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.