There was a time when shopkeepers and entrepreneurs in Chicago had to pay a large sum of money to gangsters as protection money. If the money is not paid in time, the gangster will soon shoot a person outside the company to destroy the shop (destroy his shop and bankrupt him). Obviously, "protection money" is not only a modern criminal means. 14th century Long ago, an Englishman named john Hawkwood discovered that people would rather pay a large sum of money than have their livelihood destroyed by gangsters.

600 years ago, Sir john Hawkwood led a group of soldiers to Italy and settled near Florence. He soon gave himself a name-Giovanni Acuto, which is a name known to all Italians. Whenever there is a war between two Italian cities, Giovanni rents his soldiers to the prince, and he is willing to pay the high price he asks (renting his soldiers to the monarch who is willing to pay him a high price). In peacetime, when business is bad, Giovanni and his men will go to a town and burn down some shops, while others will pay him protection money (set fire to one or two farms and then offer to leave voluntarily if they are paid protection money). Giovanni accumulated a large sum of money in this way. Nevertheless, Italians still regard him as a hero to some extent. When he died at the age of 80, the Florentines held a state funeral for him and drew pictures to commemorate "the greatest warrior and the most memorable leader-Giovanni Acuto."