Chapter 611

Congressman Williams's campaign speech was in the port area of Jincheng.

Although the Bay Area, Starlight District, and the city center were the core of this city in the eyes of many people, everyone knew that, in fact, the port was.

The reason Jincheng had such great development today was not because of what those rich people did, but because the Jincheng wharf brought a large number of opportunities here.

Even the cargo ships docked here, in a few days, could bring thousands of dollars in income to this city, as well as corresponding job positions.

So the wharf was very important; holding a public campaign speech here could also release his emphasis on the wharf, the city, and the city's foundation to a greater extent, and could better cater to the preferences of bottom-level workers and even poor people.

The plan was good, but the staff who were setting up the speech site told him that quite a few refugees were gathering over there.

They were not parading, but gathering together in the form of an assembly; these people were organized by someone, and they were holding up slogans like "We need food," "We need doctors," "We need shelter," and staying quietly.

It was also possible that Congressman Williams hadn't arrived yet; in short, they were very quiet now.

There were already quite a few reporters at the scene, including reporters from the state newspaper, who were observing these groups.

This was a very important speech; the friction between the refugee group and the locals already had a trend of escalating; if these people appeared at the speech site, it was hard to say whether any conflict events would break out.

Once it broke out, that was absolutely not a good thing for him; someone could use these things as a means of attack to attack him.

Even if it didn't break out, with so many refugees staring from the side, the locals would more or less be unhappy.

On one side were refugees without votes, and on the other side were locals with votes; from the beginning, this was not a multiple-choice question.

He himself was not good at handling it, so he asked Lans to come forward; this was also the reason why gangs could not be eradicated in the Federation.

The police, or any other law enforcement agency, simply could not take action against refugees; not just refugees, they were hard to exert value and effect in large-scale group events.

On the contrary, gangs were easier to do things at this time, and the cleanup work afterward was also very simple.

After Lans hung up the phone, he went over by car; from afar, he saw a group of dark-pressed refugees sitting on the open space next to the speech venue; from far away, it seemed he could smell the odor emanating from that group of people.

The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and the smell on people was getting heavier and heavier; they could actually go take a bath, as there was sea everywhere nearby.

But sea bathing was not a good choice; if people used seawater to take a bath, they wouldn't clean off the salt residue on their bodies after going ashore.

Those salt residues would cause serious damage to the human skin, making the skin dry, crack, and so on.

Almost all seawater bathing areas or beaches would have some freshwater shower places, just to let tourists clean off the salt residue on their bodies.

But there was no such equipment in the Xingang District, so they could not use seawater to take a bath.

Sweat, sebum, all kinds of things, eventually piled up together, forming their group that emanated a strong odor; the intensity of the odor was as eye-catching as the signs they held up!

Damn it...

"Do you want people to drive them away?" asked Erwin, who was sitting in the driver's seat.

Lans shook his head. "You can't drive them away by finding people; these people are clearly organized; do you see those few people?"

Lans pointed to some people who were constantly wandering among those crowds in the distance; they were different from others.

Others were sitting or standing, holding placards or just staying there quietly without moving.

But these people were constantly wandering back and forth in different groups; they were like electric wires connecting these groups, playing an important role.

Erwin nodded. "I see them; what's wrong with them?"

"If you don't find out who organized them, even if you arrange for people to drive them away, they won't leave, and it's even possible to trigger a series of conflicts, letting things get out of control."

Lans lit a cigarette. "It looks like if this matter isn't handled well, Congressman Williams won't be able to come over to give a speech in a short time."

Erwin, who was sitting in front, didn't believe it. "Is it that serious?"

"Much more serious than you imagine!" Lans's expression was very serious; once anything is hooked up with politics, it absolutely cannot be clean.

"These people might be more eager for the occurrence of conflict than we are."

"Go back first, and find Boni (the refugee gang leader who was supported)."

After returning to the office, Lans immediately made a call to Congressman Williams, talking about what he saw and heard in the port area. "There are clearly traces of human manipulation behind those people, so you'd better cancel the speech this afternoon."

After Congressman Williams finished listening, his brows furrowed. "Is it that serious?"

"Can't they be driven away?"

Lans directly took away his little hope. "I think they are more eager for a bloody incident than you are."

Congressman Williams was an old politician; he immediately understood Lans's meaning. "You mean, they intend to use this matter to attract more attention?"

Clearly, there was some anger in his tone; he was seen by some people as a stepping stone for them to advocate their own demands, which was something Congressman Williams could not tolerate.

"Do you have any way?" he asked.

Lans said "Hmm." "Use refugees to deal with refugees, but this needs time; if your schedule this afternoon cannot be changed, then you have to be prepared to be watched by the Federation and even the world, and it won't be friendly eyes, but scrutinizing, dissatisfied eyes."

Congressman Williams knew how to make trade-offs; this was just a kind of "convention," just like the fact that before the presidential election results come out, the Senate already knows the results but is unwilling to say them; these are all the basic face of politics.

They need to let the people understand what is fair and what is just, even if it is false fairness and false justice.

The Federation is a magical society, and at the same time, it is also a "placebo effect society"; these false fairness and justice are placebos distributed by the federal government to the people, letting them be able to produce numbness toward their own lives, and not thinking about doing something to change.

Since the result is highly likely not to be changed, then Congressman Williams is not required to attend this speech; he immediately made a decision. "I will change the schedule, but this matter, I hope it can have a result."

Lans smiled and said, "As you wish, sir."

The fuming Congressman Williams hung up the phone; he sat there for a good while, although preparing for this speech didn't need much money, and some of the people he invited to help out didn't count as too big a favor.

But he was still very unhappy, even somewhat angry.

Because he was "forced to retreat," he was forced to retreat by those refugees; Congressman Williams, who had already regarded himself as the master of this city, could not accept this result; he needed some people to pay the price for their "arrogance"!

The word arrogance used on refugees might make people feel a bit abrupt, but used in politics, then it's not abrupt.

"Refugee" is the label of these people, and at the same time, it is also their political face; some of them are using this political face, trying to pry a mayoral candidate of a city to achieve their political demands; if this isn't arrogance, what is it?

You go to someone else's house to stay, but you really regard yourself as one of the masters of that house, and you also want to use some of your own labels to force the homeowner to make compromises for you.

This is typical arrogant thinking; they feel that Congressman Williams cannot handle this matter, and feel that no matter what, they will definitely succeed!

Sometimes "weakness" indeed occupies a great advantage.

Congressman Williams sat for a while, then picked up the phone and dialed the number, canceling the afternoon schedule.

Soon James knew this news and came to his room.

James was also one of the resident guests for his main activities; he was not only Congressman Williams's son but also one of the municipal councilors of Jincheng, having enough status to sit in the front row.

As soon as he entered the door, he asked, "Why was the afternoon activity canceled? Did something happen that I don't know about?"

Congressman Williams looked at him and nodded. "Lans went to the scene; he said that those refugee groups might be controlled by someone behind the scenes, and he suspects the purpose of those people is to escalate the conflict to advocate their demands."

When James heard this, his butt couldn't sit still; he swayed his body back and forth twice. "Are you serious?"

Congressman Williams looked at him without speaking, making him realize this was true; he took a cold breath. "Damn it, why didn't they drive these refugees out in the first place?"

Why not?

That was another matter, but now Congressman Williams didn't want to talk about these. "So the afternoon activity was canceled, but I asked Lans to handle this matter; I believe he will have a result soon."

James was slightly hesitant. "He is now... do we need to have some expression like this?"

He meant that Lans had already cozied up to the Senator and the Department of Defense and was no longer an ordinary gang member; letting Lans do things couldn't be like in the past, regarded as a matter of course.

Congressman Williams nodded with gratification. "I'm glad to see you're not that stupid!"

A look of being unable to laugh or cry appeared on James's face. "Honestly, I can't tell if you're mocking me or praising me right now!"

The laughter made Congressman Williams's expression soften quite a bit. "We are partners; if I am good, he is good; similarly, if he has a problem, I will also use all my strength to protect him, so you don't need to worry."

"I will call to express my gratitude, and then invite him to eat at home; it just so happens that we can talk about some things by the way."

He added a sentence, mainly afraid that James wouldn't understand. "Good things."

When they, father and son, were exchanging insights, the speech stage that had just been built over there began to be dismantled amidst the complaints of the workers, although the complaints were not very loud, because the dismantling also counted as remuneration.

Watching the venue over there being dismantled, some refugees were suddenly stunned.

Soon, the news gathered around one of the refugees; this guy looked to be in his forties, and although his clothes were simple, they were very clean, and there was no strange odor on his body.

He looked like he gave people a very "upright" feeling, and there were quite a few people surrounding him.

This was one of the members of a local folk political group in Slader, a small leader.

As an opposition party that couldn't be counted as an opposition party, he couldn't exert much power locally at all; Slader was not a place with a loose political environment, and it was very difficult for this kind of small-place political group to develop.

He heard that the political environment in the Federation was relatively loose, so he gave birth to the idea of coming to the Federation to give it a try.

Giving it a try didn't cost anything, nor did it need to bear any consequences.

After he arrived here, he discovered that although the political environment here was loose, everything was hooked up with money.

Even the presidential election was clearly marked with a price; with twenty to thirty million in campaign funds, one was qualified to try to launch a charge toward the presidential throne, but one was only qualified.

In fact, from a strict sense, the resident guests, those running to make up the numbers, including the star politicians who publicly expressed support for them, were also valuable.

You don't know them, and you don't have any very intimate relationship with them; if you want these influential people to support you, you have to name your price.

So the campaign funds on the surface were only twenty or thirty million, but in reality, its total value might be fifty million or even more.

In this environment, relying solely on lip service couldn't make one a politician at all, let alone talk about realizing one's own ambitions and ideals.

Even becoming a municipal councilor needed background and funds; at this moment, he finally understood that the so-called loose environment was aimed at those with backgrounds, not at ordinary people like them.

He wanted to make his voice heard; he gave up everything in his country and came to the Federation not to be an ordinary person working for others.

The life lived by people here who had money, power, and influence also deeply attracted him; he wanted to become one of them, but there was no good way.

Until he set his sights on these compatriots.

His plan was very simple; wasn't Congressman Williams going to be elected mayor?

His requirements were not high; his preliminary plan was to become a refugee public opinion consultant, letting Congressman Williams specifically open up an office in the City Hall for him.

Then using this as a springboard, constantly moving upward, first as the Jincheng refugee public opinion consultant, then as the Liklai State refugee public opinion consultant.

In the end, he could even become a consultant for the Presidential Palace Refugee Public Opinion Office, or join the Immigration Bureau to handle all matters related to refugees.

He had seen very clearly during this period that the prosperous federal society attracted the eyes of all refugees; they were highly likely not to leave the Federation after the war ended.

Then this would exist as a problem, contradiction, dispute, and these problems also needed to be solved.

As a "refugee expert," he would definitely be able to find his own place on this land.

As long as he could complete the first successful step, step out, and not fall down, then the road behind would be very easy to walk.

If Congressman Williams didn't adopt his ideas, didn't let him become a refugee representative, and didn't let him have his own office in City Hall?

Very simple: create conflict, escalate contradictions, and have a bloody incident!

The federal government was deepening its connection with the military alliance; if news of the federal government suppressing refugees broke out at this time, it was possible to produce variables.

The federal government would definitely take relatively conservative measures to handle these bloody incidents; at that time, as a "meritorious person" who helped the federal government soothe the emotions of the refugee group, giving him a government office job position, it wouldn't be excessive, right?

It could be said that his idea had a high possibility of realization, because he was the person who created the problem, and at the same time, he was the "key man" who solved the problem.

Refugees didn't completely trust the federal government; if the federal government were reliable, it wouldn't let so many people starve to death.

So his status would be very prominent.

It's just... he looked at those people who were dismantling the site, and couldn't help but furrow his brows.

He had considered many possibilities before organizing today's activity: the possibility of Congressman Williams accepting their opinions, the possibility of rejecting their opinions, or the possibility of perfunctorily dealing with their opinions.

But he had never thought that that guy would actually run away without even showing his face?

"Dave, what do we do next?"

This Mr. Dave, who was full of ideals and longing, had a somewhat swollen and painful head; now the one who became troublesome was not that Congressman Williams, but rather him.

If there was no result from this assembly today, it would be very difficult for him to gather these people next time, at least he wouldn't be able to gather thousands of people over here like today.

People would also be disappointed in him; the disappointment in him would turn into no longer supporting him, turning into wait-and-see.

But going directly to Congressman Williams's estate to assemble made no sense; that place still belonged to private territory, and they couldn't even get close, otherwise the federal police had the power to expel them.

This kind of expulsion, and even bloody incidents, would not bring positive influence; it wasn't what he wanted.

As for going to City Hall... he had already learned that the one in that position was just a display; for a moment, he had a headache.

If he had capitalists supporting him behind his back, how much would that be?

He would distribute some roast chicken or something to these people, and the problem would be solved.

"Let me consider it." He looked somewhat solemn and perfunctorily dealt with it, his brain spinning at high speed, trying to find a point that could break through.

After a good while, his gaze stayed on those reporters, and then he strode toward those reporters.

At the same time, Boni also came to Lans's office; he still appeared somewhat restrained, but much better than last time.

"How have things been during this time?" Lans let him sit down and even got a cup of coffee for him.

Boni had already changed into a new set of clothes and looked much more spirited; Lans gave him some job opportunities.

For a gang like the Lans family, liquor might be a bit more valuable.

But for these refugees who had no consumption ability, job opportunities were the most important!

Boni took a commission from these people; whether it was food or money, it was all fine.

With money, he soon pulled up a large group of people, already having some gang style, and it was still the largest among the refugees at present.