Chapter 20 Section Fourteen (2)

"Is the landlord Mr. Roberto?" Vito asked. "Of course he will. He's a very kind man. I'll explain your situation to him and he will sympathize with you. You don't have to worry about this now." It's a headache, so don't be so restless. For the sake of your own children, you should take care of your body." The landlord, Mr. Roberto, checks the row of five apartment houses that belong to him every day.He was originally a human trafficker, specializing in selling the newly transported Italian workers to large companies.He bought the apartments with the money he earned.He was an educated northern Italian who had always looked down on these uneducated southerners from Sicily and Naples.These people swarmed his buildings like locusts, littered the air ducts, let cockroaches and rats eat the walls of his buildings bite by bite, but they would never do anything to protect his property .He is not a bad person, he is a good husband and father, but he is always worried about his investment and the money he earns.And worry about the inevitable expenses that come with becoming a man of property.This worry wears out his nerves so much that he is often irritable.When Vito.When Corleone met Mr. Roberto in the street and asked him to stop and say a word, he was a little irritable, but not rude.Because any one of these southerners, if they get offended, can stab you, although this young man looks like a quiet man.

"Mr. Roberto," said Vito Corleone, "my wife's friend, a widow without a man, told me that for some reason she had been notified to move out of your house. She is desperate, has no money, and has no friends other than a few friends who live close by. I told her I want to talk to you. I also said that you are a reasonable person and asked her to move It was caused by some misunderstanding. Now that she has got rid of the dog that caused trouble, how can she not let her stay? As an Italian, I plead with you, an Italian." Mr. Roberto took a good look at the young man before him.The man was of medium height, solidly built, more like a peasant than a bandit, but he himself claimed to be Italian in a very comical way.Roberto shrugged.

"I've rented out that apartment to another house for a higher rent," he said. "I can't let that family down for your friend." Vito Corleone nodded in understanding and agreement. "How much more can he pay each month?" he asked. "Five dollars," said Roberto. This is a lie.Railroadmen's apartment, four dimly lit rooms, rented to the widow for twelve dollars a month!He couldn't get a higher rent than that from the new tenants. Vito Corleone took a wad of bills from his pocket and pulled out three ten-dollar bills. "Here will pay you the total increase of six months' rent first. You don't have to tell her about it. She is a very self-respecting woman. After six months, you can ask me for money again. Of course, you can Gotta let her keep her dog."

"Damn it," said Mr. Roberto, "what are you to give me orders! Mind your own manners, or you'll be stripped of your Sicilian ass and found out in the street." public display.,, Vito Corleone threw up his hands in surprise. "I'm only asking you for one thing, and nothing else is involved. A man can't know when he needs a friend in advance, right? Take it, take this money, it's my goodwill , As for the matter, it is up to you to decide. I will not rashly raise objections to your decision." As he spoke, he stuffed the money into Mr. Roberto's hand. "I'm just asking you for this little thing, take the money, and reconsider the matter. If you want to give me back the money tomorrow morning, please go ahead. If you're going to kick that woman out, how can I stop it What about you? It's your property after all. If you don't want that dog to stay there, I can understand, and I don't like dogs and cats myself." He patted Mr. Roberto on the shoulder. "Just do this good thing. Well, I will never forget you. Ask your friends among the residents in this area to find out what I am, and they will tell you that I always repay my kindness."

Mr. Roberto, of course, has already begun to wake up.That evening he inquired about Vito Corleone's family.He found that, before the next morning, he knocked on the door of Corleone's house that night, saying he was sorry for calling so late or something.Mrs Corleone brought a glass of wine and he drank it too.He told Vito Corleone that the question was all a misunderstanding, and that Mrs. Columbus could of course stay and keep her dog.Why should hapless tenants pay such low rents to blame a poor dog?At the end, he threw on the table the thirty dollars that Vito Corleone had handed him, and said with all sincerity: "Your kindness in helping this poor widow makes me ashamed in comparison. .I now wish to show that I too have Christian fraternity. Her future rent will be the same as before."

Everyone who took part in this comedy acted beautifully.Vito poured wine again, called for pastries, held Mr. Roberto's hand tightly, and praised him for his kindness.Mr. Roberto sighed and said that associating with a man like Vito Corleone had restored his faith in humanity.In the end, the two of them were reluctant to part.Mr. Roberto, he narrowly escaped death, and was so frightened that his bones almost turned into frozen meat.He hopped on the trolley, went straight home to the Bronx, and went to bed right away.He did not show up in those apartments for three days in a row. Vito Corleone was now a "man of honor" in the district.He is believed to be a member of the Sicilian Mafia.One day he was approached by a poker man in a furnished house who offered to pay him twenty dollars a week as a token of gratitude for his "friendship."He only needs to come to the casino once or twice a week, just to have an interview, so that the gamblers understand that they are playing under his protection.

The store owner was so troubled by the little hooligan that he also asked him to intercede.He complied, and was rewarded accordingly afterwards.Before long he was earning as much as a hundred dollars in the district.Since Clemenza and Tessio were both his friends and his companions, he had to give them a little money each, which he offered without asking for it.Finally, he decided to start an olive oil import business with his boyhood friend Genco Abbandando.Genco could take control of the business, work the various jobs of importing olive oil from Italy, buy it at the right price, and store it in his father's warehouse.Jinke has experience in this area.Two men, Clemenza and Tessio, could be salesmen, and they would go to every Italian-owned food store in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Browns, and persuade the owner to buy "Jinco Pure" olive oil (Vito Corleone, with his own peculiar humility, refused to put his name on the front of the brand).Vito was of course the head of the company, since he provided most of the capital.In special circumstances, he should be invited to appear. For example, if the shopkeeper refuses to accept Clemenza and Vucio's high-spirited speeches to sell goods, then Vito Corleone will come out in person to play his role. A terrible power of persuasion.

For the next few years Vito Corleone lived the perfectly satisfactory life of a small businessman.He is fully committed to creating his own business enterprise in a dynamic and growing economy.Although he is a good husband and father, he is too busy to take care of his family.His organizational system has mushroomed as "Jinco Pure" olive oil has evolved into the best-selling imported Italian olive oil in the United States.Like any salesman worth his salt, he understood the benefits of cutting prices to compete with his rivals, clogging up their sales channels by persuading shopkeepers to buy less of other brands.Like any businessman worth his salt, he focused on monopoly, both driving rivals out of the field and incorporating them into his firm.However, because he opened it was relatively unhelpful financially, because he didn't believe in advertising and only relied on word of mouth.And because (if the truth be told) his olive oil was no better than that of his competitors, he couldn't use the kind of open neck-and-neck competition that was so common among legitimate businessmen.He had to rely on the strength of his own personality, on his prestige as a "respectable man."

Even at a young age, Vito Corleone was considered a "reasonable man".He never said a word of threat, he always used irresistible logic.After all, the principle he must base his actions on is: others also get a share of the benefits they deserve, and no party suffers.To this end he employed public means.Like so many talented businessmen, he knows that free competition is wasteful and monopoly is effective.So the goal he pursues is to achieve that effective monopoly.There are a few olive oil wholesalers in Brooklyn who are irascible, headstrong, unreasonable, and even after Vito Corleone explained everything with the utmost patience, they are still resorting to blind non-acknowledgment manner.Vito Corleone threw up his hands in despair at such people, and sent Tessio to Brooklyn to set up a headquarters to solve the problem: warehouses were set on fire, trucks by trucks The tea-green oil was dumped on the big cobblestone-paved road along the river.A daredevil, an arrogant Milanese who believed in the police more than a saint believed in Christ, seriously sued the authorities, against his Italian friends, and thus violated the "law of silence" of the Mafia for ten centuries.So, before any progress was made in the case, the wholesaler disappeared and was never seen again, leaving behind a helpless wife and three children.The three children were old enough to take over his business and compromised with Genco Pure Olive Oil Company.

However, great people are not born great, but become great in the process of growing up, Vito Corleone is like this.When the Prohibition Act was passed, the sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited.Vito Corleone took the final decisive step from a very ordinary, somewhat ruthless businessman to the great old man of the criminal corporate world.The transformation didn't happen in a day, it didn't happen in a year, but at the end of Prohibition, at the beginning of the Depression, Vito Corleone was Godfather, Don, Corleone old man. Things started off quite by chance.At this time, the Genco Pure Olive Oil Company had a fleet of six delivery trucks.Through Clemenza's introduction, Vito Corleone was approached by a group of Italian immigrants who specialized in smuggling alcoholic beverages and whiskey from Canada.They need trucks and delivery people to disperse their shipments to all corners of New York City.Reliable, prudent delivery man with some determination and strength is needed.They used Vito Corleone's trucks and crews and were willing to pay, a lot of money.Vito Corleone cut down his olive oil business so much that he put his trucks at the disposal of illicit booze smugglers.Vito Corleone accepted the gentlemen's proposal, though it came with a limp threat that came with it.Because at that time, Vito Corleone was already a very sophisticated and mature person. He didn't feel insulted because the other party made a threat, and he didn't get angry because the other party made a threat, so he refused to accept it. Profitable proposal.He weighed the threat raised by the other party and found that there was no actual content. He was so stupid to use threats when there was no need to use threats.This is a useful situation that deserves serious consideration in due course.

He is rich again.But, more importantly, he gained knowledge, access and experience from it.He stacked solid contracts as high as bankers stacked securities.As it evolved over the ensuing years, it became clear: Vito Corleone was not only a man of talent, but a special genius. He volunteered as protector of Italian families who kept taverns in their homes, illegal establishments that sold whiskey to bachelor workers for fifteen cents a glass.At the confirmation of Mrs. Columbus's youngest son, he was godfather to the boy, with such a handsome present as a twenty-dollar piece of gold.At the same time, since it was inevitable that some of his trucks would be stopped by the police, Genco Abbandando hired a brilliant lawyer who had many back doors in the police and judicial departments.A system of stuffing baggage after leaving the door has been established.Before long the Corleone Organization had a considerable pay "list," essentially a list of officials who were paid each month.Vito Corleone kept reassuring the lawyer, apologizing for the expense and trying to squeeze the list down. "Don't compress, don't compress," he said, "put all the people who can be put on it, even if some people can't help us right now. I believe in friendship, and I would like to express my own friendship first. " Over time, the Corleone Empire grew larger, with more trucks and a longer "list".In addition, the number of people working directly for Tessio and Clemenza's go-getters increased dramatically, and the entire agency became too large to control.Vito Corleone finally concocted a system of organization.He gave both Clemenza and Tessio the title of "commander," and the men who worked under them were given different ranks.He appointed Genco Abbandando as his staff.He put layers of insulation between himself and any specific activity, and when he wanted to give an order, he gave it to Genco alone or to either of the two commanders.When he gave orders to any of these three, there was rarely a third witness beside him.Then he split Tessio's gang and put them in charge of Brooklyn.He also wanted Tessio himself to separate from Clemenza.His practice over the years had shown that he did not want the two of them to interact with each other, even in general social terms, unless it was absolutely necessary.He explained this to the more sensible Tessio.Tessio understood his intentions immediately, but Vito explained that it was a safety measure against breaking the law.Tessio understood that Vito did not want any opportunity for his two commanders to collude against him; Tessio also understood that there was no malice in this, merely a tactical precaution.Vito, on the other hand, let Tessio operate independently in Brooklyn while keeping the Bronx fiefdom of Clemenza firmly under his direct control.Clemenza, for all his apparent joviality, was a man of foolishness and cruelty, and he needed to be kept in check. The Great Depression increased Vito Corleone's strength.In fact, it was around this time that he acquired the title of Don Corleone.Honest people begged their dads and grandmas all over the city for an honest job, and they hit a wall everywhere, and decent people degraded themselves and their families to accept official handouts from a despicable bureaucracy.But Don Corleone's men, strutting and swaggering in the streets: their pockets full of money and they're not afraid of losing their jobs.Even Don Corleone himself, though always the most modest, could not help feeling proud.He is concerned with his own world, with his own people.He was always responsive to those who depended on him, to those who sweated in his service, to those who risked prison time and their lives.When one of his employees was arrested and imprisoned by some misfortune, the family of the unfortunate man was given a subsistence allowance: not a grudging handout, but the man's original wages before his arrest. Of course, this is not purely Christian charitable relief.If it weren't for the confidant and friend who knew him best, people would really call Don Corleone a saint.Behind this kind of generous action is selfishness.The employee in prison knows that as long as he keeps his mouth shut, his wife and children will be taken care of.He also knew that if he didn't tell the police, he would be greeted with a warm welcome when he got out.There will also be a banquet waiting for him at home, with delicacies from mountains and seas, as well as home-made buns, wine, and various pastries; all his relatives and friends will also gather there to celebrate his recovery of freedom.At what time of the night, Staff Genco Abbandando, or the Don himself, would pay a visit to pay homage to such a loyal soldier, drink his health, and leave a large sum of money as a gift when he left , so that he could spend a week or two in peace with his family before returning to work.This is the expression of Don Corleone's infinite sympathy and meticulous consideration for people. It was then that the old man had the idea that he ran his own world much better than his enemy ran the larger world, which was continually standing in his way. way.This awareness was cultivated by the poor people in the neighborhood who often came to him for help.For example, ask him to help put a child in a job, or get the child out of prison, or borrow a little money to solve an urgent need, or talk to those unreasonable landlords who insist on collecting rent from unemployed tenants. Don Vito Corleone had done them all a favor.Not only to help, but also to help them with good intentions, and always say some words of encouragement every time, so as to dispel the sting of the relief he gave to people's self-esteem.When these Italians were in doubt as to who to elect to represent them in the state legislatures, municipal offices, or Congress, they came to their friend Don Corleone, their godfather, for advice. It's quite natural.In this way, he became a political authority, and many practical party leaders also came to him for advice.He further strengthened this position of authority with statesmanship and vision: he helped bright kids from poor Italian families go to college, who would become lawyers, district attorneys, and maybe even judges.With the far-sightedness that a great leader should have, he proposed a grand vision for the development of his empire. The repeal of Prohibition had dealt a blow to the empire, but he had taken precautions early on.In 1999, he sent an emissary to find the authority figure who controlled all the gambling activities in Manhattan: the man's name was Salvador Maranzano, a tycoon of the New York underground world, a super heavy cannon, or a heavy artillery shell.The Corleone Group emissary suggested to Maranzano that an equal partnership would be beneficial to both parties.Vito Corleone, with his organizational system, at the back door of the police department and the political world, was able to provide a strong umbrella for Maranzano's activities and give it new strength to both Brooklyn and the Bronx. area expansion.Maranzano, however, was short-sighted and scoffed at Corleone's suggestion.The well-known Al Cape was Maranzano's friend, and he also had his own organizational system, his own troops, and a huge war chest.He can't stand this upstart.The nouveau riche, in his prestige, was more of an eloquent member of Parliament than of a gangster.Maranzano's refusal triggered the Great War of 1933.The Great War changed the entire fabric of New York City's underworld. At first glance, the strength of the two sides seems to be a confrontation with great disparity in strength.Salvador Maranzano has a strong organization and a strong military team.He was friends with Cape in Chicago and could count on support there.He was also on good terms with the Tattaglia family, which controlled the city's prostitution and drug-trafficking operations, which were weak at the time.He was also politically connected to powerful business leaders who used his armed forces to coerce members of the United Judas in clothing and the Italian Anarchist Liberals in construction. Facing this formidable foe, Vito Corleone could only throw himself into two small but excellently organized teams led by Clemenza and Tessio respectively.With his back door in politics and the police, he neutralized the support of Maranzano's business leaders.To his advantage, the enemy lacked intelligence about his organization.The underworld also didn't know the true strength of his army, and even mistakenly believed that Tessio was an independent family in Brooklyn. But, in spite of all these circumstances, it was still a battle of unequal powers, which was not evened until afterward by Vito Corleone's ingenious maneuver of his own. Maranzano sent Cape a message asking his two best marksmen to come to New York and wipe out the upstart.The Corleone family had friends and eyes and ears in Chicago, and word came from them that the two armed assassins would arrive by train.Vito Corleone immediately sent Luke Brasi to pick them up.According to Vito's instructions, this weirdo can bring out his most brutal nature.Blasey and his men host the villain from Chicago at the train station.A taxi that Blasi had obtained drove up, and when the two thugs got into the car, Blasi and his other partner crowded in, guns in hand, and forced the two Chicago The boy lay on the floor of the car.The taxi drove to a warehouse near the pier. The two men had their hands and feet tied up, and small towels were stuffed into their mouths in case they called for help. Then Blasi took the ax and struck at one.He chopped off the man's feet first, and then the legs at the knees.Then he cut off the thigh from the place where the thigh was connected to the body. Blasey was a man of great strength, but he had to swing the ax several times to complete the task. Of course, the poor guy had already died.The chopped meat and the bleeding made the warehouse floor slippery.When Blasi turned back to pick up the second, he found it unnecessary to bother.It turned out that another assassin, out of fear, swallowed (impossibly) the towel in his mouth and choked to death.When police performed an autopsy to determine the cause of death, they found the towel in the man's stomach. A few days later, the Cape family received a letter from Vito Corleone in Chicago.The content of the letter is roughly: Now you know how I treat the enemy.Why would a Neapolitan intervene in a quarrel between two Sicilians?If you want me to treat you as a friend, then I thank you, and I am willing to serve you whatever you ask.People like you must know that it is far more advantageous to have a friend who can manage his own affairs without asking for your help, and who is also ready to help you in case of trouble in the future.If you don't want to be friends with me at all, so be it.But I must tell you: the climate of the city is humid, which is not good for the health of the Neapolitans.So I advise you not to visit here. The domineering tone of the letter was carefully crafted.The old man looked down on the Capes as stupid, price-marked desperadoes.The intelligence he got also showed that because of Cape's blatant domineering and his love to show off his criminal wealth, he had long since lost his political background: the old man knew, and in fact was convinced, that without political background and social cover, Cape Like other forces, the world is easily wiped out.Cape, he knew, was headed for ruin.He also knew that Cape's influence, as terrible and pervasive as it was in Chicago, did not extend beyond Chicago. This tactic was successful, not so much because of the cruelty of the tactic itself, but rather because the old man's swift and swift reaction made people frightened.Cape, had his wits worked, would have known that any further action would be fraught with danger.It was much wiser to accept the friendship, and incidentally the compensation implied in the letter.Kemp sent a message saying they no longer wanted to interfere. Now evenly matched.For six months Vito Corleone, who had earned great "respect" in the American underground for having brought disgrace to the Cape family, had strategically defeated Maranzano.He raided the craps casinos Maranzano was guarding and tracked down the lottery bookmakers in Harlem where he had bet on the numbers and kept him from playing all day not only for money but for records.He strikes across the board, attacking the enemy.Even in the clothing center he sent Clemenza and his men to support the trade unionists against the armed workers employed in Maranzano and the owners of the clothing companies.His outstanding foresight and organizational skills make him a winner on all fronts.Clemenza's superficially jovial but in fact vicious and cruel style, because Corleone used it well, is also conducive to turning the tide of the battle.Then Don Corleone dispatched the remaining reserve force of Tessio's regiment to deal with Maranzano himself. At this time, Maranzano dispatched an emissary to sue for peace.Vito Corleone refused to see them, pushed them away with one or another excuse.Maranzano's soldiers deserted their leader and fled for their lives, unwilling to die in vain for a failing cause.Bookmakers and extortionate moneylenders paid protection money to the Corleone Organization.The war is effectively over. The last battle was fought on New Year's Eve in 1933.Tessio broke into Maranzano's personal defense circle, and Maranzano's civil and military generals, eager for a truce, agreed to lead their leaders to the slaughterhouse.They told him that a meeting with Corleone had been arranged, at a hotel in Brooklyn, and that they were accompanying him and acting as his bodyguard.They sat him down at a plaid table, gnawing morosely at a loaf of bread.Once Tessio and the four entered, they slipped out of the hotel one by one.The execution was quick and sure, and Maranzano was riddled with bullets before he could swallow the crumbled bread in his mouth. The war is over. The Maranzano Empire falls into Corleone's sphere of influence.Don Corleone had set up a tribute system that kept everyone in their scattered horse-race betting check-ins and lottery spots where bets were made on numbers.As an added bonus, he also gained a foothold in the various unions at the Garment Center, a foothold that would prove invaluable in the ensuing years.At present, the old man has finally solved his career problems, but his family is in trouble. Sandino Corleone, or Sonny, was sixteen years old at the time, a remarkable six feet tall, broad-shouldered, with bushy eyebrows and big eyes, sensual but not at all quiet.At the moment, while Freddie is a dutiful kid and Michael is of course a toddler, Sandino is getting into trouble a lot, getting into fights and doing badly at school.Finally, Clemenza, who was Sonny's godfather with disciplinary responsibilities, came to Don Corleone one evening and reported to him that his son had been involved in an armed robbery.This kind of stupid behavior is likely to evolve to an unimaginable level.Sonny was evidently the leader of the gang, and the other two boys who had taken part in the robbery were his entourage. Vito Corleone seldom loses his temper, but this time he couldn't help it.Tom Hagen had lived in his house for three full years.He asked Clemenza if the orphan was involved.Clemenza shook his head.Don Corleone sent a car to take Sandino to his office at the Genco Pure Olive Oil Company. The old man met with failure for the first time.He flew into a fit of rage and cursed stupid Sonny in Sicilian patois, which was more painful than any other patois.Finally, he asked a question: "Where did you get the right to do such a thing? What made you want to do such a thing?" Sonny stood there sulking and refusing to answer.The old man said in a contemptuous tone, "Stupid. How much did you rob that night? Fifty dollars a head? Twenty dollars? You gave your life for twenty dollars, eh?" Sonny didn't seem to hear the words, and said defiantly, "I saw you shot Fanucci." The old man fell down on the chair with an "ah", and he waited. Sonny continued, "After Fanucci left the apartment building, Mom said I could go upstairs and go home, and I saw you on the roof. I followed. I saw everything you did. Clearly, I was on the roof watching you drop your wallet and pistol." The old man sighed. "Well, then I can't tell you how to be a man. Don't you want to finish school? Don't you want to be a lawyer? You know, a lawyer with a briefcase is better than a thousand robbers with guns and masks Steal more money." Sonny grinned at him, and then said evasively, "I want to get into the family business." Seeing that the old man's face was still impassive, and he hadn't laughed at his joke, he added quickly: "I can learn to sell olive oil." The old man still didn't say anything, he shrugged. "Everyone has only one destiny," he said. He did not add that the fact that he witnessed Fanucci being shot already sealed his son's fate.He just turned his face away and said calmly: "Come here at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, Jinke will arrange work for you." Genco Abbandando had that keen insight that a staff officer must have, to understand the old man's real wishes.Sonny's main job was to be his father's bodyguard, a position that would allow him to learn the tricks of being an old man.This measure put the old man's.The teacher's ability was brought into play: he often talked about how to raise his eldest son into a talent. Besides repeating his theory that "every man has but one destiny," the old man often chided Sonny for his tendency to fly into a fit of rage.The old man thought that the use of threats was the stupidest form of self-disclosure, and the most dangerous form of self-indulgence was to lose one's temper without thinking about it beforehand.No one ever heard the old man blurt out a single blatant threat, no one saw him lose his temper and lose his temper.And so he tried to teach Sonny his discipline.He believes that there is no greater natural advantage in life than having an enemy who overestimates your shortcomings. Clemenza, the commander of the regiment, taught Sonny by the hand to shoot and swing the gallows.Sonny didn't like Italian rope much, he was too Americanized.His preference for the Anglo-Saxon guns, which were simple, straightforward, and irrelevant to manpower, saddened Clemenza, but Sonny had become his father's welcome companion, driving his car and helping him Do a lot of little things.For the next two years, he appeared to be a natural son entering his father's business.He's not too flashy, not too eager, but content with an effortless job. Meanwhile, his boyhood buddy and half-brother Tom Hagen was going to college.Freddie was still in high school, younger brother Michael was in elementary school, and the youngest sister, Connie, was a four-year-old toddler, and the family had long since moved into an apartment in the Bronx.Don Corleone was considering buying a house on Long Island, but he wanted to coordinate the purchase with the plans he was making. Vito Corleone was a man of great vision.美国所有的大城市都给地下世界的斗争打得个稀巴烂。好几十个地方爆发了游击战，野心勃勃的流氓一个个都拼命想割据，建立小帝国。像考利昂这样的人都在竭力保卫自己的“边疆”，保卫自己的生财之道。考利昂老头子发现报纸和政府机构正在利用这种乱砍乱杀的局面设法推行越来越严厉的法律，设法采取越来越残酷的警察手段。他预料，公众义愤很可能导致民主程序暂时停止执行，这对他和他的臣民可能是个致命的打击。他的帝国就内部而言，是稳固的。他决定先给纽约市，然后再给全国所有卷入战争的派别带来和平。 他对这个任务的危险性并不抱任何不切实际的幻想。他把第一年用于同纽约帮派的头目会谈，做做准备工作，摸摸他们的底，建议划分势力范围，并由一个组织松散的联盟协调会批准后，大家共同遵守。但是当时帮派大多，互相冲突的特殊情况也大多了，要达成一致协议是不可能的。就像历史上许多伟大的统治者和法典制订者一样，考利昂老头子认定，除非把独立统治的国家的数目压缩到一个容易处理的小数目，不然秩序与和平是不可能的。 有五六个“家族”实在太强大了，无法消灭。但是其余的，例如街道“黑手”恐怖集团，各行其是的敲诈勒索的放债集团，还有那些尚未得到司法当局的适当保护（也就是说还没有买通有关当局）的、强暴的赛马赌博登记者集团，都得统统滚蛋。于是，他发动了一场实质上是殖民地侵略性质的战争来对付这类人物，把考利昂组织的全部人力、物力都投入到这场战争里去了。 纽约地区和平局面的取得，花了三年时间，并得到了意想不到的效果。一开始却有点倒霉。原来老头子早就决定要消灭的一群死心塌地的爱尔兰强盗，凭着他们拼死拼活的蛮劲，差点获得全胜。一个爱尔兰匪徒，凭着自杀的牺牲精神，有一天由于偶然的机会冲进老头子的警戒圈，瞄准老头子的胸膛打了一枪。刺客立即给子弹打得千疮百孔，但他造成的损失却成了既成事实。 不过，这一下却给桑迪诺·考利昂造成了机会。由于父亲动弹不得，他直接抓军队，组成自己的兵团，军衔是司令。桑儿就像一个年轻的、没有经过宣扬的拿破仑，表现出了领导城市战争的军事天才。他还表现了一种冷酷无情的作风，没有冷酷无情的作风是考利昂老头子作为统治者的唯一缺点。 从一九三五年到一九三七年，桑儿·考利昂获得了地下世界从来没有过的最狡猾、最残忍的刽子手的名声。然而，单纯就恐怖程度而言，同那个名叫路加·布拉西的令人望而生畏的人物比较起来，他却大为逊色。 跟踪残余的爱尔兰匪帮，并单枪匹马地把那一伙扫除干净的就是布拉西。当那五六个强大的家族中的一个家族企图干涉，并充当那些零散的帮派的保护人时，为了杀一儆百而杀死这个家族的头头的，也是布拉西。另外，老头子伤好了，恢复了健康，就同这个家庭讲和了。 到一九三七年，除了小的事件和误会（当然这些小的事件和误会有时也会造成毁灭性的严重后果），总的来说，纽约市的气氛是平静而和谐的。 就像古代城邦国家的统治者用焦急的目光注视着野蛮部落在他们城墙周围游来荡去一样，考利昂老头子也密切注视着他自己那个小世界外面的事态发展。他注意到希特勒的上台，西班牙的陷落，德国在慕尼黑对英国进行的威吓。他没有受到外部世界的蒙蔽，清楚地看到了世界大战即将来临；他明白这场战争的影响。他自己的世界将更加强大，坚不可摧，不仅如此，那些善于随机应变的、有远见的人们可以利用战争的机会大发横财。但是，要发横财，在他自己版图以内必须洋溢着和平气氛，而同时外部世界战争却疯狂进行。 考利昂老头子带着自己的信念走遍了美国。他风尘仆仆地到处奔走，与同舟共济的人们会谈，时而在洛杉矶、旧金山，时而在克利夫兰、芝加哥、费城，时而在迈阿密，时而在波士顿。他是地下世界的和平使者，到一九三九年，他比任何教皇都成功，在全国最强大的地下组织之间，达成了切实可行的协议。这项协议，像美国宪法一样，充分尊重每个成员在其本州或本市内的权威。协议包括的内容只是共同遵守势力范围，一致维护地下世界的和平。 因此，当第二次世界大战于一九三九年爆发的时候，当美国于一九四一年参战的时候，维托·考利昂老头子的世界仍然处于和平、有秩序的状态，充分准备着同美国的其他工业部门，在平等的条件下共同收获金色的果实。考利昂家族插手向黑市供应国家物价管理局的食品印花、汽油印花，甚至旅游优先证。这个家族还可以帮助那些因得不到政府合同，因此就得不到原料供应的各被服公司搞到军方合同，同时又帮助他们搞到黑市原料。他甚至还能够给自己组织内部应征的全体青年弄到免役证，使他们不到海外去打仗。他是在医生的协助之下做到的，医生出点子，在体检之前先吃些什么药。另一种办法是把青年人安插在军事工业部门的免役岗位上。 因此，老头子有理由对自己的统治感到自豪。他那个世界对宣誓忠于他的人来说时安乐窝。他那个世界以外的那些相信法律和秩序的人们在成百万地死去。但美中不足的是他自己的儿子迈克尔·考利昂拒绝走后门，志愿为自己的国家去服役。使老头子感到诧异的是，他组织里面的另外几个年轻人也是这样。其中有一个小伙子试图向他的司令解释清楚，说：“这个国家一直待我很好。” 这，本来可能使这些青年要倒大霉。但是，他既然已经原谅了自己的儿子，他也就必须原谅别的年轻人，尽管这些年轻人错误地理解了他们对老头子和对他们自己的义务。 在第二世界大战结束时，考利昂老头子认识到他不得不再一次改变策略，不得不使自己更加适应外部世界的情况变化。他相信他自己能够在利益不受损失的情况下做到这一点。 根据他自己的经验，抱这种信念也是有理由的。使他走向正确道路的，是他体验过的两桩个人遭遇。在他的事业开始的初期，当时还很年轻的纳佐林也还只是一个烤面包师傅的助手，正计划着要结婚，前来要求他帮助。纳佐林同他未来的新娘（一个端庄的意大利姑娘）共同存了些钱，向家具批发商预付了三百美元。这个批发商让他们任意挑选他们所需要的任何东西。摆在漂亮而朴实的卧室里的两个装有镜子的衣柜，加上各种灯具，还有起居室需要的一套垫得很厚的沙发和扶手椅，上面蒙的是鲜艳的金钱花布。纳佐林同他的未婚妻花了整天时间在堆满家具的巨大的仓库里，高高兴兴地挑选他们中意的东西。批发商收了钱，他们的三百美元血汗钱揣进了批发商的口袋，他答应把挑选好的家具于本周内送到他俩已经租好了的一套房子里。 恰巧就在那一周，家具公司破产了。堆满了家具的巨大的仓库查封了，东西全给债主抵债。批发商躲开了，债主们对着空气发脾气吧，纳佐林，也是这样的债主之一，去找律师。律师告诉他说，若法院作了判决，所有的债主都能得到钱，不然，毫无别的办法可想。也许需要三年，到时候纳佐林的每一美元能收回十美分，还算是幸运的。 维托·考利昂以感兴趣但不相信的心情听完了这个故事，法律竟会允许这种抢劫行径，这是不可能的。那个批发商有宫殿似的豪华住宅，在长岛有房地产，还有一辆豪华汽车，而且还在供自己的几个孩子上大学。他怎么能够把贫穷的面包师傅的三百美元装进自己的腰包，而又不把家具交给人家？为了把事情搞清楚，维托·考利昂叫劲科·阿班旦杜带着代表“劲科纯净”公司的律师们去了解一下。 了解的结果证实了纳佐林的故事。那个批发商把自己全部财产早就登记在他老婆的名下了。他那个家具店是个股份有限公司，因此他个人对公司没有法律责任。他明明打算申报破产，却收了纳佐林的钱，这表明他不讲信义，但是这种做法却是司空见惯的。根据法律，这是毫无办法的。 当然罗，在老头子手里，这个问题就很容易地处理妥贴了。考利昂老头子派他的参谋劲科·阿班旦杜去找那个批发商谈话。正如所料，批发商马上明白了来意，于是安排让纳佐林去拿家具。下过，这件事对当时还很年轻的维托·考利昂来说，不啻为上了一堂亡羊补牢的课。 第二桩事更加具有深远的反响。一九三九年，考利昂老头子决定把自己的家搬出城市。像任何当父母的人一样，他也想要自己的孩子上比较好的学校，同比较好的朋友来往。就他个人来说，他想过郊区那种默默无闻的恬静生活，在郊区也便于隐姓埋名。他买下了长滩镇的林荫道房地产，当时也只有四栋新建的房子，但足够更多的人住。桑儿同桑德拉已经正式订婚了，不久就要结婚，其中一栋房子就是打算分给他住的。另一栋老头子自己住，还有一栋归劲科·阿班旦杜和他那一家人，还剩一栋，空着没人住。 搬到林荫道一周之后，三个工人开着卡车来了，看来是老老实实的三个人。他们声称是长滩镇的锅炉检查员。老头子的几个年轻保镖中的一个让那三个人进来，并领他们到地下室去看锅炉。老头子、老伴和桑儿正在花园里休息，欣赏那有海洋特点的空气。 令老头子感到非常扫兴的是，他的保镖喊他回去。那三个工人都是又高又大的粗壮小伙子，围着锅炉。他们把上面的零件已经拆下来了，摆得地下室的水泥地上到处都是。他们的组长是个爱指手画脚的人，粗声粗气地对老头子说：“你这个锅炉出毛病了。如果你要我们把锅炉修好，把零件都装配上去，那你得付一百五十美元的工钱和零件费；我们也就认为你的锅炉经过检查是合格的。” 说着，他掏出一张红纸标签。 “我们把这个签条贴上去，瞧，就这样贴上去，然后县里就不会再有人来找你的麻烦了。” 老头子感到很有趣。这一周是无聊的，平静的。他丢下正事，专门料理搬家到一个新地方所引起的琐碎家务事。他用音调不纯的英语问道：“如果我不给你开钱，我的锅炉会怎么样呢？” 那组长耸耸肩。 “那就让锅炉这样摆着，我们不管了。”说着，他指了指撒了满地的金属零件。 老头子胆怯地说：“你等一下，我取钱去。” 说罢，他去花园对桑儿说：“你听着，有几个人在修锅炉，我听不懂他们在要些什么。你去把这个事情处理一下。” 这不单纯是一个玩笑：他正在考虑把儿子培养成为自己的副帅。这是一个业务总管必须通过的几种考验之一。 桑儿的处理并没有使他父亲完全满意。方式也太直来直去了，大缺乏西西里式的微妙手腕了。他用的是大棒，而不是软而锋利的轻剑。桑儿一听那个组长的要求，马上就叫几个保镖把枪口对准那三个人，用棍子痛打他们的脚底。然后，又强迫他们把锅炉重新安装好，还把地下室打扫干净。他搜了他们的身，发现他们实际上受雇于一家总部设在萨福克县的住宅设备改良公司，他们也了解到了这个公司的老板的名字。然后，他脚踢拳打地把那三个人送上了他们的卡车。 “下次让我在长滩镇再看到你们的话，”他警告他们，“我要把你们的睾丸割下来挂在你们的耳朵上。” 这就是桑迪诺的典型作风，后来他变得更冷酷、更无情了，把他的保护范围扩大到了他所居住的那一地区的全体居民。桑儿亲自访问了那个家用设备改良公司的老板，告诉他别再派任何人到长滩镇。考利昂家族同当地警察部队建立了经常性业务联系之后，他们就知道了所有这类控诉以及职业犯罪分子的罪行。在不到一年，长滩镇就成了美国同样规模城镇中犯罪活动最少的城镇，各种死心塌地的犯罪分子和巧取豪夺的职业诈骗分子受到了同样的警告，别在长滩镇招摇撞骗。第一次初犯，可以受到宽免；二次重犯，他们马上就会从人间消失。那些胡言乱语的打着家用设备改良招牌的骗子，那些走家串户的诈骗犯，也都受到了很有礼貌的警告：他们在长滩镇是不受欢迎的，如果某些有恃无恐的诈骗犯对警告置若罔闻，就会给打得几乎丧命。住在当地的无视法律和权威的小流氓受到了严父般的忠告：离开家乡，到别处去流浪。这样，长滩镇就变成了模范城镇。 使老头子印象深刻的是兜揽买卖的诈骗活动的合法性。显然，在这个诈骗猖獗的新天地里，是有他这样能干的人活动的余地的。而当年他还是一个老老实实的青年时，这个新天地对他是封闭的。他采取适当步骤，准备进入这个新天地。 就这样，他一直幸福地生活在长滩镇的林荫道，同时在不断地加强和扩大他的帝国版图，直到第二次世界大战结束，“土耳其人”索洛佐破坏了和平，把老头子的世界推入战争，把老头子本人送到了医院的病床上。