Darkstone Code

"How much do you think we’ll need to spend on this presidential campaign?"

Mr. Truman asked a question that everyone was curious about—how much does it cost to campaign for president?

As the Governor and a core supporter of the President, Lynch has the authority to access some of the expense details. He’s interested in this and has some understanding.

"Firstly, we need to print posters for you. The Federation has about two hundred cities that require our promotion. Calculating twenty thousand posters per city, this requires at least forty million posters."

"The good news is that there are printing factories specializing in this work, and they can reduce costs to a reasonable range. Printing posters will cost between four and six million, depending on our needs."

"If we require better quality paper and coatings, the price will naturally be higher, but if we don’t pursue high-quality effects, the price can be much lower."

When Mr. Truman heard this part, he frowned. Just the cost of printing posters is so much, what about posting them?

Lynch seemed to notice his concern and took the initiative to explain, "There are specialized companies responsible for posting posters. We just need to send the posters to them, choose a tiered plan, and they’ll complete the job for us."

"This is much cheaper than hiring people ourselves to post the posters, much cheaper!"

He emphasized his tone a bit, which made Mr. Truman aware of some underlying issues.

He quietly asked, "Illegal immigration?"

Lynch nodded slightly.

In fact, many illegal immigrants are entering the Federation every day through various means. These people, without entry records and official permits, are illegal immigrants.

The natives of the Federation mainland have great dissatisfaction with illegal and legal immigrants, always believing these immigrants are taking their jobs.

Moreover, the low demands of immigrants regarding work treatment and benefits make many capitalists feel what they’re offering to workers is enough, unwilling to improve conditions and benefits.

There are some core contradictions here, and if these conflicts aren’t resolved, the tensions between domestic workers and immigrant workers cannot be dissolved.

To reduce domestic labor costs, some companies are openly or secretly using illegal immigrants. This is no longer a secret.

Initially, the Workers’ Union would incite workers to protest, but as more legitimate expatriate workers came from Nagariel, people stopped making a fuss over it.

Two years ago, the Federation passed the "Employment Protection Act," stipulating every company must have a certain number of Federation mainland workers to ensure their legal rights aren’t violated. Otherwise, it’s considered illegal behavior.

This greatly reduced the conflict between Federation workers and immigrants, as they realized some things couldn’t be changed. As long as their interests weren’t harmed, they wouldn’t make trouble.

This gave many small companies an opportunity, like these poster-posting companies.

The entire company might only have a dozen or dozens of people, perhaps even the owner themselves are illegal immigrants or not Federation citizens.

This is done deliberately to avoid legal difficulties to the greatest extent after an incident arises. Member countries of the World Development Committee have signed repatriation agreements, and some people will register their identities in small countries before coming to the Federation to do some gray business.

When they’re caught, their backers will use national channels to demand repatriation.

These people are major taxpayers, and for small countries, they’re vital economic supporters. Simple fines may not even require jail time, and after a while, they can return to the Federation with a different identity and continue their work.

Naturally, those they employ are mostly illegal immigrant workers, who have no guarantees in the Federation but need to live, so they’re willing to work for even very low wages.

This is why these contracting companies can undertake various basic tasks at a loss and still achieve profitability!

Such matters are often exposed and sometimes reported, but whether it’s the Immigration Bureau or the Ministry of International Affairs, they don’t intervene much.

Without reports, the Immigration Bureau pretends not to know. Only when someone reports will they take action.

The Federation’s development requires cheap labor, but legal channels need to consider the feelings of ordinary workers, especially since the Federation has already stopped the labor immigration policy.

The gap is getting bigger, but the channels are closed. Sometimes being muddled as a person and official is necessary.

Lynch’s acknowledgment made Mr. Truman sigh lightly. He knew these things but was powerless to do anything.

Compared to overseas workers, domestic workers are like lords—they require chicken or beef in their lunch, need a bottle of beer, and oppose the length and content of work.

As a "righteous" person, Mr. Truman isn’t inclined to discuss this matter.

"Besides this part, there are expenses for various speeches, TV station promotion costs, buying newspaper front-page stories, magazine special editions..."

By the end, Mr. Truman was somewhat numb. He knew it took a lot of money to run for president, but he didn’t know it took...so much money!

He couldn’t help but interrupt Lynch’s words, asking, "When the President was running, how much did you donate?"

Lynch smiled slightly and didn’t answer, but his facial expression gave Mr. Truman a real guess.

"Ten million...or above?"

Still no answer, but he knew.

He then sighed, showing a somewhat indescribable expression on his face, but quickly pulled himself together.

Perhaps this is why a Federation President can never shake off capitalists!

Yes, the President himself cannot have enough money to participate in a campaign that isn’t certain to win. He must rely on the support of capitalists to have enough funds to campaign.

There’s a saying in the Federation that everyone understands: if you have ten million, you can run for president.

This also means the minimum threshold for running for president is this ten million!

How many politicians can pull out ten million in one go?

None!

Fortunately, Mr. Truman has Lynch’s support, the support of the Military Industrial Group, and military support.

These are the wealthiest people in the Federation. With their support, at least in terms of finances, there is no problem.

Mr. Truman lit a cigarette, "How much are you planning to spend on this campaign?"

Lynch shook his head, "We haven’t sat down and discussed it yet, but initially, it’s estimated to be at least fifty million."

Among them, Lynch will contribute about ten million, the military as Mr. Truman’s backing will undoubtedly contribute not less than fifteen to twenty million, and the Military Industrial Group can probably put in ten million.

The rest will be donated by other supporters. Campaigning for president doesn’t mean that once the money is enough, donations are no longer needed. This clearly doesn’t conform to the rules of the capital game.

Even if all the funds are sufficient, donations must still be allowed, and you can’t refuse others the chance to gamble because you have an advantage.

These people combined can probably contribute another twenty million, with fifty million being the minimum.

Mr. Truman also derived some thoughts from this.

If a presidential campaign requires millions in cash flow, then after being elected, does he need to multiply these investors’ returns?

The answer to this question is very clear—yes.

He must ensure these investors make enough money; otherwise, he won’t even be able to secure a re-election.

The military’s money is easy to handle, just approving some of their budgets is enough.

The Military Industrial Group also benefits, and thinking deeper, Lynch can also get a large amount of money from the military’s budget. The fundamental reason for all this is that they are all "investors."

Mr. Truman has some instinctive disdain but cannot express it. These are the Federation’s game rules; you can dislike them, but you must abide by them.

Anyone who doesn’t abide by them will be rejected by this country!

The two quickly left the campaign office, with Mr. Truman heading to resolve some troubles for the President, while Lynch found Perseus.

Since both parties intend to place heavy bets on Mr. Truman, meeting and discussing cooperation in detail seemed necessary before moving forward.

This time, they agreed to meet at a military base outside Bupen, which was very safe. As Perseus put it, it’s all among "our people."

"I still haven’t figured out what the soy protein concentrate you mentioned last time is. I tried making some, and they seem to be quite different from what you described."

Previously, when Lynch and Perseus met for the first time, they discussed a lot of food.

This representative of the military’s next generation is very interested in food and seems quite fat.

But he’s not really fat—he’s just full of muscle, covered by loose clothing, making him appear fat.

This is also part of his self-disguise.

Lynch chuckled, "I’ll make some and have it sent over."

After briefly chatting about some ordinary topics, the conversation gradually shifted to upcoming matters.

"Do you have any good campaign team recommendations?" Lynch proactively asked. The military actually plays a primary role in the campaign.

Choosing a campaign team must take their main opinions.

In case of a failed campaign, there won’t be too much fallout.

Perseus thought for a moment, "We’re not very good at these things, but I heard...they do quite well. Maybe you can get in touch with them and give it a try?"

He’s referring to one of the Federation’s best campaign teams, naturally with considerable costs.

The campaign team also includes a father-son pair, who both previously served as presidents of the Federation—a magical feat given the team includes four former Federation presidents!

Their strength is quite formidable, but of course, the fees are also sufficiently high!

If you want these former presidents to work for you, you have to show sincerity!