Shadow Empire

Chapter 416 Legal Charges and Schemes of the Same
It was already September, and Chief of the Blue Branch called Lance and asked him whether he would collect the regulatory fees this month or not.

Lance had told him to stop starting this month because Lance's people had started collecting these new sanitation fees.

He changed the name of the protection fees to "sanitation fees" and set up a new company called "Wanli Cleaning Company".

The main business of this company is to provide environmental cleaning services to customers. All businesses in the Imperial District and Port District are their "customers".

Others were very confused. They didn't understand why Lance would set up a company specifically for this matter and then collect the money.

You know, if it is a business activity, this money needs to be taxed. The standard they charge is already low, and if you pay taxes again, it will be even less.

Maybe only Sean, who has already started college, understands a little, but that's not all.

Users can be monetized and may even be listed on the stock market!
Lance had a bad taste. He wanted to package the Wanli Cleaning Company and list it on the stock market. It might sound like a joke that a company that collected protection fees could be listed on the stock market, but it might not be impossible.

As long as it is large enough and has enough users, capitalists will not care why every merchant wants to use this company's business and pay fees for it.

What they care about is market share, market prospects, and whether there is a possibility of monopoly!
If it exists, then they are willing to pay a fortune for it and reap huge profits from its development.

As a future successful person, how can you be presentable if you don't have a few listed companies in your hands?

So in the past few days, the salesmen in the company have started to collect sanitation fees.

About thirty percent of the company's employees are temporary gang members, and the rest are recruited from the Empire District and the Port District.

This was their first time officially entering into working order, and to be honest, it was not very easy to adapt to.

In a retail store, the owner and two employees were sorting the shelves when the doorbell rang. The owner said without even looking up, "We're not open yet."

But the people who came did not leave, "We are here to collect sanitation fees."

The owner was stunned for a moment, then stood up, wiped his hands on his apron, walked over with a smile on his face, and shook hands with the person walking in front.

"I think I've seen you before."

The young man smiled and shouted, "I live on the next street. You may have seen me when you passed by there."

The boss suddenly realized, "No wonder..." He glanced at the two people behind him, "How much should I pay?"

The young man looked at the staff member on his left, who quickly opened his notebook and said, "Boss, you hired two employees, right?"

The shop owner nodded. "Yes, is there anything special about this?"

The staff member then asked, "Are they immigrants or locals?"

The owner looked at the two employees and said, "They are all immigrants from the Empire State."

The staff member then explained, "Company regulations state that a store like yours needs to charge a sanitation fee of six dollars, but if you hire immigrants, then your sanitation fee will be reduced by one dollar. You hired two people, so you need to pay a sanitation fee of four dollars this month."

The shop owner even got a little worried after hearing this, “Is it too little?”

The staff member looked confused. He looked at his junior leader, who smiled and said, "No, this is a rule set by Mr. Lance himself."

The name "Mr. Lance" seemed to have some kind of magic. The owner immediately walked to the cashier, took out four dollars and handed it over, "Here you go."

The leader asked the staff to issue a receipt, then chatted for a while before leaving with his people.

A new young man in the store was a little confused, "Sanitation fee, what sanitation fee?"

The shop owner explained as he worked, "It's actually protection money."

The young employee's eyes widened. "Why didn't you call the police?"

"Before I came here, I always heard that the federal police are very clean and efficient. If we call the police, they will definitely be in trouble, right?"

The young man just arrived in Jingang City in late August or early September. He has a temporary visa and came in through legal channels, and he has to leave every once in a while.

During this time, a large number of imperial immigrants came to the Federation and traveled to all parts of the world, and the struggle between the royal family and the nobility was almost completely over.

Those who longed for the overthrow of the royal family were once again defeated by the cruel reality. They could not accept such an outcome, so they chose to leave the empire by immigrating, smuggling, or working to express their dissatisfaction with the outcome of events.

During this period, the population of Jingang City is still increasing. Some people say that it will soon reach a permanent population of two million.

During this period, a city with a population of two million was already a very impressive number.

So it's normal that he doesn't understand these things.

The store owner looked at him like he was an idiot, "Why should I call the police?"

The young clerk pointed outside the door and said, "They... shouldn't do that."

The shopkeeper shook his head and continued working, not wanting to talk.

Instead, it was another old clerk who started to explain.

Ever since Lance changed the rules in the Empire District, the boss hired a new clerk and expanded the business, which was unthinkable before.

He put his arm around the young employee's shoulders and explained, "The Federation is not as good as you think. The police and the gangs here are often in the same group."

"In the past, we had to pay a sum of money to the gangs and the police every month, and they often came to blackmail us..."

The shop owner couldn't help but curse when he heard this, "Those greedy sons of bitches, I curse them all to hell!"

The older clerk briefly explained that when the gangsters or policemen bought things here, they would pick out items worth a few dollars at a time, but would only give coins when paying.

If you are lucky, you can get 50 points, but if you are unlucky, you may only get a dozen points.

If you think it's too little and want to argue with them, trouble will arise, and you will lose much more than what they intended to take away.

Especially some low-level gangsters, they always come to take cigarettes for free, which makes the store owners miserable.

As for why we continue to operate despite the hardship?

That’s because even though it’s hard work, you can make money.

Just like Johnny's bakery, although the police and gangsters have been taking his money, he can still make a surplus of about 70 to 100 dollars every month, which is much more comfortable than working - of course all this is based on the premise that he does not pay the apprentice and Lance's wages.

The same is true for other shops. It’s better than working, so I can stick with it.

When the young employee heard these words, he felt that his perception of the federal government was completely shattered, because in his perception, the federal police were honest, efficient, and impartial.

Anyone can call the police and enjoy the rights granted to them by federal justice, but when you really come here, it seems that this is not the case!

The older employee smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "These people are Mr. Lance's men. The entire Empire District is his territory. He exempted us from paying protection fees to the gangs, and now he exempts us from paying a large amount of protection fees to the police. Compared with the protection fee of fifteen dollars a month in the past, it is only four dollars now. I think this is very appropriate."

The shop owner snorted and said, "You have a job thanks to Mr. Lance, otherwise I wouldn't consider hiring another person..."

If the young clerk was still rebuilding his understanding of the Federation, then the two staff members standing at the door of the store were also rebuilding their understanding of the Federation.

One of them is an immigrant and the other is a local, both are ordinary people, and this is the first time they have collected protection money.

"Manager...are we sure we don't need to arrange for someone to clean them up?"

The locals asked quietly, "Even if it's just... pretending to be at the door?"

The guy he called "Manager" smiled and shook his head. "We collect protection money, not real sanitation fees. It would be a joke if you helped them clean up."

Both of them were silent. Is it appropriate to talk about collecting protection money so openly and even set up a company to collect it?

The three of them walked to the next store. As they walked, he said, "Don't worry about this being illegal. It complies with all federal laws. We will pay taxes normally and pay your wages."

"Whether we send people to clean the place has no direct practical relationship with whether they pay or not."

"You are not familiar with it yet, so I will bring you here to collect it once. Starting next month, you will collect it by yourselves."

"If someone doesn't pay..." The three of them just walked to the door of the next store. The owner was waiting at the door early, with an indignant expression on his face, "Who doesn't pay?"

"Tell me, and I'll scold him!"

"Mr. Lance is such a good man, but he doesn't appreciate our kindness. We will kick him out of the Empire District!"

As he spoke, the anger on his face turned into a smile, "How much do we have to pay?"

The staff member subconsciously glanced at Gu Ben and said, "Five dollars, you hired an employee, you can reduce one dollar, which is also four dollars."

"Here, this is four dollars..." The owner had already prepared the money and packed two brown paper bags with some cooked food, meat and other things, which should be worth at least one dollar.

"It's freshly cooked this morning, try it."

The leader said thank you, took it, and ate a piece in front of the owner. "It's delicious, tastes very good, I will recommend it to my friends."

The shop owner was delighted and said, "If your friends come over, I'll give them a good price..."

Along the way, the two people seemed to have opened up a new world. Almost all the shops accepted their payment enthusiastically, and some even gave them some small commodities.

Food, drink, or anything else, this was the first time they had encountered such a situation.

People who pay protection fees are so active, this is completely different from their previous understanding of society!

They had heard before that those who collected protection fees were evil people, and those who were charged protection fees were pitiful people, but the situation... was a little different?

They can’t figure this out, but it doesn’t matter, as long as someone can figure it out.

However, there are also people who are unwilling to pay and even curse, saying that they have never paid before and will never pay in the future!
“Has the list of these people been recorded?”

Lance sat back in his chair. He had just finished a call with Chief of the Blue Police Department. The money would be collected in three days at most. After that, which would be around the 10th, he would pay the police officers another salary according to the lists submitted by the two districts.

Sounds incredible!

The gangs pay the police, but this is one of the most bizarre "photos" of this era, and there will be even stranger things than this!
In a period when the overall national order is still imperfect, all kinds of strange things may happen, and as long as they happen, they are reasonable.

Erwin nodded and said, "It's all recorded. What are you going to do?"

Lance leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and moved his fingers rhythmically up and down on the armrests. "Rules are not made for a few people to disobey. I am not a good person, let alone a good person. Since they don't follow our rules, I will make them comply according to the rules."

Erwin was a little worried, "Will this have some negative effects?"

"After all... they have lived here for a long time, and they are also immigrants from the empire, so they have certain social connections."

Lance asked back, "Does this have anything to do with them not following my rules?"

"If everyone knows a lot of people, they don't have to follow the rules, so what's the purpose and meaning of making these rules?"

"Don't worry about causing any discussion that's unfavorable to me, as long as we let people know that the problem is not with us!"

"Arrange some people to teach them a lesson. You can give them a chance to regret, but only once!"

Alvin immediately understood what he meant. He realized where the limit was. He wanted to scare them and then make them hand over the money.

As for those who are absolutely unwilling to pay, we can only make them negative examples.

As he was talking, the phone on Lance's desk rang. Erwin stood up as the phone rang. "I'm going to do something."

Lance nodded and answered the phone, "This is Lance."

"It's me, Alberto. Salifo called me just now and said that Bandy asked him to negotiate with Rick in the city center."

Lance hummed, "He doesn't want us to ambush Rick on the road, does he?"

Alberto laughed, "I knew you could guess it."

"Really?" Lance was also a little surprised, "I was just guessing."

Alberto explained, "He was worried that if Rick fell into a disadvantageous position, Bandy would increase his support for him. He also hired a group of gunmen. This time we were unable to obtain their meeting place and route."

"So in order to avoid being dragged on indefinitely, he decided to solve the problem once and for all."

Lance thought for a while, "No problem, no problem. When, where, and how do we do it?"

"I'll come see you this afternoon."

In the afternoon, Alberto and Francisco came to Lance's office. Francisco was a little restrained and didn't say anything to Lance except saying hello.

Alberto seemed very relaxed. He sat on the chair with his legs crossed. "They have an appointment to negotiate at Golden City Century in two days. We will attack Rick when he comes out."

"You send some people, we send some people, and Salifu sends some people too. He will definitely send more people than us."

Lance thought about it for a moment, "That sounds reasonable. Why are they suddenly negotiating again?"

Alberto shrugged. "Isn't it because Rick's son died and the bar was shut down?"

"I guess it's also because of Bendy, didn't you notice?"

"Bandy was very active in mediating our conflicts both times and he took this very seriously."

"I heard a piece of gossip, I don't know if it's true or not."

Lance became interested. He opened the cigarette box and motioned for Alberto to have one. Francisco also took one.

Even though he was only sixteen years old.

He has been under a lot of pressure recently, pressure from within the family, pressure from outside the family, and revenge for his father. It is not easy for him to hold on until now without collapsing.

Not every sixteen-year-old who has always lived a pampered life can remain so stable when faced with sudden changes.

"There may be some personnel changes within the Likalai State Socialist Party. You know, changes mean opportunities, and opportunities cost money."

"In addition, the chaos in Jingang City during this period has caused their casino revenue to drop a lot. They need to transfer a lot of profits to higher-ups. It seems that they are making less money, but in fact, the people above them are getting less."

“Someone is rushing them.”

"I don't know if this news is true or not, I just heard it, but I think it's possible because Bandy is really positive."

Lance couldn't tell the truth from the false for a moment, after all, he didn't have the connections at this level.

Even though he knew Tom and Senator Cleveland, it would be inappropriate for him to call and verify something like this.

Lance nodded, "Do you need me to prepare a large truck?"

Alberto couldn't help laughing when he heard this. After laughing for a while, he thought about it and said, "It's better to be prepared. No one knows how things will develop..."

"I hope that this time, I can solve this trouble once and for all."

Lance nodded yes.

While they were preparing manpower, Rick was also preparing manpower. A new batch of gunmen would arrive tonight, and all of them would be used in the attack on Salif.

His plan was actually similar to Sarifu's. After they finished the negotiations, he would take action against Sarifu.

Why not before the negotiation?
Because he didn't know where Sarifu was coming from, he could only find out where he was after he entered the hotel.

As long as he can deal with Sarifu, everyone else will be no problem in his eyes!

He is now looking forward to the arrival of two days later even more!

(End of this chapter)