Time always passes quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was already November, and the weather had completely cooled down. Mayor Williams had fully taken over City Hall.
The former mayor had not participated in the mayoral election, nor had he participated in the mayoral elections in other places, let alone received any nominations from the Socialist Party.
To put it in plain terms, he was unemployed.
Having lost the opportunity to work in the federal government, he was now just an ordinary federal citizen.
Of course, he still had a job in the party, so after completely handing over the power and some documents in his hands, he got up and went to Manteno.
They had arranged a very suitable job for him—Senior Advisor to the Socialist Party History Research Association.
Every month, he could receive a salary of eighty-three dollars from the Socialist Party, and with other subsidies, it was a little over a hundred in total.
And his job was to study the history of the Federation, study the history of the Socialist Party, and then try to find viewpoints and supporting evidence such as “the Socialist Party is the great savior of the people of the Federation” from it, and put them forward at work meetings.
Perhaps one day in the future, when the Socialist Party and the Liberal Party or the Federalist Party had a conflict in public opinion, then these Socialist Party History Research Associations in various places could take out some of their views to attack the views of other political parties.
You can’t say his work was meaningless. At the very least… he had created one employee, reduced one unemployed person, and provided a negligible change to the Federation’s happiness index.
Mayor Williams had fully taken over the power of the entire city. He quickly replaced all the officials who had been promoted by the previous mayor.
Whether they did a good job or a bad job.
Politics has never been about right or wrong, nor does it care whether a person is outstanding or mediocre.
Politics only looks at camps, only at stances.
With the inauguration of Mayor Williams, everyone had been discussing one thing recently, and that was the new city circle.
Lance was also looking at the newspaper in his hand. It had been reporting for many days that the city circle was going to expand westward by about fifteen kilometers.
The plan had already been determined after internal discussion, and was then reported to the state government for approval by the state legislature.
Because behind this matter, the expansion, construction, and the like, Mayor Williams planned to get some financial help from the state’s finances.
Then this required the state legislature to be able to pass his city expansion proposal, so that they could also give some money.
Through some simple means, he had already found out that the city’s expansion had been approved. After all, there was a military base here, and the population was still constantly expanding. As long as the governor was not a fool, he would know what to do—
At the level of the federal government, Congress is the top ruling body. Even the president is below them.
But in a state, the governor is the ultimate ruler who decides everything. When the state legislature makes a choice on a case, it will refer to the governor’s opinion.
The more powerful the governor, the stronger his control over the state legislature.
Likalai State was okay.
So the recent reports were about the city’s expansion plan. At the same time, the Golden Port City Hall began to openly solicit bids.
The city was to be expanded. Now many areas might need to be adjusted, and the expanded areas had to be leveled, divided into blocks, and then the infrastructure had to be completed, and then the roads had to be paved.
Finally, those businessmen could invest in building skyscrapers, or building various apartments and residential communities.
This was related to some of the future changes in Golden Port City, and the locals were very concerned.
At the same time, the newspaper mentioned that in order to quickly build a new home, bidding and recruitment had already begun.
“A big project!” Lance put down the newspaper. In the dining room, Patricia was cooking breakfast for him.
They were still living in the manor. There were many different houses in the manor. If anyone needed it, they could also build a house in a certain open space at any time.
Lance’s house was behind the main building, a detached small building hidden in the vegetation. There were many such small buildings next to it, and some were also inhabited.
In the past, Lance had lived in a big house, and it was very lively. Now that he was married, he needed a slightly more private environment.
Patricia stood with her hands on her hips, looking at the breakfast she couldn’t handle. In the end, she used her ultimate move, “Lance, I don’t think I can handle this!”
There are some things you will never know unless you get married, for example, Patricia didn’t know how to cook.
Logically, Emily’s cooking skills were very good, and Patricia should have also inherited this talent from her mother, but in fact, she had not.
Emily actually didn’t often cook herself. They had a maid. Only when Lance came to visit would Emily personally cook for Lance. This was also a kind of respect.
But if he didn’t go, most of the time it was the maid who cooked.
A girl from a family with a maid had never come into contact with cooking since she was a child. It was really too difficult for her to make breakfast for Lance.
Lance shook his head and walked to the side of the stove. He easily prepared breakfast: some fried bacon, some ham cubes, some beef bits, and a bowl of fruit salad and some bread.
Oh, and milk.
Seeing that Lance had prepared all the food so quickly, Patricia kissed him. “Sorry, when I was standing there, I felt my heart beating fast, I was short of breath, and my mind was a blank.”
“I might have a ‘can’t-make-breakfast’ disease!”
Looking at her serious look, Lance smiled and didn’t expose her. “That’s really terrible. It seems that for the sake of your illness, we have to hire a maid.”
Patricia really liked Lance’s understanding and humor. She kissed Lance again with her greasy mouth. “Sweetheart, I love you.”
“I love you too!” Lance replied, and then continued to eat his breakfast.
These things were not complicated to make at all. The cooking skills of the Federation were only three.
No matter what it was, it was fried in a pan.
No matter what it was, it was roasted on a grill or in an oven.
No matter what it was, it was boiled in a soup pot.
Besides these cooking skills that required an open fire, the rest were various cold dishes.
So the dishes of the Federation’s people were not difficult to make. The key was still the seasoning.
She didn’t want to learn, and Lance didn’t plan to force her to. They were not that kind of poor family where one person had to bear the heavy burden of making money, and one person had to bear the burden of housework.
A problem that could be solved with a little money was not a problem at all for them.
When the runny egg yolk was rolled up by Lance with the bacon and beef and put into his mouth, the multi-layered texture and taste change made him extremely satisfied.
He had added some spices when he was frying the beef bits, and the change in taste became even more.
Patricia was also amazed at Lance’s cooking skills. She had never thought that a man’s cooking skills could be so good.
Except for chefs.
“Do you still have to go to work?” Lance asked while having breakfast.
Patricia nodded. “If I don’t go to work, I don’t know what I can do.”
Lance did not object to this. “As long as you’re happy, but don’t force yourself too much.”
Thinking of this, Patricia couldn’t help but laugh. “Our director also came when we got married.”
Lance was a little surprised. “I didn’t see him.”
“He wanted to come over and talk to you, but there were too many people around you, and he couldn’t squeeze through.”
“He said he wanted to find some time to come and visit us.”
Lance shook his head indifferently. “We’ll talk when I have time.”
The phone in the living room rang. After Lance answered a call, he picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth. He walked behind Patricia, hugged her, and kissed her on the lips. “I have some work. I’ll go to the front first.”
“Okay, dear. I’ll go to work in a while too.”
Patricia had a special person to protect her, so Lance was not worried about her safety at all. Not only was there someone to protect her at close range, but there would also be someone to provide support from high up, so he was very at ease.
After returning to the manor’s office, Roger was already standing here with some people from the Imperial Chamber of Commerce.
They had made a lot of money with Lance. Now the price of medicine was getting higher and higher. Someone had already contacted them and planned to buy the medicine in their hands for ten million, but Lance had refused.
They could still wait a little longer. When the Federation also entered the fray, when the Federation’s material transportation also had problems, those medicines would reach a real peak!
This was obvious. The Dantra military alliance had not yet made a move, not because they were afraid of the Federation, but because they were making strategic adjustments.
Once the strategic adjustment was over, they would open fire on multiple fronts, and the Federation’s side would definitely also be greatly affected.
Once there was a problem with the transportation channel, the price would skyrocket.
Selling the medicine that had been bought for more than three million for twenty million, Lance did not think it was a problem.
Even more was not a problem!
Because these special anti-inflammatory drugs represented lives.
Not those cheap lives, but those expensive lives!
The Imperial Commerce also made a big profit on the food problem. Now the price of food had begun to stabilize. Before the Holy Farmer Festival, Lance had let Roger sell it all.
Stepping on the price that was starting to pull back, it could also be said to be a big profit.
Everyone had money in their hands now, so he could roughly guess the reason why Roger had come here.
“Mr. Chairman.”
When there were many people, Roger would still address Lance by his title, Chairman of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce. This old thing was really good at using his brain.
Lance nodded slightly, lit a cigarette, and signaled him to continue.
“Recently, we have all been very concerned about the city’s expansion plan,” he first set a tone, then looked at the others, and continued, “We also want to contract some of the projects.”
Lance understood what they meant when he heard this.
In fact, this was… something that every person in the Federation knew, but everyone had a tacit understanding that they didn’t talk about.
When the Department of Defense was costing the construction of a military base, did they not know that the contractor would hire refugees as workers?
They knew.
When Mayor Williams was making the project budget, would he not know that the contractor would also use refugees as workers?
He also knew.
But when everyone was doing it, they still costed it according to the employment price of normal workers. In a capitalist commercialized society, the purpose of everyone’s work is to make money, not to take risks.
If you don’t leave enough profit, who would be willing to do these things?
The budget made by City Hall had a considerable profit margin. If they could contract a few projects, it would not only give the Imperial Chamber of Commerce more experience, but also allow them to get a large sum of money.
There were many companies participating in the bidding. Not only would local companies bid, but it was said that companies from other places were also rushing over here.
After Lance heard their general meaning, he nodded. “Which projects are you planning to take on?”
Roger and the others had already had an intention before they came.
The Imperial Chamber of Commerce did not have much experience in building construction. It was not realistic to bid for those with high difficulty, so they were participating in the more ordinary ones, which had no requirements for experience and no difficulty.
These projects with no difficulty, if you just look at the cost, the profit is very low. After all, anyone can do it.
The technical added value is small, or even none. You can’t make much money.
But if you use refugee workers to do it, then there is still a lot of room for profit, and at the same time, you can also train a group of your own people.
After a year, with an investment of about two million, you can earn five or six hundred thousand. This rate of return is actually very amazing.
They did not ask for any major projects, so Lance naturally promised them, “I’m going to City Hall in a while. I’ll talk to him about this matter then. Is there anything else?”
Seeing that the matter was so easily settled, a smile appeared on everyone’s face.
Life is like a dream. A few years ago, they were just middle-class people with a little money in the Empire District.
But a few years later, they could already raise more than two million to participate in municipal engineering bidding.
The encounters in life are really too wonderful.
Roger and the others immediately stood up. Since their demands had been met, they would not stay and delay Lance’s time.
They all stood up to leave.
Although they did not say what benefits they would promise Lance, they would definitely give Lance a sum of money when they settled the bill. If they couldn’t even figure out these things, they would have lived in vain.
After dealing with some family affairs, mainly because the family was now undergoing a transformation and was beginning to break away from the low-level logic of the lower-class gangs, some things needed to be adjusted.
For example, some “block families” of three or five people had appeared on the streets again. Lance had to make sure that they would not violate his rules.
For another example, some gangs from other cities wanted to come over to develop, and so on. In short, these were all matters.
The prosperity of Golden Port City was like the moon in the dark night, attracting “gold diggers” from Likalai State and even the surrounding states, who wanted to come here and make a fortune.
Lance had been to City Hall many times, but this time, he had a different experience from before.
After Mayor Williams directly took over City Hall, he had abandoned the former mayor’s office, chose another room as his office, and used his own furniture.
Having a foundation and not having a foundation are different.
The former mayor’s office looked very impetuous. The furniture he used was all bought in a store. It looked very fashionable or very new.
But after looking at it for a period of time, you would find a kind of annoying and restless feeling.
And what Mayor Williams used were all made by the carpenters and painters in his family.
They might not be as new, not as fashionable, but the more you look at them, the more flavor they have. The more you look at them, the more you can feel a kind of low-key nobility.
This is the foundation.
After Lance entered the office, he was not polite. He directly threw his hat and trench coat on the sofa, and then sat down opposite Mayor Williams.
“Roger came to see me just now. The Imperial Chamber of Commerce intends to take on two municipal construction projects.”
Mayor Williams nodded. “Tell me the numbers.”
Each project had a number. Lance told him. He picked up the phone and had his secretary remove these two numbers from the bidding plan and digest them internally.
Then he put down the phone and looked at Lance.
They had made an appointment a few days ago. Mayor Williams thought for a moment about how to start, and his voice lowered a little. “I’ve been thinking about this matter. Among the people around me, only you have the ability to complete it.”
Lance nodded noncommittally. He had only heard a rough idea, but had not learned about it in detail, so even he could not give Mayor Williams an accurate answer.
“We have two problems now. One is the construction of the new industrial district, and the other is the relocation of the old industrial district.”
“The construction of the new industrial district is not a problem. We don’t need to build it ourselves. Those factories have their own construction standards. They will handle it themselves.”
“What I’m worried about now is that they might take a big bite out of the finances on the demolition issue.”
He picked up a document and handed it to Lance. Lance opened it and glanced at it. At the same time, he introduced, “The land price in the industrial district has started to rise now. If you’ve paid attention, the housing prices in the Empire District should also have increased significantly.”
Lance, while reading the document, nodded. “Yes, there is a general increase of 5% to 7%.”
This document marked the weekly changes in the land prices in Golden Port City. The Bay Area had always maintained a stable and slow growth.
Currently, the place with the fastest land price growth was the industrial district, followed by the city center, and then the New Port District.
The reason for the rapid growth of land prices in the industrial district was not complicated. It was located next to the Empire District and the New Port District. In the words of the former mayor, this place would become the periphery of the new core, equivalent to the current Priliccia District.
Every week, its land price would increase by more than 10%, or even 20-30%.
The most rapid rise was when Mayor Williams announced that he was going to create a new urban plan and relocate the existing industrial district.
The prices of some plots of land had directly doubled!
Not only did people find its future potential and business opportunities in this land, but more importantly…
“They are still frantically raising the price of the land, trying to extort a sum of money from me!” His expression was very serious, with some anger.
Because once the land in the Federation is privatized, it is private.
In other words, the factory can be moved, but the land still belongs to those factory owners, the capitalists.
Whether Mayor Williams’s plan can be realized does not depend on whether he can do it, but on whether these people are willing to let him do it!
Every person in charge of a place has their own governance plan. This is Mayor Williams’s plan.
If he can’t even take the first step, he will, like all the mayors before him, be a joke.
He didn’t want to be a joke. Not only did he not want to be a joke, but he also wanted to stamp the family’s brand on the city’s ass. He needed some off-the-books moves!
(End of a Chapter)