Shadow Empire - Chapter 955 Numbering and continued intensification

The next morning at around six o'clock, the Lapa boy woke up from his sleep.

His mother got up earlier and had prepared lunch for him.

Poor people don’t eat breakfast in the morning. Anyway, they may not be hungry, and the plant fiber they ate last night has not been completely digested.

So these meatballs are prepared for the boy to eat at noon, as he needs to work outside all day to earn money to support his family.

The young man packed the food, said goodbye to his mother and left home.

He went to the riverside to take a look. There were indeed two tables by the river and some words written on them, but he didn't know what the slogans were specifically. There was just no one there.

He thought he could only wait until noon to come back. These federal people were really lazy.

He went to the federal construction site in the morning. The federal construction site needed a large number of workers, which was good news for him.

He came very early. Since he had worked here yesterday and was familiar with the workers, the foreman called him by his name directly.

He entered the construction site with other workers and also saw the workers he had worked with yesterday.

"You left after getting your salary yesterday?" His partner was a young man in his twenties, but he looked to be in his thirties.

Lapa's sunshine and poverty are the biggest killers of aging among the poor, of course hunger and malnutrition are also.

"Where else can I go?"

"Do they need people to work at night?"

His partner shook his head. "I don't know if anyone is needed to work at night, but I know you can't just leave like this."

"Listen, when you get paid today, give the foreman five dollars."

Because he never slacks off, his partners like him more and don't want to replace him with a partner who is cunning and dishonest.

The boy's distraction may be seen as a case of "short circuiting" by his partner, who may not understand why he should pay the foreman.

So he went on to explain, “You see, there are only so many jobs on the construction site, but there are so many people waiting for jobs.”

"He doesn't have to choose you. After all, you have no relationship with him. Do you understand what I mean?"

"You gave him five dollars, and there is a connection between you and him. If he wants the five dollars again tomorrow, he will definitely come to you again."

"You give him five dollars a day, that's 150 dollars a month, which doesn't seem like much, but there are at least four or five hundred workers here."

The young man took a deep breath and said, "Four or five hundred, how much is that?"

The two of them looked at each other, and in the end neither could figure out how much money it was, but it must have been a huge sum of money.

The moment the bell for the construction site's closing and closing hours rang as the foreman pulled the bell rope and rang, everyone's backs, which had been bent by life, slowly straightened up.

There were more smiles on people's indifferent or painful faces.

They finished the last bit of work in their hands and then started lining up to receive their payment.

The boy obeyed his partner's words, and after receiving the money, he rolled up five dollars and put it into the foreman's hand.

The boy smiled, revealing his yellow teeth. "Goodbye, sir. See you tomorrow!"

The foreman smiled and nodded, "See you tomorrow."

Just like his partner said, five dollars isn't a lot, but when added together, it's a lot.

The boy ran very fast. He was hungry. He had worked all day and had only one meal. He was able to hold on until now because of his youth.

This was different from the scene he had imagined. He was stunned and hesitated for a moment, but finally walked to the table.

"I want to ask about the ID card." He spoke in a low voice. He had an innate feeling of weakness when facing these foreigners.

He also heard that these foreigners, especially those wearing red armbands, were extremely barbaric and brutal. Not only did they lynch those who did not follow the rules, they also reportedly killed some people.

This may also be the reason why some people are reluctant to come here, they are afraid of these federal people.

"You want to apply for an ID card?" A bored federal man sitting behind the table suddenly became interested. "Can you tell me why you want to apply for one?"

He gestured to the side and said, "Those people would rather sit there and watch for a whole day than come and apply for an ID card."

"What about you?"

"Why?"

The young man from the Federation behind the table was stunned for a moment. He looked at the boy twice more and said, "You are a lucky man."

"You need to tell me where you live and your family situation..."

Soon both parties began to seriously process the identity document. They asked a lot of questions, including who else was in his family, how his father died, and how he could help his family survive now.

Finally, the young man looked at the registration card he had written. He wrote half a page and repeated it to confirm that it was correct. Finally, his pen tip landed on the name column and asked, "What is your name, young man?"

"Juan Ica."

The young man opposite him wrote his name in the name column, then took out a card and wrote his name and file number on it, as well as some other things he didn't quite understand.

Then the card was placed under a machine. The person who helped him to apply for the ID card stood up and pressed it hard. With a "click" sound, the machine spit out the card.

He tore the card open along the fold in the middle and handed Juan half of it, which had his name and various information on it, as well as a stamp.

The young man handed the card over and said, "Keep it. You'd better remember the number on it. If you lose it, it won't be too troublesome to apply for a new one."

Juan kept turning the card over and over again. He had a vague feeling that this would be an opportunity to change his life.

He kept the card carefully and said, "Sir, this ten, does it mean that I am the tenth person to apply for it?"

The person handling the matter nodded and said, "Yes, you are the tenth. Treasure this number of yours, it will bring you good luck."

The young man opposite him shook his head. "Money?"

"No, you don't need to, little one, you don't have to pay us anything for it, you can leave now, or just watch from the sidelines like them."

Juan heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this, and a smile returned to his face. "Then I'm leaving?"

"Yes, you can leave now."

Juan skipped back to his home. He told his mother why he only had 25 dollars today. His mother agreed with his partner's advice.

Although he lost five dollars a day, he gained a job that paid seven hundred and fifty dollars a month.

This money is enough for them to live very well here.

At night, he put the card under his pillow. Although he didn't really understand what the card meant, he did it and had a dream.

This made him laugh out loud in his dream, and that bizarre world also attracted all his attention.

On the other hand, after the various sites were withdrawn, Lance couldn't help but ask in the evening, "How many people have applied for personal identity information today?"

Only by understanding the situation of the people here can we better manage them and control some of them who may be harmful to society and new policies.

Lance is not the ruler here yet, nor is he the father of these people. He doesn't need to take care of everyone's emotions. He only chooses what he wants.

Lance divided the territory they controlled into three districts. There were at least 200,000 to 300,000 people in these three districts. However, throughout the whole day, less than 200 people handled their identity information, which made Lance a little confused.

He put down his knife and fork. "What caused this?"

Roger also put down his knife and fork. "I heard from them that there are some rumors and slanders against us. Some people said that we gave them identity information in order to treat them as food or some kind of resource, just like marking livestock with numbers."

Hearing this explanation, Lance couldn't help but laugh. "This is a manifestation of ignorance, but I believe that many of them must agree with such rumors!"

"In fact, there are many rumors like this, all of which are unfriendly to us."

Lance picked up his knife and fork again. "This shows that the local rulers did not do nothing. They did do something, but they did it in a place that we didn't see but was very effective."

He took a piece of steak from a plate on the table and put it back on his own plate. There was no such thing as famine here.

The aroma of the food is mouth-watering. Although Lapa is very poor, the quality of the cattle and beef here is still very good.

"Try to do it."

"After a while, they will understand the importance of these ID cards. Just keep doing them and don't worry about whether they are done well or not."

He was worried that Roger would feel that he had not done a good job and would become more radical.

It didn't matter whether this matter was done well or not, because he had heard that there was not much money left in the treasury of the Lapa government.

But it is obvious that these ministers do not intend to tide over the difficulties with Diego. They may all have some ideas of their own, but it is not ruled out that some people will side with Diego.

If Diego was alone, he would have been overthrown by the ministers long ago, so some ministers should have stood on his side, but did not express their views immediately.

In fact, it doesn’t matter whether they express their stance or not. Lance will continue to support the continued expansion of anti-government armed forces, making the fighting between them more intense.

He would not let the anti-government armed forces win and really drive Diego out of Zhuolan, nor would he let Diego's side expand to the point where it could defeat the anti-government armed forces.

Albert, who was sitting on the other side of the table, couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Lance, can I know what your next plan is?"

Lance thought about it and did not refuse his request. After all, part of the work in this matter required the Economic Cooperation Agency to contribute.

"I learned through some friendly contacts that their treasury doesn't have much money left."

Mr. Albert nodded, "Yes."

"Give them loans and support them in using the loans to fight against those anti-government armed forces."

Albert showed a puzzled expression. "But I heard that they have a lot of wealth in the federal bank. Not long ago, these accounts deposited more than 55 million federal soles."

The money he was talking about was the money from selling grain. Lance nodded and said, "Yes, it's not that they don't have money, but that money is their own money, not the country's. Do you understand what I mean?"

"If it were you, Mr. Albert, and the Federation needed you now, would you cash out all your wealth and donate it to the country?"

Lance curled his lips, "It just so happens that these rulers can't do this. Of course, I'm not mocking you, Mr. Albert."

"I'm just stating a fact."

Albert raised his hand quickly, "Yes, I can understand what you mean, Mr. Lance."

"But doing this..."

"The bank will definitely ask for more financial benefits. I heard that, just heard that."

"Some of them are interested in acquiring shares in Lapa National Bank."

Mr. Albert showed an understanding expression. The war between capital and capital has always been hidden deep. What the Federal Bank wants may not only be a stake in Lapa National Bank, but a direct acquisition.

They don’t care so much about annexing a small private bank; what they want is a central bank that is the dominant bank in the region.

These workers have huge potential in wealth transformation and they will not give up this financial market.

Maybe it seems poor now, but what about ten years later, twenty years later, or even half a century later?

The expression in Albert's eyes changed slightly, and Lance smiled and said, "As for me..."

He chewed the beef in his mouth. As the beef was torn and crushed by his teeth, the juice and fat were squeezed out and fully mixed, giving off a very fragrant beef and milk aroma.

"So when that time comes, I need to be more convenient to manage here and continue to proofread for Congress."

He didn't explain it in such detail, but Albert was able to associate some things with it. He could only show a look of amazement and admiration, "You are such a genius!"

Lance responded modestly, "Thanks for the compliment!"

Although some people will apply for identity cards in the next period of time, the number of people will still be small, only a few hundred people every day.

Because a new batch of aid from the federal government has arrived.

With more weapons and ammunition, Lance is going to strengthen Diego's government.

More anti-government armed forces are rising and conquering cities. If Diego does not respond, his influence will soon be limited to Zhuolan and nearby areas.

He obviously did not want such an outcome, so in July, the second military expansion began.

Diego even stated in a public speech that they would regain control of at least half of the territory before December.

(End of this chapter)