America's Road to Wealth

Chapter 331 America's Largest Farm

Abel lived in this suburban mansion called "Hydra Manor" that day.

Hydra Manor is located on the banks of the Colorado River in Austin, with beautiful surroundings and charming scenery.

This estate has a breathtaking oversized land, a unique location, providing the owner with the most enviable scenery in all of Austin.

The manor is surrounded by lush trees; the graceful river scenery in front of the house is romantic and charming, allowing the owners here to enjoy the best of life.

The backyard is full of life with a beautiful large pool and fountain.

The interior decoration is classical, noble, novel and chic, with gorgeous mahogany floors, walls decorated with oil paintings, arched windows, suspended chandeliers... the attention to detail makes this villa look very tall and elegant.

After dinner.

Abel and his grandfather Alex are walking near the north side, not far from the Colorado River,
The city center of Austin can be vaguely seen in the distance, in the garden lawn of bustling lights.

"Before you came. I had agreed the details with Herbert."

Alex looked at the Colorado River under the moon, and the old man said softly:
"The time is set after Christmas, the same as when you first met last year. Herbert originally wanted to hold your engagement reception at the Bush Manor, but I don't think this is good, so I discussed it with Herbert."

"He was very reasonable. He thought my suggestion was good and agreed with me."

Alex looked at his grandson beside him, who was already as tall as himself.

"The day after Christmas this year, we will hold your engagement ceremony here or at the Shrub Manor, or at Smith Manor."

"We'll be inviting some of Bush's relatives, and our Smith's relatives."

"Other irrelevant people are waiting, so they won't be invited."

After hearing these words from his grandfather, Abel couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Although it was confirmed that he would marry little Laura, he didn't want to make the engagement ceremony seem like an announcement to the world.

If it is too grand, the whole of the United States will know it, and the whole people will know it.

Then he will have to bear a huge cost of public opinion if he wants to steal fragrance and hunt for beauty in the future.

This is what Abel does not want to see.

Apparently both Alex and Herbert had this in mind.

Abel whispered to his grandfather, "Thank you, Grandpa"

"It should be me thanking you." Alex smiled.

"Without your presence. Herbert could not have valued me so much, and even his son's achievements surpassed mine. Without you, Smith is nothing in front of the bush."

"you need to know."

Alex looked at his grandson seriously: "Your existence and your achievements are the real reason why the bush chooses to do this."

Abel naturally understood this.

He knew that if it wasn't for him, even Alex and Alexander, father and son, would be the Great Commander.

It is impossible for me to get such a big tolerance from the bush.

The most important reason for the bush to be tolerant to him is himself.

"I know." Abel pretended to be relaxed and smiled at Grandpa:
"Your grandson is the richest man in the world. Your grandson is so rich that he deserves everyone's attention."

Alex smiled.

The old man changed the topic to another matter.

"I heard what Herbert and Alexander said. You want to let people from your security company participate in the Afghan-Afghan battle?"

"Ah."

"Do you still want a company under your name to appear on the military's procurement list?"

"Ah."

"Herbert has told me. George will help, but not too much. There are too many people joining this time. Those guys, push George up to eat hard."

"I understand."

Abel knew the biggest backer behind the Bush family.

In fact, it is the Texas consortium headed by Davis Brown and others.

Specifically, part of the military-industrial complex.

Otherwise, it would not have been Herbert who launched the Gulf War in 91, and his son launched another battle ten years later.

Although the vast majority of American leaders took office, the United States has launched wars abroad.

But in modern times, there is no doubt that the battle launched by the father and son is the largest and the most extensive.

The reason for this is because behind the father and son, there are a large number of cannibals.

The United States waged wars abroad, which can bring them the greatest benefits.

As a Texan with a broad personal profile Alex knows this well.

He had no objection to his grandson joining in, but he reminded his grandson to be careful.

Because the grandson didn't join them, they were just angry at best.

But if the grandson goes to grab their food, grab too much.

Then they are not just angry, but the so-called destroying people and wealth is like killing their parents.

It is because of this that Alex has expressed so cautiously many times.

The grandfather and grandson chatted for a long time, and Herbert joined in later.

Later, Arya and Barbara also come here to watch the moon.

It didn't go away until very late.

The next day, Abel did not leave the Shrub Family’s Hydra Manor.

In a small meeting room here, he met an executive from Sotheby's auction house.

This person's name is Jason Jones, and he is the president of Sotheby's Auction Group USA.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Jones."

In the small conference hall, Abel greeted each other.

Jason Jones immediately responded: "Hello, Mr. Smith."

Sotheby's is a world-renowned auction house founded in London, England.

It is best known for its auctions of art and antiquities, but also includes more than 70 other categories.

The auction center of this auction house is located in New York, USA and London, UK. Its offices are distributed in 40 cities in 90 countries, and auctions are held regularly in more than 10 locations around the world every year.

Jason Jones is the head of Sotheby's in the United States.

After the simple greetings, Abel didn't talk too much with this person, he directly stated his purpose.

"Mr. Jones. I trust you already know why you have been invited here."

Of course Jason Jones knew that being able to come here meant that the Smith Group had contacted Sotheby's many times.

The representative Jason Jones will be sent after the two parties have an intention to cooperate.

Meet Abel Smith, the richest man in the world, in the famous Hydra estate of the Shrub family.

Jason Jones was no surprise either.

Many people are aware of the marriage between the Smith family and the Bush family.

"Understood, I understand." Jason Jones said quickly.

Abel nodded in satisfaction: "Then please tell the Wagner family about 5 million dollars. As long as they agree, they don't have to go to the auction to sell their ancestral property."

"Please rest assured, Mr. Smith." Jason Jones also said to Abel: "We will negotiate with Mr. Wagner. But whether they agree or not depends on what they mean."

"Then trouble you."

Jason Jones left soon.

Abel took advantage of the opportunity and took a farm information handed over by Alan Baker, the leader of the Smith Thinking Group.

This is a profile of a large fenced farm called "Wagner Farm".

It contains the data of various resource points of this Wagner farm at its peak and now.

As for why Abel suddenly cared about the farm.

That was his plan to add another title to himself in the name of providing supplies for the Afghan-Afghan war.

This title is called - Agricultural Capitalist.

What is an agricultural capitalist?
Agricultural capitalists, like industrial capitalists, are industrial capitalists engaged in capitalist commodity production to exploit wage workers.

The difference is, in industry.

Since products are sold at production prices, industrial capitalists generally only earn average profits.

Only when the individual production price of its products is lower than the social production price can industrial capitalists obtain excess profits.

In agriculture, however, due to the monopoly of land management, the social production price of agricultural products is determined by the production conditions of inferior land.

At the same time, the monopoly of private land rights also makes agricultural products have to be sold at a value higher than the production price.

Therefore, after the agricultural capitalist sells the product, the direct profit will exceed the average profit.

The four famous ABCD groups in the world are the largest agricultural capital on this planet.

The C in ABC is the Cargill Group in the United States.

It is one of the top ten private companies in the United States, and its status in the United States is no less than that of the Koch Brothers.

Among the huge forces in the United States, such as military force, finance, energy, media, people's livelihood, and industry.

The part of people's livelihood is composed of those retail groups and these agricultural capitalists.

Cargill is one of the best. In other words, Cargill is one of the controllers behind the people's livelihood in the United States.

Abel wanted to get involved in the people's livelihood, he opened the Pacific Supermarket Company.

But this is not enough, he also needs to have his own agricultural group.

This produces large quantities of agricultural commodities, such as food.

Since ancient times, the ultimate means of production on this planet has always been land.

This is why whether it is Buffett, or Bill Gates, or Zuckerberg behind.

In the end, they all chose to become landlords.

Only land, land that can produce a lot of output, is combined with sales channels.

When the two sides are combined, it will be considered a perfect people's livelihood giant.

Like Cargill, it is both an agricultural conglomerate and a retail giant.

When finance has been on the right track, the media has begun to emerge, energy has begun to develop, and high-tech industries have not yet seen their shadows.

Abel intends to activate Minsheng.

This plan will be divided into two steps, one is the supermarket.

Construction has already begun on the Pacific Supermarket side.

Then the agricultural side can't let it go.

The Smith Intelligence Group also found some super large farms that Abel could get in China and in many places around the world.

This Wagner farm is one of them.

What Abel was holding in his hand at this time was the detailed information on Wagner's farm.

It contains the data of Wagner's farm, peak period and various resource points now.

[Area: Across six counties in Texas, covering an area of ​​20.7 hectares (equivalent to 2070 square kilometers), or 52 acres]

By square footage, Wagner Farms is the largest fenced farm in the entire United States.

The so-called fenced farm means that at its border, there will be a fence surrounding it all.

This also means that its land property rights are clear, and it is not afraid of losing money for itself, and it is difficult to take advantage of others.

[Water rights: free use of water resources throughout the farm]

The United States has special water rights laws.

If there is only land ownership without water rights, the person who owns the land cannot use the water resources in the land.

Generally speaking, most farms will have corresponding water rights.

But most of them do not have full water rights.

There is a complete set of legal system, including four types of riparian rights, preemptive rights, mixed water rights, and public water rights.

Except for public water rights which cannot be traded, the other three types of water rights can be transferred and traded.

And this farm has all the water rights in the territory.

This is rare on large farms.

Like Abel's Sunny Mountain, about 30% of the water rights are public water rights.

He can use it, but so can others.

For example, if the local government inserts a pipe to obtain public water rights from inside, Abel has no way to refuse.

The Wagner Farm owns all the water rights, which means that all the water in the entire farm's 52 acres of land belongs to him.

There are no public water rights.

[Cows: There were 16000 cows at the peak, but now there are less than 7000 cows. 】

There are relatively few sheep pastures in the United States, because sheep eat grass and eat all the roots, which has a very bad impact on pastures.

With the exception of individual ranches, sheep in the United States are primarily raised in captivity.

Farms like Abel’s family also raise sheep, but they are actually raised in captivity.

The sheep mainly eat feed on weekdays, and the agricultural output of Smith Farm is mainly corn and sorghum.

These two crops are generally not sold outside, but are made into fodder to raise cattle and sheep on the farm.

That's why Smith Farm can raise so many cattle and sheep despite its small area.

That's why Smith Farm needs so many agricultural workers.

[Farmland: The existing arable area is 30000 acres, mainly wheat, and the farm has 150000 acres of land suitable for cultivation. 】

Of the 52 acres of land, 15 acres are very well irrigated.

They can be used for large-scale industrial production of food.

As the son of a farmer, Abel knew what it was like to industrialize food production in America.

An acre of corn yields about 150 bushels.

A bushel of corn is approximately 25.401 kg.

In other words, if you plant one acre of corn, you can harvest almost [-] kilograms of corn.

15 acres, which can produce more than 57 tons of corn every year.

57 tons of corn.
Whether it is made into feed, or made into corn syrup, or used as human food, it is a very large sum.

[Horses: Horses have always been an important source of income for Wagner Farm, and their contribution to the Quarter Horse Industry in the United States has long been recognized. 】

Whether it is a pasture horse or a race horse, Wagner Farms breeds very well.The performance in various equestrian competitions is outstanding.

Of the 52 acres of land, 15 acres will be deducted for agricultural production in the future, and there will be a large amount of mountainous land that is not suitable for agricultural production.

These places can be used to raise cattle, or plant pastures and rotate grazing sheep.

Of course, you can also raise horses. Horses are still very popular in the southern and central regions of the United States, and they are an important means of transportation.

[Petroleum resources: Because of the dispute over previous business ideas, the old-fashioned mining technology is still used now.The drilling depth is only about 610 meters.After geological assessment, Wagner Farm is considered to have extremely rich untapped oil resources.The buyer will get 42% of the mining rights. 】

This piece is a bit dispensable.

The reason is because the oil here has been dug for decades.

The surface oil that is easy to dig has basically been dug out.

The 1000 to [-] oil wells that are still working now cost a lot to produce a barrel of oil.

Sometimes most of them are shut down, and they will only work when the price of oil is high.

This is the case at 610 meters underground.

Deeper underground, no matter how much oil there is, the cost of production will scare everyone off.

What's more, not all of them, but only 42% of the property rights.

Abel felt that this part was the most tasteless.

[Hunting: The current farm operators in this area are also in an undeveloped state. 】

There are rivers and creeks in the ranch, which are very suitable for wildlife habitat and reproduction.

Wildlife on the farm now includes deer, turkey, quail, pigeons, waterfowl and wild boar, perfect for recreational small game.

It is conservatively estimated that if it is developed and utilized, there will be an annual income of more than 2000 million US dollars.

If well developed, it can also be used as your own private hunting ground.

The development and utilization prospects of some subsidiary resources such as underground salt water resources and intellectual property resources are also listed in the back.

Looking at these detailed information, Abel felt that although the current large ranch seems to be in a bit of a miserable state.

But if it invests a lot of money and develops it well, its output will surely satisfy anyone.

The current situation is that the owner of this farm, the Wagner family, has a common fight among wealthy families.

This battle started from the time of the third generation of Wagner, David Wagner.

In the current fourth and fifth generations of Wagner, family infighting has reached its peak.

This originally well-developed farm has been left unattended and unmanaged all year round because of its internal strife.

Started to make ends meet, has been losing money.

In the end, the struggle within the Wagner family has reached a unified opinion in recent years.

That is - sell it, and everyone divides the money.

Like the Taylor family, one of the founding families of Sempra Energy.

The Wagner family is not looking for a buyer directly, they want to sell higher.

They approached Sotheby's auction house and offered an external price of [-] million US dollars.

Since 1999, Sotheby's has auctioned off this farm all over the world.

But it's still the early 21st century, and global inflation isn't that serious.

Coupled with the sluggish economy in the United States, it has dragged down the global economy.

The United States has experienced Nasdaq again and again, as well as September [-] not long ago.

Nobody can afford the farm at all at the moment, it looks too expensive.

In an alternate time and space, the Wagner family later had to cut the price to $7.25 million.

But for many years later, no one cares about it.

Again, it's too expensive.

Even if it has oil in it.

In fact, the main reason is that its surface oil and gas resources have been excavated by people, and only a little slag is still produced every day.

In its deep underground, there may be richer oil and gas resources.

But how much is the international oil price now?

The cost of digging up the oil from 610 meters underground, including the cost of barrels, has exceeded 20 US dollars, which is about 23 to 25 US dollars.

If the international oil price is around $30+ like last year.

That's a little bit of a profit.

Now the international oil price is only about 20 US dollars, digging a barrel pays a barrel.
According to the data, the 1200 oil excavators in its territory are currently in a state of shutdown.

How could the energy giants be interested in this kind of market.

And agricultural giants have cheaper land to annex.

Before the annexation becomes impossible, he will not be interested in such an expensive large farm.

It was difficult for Wagner Farm to sell.

Abel found Sotheby's auction house and asked them to negotiate with the Wagner family.

Let's see if we can buy this farm directly for [-] million US dollars.

Compared with others, what attracted Abel to this farm was not the oil resources under the ground, nor the intellectual property rights of Wagner's century-old farm.

What he valued was that the farm was large enough and that the ranch had full water rights.

This is exactly in line with his need to form an agricultural group.

That led to his meeting with Jason Jones today.

In fact, the farm he wants to buy at this time is not just this Wagner farm!

　There is one more chapter later, which satisfies four chapters, but it may be late, so don't wait.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)