Chapter 715

The next morning, Lanse arrived at the agreed-upon location, another estate not too far from Senator Cleveland's manor.

These wealthy people in the Federation, the people of the upper class, are all keen on buying estates.

Owning one's own estate has become a symbol of status and position, and Lanse was also considering whether to take the final step and buy a new estate in New Jincheng.

The owner of this estate was not some politician, but a broker.

The profession of a broker is very special throughout Jinzhou; do not underestimate these people who look like they would sell their souls to the devil for money.

Many brokers themselves are former high-level federal officials; for example, some senators, presidents, and the like, who are unwilling to be lonely after retirement, will form an "office" and continue to be active in politics using the connections in their hands.

The influence and ability of these high-level brokers are astonishing, especially those top-tier brokers, who cannot be underestimated.

The owner of this estate is considered one of them, a former senator who is already over seventy years old, of medium height, with a physique that gives people a very sturdy feeling.

A head of silver-white hair without a single strand of mixed color, which could even shine under the sunlight!

His face is very ruddy, looking very healthy, and no matter who the guests are or what status they have, he will greet these guests very enthusiastically.

Including Lanse.

"You are Lanse, Lanse White!" The old man grabbed Lanse's hand and smiled, patting the back of his hand.

His voice was very loud, his breath was very strong, and his tone also carried some surprise, "Actually, I initially thought this was another peer, or even a trick by some old guy!"

"I didn't expect, Mr. Lanse, that you would make me feel shocked. Are you really only twenty-three years old?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to check your personal information; it's just that I was really too curious."

"I felt curious about such an excellent young man for the first time!"

The successive flattery also made a smile appear on Lanse's face; you can't say "no" to someone who has status and position and keeps praising you.

"You are too polite, Mr. Rao."

The old man shook his head, "You might think I'm saying some polite words to praise you, but in reality, I'm just speaking my heart."

He tilted his head slightly and leaned close to Lanse, "I can also get a share of the money from it!"

"Very little, but it's mine!"

He gave Lanse a firm look; after all, persuading the Prohibition Committee to slap their own faces is not an easy thing.

There are two key points in Lanse's plan: first, the military recognizes and accepts such operations, and second, the Prohibition Committee will not have too intense a reaction.

After all, they are the ones who said that brewing and selling alcohol is not allowed, and now they want to go back on their word; for politicians at the level of senators, the potential impact is still huge.

People will think their stance is not firm, or think they are not very good, which affects their future development.

This Mr. Rao found a way to handle two executive members of the Prohibition Committee; as a price, he obtained the promises of three senators, as well as a dividend of 0.03% every year.

About two hundred thousand or so.

Not a lot of dividends and the favors of three senators, this is a way for brokers to make a living.

In the next "sale," each of these three senators' favors can be sold for millions or even several millions!

They always maximize their interests in every transaction, eventually becoming "shadow politicians," influencing Congress and the entire political arena.

Watching the motorcade in the distance slowly approach, the speed of the cars slowed down, and Mr. Rao shook Lanse's hand again, "Let's talk later, I have to continue to welcome our guests!"

Under the guidance of the staff, Lanse entered a small auditorium they had prepared.

Lanse's arrival made the people here look sideways, because he was too young.

There was only one "participant" so young, and that was Lanse.

"Mr. White?"

A middle-aged man who looked to be forty-seven or forty-eight years old not far from him took the initiative to greet him. Lanse nodded, walked over, and extended his hand, "Lanse White, and you are?"

"Joseph, Joseph Goldberg."

"Mr. Goldberg!"

"You are too polite, call me Joseph; this makes me feel like I have also become young!"

A somewhat humorous person, Lanse nodded slightly, "Joseph."

For these capitalists, Lanse does not need to show much "respect." Capital is the most terrifying force in the Federation; it can melt everything in this country, everything!

No matter what it is, steel, morality, or politics, it will become corrupt under the erosion of money.

But the power of capital is not as powerful as people imagine, especially those who possess wealth, who are always just "humans" and not gods, which determines their weakness.

This is a very strange circle.

Gangs have a relatively high deterrent force against capitalists, and capitalists can protect themselves by corrupting politicians, while politicians are constantly swaying.

They have formed a special closed loop!

Lanse's address to him made him very happy, "Do you know?"

"This discussion is not easy; someone just expressed malice toward you," he said, looking at a middle-aged man with golden-brown hair in the distance.

Lanse followed his gaze and frowned, "I don't know this guy; are you sure he is dissatisfied with me?"

"He is the president of 'Gold Standard Liquor'..."

Lanse understood immediately.

His Golden Lion Liquor imitated the appearance of Gold Standard Liquor to a certain extent; this imitation is very helpful for the sales of new products.

Just like Leibi, if you are not careful, you will buy the wrong one, but if the person who bought the wrong one tastes it and feels it's okay, not worse than the real thing, but cheaper in price, they will become new users of Leibi.

Previously, Gold Standard Liquor had proposed to find the manufacturer of Golden Lion Whiskey and sue them into bankruptcy.

I didn't expect to run into them here now.

Some of the alcohol Lanse transported to the front line has already flowed back, not much, but enough for these people to get some samples.

Most liquor merchants are concerned about its packaging, its taste, its alcohol content, etc., while Gold Standard Liquor is concerned about the lion head on the bottle that is the same as the Golden Lion Whiskey label.

Lanse smiled and nodded, "Thank you for the reminder, this helped me a lot!"

Mr. Joseph smiled, "It doesn't matter, as long as I can help you." "Actually... we can unite."

Lanse did not object and continued to nod, "You are very right, I will support you."

Mr. Joseph also smiled and said, "I will also support you!"

In fact, this person is not as good as imagined. Lanse has already seen through all this; as soon as he arrived, someone found his "opponent" for him, creating a sense of opposing tension, thereby using him.

He reacted, then there is no question of who uses whom; maybe it is Lanse using him.

After separating from this "warm-hearted" Mr. Joseph, Lanse got to know two other liquor merchants who took the initiative to make friends with him, and then came to the seat with his name tag and sat down.

After waiting for about ten minutes, Mr. Rao walked in from the outside, came to the main seat, and the liquor merchants also returned to their seats.

Mr. Rao sat in his seat with a smile on his face; only a very few people know that he is actually not a person who is easy to talk to.

During his tenure, he promoted the passage of some relatively harsh laws and had a very bad attitude toward slaves—when he took office, it was during the post-slave liberation movement, and the disgust he showed toward the slave group without any disguise made him have many unfriendly social evaluations.

Everyone is like this, they all have different "sides"; he doesn't look like those executioners who specialize in dealing with slaves at all, but when he picks up a weapon, the slaves only hate themselves for having fewer legs.

!

Some people say that the dark-skinned people of the Federation run fast, just because those who run slowly have no future.

"Gentlemen, I believe you know the purpose of coming here," he looked around, and people kept their mouths shut, whether they didn't want to talk or out of respect for Mr. Rao.

"What we need is a qualified product, not some inferior product used to cope; the soldiers on the front line need good alcohol and even flasks, not coping."

"I hope the samples you provide are consistent with the quality of the products you finally supply to the front-line soldiers."

"Some people are not convenient to say these things, so they entrusted me to say them."

"If anyone makes everyone look bad in these matters, then you should understand the consequences!"

He paused, "Currently, the alcohol to be sent to the front line, which is the alcohol from the samples you received from the front line, is all provided by Mr. Lanse White. The Department of Defense has a new requirement, which is to expand the capacity, so that each flask can hold at least three ounces of alcohol."

"And they hope these flasks have two sides, one side is mirrored, facing inward, capable of reflecting light."

"The other side is outward, non-reflective."

"And also..."

He raised many problems encountered by front-line soldiers during use, all of which were requested by the Department of Defense to be improved.

Lanse was also writing and drawing with a pen, recording these things.

After saying almost enough, he said again, "The Prohibition Act will not be revoked in a short time and will continue to be maintained."

"I believe some of you should have already heard some news!" He paused, his eyes lingering on the faces of these people one by one, inferring the strength of the people behind them from their subtle facial changes.

After his gaze turned around, he said, "Congress will grant you a franchise."

Some unsuspecting gentlemen immediately straightened their backs; although they had guesses in this regard, they were still very surprised when it was really confirmed!

Anything related to "franchise" represents huge profits!

For example, the casino operating license held by Lanse, in the entire New Jincheng and even Liklai State, only his casino is legally operated.

This represents huge profits; if you want to play cards in a big casino, you can only go to his place.

And now, these franchises represent that they can legally brew alcohol!

Do they care about who they can only sell to and who they cannot sell to?

If they cared about this, they would have changed careers long ago!

What they really care about is being able to brew alcohol on a large scale and industrially!

In this day and age in the Federation, as long as you have alcohol in your hands, you will definitely be able to sell it; there is no need to worry about sales channels at all.

Looking at the harmonious and excited expressions, a trace of a smile appeared on Mr. Rao's face, and he continued, "But we all know one thing: even if you get the franchise, you must be regulated on this issue."

"The Prohibition Committee will establish a special management committee to be responsible for monitoring whether your alcohol has flowed into the market."

"At the same time!" Mr. Rao emphasized, "... the executive committee requires us to form an industry committee facing Congress."

"Today, besides needing to tell you some basic specifications and requirements for this alcohol, another thing is to establish this committee."

"Entrusted by Congress, I will become the honorary chairman of the committee. You need to elect a rotating committee chairman and four executive members. Do you understand what I mean?"

Lanse glanced at Mr. Joseph. Mr. Joseph also seemed to feel Lanse looking at him. He turned his head to look at Lanse, smiled, and nodded.

It seems that this Mr. Joseph is not so simple. Lanse is not sure if he knew something in advance or if it was for other reasons that he wanted to unite with himself as soon as he came up.

Lanse also nodded, which was considered a response.

There are a total of seventeen liquor merchants here. Besides the rotating committee chairman and executive members, there are twelve ordinary members.

At this step, no one is willing to just become an ordinary member; people are more inclined to become executive members or even the committee chairman.

After Mr. Rao finished saying these words, the atmosphere in the room visibly became a bit serious and solidified, although they were not sure what power this rotating chairman and executive members could actually have.

But having it is better than not having it.

Someone asked, "Mr. Rao, how should this candidate be elected?"

People's attention was focused on Mr. Rao again. Mr. Rao smiled and replied, "Everyone can nominate themselves or nominate others. The nominated person can receive votes, and the person with the highest number of votes will become the rotating chairman and executive member."

As soon as he finished speaking, Mr. Joseph suddenly said, "I nominate Mr. Lanse to serve as the first rotating chairman of the committee. After all, the entire plan was proposed and promoted by Mr. Lanse."

"The fact that we can sit here today and discuss these things is all thanks to Mr. Lanse."

"I think Mr. Lanse deserves to be the first rotating chairman!"

Lanse narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Mr. Joseph, while the latter showed him that "no need to thank me" expression.

This dog thing is really not a good person!

But since this dog thing has already started to act fast, Lanse did not intend to back down.

He looked at Mr. Rao, and Mr. Rao nodded slightly, "Of course, no problem!"

(End of chapter)