Chapter 937: Follow-up Plans and Scams

The room wasn't big, just four people. It was already past nine o'clock, and the chief of staff had someone send some food in.

The Senator didn't eat much at night. At such a formal banquet, no one would really eat food in big mouthfuls.

Everyone's clothes were custom-made, very close to their bodies. Like Senator Cleveland, he would custom-make a batch of clothes every two or three months.

It wasn't that he had any special hobby for wearing new clothes, purely because the change in his body shape would make some look not so fitting, decent, and suitable.

For example, he had gained a little weight now, so those clothes he wore before would look a bit tight, looking unsightly.

The dressing style of the upper class hadn't shifted toward the looseness of the bottom level. They still wore very decent and fitting clothes.

If he was thin, then wearing clothes that were obviously a bit big would also become a joke in social occasions. Whoever wore ill-fitting clothes to participate in this level of social interaction was a fool.

So the more perfectly fitting clothes were custom-made, the harder it was to change in size.

To put it popularly, if you eat too much, your stomach will be stretched.

If you don't button up the coat, then the shirt and vest will be a bit out of shape.

If you button up the coat, then the coat will look very tight.

So in formal occasions, they would eat very little, and ladies were the same.

So it wasn't uncommon to see some ladies and gentlemen of the upper class having a big meal at home after the social activity ended.

The cook was woken up at night to make some meat. When he couldn't see these things, the Senator wasn't very hungry either.

But seeing them, smelling the strong fragrance they emitted, he couldn't help but want to eat some.

He wasn't polite at all, which showed he didn't treat Lanse as an outsider, directly letting Tom cut some meat for him, and he dipped it in sauce and put it in his mouth.

At this time, he looked a bit "sloppy," taking off his coat, only wearing a dark brown vest, stretching his neck, not wanting to get his clothes dirty.

"Do you want some?", the Senator asked. "They prepared yours.", he said, also looking at his two staff members.

Lanse thought for about three or four seconds, picked up the dinner plate. "Of course, why not?"

The Senator couldn't help but laugh when he heard this answer. "I said, you are just so smart, and likable."

After he finished this sentence, Tom and the chief of staff reacted. The feeling of Senator Cleveland eating at this time was actually a bit... how to describe it?

A bit awkward!

All three were watching, and only he was eating, and they weren't eating, they were going to talk about things.

If Lanse also participated, that awkward feeling would be much less, and the atmosphere would be better.

Lanse smiled and got some beef for himself, then mixed it with sauce, and clamped it into the bread.

Because the night was a bit urgent, when the cook made it, the beef was cut relatively thin, and then roasted with high fire.

Every piece of beef presented a very suitable quality, a bit charred, the fat emitted from the meat, but it wasn't very dry.

Tom and the chief of staff also joined in, and the four of them quickly finished a rich late-night snack.

After cleaning up, Senator Cleveland leaned on the sofa, holding a glass of wine and sipping a small sip. "Let's talk."

Lanse also lit a cigarette, sorted out his thoughts. "Now the situation in Lapa is continuously deteriorating. Because of the lack of grain, the deaths caused by famine are constantly intensifying."

"Some people have started to give up their illusions about the Lapa government and started to find their own way out, among which some anti-government armed forces also have their own territory."

"Next, there will be a relatively important battle."

"The contest between the Lapa government army and Pedro's armed forces. If they can win and beat back the government army, then soon more independent armed forces will start to appear."

"Lapa's political situation will be completely chaotic."

Senator Cleveland hadn't given up on understanding the things happening in Lapa. He nodded and said, "Once a lion lets other challengers discover that it isn't as strong as they imagined, then this old lion that has lost its teeth will become food on the challengers' table."

"This... Pedro, can he win?"

Lanse smiled. "It's hard for him to lose."

"Besides him, there are other anti-government armed forces, and I had people pretend to be anti-government armed forces to loot a warehouse near Zhuolan. Now Diego, their President, is very nervous."

"The number of Lapa's soldiers isn't large, and the equipment is backward and old. They don't even have much artillery, let alone other advanced combat equipment."

"Artillery, he will very likely deploy it in Zhuolan, just in case someone attacks Zhuolan. He has to protect himself."

"So this battle will very likely be mutual killing."

"The morale of the government army, compared to those anti-government armed members who are fighting for their lives in desperation, is too different."

Senator Cleveland kept nodding as he listened to what he said. He could imagine this point.

Those soldiers who could eat their fill two or three meals a day, had salaries every month, and didn't need much training, how could they be the opponents of those anti-government armed members who were facing death?

The Federation was no longer the Federation that hadn't experienced external wars. This war made the Federation's military, Congress, and all of them realize that "will" was a very important thing in war.

The moment the charge bugle sounded, if the soldiers didn't dare to rush out of the trenches and rush to the enemy's position.

Then even if they relied on copper walls and iron barriers, there would eventually be a day when they would be captured.

The initial battle proved this point. The Dantela people's fearless charge made the soldiers on the front line so scared in the trenches that they didn't know what to do!

They clearly only needed to continue maintaining shooting and not let those people get close, but just because of tension and insufficient psychological construction, their actions changed, and as a result, they were finally broken through the defense line!

A group of people who had no way to retreat, the combat effectiveness they could burst out, even if Senator Cleveland couldn't see it, he could imagine it.

"The defeat of the first government army will ignite the resistance emotions of the entire Lapa. Once people's ambition is drawn out and ignited, it is very difficult to be extinguished."

Lanse pursed his lips and shrugged. "Until destruction."

"The only thing I worry about now is that the Yalan Alliance will get involved too early, for example, the Jede Republic sending troops to help suppress the rebellion, which might break our plan."

The Senator frowned and thought for a while. "You said there is indeed such a possibility. Do you have any solution, or what do you hope we do?"

Lanse leaned forward and flicked the cigarette ash. "I hope the Navy can stay in the sea area near the Jede Republic, or... wipe out pirates or something?"

"The Federation's military movements will contain their domestic troops. After the situation further deteriorates, or they understand something, they can be withdrawn."

"They will always understand, understand why these things happened!"

Senator Cleveland nodded. "Yes, you said it very correctly. I will arrange this matter."

"It just so happens that our new fleet has been launched, just waiting to be announced to the outside."

Before the negotiation is settled, they won't announce this matter, although some people might have already guessed it.

But announcing and not announcing still had a big difference.

Once announced, they must take the responsibility for shipping safety and maintain good bilateral trade and transportation, so the Federation couldn't openly choke their necks.

Now that a large amount of supplies couldn't be transported, it was also a huge pressure applied to them.

Once they announced the launch of the fleet, the Slard people would definitely ask the Federation to ensure the safety of navigation, as an ally.

But they guessed it, and the Federation didn't admit it itself, so they had no way.

Once this negotiation ended, the Navy "lifted the ban," then sending some warships to cruise near Yalan was also reasonable.

"Besides these, are there any other aspects where you need my help?"

Lanse shook his head. "Not for now."

Mobilizing the Navy to go out could already be considered very powerful support. As long as the Jede Republic didn't have military aid, Lapa would definitely be chaotic.

Senator Cleveland nodded. "Have you considered any follow-up arrangements?"

"Once the Diego regime is overthrown, is there any possibility that the new regime will think about replacing him?"

He said pointedly, "The situation in the Empire from chaos to stability is because greed is at work." Their purpose was to let Lapa become a part of the Federation, not to support a powerful, sunrise-like new regime full of potential and hope for Lapa.

But at the same time, this was a situation that would definitely appear. So many anti-government armed forces became warlords, and then carried out partition and competition. Finally, they might become one again under external pressure and realize unification.

By that time, Lapa would be the strongest Lapa in the next twenty years. If they took military action against Lapa, it would be very difficult to win Lapa over.

Lanse scratched his head. "You don't need to worry about this, because we hold the most critical thing..."

Senator Cleveland continued his words. "Grain."

"Yes, grain!", Lanse affirmed the answer he gave again. "Now they have even eaten the grain for seeds. I am having people destroy the railway transportation, so the Jede Republic's grain can't be transported in."

"Famine will continue. The problem of eating and drinking for tens of millions of people, they can't solve it at all. Even if the Diego government perishes, they can't take out enough grain to satisfy everyone's demand for food."

"People can only die constantly, and we who hold the grain are equal to holding the bottom-level people of this country."

"Listen, have food to eat."

"Don't listen...", Lanse curled his lips and didn't continue.

Famine like this often broke out in this era. In the case of no further improvement in crops, the wheat yield per mu was only seventy or eighty kilograms, which wasn't enough for people to eat at all.

Once a famine broke out in a place, hell would float to the human world in an instant!

The number of deaths in each famine was counted in the hundreds of thousands. This great famine in Lapa might kill millions of people.

But the people who created all this didn't care much, and wouldn't have any psychological burden.

Lanse even proposed merging famine, grain, and these elements together to become important materials for controlling Lapa.

Senator Cleveland took two more puffs of cigarette, then extinguished it in the ashtray. "You definitely won't only have these. The second half of that report is a bit too idealistic. I want to hear your real thoughts."

Words and plans like "cultivating anti-government armed forces," "artificially creating famine," and "controlling other countries' internal affairs" definitely couldn't be written in the report.

Even if this report was top secret, there was a deadline for declassification.

The Federation's political arena never hid secrets. As long as it could be declassified, it meant that this matter would be known to the public in the future.

So Lanse wouldn't leave himself obvious written trouble.

He lowered his voice slightly. "Honestly, I'm still considering."

Senator Cleveland was a bit interested. "It's rare to see you have such a tangled time. If there's any problem, why not say it? I might be able to give you some suggestions."

Lanse glanced at him. "I'm considering whether we use the identity of 'Federation Merchant' or the identity of 'Federation Government' to obtain the support of the people."

"I intend to obtain their support through the way of narrow aid, and then through discussion, initiate a referendum, let the Lapa region accept the management of the Federation government. Finally, they will be assimilated, and it won't take too long."

Tom and the chief of staff, and Senator Cleveland all fell into thought. "Use your personal name!"

"Just use your name. This will also be of great help to some things after you return to the country."

Senator Cleveland's eyes carried a trace of spirit. "Your plan definitely isn't like this. Can you tell me?"

He felt that this shouldn't be Lanse's original plan, but a subsequent modification. He had such a feeling because it was a bit hasty, or not reasonable enough.

Lanse smiled. "Actually, I considered running for President in Lapa before."

Senator Cleveland was stunned for a moment, and then he laughed. He viciously praised Lanse. "You are really a guy with ideas!"

"But the feasibility of this plan isn't high. After all, that's the President, and you aren't a Lapa person either."

"Any country won't easily let a foreigner become their ruler, even if it's just temporary."

He pondered for a while as he spoke. "This kind of thing, who knows?"

"Maybe hunger can let you overcome everything!"

"In short, I support your plan very much. What we need is to open the situation. No matter how you intend to do it, it's best to solve it as soon as possible."

"We intend to end the war within two years. Counting others, you have to solve Lapa's problem within this year."

Lanse nodded. "No problem."

This matter was considered to have come to an end. After waiting for a few seconds, Lanse said again, "Besides this matter, there is one more thing this time."

"I acquired many mines in Lapa. I intend to register a mine management company in the Federation."

Senator Cleveland nodded. "This is very good. Is there any problem?"

Lanse leaned back, a very defensive expression. "I intend to wash a part of the funds through these mines, so the mine's accounts will be very good-looking."

Senator Cleveland suddenly widened his eyes. He looked at Lanse, his eyes constantly changing.

Such an expression lasted for about seven or eight seconds before he frowned and slightly retracted his chin, falling into thought. "You want me to participate in the shares?"

Lanse was very frank. "I believe in making money together."

Senator Cleveland didn't express his position immediately. "If I participate in the shares, it means more people will join in, and your shares will be diluted a lot."

Lanse revealed a carefree smile on his face. "My purpose was originally just to wash money. Being able to earn a bit more is just right to compensate for the losses in tax."

The chief of staff had already understood, but Tom didn't quite understand.

He didn't have much contact with capital-related things, and didn't know the situation inside.

Lanse's meaning was actually expressed very clearly. He wanted to use the mining company to wash money for himself, so he would definitely fabricate financial reports.

For example, a mine that had already been abandoned, only had an old man watching the door and a dog, but in the Federation, this mining company would produce hundreds of thousands of profits every year.

These mining companies were all held by an asset management company, and then this company would be pushed to go public.

The financial report was so good, the income was stable, which was much more cost-effective than saving in a bank.

The annual dividends might all be 20% or 30%. After all, Lanse had a lot of money to wash, and it was possible he wasn't just washing his own money.

In this way, it could constantly push up the stock price, inducing some investors to buy the company's stock.

When it was almost washed, they cashed out the stocks in their hands, and then found an enterprise to poke this bubble and end everything.

Every participant could make a big profit!

In this way, Lanse himself could earn a sum of money, and at the same time, he could use this kind of "bribery" to continue to strengthen his interpersonal relationship in Congress.

Such a big "business," Senator Cleveland definitely had to bring him along. This was his opportunity to formally enter this circle.

Using a capital plate that might be worth tens of millions to buy this ticket.

As for whether it was worth it?

In his view, it was worth it. All capital operations couldn't be separated from the support of the Federation government, just like more than ten years ago, a company said it wanted to build 20,000 kilometers of railway, covering the entire Federation.

The Federation government also indicated that they were talking to this company about related matters, which suddenly made this company's market value soar from hundreds of thousands to nearly one billion!

Countless people in the financial market waved banknotes wanting to buy its stock but couldn't buy it at all!

Then suddenly one day, an investigation agency claimed that all this was just a "scam," countless investors jumped off the building, becoming ghosts under this wealth harvest.

And behind all this, it was a cooperation between the Federation capital group and Congress that couldn't be called perfect, but was definitely intimate.

Others could do it, why couldn't Lanse do it?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 938 =====