Shadow Empire

Chapter 745 New Friends

After the senator put down the phone, he stood there, looking at the hung up phone and laughed twice.

He had actually asked the local wine supplier in Xinjin City, and was told that this batch of wine was not a particularly good one, not one produced by a large winery, so the price could not be too high.

Plus there is the shipping cost. Even if it is shipped by sea, it will cost a lot of money to transport it from the southernmost city in the Federation to the central region of the Federation.

These wines are expressly prohibited from being brewed, transported, and sold in the country, so no one would risk the huge risk to transport them.

The larger the transportation company, the less likely they are to cross the line unless they get a personal guarantee from the senator.

But how could the senator protect these illegal things?
So in the end, suppliers can only form their own fleets or cargo ships for transportation, which will greatly increase costs and risks.

So they couldn't possibly give too much money, and there was no shortage of alcohol in the Golden State, and the entire East Coast had no shortage of alcohol. There would always be people who would try every possible means to smuggle the alcohol to cities on the East Coast where it could be sold at a high price.

The supplier of alcohol to Congress quoted a price of only 700,000 to 800,000, which was a little less than Lance's price.

In a way, they made a profit since Lance was willing to pay $900,000.

At first they didn't actually think about making money from this, but as Prohibition began to be implemented, some capable and well-connected people found them.

Either some people want to release some wine from a sealed warehouse, or some people want to buy the sealed wine in a warehouse.

There are too many interests and personal connections involved here. They did not agree at first, but as time went on, they would always encounter something they could not refuse.

This is the bottom line. It is broken little by little through constant testing.

Until now, if a local prohibition bureau seized a large amount of liquor, they would make a small profit from it.

Anyway, the people don’t know what happened to the wine. They can only see that a large amount of wine was destroyed, but they don’t know how much is left and where the remaining wine will go.

After the heat dies down, no one will care anymore.

And this is exactly how they earn pocket money.

Hidden and affordable.

Lans did not plan to ship this batch of wine back, but would sell it directly locally at a wholesale price of about 1.2 to 1.3 million.

As the scale grows, Lans has begun to transform from a pure retailer to a wholesaler.

Of course, he will still retain some of his offline retail channels, which can be regarded as some benefits for alcoholics.

The entire federation is now short of alcohol, but not short of alcohol, because the seventeen wineries can start brewing wine at full capacity, and as they can't control their desires, these wines begin to flow into the market. Prohibition can be said to be dead in name only.

But it will still exist, and will exist for a long time, because only as long as Prohibition exists will the price of alcohol be ridiculously expensive!
From the time the Prohibition was promulgated and began to be actually implemented to now, in three years, the overall price of grapes, including fruit grapes, has skyrocketed by more than thirty times.

What is this concept?
Three years ago, Lance spent more than 70 yuan, and he could buy a ton of grapes for less than 80 yuan.

But up to now, the three major agricultural product distributors, Ligi, Bailidi, Roundup and Federal, have raised their prices for fruit grapes and wine grapes to more than 2,600 federal soles per ton.

For example, some very high-quality wine grapes have already cost over three thousand.

This is an exceptionally magical world. Everything has changed because of the Prohibition. Vineyard owners who grow grapes never thought that they could actually join in this bizarre carnival.

Every era has its own super opportunities. In this era, as long as you are bold and seize the opportunities in the first two years, you can make a lot of money and live a life without worries about food and clothing.

But if you don’t have that kind of courage, and can’t see these opportunities, then you can only unfortunately become the background of the great era, and become the “1” in the huge population figure that people in the future use to roughly count when discussing this era.

The next day was a working day, and as soon as Tim got to work, he received a call from his superior, asking him to hand over the batch of wine to Lance.

Tim briefly reported what Lance had said when they had dinner together over the weekend, such as continuing to crack down on the brewing and selling of illegal liquor, and his superiors also expressed their support.

Tim no longer had any doubts and called Lance with a bright smile on his face. Even though Lance couldn't see it, he wanted to show his best side.

At least he could hear it, right?

This was just a small episode for Lance. Tim warmly invited Lance to dinner. He mentioned his wife and children, and they were all looking forward to their first meeting.

Lance did not refuse this.

Of course not now, but in two days.

In the afternoon, Lance waited for Attorney General Terry at the golf course.

Attorney General Terry always looks very energetic, and the smile on his face seems to be a permanent spell that always stays on his face.

And he appropriately showed his big white teeth that represented the elite class!

A good set of teeth is very important to the federal people, and they seem to have an obsession with the health of their teeth.

From a distance, Lance took the initiative to extend his hand, and only when he walked in did he shake Attorney General Terry's hand and shook it vigorously twice.

"Thank you for your help this time. If it weren't for you, it would be very troublesome for me." He said, looking at a middle-aged man who was sitting slightly behind Attorney General Terry.

This middle-aged man looked to be around... fifty years old, slightly plump, and wearing a baseball cap.

Judging from the small amount of hair on his temples, his hair is definitely not as... tough as his belly.

Attorney General Terry smiled warmly. This special incident once again proved that Congress attached great importance to Lance. Otherwise, it would be impossible for Congress to help him suppress the matter when some forces in the state strongly protested against the Lance family.

Attorney General Terry wants to make progress, but has been unable to do so before.

Above him are the lieutenant governor and the governor. These two people will definitely not take the initiative to cultivate their future competitors, but it is a bit difficult for them to directly contact Congress, and more than one stepping stone is needed.

After choosing and choosing, he finally chose Lance. It turned out that Lance really had the ability. He felt sincerely happy about his investment. At least he would not lose money on this deal.

"Don't you always say we are friends?"

"Friends help friends, that's what they should do!"

Lance knew that there were some things they should talk about in private, and there were other people here, so he turned his gaze to the fat man behind him.

Attorney General Terry also took the initiative to let go of Lance's hand, then stepped aside to make some room and introduced the guy in front of him to Lance, "This is the director of the State Police, Anthony, Anthony Stone."

"You should already know this one, Lance White."

Director Anthony quickly took two steps forward and shook Lance's hand, with a warm smile on his face, shaking his hand several times in a row, "I've wanted to get to know you for a long time, Mr. Lance."

"It's just that I never found the right time or person to introduce you. When the Attorney General talked about you and your needs, I knew it was time for me to contribute!"

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Lance!"

Lance also had a smile on his face. Although he was just a law enforcer and not a politician, the status of the state police was still relatively high in the state.

There are many divisions within the State Police, and power is important to someone like Lance who wants to control the entire state's bootlegging market.

For example, interstate highway police are under the management of state police departments. These state highway police can stop passing vehicles on the interstate highways at will and require inspection of the vehicles.

It will become less easy for smugglers' vehicles to safely pass through interstate highways when distributing goods to various places by land.

For example, they can intervene in and interfere with criminal investigations in various regions, which gives Lance the ability to directly intervene in cases in other places that have no police relations.

The state police can take the criminal away on the pretext of joint investigation, which is convenient whether Lance wants to save someone or kill someone.

Not to mention that state police also have the power to perform official duties across state lines. Of course, they must notify the state government and state police department of the state they need to travel to in advance, and then they can enforce the law across state lines.

"We're going to be very good friends, Anthony."

He called Anthony by his name, which was actually a sign of intimacy, and Anthony naturally would not object.

Although he is two years older than Lance, in terms of political power, even if all his ancestors were put together, they would still not be Lance's opponent. Attorney General Terry is now acting so friendly, so what qualifications does he have to put on airs as the state police chief?

No matter how you act, aren't you still just a law enforcer?
Aren't they just low-level workers who are authorized by their masters to use their powers, not even politicians? !
Chief Anthony was very touched by Lance's kindness. "I firmly believe in this!"

When the two men quickly let go, Attorney General Terry looked back at the caddy. The caddy in the distance immediately came over pushing a golf cart with their golf bags and clubs hanging on the cart.

Since we are playing basketball, talking about things is important, but playing basketball is also important.

It’s like... in another world, people like to talk about things at the dinner table, and they want to talk well and eat well.

Here, playing ball is equivalent to a banquet.

And when someone is hitting the ball, others can say a few words in private.

After some courtesy, Lance was the first to bat.

After playing golf a lot, it's actually just like that. Some people like to pursue all kinds of rules, such as how to stand and how to swing.

Especially the middle class.

They will even spend money to buy some books about golf and hire some golf coaches to teach them how to hit the ball more accurately!

But for the true upper-class gentlemen, if they don't make a living playing golf, then their actions become more personal.

With the huge swing, some of the grass was blown away. In fact, the shot was not very good, but Attorney General Terry and Director Anthony still applauded on the side, as if they really thought it was a good shot.

Lance laughed twice, didn't explain, and stood aside.

The second person to hit the ball was Director Anthony. After he got into position, he saw that Lance was talking to Attorney General Terry, so he gestured a few more times but still didn't hit the ball.

A smart person knows what to do and when, instead of doing stupid things.

"I put some things in the trunk of your car, if your license plate number hasn't changed," Lance said softly.

Attorney General Terry had a smile on his face. "Actually, I didn't help much. Anthony was the one doing all the detailed work."

Lance shook his head slightly, "If you don't help me, my speaking up may not be so effective."

"Don't be modest, you deserve it."

"The senator will come to Jingang City in a while. You can come over then and we will greet him together."

Attorney General Terry had a hint of joy on his face, "Will it be bad?"

Lance shook his head, "I talked to the Senator about this before. I was planning to take you with me to New Gold City."

"But he said it's not appropriate for you to go to Golden State right now, so you can meet up when he comes later."

As a person ranked in the top five in the state, suddenly going to the Golden State will indeed make people have all kinds of inappropriate associations, and Senator Cleveland’s consideration is also very correct.

If he really goes, the senator will become passive.

What would the Governor of Likale State think, what would the Deputy Governor think?
There are still two years before the governor's term changes. Are you so anxious to get his position?
The deputy governor is planning to inherit the governor's power and job. Why do you want to cut in line?
Senator Cleveland would never allow such a thing to happen as it was clearly detrimental to the unity of the state government.

As for the Cleveland Senators coming, there won’t be so many problems if we go to greet them with Lance, after all, this is their “home court”.

Maybe he and the Senator are friends?
When a friend comes to my workplace, I go to meet him and greet him, and no one can say anything.

Attorney General Terry's teeth were exposed. He had to say that the dentist he chose was indeed good. It didn't look real. "The senator really thought it through. I was too naive before."

The two of them had already spoken quite a bit, and it would be a bit too much if Chief Anthony didn't swing.

As he swung the club vigorously, despite his big belly, he played basketball well and it was obvious that he was a frequent player.

But the trajectory of his ball is even worse than Lance's. It can only be said that this guy is a very insightful person.

Attorney General Lance and Terry also applauded and praised his hit.

Then it was Attorney General Terry's turn, and he slowly walked to the batting position, and it was Chief Anthony's turn to talk to Lance.

"Is Chief Anthony a local?"

"Just call me Anthony!"

Chief Anthony kept smiling, "Regarding the last question, yes!"

"I'm probably half local. My grandfather brought his family here from other places when my father was very young, and then they settled here, and finally we were born."

Lance nodded slightly, "From what I can tell, you must have a happy family."

Director Anthony couldn't help but laugh. "I'm quite lucky. I have two boys. The older one is already working, and the younger one is in college."

Lance nodded slightly. Knowing something about his family situation, Chief Anthony could also tell him. He knew what Lance was asking about.

As future partners, it is inevitable to understand each other.

His understanding of Lance came entirely from Lance's personal file, which had been beautified and modified many times. Now, even if a new and ambitious director of the FBI came, Lance would still be a native of the Federation.

However, even after beautification, some materials about Lance and the Lance family can still be found.

Attorney General Terry completed his swing, and it was clear that his skills were better, and the ball flew beautifully and far.

After getting permission, the caddy ran over from a distance, tidied up, put the three people's clubs back into the golf bags, then pushed the golf cart and ran towards the landing point.

Someone has made a comparison at the landing point, and the golf course will definitely not neglect players of this level.

The three of them walked together and talked about some follow-up situations of the Holy Bell Party, some situations that were unknown to the outside world.

Those who were more concerned about Joshua and the Holy Bell Party before are now demanding a strict investigation of the Holy Bell Party after Joshua's death.

Lance had heard of some of the names they mentioned, but he had never heard of most of them because they were too far away.

These people all have certain interests with the Holy Bell Party. Perhaps they had considered that if Joshua was caught and talked nonsense, they would stop him no matter what the purpose was.

Now that Joshua was finished, they only hated that the Holy Bell Party had not died fast enough to hide all their shameful past beneath their corpses.

People are like this, they will instinctively try to find ways to prevent disasters from happening. They have a premonition that if things develop beyond their imagination, there will be big trouble.

After the game, Lance had a good understanding of Director Anthony and discussed a series of subsequent cooperation issues.

For example, we will increase our efforts to cooperate with the Prohibition Committee to form a highway alcohol prohibition system covering the entire state.

Conduct random inspections on suspicious vehicles, etc.

These are the jobs of the state police. For Chief Anthony, it is just a matter of doing his job as a favor, so he will definitely not refuse.

Of course, he also knew that this job would not be that simple. Lance would definitely notify him at special times and focus on those vehicles.

But he didn't care, he had the same idea as Dell.

Being the chief of the state police force for your entire life is just a law enforcer.

He also wants to be a politician, even if his rank is not high enough.

Who says federal people don’t want to be officials?

(End of this chapter)