America 1881: Legend of the West

Chapter 519 Charity Dinner.
The hotel where the charity dinner is held is also located on 59th Street in Manhattan.

It wasn't as majestic as the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Little Astor's cousin, but it was adequate for holding dinner parties.

That night, when the lights were on, Chen Jianqiu and Camilla stepped out of the carriage and walked into the lobby of the hotel with little Astor and his wife Eva.

The first person to greet him was Mr. Chinedu Parsons, the owner of the hotel and a friend of little Astor.

Chen Jianqiu originally thought he was here to greet little Astor, but unexpectedly, the rich man walked directly towards him.

"This must be Mr. Chen! What an honor!" Mr. Parsons had a smile on his face and stretched out his arm to welcome him in.

"Ah hello."

The courtesy came so unexpectedly that Chen Jianqiu could only smile at him and nodded.

"Mr. Chen, is my hotel okay?" Parsons asked as he led them inside and pointed to the decoration in his lobby.

The lobby is splendid and full of European-style golden luxury, and even the ceiling is dotted with various lights.

"Well, you should ask Mr. Astor about this, he is an expert." Chen Jianqiu turned his head and glanced at the smiling little Astor behind him, and greeted him, "Hey, real estate tycoon, what about you?"

Little Astor came forward.

"All the lights here are from Roswell Electric Company. The electricity used in this building is also provided by your company." He pointed to the lights and introduced them to Chen Jianqiu.

Chen Jianqiu was really surprised.

Because there were too many things on his hands, he handed over all the Roswell Electric Company's business to Tesla and Ford.

However, Tesla basically doesn’t care about business matters, and Ford is basically handling them.

After the expo, Roswell Electric Company continued its efforts and won the bid for the Niagara Falls Hydropower Station.

Tesla designed the most advanced alternator sets for hydropower stations and laid high-voltage transmission lines all the way to New York.

Chen Jianqiu knew about this, but he didn't expect that these guys' business would be promoted so quickly.

Under Parsons' guidance, Chen Jianqiu and the others went up to the second floor and entered the banquet hall.

The banquet hasn't started yet, but people are already arriving one after another.

There are three rows of long tables in the hall, with chairs facing each other on both sides of the tables.

In front of each chair, plates, cutlery and forks have been placed, waiting for guests to take their seats.

However, many guests did not seem to be in a hurry and were still taking this opportunity to communicate with each other.

Among these people, Chen Jianqiu saw the familiar Mr. Morgan, Rockefeller, and Sheriff Roosevelt.

But Mr. Rockefeller gave him a strange feeling.

As for what the strange thing was, Chen Jianqiu couldn't tell for a while.

Camilla took Chen Jianqiu's arm.

The Caribbean beauty put on a long red dress today and wore a platinum necklace set with a huge sapphire on her chest.

This was prepared for Camilla by little Astor's wife Eva.

But she insists that these are just the icing on the cake, because no matter what clothes Camilla wears or what jewelry she wears, she will be the center of attention at the party.

Because her beauty and figure are so amazing.

Sure enough, when the two appeared at the door, many people's eyes turned around and fell on them.

"My dear, you are very eye-catching." Chen Jianqiu whispered with a smile.

However, Camilla reminded him softly:

"These people seem to be paying attention not only to me, but mainly to you."

Only then did Chen Jianqiu realize that what Camilla said seemed to make sense.

Because there were not only men but also women who came over, and their expressions were a bit...respectful?

Chen Jianqiu didn't understand.

The name "Mr. Chen" is well-known in the West, but in places like New York, even when Chen Jianqiu was at his peak, he was not very popular.

After all, in the eyes of most people, he is just a Chinese upstart who got into the top circles of New York through the Astor family.

The Chinese are not welcome here; the nouveau riche are also not very welcome, although these so-called "nobles" who go back one or two generations are also nouveau riche.

In addition, Chen Jianqiu has been keeping a very low profile since he sold his shares in the railway company.

Therefore, the "respect" of these people is a bit inexplicable, just like Mr. Parsons' previous courtesy.

Under the attention of everyone, Chen Jianqiu found his and Camilla's place.

The card with their names on it was folded into a triangle and placed next to their plates.

Sitting next to them was an old man with a white beard.

"Please allow me to introduce you. This is Councilor Cartman, whom I often tell you, a well-known figure in New York City." Little Astor stood next to Chen Jianqiu and introduced him.

He turned to the old man again and pointed at Chen Jianqiu:
"Then this is Mr. Chen Jianqiu Chen, he"

Little Aster was just about to start his introduction in a voluble manner.

He could go on and on all day and all night about these.

But the old man had already stood up, smiled and stretched out his hand to Chen Jianqiu: "Hello, Mr. Chen, I have long admired your name."

This statement made Chen Jianqiu confused again.

Have you admired the name for a long time? What's the meaning?
"Congressman Cartman, you're very grateful. I'm just doing a small business." Chen Jianqiu showed modesty in accordance with Oriental custom. "

"Your story of expelling the Japanese from the Hawaiian Islands and safeguarding the interests of American expatriates has spread throughout New York. Everyone admires your patriotism and passion."

Councilor Cartman pointed to the people at the table who were craning their necks to look over.

"It's not just me, a lot of people think so."

Chen Jianqiu was a little confused.

Where is this going? Regarding my own affairs in Hawaii, expelling the Japanese was indeed a matter of course, but what the hell is patriotic sentiment?

"Don't thank me." Little Astor leaned into Chen Jianqiu's ear.

Chen Jianqiu turned his head and curled his lips: "Have you written another novel recently?"

Little Astor spread his hands and looked innocent: "Have you not read the newspaper recently? I just told Pulitzer and his reporters this, and they seemed to be very interested in it."

Chen Jianqiu felt helpless.

While they were still biting their ears and chatting, the guests began to take their seats one after another.

Because little Astor's mother appeared.

This lady is the center of attention wherever she goes.

She wore a luxurious skirt inlaid with gems. The full skirt turned the hem of the skirt into a tent, and anyone could fit inside.

"Please take your seats quickly, the charity dinner is about to begin."

The lady walked onto the stage and waved to the people in the audience.

A traditional classical band appeared on the stage and began to play soothing music.

The appetizers and wine before the meal were also brought up by the waiters one after another.

"Champagne or red wine?" the waiter asked. "Red wine, thank you." Chen Jianqiu answered casually.

His attention was not on the wine, but on the old congressman.

The old man sat alone next to him, quietly watching the band playing on the stage, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Chen Jianqiu always felt that he looked familiar to him.

After the song ended on the stage, the guests basically sat down in their seats.

A middle-aged man in a suit walked onto the stage.

"It's the mayor of New York City, Democrat Yasini Murray." Little Astor came closer and whispered to Chen Jianqiu, "He's an idiot!"

"How about I switch seats with you?" Camilla, who was standing in the middle, "kindly" reminded.

Little Astor quickly shrank back and waved his hands repeatedly: "No, sister-in-law, no need."

The mayor stepped up to the microphone.

The microphones at that time were different from those in later generations. They looked more like a disc embedded in a pillar.

But his subsequent behavior made Chen Jianqiu somewhat suspicious as to how this man became the mayor of New York City.

Murray looked nervous.

He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and began to read what was on it haltingly:

".The New York government has been committed to eliminating poverty and building a better municipal environment for everyone."

".The heavy snow destroyed the lives of many people in the downtown area and crushed many people's houses. We should help them."

"As long as each of us reaches out to help those who are still trapped in poverty, New York City will have a better future."

".I would like to thank the beautiful Mrs. Astor for organizing this charity dinner, and I would also like to thank Tammany Hall, this historic charity organization, for launching the fundraising."

Murray's eloquence is really beyond praise.

Among the politicians Chen Jianqiu has met, not to mention the eloquent Roosevelt, even those guys who changed their careers halfway in New Mexico are much better than Murray.

American voters actually really like speeches.

But with the mayor's level, I'm afraid he can't even paint a good picture. So what made the voters vote for him?
Chen Jianqiu looked at Congressman Cartman and found that the old man was holding his chin with his hand, with an unhappy expression.

Obviously, he was very dissatisfied with Murray's performance on stage.

The response from the audience was indeed not very good.

These rich people don’t care what’s happening in the downtown area. As long as their own interests are not infringed upon, they don’t really care what’s happening to the poor.

This is not to say that they are completely without kindness.

But many of them simply cannot understand why the snow would collapse the roof, why some people lost their jobs, why people had no water because of the cold weather, and why some people froze to death because they could not light a fire.

This is beyond their understanding.

Therefore they feel indifferent.

"He should have said that if these civilians are extremely hungry, they will try to find food in the rich areas." Chen Jianqiu seemed to be talking to himself, "Or he should have just told those who still support the government that if they don't save the civilians in the downtown area, they will vote this government out."

But his words reached the ears of Senator Cartman.

A slight smile suddenly appeared on the congressman's face:

"Mr. Chen, believe me, this situation will not happen. The reason why the Democratic Party is still in power is that we know the place very well."

"Are you talking about those gangs?" Chen Jianqiu suddenly asked.

Senator Cartman was stunned for a few seconds, then he laughed out loud with his face tilted back.

The others looked over here in surprise, but when they saw that it was old man Cartman who was laughing, they didn't say anything and quickly withdrew their gazes.

"No, no, no, Mr. Chen, you're wrong." Cartman turned his head and shook his head. "The existence of gangs is inevitable. They are the inevitable product of the lower class society. We just hope that they can check and balance each other."

"If they fight among themselves, they won't be able to deal with people outside the ghetto."

"But we will never use gangs to control the lower class, because in my eyes, those so-called gangs are not worth mentioning."

"In addition, this government has always paid close attention to the people in the downtown area. They have a huge base and they trust us. After all..."

The old man suddenly imitated Little Astor and leaned close to Chen Jianqiu's ear:

"After all, they are just envious and look forward to becoming one of the rich."

Chen Jianqiu gave the old man a thumbs up, then raised his hand to take the red wine glass on the table.

"Mr. Chen, I heard that your experience is legendary. You have worked with the Democratic Party of New Mexico, right?" Cartman asked beside Chen Jianqiu.

He didn't say enough.

Because Cartman did learn from his fellow Democrats in New Mexico that Chen Jianqiu worked with them to overthrow an old Republican alligator named Scott.

"Huh? How do you know? I thought people in New York City wouldn't be interested in those trivial things on our border." Chen Jianqiu took a sip of red wine and replied disapprovingly.

"No, no, no. New Mexico is not a frontier area now. It is a rare industrial area in the West with strong economic strength. I estimate that it will join the federation very soon." Cartman said immediately.

His speech was not fast but very clear.

"So, what do you think of your last collaboration with the Democratic Party?"

Cartman's tentative words of enticement aroused Chen Jianqiu's vigilance:

"I'm just a businessman, sir," he said with a smile.

Cartman laughed again, but he stopped talking and turned his head away.

Chen Jianqiu felt that he had encountered this situation before.

Ten years ago, in New Mexico, a city owner also wanted to recruit him as his dog.

However, the gentleman who was also classified as a member of parliament had a very miserable end.

It seems that this Cartman is also of the same type.

No wonder he always felt that this congressman looked so familiar.

However, times have changed, and Chen Jianqiu no longer has to do dirty work for others.

From Cartman's words, Chen Jianqiu has gradually unravelled the relationship between the downtown gangs, the congressmen and the Tammany Hall.

Cartman's words are half true and half false. Those gangs, especially the Five Points Gang, are doing his dirty work for him.

He said there was no control, and it was very likely that he just couldn't control it.

This group of people cannot escape responsibility for the murder of the sheriff.

All that remains is to search for further evidence.

The following charity gala became boring to Chen Jianqiu.

He followed Little Astor and made a symbolic donation of some money.

Because these charitable organizations in the 19th century had no such thing as accountant audits or public disclosure of accounts.

Of this money that went into the pockets of Tammany Hall, it is hard to say how much was used for ordinary people and how much went into the pockets of certain individuals.

(End of this chapter)