Shadow Empire

Chapter 443: Liquor Business
In addition to the Lawrence family members in Jingang City, there are also some people that Lance has never seen.

They did not go to live in Jingang City, but went to other places. The Shengnong Festival was the day they got together every year.

Although other holidays are important to them, this is the only time they get together.

Lance and Patricia went to see her horses.

There was no knight's uniform or whip, just ordinary clothes.

Outside the stable is a horse farm of about a thousand square meters, where some horses are walking and eating grass on the ground.

When Patricia called out "Carrot," one of the horses with shiny manes suddenly raised its head and looked over here.

After a few seconds, it made an obvious starting movement, and its streamlined muscle contours suddenly became tense and obvious, and it ran towards this side.

Patricia waved her hands and screamed, and Carrot slowed down as he approached.

By the time it got close to Patricia, it had come to a complete stop.

Patricia ruffled its hair while its one big eye kept watching Lance.

Horses are strange things.

When it's farther away from you, you'll find that this animal is so damn handsome!

But when it gets close to you, very close, you will find that this animal is really fucking ugly!

"Come on, let's go brush its fur." ​​She pulled Lance and Carrot into the stable, found a hard-bristle brush, and began to brush Carrot's fur.

This is an action that enhances the relationship between humans and horses. She is very serious and looks a little cute when she concentrates on doing something.

"Carrot" was obviously happy. It stood quietly there, turning its head to nod Patricia from time to time, creating a picture of harmony between man and animal.

It was a little late today, so she didn't plan to ride it out for a walk. After feeding Carrot some carrots and apples, she left.

"I remembered you said there was a lamb and a calf?" Lance asked this question on the way back to the farm.

Patricia had an indescribable smile on her face, or maybe it wasn't a smile because her eyebrows were drooping.

If you are smiling, your eyebrows should be raised.

"They... have returned to nature."

"It makes me angry when I think about it. They killed Shirley and Miles without telling me, and made them into... delicious food."

Patricia's face turned slightly red because she was the one who ate the most!

Lance couldn't help but laugh, "It must have tasted really good, or you wouldn't have been unable to forget it until now!"

Patricia hit him with a hammer, then quickly put her arm around him again. "Once you start to accept the fact that your little pet has become dinner, it won't be that sad."

"This is a farm, not an animal charity, and this is the final destination for every one of these animals."

“Being eaten!”

She paused and said, "Okay, let's not talk about these boring things. You can enjoy the farm's specialties tonight!"

At night, Lance realized that the so-called special food was actually a very primitive barbecue.

There were large pots of barbecue on the long table, and on the plates next to them were baked potatoes, tomatoes, grilled corn, fruit salad and other foods.

There is a plate in front of each person with salt and some spices in several small compartments on the plate.

Three old men sat on the first seat. Since today was not the Holy Farmer's Day, there were not so many rituals.

The oldest of the three old men is Hubert, the second oldest brother. The eldest died many years ago in an accident.

They all looked healthy. Hubert picked up the spoon and tapped the tin cup in his hand.

Yes, wine glasses made from hammered iron sheets. In the countryside, the most common ones are iron cups and wooden cups.

Most poor people use wooden cups. They cut down a tree in the wild, take a section they like, and then hollow out the trunk to leave a cup.

Those who are richer will ask a blacksmith to make a tin cup for them.

The reason why cups are made of iron or wood is that they are not easily broken.

It’s not that they can’t afford nice glass cups, they can even afford crystal cups, but on the farm and in the countryside, the probability of them breaking is very high.

And after the glass breaks, if it is not cleaned up in time, the broken glass may cause damage to the hooves of livestock.

The sound of forks hitting tin cups made all the tables quiet down, and everyone's eyes were focused on him.

“I have a lot to be happy about this year.”

“The first thing that makes me happy is that our farm will continue to expand and we have another perfect harvest!”

People at the table began to cheer, applaud, and whistle. This kind of family relationship is not like those political families, which would be very serious. There are not so many rules here, and everyone can do what they want.

Hubert had a smile on his face, and after a while, when people had let out some of their emotions, he nodded to signal them to be quiet.

"The second thing that makes me happy is that William has become a city councillor. This is a big step forward!"

Someone immediately shouted from below, "William, say something to us!"

Soon someone started to make a noise, and Hubert signaled William to say something.

It is indeed a very encouraging thing to have a new alderman in the family.

Hubert also signaled William to say something to everyone before this important festival!

As the landowner class, they actually know better than ordinary people what it means to have a city councilor in the family.

If an ordinary person becomes a city councilor, then he can only be a city councilor.

But for a large family, having one more city councillor means there will be more civil servants in the family, and they will fill more government departments.

Their actual influence on urban power will also become greater!
William had to stand up, but from the smile on his face Lance could see that he was very proud now!
"Lance helped me a lot in this matter, including winning the election."

“With his help, I managed to get this position, and I hope that with our efforts, we can go further.”

"They used to say that only the Williams family and the Wade family were real families, and we were just a bunch of farmers!"

"But now, we can proudly tell these people that it's time to face this problem!"

"Because from now on, we also have a councillor!"

Hubert and his two brothers kept nodding their heads. William's words touched their hearts. For the old people, perhaps things related to reputation attracted more attention than actual benefits.

Hubert nodded and motioned William to sit down. He then continued, "The third thing that makes me happy is that our family has grown a little bit stronger."

“There are some new young people coming here this year, and they will become our new family, and I like that.”

“Love seeing more and more people here every year!”

He looked at the maid beside him, "Pour us some wine!"

Some maids working on the farm began to pour wine for everyone. It was not a very strong wine, only about 10 degrees, and everyone had a glass.

The three old men stood up, and the others also stood up. They held up their wine glasses, and their smiling faces under the reflection of the campfire were smiles that came from the heart!

the next day……

In fact, Lance didn't really want to go straight to the next day. The alcohol content of the farm's wine didn't seem to be very high, so it was easy for people to drink too much without realizing it.

Everyone was very enthusiastic. After the elders finished their blessings, everyone seemed to stop following the rules of eating.

They casually left the dining table and went to the campfire to have a barbecue, or some people who were on good terms stayed together to talk. In short, the atmosphere was very lively.

Lance was also very popular here, and many people came to have a drink with him. Before he knew it, he drank a little too much. When he opened his eyes the next morning, he breathed a sigh of relief.

When he came out of the room, there were already many people in the hall.

Patricia, who was sitting on the sofa and chatting with her sisters, saw Lance and immediately ended the conversation and walked over, "Would you like something to eat?"

"We are going to pick pumpkins from the pumpkin patch later. They will be useful for the Saint Farmer's Day parade."

"Also, the grandpas asked me to take you to the stables, and you have to choose a horse."

"Choose a horse?"

Lance took some food to fill his stomach. It tasted good, with a very primitive aroma.

Fresh milk tastes good, but it has a slightly fishy taste.

"Everyone will have a horse of their own." William also walked down from upstairs, rubbing his head.

Today he changed into the same clothes as the farmers, a white shirt, overalls, and a straw hat.

He had to go to the fields to do farm work. Only during the Holy Farmer's Day every year would these family members in the big city return to the farm, so they also had to fulfill their responsibilities as family members.

This is the family motto of the Lawrence family. No matter who they are or what their status is, they must do a day's farm work themselves.

If a member of the Lawrence family is not interested in the family business and is even unwilling to do farm work himself, how can you expect others to help you do the farm work?
This is actually also a kind of "means of ruling", a means of ruling those farm workers. They use this way to tell those farm workers, don't fucking fool me!
Because I also know how to do farm work and to what extent.

Emily did not change into farmer's clothes. Although she took her husband's surname, she did not have the blood of the Lawrence family flowing in her body, so she did not have to work.

"You have one too?", Lance asked.

William nodded and said, “Yes, you will see it when you turn around.”

Lance looked at Emily, who nodded, "I have one too, a little mare, very docile."

"Although I don't quite understand this custom, I think riding a horse is acceptable."

They picked pumpkins in the morning and found a large pumpkin that weighed over 500 pounds, but old man Hubert didn't think they could win the big pumpkin competition.

There are many farms around, and the Lawrence family will give out three hundred dollars every year as a reward for the first place in the big pumpkin competition.

This giant pumpkin is actually often used as a supplementary ingredient in feed, and they don’t eat it themselves.

After special breeding, pumpkins are now getting bigger and bigger. Local governments, including the Likale State Government, are actually very supportive of this activity.

This can be seen as a sign of successful farming!
After picking pumpkins, Lance was taken to another stable, which also had many horses.

Lance didn't understand any of this, but fortunately Patricia knew a lot and selected a group of good horses for him.

The rest is just to exchange feelings. In fact, the farm also knows that they won't come back often, so this is more of a symbolic meaning.

Perhaps for the elderly, these horses sometimes represent family members who have left the farm.

Lance noticed another, larger-looking stable in the distance, "Are there horses over there, too?"

Patricia nodded. "That's where the three grandfathers train champion horses. The best horses on the entire farm are all there. They plan to send some of them to competitions this year."

Horse racing is also a very important social activity, and people from all walks of life love it.

For the middle and lower class people, winning money by betting on horse racing is what they are more concerned about.

For the middle and upper classes, effective socializing through these horse races is what they pursue.

Due to special reasons, there are many large landowners in the upper class of the Federation, and politicians with these backgrounds have their own horses, even racehorses.

These things make it easy to strike up a conversation with them in the Jockey Club lounge.

At the same time, horse racing is also a very worthy investment project, with large investment and high rate of return.

As long as a racehorse can win the championship, it means that it will become a money-printing machine that continuously squeezes cash out of the bell.

For horse races like the Triple Crown, the price of each breeding will make many people who don’t understand these things feel crazy and incredible!

Thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, just for breeding!
Sometimes it makes people sigh that people are really worthless, not even as good as horses.

Lance spent the entire Feast of the Holy Farmer on the farm and in the town. The Lawrence family was well-known and respected in the nearby towns.

The atmosphere of the event was very lively, and there were many tourists. This was the most leisurely vacation Lance had ever had since he came to the Federation.

But as long as it is a vacation, it will always end.

In total they stayed here for nearly a week, and then began to return one by one.

Lance also established initial contact with these people, and they also regarded Lance as an official member of the family!

When Lance left, old man Hubert warned him that if he was just playing around with Patricia, he would take the hunting rifle on his wall that had killed more than a dozen bears and go to Jingang City to find him...

These days Lance also discussed a business deal with three old men, about wine.

There are enough crops on the farm that can be used to make wine. If these crops are sold simply as crops, for example, wheat is now four dollars and forty-seven cents a barrel.

A barrel of wheat can brew at least 60 liters of beer. According to the prices at the Lans Bar, a liter of beer costs 15 cents, so this is 9 dollars, which doubles the price.

If it is sold in a bar outside, it can probably be sold for twelve or thirteen dollars or even fifteen dollars!

This is why everyone is trying to get into the liquor smuggling business. Even if the liquor is smuggled from Yalan or other places, they can still make a fortune after deducting the shipping costs!

The three old men were very interested in the wine-making business proposed by Lance. Instead of directly retailing these crops at a price of less than five dollars a barrel, it would be better to turn them into wine worth nearly ten dollars.

It's just that their brewing technology is relatively primitive and there is no good market.

Under the prohibition environment, such large-scale brewing and sales could not be accomplished by small workshops. They must have a complete industrial chain to produce, otherwise it would be better to sell grain directly.

Lance filled this gap. No matter how much wine they could produce, Lance could sell it, so the three old men made a decision immediately.

A considerable portion of the grain is used to make wine, but not many people know this.

Lance believed that the large-scale wine trade would make the Lawrence family richer and would also bring him a lot of wealth. Perhaps soon, this family would undergo a transformation!

After having wealth and political resources!
The Holy Farmer's Day is a national holiday and many institutions will have holidays, including government departments.

The Hazardous Materials Administration was also on holiday for three days. Ponda took Lisa to Valley City to spend three days on holiday.

Because of the special environment of Valley City and the local city hall's proposal of "tax refund policy for shooting movies locally", more and more people have come to Valley City for filming.

In addition, the Valley City Council is negotiating with the Likale State Government, and they intend to promote the shift of the industrial focus of Valley City.

Transform a tourist and light industrial city into a "film city".

The local mayor saw the booming film industry and also saw opportunities for urban development.

Being close to Jingang City has not brought many good opportunities to Xigu City. Instead, it has continuously sucked blood from Xigu City. If it does not find another distinctive development path that is differentiated from Jingang City.

Perhaps in a few years, Valley City will become a district of Jingang City.

They now have a "Valley District"!
The Likale State Government is also very interested in these proposals. After all, "cultural construction" is also an important political achievement.

Therefore, during this period, there are not only tourists who like the movie atmosphere in Valley City, but also some government officials who are conducting seminars and inspections here, including Mr. Hof (opinion leader in Jingang City area).

He had just finished a meeting and came out of the conference room and took the elevator to the hotel lobby. Just as he was about to catch a car at the door, he noticed a woman in a booth in the corner of the hotel lobby.

Lisa.

He frowned slightly, then looked at Lisa and her visibly pregnant belly with amusement, with an intriguing smile on his face, and then walked out of the hotel.

(End of this chapter)