Darkstone Code-Chapter 708 - 0706 Shameless
According to the Federation’s legal provisions, political donations are divided into two types.
The first type is individual contributions, which are not subject to regulation.
The Federation has so many people, and many are willing to donate to the politicians they support, even if they can’t afford to eat or are wandering the streets, when it’s time to donate, they still give every penny of their money as donation. When the time comes, their accounts will transfer a sum of money to some politician’s donation account.
This is one of the three major miracles of the Federation, where everyone is passionate about politics!
Of course, as there are so many donors, government agencies cannot monitor each person’s donation purposes and post-donation actions.
To minimize the use of political donations for the purpose of delivering benefits, Federation law stipulates that individual donors cannot donate more than the monthly minimum income of the local area each year.
In other words, according to the Federation’s current "Minimum Wage Law," most people’s annual donations cannot exceed about two hundred and forty dollars; if exceeded, it’s illegal, and it requires an investigation.
One person donating over two hundred dollars doesn’t solve much; everyone thinks so, what can over two hundred dollars do?
Thus, there is another donation method, large donations.
This donation method does not limit whether the donor source is an individual or a group, nor does it limit how much they can donate at once, but the money is monitored!
The campaign office has dedicated personnel monitoring these funds’ changes; even if someone buys a cup of coffee for one dollar, it could be involved in a corruption and occupational crime investigation.
Furthermore, after the campaign ends, if any funds remain unused, there are corresponding processing measures, unlike the other type of donation, which silently disappears into the accounts of some individuals.
After all, who knows how to return the remaining funds to their true owners? But if it’s a large sum, it’s easier to handle.
This is just the basic rule. In practice, if someone truly donates a large sum of money, it usually gets used immediately, and those politicians won’t give certain individuals the chance to take the money back out of the campaign account.
But having someone monitor every fund movement in the campaign is definitely not a fun experience. Those who truly know how to deepen relationships with politicians never donate such large amounts in one go.
They have many employees, and they will donate money to the politicians using the employees’ names.
An individual’s two hundred forty dollars might not achieve much, but ten thousand employees are two million and four hundred thousand — this is just ideal.
In fact, it’s impossible for everyone to donate the same amount to a campaign account at the same time through the same bank, so the Federation has specialists to handle these issues.
Where there’s benefit, there will be people!
These individuals will donate money of varying sums into the campaign account under different names and accounts, absolutely leaving no trace of weakness. Naturally, their fees aren’t cheap, but it’s all worth it.
Among the Federation’s capitalists, there’s a phrase —
You gave the President, and he will repay you several times over, in other ways!
When the President suddenly mentioned Lynch’s number of employees, it wasn’t because he was genuinely concerned about Lynch’s business to the point of counting how many people he employed; he was merely expressing his expectations.
Roughly akin to "I can agree with what you said; now consider if you can accept this price."
Forty to fifty thousand people, at current rates, approximates to six to seven million Federation Sol.
Lynch’s response was generous, donating directly based on fifty thousand employees, seven to eight million, or maybe even a bit more, possibly reaching tens of millions. As for the exact final amount, depends on how much Lynch writes on the check.
However, this is an excellent result; the President got what he wanted, believing Lynch will use all his connections to aid in his successful election, helping him gain the upper hand.
There’s no need to speak out such minor matters; voicing them would lower the tone a bit.
"Lynch, talking with you today has been very rewarding. You’ve provided answers to things I hadn’t thought of before; I look forward to our next discussion!" the President remarked.
Lynch knew it meant their discussion was nearly concluded and it was time to wrap up. He finished his coffee and stood up, "Of course, Mr. President, however, I hope to select the location for our next meeting."
The President paused slightly, uncertain of Lynch’s meaning, but certainly wouldn’t oppose it. After all, they had just agreed on a big business deal, "Naturally, that’s not an issue, but I am very curious, where will it be?"
"At the victory celebration party we host for you!"
...
Stepping out of the President’s office, Lynch stood on the staircase outside the President’s Mansion, facing the bright sunlight, as he put on his glasses.
Mr. Truman stood beside him; looking at Lynch nearby, he couldn’t help but ask, "Where did you learn these things?"
As he spoke, he took a step forward, "Your appearance always reminds me how young you are, yet I somehow overlook the fact that you’re still very young; I have no clue where you learned these things."
These things are not something one can learn without a verbal transmission; ordinary people fundamentally can’t acquire them.
This isn’t a joke. Even if an ordinary Federation citizen suddenly becomes extraordinarily wealthy due to some good fortune and gets access to certain upper-society matters, lacking depth, they aren’t qualified to directly engage in discourse with the President.
Most turn to find some broker to act as an agent to complete such money-power transactions, requiring them to pay more to receive half the friendship and promises, as the brokers swallow the rest.
But Lynch seemed to know everything, understand everything, which gave Mr. Truman an inexplicable sense of frustration. If he also came from another world, he would surely know a very wise saying—age has all gone to a dog’s body.
Unfortunately, he’s a local here, unaware of this very philosophical and wise saying, he could only instinctively marvel at Lynch’s marvels.
Lynch turned his head to look at him, half-smiling, "Everything comes from life!"
"Damn it all, life!"
"Want me to give you a lift?"
"No need..."
Just as Lynch was about to descend the steps and leave, Mr. Truman suddenly called him, "Jenia’s here, maybe you can go chat with her."
Lynch waved his hand and left without looking back.
Jenia’s arrival was indeed somewhat unexpected, but only somewhat unexpected. After the surprise, Lynch roughly understood the reason for Jenia’s low-key visit to the Federation at this time.
This is a signal. Gafura’s promotion of joint military exercises is a strong military stance, so naturally, there needs to be some political compromise.
The proud Emperor Gafura couldn’t possibly call the President to say some humble words, he just happened to take advantage of the "cultural exchange" Lynch negotiated with Gafura to send an unofficial delegation to visit the Federation.
Though it’s an unofficial delegation, with Jenia in it, this unofficial aspect seems less unofficial.
This is a statement, a way to ease the opposing emotions that might arise due to the joint military exercises, and very effectively so.
At this moment, Jenia had just come out of the bathroom. The temperature in Bupen is a bit warmer than in Gafura, but not the kind of humid heat, yet it doesn’t feel comfortable either.
She had just taken a bath, now casually lying on the spacious soft bed in a bathrobe, watching the Federation’s TV.
There are some snack bags on the bed, some of which have been ripped open, with things like popcorn, chocolate donuts, etc.
There’s no denying that the Federation’s "decadent life" is quite to Jenia’s satisfaction.
There are no royal protocols here, no so-called traditions of the Gafura people, and the hosts on TV lack sufficient respect for politicians.
She even saw on TV that a politician broke down because a host was mocking them, if this happened in Gafura, this host would probably soon lose their job.
The dignity of the nobles is not to be tarnished, that’s Gafura, rigid, dull.
Not like here, everything is filled with a lively and free atmosphere, even the damn air smells like strawberries!
She was biting a strand of hair hanging from her hair bun, eating snacks while watching TV and smirking foolishly when the doorbell rang.
She was a bit surprised, but thinking that she just arrived in the Federation, those fools surely have some matters to discuss with her, she had no choice but to stand up, tidy herself up, and then go open the door.
This was a suite, nearly two hundred square meters, with very tight security measures, she wasn’t worried about any bad guys approaching this place.
Just as she opened the door, she saw an unexpected person.
"Lynch, why are you here..."
"Hmm?"
"Hiss..." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
"Oh!"
With a bang, the door slammed shut.
...
Half an hour later, Lynch came out of the bathroom. Jenia was sitting on the bed, holding a phone, "I had someone bring you a set of clothes, still your brand..."
She pointed to the clothes on the floor, without feeling shy about not wearing clothes, as the two of them had spent quite some time shamelessly together in Gafura, there was nothing left to hide.
After nodding, Lynch took some wine from the bar and sat at the bedside. As he was sipping..., he asked, "You came so suddenly this time, is it because you missed me?"
"Are you trying to get information out of me?", Jenia looked up at Lynch, meeting his gaze, effortlessly exposing the underlying meaning of Lynch’s words.
Naturally, Lynch didn’t deny, "Yes, I’m trying to get information out of you."
"You’re really shameless!"
Lynch couldn’t help but laugh, "I have an even more shameless side, wanna see?"
