Chapter 635: It

"Emperor"—a title for the supreme ruler of the feudal era—now applied to a gang leader. Even for Lan Si, it was difficult to judge in such a short time whether this was mockery from General Myers or a sincere evaluation.

Lan Si smiled instinctively, "Thank you for the compliment, General."

Whether a Major General or a General, they were both "General," so addressing him this way was not an issue.

Myers seemed to be waiting for his answer. Before coming here, someone had tipped him off.

During his stationing in this city, if there were any problems outside the military camp, he could just find Lan Si.

Lan Si could solve all the problems here, whether they were civilian, municipal, or even from the state government.

At first, Myers had pegged Lan Si as one of those brokers with connections to Congress. Such people were not rare; they were common, found in every region.

They might come from political families or be front-men for certain politicians. They knew Senators and Representatives in Congress, using that as an opportunity to intervene in more political events.

With connections that reached the heavens, they were more active locally and had fewer taboos.

They could help him communicate with various levels of government and departments, solving many problems without the two parties ever having to meet.

Myers didn't like dealing with brokers because their eyes were full of profit. This wasn't to say General Myers was a pure person with no interest in profit; it was just that compared to those who played politics and profit so nakedly, he was slightly more "pure"—he only liked power.

But when he actually investigated Lan Si, he discovered it wasn't quite like that.

The simplest way to understand a person is to talk to them.

He looked at Lan Si, and Lan Si didn't flinch. "I don't know where you heard about me, or perhaps it was someone's introduction or recommendation."

"To put it modestly, I have some reputation in Jincheng. People are willing to sit down and listen to what I have to say, then consider my suggestions."

"If I'm not being so modest..." Lan Si leaned back, his hands resting naturally on the armrests of the sofa, "... I think your evaluation is very accurate."

General Myers paused for a moment, then laughed. "That's not 'not being modest,' that's 'exaggeration'!"

Lan Si shook his head. "I don't see it that way."

"'Emperor' refers to a 'supreme ruler.' If we set a scope for it—this city, Jincheng."

"Excluding external forces, such as the President or the Senators, I control every corner of this city."

"Using the word 'Emperor' to describe me in this city, I don't think it's an exaggeration or unreasonable."

General Myers sized Lan Si up. There was no guilt or unease on Lan Si's face. He was calm, composed, and indifferent, as if stating a fact.

General Myers nodded noncommittally. "Since you are so capable, and Chief Bulu said you were an interesting person, there are some things I intend to hand over to you."

Lan Si nodded slightly. "Within my capabilities, the only thing I can guarantee is that there won't be any problems."

General Myers then brought up a few requests—things he needed Lan Si to do or coordinate.

First was the issue of daily military supplies—food, drink, and sanitation.

This part had always been self-funded by the military. For instance, food had to be procured locally; unlike other things, it couldn't be shipped in from elsewhere.

With current transport capabilities, anything shipped from afar would likely be spoiled by the time it arrived.

Military rations were tied to soldier morale. A military that ate garbage all day and one with excellent food were absolutely different in terms of morale.

Beyond this, there was a more thorny issue: so many young, strong men needed a way to vent their loneliness.

This matter was different from others; it couldn't be brought to the table, but it was essential.

The military camp was full of young, vigorous men whose sexual desires were strong. If they weren't given some outlet, it would eventually lead to trouble.

Years ago, the military still maintained internal hospitality departments, but these were disbanded with social progress.

However, this didn't mean physiological needs disappeared with the progress of civilization. Not only did they not disappear, but they became even more intense.

Alcoholism, prostitution, and brawling were hallmarks of the Federal military. If it didn't have these hallmarks, it certainly wouldn't be a "pure-blooded" Federal military.

The public didn't know much about this, purely because the Federal government knew how to cover things up and prevent scandals from spreading.

Federal people also had a tradition in this regard, but the Federal government was better at fooling the public. They spent huge amounts of money on propaganda, weaving lies to promote them, making people think lies were the truth.

One of the most famous lies was that many Federal media outlets claimed the land they stood on was bought from the natives with money.

No war, no massacre, everyone laughed and completed the transaction. To this day, many people still believe this, and would even argue with those who talk about massacres to defend their point of view!

They also believed that establishing reservations for the indigenous people and only allowing them to live by hunting was to ensure the inheritance of culture.

With about 100,000 or more naval soldiers stationed here, if no one coordinated this, trouble was bound to happen.

Those in the know recommended Lan Si to Myers.

"He can handle all your troubles!"

Those were their exact words.

The two discussed these issues preliminarily. Lan Si indicated they were minor matters, and Myers decided to see what he could accomplish first.

After they parted, Chief Bulu and Lan Si walked together.

"You might need to make appropriate concessions on military procurement," he said, moving closer and lowering his voice so Lan Si wouldn't misunderstand. "Lower the price, but don't let the quality become too terrible."

"Also, the same goes for the women issue. There are some things Myers isn't convenient to say, so I have to be the one to say them."

Chief Bulu's expression wasn't particularly good. After all, the things he had to say didn't make him look like a glorious person—though he wasn't particularly glorious to begin with.

Lan Si looked at him, slightly surprised. "It sounds like he's short on money."

Chief Bulu was a civilian Major General whose job was to handle coordination between Congress and the military from his office in the Department of Defense. When necessary, he carried documents and orders from the Department of Defense to various military bases, demanding they do this or that.

Military personnel didn't like these political officers in uniform from the Department of Defense, but they couldn't really do without them.

Take now, for example.

"They don't find it as easy to rake in money as those politicians, but they have many places to spend it, so this matter..." He coughed twice, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Lan Si's focused gaze made him feel a little bit of shame—just a little.

But even just a little was enough to cause some changes in his emotions.

"In short, we will set the budget high, but you don't have to follow the budget. Just like when building the base, you understand what I mean."

"It's just that last time, many people were sharing the money, but this time, you only need to share it with Myers."

Lan Si nodded. Taking kickbacks existed in any world, any civilization, among the privileged and ruling classes.

Not to mention a society as highly commercialized and capitalized as the Federation, where power had become a toy for capitalists and capitalized politicians to manipulate for profit. This phenomenon was even more obvious.

However, Lan Si was also curious about something. "Wouldn't the military-industrial complex give him some benefits?"

Chief Bulu nodded. "They do, the public relations fees aren't small, but the big money isn't there."

"You know, the 'Procurement Act' makes the military's power here not very great."

"They (the military-industrial complex) mainly focus on the Department of Defense and the Defense Logistics Agency. The troops can only provide feedback and suggestions on the use of products."

"The specific use and replacement of military hardware have little to do with them."

"Then there's the Budget Committee. Only when they agree to the procurement plan will funds be allocated. If they don't agree, there's no money."

"From Myers' side, what he can put into his own pocket isn't that much."

To ensure the rationality of procurement, the Federal government had issued more than 20 acts related to procurement over the past 100 years.

This included not only military equipment procurement but also government procurement, all under layers of supervision.

Military generals couldn't directly decide what to procure or how much. They could only tell the specific working groups responsible for procurement in the Department of Defense what weapons soldiers found easy to use and which were not.

Generals had their own ways of raking in money, but these methods were much slower and less lucrative compared to those of politicians.

For example, reporting live-fire training plans to the Department of Defense, but not actually using that much ammunition, while reporting that they had.

The difference was the amount they could manipulate. But currently, Federal bullets were too damn cheap, and artillery shells weren't that expensive either.

A bullet currently cost five cents. Even if 100 million rounds were fired, it would only be 5 million. But the problem was, what kind of live-fire training could use up 100 million bullets?

Even at 200 rounds per person, it would take 500,000 people to use up 100 million bullets.

The Department of Defense and Congress had audit agencies. Not firing a single bullet wouldn't pass muster, but firing two-thirds and reporting the full amount would leave a difference of 60 million rounds, which would only be a difference of 3 million.

In reality, it was very difficult to get a live-fire military exercise of 500,000 people approved; it was very likely to affect social stability.

Instead, kickbacks were faster, better, and safer!

But in fact, a live military exercise on the scale of 500,000 people is difficult to approve. This is very likely to affect social stability.

On the contrary, it is not as fast and good as kickbacks, and it is very safe!