Shadow Empire

Chapter 702 You Have to Say It Yourself

"Did you have a good time last night?"

At around eight o'clock, Senator Cleland waved to Lance and said hello.

He knew what Lance had done last night, but he did not stop him or interfere. He just listened quietly to his subordinates reporting on the matter.

He knew that this was Lance's way of showing off his muscles.

Jingang City is not bad, but for this country, no matter how good Jingang City is, it will never be able to catch up with here, Xinjin City, in the next fifty years!
He felt that it would be a waste of Lance's intelligence and talent if he stayed in Jingang City. He should come to Xinjin City, or at least to Jinzhou.

Lance actually had such a plan himself, but he didn't want to move the entire place here.

He wants everything in Jingang City, and he also wants to establish a branch here.

So he flexed his muscles in advance to let the people here know that he is not the kind of person who will just swallow his anger when encountering problems.

If anyone thinks he is easy to bully, or wants to try to deal with him and test Senator Cleveland's attitude, then he will make it difficult for the other party!

This is a tough one!

This is what Lance wanted.

When people realize that he is a vengeful person, they will consider the consequences of doing so more before offending him.

Lance smiled and said, "I was a little impulsive."

The Senator shook his head. "Have you had breakfast?"

"If you don't have any, I'll ask them to give you another portion."

At this time, the senator was sitting at the dining table and enjoying breakfast, a very simple breakfast, but also a very common breakfast.

There was an opened egg on the egg tray. It should have been made by the housekeeper or the cook. The edge of the eggshell was very neat.

Of course, it is also possible that they cooked many and finally picked the neatest one to put on the table.

Next to the egg tray was a small plate with three strips of cut bacon and about seven or eight or more thumb-thick bread strips on it.

These bread strips are cut from toast into square pieces, then baked in the oven until crispy and placed on a plate.

In addition, there is a piece of butter in the upper right corner of the plate.

A single glance was enough for Lance, "Thank you, I've already eaten."

Senator Cleveland smiled and said, "Then I'll eat by myself. You can go to the living room. There are some friends there. You can get to know them."

Lance quickly left the restaurant. Senator Cleveland took his eyes off Lance and focused all his attention on breakfast.

He was a focused man, both in politics and in dining.

He took one of the small pieces of bread and stirred it in the eggshell.

There was some yellow-white stuff hanging on the bread sticks, slightly solidified egg whites and unsolidified egg yolks, but because it was heated, it became more viscous.

This way of eating looks acceptable, and the sticky egg yolks give a special visual feel.

But Lance couldn't accept this. He just took a look and felt a little uncomfortable, because the yolk of this hot spring egg was too fishy.

This era was a period of rapid industrial development, and every chicken enjoyed the freedom to run except when it was just born.

Soon they were sent to grow up in small cages, and because of the intensive feeding on low-cost feed, the eggs laid by these chickens were actually very fishy.

But the Senator ate it with gusto, as if it was delicious.

When it comes to meals, at least breakfast, he's really not picky.

After eating two or three, he picked up a small white porcelain seasoning bottle on the table and sprinkled something into it through the mouth of the egg, which should be seasoning.

Then he took a silver spoon, scooped out the remaining egg, put it into his mouth, and looked very enjoyable.

Damn, he has never eaten anything good. Lance wanted to laugh, but luckily he held it back.

Two or three sticks of bread dipped in eggs, the rest buttered and rolled in bacon, and finally a few pieces of fruit salad, was his breakfast.

After cleaning his face with a napkin, he walked out of the restaurant and came to the living room not far away.

There were quite a few people in the living room. Almost all of his staff were here, as well as some people Lance didn't know, who looked like capitalists.

Senator Cleveland walked into the living room, raised his wrist to check the time on his watch, and then sat on the sofa that belonged to him. "Five more minutes, gentlemen."

"In five minutes, you will witness history!"

When he said this, everyone had his own thoughts in his mind, and of course they all knew what the so-called "witnessing history" meant.

war.

Twenty-four hours have passed, and Mr. President is declaring war on the Dantra Republic.

At 9:05 in the morning, the voice of the President in the Presidential Palace was broadcast on the radio station in Xinjin City. In fact, not only here, but all the radio stations in the entire federation were broadcasting the same voice at this moment, the voice of the President.

"This is the presidential palace. I am... Good morning to the country to which I am loyal and to every citizen of the Federation."

"Today is a solemn and important day for us. The Republic of Dentra has refused to acknowledge, apologize, or compensate for the sinking of our freighter and the killing of thousands of Federation citizens."

"They try to erase their evil deeds with silence!"

"We will remember this, and the world will remember this!"

"The Dantra Republic and its group of ambitious people are full of greed for world hegemony and have long aimed to conquer the world."

"The Federation is a peaceful country and the people of the Federation are peace-loving people, but this does not mean that we will choose to remain silent in the face of hegemony and persecution!"

"God has given us the courage to defeat all enemies. The international peace order has been challenged and the Federation has been affected."

"Brave and upright federals are not afraid of any challenge, nor do they accept any compromise!"

"Today, January 1024, 1, at 11:9 AM, after all-night discussions between the Presidential Cabinet and Congress, we have finally decided..."

The President paused here. At this moment, it seemed as if the entire federation had fallen silent. Even the vehicles that were moving seemed to have braked at the same time.

As the voice of "We officially declare war on the evil Dantra Military Alliance" came from the radio, the time in the country returned to normal.

The city in the distance seemed to become noisy at this moment. Many people rushed out of their homes and stood on the roadside, chatting loudly with the surrounding pedestrians and neighbors.

Everyone was expressing their own opinions and speaking their minds about the war.

There are long queues in front of the bank. Since January 1 this year, the federal tax reform bill has been passed and has come into effect. As long as you have income, you must pay taxes.

An industry comparable to that of lawyers is rapidly emerging, although people are not clear about how much they have to pay.

However, the news that buying national war tickets can reduce taxes is very important to the people, whether it is out of the idea of ​​not paying taxes, or the idea of ​​supporting the national war, or for the 22% return rate in five years.

People were willing to buy some treasury bonds. In the mobilization order, the president's voice was passionate and firm. There was only one thought in people's minds, that is, "The Federation must win!"

By the way, Lance also plans to buy some government bonds. It’s not that he is greedy for the interest rates that are worth little, but it is a manifestation of "patriotism".

Living in a country centered around old Federation people, you can be a Federation person, you can be an Imperial person, you can be a Slade person, you can be a dark person.

But you have to love the Federation.

In the past, love for the federation may not have had any specific expressions. After all, at that time, people did not have to pay taxes or do anything else. Everyone could pat their chests and say that they loved the country.

But now, patriotism has standards.

Pay taxes and buy government bonds!
He didn't want to get into trouble for a little money. During the war, "national consciousness" was very extreme. Lance didn't want to be a victim of national consciousness, even though the real ethnic groups of the Federation were required to live like savages in the reserve. When the president began to read the mobilization order, Senator Cleveland turned off the radio. He looked at the gentlemen sitting or standing in the room, raised his chin slightly, and said, "The war has begun, gentlemen!"

There was a reserved arrogance on his face. These two words didn't seem to have any direct connection, but they were so cleverly connected.

Reserved and arrogant is the most true portrayal of Senator Cleveland at this time.

The education he received since childhood made him maintain a reserved attitude at all times, but the fact that he manipulated the fate of this country and even the world behind the scenes made him instinctively develop an arrogant mood.

To him, to the senators in Congress, to the President, to these adults, everyone else in the world except themselves is just a chess piece on the chessboard.

Chess players also respect chess pieces, but they only say king or queen, not pawn or any other piece.

Everyone in the room looked at Senator Cleveland with some solemnity in their eyes, but behind the solemnity was a kind of excitement that they were hiding!

War represents centralization, and centralization represents legal monopoly!

As long as you can monopolize it, you can make huge profits!
For these capitalists, they are actually very patriotic, but what they love is the money in the pockets of people in this country, not the country itself.

As long as the profit is big enough, selling out the country is like selling a commodity to them.

Negotiate a price, then exchange the money for the goods.

"Congress will not be suspended for the next period of time. We have reached an agreement with the presidential palace."

"We will still take the lead in internal issues, but in external matters, the presidential office will have more autonomy."

According to the federal constitution and laws, the president automatically obtains the highest federal power and supreme authority during war.

He can do anything with just his signature, without going through Congress.

The ancestors who made the laws - although they are called ancestors, in fact some of them may have died less than a hundred years ago. But considering what they have done for this country, there seems to be nothing wrong with calling them ancestors.

These ancestors were well aware of the dire consequences for a country if power was dispersed in multiple hands during war.

So they made this rule.

However, the President is also well aware that his current position was not obtained in a legitimate way, so he did not ask Congress to shut down, but continued to respect Congress.

But in exchange, he will make the decisions on external matters, and Congress will not interfere unless it is a major matter that can affect the future development of the federation.

One of the gentlemen asked, "Mr. Senator, will international shipping be affected after the outbreak of war?"

Lance glanced at the guy. Tom walked up to him without knowing when, and explained to him in a low voice, "This is the vice chairman of the board of directors of Hongsheng Transportation."

"You know Hongsheng Transport, right?"

“One of the largest shipping companies in the federal shipping industry.”

Lance nodded and said, "I've heard of that."

Many of Hongsheng Transport's ships often appear in Jingang City, so Lance must have heard of and knows how huge this company is.

But what he didn't know was that Hongsheng Transportation Company was also involved in promoting the war.

They just thought he was an ordinary capitalist. After all, only a very few people knew secrets of this level.

Senator Cleveland shook his head. "It won't be affected. On the contrary, because of the war, our domestic transportation demand will increase greatly, and you ocean-going shipping companies will get more government orders."

When others saw this scene, they hurriedly asked whether their industries and careers would be affected by the war. Only Lance and a very small number of people stood at the back of the crowd and did not move.

No matter how the country changes, the mafia's business will not be affected.

Not only that, Lance also asked Lawrence Manor to increase its winemaking efforts. It is during this emotionally tense period that people need the stimulation of wine.

The war was going in the right direction and people needed to celebrate and have some alcohol to stimulate their mood.

The war was at a disadvantage, people felt uneasy and needed a little alcohol to numb themselves.

The soldiers on the front line also need it. In short, business is getting better and better!

After Senator Cleveland answered some questions, he raised his hand and made a light press to quiet the voices in the room.

"War will bring many new changes. If you are unsure about anything, you can call me anytime, anywhere."

"War brings destruction, but it also brings new opportunities for you!"

He paused and said, "Only after experiencing destruction can we usher in new life (reconstruction)!"

Then Senator Cleveland had everyone else sent away, leaving only Lance behind.

Last night he talked with his political friend about what Lance said. His friend is older than him and thinks that he should take Lance with him and let Lance speak.

Because Lance is a nobody.

To them.

If the ideas proposed by Lance caused trouble, then they could abandon this little man at any time without bringing trouble to themselves.

But if Senator Cleveland were to speak up about it himself, he would have to take full responsibility if anything went wrong.

Although the core purpose and content of the two operations are essentially the same, Senators Lance and Cleveland said that it would not have any other impact on the entire process.

But politics is sometimes so unreasonable.

What you say and what I say are not the same thing.

After thinking it over, Senator Cleveland agreed with his friend's opinion, and that Lance was just a gang leader, not a politician.

There is no need to worry that Lance can strip those political resources away from Senator Cleveland. He does not have that much ability yet. Moreover, this matter may indeed go wrong, and someone is needed to take responsibility when necessary.

Whatever the considerations, Senator Cleveland ultimately decided to let Lance speak.

After all, it is more comprehensive if the person who designed the idea explains it, rather than telling others about it.

"I met with several executive members of the Military Committee this morning. You can talk to them about your ideas."

Senator Cleveland looked at Lance, carefully observing the changes in Lance's expression. Seeing that there was no emotional fluctuation on his face, he felt satisfied, but at the same time, he was a little unsure whether Lance understood it or not.

He had to explain again, "These executive members of the Military Commission are responsible for approving military operations. They are also a top-notch department in Congress. You should try to be more tactful when you speak. You should understand what I mean."

Lance nodded and said, "I know, we should appropriately exaggerate the benefits and minimize the possible difficulties."

Senator Cleveland looked at Lance and couldn't help laughing. "You are such an interesting person, Lance!"

He didn't care at all about what bad things Lance did last night. To him, those were small things. Making money and keeping the Federation great were the big things.

In the process of ensuring big things, some people are "accidentally injured", and that is their honor!

More than twenty minutes later, they arrived at another manor on the outskirts of the city.

It took nearly ten minutes from the time the car entered the private road until it stopped in front of the building.

Although the speed of the car is not particularly fast, this is the luxurious and low-key life of the rich.

It is surrounded by a dense forest. Even in winter, some holly plants keep everything hidden behind the layers of tree canopies.

There are mobile patrolling bodyguards everywhere, and the security system here is more exaggerated than that of Senator Cleveland's estate.

When the car stopped, Lance got out and two security guards immediately came over to greet him.

One of the security guards was holding a tray in his hand, and the other one said, "Sorry, Mr. Lance, weapons are not allowed here, so I need to check whether you have followed the rules here..."

(End of this chapter)