Shadow Empire

Chapter 394 Opposition and the Apple Tree
"He's going to lose a lot of money by doing this...

Hunter and Charlie sat together, holding in their hands some simple explanatory materials about the "Umbrella Program".

It was sent back by their people in the Imperial District Bureau.

He can't be considered an undercover agent, he can only be said to be someone on their line. After all, Charlie is considered the "orthodox Golden Port" and he has supporters from the Bay Area behind him. There will always be some people who want to make leaps and bounds in progress, so there is nothing wrong with standing on their side.

Looking at the statement in his hand, Hunter was a little confused. His political level was obviously lower than Charlie's.

He only sees the surface and not the actual core, but Charlie is developing into a politician and he can more or less see something hidden beneath the surface.

"This is what makes him so powerful!" Charlie exclaimed with emotion.

"Everyone knows that if he reduces the police fees, he will have to spend a lot of money, so he will definitely lose money."

"You only focus on the fact that he will lose money, and ignore his irreplaceability!"

"If those small vendors pay less, they will continue to support Lans."

"The police get clean and stable income without breaking the law or engaging in moral risks, and they will be more dependent on Lance."

"Everyone is relying on him. He has closely united the police, the people and the gangs he represents!"

"If anyone wants to deal with him, the ones who will resist more fiercely than he will are the people and the police!"

“That’s what makes him so great!”

Hunter was a little bit unbelievable, "Is he really that powerful?"

Charlie nodded solemnly and said, "It's very powerful, and the method is very... rough and very clever, just using money to hit it."

When Hunter heard this, his expression eased a little. "If he just spent money, could he be richer than those guys in the Bay Area?"

The Bay Area is the symbol of Jingang City’s wealth, but Charlie’s expression did not relax significantly, and he remained as serious as ever.

"They are reluctant to part with the money!" His wise eyes saw through everything.

The dock management company wanted to save more than 300,000 yuan in annual salary expenses, which led to the strike at Jingangcheng Dock.

Now they are asked to put millions of dollars into the pockets of the police every year, and they are even more unwilling!
They would rather do nothing than share their profits with those at the bottom!
This is why he knew the core of Lance's approach, but found it difficult to replicate.

Lance has all kinds of criminal income and he owns a lot of bars, but Charlie has nothing and he has no way out of this matter!

Hunter's look was a little hard to understand, whether it was the fact that people in the Bay Area were reluctant to spend money, or the threat to Lance.

"He..." He looked at the page. "I don't understand, Charlie. Will he shake our power?"

Charlie nodded and said, "When everyone benefits from this plan, the entire police system of Jingang City will have to listen to him!"

He held his forehead, looking like he had a headache. “You have to understand that the Bay Area didn’t choose us because we were obedient.”

"There are so many dogs willing to obey in Jingang City. We are valuable because we control the police system!"

“Once we lose it, we lose value.”

Hunter seemed to realize the seriousness of the problem. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Can we cooperate with Lance?"

Charlie continued to shake his head, “Are you willing to put everything you have in someone else’s hands?”

This also determines the potential opposing positions of both parties, and it is a contradiction that is difficult to reconcile.

Lance would definitely not agree to spend so much money on Charlie and make wedding clothes for him.

Charlie and Hunter would certainly not be willing to give up their base of interests in Jingang City.

So unless someone gives up voluntarily, they will inevitably stand on the opposite side!
In fact, both sides knew this, and their "conflict" had escalated the moment the Umbrella Plan appeared!

Just after noon, Madore returned with Griggs and Abel, and besides them there was another person, Martin.

Martin Griffith was a core member of the Griffith family. After Earl Griffith was secretly executed, Griffith the Younger (the Earl's eldest son) inherited everything from the family and started a new round of confrontation with the royal power.

From the current perspective, the Griffith family is in an absolutely weak situation.

The royal family stripped the Griffith family of their noble titles, stripped them of their territories, took back everything they had, and labeled them "rebels."

This surname is actually no longer officially recognized as aristocratic.

However, they themselves did not admit this. Griffith Jr. sold all assets that could be converted into cash and led more than four or five thousand soldiers to deal with the royal family.

The people in the family believed that now they needed to escape from the royal family's pursuit while continuing to accumulate strength and recruit more people who had lost in this political game to fight against the royal family together.

In addition, it is also important to obtain external support.

As a core member of the family, Martin was sent to the Federation by Griffith Jr. to see if he could find some people willing to support them.

Whether it is support in the form of money, materials, food, or international political stance, all is acceptable.

At least it's better than nothing!

After all, only a few Imperials are doing well in the Federation, and most people are not living well. So when Martin heard that a small accident had happened in Lance, he hurried over.

Martin is a guy who looks like he has an aristocratic upbringing. He displays aristocratic temperament in every aspect, but Lance doesn't like this very much.

"Please take a seat."

Martin said "thank you" and sat down in the chair.

Griggs and Abel stood outside the room, and the only people in the room were Lance's men and Madore.

"Mr. Lance, excuse me for asking, why did you leave the empire and come here?" Martin tried to take the initiative. After a brief greeting, he asked his question with a purpose.

Lance pondered for a moment, "To avoid being sent to the battlefield pointlessly."

Martin nodded in agreement, "Yes, many people left their hometown because of this."

"The royal family is corrupt, and even the institutions of the empire are corrupt."

"The will of the royal family is above the will of the people. They trample on the dignity of the people and do not care about the lives and sacrifices of the people, only for their own selfish interests."

"Great changes are taking place all over the world, whether it's the Federation or the war that's breaking out on the continent of Tenfit."

"A new world order is approaching us, and it is time for the Empire to reform. If we cannot change the status quo of the Empire, it will fall behind."

“Falling behind means becoming food on the plates of the powerful.”

"Mr. Lance, we all love our motherland. None of us wants it to become food on the plates of the powerful. The empire is in urgent need of a change to break the shackles that the royal family and the nobility have imposed on it for so many years!"

"Only by breaking the shackles can the empire be reborn, and only then can we have a living environment that belongs to us in the coming tide of the times!"

"I believe you are very clear about this."

Lance nodded slightly, "I agree with your point of view."

In fact, many people in the Federation have not yet felt a sense of crisis. They even feel that there is a vast ocean between the Tanfit continent and the Federation, and no matter how fierce the fighting is over there, it has nothing to do with the Federation.

But in fact, there is a small number of people who are very worried now. The reason they are worried is that once the national forces on the Tanfit continent complete the integration through war.

Then the next time their development encounters a bottleneck and they choose to continue expanding, it will inevitably affect the world pattern!

A monster integrated through war is a disaster for the whole world.

But few people buy this view now, as they think it is unlikely.

Martin was slightly relieved to hear that Lance was willing to accept this point of view. "The Empire needs your help, and the people of the Empire need your help, Mr. Lance!"

Martin's last words made Lance laugh out loud. "Mr. Martin, you are a very talkative person, but have you ever thought about a question?" He showed a listening look, "What?"

"If the Griffith family completes its revenge, will the young earl ascend the throne and become the new emperor?"

"If you ask us to help him remove the mountain of the royal family from the people's heads today, and then sit on the people's heads yourself, why should we waste so much wealth and resources just to change a mountain?"

"Anyway, we, the people, have always been pressed under the mountain. It doesn't really make much difference to the people who the mountain is!"

“A mountain is a mountain!”

Martin was stunned for a moment. He didn't know how to answer this question.

Although they were all pessimistic and believed that the Griffith family might not be able to complete their revenge, they now had no choice but to go down this path.

So, if they do achieve their revenge and defeat the royal family, will Griffith Jr. ascend the throne?
Isn't this a fucking matter of course?
Isn't this the moment they risked their lives for?
Should we defeat the royal family and let someone else become emperor?

Seeing that Martin was either in deep thought or didn't know how to answer, Lance said in a slightly teasing tone, "Mr. Martin, we are not as noble as we think."

"For the sake of interests, we should not always use the people as bargaining chips."

"You want to overthrow the royal family, whether it's for revenge or to become the royal family, that's your business and has nothing to do with me."

"I only care about what benefits I can get from supporting you."

Martin had lost hope at first because Lance had spoken so clearly. But suddenly, things took a turn for the better and he felt that there might still be hope.

"If we can really succeed in our revenge, Mr. Lance, you will be canonized as a noble!"

Lance shook his head and said, "It is very likely that I will never return to the Empire in my lifetime. Even if you confer the title of prince on me, it will not make much difference to me."

"Let's do something practical."

When a new emperor ascends the throne, he will surely confer titles on nobles lavishly. It seems that nobles are very valuable, but in fact they are not that valuable because there are too many of them.

It is impossible for the Griffith family to grant real power to every nobleman; most of them are just symbolic.

Not only do they need to maintain their aristocratic dignity at their own expense, but they are also subject to surveillance and vigilance by the royal family. It is better not to have such aristocrats.

Martin didn't expect that even the status of aristocracy could not attract Lance. You know, for real imperial people, if they could become a noble, even if it was just the lowest level of noble, it would be something they would be very enthusiastic about and yearn for!
It can be said that becoming a noble is the "last wish of ancestors" of every imperial citizen!

So in his eyes, Lance has been "federalized", but that's just as well.

He thought for a moment. "I'm not sure what you want, but it looks like you've got an idea. Why don't you say it?"

"We can discuss this, maybe we can both accept it?"

Lance was not polite, "I want trade monopoly."

"I don't care about other places. The trade monopoly of alcohol, tobacco, fur, spices, timber, etc. in these states on the east coast of the Federation must be in my hands."

Martin shook his head after hearing this, "This is impossible!"

"Your requests are too many, and this involves issues of trade between countries. I can't agree to your request!"

Lance had no choice but to show a regretful expression, "Then there's nothing we can do. You can't give me what I want, so it's hard for us to reach an agreement."

Martin frowned. It was indeed not easy to raise funds at the federal level. There were many people who donated five or ten dollars, but there were still no one who could solve their real problems.

He is even considering talking to the federal government if that doesn't work.

He was not sure whether the federal government was interested in their resistance force. After all, their number was too small, only four or five thousand people.

However, they are fighting against the orthodox ruling group of the empire, which nominally has an army of hundreds of thousands. Of course, if they are split up and the troops of the nobles are returned to the nobles, the royal family has been beaten up until now and its strength has been greatly reduced.

Even if they were still forcibly recruiting, the number of troops directly under the royal family might be less than 100,000.

This is not an unbridgeable gap, and those nobles are unlikely to help the royal family take the blame until the situation is completely stabilized.

So there is still a great chance!
If we just talk to the federal government, their demands will definitely be more excessive.

Martin made a final effort and tried, "I...if it's just one of the special projects, I can consider it."

Lance smiled. "Mr. Martin, you are a wise man. I am glad that you can see the reality clearly."

"We must have apple trees first, Mr. Martin, you are being pragmatic."

The Apple Tree and the Apples is a short story similar to a fable in the Empire. It tells the story of two brothers lying on a haystack and chatting after finishing their farm work.

They talked about planting an apple tree and then eating apples when the tree bore fruit.

The elder brother said he would give more because he was the one who came up with the idea.

My younger brother said that he should get more apples because he was the one who did most of the farm work and it must be his job to take care of the apple trees.

The two brothers argued endlessly, and finally fought over who could get more apples, and they beat each other until they were bruised and battered.

When they went to the village chief, he asked them to take everyone to the apple tree and help them distribute the apples fairly. However, the two brothers said that the apple tree had not been planted yet...

The core of this story is to tell people not to fight for some vain interests, because fighting is meaningless in the end.

Lance used this little story to tell Martin not to bargain for something they don't even have now!

"Mr. Lance, you are absolutely right. Everything must start with an apple tree. So now let's discuss how to plant an apple tree!"

He paused and said, "We need money, ammunition, weapons, food, and even medicine!"

Lance's eyes flickered slightly, "I can provide you with 100,000 federal soles in cash every month."

One hundred thousand federal soles in cash can indeed alleviate some of the current difficulties. Although it is not the strongest currency, it is indeed useful, especially in Asia.

Yalan is very close to the Federation, and they identify more with the Federal Sol. There is abundant grain there, and they can buy a lot of food with this money.

But Martin still wanted to gain more benefits, "Don't you think 100,000 yuan a month is too little?"

"It's not that I'm too greedy, Mr. Lance. You have to know that what you want is trade monopoly. I think it should get more assistance?"

Lance did not deny it. "That's true, but Mr. Martin, you haven't actually obtained these rights yet, nor have you transferred them to me."

"If you can perform better in the confrontation with the royal family, such as owning a piece of land instead of being chased around, we can see the hope of your successful revenge."

“Then this aid will increase!”

"How much money I can give you every month depends entirely on your performance in the empire!"

Martin thought about it for a long time, and he had to admit that what the Lance Club said made sense. "You have convinced me, Mr. Lance, so this aid..."

He felt a little embarrassed, as the family really needed these things right now.

Lance did not delay, "We need to sign an agreement, preferably with the signature and seal of Earl Griffith Jr. to ensure it is valid."

"I believe you know better than me how to write..."

Martin then said that he would immediately arrange for someone to return to the Empire to bring the agreement, but he hoped that Lance could pay him at least one month's aid in advance, and he needed to send some ammunition back.

What they lack most now are ammunition and food. Without these, the soldiers will have no combat effectiveness. With these, they will be able to continue dealing with the royal army.

It was just a hundred thousand dollars, and Lance still took it out.

"Please convey my respects to Lord Griffith. I believe your revenge will be successful!"

(End of this chapter)