America 1881: They Call Me Legend

On January 1897, 1, William McKinley officially entered the White House after placing his hand on the Bible and taking the oath.

There is not much suspense about the new federal cabinet.

Without exception, they are all big businessmen.

Secretary of State John Sherman, a millionaire shareholder in various banks and financial institutions;

Treasury Secretary Lyman J. Gage, banker, and president of the National Bank of Chicago;

Attorney General John W. Grigg, who owns several large corporations in New Jersey, is also the president of Paterson National Bank.

When forming a cabinet, McKinley once again invited Chen Jianqiu to enter the cabinet to hold positions such as Minister of the Interior.

But Chen Jianqiu still refused.

First of all, I am not a politician.

He doesn't have any foundation in the Republican Party, let alone his identity as a Chinese. If he really becomes the Minister of the Interior, he must be attacked by a group of congressmen who are idle every day.

And he knows these businessmen too well.

When there is no conflict of interest, everything is easy to talk about, and there is nothing wrong with each other, but once something happens, I am afraid that even my own father will sell it.

Nine times out of ten, he will be pulled out to top the tank.

He doesn't intend to do this kind of loss-making business, so why make himself uncomfortable.

However, Chen Jianqiu still left traces in the cabinet.

For example, his good friend, Russell A. Agey, the largest lumber merchant in the west, served as the Secretary of War; and the cotton tycoon James A. Gary, who was tricked into the election team by himself, got a postal secretary.

Most importantly, Theodore Roosevelt, on his strong nomination, was appointed undersecretary of the Navy.

John Long, Secretary of the Navy, was a sick old man half buried in the earth, and had always been famous for his wandering cranes.

Therefore, Roosevelt is basically in power, and he is the real talker of the Department of the Navy.

In addition, in this election, many Chinese politicians affiliated to the "Chinese Political Alliance" performed outstandingly and began to enter the more core levels of the states.

Chen Jianqiu asked Wang Qingfu and the "Participating Alliance" to start preparing for the mid-term election to enter Congress.

Regarding the abolition of the bill, it is better to ask for help than for oneself.

Only by daring to hold the throat of fate by oneself can we seize the opportunity and turn the world around.

As for himself, he continued to be busy expanding his business empire.

Everything needs to be supported by strength.

Helping the new president come to power will always bring some benefits.

And affordability is the most important thing.

However, to Chen Jianqiu's surprise, the first person from the new federal government to find him was not from the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Communications.

It was Army Quartermaster General Henry C. Coburn.

When the chief butler of the army appeared at the gate of No. 36 Baker Street, he bumped into Chen Jianqiu who was walking out of the gate.

"I'm sorry, I almost stepped on yours," Cobain said after tidying up his military uniform.

The high-achieving West Point graduate had never been on the battlefield.

He has a very strict family education and acts like a gentleman. He doesn't look like a soldier at all, so he has been criticized by the big bosses in the Ministry of War all the year round.

He was just about to look up and apologize or something.

But a pair of black cloth shoes caught his eyes.

Keben raised his head and found Chen Jianqiu with his hands in his sleeves, looking at him with a smile on his face.

He took two steps back, stepped outside the door, raised his neck and looked at the house number on the upper right: 36 Baker Street.

"That's right." Cobain muttered, "Isn't this the headquarters of the 'International Gunpowder Association'?"

If so, how could there be such a dressed-up person here.

In his impression, the arms dealers he has dealt with either wear military uniforms all day like old Henry to show that they have served in the army;

"Yes." Chen Jianqiu chuckled.

"You should also apologize to me, sir." Cobain said seriously, "You hit me."

"I'm sorry." Chen Jianqiu was still grinning.

Cobain was bewildered.

Why do Chinese people cherish words like gold? Is it because they are not proficient in English words?
But reach out and don't hit the smiling man.

"Excuse me, is Mr. Chen in this building?" Cobain cleared his throat and asked, "I am Henry C. Cobain, Chief Quartermaster of the Federal Department of War. I need to find him."

"Yes." Chen Jianqiu's answer was still brief.

Cobain felt a little impatient.

Any arms dealer in the United States would come up to him with a smile and hold his hand when he heard the position and name he revealed.

Not to mention shock, but at least respect.

The country bumpkin in front of him knew that he must be from here, but it seemed that he had never seen the world.

Otherwise, it would never be this reaction.

Cobain finally refrained from showing it on his face.

"Please take me to see him, please." He said in a gentlemanly manner.

Chen Jianqiu nodded, turned around, and walked towards the elevator.

Seeing Chen Jianqiu's return, the receptionist at the door was about to stand up and salute him.

But Chen Jianqiu gave him a look.

The little golden retriever's ass returned to the chair without saying a word.

People who were in the same situation were also people who drove the elevator.

He saw that the boss brought in a middle-aged man in military uniform, and then pressed down on him with his hanging hand.

He didn't dare to say anything because he didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in the boss's gourd, so he could only open the elevator door and watch the two of them go deep into the corridor.

Along the way, without saying a word, Chen Jianqiu led Keben to a carved wooden gate.

He took a bunch of keys out of his pocket.

Cobain suddenly realized that this person was in charge of the gate, otherwise why would he have so many keys on him.

Taking advantage of the light from the window at the end of the corridor, Chen Jianqiu quickly found a silver-white key and inserted it into the lock.

He twisted lightly.

The door was opened.

Cobain was quickly attracted by the decoration of the office in front of him.

The antique Chinese-style wooden furniture was quite different from the offices of other arms dealers he had seen. There was a case beside the window with an ingenious pine bonsai placed on it.

The large desk was thick and simple, and a small ornament on the desk caught Cobain's attention.

It was a shell casing.

"The casing of the world's first smokeless gunpowder bullet." Chen Jianqiu said as he walked in.

He walked to the window sill, took a rag from the shelf there, and then took the rag to the edge of the wooden sofa and began to wipe the coffee table in front of the sofa.

"Um, is this Mr. Chen's office? He doesn't seem to be here." Cobain asked while continuing to look at the office. "Can you tell him for me?"

When he saw Chen Jianqiu cleaning the tea table, he couldn't help raising his voice a bit:
"Sir, can you stop cleaning the table first, please go to him for me first, I have something very important to discuss with him."

"I am." Chen Jianqiu said without raising his head.

Cobain stood there dumbfounded.

He looked suspiciously at the Chinese man in his thirties who was still cleaning the table in front of him, full of disbelief.

How could this person be the president of the famous International Gunpowder Association and the largest arms dealer in the United States, Chen Jianqiu?
Chen Jianqiu finished wiping the table, washed the rag in the pool by the window, and hung it on the shelf again.

When he turned around, he found that Cobain was standing there like a fool, so he immediately smiled and pointed to the wooden sofa, and said to him:

"Please sit down."

Only then did Cobain regain his senses.

He sat in the chair and looked at Chen Jianqiu suspiciously:
"You are Chen Jianqiu?"

Chen Jianqiu came over with an ashtray in his hand.

He put the ashtray on the coffee table, then took out a strip-shaped leather case from the cloth robe, and pulled out a cigar from it.

"Yes, I am." Chen Jianqiu cut off the butt of the cigar, lit it with a lighter, shook it, and handed it to Cobain, "Do you smoke cigars?"

Cobain waved his hand.

He is not concerned about cigars now.

He felt as if he had been played.

"Then why didn't you tell me downstairs?" Cobain asked eagerly.

"You didn't even ask." Chen Jianqiu stuffed the cigar into his mouth unceremoniously, and said slowly.

Cobain felt like his lungs were about to explode.

However, he did not forget his mission.

"Mr. Chen, I came here this time to ask you for something." He managed to straighten out his anger and said.

"Yeah, I know, if you have nothing to do, you can go to the Three Treasures Hall." Chen Jianqiu took a sip of his cigar, his face was full of joy, and he said with his legs crossed, "I was just about to go out, so I bumped into you and came back again."

"We've never seen a big shot from the War Department before," he said with a smile.

Coben didn't hear the teasing in Chen Jianqiu's words, but it sounded like a kind of respect for him, and he felt much more comfortable immediately.

After all, he is an arms dealer, so it is better to give him face as the chief quartermaster of the Ministry of War.

Even if the army is really not very popular in the government now.

He took out two black and white photos from the pocket of his military uniform, put them on the coffee table, and pushed them in front of Chen Jianqiu.

Chen Jianqiu glanced at the photos on the table.

It's a gun.

The black and white photo is slightly blurred, but the model of the gun can still be identified.

"Kragg-Jorgensen M1892, the army's current standard rifle, what's the matter?" Chen Jianqiu disagreed.

A satisfied smile appeared on Cobain's face.

As expected of a knowledgeable arms dealer, he could tell at a glance, but now he believed that the person in front of him was Chen Jianqiu.

"This gun was designed by a Norwegian designer hired by the previous War Department, and mass-produced by the Springfield Armory."

Cobain suddenly changed the subject.

"However, recently this gun has had a poor record in recent actual combat and has been criticized."

He said while observing Chen Jianqiu's expression.

Chen Jianqiu almost didn't laugh out loud.

What kind of actual combat can the U.S. Army have recently, isn’t it that it was beaten by its own, ah, no, by the militia in New Mexico and the warlord forces in Juárez on the U.S. border, and the entire army was wiped out.

As an officer of the Ministry of War, Cobain must know something even if he has just entered the decision-making level.

Looking at yourself like that, what are you going to say?
"En." Chen Jianqiu nodded, not expressing his opinion in a hurry.

Seeing that Chen Jianqiu did not respond, Kebain continued:

"I discussed it with the new Secretary of the Army, Mr. Ai Jie. I think this should be a problem with the logistics procurement of the predecessor. In addition, there are also many problems with the Springfield Armory, the state-owned arsenal responsible for the production of guns."

"Their quality control and workmanship have dropped dramatically."

Chen Jianqiu immediately understood.

The feeling is that this guy Russell A. Agee started messing around as soon as he became Secretary of the Army.

The friendship or friendship between the two originated when Chen Jianqiu first took charge of the Pacific Railway Company.

That winter, there was a sudden heavy snowfall in the northwest of the United States, and the lumber mill run by Aijie nearly rotted [-] tons of logs in the Rocky Mountains. In the end, it was Chen Jianqiu who defied the crowd and sent a train to drag the old man’s treasure away. Come out and avoid huge losses.

The old man was originally disgusted with immigrants, but after this incident, his attitude took a 180-degree turn.

His company has a long-standing transportation relationship with the Pacific Railroad.

Chen Jianqiu has always given him the most favorable shipping price.

This point, after he temporarily left the railway company, was criticized by a certain profit supremacist and raised the price.

This made Ai Jie miss Chen Jianqiu very much.

From then on, he and Chen Jianqiu got very close.

It's hard to say whether the old man's behavior this time is reciprocal, but there must be some personal thoughts in it.

Otherwise, how would you find him.

"So, what can I do for you?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

"As far as I know, your Roswell Ordnance Factory is well-known at home and abroad, and you have many excellent gun designers working for you. At the same time, you also have very rich and successful management experience in military factories. Therefore."

Cobain said while still observing Chen Jianqiu.

"What? Do you want me to integrate the Springfield Armory for you like the railway company?"

Seeing that Keben was hesitating in his speech, Chen Jianqiu simply preemptively asked with a half-smile.

"No, no, Mr. Chen, that's not enough."

Cobain shook his head quickly.

"The Springfield Armory is a state-owned arsenal with a history of a hundred years. Whether it was the Mexican-American War or the Civil War, it has made great contributions; until now, it directly serves the Army."

"His funds are all allocated by the federal government. Congress will not allow such an arsenal to be controlled by private individuals."

"What the minister and I mean is that you can start by being their outsourcer, just to make up for their insufficient production capacity."

Chen Jianqiu sneered in his heart.

The army played well.

This Springfield Armory has a century-old history. I'm afraid it's not because of the intricate relationship of interests inside.

This group of people didn't want to offend others, but they also gave Chen Jianqiu a favor, and they could also improve the army's own equipment level.

It really kills three birds with one stone.

However, his expression didn't change at all, and he was still smiling:
"Yes, I think this plan is feasible. However, I hope that our designers can also participate in the design of standard weapons. We only need patent rights and no design fees."

Cobain thought for a while, and finally chose to agree.

As we all know, the products of Roswell Ordnance Factory are recognized as the most advanced in the industry.

He felt that there was nothing wrong with it.

"If you have time, you can go to the town of Springfield (Springfield) in Massachusetts to take a look first. We have communicated with the person in charge there in advance, Captain Rhodes."

Keben stood up, held Chen Jianqiu's hand, and said.

Chen Jianqiu sent Coben out of the office.

He looked at the back of the chief quartermaster of the army, and the corners of his mouth curled up.

This time, his smile came from the heart.

Now that the design is in my hands, it's hard to say who the Springfield Armory will listen to.