Chapter 151: History of the Mafia

"It's finally time to start. I didn't expect this movie to take so long to start shooting." Johnny said while leaning on the railing and watching the Statue of Liberty receding. Since he got the story, "Paradise Cinema" The preparatory work lasted for more than a year, which is really a long time.

During this period, it was because he strictly controlled the quality and made a good movie, and it was also because of the turmoil in the Corleone family, but all of this has passed, and now it is time to officially start shooting. For this movie, Johnny seemed confident that maybe he could win one or even a few statuettes again.

"Sicily, Sicily, that place that I hate and miss, I can finally go back!" Nino Valenti sang a Sicilian folk song loudly, he spent a short childhood in Sicily, he His childhood was not very happy, which made him hate this place for a while, but after learning so many folk songs, he began to miss Sicily again.

Perhaps this is the nostalgia that blood is thicker than water. Nostalgia for hometown is not a unique plot for Chinese people. Nino, Johnny, Albert, and the Italian descendants in the crew all looked a little excited.

"Speaking of which, Fredo, you actually have time to go to Sicily with us? Don't you need to stay in New York? And I heard that you seem to have important business in Las Vegas?" Johnny asked curiously, After asking, he felt a little regretful, and then he remembered that the person in front of him was already the godfather of the Corleone family, "Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have asked."

"It's nothing, some business matters are regular business and will not affect you." Shen Long replied with a smile. The conversation with the Rockefeller consortium employee in the coffee shop before assassinating Basini last time made Shen Long sprout Instead of getting involved in European affairs, now that all European countries are rebuilding, there will be many opportunities to make a fortune.

In addition, he also plans to absorb some fresh blood for the family from Sicily. Nowadays, most of the younger generation in the family grew up in the United States and have been contaminated with American habits. It may be good for them to do business. They are loyal to the family and dare to fight hard. It is not as good as those members who came out of Sicily.

So Shen Long plans to discuss with Tommasino to introduce a group of new people, and then they will form the new combat team of the Corleone family, and those members who grew up in the United States will be in charge of business. .

The cruise ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean into the Mediterranean Sea, and finally berthed at the port of Sicily. At the port, Tommasino welcomed them in a wheelchair.

"Don Tommasino, thank you very much for coming, and thank you very much for your support to the Corleone family." Shen Long stepped forward to greet him, and he saw Enzo standing behind him.

"Fredo, ah, I should call you Don Corleone now, Vito and I have been old friends for many years, these things are what I should do.

"In recent years, Tommasino has also made a lot of money because of the Corleone family's olive oil business in New York. This economic relationship has maintained the friendship between the two families very well.

"Isn't this the famous Johnny Fontan! I heard that you are coming, and the girls in Sicily are going crazy with excitement! You are our pride!" Tommasino hugged Johnny affectionately, an Italian His descendants have become big stars in the United States, which makes Tommasino very proud, "I heard that you are bringing people to Sicily to make a movie. All the families are very happy, and we will do our best to provide you with convenience."

At the welcome dinner, Shen Long heard Tommasino talk about the history of the Mafia. The word Mafia means sanctuary in Italian. Later, the word gradually evolved into resistance against foreign rulers and nobles, the Inquisition, Synonymous with secret organizations that are exploited by the police and the like.

Sicilians don't trust the police at all. Here, the most swearing words are "you are the police". Sicilians will never ask the police for help when they encounter problems. They follow the ancient law of silence, or take up guns to avenge themselves. Or enlist the help of the Mafia.

If the law of silence is obeyed, then the vendetta between the mafia is limited to himself, and his family will never be involved, unless his family declares that they will avenge him, just like Corleone's brother; and once the law of silence is violated, His whole family will be retaliated wildly, so few people dare to violate this rule; so in Sicily, the men of many families die in vendettas, but their wives can die in bed.

To a certain extent, the mafia once maintained the justice of the green forest hero in the local area; but like all organizations in human history, the mafia has gradually deviated from its original intention. They began to replace the nobles to oppress the local people and monopolize Business channels to earn profits for themselves.

During the period of Mussolini, most of the mafia leaders in Sicily were imprisoned by him. However, after the Americans occupied here, they released all these mafia leaders based on the principle that the enemy of the enemy is my friend. , allowing them to gain greater power than before World War II, and now Sicily can be said to be almost completely under the rule of the Mafia.

It's really interesting to think about it. Mussolini, who represented dictatorship and tyranny, solved the mafia, and the United States, which represented democracy and freedom, helped the mafia to rise again.

In private, Shen Long, Tommasino, and other families who had good relations with the Corleone family explained their intentions for coming. Tommasino and the others expressed their support. Sicily's economy is not very good, and many young people cannot get jobs. It is also a good thing for them to go to the United States.

In addition, the departure of these young and strong people is also beneficial to the rule of the major families in Sicily. Without these potential main resistance forces, their position can be stabilized a lot.

Johnny led the crew to film in the pre-selected location, and Shen Long began to screen those young people. Gallo, who had always been loyal to Mike in the movie, was recommended by Tomasino, and Shen Long asked him to be the leader of these people temporarily. After screening a batch, they will go through the legal procedures and send them back to the United States.

After being busy for a while, and having absorbed enough fresh blood for the family, Shen Long was about to leave Sicily and go to the European continent to look for opportunities, to see if he could make huge profits in the process of rebuilding Europe.

It just so happened that Johnny was also in a hurry to return to the United States at this time. The two of them took the flight to the European continent. They planned to fly from Sicily to the Netherlands first, and then from the Netherlands to the United States or Germany or France.

.. m.