1855 United States Tycoon

Chapter 45 Cocktail Party (1)

The welcome reception was held in the manor of a wealthy businessman named Subi Jones in Cleveland. Subi is a businessman in the shipbuilding industry. His factory mainly produces all kinds of Inner Lake ships. At the same time, he also owns a small section of railway. Before the economic crisis, he was a leader in Cleveland’s business community. After the crisis broke out, although he managed well and responded well, he still suffered some losses. But because other people lost more, so relatively speaking, he appeared to be richer. So taking the opportunity of a large number of people going bankrupt, he even further expanded his own industry-he bought a section of railway at a very low price. People believe that his assets will increase greatly after the crisis passes. Mr. Soubi is an old Whig, a firm abolitionist. Although he has also said such things as “The intelligence of niggas is between humans and gorillas, and even closer to gorillas, so don’t expect them to be competent for any complicated tasks-even if they are sawing wooden boards with a garden saw-they You can only do stupid things like carts and wood.” Such words.

Scrooge, Rockefeller and Gardner rode a carriage to the door of Mr. Soupy’s manor. This is a European-style building with white walls and black wrought iron gates. As soon as the carriage stopped, a black waiter in uniform came forward and pulled the door to let the passengers get off.

“How come there are black slaves here?” Scrooge asked Gardner in a low voice.

“It’s not a black slave, but a black waiter. It’s a free black man who came out of the South. Mr. Soupy is a staunch abolitionist. Many blacks who came to the north through the underground railway to pursue freedom have received his Help, get free work opportunities in his factory or other enterprises. If it weren’t for the damn “Fleeing Slave Act,” more blacks would get his help.” Gardner replied.

Scrooge knew that the “Fleeing Slaves Act” mentioned by Gardner did not refer to the man who had more than 300 slaves (60% of which were female slaves) who liked to pluck the teeth of black slaves in exchange for the owner. The “Escape from Slaves Act” signed by Sakura God Axe Washington refers to the enhanced version passed with the support of southern forces in 1850 in order to prevent more and more slaves from fleeing to the abolitionist states in the north. The Fugitive Slaves Act, which even allowed slave owners in the southern states to go to the free states in the north to hunt down those fugitives and bring them back to the south.

Gardner showed the invitation at the door, and some servants chanted: “Mr. Gardner, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Scrooge here.” This kind of behavior is a bit like those southern slave owners who profess to be nobles.

Entering the black-painted iron gate, there is a group of fountains. In the center of the fountain is a marble statue. Scrooge recognized it as a replica of the great Michelangelo’s “bound slave”. This statue depicts a slave who is desperately resisting. Mr. Subi put it in this position, and the intention can be imagined.

Around the fountain and statues, there is a small building with a Roman-style porch. Although it is far from Van der Fast’s mansion in terms of momentum, it is clearly imitating its style.

The host, Sobi, is welcoming guests at the door. He is a thin and tall man, who looks about 1.8 meters tall. He has a thin face with deep wrinkles like chiseled out, and his small eyes are very fascinating. , Like a falcon.

When Scrooge and the others walked toward this small building, Mr. Soupy was talking to several other guests, but he obviously saw Scrooge and them-in fact, there is a big Gardner here, so I don’t want to be conspicuous. not easy. So Soupy said a few words quietly to the guests, then turned his head, smiling, and greeted him.

“Ah, welcome, Gardner! My old friend!”

“Thank you for your hospitality too!” Gardner also grinned forward and shook hands with Subi, and introduced his own two fellow practitioners to him.

“This is my friend Rockefeller, a very hardworking and capable businessman.”

“Ah, I’ve heard of you.” Soapy shook Rockefeller’s hand. “In today’s economic situation, the company you lead can continue to make money, which is really amazing. If you don’t own an own company, I I want to hire you as my business manager.”

“You’re praised.” Rockefeller said, “Scrooge, I and several other friends have studied your recent investment activities together. We all think that your recent railway acquisitions are extremely classic and will be a successful case in the future. It is for latecomers to study in the business schools of various universities.”

“What do you think of this acquisition?” Souby’s eyes flashed with curiosity. “Many people are not optimistic about my acquisition. They think I’m playing with fire.”

“The crisis cannot last forever. And the value of that railway is far more than the current price. Some mediocre people were frightened by the temporary crisis, and only thought it was the end of the world. These cowards don’t think so. It is worth mentioning that they will all be scared to death by the phantom they imagined. If I can have such a sum of money, I will also join the acquisition of the railway.” Rockefeller said.

In fact, anyone likes to listen to their own flattery. Even those who claim that they hate flattering behavior the most. The so-called people who don’t like others to flatter their own are only because the people who slapped him didn’t get the idea and wanted to flatter, but they all slapped their hooves. Everyone has the most important and proud thing in their hearts. Sometimes, they always like to hide it and deliberately not express it. But if you tout these aspects of him at this time, well, it will definitely make him comfortable.

Sobi is the same. The acquisition of railways in the crisis is his most proud investment. However, this investment has not yet made money for him, and many people are still attacking whether he is confused because of this. At this time, he was of course very happy to hear such an evaluation.

“Good guy! Work hard! You will all become rich.” Soupy encouraged Rockefeller as a senior. Of course, decades later, when the old Soupy stepped back to take his grandson, he told his grandson that he had a vicious look, and at a glance he could see that Scrooge and Rockefeller were not in the pool. Although when he said this, he was mainly polite. In fact, many of the so-called wise eyes to know people in history are of this type.

“Mr. Subi, this is the Mr. Scrooge who your Tebi asked me to bring over.” Gardner continued to introduce his fellow practitioner to Subi.

“Hello, Mr. Soupy!” Scrooge took Soupy’s hand.”Ah, Scrooge. I didn’t expect you to be so…so young. Your performance in food futures and acquisition of arms companies even made me tremble, and you are so young. From now on, Cleveland, and even the entire United States States’ arms dealers will tremble in your shadow for a long time. I must warn my son not to be an arms dealer.” Souby felt that he had a high enough evaluation of Scrooge, but even he did. Unexpectedly, in the future, the shadow of this child will be over a long time and a wide range.

“You have praised me, and you will praise me badly.” Scrooge said.

“If you can be exaggerated, I dare say that all arms dealers in the United States will come to praise you. Well, I heard Clark talk about your vision for the future of United States. Do you think there will be a civil war in United States? “Subi said.

Scrooge thought about it for a moment, and replied, “Yes, sir. I think this war is inevitable.” Souby is a businessman in the transportation industry, and both railway and inland waterway transportation are very important to the war. . For him, a war that is bound to win is not a bad thing.

“Ah, many people have been saying that we must avoid war as much as possible, and for this we must try our best to reach a compromise with the South. What do you think of this issue, Scrooge?” Souby continued to ask.

“Of course I support efforts to avoid war. If southerners are not so arrogant and willing to discuss with us reasonable, respect the basic principles of the Declaration of Independence, abolish the inhumane slavery system, and work together with us to protect United We certainly don’t want a civil war for the interests of States’ businesses. However, if they arbitrarily reject this, go against the trend of history for their own self-interest, continue to violate America’s founding spirit and smear the face of United States, then, In the past, in order to maintain the “self-evident truth” of “all beings are equal”, we were even able to face the armed forces of the world’s most powerful empire fearlessly, and now are we still afraid of those separatists? A traitor? Our hands have been waving the olive branch. Please don’t let the olive branch fall from our hands.” To this question, Scrooge immediately responded, righteously and vocally.

“Well said! You said everything I wanted to say. It seems that you are really a natural Republican. How about, are you interested in joining our Republican Party?” Subi sent an invitation to Scrooge, “Although In principle, we do not absorb minors, but if you want, this is not a big problem.”

“My father used to be a steadfast Whig party supporter (in fact, Joseph Sr. did not have obvious political inclinations, but Scrooge felt that as a Protestant father, he was more likely to support the Whig party). I am willing Join any organization that is loyal to the ideals of God and the founding of the United States.” Although the National Party is now in power, it is clear that the economic crisis and the incompetence of the Buchanan government in the economic crisis have angered most northerners. His attempt to make the mud between the north and the south did not get the approval of the southerners. Some radical Southerners even called him a traitor because he was unwilling to use federal violence to ensure that the implementation of the Fleeing Slave Act would not be hindered. Therefore, in the next general election, whether the Democratic Party can guarantee that it will not split is a question. The Republican Party, which has basically completed the integration, will inevitably win a big victory after receiving the blessing of the 57-year crisis. And Scrooge knew that not only the next election, but the Republican Party will remain in power for a long time until decades after the war. Joining the Republican Party is definitely the right choice.