Chapter 873

History has always asked latecomers a very serious yet ridiculous question—

Why are some people willing to be dogs for outsiders and even harm their own compatriots?

Such situations are often seen in history: national security is threatened, and then a group of people, under the guise of patriotism, commit acts of treason.

Why does such history repeat and repeat and repeat, seemingly never stopping?

Why can later rulers never avoid the birth of such situations, letting history repeat itself time and time again?

Actually, the reason is simple: because of class solidification.

Class solidification causes the entire society to lose its drive, forcing everyone to submit to the identity labels given to them by the rulers.

Some are content to be beasts of burden, while others want more freedom.

Practice tells people that when one path is blocked, one can try another.

Being a dog for the invaders is, for them, another path.

The collar on the dog's neck is connected by a chain to the invaders who can break class barriers, easily doing things that many of them could never dream of doing.

For those whose hearts are filled only with greed and the desire for power, this is another path.

Just like Gomez at this moment; if one doesn't consider the interference of external forces, his life is already set, and there won't be any major improvement, yet there is great risk.

When his sister gets older, her skin sags and is full of wrinkles, and she can no longer gain the favor of the Rapa rulers, will he, this Chamber of Commerce president, still be the president?

It is highly probable he won't be the president, and perhaps he won't even be able to remain a person; later, they won't let him continue to jump around Diego, but will only suppress him to a degree where he can never rise again.

Gomez is actually a smart person, but not that smart; he is just an ordinary poor Rapa man who hasn't received higher education and has a beautiful sister.

He hasn't received elite education; he doesn't know what appropriate choices to make at what time; everything he does is based on his instincts and the reminders of those around him.

He wants to try his best to make up for his mistakes, not knowing if Lanse can feel his sincerity.

At this moment, his slightly subtle statement of "wanting to serve Lanse and Senator Cleveland" is already an indication of his attitude.

He wants to be a dog, a dog that barks.

A smile appeared on Lanse's face, "We are friends!" he emphasized, "Friends don't talk about service, but about taking care of and helping each other."

"I don't quite agree with some of your methods, but that is your choice, and I won't blame you."

"You have little experience, coming from a poor and backward place; I cannot expect you to have the same brains as those from political families in New Jincheng."

"I can overlook it this time, but that doesn't mean I can overlook it again, and again, and again; do you understand?"

Gomez breathed a heavy sigh of relief, "Thank you, Mr. Lanse, I don't know how to express my gratitude!"

He suddenly seemed to think of something, "By the way, I know there is a silver mine within Rapa..."

Lanse didn't say he wanted it, nor did he say he didn't, just smiling reservedly, leaving Gomez not knowing how to continue.

After about twenty or thirty seconds, Lanse emerged from his thoughts, "During this period, we will establish an import and export trading company, and at that time, we will return to Rapa with you to engage in import and export business."

Lanse suddenly bringing up these matters left Gomez unable to react; he was stunned for a moment, "Mr. Lanse, if you want anything, you can completely tell me."

"It's not that I'm bragging, but other than Diego himself, anything you want in Rapa right now, I can get for you!"

Obviously, he was bragging, but he just didn't want to admit it; Lanse smiled and raised his hand, waving it twice, "What I want isn't what you can get for me, but to send my people in; do you understand?"

Gomez was stunned for a moment, and then the expression on his face changed uncontrollably, showing all kinds of emotions.

Unease, indignation, terror, surprise...

He took a deep breath, "I understand."

Lanse nodded, "This aspect is your specialty; just arrange it well."

"Gomez, I don't mind telling you a bit more; actually, as you have seen, the Federation's annexation of the Xiang Yalan region is imperative."

"That you can make a decision so early is definitely not a bad thing for you and your family."

"As long as you serve the Federation and the Senator well, you will always have what you want."

Gomez hurriedly stood up and bowed his waist, "Mr. Lanse, I will fully cooperate with your work."

Lanse was very satisfied with his attitude, but as for whether he would fulfill his wish in the end?

Not at all necessary!

The federal government wants the complete annexation of the Xiang Yalan region, not to support new puppets one after another; Gomez actually got it wrong from the beginning; he simply didn't understand what the Federation's ultimate goal was.

Lanse told him to go and prepare, preferably returning to Rapa first to find some people in the country willing to support him, so that at least he wouldn't appear "thin."

This might not be a short time; it might last for a considerably long period; contradictions are not so easily intensified, and they also need time and opportunity.

After Gomez left, Lanse made a phone call to Senator Cleveland; this time, Senator Cleveland didn't have any meetings waiting to be held, and he gave Lanse plenty of time.

Senator Cleveland wasn't completely unaware; in fact, he knew some things about Lanse and this Gomez, but he chose to play dumb.

At this moment, Lanse's call came through, and he casually asked, "That Gomez—I remember you mentioned him to me; how are your talks going?"

"Just like that; he wants to gain federal support to become the new leader of the Rapa region."

Hearing Lanse say this, Senator Cleveland was unable to react for a moment, "You... how could he have such an idea?"

Lanse, however, thought it was normal, "They don't yet know what our purpose is for stationing troops in the Xiang Yalan region; perhaps many people just simply think we are stationing troops and don't clearly understand that our true goal is to annex the entire Xiang Yalan region."

"Gomez thinks it's highly probable that we will support some interest representatives in the Xiang Yalan region again, and he wants to be that puppet, so he will cooperate with all our work in Rapa."

Listening to Lanse's words, a rough framework had already formed in Senator Cleveland's mind; no wonder this Gomez would think about bypassing Lanse to contact him directly.

After all, deciding on a puppet leader for a country is indeed not something a gang leader can decide; looking at it this way, he isn't completely stupid.

"Did you promise him?", the Senator couldn't help but ask with a smile.

Lanse also laughed twice, "I didn't promise him...", he paused for two or three seconds, "but I didn't refuse him either."

Senator Cleveland seemed to be in a very good mood; he laughed and scolded, "You really are a rascal, Mr. Lanse."

"You flatter me!"

Some of Lanse's rhetoric and methods made Senator Cleveland feel fresh and novel; in such a situation full of freshness, it was hard for him to harbor any bad feelings toward Lanse.

Who could dislike a humorous and witty person?

"What do you intend to do?", the Senator asked.

"I intend to go to Rapa in the name of a federal private chamber of commerce to strengthen economic ties with Rapa, and then dump some goods into Rapa."

"And purchase various agricultural products from Rapa at higher prices, including helping them find jobs."

"And incidentally, bring the Federation's freedom and democracy to them as well."

Rapa didn't have a mature and complete industrial environment; they even needed to import needles for sewing clothes from the Federation, let alone other industrial products.

The prices of these things imported from the Federation were not cheap, even more expensive than what was sold within the Federation, and this was one of the ways the ruling class exploited the working people.

Almost all imports or production of daily necessities were in the hands of these people; they possessed absolute pricing power, and the public could only pay for their greed.

You can choose not to brush your teeth, you can choose not to wash your face, but you can't go without soap, right?

Alright, even if you don't use soap, don't use laundry detergent, and don't use anything at all, you still have to use light bulbs, right?

No light bulbs?

Then candles?

A fire?

Burning a fire inside the house too?

And what about the clothes people wear?

Even if others aren't wearing new clothes, they are washed until they are white or even have patches, but they are still clothes; you can't just come out draped in tree leaves, right?

Rapa didn't have the ability to weave; even if some people could manually weave some fabric, it couldn't compare to the sturdy and beautiful fabric of the Federation.

When power and capital are completely combined to form a monster, dictatorship appears.

What Lanse wants to do is to open a crack in Rapa's dictatorial rule and artificially create contradictions and conflicts.

A single spark can start a prairie fire; when Rapa's ruling group discovers that their rule is being shaken, they will begin to reconsider the relationship between them.

If they can tolerate Lanse's behavior of shaking their rule, then Lanse will continue to increase his strength and continue to shake the rule of the Rapa ruling group more profoundly.

But as long as they cannot tolerate this behavior and take action against Lanse and his people, whether civilized or uncivilized, this will provide the necessary justification for the Federation's further measures.

The Federation is a reasonable strongman; before he hits you, he must let you know why he is hitting you.

So they can't tolerate it, and they can't not tolerate it; this is forcing them, forcing them onto the opposite side, giving Lanse a suitable reason to take action.

After all, the Federation is a peace-loving warrior of justice; how could it be an invader?

Senator Cleveland had already treated Lanse as someone with political acumen equal to his own, rather than a simple gang leader.

"The federal government cannot rashly take action against them without reason; you understand this point very well. We love peace and do not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries; this is the bottom line."

"You need to intensify the contradictions; as long as they make the first move, the rest of the matter will be easy to solve."

"Rapa will be a trial; there are several other places for such trials. I'm not saying you must be the first to complete our mission, well and fast, but if possible, try to be faster than others."

He didn't say it too specifically; he believed Lanse could understand what he meant.

This was actually a competition, a contest, a race!

The one who runs the fastest won't necessarily have any benefits, but the one who runs last will definitely have no benefits at all.

"I understand; I will try my best to make them feel angry and uneasy about my existence, and we also have Cassia and Gomez; they can also help us from the sidelines."

"And when necessary, Mr. Gomez has always emphasized that he loves the Federation and is willing to serve us and the Federation; presumably, for the future of the Federation, he would also be willing to make a small sacrifice."

Senator Cleveland, of course, knew what Lanse meant; he laughed and said, "I've discovered, Lanse, that sometimes you are truly wicked!"

"But, who can dislike a wicked young man?"

"Work hard, let them see your value!"

The conversation about this matter ended here, "If there is nothing else, I'm going to hang up the phone."

Lanse immediately said, "I have one more question I want to ask."

"Speak."

Lanse lit a cigarette, "Regarding General Miles, how is the higher-up considering it?"

"Are they going to protect him, or handle it according to official procedure?"

"Is the next naval general to take over from their faction, or from the army faction?"

"Or is it someone from Congress?"

A series of questions left Senator Cleveland thinking for a while before he came back to his senses, "That is not one question!"

He emphasized it, then asked, "You can tell me directly if you have any thoughts."

Lanse, whose thoughts had been seen through, smiled and said, "I've seen the joint investigation team investigating for so many days, and it seems there hasn't been any particularly major progress. If Congress wants to bring General Miles down, I can provide some assists."

This topic piqued Senator Cleveland's interest; Congress hated this kind of factionalism in the military, but had no particularly good way to deal with it.

Because the military is an absolutely dictatorial and closed environment, "obeying orders from superiors" determines that this group will inevitably have factionalism.

It is difficult for the federal government to control it; currently, they can only let the Department of Defense relatively control them by tightening the budget.

Wanting to completely solve the problem of factionalism is basically impossible.

Senator Cleveland was a bit curious, "I thought you two had a good relationship."

After all, Lanse had sent General Miles quite a bit of money, and he hadn't heard of any contradictions between them.

Lanse smiled and said, "We have some small contradictions, but I will still listen to your advice on how to choose in the end."

He briefly explained the matter; this situation couldn't really be called who was right or wrong, because everyone had their own position.

Lanse knew how to protect his subordinates, and General Miles certainly knew better that he also had to protect his own soldiers; both sides had no problems from their respective positions; the problem was that while satisfying their own attitudes and positions, they happened to stand on opposite sides.

Senator Cleveland thought for a while and then asked, "What kind of assists do you have?"

"Some evidence of corruption."

The Federation began implementing the "Anti-Corruption Act" in 981; the sentencing for this act is very heavy; it can be said that corruption is a serious crime in the Federation, which can lead to up to fifteen to twenty years of imprisonment and multiple fines.

But why, with such a strict "Anti-Corruption Act," does corruption in the Federation still run rampant?

Because the act stipulates that corrupt behavior is defined as using one's work to provide help in terms of work content to a briber through the acceptance of money or valuable items.

This seems to have been explained very clearly, but federal lawyers are not just for show; they easily found loopholes in the legal interpretation of this act.

How can you prove that the money received by an official is a bribe?

It sounds unbelievable; does this damn thing still need to be proven?

But in the Federation, this is exactly what needs to be proven!

Because "remuneration," "extra wage income," "investment returns," "accidental income," etc., are not in this judicial interpretation.

Sometimes the Federation's justice is flexible; as long as ordinary people break the law, they definitely won't escape legal sanctions.

But sometimes it is very rigid, because as long as there is no direct exchange of benefits or money placed directly into the official's hands, it is not called bribery, nor is it called corruption.

This is the reason why the Federation's interest transfer industry chain still exists; the "investment returns" that Senator Cleveland obtains from various channels every year are shockingly high!

So this is legal income; no one has the qualification to say his income is illegal, no one can say this is bribery, and that his collection of this portion of funds is accepting bribes.

Basically, all officials know how to make these funds look reasonable and legal as they flow into their own accounts, but sometimes there are indeed some... inconvenient times.

Lanse and General Miles have many collaborations, in all aspects, and no matter what aspect of the collaboration, he has fed General Miles full.

This is also the reason why Lanse is very angry with him; General Miles took so much of his money and still didn't give him face, so let's just forget it for everyone.

Senator Cleveland thought for a while and said, "I'll give you a phone number and address; I'll give a heads-up in advance, and then you can just have someone send the things over."

"Is there anything else this time?"

"No."

"Hmm, contact me again if there's anything."

Actually, Lanse knew very well that some evidence of corruption was definitely not enough to be the key to accusing General Miles of corruption, but it might be the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Under Lanse's arrangement, an anonymous letter was soon sent to the investigation team and discovered by the investigation team.

The content described in the anonymous letter might not be able to directly send General Miles to prison, but it provided the investigation team with a very effective direction for detection.

Sometimes solving a case isn't difficult; what's difficult is not finding a direction.

Now that there is a direction for detection, everything will become simple.

(End of chapter)