amaotonovel Chapter 3280 Bloody New City (29)
Chapter 3280 Bloody New City (29)
Chapter 3280 Bloodshed in New City (Twenty-nine)
As he walked back to his seat, Gordon stared at Schiller closely, as if he was trying to find some clues from his face, but he couldn't see anything. He could only rub the coffee cup with his fingers, looking extremely anxious.
He sighed heavily.
"Don't be so depressed, Chief. You have done a good job, but you obviously underestimated the greed of some people."
Gordon frowned and looked at him. He certainly heard the hint in Schiller's words, so he carefully considered the tone of the congressman who had just called, and his heart suddenly sank.
"You mean, the state legislature knows about the GTO money?"
“That’s a lot of money, Chief. They’re not that stupid,” Schiller said, before adding in his mind, “They actually have it, so I’m just a concerned citizen reporting it.”
Gordon's fingertips, which were holding the coffee cup, began to turn white, and he couldn't help showing a look of pain on his face. He looked at Shiller and said, "I'm a policeman. If I had the ability to fight politics or do finance, I wouldn't be here."
"It's okay, Chief. At least you did a very good job in your job." Schiller still praised him very calmly.
But Gordon didn't feel happy at all, because it sounded like another way of saying "My condolences."
"No, GTO must not be disbanded." Gordon said, "They have brought the greatest improvement to Gotham's law and order in history, even greater than Batman, and they must not be destroyed like this."
"Yes, I agree with you." Schiller nodded and said, "If there is no hope, then naturally no one will force it. But now that we have seen hope, no one will be willing to give up easily."
That sounded more like "My condolences," Gordon thought.
"You didn't come here to say these meaningless words." Gordon decided to be straightforward. He continued, "If you have any solution, just say it."
"Excuse me, Mr. Commissioner. Your lack of political proficiency and financial insensitivity are also one of the reasons why Gotham's public security has become what it is today."
Schiller stood up from his chair and began to pace around the office. He said, "No man is an island, and no city is an island. Gotham is a city in New Jersey and a city in the Union. The people of Gotham are citizens of New Jersey and citizens of the Union. You should not be the only ones responsible for them."
"But they never..."
"I know you tried to win their support, but failed for various reasons. As a result, they have not made any contribution except passing various bills and constantly restricting you."
Gordon put his hands on the table. His expression looked a little depressed, but he nodded and said, "Yes, they have been dragging their feet. But is it our fault?"
"Even though I am partial to you, I cannot say with a clear conscience that you have no responsibility at all. The social relationships of individual humans need to be managed, and so do cities."
"The original intention of human beings to establish society is to help each other, but no one will help anyone unconditionally. Relationships are built through management. If you help me today, I will help you tomorrow."
"How do you start this kind of mutually helpful relationship? The first thing you need to do is to make others feel that you can help them one day. Only then will they take the initiative to make friends with you."
"And to make others feel this way, you naturally have to show your own value. As long as you look strong, others will naturally feel that sooner or later you can help them."
"On the other hand, if you're always weak and fail to show your worth, it will make people feel that the time and energy they spend helping you is wasted. If you make them feel that maintaining a relationship with you is unnecessary, it will be difficult for you to have friends."
Gordon listened carefully. Although it was not a very complicated principle, no one had ever explained these things to him in detail before.
"Gotham has a serious isolationism." Schiller first put forward his own conclusion, and then talked about it, "You think that Gotham does not need help from others, and no one will come to help Gotham."
"On the surface, it seems to be true, because Gotham's problems are not on the surface. Outsiders may not understand it, and because this city is rotten, no one will be willing to lend a hand."
"But no, that's not the case. People may not do something because of a bad impression, but only if there is no benefit in doing it."
"On the contrary, if the benefits of something are unimaginably great, then there is no bad impression that cannot be reversed, and no prejudice that cannot be broken."
“This is true for interpersonal communication, international communication, and communication between cities and states.”
"No one will help Gotham, not because people have a bad impression of this place, but because this matter itself does not bring any benefits. Because you, Batman, and other people who rule this city are unwilling to participate in the exchange of interests, but always isolate yourselves."
"Now, the disadvantages of this isolationism are revealed before your eyes." Schiller walked back to his desk and sat down, looking at Gordon and said, "If Gotham had a congressman who could have a say in the state legislature, you wouldn't be so passive."
Gordon closed his eyes in some pain, because he knew that Schiller was right.
"People always think that politics is far away from them, but that's not the case," Schiller said, shaking his head. "Especially for a city manager, if you don't understand the political game, you will definitely lose."
"The Pale Knight is a good mayor. Perhaps he has talent in this area, but he is obviously too conservative." Schiller made a slightly sad gesture and said, "In the political arena, there is no distinction between good and evil, only between strong and weak. Either the east wind prevails over the west wind, or the west wind prevails over the east wind."
"He is like a miser who keeps his treasure in vain, a stingy Grandet who thinks it is safest to keep all the wealth in his own hands and is unwilling to turn them into chips and throw them on the table to gamble. Then he will naturally become passive and even more passive."
"It's too late to say this now," Gordon said. "We don't have any representatives in the state legislature, but they can easily use the referendum results to recall me. Bruce Wayne may not be able to interfere."
"Once I am removed from office, the new director will not allow the existence of GTO, and the huge sum of money will be embezzled by the upper class. Everything we have done will become a joke."
"Don't be so pessimistic, Mr. Director. Am I not here?" Schiller said with a smile.
Gordon asked hesitantly, "Do you have any solution?"
Before Schiller could answer, Gordon added, "I mean, legal methods. At least it can't harm others, even homeless people. Sorry, this is my principle."
"I admire your integrity," Schiller said. "I do have some immature little ideas. May I talk about them?"
Gordon took a deep breath, sat up straight, and pretended to be listening attentively. Then he said, "Go ahead. It can't get any worse."
"It is true for you," Schiller thought to himself, "but not necessarily for Batman and the Pale Knight."
"The reason why the state legislature is so angry is that you got a big cake, but you didn't even want to share a little bit of the cake crumbs with them." Schiller spread his hands and said, "Everyone has to take a little bit. This is the rule of the underworld."
"You mean they want money? Well...it's not impossible to give them some..." Gordon looked hesitant. It was obvious that he didn't want to do this, but in the end he compromised for the sake of Gotham's security.
This is not to say that his moral bottom line has been lowered, but that in the United States, political donations are legal and do not constitute bribery. They are just support for elections and are the legal political rights of American citizens.
"If you had done that when you got the money, it might have worked. But I'm afraid it won't work now," Schiller said. "You can't pretend you're not corrupt and then use the money to get something. It's not that easy."
"If you go in now with money in your hands, you will definitely get a cold shoulder. Not only will your reputation be ruined, but you won't get any benefits. Don't do such a stupid thing."
"What should we do?"
"Since you have been taking a high-profile approach for so many years, why not continue doing it? At least you can earn some reputation. But I know you are worried that they will remove you, so let's not be so straightforward and take a roundabout approach."
"roundabout?"
"Yes, giving money directly is called servility, but if we push someone up, spend money to support him, and let him speak for us, it is called fighting for the political rights we deserve."
"You want someone to run for Congress?"
Schiller nodded. He took out a newspaper and handed it to Gordon, then said, "Congressman Vonske, who represents Blüdhaven, is retiring this year, and his party is nominating a new candidate. The leader of the New Jersey region, Balk, is involved in the arms smuggling case in Fortress and cannot get out of it. If we spend some money to help him, he will give our people a chance."
"An arms smuggling case? Was it the case in which the ocean-going shipping captain embezzled goods and even engaged in a fight on the high seas?" Gordon frowned deeply, recalling the details of the case.
But in fact, there is nothing much to say. This is a case where everyone is a villain. Anyway, the smuggling of arms was not done properly, and several large ships sank, causing the boss behind the scenes to get furious and put everyone involved in the case in jail.
"This has nothing to do with the common people," Schiller said. "It doesn't even have anything to do with Balk himself. It's his son-in-law's fault. He's unlucky."
"This guy can't be called a good person. He's ambitious and loves to wield power, but he hasn't done anything evil. At most, he's just made some money. Besides, he's old, and he won't be in this position for many more years. Saving him won't harm anyone," Schiller said.
Gordon looked at the information about Balk that Schiller handed over, and he even thought that this guy could be called a good person. As expected, after seeing so many monsters in Gotham, he thought all the outsiders were handsome.
Gordon looked at his qualifications carefully and felt that what Schiller said was true. If he could really get this guy out, he should be able to get a seat as a congressman.
"But is that enough?" Gordon asked. "It's just one member of the Legislature. There are many members of the Legislature."
"Political games are not about the number of people," Schiller replied, "but about the means of management. If management is good, the voice of one person can be louder than that of all others. If management is bad, even if eight or ten people are involved, it will be in vain."
“So the selection is important?”
"Yes, it is very important." Schiller nodded and said, "Although we can help him behind the scenes, it still depends on his own skills. This person must be smart, tough, flexible, and preferably experienced enough. Because under this situation, we don't have that much time to train new people."
"That's easy to say. We don't even have an old man." Gordon sighed and said, "The Pale Knight is very capable, but he needs to manage Gotham. Bruce Wayne is obviously not capable of that either. The Wayne Group can't even protect itself now."
"And you, Chief?"
"Me? I'm even worse off. I've said I don't understand politics at all, and I'm afraid I won't be able to learn it in this lifetime. And I think age is also a big problem, right? If I spend so much money and only work for a few years before retiring, it would be a huge loss."
"Well, it seems that we don't have the right candidate." Schiller shook his head with some regret and said, "In my opinion, the innate cunning and evil of Gotham people should be able to produce a few political geniuses. What a pity..."
Gordon's hand holding the coffee cup suddenly paused. He took a deep breath, looked into Schiller's eyes and said, "Now that you mention it, I think I can think of a candidate."
"Who?"
"Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin."