Behind the Vice President, there were no big shots. This was both reasonable and expected.
In fact, many companies have no support from big shots, but they are able to get some political help. This is mainly due to the Federation having a complete “power-for-rent industrial chain.”
When a politician reaches the upper echelons of the Federation’s political arena, they can hold immense power.
They have power, and some people need power. The supply and demand sides have thus emerged.
We all know that as long as there are people who supply goods and people who demand them, then a spontaneously formed market and trade will follow.
But the sale of this commodity, power, is not so simple. There are many people who can never touch power in their lifetime, who are staring at the power in these people’s hands, because they always believe that this power comes from them.
This is actually very ridiculous, but the politicians explain it this way, and say it this way, so the people really believe it.
The people of the Federation believe that the power of the Federation’s politicians comes from the people, that it is given by the people. But they never think about why the power they have given slaps them in the face.
They don’t consider these things, because under the maintenance of the various parties in the power market, they live in an illusion.
On the surface, power is pure and simple, but beneath the surface, power, brokers, capital, and every link in the chain of interest transfer make it a very simple matter for power to become wealth, or for wealth to become power.
As long as you have money or power, and have a need, there will be brokers to help you solve your problem.
The Liji Group spends tens of millions in public relations fees every year on this aspect. At the same time, they also actually have a few senators supporting them from behind. Otherwise, how could they continue to lead the entire industry after being dismembered by the “Antitrust Law”?
However, these have nothing to do with the Vice President. He neither knows any big shots, nor does he have any direct relationship with these brokers. He is just a higher-level worker, that’s all.
Lance thought for a moment and then said, “I have some friends in Golden State…” The Vice President nodded. It’s too normal for a person to have friends in Golden State.
He also had many friends in Golden State, and also knew people in Golden Port, so he didn’t pay too much attention to the context and meaning of this sentence, just treated it as an ordinary sentence.
“I told my friends about the problem between us, and also mentioned our possible solutions, but my friends gave me a new plan.”
The Vice President took a large sip of his coffee. He realized that the real stuff was coming. “Yes?”
“They are very interested in suppressing the stock price of the Liji Group. At the same time, they hope to obtain a portion of the company’s stock and get more benefits from it.”
The Vice President’s eyes gradually widened, like those of a hyperthyroidism patient, his eyeballs almost popping out.
“I don’t know… are you sure you’re not mistaken?”
“I’m not doubting whether you and your friends can do this, but this is Golden State, Mr. Lance.”
“This is not a small place like Golden Port. Sometimes when we do anything, we can’t just simply consider what we are going to do or are doing. We also have to consider many other things.”
He kept shaking his head, seeming not to be very supportive of this proposal of Lance’s. “This plan will put us all in a passive position. And please forgive me for being direct, if the company is severely damaged, I will also be implicated.”
His meaning was obvious. He didn’t want to be implicated in this kind of thing. He wanted to get more rights and benefits, not a big trouble.
Lance said a name, “Berman, do you know him?”
The Vice President’s expression changed slightly. To Lance, Berman might just represent a name, but to him, the name Berman represented not just a name, but also some capitalists behind him.
Berman was an agent pushed to the forefront. Those capitalists all liked to do this, so that if one day someone was unlucky because of their business, then the unlucky one would definitely not be themselves.
However, most of the time these characters can live well, as long as the capital forces behind them do not have problems.
And this was one of the reasons that caused the Liji Group to be dismembered. Some people had taken a fancy to the huge profits of the channel and wanted a share.
“I didn’t know your friend was such a big shot.” The Vice President’s expression became much more solemn. Now that it involved the Baileyde Group, it meant that this matter might not be so simple and pure.
Lance took out a pack of cigarettes, gave one to the other party, and lit one for himself. “Besides Berman, there are also some people who have proposed a new plan.”
“You can become the company’s executive president, and you can have more shares of the company, but you have to cooperate with us, short the company’s stock, and then help us obtain a portion of the stock.”
“If you can do this, you will be one of the most powerful people in the Liji Group.”
The Vice President fell into thought. He thought of many things, thought of the first time it was dismembered, harvested, and this time.
Lance did not rush him, just quietly smoked his cigarette, waiting for him to make a final choice.
After about two minutes, Lance stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and took a sip of coffee. The Vice President’s forehead was already covered with a layer of sweat.
However, he had also thought it through.
“If I refuse, this matter won’t change at all, right?”
Lance nodded. “How should I explain it?”
“This matter is like… a truck full of goods is charging towards you. You can’t dodge, because you can’t.”
“You can struggle, you can make any move you want to save yourself, but you have no chance at all.”
“The only difference now is whether you are going to be dismembered and crushed into powder, or get on the truck before it hits you.”
“This is actually not such a complicated multiple-choice question, is it?”
It was just a very simple description, but it made the Vice President feel as if he were there.
He knew what Lance meant. The “big killer” that Lance now held in his hands was the problem of the breach of contract penalty.
If they had paid the penalty before, although they would have suffered some losses, it would definitely have been within an acceptable range.
But it was precisely because the board of directors was unwilling to pay the $4,000,000 penalty and tried to use other methods to solve this problem that the situation got out of control.
The Baileyde Group began to intervene. Then, as one of the executioners who had dismembered the Liji Group before, had the people behind it also joined in?
Although their dismemberment of the Liji Group had greatly weakened it, it was still the strongest in the industry.
This was the situation that those executioners disliked the most. They had used the “Antitrust Law” for the purpose of maximizing their profits, but now the biggest profits had not fallen into their hands.
This time, would they also participate?
If these people also participated, then this “battle” would not be so easy to fight.
If the Liji Group could be dismembered once, it could be dismembered a second time, a third time, until they were lying on the corpse of the Liji Group, filling their stomachs, burping, and could no longer fit any more in. Only then would they stop.
Business means coupled with the use of some power, this time the Liji Group would definitely take another fall, and the reason was just that they were unwilling to pay that ridiculous $4,000,000 penalty.
At this thought, the Vice President suddenly couldn’t help but laugh, laughing until he couldn’t stop.
In these years, they had actually been very careful.
They would never confront those capital forces that had the ability to arm-wrestle with them, and had been carefully on guard.
After Parkway Bank got Lance’s claim, they had just sent a letter, and the Liji Group’s side had immediately transferred the money.
Because they knew that they were not suitable to arm-wrestle with those of the same level.
But they had a different attitude when dealing with those farmers and low-level merchants who had no ability to arm-wrestle with them.
They would tear up contracts as they pleased, and default on debts as they pleased, completely ignoring their demands.
Lance’s case was like this. Regardless of whether this was contract fraud or not, at least for now, they should have fulfilled the contract, including the previous time. But they had refused, and thus had caused trouble.
No one could have thought that a gang in Golden Port could shake a listed company. Perhaps he was just a knife in the hands of those behind-the-scenes characters standing in the shadows.
But this knife was very sharp, and for the Liji Group, it was also very fatal.
It was like in the past when a commoner wanted to challenge a nobleman. First, they had to defeat the knights guarding the nobleman, and only then would they be qualified to fight a nobleman who held a sharp sword with their bare hands.
Unless he was an absolute fool, the nobleman could not possibly lose such a competition. The Liji Group had also thought so.
It was just that they had made a mistake.
The Vice President’s heart had already made a decision. “What do we need to do?”
He used the word “we,” which showed that his position had already changed.
“Collect the information of the president and the chairman of the board, as well as their die-hard followers.”
“The Liji Group should have a mandatory stock buyback agreement, right?”
The Vice President nodded with a shocked expression. He wanted to hide the disbelief in his eyes, but this news was too shocking. He couldn’t hide it at all.
He suddenly realized that he might have gotten involved in an even bigger matter, and the cause of all this still made him want to—
A mere $4,000,000!
The more it was like this, the more ridiculous he felt it was. Perhaps those who had made the decision, of course including himself, had never thought…
That a small, inconspicuous pebble on the ground would not only make them trip, but would also make them fall and break their heads, and even be unable to get up.
“Yes, we have a buyback clause. To activate these clauses requires some harsh conditions.”
“For example?” Lance motioned for him to say.
“For example, if a shareholder suddenly loses their capacity for responsibility due to some accident, and according to Federation law, the heirs of these stocks are unwilling to inherit, or are minors, or also have no capacity for responsibility.”
“Then after a board resolution, they have the right to buy back these shares internally at the market price.”
Basically, all large capital groups have similar buyback clauses. Capitalists have been fighting each other for hundreds of years. They know best how to defeat their own kind.
Plays like “being kicked out of the company after a large amount of stock was bought by a rival company” have been staged countless times. Capitalists have also been studying how to prevent the outflow of shares, and the buyback clause is the simplest and most effective means.
Even some capital families do this. Each member has the right to family shares and dividends, but they can only marry within the family—
This is a very interesting, or rather, a means by which the top families in the Federation continuously consolidate their rule.
They only accept marriages within the family. Things like an uncle marrying his niece, or a cousin marrying his aunt, often happen. This is also why there are always a few fools and idiots in large families.
They are all the offspring of close relatives.
Some stipulate that they can only marry into a few certain families to avoid the trouble caused by the union of close relatives. But overall, the Federation people are actually not particularly concerned about the union of close relatives.
But if someone in the family wants to get rid of these rules, if they are unwilling to marry a relative, or have their own lover…
Then the way for them to gain freedom is to give up their shares, give up their dividend rights, to prevent the outflow of shares from being obtained by the enemy.
They will also change from members of a large family to ordinary people, relatively speaking.
It is the same for the shareholders of large companies. If the shares of a large company can be bought and sold freely, then the capitalists cannot protect their company from being taken away.
So the buyback clause must exist.
After the Vice President said these things, he actually already knew what Lance and his group were planning to do. At this moment, his palms were covered in sweat.
Because if he had chosen wrongly just now, then he might soon also have an accident.
Lance looked at him. “You can tell your president or the chairman of the board about this, but no one can stop it from happening, from changing anything.”
“When a bullet is already loaded and can be fired with just a pull of the trigger, the best thing to do is not to block the muzzle with your flesh and blood.”
“This is my advice to you, Mr. Vice President… no, maybe in the future you will also become the chairman of the board.”
“Then this is my advice to you, the future chairman of the board. You have to see the big picture.”
Lance’s words left him unable to respond in any other way than silence.
After several minutes, he finally began to accept this fact, and a very strange emotion arose in his heart again.
He actually stood on Lance’s side, felt that he had done a good job, and at the same time hated the president, hated the chairman of the board, and the other directors who had resolutely disagreed to pay the penalty for breach of contract and disagreed to fulfill the signed contract.
For the profit of more than $2 million that they had never even gotten their hands on, not only would they have to part with $4 million, but they would also have to lose their own lives.
“I know what to do, Mr. Lance. When a person makes a mistake, they have to pay for their mistake. This is what they deserve.”
Lance smiled and pointed at him. “Clever.”
“I need the detailed information of these people who have made a mistake, so that we can solve this case as soon as possible.”
“I’m also planning to spend the New Year in Golden Port.”
The Vice President took out a handkerchief and sighed. “I’ll have it investigated in these two days.”
In the evening, Lance took the Vice President to meet Mr. Berman. The Vice President and Mr. Berman were “old acquaintances.” The two sides had been competing in this field for many years. Overall, Baileyde had always been at a disadvantage.
Before, when he had met Mr. Berman, in those formal social occasions, he had always carried a kind of arrogant humility. It was difficult to describe, but you could get the feeling.
It was the kind of attitude of “you know I look down on you, but I will still maintain respect for you,” the look in his eyes, the disdain, all of that.
But this time, the positions of the two sides had been reversed.
“I thought we would meet at the big conference after the spring,” Mr. Berman laughed heartily and extended his hand, walking towards the Vice President.
The big conference he was talking about was a large-scale conference on the overall agriculture industry held by the Federal Agriculture Committee before the spring planting. At that time, the representative figures from all links, such as large farms on the federal list, deep and shallow processing of agricultural products, transportation, and also channels, would all attend this conference.
It was used to discuss the direction of agricultural development in the new year, coordinate resources, etc., and was very important.
Every year, the Vice President would attend with the president. But now it seemed that they would be changing people tomorrow.
The Vice President was a little embarrassed. “It’s an honor to see you again before the year is out, Mr. Berman.”
Berman looked at Lance and patted the Vice President’s hand. “He is a very capable person. I have always admired him.”
As he spoke, his gaze shifted from Lance’s face to the Vice President’s. “In our future work together, I’ll have to ask for your cooperation.”
“Definitely, definitely…”
Since Lance could bring the Vice President over, it meant that the Vice President would also be deeply involved. After the three sat down, they began to talk about the subsequent operations. Listening to Mr. Berman talk about one shocking plan after another in an unconcerned tone…
He at this moment also became more and more certain that his choice was correct.
Rather than sink with the company, why not find a way to lead the company back to glory.
Yes, even if the company would suffer a major disaster and fall from its pedestal, at least they would still be one of the three giants in the agricultural channel.
The three discussed for more than an hour and finally came to a rough decision. The Vice President also vaguely realized that there was also the support of multiple members of Congress behind this. He also became more and more humble.
Even towards Lance, that humble attitude came from the bones, not a pretense.
He couldn’t quite understand Lance. Although Golden Port’s development was very rapid, he didn’t understand how this twenty-one-year-old young man had gotten in touch with Congress.
So fucking magical.
In the next two days, the Vice President stated in the board of directors that he had gotten through to the Supreme Court through some connections, and that the Supreme Court was willing to hear this case.
The people in the company did not doubt the Vice President. After all, in the company, he was under a few and above tens of thousands. Who could doubt that he would stab himself a few times?
The legal department quickly began to contact the appellate court to transfer the case to the Federal Supreme Court. Originally, they had planned to do it quietly.
But it was not known who had leaked the news. The media suddenly began to pay attention to this case…
(End of chapter)