Chapter 394: Meeting by Destiny
The Shelby family's little plan is of no importance to the entire North, and it is not even worth mentioning on the table.
After all, although the Shelby family also smuggled and opened the black market, they were just small fish and shrimps, as Tommy had guessed. After being imprisoned for almost a week, they were released.
Of course, they were still fined a lot of money, and Tommy and the others lost their jobs at the loading dock.
Since they were still prisoners in the punishment camp, after losing their jobs, Tommy and others had to report back to the punishment camp and wait for new assignments.
And this is what Tommy worries about the most.
After all, they came to the North as criminal prisoners, and now they have committed another crime. If they add crime to crime, everyone in the Shelby family will have to be sent to some construction site to work as coolies.
This is so different from the previous life of a stevedore that Tommy is very worried about whether the family will break up.
In the final analysis, the Shelby family is just a small gang. Except for the three brothers who are blood relatives and some relatives, the others only joined because they saw that the family could protect them.
Once they find that their family cannot protect them, these low-level gang members can easily leave the gang.
In particular, the Shelby family is not a big gang and does not have enough control over the lower-level members. When someone wants to betray or leave the family, they usually don't have any good methods or restraints.
In the past, Tommy could bring people to beat each other up, but now? Sorry, he has already crossed the river and cannot save himself.
He is the foreman no matter what. If something like this happens, especially if he is the main culprit, he will be responsible no matter what.
However, Tommy may have never dreamed that just when he was thinking about how to escape punishment from the subsequent accountability for this incident, his fate would take an unexpected turn.
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"Lord, the special rectification work on the black market and smuggling has been a complete success. In one week, we have destroyed a total of twelve black markets, big and small, uncovered seven smuggling routes, and arrested 516 relevant people. "People, several major smuggling gangs and forces have been uprooted, and the market order and social security in Chernobog have been significantly improved," Chernoborg's police chief reported to Purficott, and there was something in his words. The meaning of meritorious service.
This is as it should be. After all, they worked hard for a week this time and the results were very fruitful. The collected materials alone almost filled the police station’s evidence library, and they had to temporarily rent another one. It only takes one warehouse to put down so many supplies.
For this batch of supplies, the police chief originally wanted to keep his hands on them as usual, but before he did so, he was warned by the intelligence agency. Purficott's attention to this matter made him unwilling to do so. Dare to act rashly.
So I saw that the warehouse was full of supplies, and everyone in the police station was crying out for food. However, under the strict order of the police chief, no one dared to think anything about this batch of supplies.
Don’t think that the police in this era are too honest. Even the police in Perficott’s original world usually return some of the confiscated materials to the original owner, and leave the rest. If no one claims the property, it will be taken out for auction, part of the money obtained will be turned over, and the rest will be used as funds for the unit handling the case.
And this is a relatively sound legal system and a relatively clean police system.
If you encounter someone who is more corrupt... In a certain big Eastern country, there was strange news that the police station confiscated thousands of kilograms of marijuana and put it in a warehouse where rats gnawed it all.
So when Purficott arranged for the police and city guards to investigate smuggling, she specifically told the people in the intelligence agency to keep an eye on these police officers to prevent them from enriching their own pockets and causing her to investigate. After smuggling, we still have to investigate corruption.
However, judging from the fact that there is not much difference between the list of supplies reported by the police chief and the report submitted by the intelligence agency, this warning is still effective.
"Thank you for your hard work. I will remember your contribution to the police department this time." Purficott nodded with satisfaction, then looked at the police chief and encouraged him: "Do a good job." , I remember you were discharged from the Guards, right? That’s right, you didn’t disgrace the Guards.”
Hearing Purficott's praise, the police chief quickly stood at attention, saluted, and shouted the slogan: "For the North, everything is dedicated to Brandlis!"
Of course the police chief at this moment of loyalty You won’t miss it, and as a bureaucrat with a considerable degree of political attributes, this slogan must not be shouted wrong.
Although there is no problem in calling for the empire at this time, it is obvious that it is not to please Purficott who comes from the north.
"Very good, I'm very satisfied that you have this consciousness." Although Purficott felt that this slogan was a little shameful, she still said to the police chief: "The collected materials will be kept by the police station. The second half is a reward for your actions. I hope you will continue to work hard and not live up to my expectations or your own honor. "
If you want the horse to run, you have to give it to the horse. Just a verbal reward is definitely not enough for the police station itself and the grassroots police officers, so Purficott also generously used part of the collected materials as the police station’s supplies this time. Material rewards.
As for the city guards and intelligence agencies who were also involved in this incident, they have other rewards.
After all, they are not the same system as the police station, and the means and methods of rewards are also different.
After talking about the rewards to the police station, Purficott looked through the files submitted by the police chief and suddenly asked him a question: "What do you think about the black market and smuggling?"
This question made the police chief stunned for a moment, but he responded quickly: "I think we must crack down resolutely! This is disrupting normal social order and..."
< br>"Don't use clichés, tell me what you really think." Purficott interrupted him with a wave of his hand. This was not what she wanted to hear.
Seeing what Purficott said, the police chief thought for a moment before replying carefully: "Lord, I think some black markets should still exist. After all, the supply of materials in the market is tight now, and these smugglers and black markets are in many places. It can effectively supplement the shortage of official supplies.
Just like when my wife had a birthday, she wanted to buy a piece of Spanish ham to celebrate, but this kind of thing is scarce in Chernobog, and it is not regular. It's not available in stores, she can only get it through the black market.
Although this is not something worth showing off, it has to be said that these black marketers and smugglers do have connections, and they can indeed get it. The scarce supplies meet the market demand."
"Really? If I want to support an official white glove, do you have a suitable candidate to recommend?" Purficott looked at the police chief with a look in his eyes. Exploration also means consideration.
There is no doubt that Purficott’s question made the police chief instantly nervous.
He carefully recalled what he had done since he became the director, and after confirming that he had not committed any crimes or colluded with any gang force, he tentatively replied: "This operation involved A small gang is more suitable. They are small in size and have a small number of people, so they are easy to control. Moreover, their gang leader is a prisoner in the punishment camp, which makes it easier for us to deal with them directly.
And this gang is through the police. The railway lines purchase goods from Chernobog's port, and they serve more as a sales channel than other smugglers. Both the quantity of goods smuggled and the scale of the black market they operate are not large.
Compared with the gangs and smugglers who can really affect the peace of the north, they are almost not worth mentioning, but if you want to support a force, they are indeed a good choice. ""Sounds like it. Okay, what's the name of this gang?" Purficott showed an interested expression.
"The Shelby family, a small gang with only about twenty people." The police chief answered truthfully.
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Having returned to the punishment camp, Tommy stayed in the barracks, feeling a little restless.
Although he was not punished and dealt with immediately by the punishment camp and was instead thrown back to the barracks, the feeling of waiting was really uncomfortable.
Anyone who has experienced it knows that the hardest part when being punished is not when the whip hits you, but the wait before the sentence is pronounced, because you don’t know what will happen to you. fate.
Tommy knew clearly that what he had committed was not a big deal, but if it were more serious, the prison warden would whip him to death and no one would gossip.
However, he was not worried about being whipped to death by the camp management. After all, it was not like he had not treated him with filial piety when he was smuggling. For the sake of this, the best he could do was get a good beating, and he would not be beaten to death by anyone. Play really carefully.
But this is not the point. What really makes Tommy sleepless and sleepy is what kind of punishment he will receive in the future.
After all, if prisoners in this kind of punishment camp commit crimes again, they will usually be severely punished. Beating or hanging people to death in order to set an example is a routine operation.
Even if they can survive, they are usually assigned to do the hardest and most tiring work, so as to directly exhaust the person to death and save the effort of subsequent processing.
At this point, even if Tommy bribes the management, it won't be a problem, after all, the management is not responsible for this matter.
The camp management is responsible for the management of prisoners in the punishment camp, so they can impose criminal laws on them, or even directly execute them.
But where these prisoners are assigned and what work they do is the responsibility of another management department.
And Tommy has nothing to do with this management department, he can only work here and wait for the results.
This was undoubtedly very difficult for him.
Tommy shuddered at the thought that he might be assigned to do heavy work for sixteen hours a day and then die from exhaustion.
In addition to fear of death, another very important factor is that once he is assigned, the Shelby family will basically break up. He does not believe that his two brothers can maintain the gang.
In other words, Tommy felt that his two brothers would not be able to escape punishment this time. Even if they escaped, it would be difficult for them to run the Shelby family again.
After all, Tommy knows that his eldest brother is better at fighting and fighting, so it’s okay to let him do things that don’t require too much thinking. He is also a good player in the gang when it comes to fighting, but counting on him Can you lead a gang? That can only be overthinking.
As for his younger brother... Tommy just wants to say that although this kid is talented, he is still a kid and lacks experience to take on a big role.
Thinking of this, Tommy couldn't help but feel a little desperate, just like when he faced the mounted police of the Langton Police Station and the infantry artillery of the City Guard when he was in Langton, the entire gang in Langton had no power at all. One has the guts to resist.
Even the famous ruthless characters in the gangs in the past had no chance of being able to withstand infantry artillery.
The two sides are not forces on the same level at all, just as it is impossible for the Shelby family to fight against the behemoth of the entire North.
Let alone the entire Northern Territory, even just the substation under the Chernobyl Police Department is not something that a mere Shelby family can resist.
Just when Tommy was getting desperate, footsteps suddenly came from outside his prison, making Tommy's heart skip a beat.
He knew that the result he had been waiting for had come, and he had reached the point where he was being sentenced by fate.
"Father is above, I hope this is not the worst outcome!" Tommy sincerely prayed to his father for grace, but he had given up hope.
When the cell door opened, Tommy even felt that he had no strength to stand up.
But under the threat of the disciplinary baton in the hands of the camp manager, he still got up from the bed very neatly, and then stood upright.
"Tommy Shelby, a gang member, a smuggler, a black marketeer, a prisoner in a punishment camp..." A police officer wearing a police uniform walked up to Tommy and looked him up and down. , then asked: "If you were given a chance to run the black market again, what would you do?"
The police officer's question was very strange, which made Tommy not know what to do. In reply, he could only turn his eyes to the camp manager for help.
"Answer Tommy truthfully. If you don't want to be thrown into labor, you'd better answer truthfully." The camp manager glanced at Tommy and nodded at him meaningfully.
Hearing the hint from the camp management, Tommy thought for a while and gritted his teeth and took a gamble: "I will still smuggle through the railway. This line is stable enough and the cargo throughput is easy to control. As long as it is on both sides, By establishing connections at the loading and unloading station at the train station, this smuggling route can be put into operation.
As for the black market sales, this is not too simple. Just hire a few errands and they will naturally sell all the goods. Get out."
"Sounds good, don't you have the idea of becoming bigger and stronger?" The police officer looked at Tommy with curiosity in his eyes.
"No, no matter how big the gang is, it is just a shady rat. A rat must have the self-consciousness of a rat. Being too big will only lead to destruction." Tommy felt that he still had some limitations in this regard. Sober enough to understand.
After listening to Tommy's answer, the police officer seemed satisfied with it, patted him on the shoulder and said: "Congratulations, you are out of jail."
(End of Chapter)