America 1881: They Call Me Legend

"Mr. President, is it inappropriate for you to ask the IRS to investigate me now?"

At a reception held by Astor's mother, Rockefeller found President McKinley who was whispering to Hanna.

He was not polite at all, and asked the President in front of Hannah.

McKinley frowned.

This behavior of the oil tycoon is actually inappropriate.

The president was questioned in public, and those who didn't know thought the two had fallen out.

Fortunately, there were not many people around, and Rockefeller's voice was not too loud.

Mr. President is still very reserved.

He briefly said goodbye to Hannah, then raised the glass of champagne in his hand, and motioned Rockefeller to follow him.

The two entered a small room on the side of the hall.

Mr. President closed the door.

"What are you talking about? Mr. Rockefeller, tax inspection?" He looked at the oil tycoon in disbelief.

"Mr. President, do you really not know or are you pretending not to know? Mr. Danny Green, the director of the IRS, has gone to the court to apply for an investigation warrant against us."

Rockefeller tried to calm himself down.

"Please forgive my presumptuousness just now, if it wasn't for the emergency, I wouldn't lose my composure like this."

McKinley was a little dazed:
"Danny never told me about it. He only told me that he got the ledger. I hoped he could find a breakthrough in Chen's company."

"But he didn't tell you which company's books he got, right?" Rockefeller gritted his molars.

He waved his hands and gestured at the president:

"Listen, William, Chen is an ambitious heretic. Do you know what it means to be a heretic? It means he doesn't believe what we believe, and if we don't get rid of him, he'll get rid of us."

"My thoughts are not as extreme as yours, Mr. Rockefeller." The president took a deep breath, "I just don't want to see this country being controlled by arms dealers. It's really terrible."

"We should be tougher, such as finding ways to introduce some decrees to cut off his sources of income and supplies!" Rockefeller said, "We must try to awaken the conscience of those patriots!"

"Listen, Mr. Rockefeller, it is not a good choice to use strong means now, we can only take it step by step. As long as I am still in the position of president, Chen Jianqiu will not be able to turn the sky!"

McKinley tried to calm the oil baron's anxiety.

But Rockefeller saw it clearly.

If Chen Jianqiu continues to develop like this, sooner or later, he will kill himself like he killed Henry Dupont.

"Well, I'll ask Green first to find out what's going on." McKinley patted Rockefeller on the shoulder, "Remember, extreme measures can't solve the problem now."

The two walked out of the room together, but they saw a person they least wanted to see.

With champagne in his hand, Chen Jianqiu was standing and chatting with Little Astor and Hannah.

Seeing the president and the oil tycoon coming out of the small room, Chen Jianqiu smiled and waved at them:

"Hi! Mr. President!"

McKinley walked up to the three people with a happy face, and held Chen Jianqiu's hand:
"Mr. Chen, long time no see, how are you doing?"

"Not bad, thank you very much for always remembering me." Chen Jianqiu said with a smile on his face.

The president was scolding his mother in his heart, but he didn't show it at all on his face:
"What you did in Cuba was really impressive, and what you did for your country was really moving."

Chen Jianqiu replied "modestly": "I just did my best and made some insignificant contributions."

After chatting for a while, McKinley made an excuse and left, leaving the oil tycoon.

"I heard that sir, you have encountered some troubles recently. Is there anything I can do to help you?" Chen Jianqiu still smiled.

Rockefeller was not as well-bred as McKinley.

The smile on his face was already a bit pasted on paper.

"No, thank you very much, you are really an 'enthusiastic' person." The oil tycoon said almost gnashing his teeth.

After that, he walked away.

"He doesn't seem very happy." Chen Jianqiu looked at Rockefeller's back and curled his lips.

Little Astor and Hannah glanced at each other.

"He has been miserable recently. Roosevelt and Taft have been following the anti-monopoly matter, and President McKinley later checked his taxes." Little Astor shook his head, "Maybe in the room just now Just talking to McKinley about it."

"Tax inspection? What kind of tax inspection?"

Hannah looked at Astor Jr. in a daze, obviously he didn't know that the IRS was after Rockefeller.

"Maybe the feng shui of the office building is bad." Chen Jianqiu said.

Next, he began to popularize Chinese Feng Shui knowledge to Little Astor and Hannah, which left them stunned.

"Chen, see if there is anything that needs to be adjusted in the furnishings of my hotel." Little Astor said, pointing to his magnificent hotel lobby.

"I'll ask Master to take a look for you when I have time later." Chen Jianqiu said cheerfully.

He suddenly restrained his smile and turned to Hannah:

"Mr. Congressman, the party still intends to support McKinley in the election half a year later, isn't it?"

Both Hannah and Astor Jr. were taken aback.

Hannah pondered for a long time.

He glanced at Chen Jianqiu again, and put together a series of things that had happened during this period of time in his mind, and quickly figured out what happened.

"Yes, Mr. Chen." Hannah gave an affirmative answer.

"At present, no one can shake McKinley's position in the party. The recent war and economic recovery have made his domestic reputation soaring, and the party supports him."

"People like Morgan and Rockefeller are also very supportive of him. I hope you can take care of the overall situation and don't embarrass me on this issue."

Hannah said earnestly.

He was still thinking about when he could formally talk about this topic with Chen Jianqiu, but he didn't expect Chen Jianqiu to bring it up today, so he didn't hide it and told his thoughts truthfully.

Unexpectedly, Chen Jianqiu's answer was very straightforward.

"No problem, I support him too."

Hannah's hanging heart dropped.

He didn't want Chen Jianqiu to mess up the situation at this time, so that people like Brian in the Democratic Party could take advantage of it, and he didn't want his interests in Chen Jianqiu to be damaged.

It would be best if Chen Jianqiu could understand the general situation.

But Boss Chen suddenly changed the subject:
"However, I would like Mr. Roosevelt to be President McKinley's running mate for the Vice President's office."

Hannah's hands shaking the champagne.

He was against Chen Jianqiu's proposal.

First, he himself had some opinions on Roosevelt.

Hanna thought Roosevelt was too brash and pushy to fit his definition of a mature politician.

Second, tycoons like Rockefeller and Morgan would never agree with Roosevelt to go further.

Roosevelt supported the splitting of the monopoly trust. Now he is only serving as the governor of New York State, and he is fighting Rockefeller to death. If this goes further, what will happen?

If not, it will shake the foundation of the Republican Party.

"Mr. Chen, I know that Roosevelt has a good relationship with you, but this is a matter within the Republican party after all, and you may not be clear about some situations."

Hannah's words sound very polite, but it is really a taboo.

It roughly means "This is a matter within our Republican Party. If you are not even a party member, don't get involved."

The smile on Chen Jianqiu's face was still there, but it was a little cold.

"Mr. Congressman, I am not negotiating with you, but telling you; if this request is not met, then I will do my best to support Governor Roosevelt in running for president!"

"As you said, I don't care whether the Republican Party is in power. Governor Roosevelt also has many supporters in the party. If necessary, we will choose to form a separate political party for election."

Hannah was stunned.

He hurriedly said: "Mr. Chen, you should understand that this kind of behavior is futile. Without the support of the Republican Party, it is impossible for Governor Roosevelt to win the election!"

Chen Jianqiu laughed out loud.

"So what? Even if Mr. Roosevelt doesn't win the election, there will still be opportunities later on. But without Mr. Roosevelt's followers, President McKinley won't be so easy to get re-elected, right?"

The expression on Hannah's face froze instantly.

Not only is it not that easy?There is a high probability that the Republican Party will lose the position of president!
The Spanish-American War not only brought glory to McKinley, Roosevelt became an American hero.

His navy was brilliant, and his heroism in Cuba was charismatic.

Once his group of people is diverted, plus Chen Jianqiu's energy in the west.
You know, Democrat Bryan is preparing to make a comeback!

Hannah couldn't even think about it.

He stared at Chen Jianqiu, and found that Chen Jianqiu was also looking at him.

According to his understanding of this Chinese leader, Chen Jianqiu said so, and he will do the same!

"Is there a compromise?" Hanna tried to negotiate, hoping that Chen Jianqiu would take a step back.

But today Chen Jianqiu is so strong that it is frightening.

"No, Mr. Hannah, this is already a compromise."

"Let me think about it." Hannah turned and walked away.

Only Little Astor and Chen Jianqiu were left.

"Is it appropriate to force him like this?" Little Astor asked a little uneasy, "After all, Hannah is a reputable leader of the Republican Party, and he is also our ally. Will this not force him to the opposite side?"

Chen Jianqiu smiled "hehe".

"This kind of person will never give up his own interests. If you don't force him, he will think you are easy to talk to." He said.

The day after the dinner, Mr. President returned to Washington, while Hanna stayed in New York.

The first thing the president did when he returned to Washington was to call Mr. Green, the director of the IRS, to his office.

"Have you checked Standard Oil?" McKinley cut to the chase.

"Yes, I have found a lot of problems." Director Green replied triumphantly without any shyness.

"Who asked you to investigate Rockefeller?" The president suppressed his anger, "Didn't I ask you to investigate Chen Jianqiu?"

"I also checked Chen Jianqiu!" Green replied calmly, "There is nothing wrong with his accounts, and there is no tax evasion!"

"How is it possible?" McKinley broke out, "His business plate is so big! All the guns are sold abroad, how could it be only as small as you reported to me last time?!"

"His profits are low, and some are still losing money, Mr. President." Green replied disapprovingly.

"The wages of his workers are higher than others, and the price of raw materials such as saltpeter is also high, so the profit is very thin."

"Saltpeter? Didn't he import the saltpeter himself in Chile?" The president found Green's explanation difficult to convince him.

"But his company that imports saltpeter is registered in the UK, and the phosphate rock and iron ore company is registered in Mexico." Green spread his hands, "His actions are legal."

McKinley was silent.

If he knew that Chen Jianqiu still had dozens of companies registered in the Netherlands, Germany, and France, then he estimated that the silence would last longer.

It was through these companies that Chen Jianqiu dumped the fire in places like South Africa and Russia.

After thinking for a while, McKinley spoke again:

"Then there must be something wrong with his import tariffs. Why don't we check his tariffs." Mr. President asked.

"That's a matter of customs, I can't control it." Green spread his hands again, "On the contrary, Standard Oil Company, taking advantage of the different laws of each state, has done a lot of things to take advantage of legal loopholes, and even some data directly does not match .”

Then, he began to talk to Mr. President about Rockefeller's tax evasion.

The president suddenly found a problem.

The head of the Internal Revenue Service speaks with great confidence today.

"Mr. Green, let's not talk about this first. The order I gave you is to investigate Chen's company? But I only saw that you applied to the court for an investigation order against Standard Oil Company. How did you come to the conclusion about Chen Jianqiu? "

The president decided to pull back the core of the problem, otherwise he would definitely be led astray by Green.

"It's according to your order! Secret! Interview!" Green said with a drawn out voice.

"Is the data obtained from unannounced visits true? By what means?" the president continued to ask.

Unexpectedly, the Director of the Internal Revenue Service exploded in an instant.

"Crack!" He slammed the president's desk.

"Mr. President, I hope you will not insult my professional ability and professionalism!" Green roared, "IRS will not let anyone who does not pay taxes truthfully, but will not wrong anyone who pays honestly. taxpayer!
McKinley was taken aback.

This is the first time someone has patted the desk in his office since he became president.

"Your attitude is very bad, Mr. Green, under any circumstances, you should respect your superior!"

Mr. President is also angry.

Instead of slapping the table, he expressed his dissatisfaction in another way.

"You can go and I will work with the rest of the Cabinet to reevaluate your ability to lead the IRS."

The president pointed to the door of the office and issued an order to evict the guests.

"So, Mr. President, you're threatening me, aren't you?" Green stood motionless, staring at McKinley sarcastically.

"Your anger cannot cover up your incompetence and your despicable character! America should feel sad for having such a narrow-minded president like you"

The director's words became more and more ugly.

A person who has been issued a long-term meal ticket has always been brave on this kind of issue, not to mention that McKinley had planned to take him as the top of the tank before.

If you don't want to be strong!

"Isn't it the director of the IRS? I'm ashamed to be with you!"

"Snapped!"

Finally, the usually polite and gentle President McKinley was also irritated.

He slammed the table, and the roar echoed throughout the first floor of the White House.

"Get out of my office! Get out!"