Chapter 4 Section 1 (4)

"Godfather," he said, "stay by my side and accompany me to meet death. Maybe he will scare away when he sees you in my presence, and he won't bother me anymore, so I can be quiet. That's it. Or, you can say the last sentence, manipulation behind the scenes, huh?" The dying man blinked his eyes, as if he was fighting the old man's army, but his attitude was not serious: "You and Death are brothers anyway." Then, as if afraid of the old man's anger, he took the old man's hand and said: "Stay with me, and let me just hold your hand like this, and just as we outwit each other, we'll outwit death the bastard. Godfather, don't let me To Death."

The old man made a gesture to let others leave the ward.They are out.He took Genco Abbandando's withered hand like a chicken's paw with his broad hands.The old man comforted his friend again and again, with a calm tone, repeatedly dispelling his worries.They waited for death together, as if the old man could really win back Genco Abbandando's life from the worst criminal of mankind. The wedding day ended well for Connie Corleone.Carlo Rizzi, the groom, also performed with skill and vigor; he was greatly encouraged by the $20,000 in the bride's purse.However, although the bride is willing to give up her virginity, she is not willing to give up her purse.For the purse, he had to beat one of her eyes blue.

Lucy Mancini was at home waiting for Sonny Corleone to call, fully expecting that he would ask her to go out for the day.In the end, she called his home by herself.When she heard a woman's voice answering the phone, she hung up.She hadn't imagined that a few people had noticed that she and Sonny had left the meeting for that damned half hour; and now gossip was spreading everywhere that Sandino Corleone had found another man to toy with. , and said that he and his sister's maid of honor had "fucked". Amerigo Bonasera had a terrible dream.In his dream he saw Don Corleone, in his cap, baggy smock, and thick gloves, throwing a bullet-pierced body from his car in front of his funeral home, At the same time shouted loudly:

"Attention, Amerigo, don't reveal it to anyone, and bury this man quickly." He hummed so loudly for so long that his wife woke up too.She shakes him awake. "Oh, man, you are," she grumbled, "with nightmares from the wedding." Kay Adams was escorted by Paulie Gatto and Clemenza to her hotel in downtown New York.The car was large and luxurious, with Gatto driving and Clemenza sitting in the back; the front seat next to the driver was given over to Kay.She found that these two people were a little careless and foreign.Their conversation was the same Brooklyn tone you hear in the movies; they were overly polite to her.In the car, she chatted casually with the two men.What surprised her was the definite love and admiration they always spoke of Michael.Michael was always obliquely convincing her that he was a strange outsider in his father's world.And now, what Clemenza said convinced her that the "old man" thought Michael was the best of his three sons, the one who would definitely inherit the family business.

"What is the specific content of the family business?" Kai asked in the most natural tone. Paulie.Gato shot her a quick glance as he turned the steering wheel.Clemenza behind her said in a surprised tone: "Michael didn't tell you? Mr. Corleone is the largest importer of Italian olive oil in the United States. Now that the war is over, this family business can make a fortune again. He needs a smart boy like Michael. .” At the hotel, Clemenza insisted on accompanying her to the reception desk.When she objected, he simply said: "The boss ordered you to be delivered safely. This is my task."

After she got the room key, he accompanied her to the elevator door and waited until she entered the elevator.She smiled and waved to him; he smiled back, with such sincerity and complacency that it surprised her.She got on the elevator so she didn't see him and went back to the hotel check-in desk and asked: "What name did she register?" The hotel registrar gave Clemenza a cold look.Clemenza put the wad of paper he was crumpling in his hand on the counter and rolled it towards the registrar; who, taking it up, said at once: "Michael Corleone and his wife." Paulie Gatto got back in the car and said:

"The girl is nice." Clemenza snorted. "Michael's already fucked her." He thought that such a thing should wait until after marriage. "Pick me up early tomorrow morning," he said to Paulie Gatto. "Hagen has some errands for us that must be done at once." It was Sunday night before Tom Hagen kissed his wife good-bye and drove straight to the airport.Armed with a Special No. 1 priority card (a gratifying gift from a Pentagon General Staff officer), he boarded a plane to Los Angeles without incident. It was a busy day for Tom Hagen, but a busy one.Genco Abbandando was dead at three o'clock in the morning; when Don Corleone returned from the hospital he had informed Hagen that he was now the official staff officer.This meant that Hagen would be a very rich man and, of course, powerful.

This appointment broke the tradition that the staff had always been pure-blooded Sicilians.Nor does the fact that Hagen is a member of the Corleone family change conventional wisdom on the matter.Because it's a question of lineage.Only those who are accustomed to the style of silence after being exposed to it from birth, that is, the principle of keeping one's mouth shut, are qualified to take on the key position of "advisor". Between Don Corleone, who decides policy, and the staff who actually carry out the orders, there are three layers of personnel, or three buffer layers.With such a system, it is impossible for any problem to be traced back to the top.Unless the staff mutiny.That morning Don Corleone had given specific instructions on what to do with the two young men who had wounded Amerigo Bonasera's daughter.But he gave the order privately to Tom Hagen.That day, too, in private, without anyone else present, Hagen passed the order on to Clemenza.Clemenza then told Paulie Gatto to go on a mission.Paulie Gatto immediately gathered people to carry out the task.Paulie Gatto and his men would never know why such a special mission was undertaken, or who gave the order.To involve the Don would require every link in the chain to betray the Don; which never happened, but was always possible.Ways to guard against this possibility are also well known.It is to remove a link in the chain.

As the name suggests, the task of "consultant" is the old man's adviser, his right hand, his assistant brain, and also his closest partner and closest friend.He drove for the old man when he had an important business trip; during the meeting, he came out to get some snacks, coffee, sandwiches, and fresh cigars for the old man.He would know or almost know everything the Don knew, that is, see into every cell of the power structure.He is the only person in the world who can put the old man to death.But never heard of a staff officer betraying an old man.Nothing like this had ever occurred in any of the powerful Sicilian families established in America.Because betrayal has no future.Everyone in the staff knew that if he was loyal, he would be rich, powerful, and respected.In case of misfortune, his wife and son will be protected and cared for, just as they were when he was alive.If he stays loyal.

On certain issues, the staff officer was able to act on behalf of his old man in a more open manner, but he could not implicate his master.It was just such a problem that Hagen flew to California to solve.He understood that his career as a staff officer would be seriously affected by the success or failure of this mission.By family business standards whether Johnny Fontane got his coveted part in the war movie, or did not, was a minor matter.Even more important is the meeting with Virgil Sollozzo next Friday.But Hagen knew that to the Don personally, both were of equal importance, which settled the matter for any good staff officer.

The piston plane vibrated violently, shaking Tom Hagen's already strained nervous system.He asked the waitress for a martini to calm himself down.The Don and Johnny had already outlined to him the character of Jack Woltz, the studio boss.But, he confirmed, the Don would keep his promise to Johnny.His job is to negotiate and engage. Hagen leaned back in his chair, recalling all the information he had been given.Jack Woltz is one of the owners of the three major film studios in Hollywood, and his own studio holds dozens of stars by contract.He is a member of the film division of the US President's War Information Advisory Committee, which means that he helped make propaganda films.He attended the banquet at the White House.He entertained J. Edgar Hoover in his home.But none of these are worth paying attention to, they are just official links.Wultz did not have any personal political power, mainly because he was an extreme reactionary, but also because he was a power-obsessed madman who liked to abuse his power, regardless of the consequences of such recklessness. Get out of the ground. Hagen sighed, there was really no way to "get hold" of Jack Woltz.He opened his briefcase and tried to do some copying, but he was too tired.He ordered another martini and went on to reflect on his life. He had nothing to regret, and really, he felt extremely lucky.Whatever the reason, the path he chose ten years ago has proven right for him.He is accomplished and he feels life has meaning. Tom Hagen was thirty-five years old, tall, slender, with cropped hair and ordinary features.He was a lawyer: although he also practiced law for three years after passing the bar exam, he did not do actual concrete legal work for the Corleone family. As a child, he had been Sonny Corleone's playmate.Hagen's mother, already blind, died when he was eleven.Hagen's father was a heavy-drinking, hopeless alcoholic.He was originally a diligent carpenter, and he never did a single sinful thing in his life, but drinking ruined his family, and finally killed himself. Tom Hagen became an orphan, wandering on the streets, and sleeping at night on the porch.His sister had been adopted into an orphanage, but in the 1920s the social welfare establishment did not consider boys over the age of twelve.For boys above the age of twelve are always so ungrateful that they often run away and refuse handouts.Hagen had an eye disease then.Neighbors to the east and Xishe whispered quietly, saying that his eye disease was infected or inherited from his mother.In this way, others may also be infected by him, and everyone avoids him.Sonny Corleone brought his friend home and asked to keep him.Tom Hagen was served a hot plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce, a meal he never forgot.After eating, they brought him a folding steel frame bed for him to sleep on. Don Corleone, in the most natural way, without saying a word or discussing it in any way, acquiesced to the boy's stay in his home.Don Corleone also took the boy to an ophthalmologist and he was cured.He sent him to college, to law school.Throughout the process, the old man did not appear as a father, but as a guardian.The old man treated Hagen with no apparent affection; it was strange to say that he was much more polite to Hagen than to his own son, and never imposed the will of his father on him.After graduating from college, he went to law school for further study.This is also the child's own decision.The boy heard the old man once say: "A lawyer with a briefcase can swindle more than a hundred robbers with guns." However, when it was very nerve-wracking for the father, Sonny and Freddie insisted on devoting themselves to the family business after they graduated from high school.Only Michael went to college and then enlisted in the Marine Corps the day after Pearl Harbor. After Hagen passed the bar exam, he got married and started a new family.The bride was a young Italian girl from New Jersey, a college graduate, and a college graduate was a rarity in those days.The wedding, of course, took place at Don Corleone's.Afterwards, the old man took the initiative to support Hagen in the career he wanted to engage in, recruited some people who wanted to go to court to find him, and was responsible for arranging his law firm, helping him acquire real estate and establish a family business. Tom Hagen bowed his head and said to the old man: "I'm happy to be at your service." The old man was pleasantly surprised. "You know who I am?" he asked. Hagen nodded.He hadn't really understood the power of the old man--not then.And he didn't really understand it in the following ten years, until he became an acting staff officer after Genco Abbandando fell ill.But he nodded, his eyes fixed on the old man's. "I'll serve you like your son," said Hagen. The implication is to be completely loyal, to fully accept the old man's authority as a parent.The old man understood it in the same way.For the first time since the young man came into his home, he showed him fatherly love with this understanding.He took Hagen into his arms and gave him a quick hug.After that he regarded him as his own son, but he still sometimes said: "Tom, don't forget your biological parents." It seemed that he was also reminding himself. Hagen never forgot.His mother is simply a "children's dementia patient" and a sloppy woman, tortured by anemia and numb, and she doesn't even have motherly love for her own children.Hagen hated his father.His mother's blindness horrified him: the eye disease which he contracted later was fatal to him, and he thought he would become blind.When his father died, when he was eleven years old, a strange idea came into Tom Hagen's head.He wandered the streets like an animal waiting to die until the fateful day Sonny found him sleeping on someone's front porch and brought him home.The changes that followed were nothing short of miraculous.However, for several years, he has been having nightmares, dreaming that he became a blind old man, begging all over the street, and while walking, he tapped the ground with a white stick to find his way.A few of his blind children followed behind and beat with small white sticks as they walked.Some mornings, when he awoke, with Don Corleone's face etched into his mind for a split second, he felt safe again. But the old man insisted that he spend another three years in general legal practice in addition to fulfilling his obligations to the family.This practice turned out to be invaluable, and it dispelled any doubts in Hagen's mind about serving Don Corleone.He worked out for two years in various offices of a criminal law firm with ties to the Don.It was acknowledged that he had special qualities in legal matters.He had done a good job; in the six years since he had started serving the family, Don Corleone had not once accused him of anything wrong.When he was appointed acting adviser, the other powerful Sicilian families contemptuously called the Corleones the "Irish Gang."This made Hagen dumbfounded, and at the same time indirectly reminded him that he would never succeed the old man and become the head of the family business.However, he himself is quite content.That, has never been the goal of his struggle, because this kind of ambition would be a kind of "disrespect" to his benefactor, and to his benefactor's pure-blood family. When the plane landed in Los Angeles, the sky was still dark.Hagen checked in at the hotel, showered, shaved, and watched dawn break across the city.He had breakfast and newspapers brought to his room, then lay down and waited until ten o'clock, which was his appointment with Jack Woltz.It's kind of surprising how easy it is to settle on a date with someone like that. The day before, Hagen had called one of the most powerful figures in the various film unions, a man named Bill Goff.Following Don Corleone's instructions, Hagen told Goff to arrange a visit to Jack Woltz the next day, which was tantamount to suggesting to Woltz that if Hagen was not satisfied with the outcome of the meeting, it might A strike breaks out at a movie studio.An hour later, Hagen received a call from Goff, saying that an appointment was scheduled for ten o'clock in the morning.Wultz is aware of the possibility of a strike, but he doesn't seem to take it seriously.Goff told Hagen the truth and added: "If things really got to that point, I'd have to talk to the old man myself." "He'll come to you when he gets to that point," said Hagen. He said this to avoid talking dead on specific issues.Hagen wasn't surprised that Goff was obedient to the old man.In terms of organizational structure, this family empire has not gone beyond the scope of the New York area at present, but the old man Corleone has adopted the method of helping the leaders of various trade unions, and his personal influence has long been expanded into it.Many union leaders still owe him debts. But an appointment at ten o'clock in the morning was a sign of insubstantiality.That meant he would be the first person on the date list; the first one would not be invited to lunch.It also meant that Woltz underestimated him.Obviously, Guo Fu did not show enough deterrent force when negotiating, maybe Wultz has put him on the bribery list.The old man never liked to show his face, which was sometimes not good for the family business, because his name was of little importance to outsiders. It turned out that his analysis was correct, and Woltz was long overdue.After the appointed time came, Hagen was made to wait for another half an hour, but Hagen didn't care much.The reception room is very luxurious and luxurious, comfortable and comfortable.On the couch opposite him sat a very pretty little girl.Hagen had never seen such a beautiful little girl.She was only eleven or twelve years old, and she was dressed like an adult. The materials were expensive, but she looked very plain.Her hair was blond, so beautiful that you would hardly believe that there was such beauty in the world; her eyes were sea-blue, large, and mysterious; her mouth was the color of raspberry, fresh, and crimson.She was guarded by a woman, apparently her mother.The woman stared at Hagen, trying to overwhelm him with her arrogance.This made Hagen so angry that he wanted to punch her a few times.He treated the woman equally coldly, thinking to himself: The little girl is an angel, and the mother is a devil. Finally, a well-dressed, well-built, middle-aged woman finally arrived and led him through a series of offices and into the office of the studio boss.What impressed Hagen was that these offices were beautifully furnished and staffed beautifully.He couldn't help laughing.They're smart guys, and they're all temporarily wronged by their desperate attempts to get in the door of film actors: most of them will probably either work in these offices for the rest of their lives, or admit defeat and pack up their bags and go home. Jack Woltz was tall and enormously built, with a pot belly that was hidden from view by the artful tailoring of his clothes.Hagen knew his experience.When Woltz was ten years old, he carried empty beer kegs and pushed carts on the West Side.At the age of twenty, he helped his father force garment workers to work.At the age of thirty, he left New York and moved west. He invested his money in theaters where tickets only sold for nickels, and later founded a film studio.By the age of forty, he has become the most powerful tycoon in the film industry, but he is still rude and lustful, like a greedy jackal, who only wants to stalk young stars like sheep.At fifty, he has changed.He had social language lessons, learned how to dress from an English footman, and learned how to be genteel from an English housekeeper.After the death of his first wife, he married a world-famous beauty.She's an actress who doesn't like acting.Now in his sixties, he collects old paintings and is a member of the Presidential Advisory Council.The funds accumulated in his name to promote the development of the film industry have reached hundreds of millions of dollars.His daughter married an English lord; his son married an Italian princess. His latest hobby, as every movie columnist reports, is building his own stables for racehorses, for which he's spent $10 million in the last year.Because he bought a famous British racehorse named "Katumu" for 600,000 U.S. dollars, he announced that this ever-victorious racehorse would retire as a stallion, not loan it out, and use it exclusively for the Woltz Stables. Breeding elite stallions, he made headlines in every newspaper. He received Hagen politely, his tanned, well-shaven face flinching into a grimace and a forced smile.In spite of all the money he spent trying to look younger, and despite the best grooming by the most skilled beauticians, his age was palpable.But there was great vigor in his every move; and there was about him the air of Don Corleone, that is to say, the feeling of absolute authority in his own world. Hagen got to the point at the outset of the negotiations.He said he was an emissary from a friend of Johnny Fontane's.He added that this friend was very capable; and that if Mr. Woltz would promise a trifle, the friend would swear to Mr. Woltz an oath of gratitude and eternal friendship.That little thing puts Johnny Fontane in the cast of the new war movie, which starts shooting next week. The face was expressionless. "What can that friend of yours do for me?" Woltz asked.There was a domineering arrogance in his tone. Hagen deliberately played dumb against his domineering arrogance.He just explained: "You have the trouble and threats that workers are showing up. My friend can absolutely guarantee that that trouble will be eliminated. You have a top male star who makes a lot of money for your studio, he used to smoke marijuana, Recently switched to heroin. My friend can guarantee that the male star will never get any more heroin. If any other small thing happens in the next few years, just give me a call and I can solve your problem." Jack Woltz listened to this as if he were listening to a child bragging.Then he said gruffly and deliberately in an East Coast accent: "You want to frighten me?" Hagen said calmly, "Absolutely not. I'm doing something for a friend. I've explained it clearly to you, and you won't lose money if you do it this way." Woltz looked as if he was about to lose his temper a long time ago, and suddenly his face was full of anger, his thick black-dyed eyebrows were tightly locked, his eyes stared, and a thick wrinkle appeared above them.He threw himself on the table and said to Hagen: "Well, you oily son of a bitch, let me tell you and your master - whoever he is - that there's no way Johnny Fountain is in that picture. I don't give a shit How many sneaky little maggots will suddenly come out of wood such as windows, floors, tables, chairs and benches." After that, he leaned back: "Man, I have a piece of advice for you: I think you have heard of John Edgar Hoover a long time ago?" Woltz grinned mockingly—"He's got a great personal relationship with me. If I let him know that I'm being pressured by other people, you boys will have a hard time and don't know what's going on!" Hagen listened patiently.He had expected that a man in Woltz's position would be more sensible.Is it possible that a person who acts so stupidly can climb to the top of a company with hundreds of millions of funds?It was worth considering that the old man was looking for new investments: if the top people in the sector were such dunces, the film industry would be the ideal sector to invest in.Hagen didn't take the insult just now to heart.He had learned the art of negotiation directly from the Don. "Don't get angry." This is the old man's teaching. "Never make a threat, just reason with someone." The word "reason" sounds much more reasonable in Italian, a bit like the sound of the word "knead".The art of reasoning consists in putting aside all insults, all threats.He hit you on the left cheek, so turn the right cheek and let him hit you again.Hagen had seen the old man sit at the negotiating table for eight hours straight, enduring repeated insults, trying to persuade a notorious, self-important, domineering lunatic to change his ways.After eight hours of efforts to no avail, Don Corleone raised his hands resignedly and said to the rest of the negotiating table, "No one can talk to this man." Then he walked out of the meeting room with his head held high.The madman who was always flying and domineering suddenly turned pale with fright, and sent secret envoys to invite the old man back to the meeting room.A deal was made, but two or three months later the madman was shot dead in the barber shop where he used to get his hair cut. Now, Hagen spoke again, in the most general tone. "Look at my card," he said. "I'm a lawyer. How could I ask for trouble despite my status as a lawyer? Did I say a single threatening word? All I wanted to say was: To make Johnny For Fontane to be in that film, I am ready to accept any condition you may ask. I think I have offered a price of great value for such a small thing. I also understand that it is a personal Small things that are also beneficial. Johnny told me that you yourself admit that he is very suitable for the role. Besides, if this is not the case, this request will never be made. Also, if you are worried that your investment will not make much money Li, then my client would also like to finance the film. But let me make my point clear so that there are no misunderstandings. We know you say what you say, and no one can force you, and no one wants to force you. We are also aware of your friendship with Mr. Hoover, and I may add that my superior respects you for it, and he respects that friendship very much." Woltz had been scribbling absently with a large red quill pen.As soon as money was mentioned, his interest came, and he stopped writing and drawing.He said in a tone of contempt and pretended concern: "The budget for this film is five million." Hagen hissed softly to show that he had been impressed.Then he said very casually: "My boss has many friends. Whatever he decides to do, his friends will support him." It was only then that Woltz began to take the whole matter seriously.He looked carefully at Hagen's card. "I've never heard of you," he said. "I know most of the barristers in New York, but what kind of lawyer are you?" "I'm involved in the business of those noble associations," said Hagen dryly. "I only deal with cases commissioned by my association." After that, he stood up. "I don't want to waste your time any longer." He held out his hand, and Woltz grabbed his hand and shook it.Hagen took a few steps toward the door, then turned back to face Woltz. "I know you have to deal with many people who pretend to be great. In my case, on the contrary, I have deliberately pretended to be insignificant. Why don't you use our mutual friendship to make a correct estimate of me? If you are going to re- If you think about it, please call the hotel where I am staying." He paused for a moment, then said: "To add something that may sound outrageous to you: My client can do things for you that even Mr. Hoover cannot do." He caught the film studio owner's eyes squinting.Woltz had already sensed that there was something in this remark, and Hagen tried his best to put on a flattering tone and said: "I hope your business continues to thrive. Our country needs what you're doing."