Twenty thousand dollars.

This is just the consulting fee, which is equivalent to an ordinary person's 10-year salary. Hardy told Brigadier General Williams that during his tenure, the consultant will also enjoy a number of benefits including a company-issued car, free gas, and an annual trip.

To put it bluntly, it means spending money to support people.

As for the work content, it is to hold several meetings every year to help security companies point out their shortcomings and propose development directions.

After Hardy finished speaking, he looked at Brigadier General Williams and said, "General, as a friend, I would like to give you a consultant recommendation."

"Also, after you retire, you can become a consultant for HD Security and sign a contract for at least 6 years."

bribe.

This is naked bribery.

But this model is legal and no one can find any problems with it.

Brigadier General Williams was the first senior U.S. military figure Hardy met. He planned to use him as a breakthrough point to recruit a group of retired generals. Although they had retired, their power should not be underestimated.

It is said that China is a society based on personal connections. In fact, the United States is no worse in terms of personal connections, it is just more direct. Although these generals have retired, they still have strong personal connections, which are their capital.

Inviting some retired generals to serve as consultants and put pressure on security companies will invisibly improve the status of the security companies.

You can ask these consultants to help you with some things. Sometimes they can solve very difficult problems for you with just one phone call.

It is never a waste to hire a consultant.

Hardy gave Brigadier General Williams an advisory position and left the decision-making to him. Williams could use this position to make a fuss. If a respected general could speak for him during the promotion assessment, Williams' chances of promotion would be much greater.

A meal time,

Hardy and Brigadier General Williams have become close friends.

Before Hardy left, Brigadier General Williams saw him out the door and waved at Hardy's car, and did not go back until Hardy's car disappeared.

......

Hardy and Henry returned to New York, and Hardy ordered Henry to "increase surveillance of the Basini family, and, from now on, monitor the gallery of Brigadier General Bob Ernst's son-in-law."

"Okay, boss."

The weather was good that day. The driver drove Hardy and Richard to Manhattan and stopped in front of an art gallery, which was opened by Brigadier General Bob Ernst's son-in-law.

The gallery is very quiet.

Hardy admired the paintings on the wall one by one. He had been collecting antique artworks for almost a year, and there were thousands of oil paintings in his treasure trove. The more he was exposed to, the more he had developed a good eye for them, even if he didn't understand them.

After looking at dozens of paintings in this gallery, I found that there were no works by famous artists. I didn't recognize any of the painters' names, and there were no paintings by even those who are now somewhat famous.

"Richard, do you like any?" Hardy asked casually.

Richard shook his head. "I have no interest in these works of art."

If Richard were given a gun, he would definitely like it, but asking him to look at art is indeed a bit difficult for him.

Richard had eye surgery last year. His old injury has been healed and he had a prosthesis installed. It is hard to tell that he is one-eyed when he wears plain glasses.

Hardy waved to the waiter standing nearby and asked about the prices of several paintings. The general prices ranged from several thousand to tens of thousands.

Hardy thought, such a shabby painting is being sold at such a high price. The purchase price is probably no more than a few dollars. The frame is probably more valuable than the painting itself. No wonder it is so deserted here. It seems that this gallery is used specifically to launder money.

A few days later.

Hardy received a call from Brigadier General Williams, saying that the military had approved the materials submitted by the Logistics Support Agency and allowed the Logistics Support Agency to handle the batch of aircraft.

"So I guess they will take action soon." said Brigadier General Williams.

"I'll keep a close eye on them," Hardy said.

After hanging up the phone, he told Henry that it was the most critical moment and he must keep a close eye on it. That afternoon, the patriarch of the Basini family had a phone call with Brigadier General Bob Ernst, during which they mentioned the plane and the gallery.

They didn't know that their conversation was overheard in its entirety.

The next day, the Basini family military advisor brought a few people to the gallery of Brigadier General Bob Ernst's son-in-law and spent 200,000 US dollars to buy a bunch of broken paintings.

Hardy informed Brigadier General Williams of the information, and a smile appeared on Brigadier General Williams' face. He knew that it was time to close the net.

Back in the study, Brigadier General Williams took out a small notebook from his pocket, looked at the notes on it, and kept thinking.

He picked up the phone and called a subordinate whom he had promoted. Half an hour later, the subordinate came to Brigadier General Williams' home.

The two conspired in the study for the entire night.

The next day.

The subordinate wrote a report letter to the Supervisory Committee, clearly describing how Brigadier General Bob Ernst had accepted bribes.

The committee attached great importance to the report and immediately sent a special task force to investigate. At that time, Brigadier General Bob Ernst had no idea that someone was trying to target him. When he received a call from his son-in-law, who had spent 200,000 to buy a batch of paintings, he was very pleased.

The reason for setting up this gallery was to launder money. He was one of the logistics supervisors, so he naturally came into contact with many businessmen. The logistics department has always been a lucrative department, with weapons, clothing, food, fuel, tools, medical supplies, building materials, and so on.

The expenses of millions of people, this is such a huge market. Although the quality is the same, they have the final say on who to use and who not to use. Naturally, those suppliers have to bribe them. Later, Brigadier General Bob Ernst came up with this brilliant idea. He let people buy paintings and turned the money prepared for bribery into legal income.

Two days later.

Brigadier General Bob Ernst was taken away by the investigation committee for investigation.

Originally, his method of accepting bribes was very covert, but he was unlucky to meet Hadi. Soon after, the patriarch of the Basini family also began to be investigated, on suspicion of bribing military officers in the logistics support department for personal gain.

Being targeted by a powerful military is definitely not a pleasant thing. The Basini family used many connections and spent a lot of money. Finally, they sent their family military advisor to take the blame, and only then did they suppress the matter.

This time, Hardy has really screwed the Basini family over.

That day, Hardy received a call from Brigadier General Williams, inviting him to Virginia to play golf. Hardy took Henry on a plane to Virginia.

On the court,

The two men swung at a ball and walked forward side by side.

"Your Excellency Brigadier General Williams, perhaps I should call you Major General Williams soon." Hardy said with a smile.

Brigadier General Williams smiled and said, "The handling of that batch of aircraft has been discussed. The C-53 and C-47 you requested are the most popular, but I have reserved 50 for you. How about that? Can you take them?"

Hardy was overjoyed that all his previous efforts had paid off.

"Of course I can eat it. There's no need to worry about that, General." Hardy said with a smile.

Brigadier General Williams looked at Hardy again and said with a smile, "I have also secured a benefit for you. Some of the parts in this batch of aircraft are seriously worn out. The Logistics Department must ensure the quality when selling them, so we are attaching a batch of spare parts."

"By the way, you told me before that you wanted a B-29, right? Do you still have the idea now?" asked Brigadier General Williams.

Hadi heard the other party's tone and thought it meant there was hope.

"Of course I still want it."

If you have a B-29 these days, flying it out will definitely be more stylish than the Lamborghini Bulldogs of later generations.

"There is no B-29 in the list of aircraft for sale, but there is one in the scrap list. If you want it, I can ask someone to process the sale of the scrapped B-29 to you. As for repairing it, you have to figure it out on your own."

In fact, the so-called scrapping was just an excuse. The B-29 that Brigadier General Williams got for Hardy had good performance and no problems at all. The main reason was that the military had no plan to eliminate the "Flying Fortress", so they could only adopt this roundabout way of scrapping.

The dark deal between Hardy and Commodore Williams was complete.

Hardy helped Brigadier General Williams defeat his competitor and was about to be promoted to major general and become deputy director of the Security Bureau. Hardy got what he wanted, 50 planes that were extremely cheap and an air fortress that no one else could get.

Hardy finally understood why big shots like to play golf.

The biggest reason is to avoid being monitored.

Do you really think golf is so elegant and that all big shots are so keen on it? When big shots plot for their own interests, most of them do not do it in public and even break the law.

Need to find a safe place to discuss.

Indoors is not safe, so the best place is a place with empty space all around, where you can tell at a glance that it cannot be monitored or eavesdropped on. Playing golf requires walking around, so it can be said that it is almost impossible to be monitored. Golf perfectly meets all the needs in this regard, which is why it has become a project that big people are keen on.

"General, can I have a small request?" Hardy said again.

"What do you want?"

"Can you let the Logistics Support Bureau issue a purchase contract first, and I will pay the money later?" Hardy said.

Brigadier General Williams thought for a moment and said, "You are not the only company that purchased the aircraft this time. The military also wants to recover some funds, so this sale took place. The military requires a six-month settlement. I will give you three months at most."

"Three months is enough." Hardy said happily.

After saying goodbye to Brigadier General Williams, Hardy returned to the hotel and called Andy who was far away in Los Angeles.

"Andy, bring the financial company team and lawyers to New York immediately. We have negotiated the aircraft deal. 50 aircraft. The operation from now on will depend on you."

"Okay, boss. I'll take the person over right away."

Hardy hung up the phone and lit a cigar.

With these 50 planes, Hardy can easily set up an airline. You know, Southwest Airlines, the second largest airline in the United States, had only three planes when it was founded in 1968. Now among the established airlines in the United States, only a few have 50 planes.

If Hardy founded an airline, it would probably be ranked among the top ten airlines in the United States.

Is it profitable to start an airline?

Definitely make money.

Most importantly, airlines figured prominently in Hardy's envisioned empire.