America 1881: They Call Me Legend

Chapter 527 A Gamble Between Tycoons
"I told you earlier, don't provoke Chen Jianqiu if you have nothing to do, he is already full-fledged, you can't move him."

Morgan looked at the newspaper with a cigar in his mouth, and said leisurely.

Compared with the last private party, Edison and Hawke were missing in the salon.

The former was kicked out of General Electric by Morgan because of his complete defeat in the battle between direct current and alternating current, and went to mine in New Jersey; the latter went bankrupt and jumped into the sea, devoting himself to feeding fish to nature.

Morgan and Rockefeller were never saddened by their deaths.

Freemasonry has always been ruthless when it comes to losers.

Those who are useful are called tools, and those who are useless are garbage.

Who would lament that the trash is gone?
There were two more people in the salon, one was a writer with curly hair and a pipe.

His pen name is Mark Twain.

Mark Twain joined the Freemasonry at an early age because of his prominent reputation, and maintained a very deep personal relationship with various members of the Freemasonry.

For example, Mr. JP Morgan.

He came to the salon today, and he was actually invited to taste the fine cut tobacco that Mr. Morgan had just brought in from Havana.

As for the other person, he has a well-groomed beard, his hair is neatly thrown back, and he is dressed like a gentleman.

His name was August Belmont Jr., a German-American.

Just mentioning this name may not be very familiar to most people.

But when it comes to the master behind him, everyone in Europe at that time knew it, and everyone knew it.

Rothschild family.

August Belmont Jr.'s father, August Belmont Sr., entered the Rothschild Bank in Frankfurt at the age of 14. He immigrated to the United States in 1837 and became the spokesperson of the latter in the United States.

The old man had devoted his whole life to serving the Rothschild family, and he himself was prosperous in the United States. He died of influenza five years ago.

Since then, August Belmont Jr. has taken over from his father.

John Rockefeller didn't say a word, his face was gloomy, and he sat on the sofa thinking about something.

But the big-nosed Morgan didn't seem to notice the displeasure of the oil tycoon, and kept adding fuel to the fire:
"In the eyes of the people in New York, he is the hero who defended Hawaii for the United States. What can you do to him? Even the old DuPont was pissed off by him. My God, that is a man with a will like iron. people."

"I'm not DuPont!" Rockefeller finally couldn't help it.

"I know, I know, my friend." Morgan took down the newspaper and waved his hand at the stone tycoon, "but how could you trust an Italian lunatic! That man is just a magician from Sicily!"

"With all due respect, if he is really caught by following the clues, based on what I know about Chen Jianqiu, he will find the media he controls, and then report this matter with more details. It will be divided into sixty chapters, one chapter a day, two serials. month!"

"Or, find a troupe, write a play, and perform it continuously for half a year in Broadway theaters."

Mark Twain choked on the cigarette he had just inhaled.

He wanted to laugh, but forced himself to hold back.

He knew Chen Jianqiu well.

This guy can really do this kind of thing.

However, he was not sure if the people present knew about the relationship between him and Chen Jianqiu.

At least Rockefeller did not know.

Rockefeller's face has completely collapsed.

The relationship between him and Morgan is not only a cooperative relationship, but also a competitive relationship.

However, because Morgan made a fortune late, when the Rockefeller family started to rise in the 70s, Morgan was just a bank partner and George Peabody's little follower.

Being so teased by this opponent, the richest man in the United States couldn't bear the truth.

"Morgan, don't forget, he is a Chinese, the kind of Chinese who walked on the streets of New York decades ago, you wouldn't even look at him!"

Morgan shook his head:

"I'm only interested in money. As for racism, I have no concept at all."

Rockefeller turned to Morgan, his thin face serious.

"Morgan, let's make a bet, I will defeat Chen Jianqiu in the arms industry that Chen Jianqiu is most proud of! What DuPont can't do, I can do!"

"What's the bet?" Morgan touched his big nose and looked at Rockefeller with interest.

"The iron mine in Mount Machabi, the largest iron mine in the United States, I know you have been coveting the steel industry for a long time, but Carnegie is not so easy to deal with." Rockefeller tapped his hand on the table, "You need to integrate some small resources."

"So what if I lose?"

"I want some of your shares in General Motors." The oil tycoon narrowed his eyes.

These two chips are theoretically unequal.

The infighting between Rockefeller and Carnegie is no longer a day or two.

At first, he planned to use a tactic he was familiar with—controlling raw materials—to deal with this steel tycoon.

However, it was not until later that Rockefeller discovered that he was a layman through and through.

Carnegie's steel company could not be affected by controlling the large iron mines, because iron mines are everywhere in the United States.

It is the coal mine that really determines the life and death of the steel plant!

He dug a hole for Morgan.

General Motors is different.

His opponent is Chen Jianqiu's Roswell Electric Company.

I first cleaned up this damn Chinese in the arms industry, and then let him out in the electrical industry, and drove him out of the United States completely, where he came from and where to go back.

At the same time, it can also weaken Morgan's strength, killing two birds with one stone, why not do it.

Rockefeller originally thought that the shrewd Morgan would not agree to this business, or asked him to increase his bargaining chip.

But the banker didn't even think about it.

"Deal! Then wait for your good news!" He stretched out his hand towards Rockefeller.

The oil tycoon briefly shook hands with Morgan, got up and left.

"I'm leaving too." Mark Twain took the last puff of his pipe, stood up, and stretched out his hand to Morgan, "Thank you very much for the tobacco, they taste very good."

He knew that there must be something to talk about between the remaining two bankers, so he offered to leave.

Morgan held the writer's hand: "Okay, Mr. Writer, next time I have good tobacco leaves, I will definitely invite you to taste them together as soon as possible."

"You can also share it with your friends." He said meaningfully.

Mark Twain felt that there was something in Morgan's words, but he didn't think much about it. He put on his hat, turned and walked out the door, into the night of New York.

"You seem to prefer entertaining friends with tobacco leaves at home." Belmont looked at the author's back and said, "Why did you suddenly think of asking him out in the Masonic salon today?"

"Isn't a salon just a place to share hobbies?" Morgan had put down the newspaper.

"Let's talk about business." He changed the subject.

"According to our calculations, the U.S. government should not have much gold stock! In other words, there is not much gold in the entire United States!" Belmon said, "The government in Cleveland is helpless in the face of the financial crisis, and their decisions have been terrible. gone."

"Oh?" Morgan sat on the sofa, tilted his head, put his hands on his cheeks, and raised his legs at the same time, "So, are you planning to be creditors of the United States?"

"Yes, now all the gold in the world is concentrated in Europe, and all the gold in Europe is concentrated in the hands of the Rothschild family." Belmont said very proudly.

"Aren't you afraid that American citizens will say that we have sold American interests to Europeans?" Morgan pointed to Belmont and then to himself, "We are all American citizens now."

Belmont seemed to hear the funniest joke in the world.

He laughed out loud:
"Morgan, don't make me laugh. Don't I know who you are? You and I are both bankers, qualified bankers, and we only serve capital, and capital has no nationality."

"If there is no gold in the U.S. government's treasury for them to redeem their bills, then the government's reputation will be completely bankrupt, and the dollar will become worthless." Belmont spread his hands, "So, do they have a choice?"

"A week later, several businessmen will hold bills worth 1000 million US dollars and ask the US government to honor it. This will be the last straw that crushes Cleveland." Belmont said, "At that time, we should act Already!"

"Oh." Morgan stretched his neck and said.

Mark Twain walked out of that seemingly very ordinary house.

He didn't go home directly, but went to Chen Jianqiu's house.

After the last incident, there are many more police patrols in this mansion area on the Upper East Side.

The residents here are terrified.

They watched with their own eyes several corpses dragged out of Chen Jianqiu's home.

These rich people think this house is a haunted house,

Some of them kindly reminded Chen Jianqiu and his wife:

The house should have a priest to perform an exorcism, otherwise the dead will turn into evil spirits.

Chen Jianqiu and his wife laughed it off, and left them an unforgettable sentence:
You can't beat me when you're alive, so what if you're dead?If you don't accept it, you can let "them" die again.

The patrolling police officers saw Mr. Writer and were about to step forward to question him.

Fortunately, a police officer recognized the famous Mr. Mark Twain.

The writer was able to come to the door of Chen Jianqiu's house unhindered.

It was Camilla who opened the door.

She was wearing a pink dress and was playing hide and seek with her son on the ground floor.

"Chen is in the study on the second floor, just go up and turn right to the fourth room." She said to Mark Twain.

The writer finally met Chen Jianqiu in the study.

Mr. Chen was sitting at the desk looking at an industry analysis report sent by the Legal and Financial Center, and other materials in front of him were also piled up into a high "mountain".

"Chen, why didn't you tell me when you came to New York?" Mark Twain "complained".

As soon as Chen Jianqiu looked up, seeing that it was a writer, he immediately stood up from his chair, walked forward happily, and gave this old friend a hug.

"I can't help it. I'm too busy. The financial crisis has caused everyone to be devastated. It's not easy to survive. You have to be cautious and use your brains in everything." He pointed to the stack of materials and said helplessly.

"Actually, I am a Freemason." Mark Twain confessed, "I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you earlier."

Chen Jianqiu leaned on his desk, looking forward to what new things the writer could bring him:

"Please continue." Chen Jianqiu folded his arms, pretending to listen

So the writer told Chen Jianqiu exactly what he had heard at the Freemasonry.

"Rockefeller is declaring war on you."

"He has declared war a long time ago, so it's nothing new." Chen Jianqiu smiled wryly, "Aside from other things, his financial strength is indeed very strong."

He flipped through several data reports on his desk, and suddenly remembered something:
"What did Morgan say to you at the end?"

"Well, he said, if there is any good cut tobacco in the future, he will call me. He said that good things need to be shared."

After hearing this, Chen Jianqiu became thoughtful:

"It seems that I really have to talk to this person, or he can come to me by himself."

(End of this chapter)