Shadow Empire

Chapter 94 Shipping
"Nice clothes!" Alberto commented on Lance's clothes as soon as he entered the room. "I like the style of this suit. Can you introduce the tailor to me?"

He took the initiative to walk out of the desk and shook hands with Lance, "The local tailors in the Federation don't know how to make a beautiful dress!"

Many federal people don't like to wear clothes that are too tight, so they are increasingly loose in clothing design, especially men's clothing.

There are two extremes among the tailors here. One is purely imitating the style of their ancestors, which is so tight that it almost makes people breathless.

Another way is to make the clothes into a square, without lines and loose.

Alberto was not a native of the Federation and he did not like this style.

After a brief chat, Lance sat on the sofa.

"Have you been following the recent market for alcoholic beverages?" He handed Lance a cigar. "This is pure handmade cigar from Sumuli Island. I have someone watching over it."

Lance took it and sniffed it. The smell was very strong and had a hint of sweetness.

Alberto got out his cigar-smoking implements and unpacked one for Lance, who now looked enthusiastic.

Lance handed over the cigar in his hand and watched him cut it and roast it. "Is the wine market in Jingang City so good now?"

Alberto nodded. "It's better than I thought. And you know... there's a bigger boss above me. He told me that the Prohibition League is beginning to have a great political influence throughout the Federation."

"Since the prohibition of alcohol in various areas has led to increased production capacity and decreased crime, Congress intends to impose a complete prohibition on alcohol throughout the federation."

“It’s part of the deal between the president and those people for reelection.”

Prior to this, prohibition was not implemented across the board, but was implemented voluntarily by the regions.

Some people from the Temperance League and the church, together with the politicians and bigwigs behind them, will form a lobbying team to persuade various states to join the Temperance League.

They are not sure whether doing so will really help the development of the city and the progress of society.

But now it seems that it is indeed effective.

Didn’t even the media in Jingang City say that?

Our production capacity is increasing, work efficiency is improving, and crime rates are decreasing. What reason is there to not support its full implementation?
The Holy Federation is coming under Prohibition, and whoever fucking stops Prohibition is an enemy of the Federation!

Suddenly, the President was involved, which gave Lance a very strange feeling.

He eats beef that costs less than a dollar, but he worries about the cabinet.

"Let's talk about the alcoholic beverage market in Jingang City."

Alberto handed the cigar to Lance, who took a puff and nodded in his expectant gaze, "It tastes very good."

After that, the two looked at each other for a few seconds, and Lance couldn't help but ask, "You don't want me to tell you about the first taste and aftertaste, do you?"

"This is too difficult for me!"

Alberto looked disappointed. "I thought you would say something nice. Each one costs more than one dollar and fifty cents."

Lance looked at the cigar in his hand again, took another puff, and then felt it. "When I heard you say it's worth more than one dollar and fifty cents, I suddenly felt that it really tasted better!"

"It's a waste to give it to you, Lance!"

He laughed and lit one himself. "The prohibition law in this state has just been implemented. It's very strict, so there's no alcohol coming in from outside."

"They expect this crackdown on alcohol violations to continue until January 1. We don't know what the follow-up situation will be, so now the entire Jingang City only has the stockpiled alcohol available."

"In November, December, and more than sixty days, how many alcoholic beverages can this city consume?"

"The current market price of the Gold Label La Boquerque whiskey you have is about eleven dollars."

Tens of thousands of bottles of wine may sound like a lot from one person's perspective, but this city has a permanent population of 1.1 million, as well as a large number of floating population brought in daily by sea transport.

City Hall gave an inconclusive figure through a survey, saying the city has a population of 1.25 million, including those living temporarily and those planning to leave.

Not including illegal immigrants, who, as we all know, are not people on paper.

If they are included, this is a city with a population of nearly 1.5 million.

The consumption of alcoholic beverages by a population of 1.5 million is astonishing. Moreover, the economy of Jingang City is well developed, the people are not poor, and the federal people also have the habit of consuming alcoholic beverages.

Lance didn't expect that the wine in his hands would increase in value so quickly. If calculated at eleven dollars, more than 40,000 bottles of wine would be more than 460,000 yuan.

Businesses with no costs will always make the most money. No wonder those capitalists and political families who made their fortunes from businesses with no costs would make laws to prohibit later generations from doing the same.

Alberto looked at Lance and met his gaze, "Someone wants the wine in your hand."

Lance held the cigar between three fingers. "So you told people I had a large supply of liquor?"

There was no expression on his face, no anger or dissatisfaction, just as calm as before, but Alberto knew that there was more than calm beneath the calm surface.

He quickly shook his head to avoid misunderstanding, "No one knows that you have wine. When I attended a family gathering a few days ago, Daboshi talked about this matter. I said I had a way to get a batch of wine, and he was very interested."

"Big Boss?" Lance showed a curious look, "I thought...", he had a regretful expression on his face, as if to say "I didn't expect you were just a small minion".

This made Alberto couldn't help laughing, "Please, this is the Federation, not our hometown." "Sumurians, Pati people, Gray people, Ruishi people, and you imperial people, and many people from all over the world."

"The environment in the Federation is very complex. Don't say you don't know. So we must unite to have space for survival."

"If you pay any attention to the five major families in Jingang City, you will know that one of them is the Sumurian family, the Pasreto family."

"Paul Pasletto is my big boss."

Lance didn't say anything, so he had to continue, "Mr. Pasletto means to buy all the Gold Label La Boheys in your hands for eleven dollars. He can give you cash, bearer stocks, bonds, or something else."

"If you want to pay taxes, he can also transfer the money to you." Alberto couldn't help laughing when he said this.

Even if the bureau doesn't investigate how he got such a large amount of liquor, he would have to pay half of it just to pay enough taxes.

Lance was suddenly stunned at this question, because the money was really too much, and it had always been alcohol before, so he hadn't considered these things.

But if he wants to cash out now, it means he must have a plan to deal with the more than 400,000.

Is it in the form of stolen money in the form of cash thrown into a safe and then buried deep underground, or is it laundered through other means?

Money laundering is not an easy task.

Although money laundering is not too difficult in this era from Lance's point of view, it is not easy to launder hundreds of thousands of cash quickly.

Moreover, this will definitely be noticed by the IRS.

Lance didn't think there was anything wrong with being targeted by the FBI. Everyone knew that as long as their director was fed, they would be like a dozing tiger.

But the tax bureau is very difficult to deal with because they only want money, and a lot of money.

Seeing Lance lost in thought, Alberto, who worked in a financial company, knew what he was worried about and gave him two suggestions.

"If you want cash and want to spend it, you can have the Kodak family launder it for you, but they charge a lot."

"If you don't want cash, bearer bonds are a good option."

Casino money laundering has always been a...relatively reasonable method of money laundering, but the cost of this method is very, very high.

Casinos are easily associated with various crimes. If you don't pay enough, the Kodak family will not conflict with the tax bureau for tens of thousands of dollars.

It would be better to use this money to pay taxes instead of giving it to the Kodak family.

Once the money is given to the Kodak family, they will not feel that they owe you anything. Instead, they will feel that you owe them something. They are helping you solve the problem of your financial problems, and the fees you give them are what you deserve.

You still owe them a favor, just to save maybe less than 50,000 bucks.

It’s better to pay taxes directly, and the tax bureau will think you are a good person!
"Cash, I'll figure it out myself." Lance finally made a decision and then asked, "How do we trade?"

Alberto stood up and walked back and forth a few steps. "If you want to come forward yourself, I will introduce you to Mr. Pastore."

"If you don't want to come forward yourself, then you can sell this batch of wine directly to me, and I will pass it on to the family."

They all seem to be good options, but rather than meeting the boss of one of the five major families for this matter, Lance hopes to find another reason so that the news will not leak out.

He decided to sell the wine directly to Alberto for a total price of 465,000 dollars, saving Alberto about 1,000 dollars.

That's a staggering amount of cash, and it looks even more staggering.

There were no large-denomination bills of one hundred or fifty yuan, only ten and twenty yuan in cash.

They put the money in stacks of 100 bills, tied them up with rubber bands, and used two waterproof gasoline barrels to hold the money. Both barrels were filled to the brim.

Out of trust and because he had no idea how to count so much money, he chose to trust Alberto.

But soon, how to place the two oil drums filled with banknotes became a problem.

He could only transport it back temporarily.

Buying a big, reliable and safe house has become the most important thing Lance needs to do now.

Alberto, who received a large amount of high-end wine, quickly told the news to Mr. Pastore, who praised him highly.

Now there is a very... strange phenomenon in Jingang City. Most of the people who hoard wine are hoarding mid- and low-end wines, especially low-end wines.

Some cheap whiskeys from unknown brands and Copper Label La Boheme are their main stockpiles.

To some extent, their choice is actually correct. When the prices of alcoholic beverages skyrocket, the mainstream consumer groups can only afford these cheap or low-quality wines.

They simply can't afford mid-range or high-end wines!

A glass of Gold Label La Boquete costs $1.35 in an underground bar, and the bar doesn't even make any money, but who the hell can afford to drink that?

This also means that the number of mid- to high-end wines currently stockpiled by Jingangcheng wine merchants is actually not large...

(End of this chapter)