America 1881: Legend of the West

Chapter 527 Gambling between Tycoons
"I've told you before, don't provoke Chen Jianqiu if you have nothing to do. He has already matured and you can't touch him."

Morgan held a cigar in his mouth, read the newspaper, and said leisurely.

Compared with the last private party, Edison and Hauke ​​were missing from the salon.

The former was kicked out of General Electric Company 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 nature and feeding fish.

Morgan and Rockefeller never mourned their deaths.

Freemasonry has always been ruthless towards losers.

Those who are useful are called tool people, those who are useless are garbage.

Who would regret that the trash is gone?
There are two more people in the salon, one is a writer with curly hair and a pipe in his mouth.

His pen name is Mark Twain.

Mark Twain joined the Freemasons very early because of his outstanding reputation, and maintained very deep personal relationships with various members of the Freemasons.

For example, Mr. JP Morgan.

When he came to the salon today, he was actually invited to taste the fine tobacco that Mr. Morgan had just bought from Havana.

The other man had a neat beard, his hair was meticulously pulled back, and he was dressed like a gentleman.

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

Just mentioning this name, most people may not be very familiar with it.

But when it comes to the master behind him, no one in Europe knew about him at that time.

Rothschild family.

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

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

Since then, August Belmont Jr. has taken over his father's footsteps.

John Rockefeller said nothing, his face was gloomy, and he was sitting on the sofa thinking about something.

But the big-nosed Morgan didn’t seem to notice the oil tycoon’s displeasure, and continued to add fuel to the fire:
"Now in the eyes of the people in New York, he is a hero who defended Hawaii for the United States. What can you do to him? Even old Dupont was pissed to death by him. My God, that is a man with an iron will. 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 oil tycoon, "How could you believe an Italian madman! That man is just a magician from Sicily!"

"With all due respect, if he is really caught by following the clues, based on my understanding of Chen Jianqiu, he will find the media he controls, and then report the matter with exaggeration, divided into sixty chapters, one chapter a day, and two series Months!”

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

Mark Twain choked on the cigarette he had just inhaled.

He wanted to laugh, but held it back.

He knew Chen Jianqiu.

This guy can really do this kind of thing.

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

At least Rockefeller didn't know that.

Rockefeller's face fell completely.

The relationship between him and Morgan is both cooperative and competitive.

However, because Morgan made his fortune relatively late, when the Rockefeller family began to gain momentum in the 70s, Morgan was just a banking partner and a follower of George Peabody.

Being teased like this by his opponent, the richest man in America really couldn't stand it.

"Morgan, don't forget, he is a Chinese, the kind of Chinese who would not have even looked at him when he was walking on the streets of New York decades ago!"

Morgan shook his head:

"I'm only interested in money. As for racism, I have no idea 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 he is most proud of! I can do what DuPont cannot do!"

"What are you betting on?" Morgan touched his big nose and looked at Rockefeller with interest.

"The iron ore in McSabi Mountain is the largest iron ore in the United States. I know you have been coveting the steel industry for a long time, but Carnegie is not that 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 part of your shares in General Motors." The oil tycoon narrowed his eyes.

These two chips are theoretically unequal.

The overt and covert struggle between Rockefeller and Carnegie lasted more than a day or two.

He initially planned to use the tactics he was familiar with - controlling raw materials to deal with the steel tycoon.

However, it was not until later that Rockefeller discovered that he was a complete amateur.

Controlling large iron mines would not improve Carnegie's steel company, because iron ore was everywhere in the United States.

What really determines the life and death of a steel plant is the coal mine!

He dug a hole for Morgan.

But General Motors is different.

His opponent is Chen Jianqiu's Roswell Electric Company.

I will first deal with this damn Chinese in the arms industry, and then drive him out of the electrical industry, and drive him out of the United States completely, and send him back to where he came from. At the same time, I can weaken Morgan's strength, killing two birds with one stone, why not do it?

Rockefeller originally thought that Morgan, who was shrewd in this business, would not agree to this deal, or would ask him to increase his bargaining chip.

Who knows the banker didn't even think about it.

"Deal! I'll wait for your good news!" He stretched out his hand toward Rockefeller.

The oil tycoon shook hands with Morgan curtly, stood up and left.

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

He knew that there must be something to discuss between the remaining two bankers, so he took the initiative 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 around and walked out of the door into the dark night of New York.

"You seem to prefer entertaining friends with tobacco leaves at home." Belmont said, watching the writer's leaving figure, "Why did you suddenly think of making an appointment with him in the Masonic Salon today?"

"Isn't the salon just a place for sharing hobbies?" Morgan had already put down the newspaper.

"Let's get down to business." He changed the subject.

"According to our estimates, the U.S. government should not have much gold in stock! Or, in other words, the entire United States does not have much gold!" Belmont said, "The Cleveland government is simply helpless in the face of the financial crisis, and their decisions have always been terrible."

"Oh?" Morgan sat on the sofa, tilted his head, supported his cheek with his hand, and crossed his legs. "So, are you planning to become America's creditor?"

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

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

Belmont seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world.

He burst into laughter:
"Morgan, stop making me laugh. Don't I know who you are? You and I are both bankers. Qualified bankers only serve capital, and capital has no nationality."

"If the U.S. government doesn't have gold in its vaults to pay its bills, the government's credibility will be completely bankrupt, and the dollar will become worthless." Belmont spread his hands. "So, what choice do they have?"

"In a week, several businessmen will hold bills worth a total of 10 million U.S. dollars and ask the U.S. government to redeem them. This will be the last straw that breaks the camel's back for Cleveland," Belmont said. "When that happens, we should take action!"

"Oh." Morgan moved his neck and said.

Mark Twain walked out of that seemingly very ordinary house.

Instead of going home directly, he went to Chen Jianqiu's home.

After the last incident, there are more police officers patrolling this luxury residential area on the Upper East Side.

The residents here were terrified.

They witnessed with their own eyes several bodies being dragged out of Chen Jianqiu's home.

These wealthy people thought this house was a haunted house.

Some of them kindly reminded Chen Jianqiu and his wife:

This house should be exorcised by a priest, otherwise the dead people will turn into evil spirits.

Chen Jianqiu and his wife laughed it off, leaving them with an extremely unforgettable sentence:
If they couldn't defeat me when they were alive, what could they do when they were dead? If you don't accept it, you can let "them" die again.

The patrolling police officers saw the writer and were about to approach him for questioning.

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

The writer was able to arrive at Chen Jianqiu's door unobstructed.

It was Camilla who opened the door.

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

"Chen is in the study on the second floor. Go up and turn right and it's the fourth room," she said to Mark Twain.

The writer finally met Chen Jianqiu in the study.

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

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

When Chen Jianqiu looked up and saw that it was the writer, he immediately stood up from his chair, walked up happily and gave this old friend a hug.

"There's nothing I can do. I'm too busy. The financial crisis has caused everyone to be overwhelmed. It's not easy to survive. We have to be cautious in everything and use our brains." He pointed at the pile of information and said helplessly.

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

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

"Please continue." Chen Jianqiu crossed his arms and pretended to listen.

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

"Rockefeller is declaring war on you."

"He has already declared war, so it's nothing new." Chen Jianqiu said with a wry smile, "Apart from anything else, his financial strength is indeed very strong."

He flipped through several data reports on his desk and suddenly remembered something:
"What was the last thing Morgan said to you?"

"Well, he said that if he has good tobacco in the future, he will definitely call me. He said that good things need to be shared."

After hearing this, Chen Jianqiu began to think:

"It seems like I really need to talk to this person, or he can come to me himself."

(End of this chapter)