People’s gazes fell on the small squares. Even though Lance hadn’t said it, they knew what these small squares probably meant.
“Each small square represents the business scope of a bar. Within these scopes, only one bar is allowed to operate. This avoids a certain degree of vicious competition.”
“I have been running a bar myself for some time, and I know very well what consequences this kind of vicious competition will produce!”
He made an explosion gesture with his hand. “Fighting over customers.”
“The profit of liquor is very large, so for everyone, as long as you can defeat the other party, even if you lose some manpower, it is worth it.”
The people in the small chapel all nodded. How much compensation is needed for a person’s death?
Five thousand to ten thousand. Not all gangs can be like the Lance Family, compensating ten thousand. Some gangs, if they can compensate three thousand in pension, it is considered very merciful of them.
As for some small-scale ones, they might not even mention the issue of pension.
Even five thousand, how many days does it take for a bar to earn five thousand?
If the bar’s business is good, two days.
In other words, as long as you can snatch the customer source, even if a dozen people die, it is worth it, because one month’s profit is enough to pay these pensions.
From next month, it will be pure profit.
Almost every week, there will be gangs fighting over customer sources, fighting over robbing each other’s liquor. There are too many of these things, it’s just that the scale of some firefights is very small, almost unnoticeable—
Maybe it’s just a few pops in the middle of the night, and then the firefight is over, instead of a large-scale firefight with constant “bang bang bang” sounds, and maybe even explosions.
But in any case, a firefight is a firefight. People will be injured, and people will die, and there will be a lot of losses.
Lance looked at these people. “So in each area, only one bar is allowed, to ensure that this bar does not need to compete for customers and can still have a good operating effect.”
“There are more than two hundred areas here. As you can see, there are still some areas that do not have small squares. We have not included those places in the management system.”
Someone suddenly raised their hand. Lance gestured at the person with his chin. “Do you have a question?”
“Mr. Lance, if we want to operate one of these blocks, what should we do?”
Lance nodded slightly, raised his hand to signal him to sit down. He took a drag on his cigarette, his legs crossed, his hands on his knees. “Bidding.”
“Except for some red squares where the contractor is determined by bidding, the other green squares are all directly bid for.”
“For example, I think this place can provide me with a profit of 100,000. I want to operate here, so I write a bid.”
He picked up a bid form and demonstrated, “Fill in the number I can afford in this position. For example, I fill in 40,000.”
“Then I seal it, and according to the number in the lower right corner of this square, I fill in its target, and then put it in the box.”
“In the end, we will contract it to the highest bidder based on the price of your bids.”
“If the highest bidder gives 50,000, then 50,000 will contract the bar operating rights in this area.”
“I know you may have doubts about their output, so it doesn’t matter. For the first year, our fee will be changed from a fixed bid fee to a sharing model.”
“No matter how much you sell, how much you earn, we will take half.”
“From next year, it will be based on the bid, and at the same time, we will announce the specific operating results to the public.”
The small chapel became lively again. Everyone began to discuss.
Many of them did not know each other, did not know the people next to them, did not know the people around them.
But this did not prevent them from actively discussing these matters. They had never encountered such a thing before. While feeling a little unaccustomed, they also vaguely felt that this method was actually a good method.
It avoided vicious competition and firefights, especially for those small and medium-sized gangs.
The imbalance of strength between them and the medium and large gangs gave them no advantage in firefights and competition.
As long as there is competition, as long as there is a firefight, the unlucky ones will definitely be them!
But if, according to Lance’s statement, they used a contracting system, it would mean that the competition disappeared, and they would not have to worry about firefights.
Because the rules were set by the Lance Family. Whoever violated the rules was tantamount to confronting the Lance Family.
With Lance’s personality, he would absolutely not allow a family that challenged him to continue to exist.
Many people felt that Lance was a difficult person to evaluate. Sometimes he was very merciful, not at all like a gang leader should be.
He would even organize the Lance Family in the winter to distribute relief supplies in the New Port District, the Empire District, and the Port District.
Free food and winter clothes and the like.
These things may not seem valuable, but when the quantity goes up, it is a considerable number. At the same time, it has continued for a whole winter. He has spent at least a million in this aspect.
Gangs would pull out their guns and fly bullets at each other for a few tens of thousands of dollars, but he would throw this money out without even thinking about it. He was not like those greedy gang leaders who were like hyenas.
But at the same time, he was not entirely a good person either.
Everyone came to a conclusion: most of the people who had offended Lance had their entire families disappear. Very few were able to survive alone, or have their families be safe and sound after they had an accident.
Basically, when something happens, the whole family dies. This practice indeed makes people feel horrified and uneasy.
It also reflects his decisiveness and ruthlessness in dealing with these problems, which is in line with people’s impression of a “gangster emperor.”
But his benevolence, kindness, and his ruthlessness and ferocity are mixed together, forming a complex person, a person with a fatal charm!
The reason these people came here today was actually also because they were afraid that if they didn’t come, their whole family would go on a collective vacation to God’s side.
They feared Lance’s “rules” and “execution,” so they would naturally abide by them. Then, as long as a small gang bid for an area, it would definitely be able to develop steadily.
This was simply… a super good thing for those small and medium-sized gangs!
A smile could be seen on their faces. They didn’t have to worry about competition and firefights, and could put more energy into the development of the gang, into making money. In the future, they could bid for more territory, open more bars, and earn more money!
Not to mention catching up with the Lance Family, catching up with the current Pasoretto family was probably not a problem either.
People began to ask questions enthusiastically—
“Mr. Lance, I noticed that there are more than twenty plots in the Priliccia District. What I know is that there are two bars on one of the plots.”
“If I bid for this plot, then how should the two bars on it be dealt with?”
“Does this business protection mean that we people won’t be crowded together, or does it mean that everyone won’t be crowded together?”
He emphasized the word “everyone.” Some people also suddenly reacted. There were indeed many places on this map that had bars, and even their bars.
If their bars were not closed, then these so-called protective business strategies would be meaningless.
They didn’t need to compete with people who had also bid for money, but they had to compete with those bars that had not joined the system. Then what was the point of doing this?
Lance had already considered this problem. He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. “A good question.”
“Before we implement these plans, we will clean up all the bars in the blocks and ask them to leave.”
“If they are willing to cooperate, then good. There will be no problems, and no conflicts will break out.”
“But if they are not willing to leave, then I will have to ask them to leave.”
“I know that many of you are also running bars, and they are in these plots.”
“I also know that you must have some dissatisfaction in your hearts with my decision, because before this, you did not have any extra costs to run a bar.”
“But after my plan is implemented, your business will have extra costs.”
“It’s okay. If you have problems, if you have opinions, it’s okay. You can leave, go to Creek Valley City, go to Gold Star City, go to Manteno, go to… any place you want to go, and there is no Lance Family.”
“Whatever you do in those places, I won’t care.”
“But in Golden Port City, on my turf, everything has to be done according to my rules.”
To be honest, these words were too domineering. Some people frowned, but they didn’t express anything immediately. They were waiting for a stupid idiot.
Their waiting was valuable, because someone did indeed stand up. “Mr. Lance, I respect you very much, but I also hope you can respect us.”
Lance raised his hand and interrupted him. “Who are you, and where is your territory?”
This guy briefly introduced himself. It was a leader of a gang of about a dozen people. He ran a bar, right in his own house.
“I never thought of competing with anyone, and I only operate in my own home. According to your statement, does it mean that when your plan starts, the bar in my house also has to stop?”
His face was clearly defiant. If the issue of territory might have some uncertainty, for example, how to determine whether a block is Lance’s territory?
Then his own home couldn’t possibly be the Lance Family’s territory, right?
That was a house he had bought with a loan. He was selling liquor to others in his own house. Was that fucking not allowed?
Lance looked at him calmly. “Not allowed.”
There was an uproar from the crowd, but some people also felt that if Lance really planned to do this, then this was the bottom line.
But there must be someone who couldn’t accept it.
The man had an unacceptable expression on his face. “This is too disappointing, Mr. Lance. We can’t accept this decision.”
Lance smiled. “I’m not forcing you to accept it, because I’m just informing you that the city’s rules have changed, not asking you if you can accept this change.”
“You can sell your house and then take your brothers to other places to open a new bar as I said, and do what you want to do.”
“Or, do as I say.”
“If you neither want to leave nor do as I say, then I can only invite you to settle in Angel Lake.”
“I’m not only responsible for you, I’m also responsible for the others who abide by the new rules, to protect their rights.”
Hearing Lance’s so affirmative words, some people began to cheer.
He was also tough, and there was no change. Then for those who were willing to abide by the rules, this was even better news.
There will always be people in this world who are willing to go with the flow and abide by the rules, and there are many of them.
Not everyone has the courage and strength to resist authority. Instead of being like a fallen leaf on the water, being overturned by a speeding yacht, it is better to be one of the guests on the yacht.
The speaker’s face kept changing as he sat back down. He didn’t dare to act recklessly at this time.
Soon, someone else asked a question. “Mr. Lance, we are discussing the distribution of bars so openly. Will it attract the attention of the Prohibition Bureau (the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Hazardous Materials)?”
Lance shook his head. “You don’t have to worry about this. I have my people in the Bureau of Hazardous Materials, and their status is not low. I can guarantee that as long as you pay me here, the bars I allow you to operate will not have any problems.”
“If there is a problem, then you come to me. I will compensate you for all your losses!”
The questioner, with a pleasantly surprised look on his face, bowed slightly. “I like your answer, Mr. Lance!”
“I have no other questions,” he said and sat back down.
If you were to say what these bar operators were most afraid of, besides the bigger gangs, it would only be the Bureau of Hazardous Materials.
After all, they are law enforcers and have a huge advantage from birth. As long as they are discovered by them, it is basically the end of the bar being completely destroyed, and the people may even be arrested.
The members of a small gang may not be very loyal, because they also know that the scale of the gang is very small. As long as everyone is put in, no one can deal with them.
At least not in the short term.
So often, the people who betray their own family, their own gang, come from small gangs. In the absence of serious consequences, they don’t care much about the discipline within the gang.
On the contrary, for those large gangs, it is rare for someone to betray them from within, because they all know.
That is, whether they confess or not, it is very difficult to shake the core members of the family. As long as the core members of the family are not all arrested, as long as there is one person left, then even if they are acquitted in court, there is a high probability that they will not be able to walk out of the courtroom alive.
The faster and more ruthless the punishment comes, the more those people dare not speak casually.
Lance looked at the somewhat chaotic small chapel. “Does anyone else have any questions?”
Someone raised their hand again. After Lance agreed, they stood up. It was also the leader of a small gang. “Mr. Lance, we… actually don’t have any good connections to get a large amount of liquor.”
“If we contract for a block, but can’t get that much liquor, what should we do?”
Suddenly, some people started to laugh and curse, telling them to go back to the countryside and not to be a disgrace. Some also said they could sell liquor to them, and some could cooperate with them.
Lance also smiled and raised his hand to quiet the people. “Originally, this matter would be discussed later, but since someone has brought it up now, then I will also talk about it.”
“I have released all the bars. I believe that as long as your brains are not too stupid, you know that this will definitely let you make money.”
“So besides the bar issue, we have another new rule.”
“From the official start of operation, all liquor will be shipped by me in a unified manner.”
The small chapel began to buzz with discussion again. After Lance had let them discuss for a while, he said, “The price of getting goods from me in a unified manner will not be higher than what you get. Besides my own liquor, we will also talk with the suppliers on the Yalan side.”
“We will use our advantages to bring down the price of liquor, to ensure that you can make money, and we can also make money.”
“In addition, we can also provide aged liquor for many years, more types of liquor, to ensure that the supply of the bar is always new.”
“For you gangs with inconvenient channels, the situation where you can’t get goods will no longer exist in the future.”
“What you need to do is to take out a delivery order, and then tick the liquor you need to sell, and then give us a call.”
“Within an hour, the liquor you want can be delivered to any place you specify within the scope of Golden Port City!”
“At the same time, I can guarantee that as long as you get the goods from me, even if your liquor is piled up on the street, no one from the Bureau of Hazardous Materials will come to check!”
“But if someone secretly undermines our overall unified situation and privately gets liquor from other smugglers,”
The corner of his mouth curled up slightly. Although he said nothing, everyone could feel that it would definitely not be a good development!
The head of the small gang immediately sat back down, satisfied. This was actually a common problem for many small gangs.
They had little capital and little power, and they couldn’t get goods at all.
They could only wait for the second-tier distributors, that is, the distributors of smuggled liquor, to add a price and then distribute it to them.
A bottle of liquor that costs fifteen dollars may have to be sold for more than twenty after the distributor adds a price. If they are not willing to accept this price, then they will have no liquor to sell.
Directly importing from Yalan?
They start with tens of thousands of dollars for a boatload. No one will run a trip for you for three to five thousand, or two to three thousand.
So from a certain perspective, what Lance was doing was also solving the big problem of small gangs not being able to get goods.
For those gangs that could get their own goods, it was not necessarily a good thing, but it was not necessarily a bad thing either.
It was still Lance’s words. If you can accept the new rules, stay.
If you can’t accept the new rules, you can leave.
But if you are not willing to accept the new rules and are not willing to leave, that is presumptuous.
Presumptuous people, presumptuous gangs, and families generally do not have a good end!
A meeting lasted until the evening. Lance had to talk to them about many things, for example, the specific operating conditions of the bars, and whether Lance, who planned to formally change the “Lance Family” to the “Wanli Group,” would send people to participate in the operation.
If there was a conflict between the operators of the bars in the two areas, how to solve it, or how to stably and effectively improve the operating performance, and the like, Lance had to talk to them.
The main thing was to let them rest assured that doing this line of work had great potential!
(End of a Chapter)