America 1919

Donnie certainly couldn't give Hoover as much as he asked for.

At the moment, he only had $1 million in liquid assets, and Donnie definitely needed to keep some on hand for emergency needs.

So, in the end, Donnie only gave Hoover $500,000, indicating that if Hoover needed more later on, he could prepare it for him.

Hoover left Atlantic City contentedly with a check for $500,000 from Mellon Bank.

"Can this man be trusted?"

After Hoover left, Bruce asked Donnie.

Taking a cigarette out of the box on the table and lighting it, Donnie confidently said, "Don't worry, Hoover isn't short-sighted. He wouldn't take the half million and run!"

Bruce said, "I don't know the man, but I trust your judgment!"

Donnie laughed heartily and said, "Trust my judgment, then you should continue on your journey!"

Bruce, leaning back on the sofa, said nonchalantly, "I assumed as much. Next, you want me to go to Canada?"

During his time back, Bruce had often joined Robert and the others for drinks and learned that Donnie was preparing to set up his own distillery in Canada!

Donnie nodded and said, "Exactly, the supplies from Europe are only temporary. Canada is the future for our bootlegging business. I can't trust anyone else with this task, only you can handle it!"

Given the relationship between Donnie and Bruce, there was no need for secrecy regarding this matter.

Bruce nodded and said, "No problem, I was planning to visit Canada anyway. But establishing our own distillery there isn't something I can do alone!"

Donnie replied, "Don't worry about that. After you leave Atlantic City, I've already written letters to some of our comrades, and they've come here. You can take a group with you when you go. Plus, I'll give you a sum of money to use as start-up capital in Canada!"

Bruce said, "If that's the case, then I have no issues. As for the relationships in Canada, I'll handle them myself!"

Donnie advised, "Try to avoid conflicts with local gangs. Our goal is to get the Canadian distillery's liquor sold directly to the United States. Only when we can fully absorb what we produce there will we move onto capturing the Canadian liquor market!"

Bruce shared his thoughts, "Even so, we'll inevitably clash with Canadian gangs since their interests also lie with the United States right now!"

Donnie smiled and said, "That's why I said to avoid conflicts as much as possible. If conflicts do arise, you must handle them firmly, accurately, and ruthlessly. Use the simplest methods to deal with the most troublesome people!"

After thinking for a moment, Bruce said, "Donnie, have you noticed something?"

Donnie asked, "What is it?"

Bruce replied, "In your plan, production and sales are already in our hands, but the transportation between them, we're actually in a passive situation."

Donnie took a deep drag on his cigarette and then said, "Of course, I know this, which is why I've been thinking about purchasing a few cargo ships for transportation. This way, we would effectively control the entire bootlegging business from production to distribution!"

"This task might be more difficult than setting up our distillery in Canada!"

Bruce said with concern.

And how could Donnie not know the difficulties!
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For starters, cargo ships aren't cheap and their prices are very volatile. For example, a 150,000-ton oil tanker now costs $2 million, but ten years later, its price might drop to just $20,000.

Even though it's second-hand, the price shouldn't drop that drastically.

It was because of the shipping industry's depression at the time, similar to the global shipping slump at the end of the 70s and early 80s.

Because of such prices, Greek shipping magnate Onassis picked up a bargain, buying six tankers, which established his position as a shipping tycoon.

Donnie definitely didn't need such large oil tankers right now: one reason was the cost which Donnie couldn't afford, and another was that Donnie's business didn't require such large tankers right now.

So Donnie's goal was smaller tankers.

Secondly, forming such a fleet required consideration of another issue: maritime safety.

It's not like later times; transportation between Canada and the United States was one thing, but for transport from Europe, if on their own, there was a definite possibility of encountering pirates.

Hence, this required a dedicated security team.

Thinking of this, Donnie felt quite troubled. Small cruise ships couldn't guarantee a sufficient security team, and the costs of a large fleet were daunting.

"I need to think more about this, but at least for now, there are professional transport teams to handle this, so we don't need to worry!"

Currently, there are two ways Donnie brings bootleg liquor from Europe to the United States.

The first, which is the main method, is for the liquor suppliers to provide transportation for Donnie, meaning not only does he have to pay for the liquor but also for the transportation costs!

The second way is to use some of the maritime vessels traveling between Europe and the United States to transport the liquor, which although cheaper, is not as secure.