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83.33% Marvel Plane Trader / Chapter 45: Winning Hearts

Chapter 45: Winning Hearts

"Tell me, what happened?" After seeing Margaret into her home, Josh returned to the car and signaled for the driver to go, then asked Dix, "Was it cigarettes or sugar?"

"Josh meant actual sugar, not corn syrup."

This new product, corn syrup, was ordered exclusively by the military. But Josh's sugar factory, in addition to producing corn syrup, also produced refined white sugar. And the raw materials for the white sugar production were undoubtedly obtained through his trade with Daenerys.

By obtaining low-priced crude brown sugar or sugarcane from Westeros and processing them into pure white sugar in the factory, Josh sold a portion back to Daenerys at a high price. At the same time, the remainder flowed into the Chicago black market, earning him huge amounts of cash.

The profits from the illegal white sugar and tobacco trade were far greater than the military's orders. But as with any illegal business, it was naturally vulnerable to attack.

So Josh was not surprised when this day came.

"We lost everything. Ten thousand cigarettes and one ton of sugar were intended to be shipped to New York. It was stolen at the dock. Five of my men died, two were seriously injured, and only one escaped and called me." Dix answered in a somber tone. All the dead men were his subordinates.

Upon hearing this, Josh narrowed his eyes. Good lord, according to the lowest prices of ten dollars per pack of cigarettes and twenty dollars per kilogram of white sugar, that was worth at least $120,000.

"Have you found out who did it?" Josh asked.

"Not yet. They were very efficient. When we arrived, the goods were already gone." Dix shook his head. "But I have notified Mr. Schneider and Mr. Dietrich. I don't know if they have found any useful information."

Josh nodded in response and closed his eyes, lost in thought.

About half an hour later, Josh and his entourage of three cars arrived at Anna's restaurant, the widow of Louis, who was shot during a jewelry heist.

Dix had only intended to take care of the mother and daughter out of friendship, but as it turned out, Anna's looks and figure were first-rate, second only to Margaret's. Although she couldn't compare to some of the socialites' Josh had seen or even the so-called starlets he had encountered in the Labor Union, Anna was still very attractive.

Because of this, Dix took care of her like she was his wife and even planned to marry her soon.

Thanks to this relationship, the restaurant had gradually become the meeting place for Josh and his men.

The three cars were all Josh's bodyguards. Although he may still be behind the top bosses in Chicago, he was wealthy and influential now and had gained notoriety, so he could no longer travel alone as he used to.

Therefore, he had recruited more than twenty people to be his bodyguards, all of whom he had recruited from the refugee camps at the port.

Although Chicago was a midwestern city, as the third largest city in America, it had a great appeal to immigrants. Moreover, Lake Michigan, with its Great Lakes shipping routes, provided direct access to Europe, so many refugees came from Europe.

Those with money and connections could naturally enter Chicago. Still, those without money and connections, including more than 30,000 refugees, could only stay in the refugee camps at the port, eating the government's rotten and stinking inferior food and waiting for the immigration department's review.

Although they were not starving, many died from disease, freezing, and various other causes.

The environment was only marginally better than a concentration camp.

So it was easy for Josh to recruit them.

Josh recruited these people, who were mostly families with children and elderly, and many of them had served in the military. They were mainly of German and Austrian descent, and a small number of North Europeans. As for why he didn't recruit any Asians, come on, where would Asians come from? The Asian refugees were all in Los Angeles, on the other side of the continent.

These refugees who fled with their families were generally more family-oriented.

With enough resettlement funds distributed and their families unified, it was enough to buy the loyalty of these people.

Since it was already late in the evening, the restaurant had already closed, except for Lyndon Schneider and Dietrich, who had been waiting inside; there were no extra people.

"How is it? Did you find any clues?" Josh sat down on the sofa confidently and asked the group of people.

"The sheriff has some leads." Obviously, before Josh arrived, the two had already discussed it, and Lyndon Schneider pushed Dietrich out directly.

Unsurprisingly, among Josh's people, the real Chicago boss was Dietrich.

Josh looked at Dietrich as he spoke.

"I have informants in various districts. After receiving Dix's message, I went to inquire about it. Tonight, five gangs had relatively large actions. One was the Italian Moretti family, and the other was the Irish fat guy. However, the suspicion of these two families is not high because their actions were just a shootout. The other three groups are the Italian Falcone family, the Spanish wild dogs, and the Jews. Personally, I think the likelihood of the Falcone family is low. After their leader Salieri was imprisoned five years ago, they have been declining." Dietrich said.

"So, the suspects mainly focus on the Spanish and Jews?" Josh knocked on the table.

"Yes, but this is only my guess. I can only say that their suspicion is the highest. It's still necessary to find out the whereabouts of those goods first. After all, I can't guarantee that the perpetrators are a bunch of greenhorns who just started out." Dietrich shrugged.

There was no way. As the third largest city in the United States, Chicago's ethnic forces were extremely complex, with over a dozen large gangs and countless small ones.

Small gangs appeared or disappeared almost every day.

Josh nodded at his words. Although playing the black market didn't require evidence like the police, when there were suspicions against multiple parties, it still required a thorough investigation.

Otherwise, finding the wrong target was still a small matter. Being used as a gun was the real danger.

"That's it for now. Keep an eye on this matter. Notify me as soon as there is any news. Although we can't be considered an official gang, we are not the mice in the sewer that others can easily control. In addition, Schneider allocates some money from the payment of the goods to Dix. Ten thousand for those who died, and five thousand for those who were seriously injured. Tell everyone that as long as they are willing to work for me, I will not treat them unfairly." Josh instructed one by one.

Hearing the compensation price announced by Josh, everyone present was a little moved.

You know, if an ordinary gang member died these days, the boss might give them only one or two thousand, which was considered kind-hearted.

Most of them died without a penny.

This was also why many young people preferred to join the army.

In addition to high salaries, the $6,000 death benefit from the military was also a significant reason.

In fact, even in the 21st century, the U.S. military's death benefit was still $6,000... but after World War II, the main compensation for soldiers' deaths was already through insurance. This $6,000 was already insignificant.

Therefore, Josh's ten thousand compensation was considered very expensive in this era.

So even though everyone understood that Josh was trying to buy their loyalty, so what? Who wouldn't like a boss who was willing to spend money?

As for Josh, in terms of wealth, he might still be insignificant compared to those top-tier tycoons, but spending a few tens of thousands to buy loyalty was really nothing. With the dimensional transaction device, making money was too easy.

Not to mention the American dollars brought in by the sale of sugar and cigarettes in the black market, Josh's warehouse was still piled up with piles of gold and silver from his trade with Daenerys.


Chapter 46: The Jewish Gang

"What's the situation?" Two days later, in the same restaurant, Josh looked at Lyndon Schneider in front of him and asked.

Just half an hour ago, he received a call from Schneider about the news of the robbed goods.

"Jews did it," Lyndon Schneider replied.

"Is the information reliable?" Josh asked.

"It's definite. Our partner, the Corleone family, leaked it over in New York," Lyndon Schneider nodded. "The shipment was intended for them, but according to the information they received, the goods ended up in the hands of their rivals, the Masseria family, and their partner in Chicago is the Jewish gang."

"Since we know who did it, we don't need to discuss what to do next, right?" Josh said.

Hearing the name Corleone family, Josh wasn't surprised. It was something he had known for a long time.

As the behind-the-scenes boss, although Josh didn't get involved in the specifics of the business, he still needed to know some basic information, such as the major underground forces in Chicago, the five major Mafia families in New York, and some large-scale gangs across the United States.

So when Lyndon Schneider first contacted New York, Josh already knew about the Corleone family's existence.

At that time, Josh didn't pay much attention to it. After all, there was already Margaret, the protagonist of the phone murder case, and Sabrina, who was probably the character played by Audrey Hepburn in the original world. The appearance of The Godfather was insignificant.

And compared to Captain America and Howard Stark, who was just learned, The Godfather was really just a small matter.

"Boss, this matter may not be so easy to handle..." However, Lyndon Schneider looked at Josh's expression and hesitated to say.

"Oh? Why?" Josh frowned at Lyndon Schneider's words.

"Because according to the information leaked by the Corleone family, the Jewish gang in Chicago wasn't behind this, but it was instigated by the Masseria family!" Lyndon Schneider explained.

"Masseria family? Luciano? Did we offend him in our business?" Josh finally took the matter seriously upon hearing Lyndon Schneider's words.

If it was just the Jewish gang in Chicago, Josh wouldn't care.

But if it was the Masseria family, the situation would be different.

The head of the Masseria family is none other than the boss of the Genovese family, one of the five major Mafia families in Josh's original world.

However, the Genovese family changed their name only after Vito Genovese came to power after World War II.

And now, Genovese is only the current head of the Masseria family, the third in command of the Luciano gang, in Josh's words, and a top figure in the Mafia who can even be said to be the boss of all bosses among all the families.

Even the Corleone family had to avoid him when he was in power.

Because under his leadership, the super-criminal organization formed by all the Mafia families in the United States, called Cosa Nostra (meaning "our thing" in Italian), also known as the Mafia Commission, was established and led by Luciano himself.

Under his leadership, the Mafia also established two prohibitions: one against selling drugs and the other against murdering law enforcement officials.

But Luciano himself had been sent to prison by the current governor of New York several years ago. He was now a librarian in prison, only able to remotely control the Masseria family.

And their group had only appeared a few months ago, so they probably didn't have much of a relationship with the other side.

Could it be because of doing business with the Corleone family? But that doesn't make sense. Although the Masseria and Corleone families are not very friendly, they still maintain some balance on the surface.

"No, the one giving the order is not Luciano, but his most important assistant, Meyer Lansky," said Lyndon Schneider, shaking his head.

"Meyer Lansky? We have no connection with him," Josh said, puzzled.

Of course, he knew who Meyer Lansky was. The other party was Luciano's most important partner, strategist, and the godfather of the Jewish faction in the American Mafia. He had great prestige among the Jewish gangs throughout the United States.

"No, boss. Before us, the Jewish gang Meyer Lansky controlled was the country's largest private cigarette production and sales group. Tobacco was also one of the Jewish gang's most important income sources," Lyndon Schneider explained. "Our cigarette quality is higher, and the price is more favorable. I think this is the reason they are targeting us."

Hearing Lyndon Schneider's words, Josh suddenly realized.

So it turned out that he had unintentionally messed with the largest Jewish gang in America...

This matter is really troublesome.

Although Josh's development was fast, the time was still too short, and compared with these old-school mafia organizations in terms of size, it was simply not enough to compete.

"What does the Corleone family say about this?" Josh said coldly.

"Their meaning is to not interfere. If we can transport the goods, they will collect the money. But for other things, they won't care," Lyndon Schneider said somewhat helplessly. "If I guess correctly, they are only warning us this time. If we continue to ship large quantities, similar things will happen again and again."

Obviously, the Corleone family does not want to get involved in this muddy water.

Although the profit of the tobacco business is high, it is not worth it for them to confront Meyer Lansky for this.

"Huh, they want to make money but don't want to take risks. They are good at calculating!" Knowing the attitude of the Corleone family, Josh was dissatisfied, but he had no choice.

Jews are such a troublesome group. A trace of disgust appeared on Josh's face.

This disgust is not just because the other party snatched his goods.

It also comes from some information that Josh knew when he was Chinese in his previous life.

Many people only know that during World War II, the Jews were subjected to crazy retaliation by the Germans, but they rarely know that there are deep grudges between the Jews and the Chinese.

One is the famous pufferfish plan. During World War II, China accepted a large number of Jewish refugees. However, among these Jews, a large part of them colluded with local bandits, trying to establish a Jewish state in northeastern China, but failed.

The other is because of the notorious exclusion act.

Perhaps someone will wonder, isn't the exclusion act initiated by the US government? What does it have to do with the Jews?

It does, and it also has to do with tobacco.

Because all of this started with a Jewish man named Samuel Gompers.

Gompers immigrated to New York from England in 1863. As a young man, he worked as a cigar worker, and at that time, a large part of the cigar workers in the United States were Jewish.

But the best cigar makers were not Jewish workers but Asian workers, including the Chinese.

And because the Chinese were hardworking, made high-quality cigars, and had low wages, it was difficult for Gompers and other Jewish workers to earn much money. It was from that time that Gompers began to hate the Chinese.

Because he was good at networking and enthusiastic about union activities, Gompers quickly gained a great reputation among industry workers and became the American Cigar Workers' Union leader in 1875.

It was from that moment that Gompers, in this capacity, staged the first act of the exclusion act, inciting white workers' hatred of Asians.

It was also because of him that the exclusion movement began to spread from the Jewish community to all levels of American society.


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