answered.

"Mr. Lance, it's me, Bolton."

"What's up?"

Lance had just finished threatening Sam, but before he could do anything, the phone rang.

In fact, he was not afraid at all that Sam would report it to the mayor. First of all, Mr. Pasleto could protect him. Second, as long as he showed that his value was higher than that of Sam and those girls, the mayor would definitely choose him.

Federal politicians are as realistic as capitalists. As long as you have value and can bring value to them, you are good friends.

But if you have no value and cannot bring them any benefits, then they can turn against you in a second and point at the door and tell you that you have to make an appointment before you can talk to him!

There is no warmth in politics and capital.

He had to settle some things on the dock as soon as possible so that even if the mayor was a little dissatisfied, he would make a choice after weighing the pros and cons.

But before he could do anything, Burton called, and he was also curious whether Burton had discovered anything.

"It's like this, Mr. Lance. The shop owners on the street are very grateful for everything you have done during this period. Stable neighborhood security and community relations are what everyone desires." "At the same time, they don't understand some of the upcoming business... uh, fees, such as how much we charge, when we charge, and how we charge."

He used the word "we" to bring him closer to the Lance family. Lance did not deny this. If you want people to work for you, in addition to money, you can also give them a sense of identity and honor.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Go and spread the word. Ask each street to elect two or three people who can represent them. Come to the nightclub this afternoon and we'll have a good discussion."

This wording surprised Burton a little, because he used the word "discuss", which clearly showed that he did not intend to follow the example of others and directly set a price he thought was appropriate and start collecting it regardless of whether it was reasonable or not.

Bolton also realized that perhaps he would set a new trend, or even a trend!
"Of course, Mr. Lance, I'll do it right away."

"In the afternoon, around four o'clock, at the Empire Nightclub, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I understand. I won't bother you anymore. Bye!"

The moment Bolton hung up the phone and turned around, his hunched body straightened up again. He opened the door of the phone booth with a cigarette in his mouth, looked left and right, and then walked towards the bakery and coffee shop.

He thought it was cool to do so and just did it for no other reason.

After entering the bakery, he repeated what Lance had told him, "You need to spread this news, as soon as possible. I will also have someone pass on the news."

After hearing this, several business owners finally felt relieved. They expressed their gratitude to Bolton and then left quickly.

Not long after, Bolton made a few more calls, and soon some people began to talk about this matter door to door to small vendors in the neighborhood currently controlled by the Lance family.

"Mr. Lance hopes that your street can elect some representatives to discuss the fees with you at the Empire Night at 4 o'clock in the afternoon..."

The news spread quickly, and for the first time in history, some people were worried that Lance had some trick up his sleeve by asking them to go.

No matter what, they are not free after all, and even if they are free, it is impossible for us not to want their money.

But some people think that this may not be a bad thing. At least so far, they have not heard of anyone being harmed by the Lance family.

On the contrary, there are many reports of them actively compensating for the damage they caused to passers-by by mistake or accidentally damaged items in roadside shops.

This also makes some people think that this should be a good thing.

Today is a weekday and there are not many pedestrians on the road. After discussing with each other, everyone elected the person they think can represent them.

Of course, there were some who came to watch the fun, or some who did not want to be represented. There were about a hundred people in total.

More than a hundred people are not a lot for the Empire Night Nightclub and can be accommodated in one hall.

People started arriving at around three o'clock, and it was not until four to five that Lance finally arrived.

He walked straight onto the stage, looked at the people sitting below, and asked Bolton to move a chair up.

He sat on the stage.

"Actually, even if you didn't come, I was planning to let Bolton contact you..." When he heard Lance calling his name, Bolton immediately stood up, turned around and faced those "representatives", bowing slightly.

Some people didn’t know him, but now they do.

From Lance's point of view, this kind of real villain is actually more useful than a hypocrite.

He raised his hand and gestured for Bolton to sit down. "You will have plenty of opportunities to meet each other in the future."

"I've learned about it before. The fees in the Imperial District range from 10 to 60 yuan. In the areas with the best business, the fees are basically over 40 yuan."

"In more remote stores, the price is generally around 10 yuan."

These representatives nodded one after another. In fact, they did not want to pay the money. The monthly income of most stores now is actually just the salary of themselves and their families, and then a little surplus.

Like Johnny, in addition to his and his daughter's salary, he can still have an extra hundred dollars every month.

It seemed like a lot, but if he had to pay Lance and the apprentice, even if he only paid each of them thirty dollars, he would only end up with an extra forty dollars in income.

This is also why exploitation is always put first in the embryonic stage of capital, because the benefits brought by exploitation are sometimes higher than operating profits.

The more people you exploit, the higher your income.

Although not all shop owners are Johnny, this is the situation now.

The reason why they can tolerate lower incomes is that they run their own business and do not need to please their federal superiors, nor do they have to endure bullying, nor will they be treated as human mines by others.

And the income is after all higher than working.

As long as the fees are not too outrageous, they can actually continue to do it.

These people are a little nervous now, because what Lance is going to say next is related to their future family income.

Lance pondered for a while. Although his voice was not loud, it sounded like thunder in everyone's heart.

“I’m not going to charge the neighborhood for protection money.”

Almost everyone stood up in an instant. They looked at Lance in disbelief. One of them was an old man who should be in his sixties or seventies. His hands were shaking slightly. "Mr. Lance...you are not kidding us, are you?!"

Even though he was several times older than Lance, he used honorifics to address Lance. He was too excited and too surprised.

You have to know that there are at least two to three thousand stores in the Empire District, and about sixty to seventy percent are now under the control of Lance. Even if it's sixty percent, there are one thousand two hundred stores. If on average each store can make twenty dollars, that's twenty-four thousand dollars.

This is not a small amount, it is a staggering figure, how can he... bear to give it up?

But in fact, this is not how the account is calculated. Not all merchants will pay this fee. There are always some troublemakers or some who really cannot afford to pay. If you ask them to pay, they will refuse to do so.

Once you stop caring about it, they will reopen. And as for those who you don't know whether they really can't pay or are pretending not to be able to pay, if they don't pay, you can't really do anything to them.

The real big contributors to fees are those neighborhoods with more concentrated businesses. These neighborhoods are generally collected by the "superior gangs", while in other places with less money, the neighborhood families are responsible for collecting fees.

But Lance planned to change the previous situation. He did not plan to collect protection fees anymore. On the one hand, even if he could earn 30,000 yuan a month, after paying his salary and the "protection fee" he should pay, there would be nothing left.

It is not a good thing to gain a bad reputation among the imperial people for such a small amount of money.

The biggest mistake Heller and his family made was that after they overthrew the gangs in the Imperial District that once bullied the Imperial people, they did not take up the banner of the Imperial people, but instead became a new mountain.

It doesn’t mean that mountains are necessarily bad. If the mountain can shelter people from wind and rain and produce abundant resources, it can become a support for people.

Without you telling them, they will all scramble to find a way to hand over the money.

But if you only think about constantly demanding and exploiting them, in the end, they will only find a way to overturn this mountain.

Lance doesn't want to be a short-sighted mountain. He wants to be a bigger mountain, a support in people's hearts!

It was the best of times because everything was wild!
At this moment, everyone seemed to be looking at Lance with bated breath, wanting to see if he was really joking with them. Then, Lance confirmed his statement again.

"I'm not kidding you guys, this is my decision."

"I will not charge any fees of the nature of protection fees to any merchants in the Empire District..."

People are already smiling and laughing in disbelief. If they can earn a few dozen dollars more every month, or even a dozen dollars, it would be a good thing for some operators, and it would be considered a considerable income.

Lance raised his hand and pressed them to quiet them down. "Besides this matter, I have something else to discuss with you. I plan to establish the Imperial Chamber of Commerce..."

(End of this chapter)