In a wolf pack, if someone tries to challenge the alpha, the alpha has only two paths to take.
Either tuck its tail and leave the pack in disgrace, or fight back fiercely.
Human society is not a wolf pack’s society, but it is much more complex than a wolf pack’s society.
When someone sends an untamed signal to Lance, they are both standing face to face on a single-plank bridge at the same time.
Their goal is to reach the destination behind the other party, but this single-plank bridge can only support one person passing through, so one person must fall.
Lance’s words had made it impossible for the speaker to back down. In Yalan, on their own turf, although he was not the leader of the gang, he was also an important figure in the gang, second only to the leader.
In that lawless land, even if he just didn’t like a passerby, he could pull out his gun and kill the passerby without having to bear any responsibility.
From the local residents, the police, to the local government, no one would make it difficult for him because of these “small matters.”
At most, he would just have to pay a little compensation, a few hundred federal sols.
People always say that life is precious, priceless.
When it is expensive, it is indeed very expensive. Those high and mighty gentlemen, in order to live one more day, can burn through tens of thousands or even more in medical expenses every day, just to breathe a few more breaths of air.
But to say that it is very cheap, it is indeed not so expensive. A few hundred dollars, in some areas even a dozen or so dollars, can buy a human life.
In the eyes of this gangster representative from Yalan, he had no awe for life, and the same for Lance.
Now Lance had made it impossible for him to back down. He certainly couldn’t pull out any weapon to shoot Lance. The weapons had all been taken away.
But he had his own way of fighting back. He stood up directly and then left the venue with his men.
Lance did not ask him to stay, but just watched them leave, and then gave Elvin a look. The latter nodded slightly, and then turned and left.
Lance withdrew his gaze and looked at the others. “Does anyone else want to leave?”
“If anyone thinks that I invited you here just for a farce, then you can leave now.”
The scene was silent. No one answered, no one stood up. Before they were sure what Lance was going to say, they still wouldn’t leave.
After waiting for a minute and no one had taken a stand, Lance finally nodded and said, “Very good. It seems that was just an accident. So next, I don’t want anyone to interrupt me.”
His gaze lingered for a moment on the faces of the representatives of the several larger gangs he knew, and then he began to recall where he had just been speaking.
He had forgotten a little, so he decided to simply start over from the beginning. “We have never met before. This is our first meeting, and it will also be the beginning of our first cooperation.”
“I know some of you are already impatient, so I’ll just talk about some of my thoughts on the Golden Port City market.”
He signaled the staff to put down a screen, on which was a map of the entire Golden Port City.
This map was divided into many blocks, and each block had a number.
The people looked at this screen, a little at a loss. They didn’t know what these things were.
Fortunately, Lance’s explanation was very timely. “This is the sales situation of liquor in Golden Port City over the past week. The actual numbers may have some increase or decrease, but it will not be too different. It can be used as an important reference.”
In fact, these bars were not very willing to tell Lance exactly how much they had sold, but Lance had a way of knowing. Some people would refuse his seemingly rude request, but some people would not refuse.
The gangster representatives in the audience all focused their attention on the amazing numbers one by one, and the expressions on their faces were constantly changing.
“Golden Port City is one of the important liquor consumption cities in the southern region of the Federation. According to the conclusion drawn from our latest data, Golden Port City can sell at least 200 million worth of alcoholic beverages this year.”
“This is a huge market, and I am confident that under the control of the Lance Family in Golden Port City, the sales of liquor will reach a new level.”
“250 million, or even 300 million, and with the arrival of the garrison, our sales will only increase!”
“I have a dream, a dream that in three years, Golden Port City will become the number one liquor consumption market in the Federation!”
Some people below let out a cry of surprise. In terms of making a fuss, gangsters and ordinary low-level female citizens were no different. They would also let out meaningless cries of surprise for things that were beyond their understanding.
They actually didn’t know how much liquor Golden Port City could sell in a year. They only knew that the sales of liquor here were very good.
This was the first time they had completely felt the madness of smuggled liquor!
Before the arrival of Prohibition, the annual income of a gang was only a few hundred thousand to a million, unless they could do things for the capitalists and participate in some important financial criminal activities.
Otherwise, most gangs could not even earn a profit of one million a year.
But with the advent of Prohibition, making money had become much easier, but they still did not have an intuitive understanding of how easy it was.
Now, they understood.
The huge market made a beast hide in everyone’s heart, constantly tossing and turning, stimulating their emotions, making them involuntarily focus their attention on Lance.
“Here, including us, there are about forty or fifty gangs that supply the liquid gold to this city’s alcoholic beverage market.”
He raised his hand slightly, and the picture on the screen behind him changed to a front photo of a bar counter. The liquor cabinet was filled with all kinds of liquor bottles, and among them, many of the manufacturers were sitting here today.
Then the picture switched again, and some pictures of identifying the brewing site appeared. Some people with dirty clothes were wearing handcuffs and standing by some brewing tools.
“Besides you, there are also some underground small workshops that provide alcoholic beverages to the bars.”
“Alcoholic beverages, liquor, are not an easy thing to make. Inferior liquor can cause unpredictable and terrible consequences.”
“These small workshops that privately brew alcoholic beverages without experience will also disrupt our normal market reputation.”
“So the market must be regulated, and there must be rules.”
“From October, we will severely crack down on the entry of unlicensed liquor into Golden Port City. Whether it’s a smuggling team or a private brewing workshop, they are all within the scope of our crackdown.”
“But we don’t have that much energy to deal with all the liquor and channels. This requires our mutual maintenance.”
As he spoke, he paused. The picture on the screen behind him was constantly changing. A slide was being switched manually.
Some news reports about accidents caused by drinking inferior liquor appeared on the screen. These were all internal materials obtained from the Bureau of Hazardous Materials, bloody and gory.
“Just as I told you at the very beginning, you don’t know me, you don’t know me as a person, you are completely unfamiliar with my style.”
“But it doesn’t matter. You can go and ask around. I am a responsible person, whether it’s to my subordinates, my partners, my friends, or to the people in this city who bring us benefits by consuming alcoholic beverages!”
“Considering the situations that have already occurred, I have set a few rules.”
“First, from today, all liquor producers entering Golden Port City must, according to your output scale, pay a security deposit to me, to the Lance Family.”
“This fee accounts for 3% of your total output. That is, if you sell a million worth of liquor to Golden Port City this year, then you need to give me 30,000 as a security deposit.”
“This 30,000 is not taken by me, but is placed with me.”
“If someone has a medical accident because of drinking your liquor, the cost of their medical treatment will be deducted from this security deposit.”
“In the second year, you need to make up for the shortfall, and because of your bad credit record, the scale of this security deposit will be increased.”
“Of course, if any of you no longer plan to cooperate with us, at the end of the cooperation, we will also return the security deposit to you.”
“Second, in order to prevent some inferior liquor from being dumped into a high-quality market like Golden Port City, we will adopt an access system.”
“Besides needing to pay an access deposit of 30% of the total price of the liquor you import, you also need to pay a special fee of 10% of the total price of the liquor and beverages imported each year, which will be used to maintain the market and crack down on illegal smugglers and private brewers.”
If the first rule was barely acceptable to people, then the second rule was a bit too much for them to bear.
Someone raised their hand. Lance gestured with his chin. “Does this gentleman have a question?”
The person who stood up was short and fat, wearing a suit that was obviously a size too small, which made his stomach look particularly large.
“Mr. Lance, I can understand the security deposit for medical use, but this access deposit and what-the-hell special fee, isn’t it a bit unreasonable?”
He asked very tactfully, but people could hear the dissatisfaction in his tone.
Lance, however, acted as if he hadn’t heard it and explained patiently.
“If the liquor you import has problems due to quality issues, this money will be directly deducted as a punishment. The purpose of this is to make you pay attention to its quality during production.”
“It can not only bring people happiness, but also bring them harm.”
“I don’t want the residents of this city to spend their hard-earned money to buy your bad products for happiness, not only not getting happiness but also letting my reputation be damaged.”
“I believe that when you realize that if you try to fool us on quality and safety, then you will lose a large sum of money, you will be extra careful when you produce these liquors.”
“This money, as long as you don’t mess around, will always be there. When you no longer plan to cooperate with us, I will return it to you.”
“It has not become my money, nor has it gone into my pocket. It is just a key to witness and guarantee our mutual trust in the process of our cooperation.”
“As for the special fee…”
Lance was silent for a moment. “The police, the Bureau of Hazardous Materials, the fire department, the prosecutor’s office, customs, City Hall, the state government, and even the navy!”
“Do you know how much public relations fees and personal favors I have to spend to get your liquor placed on the shelves of those bars and sold openly?”
“Asking you for 10% is just a very small part, gentlemen. This is already my greatest sincerity to you.”
“After that, if there are other liquors that want to enter Golden Port City, then its fee will be more than 10%!”
The short and fat gentleman who had asked the question couldn’t help but say, “It’s too much, Mr. Lance. If… 2-3%, we can accept it.”
“You also said that the liquor market in Golden Port City is very large. Even if it’s 2-3%, this is still a large sum of money!”
Others also nodded continuously. Calculated based on a market size of 200 million, 2-3% would be 4 to 6 million. So much money a year was not a small sum.
Lance shook his head. “That’s not how it’s calculated. I’ll give you two million. Can you find me a congressman to do something for me right now?”
“I’m not discussing with you, nor am I discussing this number with you. I’m telling you a fact that you need to know and understand.”
“You can be dissatisfied with my pricing, and you can also not send your liquor here. As long as it’s not in Golden Port City, not on my turf, you can do whatever you want!”
“But on my turf, as long as you want to sell your liquor here, no matter who you are, you must listen to me!”
Some people’s expressions became ugly again. Everyone was not a good person. Violence, crime, murder, for them, were like daily life.
Lance’s tough and disrespectful attitude did indeed annoy some of them.
Those who were a little more polite proposed to go back and think about it first, or to report the news to their gang’s big boss, and took this opportunity to leave.
And those who were not so polite left the scene directly.
Lance also had someone record their gang names and products. It was very simple to leave from here today, but if they wanted to come back here tomorrow, then it would not be a matter of 10%.
The 10% he had requested was actually 10% of the sales. If the cost was included to magnify this number, it might be 20-30% of the net profit.
After these people had left, only twenty-seven or twenty-eight gangs were left on the scene.
Nearly half of the people had left, but there was not the slightest bit of embarrassment or unease on Lance’s face. He appeared exceptionally calm.
He clasped his hands together and placed them in front of him, then spread them out. “Actually, their proactive departure is a good thing for you who have stayed behind.”
“A market of 200 million divided by more than fifty families, on average each family can only occupy a little over 1%. But if it’s divided by you more than twenty families, on average it’s 4%.”
“The market is constantly getting bigger, but the competitors are constantly decreasing. Gentlemen, you have grasped the pulse of the times!”
He paused for a moment and said with a smile, “If you have any questions, you can ask them now. Of course, those who plan to leave can also leave. The main door is right behind.”
Zabri raised his hand. Lance signaled him to stand up. He then asked, “Mr. Lance, I am Zabri, from the Marcus family.”
“I have a question. Our main business is smuggling, but we don’t produce liquor. If we want to let those liquors in…”
Lance nodded slightly. “This is indeed a problem, but my idea is that you can use a custom-made method to order a batch of your own liquor from the wineries that provide you with liquor.”
“You arrange for people to supervise their production and press a part of the payment. As long as there is no problem with this batch of liquor, Golden Port City welcomes you!”
Zabri sat back down, satisfied. The Marcus family did not have its own winery. They bought various cheap liquors from other places and sold them. This was also the main business of many smuggling groups at present.
Smuggling a car, or smuggling some raw materials, or even selling some slaves, people, the profit of a boatload was at most ten or twenty thousand.
But selling liquor, the profit of a boatload could be much more than that.
Zabri was on a bigger stage. He could understand the meaning behind Lance’s words. He could even imagine how crazy people would be when they found out that Golden Port City was semi-openly selling liquor!
Those drunks would definitely come to Golden Port City from all directions. At that time, the liquor market in Golden Port City would really expand continuously as Lance had said!
Then some other people asked some questions, and Lance answered them patiently.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of monopolizing the market, but the risks brought by monopolizing the market were definitely much greater than if he opened up the market.
Many people in the Federation didn’t understand this truth. When the upper echelons, the ruling class, wanted to use a certain person or a certain event to establish their authority and set rules for others, they would definitely choose the most authoritative and the largest in scale!
Lance had always refused to become the “biggest.”
Seeing that everyone had almost no more questions, David (the representative of the Holy Bell Party), who had not spoken all along, stood up. “Mr. Lance, some people say you are a local, but some people say you are an immigrant. I am very curious about this.”
Lance looked at David, whose expression showed no change, and frowned slightly. “This has nothing to do with what we are going to talk about today.”
David chuckled a few times. “That’s right, you’re right. I asked a question I shouldn’t have,” he said and sat down, then started talking to the person next to him.
Lance’s gaze lingered on him for a moment, and then he shifted to someone else. “Is there anything else you want to ask?”
“If not, you can go back and discuss with your people. We will start to implement it soon.”
“Of course, if anyone wants to try and challenge it, that’s completely fine.”
Looking at these people who seemed to have accepted but might not be sincere, Lance felt that he still had to use some people to set the rules.
Some people are like this. If you don’t make them afraid, they won’t know how to be in awe!
(End of a Chapter)