Chapter 732

There is a kind of power that you may not be able to see, but you can feel.

The power of the sun.

The sun in March had already begun to possess some "power." Shining on people, it felt warm, the lawn on the ground sprouted tender green buds, and everything was full of vigorous vitality.

Good times, especially when a breeze blew by, carrying the fragrance of soil and the breath of the era, blowing through people's hearts.

Clearly, what lay ahead was just the life before one's eyes, yet it gave one the imagination of being able to see through the long river of time, seeing the midsummer when orioles flew, grass grew, and skirt hems fluttered!

When Director Dai Er first arrived in Mantenong, he was still a little unaccustomed to it because it... looked even worse than Jincheng, even though this was the capital of the entire state.

But it didn't matter; he wasn't here for a vacation. He was here to work.

Due to that "super call," and of course it was also possible that Congress had greeted the local Prohibition Committee, they were very happy and delighted about Dai Er's arrival.

Not only did they hold a grand welcome ceremony for him, but they also took the initiative to introduce themselves to him and indicated that they would support Director Dai Er's work during his time in Mantenong.

They also hoped that Director Dai Er could bring out the ability he had in Jincheng to deal with those bootleggers to help implement the Prohibition Act.

To deal a heavy blow to those bootleggers!

He was a bit flattered, but soon he also realized that this was actually a kind of pressure.

Lans trusted him, which was why he gave him such an opportunity and such a huge stage.

If he couldn't handle the work Lans had entrusted to him, then some things wouldn't be someone else's problem; they would be his own problem.

Whether it was failure or anything else, it was his own problem and had nothing to do with others.

After simply understanding the nature and content of his work, on the Monday morning of the second week after arriving in Mantenong to take office, he had breakfast and stood in front of the mirror to tidy his attire before going out.

Light-colored attire; ivory white or beige formal wear was very popular in the Federation now, paired with a hat of the same color family.

His wife stood by his side, looking at him with a slightly worshipful gaze, "You look as handsome as you did twenty years ago, dear."

The current Executive Commissioner Dai Er couldn't help but laugh, "You always say things that make me happy!" He kissed his wife's forehead, "You are the same; in my heart, you are always the most beautiful person!"

The two embraced and cherished the moment briefly. In fact, Director Dai Er had also cheated over the years and had experienced things that people with a little ability had to experience.

Tobacco, alcohol, money, women, everything!

But in the end, he returned to his family. He loved his wife; this was his family that could not be separated.

"Alright, I can't be late on the first day of the first week of formal work. I have to go."

Their children didn't follow. Mantenong now indeed looked less vibrant than Jincheng, and the buildings were not as numerous or as tall as Jincheng's.

Mayor Williams recently had the idea of building the "tallest building in Likai State," and he was actively communicating with both the old and new batches of capitalists.

However, Lans privately didn't think this was a smart plan because it was near the sea.

Before the war, building such a structure would only allow the enemy's warships that might appear outside the port to aim more accurately.

Dai Er came out of the room, carrying his briefcase, and hurriedly got into the car.

He was now assigned a driver; after all, at his current status, he was qualified to receive service from others, rather than serving others.

The vehicle soon stopped in a place in Mantenong that was not so central. A five-story building by the roadside that looked quite good was the office location of the State Prohibition Committee.

As soon as he got out of the car, the guard on duty at the entrance immediately stood at attention and opened the main door of the office building for him, "Good morning, Executive Commissioner Mr. Dai Er, I hope you have a pleasant day!"

The guard's attire and even his tone were very formal. Dai Er actually quite liked this. He pinched his hat and acknowledged it slightly, "You too!"

The guard pursed his lips and smiled, then looked slightly bowed as he watched Dai Er pass by him and enter the office building. Afterward, he closed the door of the office building and faced the street again with an expressionless face.

"Good morning, Mr. Dai Er."

"Good morning to you too. Are these the documents needed for today?"

A lady stood by his side, holding a large stack of documents, "Do you need my help?"

"No, no, no, no need. These are like... the simplest things for me."

The elevator soon reached the first floor. A small five-story building with four elevators; one had to say the Prohibition Committee was indeed wealthy.

It was just that one didn't know if these elevators were originally there or installed later.

Taking the elevator to his brand-new office, he pushed open the window. The wind carrying the taste of the era swept in from outside. He rested his hands on the windowsill, looking at this city, a faint, imperceptible smile appearing on his face.

There was a work meeting at ten o'clock in the morning, which would last until eleven forty-five, totaling a little over one hundred minutes.

The chairman of the State Prohibition Committee was concurrently held by the Speaker of the State Senate, but he basically wouldn't come here, nor would he interfere with the work arrangements here. He was just a figurehead.

When thorny issues arose that they couldn't solve or that required the State Senate to lend a hand, the Speaker's role could be reflected.

Coordinating communication between the committee, the State Senate, and the state government, so this was actually quite an important job, but within the Prohibition Committee, there was no actual power, and he wouldn't come when not needed.

During this week, the people here had roughly inquired about what was going on with this former lackey from Jincheng, how he had suddenly been promoted to the state office, and was even an Executive Commissioner with real power.

From the information they couldn't fully obtain, this matter was the decision of the Executive Commissioner of the Congressional Prohibition Committee.

Generally speaking, if the decision of an Executive Commissioner was not overturned, it meant that this was a result they all agreed on. So if these people didn't intend to directly bury their future, they had better cooperate with the brand-new "Executive Commissioner Mr. Dai Er"!

Many people had already arrived at the conference table; it could be said that everyone had come.

Dai Er was stunned for a moment when he entered. He raised his wrist and glanced at the gold watch on his wrist; there were about seven or eight minutes left before the meeting started.

But everyone had already arrived early. He could only apologize slightly for his "lateness," "The road was a bit congested, sorry, I'm late."

A gentleman sitting on his left smiled and said, "Today is Monday, government departments will do something today, so there will definitely be traffic jams on the road."

"And you arrived just at the right time, or even early, so you don't need to apologize."

Dai Er smiled and nodded at this person. He didn't know what this guy's background was, but judging from others' attitudes toward him, he should be the one with the highest status here.

This guy was named Andrew Konit, from Jincheng, and should have a slight connection with Congress.

"In any case, I am indeed later than those who haven't arrived!" He put down his briefcase, emphasized it, and then looked at the others, "Then can we..."

Konit nodded, "Of course."

After Dai Er sat at the table, he looked at the others. He had such experience and background, so he wouldn't be stage-frightened at all, "This is my first time presiding over a weekly meeting. Since Mr. Konit told me last weekend that I would preside over the new week's work meeting, I spent the whole weekend considering what I should say."

Mr. Konit couldn't help but laugh and say, "It seems I disturbed your vacation."

Dai Er waved his hand, "Not entirely. At least I thought about it seriously. Since the year I graduated from university and handed in the last exam paper of my life, I haven't thought seriously like this!"

"A rusty brain turning occasionally can ensure that I won't become a blockhead when I get old!"

A series of light laughter sounded in the conference room again.

Mr. Konit nodded slightly and didn't continue the conversation; that would be impolite.

"It is precisely because I thought for two days that I figured out what I should say."

"The Senator didn't let me come here to have a good vacation environment. He, they, hope I can do something concrete."

"When I was in Jincheng, I actually noticed that our team was not pure."

This was a very serious accusation. Originally, everyone still had relaxed smiles on their faces, but because of this sentence of his, they all became serious and solemn.

"I am certainly not talking about everyone present, but referring to those frontline agents specifically responsible for the work." "When I was in Jincheng, I noticed that they dealt with bootleggers, bar managers, and gang leaders almost all day long."

"The temptations they face are much more than ours. You should understand the methods used by gangs; they won't have any moral bottom line. As long as they can do it, they will do it."

"To achieve their goals, they stop at nothing!"

He paused as he spoke, couldn't help but take out a cigarette, and lit it with a lighter himself. After all, it wasn't very suitable for the people on his left and right to help him light the cigarette; that was too... much.

"Someone in Jincheng was corrupted by gangs and criminals."

"They took black money and sold information to gangs, leading to the failure of our arrest operations."

"I believe this is not an isolated case!"

"How profitable the bootlegging business is, I believe everyone knows better than me. Liquor with a cost price of forty or fifty dollars can be sold for four or five hundred in a turn."

"Ten times, or even higher profits, are enough to make them trample on all laws and rules in the world!"

"If we want to do well and have results to show, first we must make the tools in our hands easy to use."

!

"At least when we use the tools, problems we don't want to see won't happen, for example, having barbs or something."

Mr. Konit had heard enough by now, "Mr. Dai Er, what do you mean?"

Dai Er licked his lips, a passion for power flashing in his eyes, "I am willing to believe that our soldiers are good soldiers, but we have to be alert that bad people are hidden among good people."

"So I plan to rotate agents in parts of the state. For example, draw out a portion of the agents from... these places and dispatch them to other places."

"Let newcomers and veterans pair up. In a situation where both sides have some concerns, they are often difficult to respond to in the first instance."

"This way, if we have arrest activities, the probability of failure won't be that high!"

He said, opening his briefcase, took out a stack of documents, and handed them to Mr. Konit beside him, "This is my plan. Do you see anything that needs to be supplemented?"

His secretary also began to distribute these documents to others.

The documents talked about the rules of agent rotation and the benefits of doing so.

He didn't avoid the disadvantages either, such as agents not being familiar with the local situation, but overall, the benefits outweighed the disadvantages.

After reading it, Mr. Konit couldn't determine for a moment whether this was Dai Er's meaning, the meaning from above, or the meaning of that "Mr. Lans" hidden behind the scenes in Jincheng.

The people above him told him that the Prohibition Committee now had a very close cooperative relationship with Lans, telling him not to make a mistake in his stance.

This was equivalent to telling him that Lans was a piece of hot magma; don't touch it, damn it!

So he didn't know whose meaning this was. After all, making such a big move right from the start, he didn't believe there was no one instructing behind the scenes.

Dai Er might be relatively unfamiliar to him, with only work-related dealings in the past, but he was very familiar with Dai Er; after all, he also came from Jincheng.

He knew Dai Er couldn't have the courage to make such a decision himself, so he was more inclined to believe that all of this was instigated by Lans behind the scenes.

As for why it wasn't Congress?

That was too simple. If Congress had these plans, they would just tell him directly; there was no need to borrow Dai Er's hand to go through it again.

At this time, Mr. Konit had also finished reading. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eye sockets, "Shocking documents. I didn't expect so many of our agents to have abandoned their faith."

"Dirty cops, dirty agents, gangs; it sounds like the greatest mockery of our efforts!"

"Mr. Dai Er, I strongly support your ideas and plans. Just tell us what to do, and we will certainly cooperate with you!"

It was said clearly and plainly, without the slightest flaw. Dai Er smiled and thanked him for his support, "My plan is like this..."

For the past few days, the priest in Tomato Town had felt that something was not quite right. The part that wasn't right was that many new faces had come to the Hazardous Materials Administration, all of whom he hadn't seen before.

Tomato Town was not a small town because it had very rich river resources and fertile land, so more people made a living here.

Tomato Town had a population of about thirty thousand, and its scale was no longer small. Every day, it could bring about three or four thousand dollars in profit to the Holy Bell Party.

At least one hundred thousand or so a month; this was not a small amount of money.

The Hazardous Materials Administration wouldn't establish offices in every town because it was completely meaningless.

Some towns had only three or four thousand people. If an office were established for these three or four thousand people, it would obviously be sprayed by the incoming rolling taxpayers.

So they might dispatch a few agents to be responsible for a piece of land in the town and the surrounding area.

As the largest town nearby, Tomato Town had a small office with only one senior agent and six agents, totaling seven people.

Just yesterday, four newcomers came here, and at the same time, four people, including the senior agent, were directly transferred away, supposedly to rotate in other places.

They would come back after a while.

Regarding the decisions of those masters above, these lowest-level executors had no qualification to resist; they could only obey.

But for some reason, the priest always felt that this matter was not quite right.

That evening, he had the bar side restrain itself a little.

The previous senior agent had been bought off by them, and the entire team had already rotted along with him.

Compared to the salary of seventy or eighty dollars a month, the priest used coercion and inducement, plus "high pay," so they just turned a blind eye.

But now, it seemed the situation was a bit different.

A small town had the benefits of being small: closed, easy to manage, and outsiders could be easily discovered.

To say something slightly exaggerated, the bar's doorman only needed to take one look to know if the person knocking on the door was from this town.

It was basically impossible to figure out the liquor sales situation in this town without making a sound.

But this also had a drawback, which was that it was too closed. In a big city with hundreds of thousands of people, finding a drunk person might not be that easy.

But in this town, as long as one paid a little attention, one would definitely be able to discover it.

The priest found one of the three remaining agents for the first time, "What's the situation with your new colleagues?"

The agent he was talking to was also full of confusion, "I don't know. Now they say they are doing some kind of job rotation. After a while, we might also go to other places."

The priest frowned upon hearing this, "When will you come back?"

The agent didn't speak; he didn't know either. He heard it would be a continuous rotation, and it was highly probable that it would take a long time to come back.

The priest knew that asking further had no meaning, so he changed his train of thought, "Can you arrange for your new supervisor to come out?"

"Let me get to know him; perhaps he is someone who is easily persuaded?"

The agent didn't want to take this job. He found a reason, "He just arrived, and we are not familiar yet. If I rashly talk to him about this matter now, I'm afraid the matter won't be talked through, and I will be finished myself."

"So you had better wait a bit, wait until I get familiar with them, and then I'll help you talk about this matter."

The priest stared at the agent's eyes; there was no mercy of God in his eyes, only the cruelty of the devil!

"Do you think this money is so easy to take?"

The priest leaned his body forward slightly and looked at him, "Either you go tell your new supervisor to let him come to the church to sit for a while."

"Or...", the priest said nothing, but saying nothing was more unsettling than saying something!

(End of chapter)