It was more than three o'clock in the afternoon.

Meeting room.

From the state of Felisto's entry into the door, Russell found that he was different from usual, his eyebrows and eyes were full of anger and murderous intent, and his emotions were displayed on his face, making people know what he was thinking at a glance.

Hearing his speech, Russell pointed to the sofa next to him and said, "Sit down and speak slowly." ”

In the face of the godfather's words, Felisto also sobered up a lot.

He immediately straightened his clothes, and as he sat down, he said apologetically, "Godfather, I'm a little out of shape. ”

"You must know that a general must not be in danger and should not be swayed by emotions at any time."

Felisto was responsible for the security of all family members in the Sicilian Corleone family, and he was personally responsible for Russell's security. To put it bluntly, he is the commander of the Corleone family in Sicily!

And Oriyatu, Nivino, Northin and others are all heads of various business sectors, which is also equivalent to the position of commander.

"Yes."

Felistto nodded, and quickly stated what he had received.

About half a month ago, Felisto received a telegram in the name of Captain Pochi of the Italian Navy in the Mediterranean.

The telegram indicated that there were two cargo ships that had been traveling between Turkey and the ports of Catania for nearly two months, and at first the navy did not notice any suspicions, because they bore the name of the Corleone family and were painted with the emblem of Corleone.

The suspicion was noted because the two ships, each time they left Turkey for the port of Catania, would only stay in the port for the night and leave before dawn the next day.

So Pochi's subordinate lieutenant took a telegram message.

When Felisto learned about it, he sent people to keep an eye on the port day and night, and it took a week to find clues. Both ships were unloaded in the dark of night, and neither of the goods had been inspected.

Because the people on the dock did not dare to inspect the Corleone family's goods, it gave them an opportunity.

After unloading the goods, they were loaded directly onto the car, and interestingly, the six cars were also under the banner of the Corleone family......

At this time, Felisto had already understood a little, he had thought that these people were just smuggling food or arms, but this glance was obviously not so simple.

In order not to startle the snakes, Felisto sent people to keep an eye on various intersections and deserted roads, and finally confirmed the route of the six cars.

After they had left Catania, the defenders or robbers of the various roads had been allowed to go after seeing the signs of the Corleones, so they went straight to the port of Mirazzo, where they were loaded onto ships and sent to the Filicudi Islands.

"There are a lot of kids on the island, they come from Italy, Greece, Turkey, France, etc.! And the goods smuggled by these people are not arms and food, but poppy! ”

"They let the children refine poppy grass on the island, control them with this thing, destroy them...... Hundreds of children! Godfather, they are simply inhuman, and I am willing to lead the team to slaughter these brutes! ”

Russell took a cigarette from the cigarette case and tossed it to Felisto.

"Smoke a cigarette slowly."

Felistto was stunned and obediently took out a cigarette and lit it.

Russell crossed his legs and asked, "What is it that determines victory or defeat when two armies fight?" ”

"Weapons and ammunition, whoever has the best firepower will win."

Russell shook his head: "No, to be precise, it should be the generals of both sides." ”

Felisto stiffened and nodded, in fact, he also understood this truth. It's just that this incident is so tragic that it overwhelms his brain.

"Godfather, I will find their head and the entire production and sales route."

Russell looked at him and smiled, "Very good." Looks like you've come to your senses. ”

"Yes, I can't watch those kids being squeezed and sucked like this."

"This shows that you are a person of conscience."

Felisto smoked a cigarette and asked, "Godfather, what should I do after finding out the details of the other party?" ”

"The other party is in our territory and uses our reputation to do this kind of thing, that is, they are throwing spears at us, and what we have to do is, of course, draw out the long knife and kill a piece of armor!"

Felisto was overjoyed and said, "Okay, I request this task. ”

"Go ahead and do something, I'll give you a chance."

"Yes!"

After Felisto left, Russell's eyes narrowed.

According to the information provided by the heavens, he only knew that Solaso was doing something that violated Corleone's bottom line in Sicily, which was a provocation to him and disrespectful.

But I didn't expect Solaso to be so inhumane, and actually controlled the children to refine 'gold' for him!

Damn it!

Even if he is chased to the ends of the earth, Solaso must die!

His accomplices deserve to die even more.

As the saying goes, there is no harm if there is no buying and selling, and once the most important bottom line of buying and selling is broken, it is to exterminate human nature.

Inside, Marlena was lying on the bed with Victoria in her arms, while her second son Caccilino and youngest daughter Lily Mansa were asleep in the arms of Cevina and Federica, respectively.

Federica was Felisto's wife, and she was an honest woman.

Most of the traditional Sicilian women are very householders, because they know very well that the men are running around to earn money to support the family, and they are unable to contribute, so they have to take care of the family so that the men can feel at ease outside the home and not be distracted by family chores.

Of course, there are also some whining and unsatisfied......

Russell flipped through the Sicilian daily newspaper, which he had created last year and was based in Palermo and was run by Harvey's cousins.

Harvey took the seat of mayor in Messina, but he was always thinking of doing something for Corleone, so he recommended his cousin to Russell.

The cousin studied in England at Cardiff University's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and although there was no School of Journalism and Communication at the time, he worked for the Royal Press after graduation before being forced to flee back to Sicily due to the war.

Russell met with him in person and taught him some ways to handle newspaper work, as well as how to operate it and how to operate it.

This was enough to show that he valued the newspaper very much, and it also flattered Harvey's cousin, who did not expect this good thing to fall on his head.

Because the war swept through Sicily in the first two years, many talented people fled to other countries, and the number of journalists was even rarer, and Russell held a union of tens of thousands of people, but there was not a single journalistic talent.

had to be recommended by his subordinates, and the cousin recommended by Harvey was also a decent journalistic talent, because he could handle the things Russell explained, which was enough.

The newspaper headline reads 'The United Arab League is formed'!

On March 22, 1945, representatives of seven Arab countries, including Egypt, the Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, met in Cairo and adopted the Treaty of the League of Arab States, with its headquarters in Cairo. The main objective is to strengthen close cooperation among member States, to preserve their independence and sovereignty and to coordinate their activities......

Seeing this, Russell was very glad to drive out the oil companies of other countries in Sicily in advance, otherwise after the establishment of the Arab League, oil prices would fall rapidly, and then there would be a rift in the cooperation with Turkey, which would damage the interests.

At present, the oil smelted in the oil town is mainly used locally, and as for the delivery of oil to Turkey, it will only go twice a month, no more than 2,000 barrels!

Currently, Russell has less than $20,000 in his cash box. Yes, since accessing the copy of The Godfather, the main currency has changed from lira to US dollars.

On weekdays, Russell didn't need any money at all, the food was carefully selected by Nivenor from various regions, and the clothes he wore were all handmade by Marlena.

Enjoy? Where to enjoy in a place like Sicily where birds don't, even the proprietress of the brothel Gina is an informant personally arranged by Russell before......

Therefore, Russell exchanged all his deposits for gold, because on April 19, 1933, the United States abolished the gold standard, when the United States had been precipitating during the Great Depression for more than three years, a move that allowed the United States and the vast majority of countries in the world to maintain an equal monetary base, and also bought the United States a chance to recover.

And now it is 45 years, and gold is about to usher in another wave of skyrocketing, this time the price increase is 35%!

Originally, he had 620 million lira in savings, which was his income for the year after his return, and it was also left over from the funds for projects such as building schools and hospitals.

Converted to US dollars, this is 35 million US dollars, and the exchange rate is as high as 18:1.

Then he exchanged all $35 million for gold, and in the case of 39 years of dollars to gold, an ounce of gold is worth $35.

That's 1 million ounces, which is equivalent to 28.345 tons.

Of these, 14 tonnes came from the Sicilian vaults, and the other half were exchanged from the Mediterranean countries, where the US dollar was better than gold......

Why? Of course, all countries owe the United States war loans.

Moreover, there is too much gold flowing into the United States, accounting for two-thirds of the world's gold reserves in 48, a full 21,682 tons!

In July 1944, 44 countries convened the International Monetary and Financial Conference between the United Nations and the Union countries in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA.

Finally, after 20 days of intense discussions, an agreement was reached and became the Bretton Woods monetary system. The core is that the US dollar can be exchanged for gold at a fixed rate, and the currencies of other countries can be exchanged for the US dollar at a floating rate.

This agreement was signed and entered into force in December 1945, thus confirming the status of the US dollar as the world's currency.

That's why gold appreciates in value......

This was followed by the landing of U.S. troops on the island of Okinawa in April, followed by a massive bombing of the Japanese mainland.

Just as he was about to win, Roosevelt died.

On April 26, Russell held a shell-breaking ceremony for Kachi and Mansa at the seaside villa, attended not only by his subordinates, but also by people from both the military and the military world.

Even Russell, who did not send out the invitation, stood outside the door and handed over the gift.

Marlena, Celena, and Federica got up early with the ladies of Nevino, Nostin and Ancos to make desserts and Sicilian snacks.

When the guests saw Marlena, they all had the honorific title of Madame Corleone.

The guests gathered in the courtyard sang and danced, and it was very lively.

Russell first met with a few people who were in trouble in his study and gave a solution.

Then he asked Felisto to close the door and had a brief meeting with his subordinates.

A few days ago, Felisto had found out who was actually operating the extraction of hemp on the island.

"Fils Solasso is a Turk who grows opium in his own country, and then shuttles the ripe poppies across the Mediterranean under the name of our maritime trading company, transports them to the port of Catania, and then transports them by car to the port of Mirazo and ships them to the desert island near the island of Filicudi."

"He uses orphaned children on the Mediterranean coast to make hemp......"

When he said this, Nivino was already blushing, and Oriyatu and the others were not very good.

"In the end, Solaso took the finished hemp, still under our banner, across the Mediterranean, until it entered the Atlantic, and then changed to their own merchant ship number, and finally sent it to the United States to sell."

Hearing the news, everyone present was a little shocked.

They didn't expect that in this period, someone would dare to do such a bottomless thing under the banner of Corleone.

Who in the whole of Sicily does not know that the production and sale of hemp, which is something that the godfather prohibited?

"Godfather, this native elder is challenging our authority!"

"If this matter is not resolved, we will be rats in the eyes of the Sicilian people!" ”

"Yes, Solas must be removed! Not only for the children, but also for the image of our Sicilian people. ”

At the beginning of World War II, the people's attitude towards the mafia was mixed, it was a love-hate feeling.

However, since Russell Corleone appeared, he not only helped poor families get through the difficulties, but also changed their lives, so the Corleone family is righteous in the eyes of the entire Sicilian, better than the main government!

If this image is torn, no matter how much you make up for it, once the crack occurs, no glue can be repaired, because the glue will always expire.

Nevino, Felisto, and the others discussed for a while, and then fell silent.

At the same time, he turned his attention to the godfather.

Russell tossed the cigarette butt into the ashtray and squinted at a few people.

"Send a telegram to Pochi and ask him to sink the two ships as soon as he sees them. Then I asked Harvey to ask his cousin to write a manuscript titled "The Italian Navy Dealt a Heavy Blow to Turkish Dealers Who Smuggled Arms". ”

The purpose of this is to define the smuggling first.

Both are smuggling, and hemp and arms are of a very different nature in the minds of the people.

It's time of war, and who wouldn't want to have a gun for themselves.

"In the manuscript, I would like to briefly explain how Turkish arms smuggling dealers have harmed our reputation by posing as the fleet of our trading companies, and we should strongly criticize the ...... of such unscrupulous businessmen."

"Understood!"

Just now, Nevino and the others were still arguing about this, but when they turned their heads, the godfather gave a solution, which made them have to admire the godfather's wise decision.

If the two ships traveling between Turkey and Catania were sunk, Solazo's attempt to frame Corleone's reputation would have been dashed.

Since there were no smuggling poppy boats under the banner of Corleone, the island's refining workshop had nothing to do with Corleone.

"Godfather, what about the next step?" Nevino asked.

Russell glanced at the people in the room and said, "Let's go to America and cut the grass and eradicate the roots!" ”