My American magical life
Chapter 858 - 858 50 The Wind Rises at Nanhua 2

858: Chapter 50: The Wind Rises at Nanhua 2 858: Chapter 50: The Wind Rises at Nanhua 2 A few days ago, DC special district.

When America’s Father of the Country, the first Great Commander Washington, chose this place as the capital, it was nothing but a plain overgrown with shrubs, with wooden cottages as its main buildings, and it was even called Columbus back then—its sole advantage being the low land prices.

However, after more than two hundred years of development, as America gradually evolved from a peripheral nation to a global empire, the DC special district also transformed at an unprecedented rate of change.

It is a gathering place for the world’s most ‘exceptional,’ most representative political elites.

Some come from fisherman families of the Southern Seaside, some hail from the old industrial towns of the Great Lakes Region, some are born in the Overseas Trust Territories,—oh, and some are mistresses, but that’s not important…

They come from hundreds of different places around the world, each carrying the foundation upon which the empire’s hegemony relies.

The members of Congress on Capitol Hill are of various ethnicities: German descent, Italian descent, Hispanic, old Saxons, Scottish descent…

well, black people—this complex racial composition represents the underlying nature of America as a nation primarily composed of immigrants.

Outside of the White House, outside of Capitol Hill, the DC special district also has two secretive power systems: the administrative institutions and the lobbying groups outside the courts.

The core of the former are civil servants, while the latter are engaged in helping congress members with short-term power renting—akin to short-term love connections, an analogy that’s indecent, or rather, very indecent.

But in fact, this is also true; the power of the congress members doesn’t lie in their ability to propose bills, because even if they do propose, it doesn’t mean they’ll pass—their role is just to vote, and the lobbying groups outside the court exist to influence those votes.

Stripping away the complex methods of payment, the process can be summed up as ‘talk, how much do you charge per vote’.

And given the endless stream of bills in the American Congress, with capitalist groups and their representatives constantly maneuvering, this renders the ‘price’ of a congressman’s vote—as seen from the standpoint of cashing in—not so valuable.

Like Nanxi, Tortoise Prime Minister, and even Laughing Sister—important members whose votes are difficult to ‘buy’, but the price for others won’t be that high—hundreds of them, mouths agape, waiting to be fed, and the competition is fierce.

But this is a secretive power system, because by its nature, it has a whiff of legal marginality, so, for most people in need, it is highly difficult to access, but that also happens to be the only difficulty.

Fortuitously, Benny knows where the door is.

Remember, this little guy got into Disney’s president’s good graces through his connections as the party prince—he is a network-type staffer, you could say.

After accepting old Crusoe’s olive branch and joining the newly established power by Cheng Daqi, Benny’s first task was to settle things with the Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo, in the DC special district.

So, he flew to DC alone last night, bought a bouquet of flowers by the roadside, and then knocked on the door of his college classmate.

The door that is so difficult for most people to find, he managed with just a bouquet and a hang, and after a fierce battle, while holding his old flame now working at a well-known think tank, Benny inquired as he caressed her.

“Do you know Mike Pompeo?”

“That idiot?

Everyone in the DC special district knows him, what do you want with him?”

“Because he’s kind of dumb, someone wants to get in touch with him.

I’m just running errands.”

“So, you’ve switched jobs now?”

“Yeah, you know, not proposing to you was the thing I regret the most in my life.

Now I have to pay almost a hundred thousand Dollars in alimony each month, sigh.”

No matter how much of a hero you are, under America’s divorce law, Benny still has to constantly worry about how to handle the next month’s alimony.

This guy has been married and divorced multiple times, and just a slight scuffle in the divorce court, and he’s nearly at the point where one man is supporting a dozen or so mouths.

Sometimes he thinks, it might have been better to marry a reliable college classmate, at least he is familiar with those girls after a long period of acquaintance.

“Come on, I have no intention of getting married.

With money, I can just order a male model.

Plus, you’re not hard enough!”

His old flame’s words hit hard, leaving Benny momentarily speechless, then he fiercely retorted.

“Fine fine fine, let’s do it one more time, I’ll show you Daddy Benny’s big…”

“Poor man, try to be a bit more confident, is your self-esteem really that fragile?”

That hurt even more, Benny said bitterly.

“…So, I’d like to meet Mike Pompeo, do you have any channels?”

His old flame, holding Benny’s face, gave him a kiss, soothing this dejected old friend, then said promptly.

“Let me think, the secretary-general of the North American Minorities Women’s Rights Development Foundation is a relative of Mike Pompeo, I’ll contact them for you.

By the way, who are you working for now?

Having pried you away from Disney, they must be no simple affair, right?”

That’s the essence of the DC special district’s hidden power network—information asymmetry.

Benny’s old flame clearly knows where all those big shots’ relatives are, knows those secretaries are really the core figures.

In Congress, the congressmen are very busy, and their secretaries are no less so—some secretaries of famous congressmen hold even more power than many congress people themselves.

Through these minor characters, lobbying agencies can pry huge political resources, thus playing both sides.

For instance, a foreign capital group wanting to pave their way, the manager of the think tank—in reality, a lobbying group—that Benny’s old flame works for receives the contract.

The price is what it costs to buy a congressman, but his old flame only needs to find the right secretary, assistant, or the congressman’s relatives to easily seal the deal.