Brooklyn couldn't accept that his well-prepared meeting ended in such a hurry.

It's not just that the business didn't work out, but also Patrick Nestor's attitude towards him.

It took a lot of effort for Brooklyn to calm himself down and not get carried away by the rage.

He tried to summarize and analyze the results of this unsuccessful meeting.

First of all, the most important takeaway was to determine Patrick Nestor's situation.

Patrick Nestor is definitely not a puppet or a backstabber, but cooperates with the military as a collaborator on an equal footing.

Maybe the military does have some pot to Patrick Nestor to carry, but it's not a top-to-bottom command, it's an equal deal. It was to pay perhaps Nopatrick Nestor what he needed in exchange for Patrick Nestor voluntarily taking the blame.

If the man who carries the pot can give full play to his subjective initiative, then carrying the pot is much more vivid than the puppet who collects and manipulates and passively waits for instructions.

Secondly, Patrick Nestor's confidence in victory comes from the military.

The military's participation is the biggest difference between his candidacy and the previous two elections.

Finally, Patrick Nestor's attitude towards him.

This contemptuous attitude is infuriating, but when you think about it, it is undoubtedly terrifying.

Patrick Nestor doesn't care about Brooklyn's influence at all.

This shows that he has decided that Brooklyn has no effect on him!

From this, Brooklyn speculated that Patrick Nestor probably knew what the military was trying to coerce him into doing, and in Patrick Nestor's eyes, he was already a pawn in the hands of the military.

This "manipulating you has nothing to do with you" attitude is an unprecedented humiliation for Brooklyn.

He hadn't felt this way in a long time.

Brooklyn exhaled a heavy breath, but it seemed to be Patrick Nestor's smile in front of him. That kind of indifference and contempt, disdain and contempt, circulated in his mind all the time.

He felt as if his mind was about to be filled with Patrick Nestor.

Ding Ding –

The sound of the vibrations coming from the bag saved Brooklyn and freed him from the cycle of rage.

It was a text message from Anne reminding him to stay safe.

Brooklyn was attacked by gunmen, and Anne knew the ins and outs of a magazine on the street. New York is under the control of Brooklyn, so there is no need to worry about safety, but out of New York, especially when going to Washington, which is like a powder keg, no one can be sure that the [Patriot] will not continue to attack Brooklyn.

This reassuring text message made Brooklyn feel slightly strange. He subconsciously turned the metal ring on his fingers, rubbing the subtle and intricate patterns on it, and couldn't help but think that at this moment, in Brooklyn, New York, there was a lady named Annie who was worried about him.

In the future, there may be a soft and glutinous little guy who, like Anne, worries about himself.

Brooklyn felt the strange feeling, and the anger slowly subsided.

He sent a text message back to Anne and called Michael and López, respectively.

The call to Michael was mainly to inform him about his meeting with Patrick Nestor, and his decision -

Brooklyn will not, and can't be, restrained because the opponent is too strong, obediently waiting to be manipulated, and even take the initiative to bend his knees and be willing to be a lackey.

It would be better to kill him and let him die in the car that night.

Brooklyn demanded that Michael completely stop working with López, suspend all work at hand, gather all information about Patrick Nestor and the military, and investigate William Barr's information.

He reminded Michael that he could gather information about the military and Patrick Nestor by keeping an eye on Mark Milley Aldington's movements.

Now that Mark Millay already knows what secrets the military is hiding and has made a choice, there is no need for Brooklyn to be polite to him.

Liaison with López is not just a simple general

It's as simple as concluding the conversation.

Brooklyn recounted the whole meeting with Patrick Nestor in great detail, and the old cowboy almost screamed in anger.

Who is López Mitchelson?

It's a Texan!

It's an old cowboy who dared to pull out a gun to prepare for a duel when he was young, and he still carries a gun with him when he is old!

Putting on a robe and putting on the cloak of civilization could not hide the strong barbaric aura emanating from his body.

In the old cowboy's dictionary, this level of humiliation is enough to die in.

But the old cowboy was not exactly an emotional man, and his head, which had been feverish since his youth, had gradually cooled down.

López was angry, angry for Brooklyn, but nothing more.

What he cries out is "It's too much," "It's just too much," "It's blatant contempt," "It's humiliation."

While he is dominated by his feelings, he is also very rational and releases his feelings in a controlled manner, refusing to cross the line.

It was Brooklyn who was humiliated, not him Lopez Mitchelson!

He expressed his personal attitude and that's it.

Brooklyn can feel the difference very clearly.

His heart sank slightly.

What this means is self-evident.

Public affairs are public affairs, private affairs are private affairs, and public and private affairs should be clearly distinguished.

Obviously, in the eyes of Lopez Mitchelson, dealing with Patrick Nestor is a private matter.

Coming to Washington on a business trip to engage in "diplomacy" on behalf of Harvard, staying for many months is a business matter, and López agreed happily and did it very seriously.

Supporting Brooklyn as Harvard Speaker and helping him connect members of Congress to prepare for meetings at the Manhattan Hotel is probably half-public and half-private in López's eyes. It would put an end to the chaos at Harvard and give a boost to the young man who had been left behind by Lylie Crewe.

After such a long time together, in the private realm, López does not mind providing a part of the pro bono help to Brooklyn. That is to say, even if one thing is not beneficial to López, but with his friendship with Brooklyn, he is willing to provide a certain level of help.

But what Brooklyn is facing now is clearly beyond this gratuitous scale.

Beyond the part of friendship, López is business-like, and it is reasonable to calculate the price.

Brooklyn didn't find Lopez unapproachable, he just estimated the price in his heart.

Get help with what chips you have, who to open them to, and get help.

He has a lot of resources in his hands, but it also depends on who he compares with.

Compared to Lopez, he is certainly rich, but compared to Patrick Nestor, compared to the Democratic Party, and compared to the military, he is not rich.

He must rationalize every resource at his disposal.

"López, the last time the press law proposal failed, everyone was disappointed. I've been learning from the experience since then, and I think it's a good opportunity to re-propose it."

At this point, Brooklyn paused deliberately.

The press law proposal should be reintroduced, and this is the consensus of several people who saw through the last bureau.

Last time it was an "accident", but this time it was definitely rushed.

But—

"This proposal requires you to stay in Washington." Brooklyn continued, "I'll leave the engagement with Congress to you, don't mess it up."

He gave López the most important part of the press law proposal, which had not yet been seen.

But Lopez himself was in charge of outreach, which should have been his.

In other words, Brooklyn traded with Lopez for something that should have belonged to Lopez.

"I'm going to focus on other things lately, and you're responsible for the situation of the press law proposal in Washington. I can give you higher authority, but you have to take responsibility accordingly."

Higher permissions

, greater power, more convenience, corresponding to greater responsibility, more complex obligations.

Speaking of which, López happily agreed.

To be fair, Brooklyn took advantage.

He just handed over to him what would be handed over to López in the future now, in exchange for López's help.

But then again, at least so far, whether to hand it over to Lopez or not, or Brooklyn can make the decision, and he can completely choose someone else instead of Lopez.

The old cowboy's behavior that seems to be a bit "robbing while the fire is hot" is normal in Brooklyn's eyes, and perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, Lopez's behavior will be cold and emotionless, and there will be a feeling of betrayal, and even annoyed by the old cowboy's refusal to help him-

What "ordinary people" are angry about is not that their friends refuse to help, but that their friends refuse to help without compensation.

Probably the only thing that politicians are more noble than "ordinary people" is that they don't feel that anything is free.

Politicians understand that there is no such thing as a free thing in this world, and that what you want must be exchanged for something, and the difference in price depends on the ability of both parties to the transaction.

Brooklyn felt that the old cowboy's behavior was simply normal. The deal between the two will not affect their friendship in the slightest.

Changing places, and putting Brooklyn in the shoes of an old cowboy, he might have made the same choice.

- Maybe he used to offer pro bono help, but I don't know when he didn't.

The deal with Lopez was made, and Brooklyn hung up in a hurry.

This call means a lot to him.

The most important thing is of course the deal with Lopez, but Lopez actually suffered a loss in this deal, he generously "wiped zero" Brooklyn, and did not care about Brooklyn's half-threatening and half-luring attitude.

– This in itself is a means of negotiation.

The whole phone call was a microcosm of the Federalists' views on their personal feelings and interests.

The Federalists are very clear about the distinction between public and private, and will not mix the two together, and there is no distinction between public and private. This may seem a bit too utilitarian, but it also effectively protects the "honest man".

[In view of the general environment,

After all, some people like to make no distinction between public and private, and use private feelings, friendships, friendships, fellow things, and classmates that may not exist at all...... Kidnap honest people and take advantage of honest people.

…………

The third call from Brooklyn was to Bob.

According to the original plan, Bob didn't need to be involved in the whole process, he only needed to help Brooklyn take care of the rest, so that Brooklyn could free up his hands and concentrate on the military's coercion.

A meeting with Patrick Nestor allowed Brooklyn to revise the original plan.

Bob is still in charge of the rest, but at the same time he has to keep a close eye on the situation.

Brooklyn asked Bob to provide assistance to everyone who asked him for help or asked him for help, meeting the requirements of every participant.

Michael's previous instigation made Brooklyn vigilant, and the severity of the situation made Brooklyn tense all over.

He needs to mobilize all his energy to deal with the military's coercion, and he has no time to screen the reliability and loyalty of the people around him, whether he will hesitate under heavy pressure, whether he will retreat, or even defect to the enemy, etc. Therefore, he gave Bob the power to spy on everyone.

Anne might have turned against him and thrown his vital information at the military, but Bob wouldn't.

There are probably three people in this world who would not betray Brooklyn at all - Ray, David, and Bob.

Winston's friendship with Brooklyn can be called fatal, and the two are completely relieved to entrust the future, but even so, Winston may still betray Brooklyn for something.

Personal friendship is actually a precious thing, he is not as attractive as interests, not as beautiful as ideals.

Bob understood Brooklyn's overtones and replied solemnly

should come down.

Although he didn't know exactly what happened during his trip to Washington, Brooklyn, he could hear that the situation Brooklyn was facing now was unprecedentedly grim.

Ending the call with Bob, Brooklyn put away his phone and looked at Harrison in the driver's seat, lost in thought.

In the "grass stage team" built in Brooklyn, Harrison is also a special existence.

He is not as trusted as his "predecessor" Ray Brooklyn, but he is responsible for a part as important as Ray.

Harrison knows all the secrets of Brooklyn, but Brooklyn can't ensure that Harrison won't escape at a critical moment, or even fight back and fall into the ground.

It's not a question of trust or distrust.

Trust is slowly cultivated in a long period of contact, and trust needs to go through various tests, and it may not be cultivated.

Trust is not something that comes out of empty words.

At this time, talking about "I believe in his character" is purely irrational behavior, harming others and oneself.

Harrison seemed to feel Brooklyn's gaze, and the whole person subconsciously tensed.

The familiar, briefly present hostility in the living room of Patrick Nestor's mansion reappeared.

Harrison resisted the urge to glance in the rearview mirror and drove intently.

"Harrison."

「boss。」

Harrison slapped the steering wheel, overtook the car in front of him, and replied in a deep voice.

"How's your team doing?" Brooklyn asked.

Harrison pursed his lips.

He actually sensed that something wasn't quite right, but he wasn't quite aware of what was going on due to himself.

He just felt that Brooklyn's question was strange and a little bit out of place.