Shadow Empire

Chapter 645: Show Weapons [666+6]
Today is the last day of Mayor Williams' ultimatum, and he asked Lance to come to discuss the next steps.

Since there is no room for resolving the conflict between the two parties, he would not consider persuading them.

As a former member of the Jingangcheng Bay Area interest group, he was well aware of the greed of these people.

Even if they are satisfied now, they will make more excessive demands later. They will test his bottom line, find it little by little, and then force his bottom line to continue to retreat until they are satisfied.

Mayor Williams will not waste time and energy dealing with these greedy people, and he is also reflecting and studying after encountering these problems recently.

Through the performance of the previous mayor in his term, he realized that one should never negotiate cooperation with people who are hungry.

So he needed Lance now.

Mayor Williams closed the door and sat on the sofa next to the businessman with an easygoing smile on his face.

Although it is done on the last day, it is at least a statement.

Early support and late support are both support. As a ruler, he must learn to look at problems with more tolerance.

"It's him. We have some work matters to discuss."

"What, you know him?"

The businessman quickly shook his head, "No, I don't know Mr. Lance, but I was lucky enough to see him once from a distance."

He paused as he spoke, his mind spinning wildly. He had already realized that Lance's appearance at City Hall was definitely not an isolated incident.

During this period, they have also been wondering how Mayor Williams will ultimately handle the issue of industrial demolition. Will he be tough, use connections and the law, or use some other method?
Now it seems, he knows.

Lance.

That’s the standard answer!
His heartbeat began to speed up, and the pounding made his chest feel a little stuffy, but the good news was that he was sitting here now.

Mayor Williams smiled and changed the subject. "Let's not discuss things that have nothing to do with us. Let's talk about the replacement subsidy. You should have read the replacement subsidy policy issued by the City Hall. Do you have any other requirements for this?"

The businessman shook his head. "No, that's great. I've never seen such a suitable policy..."

Outside, Lance walked out of the door of the city hall, and young people standing in groups on the roadside immediately threw away the cigarettes in their hands.

Some passers-by also stopped when they saw Lance, and some even took off their hats.

The weather was cold and the scene was quite funny because when those people took off their hats, their untidy hair exposed to the air began to steam.

There are more people who support Lance than those who oppose him because Lance has set up several relief points in the Empire District, the Port District, and even the New Port District.

Poor people could go there to receive food and some winter clothing, some canned beans that were about to expire, some whole-wheat bread filled with fruit and vegetable fiber left over from juicing, a small amount of ground beef and a stick of butter.

Many of these things are at the bottom of warehouses. Some supermarkets cannot sell them in the winter, so they dump or destroy them.

The cost of reprocessing them was much higher than destroying them directly, but Lance bought these expired products and distributed them to the poor for free.

Those clothes are provided by a specialized company and are all second-hand clothes that have been bought several times.

Although they are old clothes, at least they are clothes that can keep people alive through the cold winter.

I don’t know how many poor people can survive because of these things. Lance’s status and influence among the poor are constantly increasing.

Even ordinary people may not like his identity, but they are very positive about his actions.

It's fucking funny that the rich people don't care about the lives of the poor, but a gang leader helps them!
Someone took off his hat to salute Lance in the middle of winter, and Lance also took off his hat in response. Being a polite person is a basic quality of being a human being. Although the hat will not be taken off completely, the action is enough.

People watched him quickly get into his luxury car, not jealous at all, just a little envious.

The convoy started slowly, and people on the roadside continued to walk towards their destination.

"Go to the pier."

The convoy began to accelerate, and more than thirty minutes later, it arrived at the dock.

More and more people on the dock knew Lance, whether they were local workers, immigrant workers or refugee workers.

They all stopped what they were doing and saluted the convoy, which arrived directly downstairs at the office of the Dock Workers' Union without any hindrance.

The secretary saw Lance's motorcade through the window and trotted into Mr. Vaughn's office. "Mr. Lance is here."

Vaughan was reading a document issued by the United Longshoremen's Union. His mind was full of things on the document. He raised his head slightly and looked at the secretary through the gap between his forehead and the frame of his glasses.

This lasted about four or five seconds before he responded, "Lance is here?"

"Go make some coffee."

He looked at his desk and office, seeing nothing that needed tidying up, then took off his glasses and placed them on the table.

A few minutes later, the secretary knocked on the door and then opened it.

Mr. Vaughan immediately stood up and came over from behind the table. He shook Lance's hand and invited him to sit down.

Lance hung his hat and windbreaker on the hanger and sat down across from President Vaughn.

The secretary also brought a pot of hot coffee at the right time. He glanced at the documents on the table and asked casually, "Is there another event at the Federation of Trade Unions?"

President Vaughn shook his head with a look of dissatisfaction on his face. He handed the document directly to Lance. Lance frowned slightly, which meant that this might not be good news.

But this is for the longshoremen's union.

He picked up the document and started reading it, his brows gradually furrowed.

The document mentioned that the Ministry of National Defense and the General Union of Dockworkers had some in-depth conversations and discussions, and they hoped that some dock workers could go with the army when necessary.

For example, they may obtain a temporary naval port on the continent of Tanfit. In order to ensure the interests of the Federation, the naval port will not employ local people from the continent of Tanfit, and will only employ federal dock workers.

In addition to some other possibilities, for example, as the war progresses, the Federation will obtain more ports and supply lines outside the Federation, and will also need more dock workers.

Therefore, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions hopes that trade unions in various places can nominate some dock workers who are willing to work abroad.

Lance put down the document. It was indeed not easy to do.

Although the document mentions better treatment and benefits, the risks are obviously also greater.

These ports with clear military purposes are more vulnerable to attack, and workers working on the docks may also face war directly.

And the so-called "recommendation" does not mean mandatory recommendation, it means that some people must be recommended. This is no different from forced conscription.

Federal unions and labor federations had evolved into political organizations, and it was not surprising for Lance to see them move closer to the federal government on these issues.

If they could gain more power and status, but the price was to send their workers to die, they would not hesitate at all!

"Although I know very well that this is a job!" President Vaughn shook his head, "But we can't do this..."

For a moment, he didn't know how to express his inner dissatisfaction.

In the end, he couldn't find a suitable adjective and could only end with a sigh.

After a while, he gathered himself together and asked, "How can I help you?"

Lance didn't answer his question directly, "Do you know about the recent demolition of old industrial areas?"

President Vaughn nodded and said, "I heard that the land prices there are already unbelievable, and I heard that they are going to go up."

The land price is so high that the government cannot reclaim it, and investors are unwilling to spend money, so the demolition cannot go on and Mayor Williams’ goal cannot be achieved.

Many people were speculating on which direction the situation would develop next, when Lance suddenly asked this question. After he answered it, he understood that Lance was going to join.

“This is not actually a simple issue. It is the first showdown between the new mayor and the Bay Area interest groups.”

"But it is also very likely that this will be the last time!"

Lance paused for a moment and said, "Many people in the Bay Area are shareholders of the dock management company, and I control 90% of the workers on the dock."

“I want to replace it.”

President Vaughn's eyes widened wider and wider, until they couldn't expand any further and his eyeballs were about to fall out.

"How... could you do that?"

“How can they transfer the shares to you?”

"This is a gold mine that can never be exhausted!"

Lance seemed quite relaxed, "The police are my people, the prosecutors are my people, even the judges are my people."

"And I am the leader of the biggest gang in Jingang City. To be honest, I can't imagine how I can lose!"

"You must be very familiar with the terminal management company, after all, you have been working with them for so many years."

"Help me get a list of shareholders and shareholding percentages."

"In addition, we also need to win over a few shareholders to our side."

"See if there are any good candidates."

When Lance and Mayor Williams were discussing this matter just now, they both agreed that eating should not be too ugly.

In fact, there is a good way to solve this problem. Lance can bring people to their homes and put guns to their heads, but this is not appropriate.

This would trigger a rebellion among some neutral groups and put the entire city against the Williams family and Lance.

So you can be tough, and you can take action against some particularly stubborn people, but overall you have to stay within the rules, rather than completely destroy the rules.

After hearing this, President Vaughn fell into deep thought. He pursed his lips and said, "I'll do it as soon as possible. When do you want it?"

"The sooner the better!"

(End of this chapter)