Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 155: The Landlord and the Real Business War

"Yeah~ Do you like it?" Evelyn asked with a smile.

He raised his hand and tapped lightly, his white fingertips sweeping out fan-shaped lines. "All the land you see now was bought with our money. If it were extended forward, it would even reach Saratoga."

Saratoga is a city in Santa Clara County, California. It is bordered by Cupertino to the north, Los Gatos to the south, and mountains to the west. If you go east, you can quickly reach the county seat, San Jose.

Last year, when Evelyn said she wanted to buy land to build a manor, Thomas, who thought he had to use agricultural land to reduce taxes, began looking for suitable plots of land, and his target was the area around Los Gatos where his home was. There were two reasons: the first was that it was close to home and the environment was familiar. Although there might be some premium when buying, if there was any trouble, he could solve it with his many years of connections; the second was that Los Gatos itself was an agricultural town. In addition to the navel oranges that Thomas ran, there were also large tracts of wheat fields and cotton fields. When agricultural operations had become a habit and the nature of the land did not need to be changed, it was much easier to buy existing land than to develop wasteland.

Therefore, under Thomas's operation, he has been buying up a lot of agricultural land here since October last year with the company jointly established by Ethan and Evelyn, which is the only source of funding from the licensing income of the Snake book. Earlier this year, the second dividend from Nintendo was injected into the company by the two and then spent by Thomas. After nearly 10 million US dollars were invested by him, the agricultural land north of Los Gatos also became the assets of Jones and Johnson Agricultural Production Company. They also bought a lot of land in Saratoga near Los Gatos. If they also invest the third dividend settled by Nintendo in the next few months, then in the future, when Jobs walks around his home, he will be able to see their fields.

If it's not wheat, it's almonds. If it's not almonds, it's cotton...

If we paint eyes on the crops one by one, then everything that Xiao Qiao does will be under Ethan's eyes. At that time -

Hey ~
You slack off every day and don’t go to the company, right?
I watch you!

Hehe ~
The plan to persecute Xiao Qiao succeeds!
And the reason why Ethan was inspecting his own farmland at this moment was all Evelyn's fault.

After finishing all the work in Los Angeles, Ethan suggested going out for a walk and some fun. After all, working all day would only wear out your interest, and proper relaxation would turn your passion into life. But like Ethan, Evelyn had no interest in the traffic-congested City of Angels, and they had already been there for a long time during their vacation last summer, so Evelyn suggested going out to see their own land.

At first, Ethan didn't really care about this kind of thing.

Although he knew that land was the real non-renewable resource, if the rich did not own land, they would be like duckweed in a pond without roots. No matter how much stock market value they had, it would all be a fantasy before it was converted into cash. If the money in a bank account was not spent, it would be no different from a string of numbers.

But even if the land is awesome, it doesn’t look good!
It's pitch black and slippery, and you can't see any flowers at all!
But when Ethan followed his sister back to Los Gatos where he had lived for a long time, and saw the golden wheat fields, the harvest that was coming in front of him and the fact that he couldn't even touch it made him feel extremely beautiful.

"Are you sure everything here belongs to us?" Ethan still couldn't believe it.

"Of course! If you don't believe me, go back and ask Thomas now!" Evelyn smiled and said, "He should be at home now, because after taking over the company, Linda said that he rarely went to the orchard. Now he is only responsible for overall planning, and the rest is handed over to the people around him. After acquiring this place, he also retained the original employment system, allowing the original workers to stay and continue to work, but sent the old people who had followed him for decades to replace the vacant management positions of farmers."

"In his words, those people have been with him all their lives and are old. They can continue to work, but since there is an opportunity, let them take a break. In society, those illiterate old people may not be able to find an easy job, but they have been working around the land all their lives, and it is still very easy for them to help watch over this place. When he gave those people their salary, he also told me that each person would get 12,000 US dollars a year, and at the end of each year, they would get a 1% commission on the sales of their crops. Although this salary is a bit high, it is more reassuring to use them than to use others, isn’t it?"

Since the idea of ​​building the manor was Evelyn's, Thomas was the one in charge of the operation. Since the second half of last year, Ethan had been busy with many miscellaneous matters such as factory riots, elections, and surprise attacks by rivals, so the matter of buying the land was directly communicated between Thomas and his daughter.

Although the results of the father and daughter's work are very fruitful, but...

"No, aren't you going to build a manor?"

“Why did you suddenly buy so much land?”

"Where's the manor?"

Ethan came to his senses and discovered the problem.

Although he has lived two lives as a human, he has only seen people selling dog meat under the guise of selling mutton. And now, Evelyn has become a farmer under the banner of building a manor?

If this were put in a composition, it would be completely off topic!

In response to Ethan's question, the girl's answer was very simple.

"Because there is too much money to spend."

'? ? ? '

"What the hell! What a ridiculous excuse!"

Ethan was shocked.

The girl smiled and said, "How much does it cost to build a manor? Even if we spend as much as we can, it will only cost a few million at most, and this kind of hedonistic consumption cannot be deducted from taxes."

"In order to pay less taxes, we have no choice but to buy land for production. We use our personal income to invest in agricultural production to reduce taxes, and then use the income from agricultural output to build manors. In this process, the latter is also considered as part of the construction of supporting facilities for agricultural production when doing accounting, so..."

“Isn’t this a virtuous cycle?”

"... A virtuous cycle of divine special codes!"

Invest your own income in agriculture, and then use the agricultural income to build a manor?

This development was beyond Ethan's expectations.

But tax avoidance...

Ethan supports this.

"So how much land do we have now?" he asked, taking a deep breath.

"When Thomas told me before, it was almost 5,000 acres."

Evelyn thought for a moment and said, "That was when Star Wars was released. Now, it should be closer to six thousand or seven thousand. After all, farmland is cheap."

'...'

Although the number of six or seven thousand acres is not enough compared with the big landowners in later generations, after all, the land owned by those guys is measured in units of one million acres. But for Ethan, who had been struggling for several years in his previous life and could not afford a pigeon cage, this area is already large enough!
The huge man directly touched the golden ears of wheat with his fingers!
Row across the heavy bag of grain!
When the breeze blew, the rustling sound inspired him to take a step forward and run!

"Ha ha ha ha--"

He laughed loudly.

"I have land—I have land—"

He shouted loudly.

"From today on, I am also a landlord! ——Hahahaha——"

Evelyn smiled at his neurotic behavior.

Just as she was about to raise her hands and make a horn gesture to signal Ethan not to run too far, a scream of "Ah——" suddenly came into her ears, and the sound and shadow on the ridge of the field disappeared directly.

This situation made Evelyn frown suddenly, "Ethan? - What's wrong with you?" She shouted and rushed over, and when she arrived at the place where Ethan disappeared...

The scene before her made her laugh and cry.

Ethan was lying in the wheat field with his limbs spread out and his face facing the sky, like the Chinese character "木".

His arms slid and his legs kicked as if he wanted to fly.

The excitement emanating from his face seemed tangible.

Ethan is so happy!
Because no matter how many years human civilization develops! No matter how many times society progresses! The profession of landlord will always exist. In this world, no one can refuse to become a landlord!
And collecting rent...

That is actually everyone’s dream!
Although he fell while jumping and running, he rolled in the field and got himself dirty.

But Ethan didn't care.

He cut a piece of wheat and hung it in the car, then returned to his home in Los Gatos with Evelyn.

After meeting Thomas and Linda whom he hadn't seen for a long time, Ethan, who was very happy about the farm plan, gave them a big hug and kissed them on the cheek.

"Oh - Thomas, Linda, I really miss you so much -"

"We don't want you!" Thomas said with a look of disgust, "I'm very busy now!"

"People call me President Johnson!"

"Oh - showing off again -" Linda smiled and hit him a few times, then said to the two of them: "Don't pay attention to him, he's not in his right mind right now."

"After you handed over the agricultural production company to him, officials from the Santa Clara County Agriculture Department came almost every month. State officials also came a few times. The president of the California Agricultural Production Association invited him to become a supervisor of the association. And those agricultural trade supply companies would call him every quarter..."

"When they met him, they called him president, president. As they kept calling him that, he lost consciousness."

"Oh Linda - who are you calling insane?" Thomas said unhappily, "I'm clear-headed now! Milpitas, where Ethan's factory is located, is also a city in Santa Clara County. As long as we have enough land here and employ enough workers, the children will have fewer problems -"

“I may not understand other things, but I know that agriculture is the most important industry!”

"You can go without TV, games or even clothes, but you can't go without food!"

'……' The clever words left Linda speechless.

As Aunt Linda was speechless, Thomas, who had become the emperor of the family, burst into laughter.

This behavior made Linda realize that she was being fooled and she started to hit him. While Thomas was screaming in pain, Ethan and Evelyn laughed and pushed them into the house from behind, holding their shoulders.

Because they hadn't been home for a long time, they stayed at home for dinner that night. After a short chat, they felt a little tired and went straight to rest at home.

The next day, Thomas took the two of them to inspect his territory like a king. Ethan, who had finally recovered, said goodbye to his uncle and aunt and returned to Palo Alto.

And when they walked into the company in the afternoon... the registration information on the visitor list shocked Ethan.

"Julis, what's going on?" Ethan called his administrative director.

"Are all these people here to see me?" he asked, pointing at the list.

"Yeah~" Julis Noble nodded and said, "We came together yesterday afternoon."

"That scene was so embarrassing to watch." She shuddered.

"Oh——" Ethan nodded, "Are you all here to discuss cooperation?"

"Yes," Julis Noble replied.

"Then give them a call back and help me politely decline the offer." Ethan handed over the visitor list. "Just tell them that I'm out of ideas and that we can talk about cooperation later."

In fact, when Ethan first started the company, he didn't want to collaborate with others on games.

It’s not a question of whether he is arrogant or not, but when he cooperates with others with a bunch of games in his mind, isn’t that just like giving money to others stupidly?
As for Star Wars?
It was just an accident, right?

When he wants to defeat his opponent with lightning speed, this two-pronged approach that rides on the tide of the times can capture the public's attention in the shortest time. When public attention is firmly attracted by him, the opponent's products will naturally disappear.

After defeating the enemy, the only thing left is to continue making money.

When the company's business goals returned to normal, only Roy Disney's idea of ​​cooperative development could arouse his interest. Unfortunately...

"Hey - you guys are just fighting among yourselves!"

Ethan felt very sorry.

However, his polite refusal did not extinguish the fire of hope among those people.

Shortly after Julis Noble came to report and told Ethan that she had made the call, those people came again. It was not until then that Ethan realized that they were eager to make a profit and had not left at all. They had stayed in a hotel in Palo Alto last night.

Since these people were so enthusiastic, Ethan had no choice but to meet with them.

This meeting——

He instantly saw the diversity of the human species.

Disney's head, Dwayne Tatum, directly brought up Steven Spielberg, hoping to reach a collaboration with him through this relationship.

After Ethan called Stoudemire, he was playing games in the Universal office and said directly that Disney had signed a CD distribution contract with MCA overnight, so -

"From a friend's perspective, I certainly support your personal decision. But from my own perspective, I hope you can cooperate with Disney." Spielberg said on the other end of the phone: "After all, Sidney is very good to me. This trade-off is difficult for me."

"I'm sorry, brother. I've already told Sidney that I don't want to get involved in this matter. Now, I want to say this to you again. We are still brothers, but I can't interfere in your cooperation with Disney, and I don't want to guide or interfere with you."

Perhaps because he had already told Ethan about the internal affairs of Disney, Spielberg's words now were very sincere.

After hanging up the phone with him, Ethan met with Michael Eisner from Paramount. This guy didn't follow the normal approach. After expressing that Paramount was willing to cooperate with "Star Trek" and Game of Fate, he went straight to talking about other things.

"Ethan, can I call you that? I heard that Professor Barbara Babcock in the Ministry of Justice is your friend? When she published a collection of women's cases, you bought her case collection and donated it to some schools on the West Coast?"

Michael Eisner leaned back in his chair and said with a smile, "I have a certain understanding of her. She is very capable and has very avant-garde ideas. The position she is sitting in now is not suitable for her status at all. What do you think?"

Ethan understood.

Then he smiled and sent the other person out.

If Disney and Paramount are paying real money, then MGM and Columbia are serious partners...

Well, actually it’s not serious.

Because while MGM was bringing out Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse, they also hoped that Ethan could develop some interesting slot machines for them, and they could also give a one-point commission on this part of the revenue.

There's no way, because their main business is in Las Vegas.

Unfortunately, Ethan is not interested in this.

And when Ethan talked with David Beigelman, the head of Columbia, he was even more surprised.

"What are you saying? Walt Disney and Roy Disney once ripped off Ray Kroc?"

This news turned Ethan into a badger in a melon field, with twisted eyes wanting to taste the delicious food.

"Yeah!" David Beigelman was very satisfied with Ethan's curiosity. He nodded vigorously and said, "Ethan, I'm telling you, you must not cooperate with Disney--"

"Because their family has a criminal record!"

"You should know that Ray Kroc and Walt Disney are both from Chicago, right?"

"Although Ray Kroc's family background was not as good as Walt Disney's, well... well, Ray Kroc was born in the lower class, but they knew each other before they became successful."

"It was WW1, and they both chose to enlist, but because they were not old enough to go to the front, they both ended up becoming volunteers for the International Committee of the Red Cross and trained together at the Chicago Navy Pier."

"The same experience and the same choice brought them together. After retiring from the army, Walt Disney became a painter and then came to Los Angeles, while Ray Kroc continued to work."

"On the surface, it seemed like they would never cross paths again, because Walt Disney became an overnight success after arriving in Hollywood, while Ray Kroc found the McDonald brothers when he was 50 years old."

"But that's not the case. After discovering that the McDonald brothers used standardized kitchens to sell hamburgers, he approached Walt Disney after getting the franchise because he thought this standardized kitchen business model could be used in Disneyland in Anaheim. And he wanted to open McDonald's in Disneyland."

"Walt Disney refused, saying Disney had no use for it, and Ray Kroc had to return home to start a company."

"But what's the reality? Disneyland has been selling burgers and fries since it opened!"

"The central kitchen model, which was not popular at the time and not many people even knew about it, appeared directly in Disneyland!"

"The Disney brothers just ripped off Ray Kroc's idea!"

"When the founders of a company can do such a thing! When their descendants fight over the management rights of the company! It is really risky to cooperate with them!"

gushed Columbia Pictures' David Beigelman.

Seeing the waving hands and spit flying, Ethan nodded repeatedly.

"Oh David, you're right!" Ethan agreed.

"Really?" David Beigelman's eyes lit up and he said, "Ethan, my friend, even if our cooperation fails, I hope you can choose your partners carefully and never be deceived."

"Oh - thank you for the reminder - you are really a good person -"

Ethan handed him a card and sent him out.

When he returned to the office and sat in the soft boss chair, he suddenly burst out laughing while lying on his back.

To be honest, Ethan was really about to be defeated by these people!
As managers and heads of listed companies, these guys really have no character at all!
Disney made a triangular deal, Paramount exchanged resources, MGM played its trump card, and Columbia...

That was a plain and direct way of exposing the competitor's dirt.

Although this method is indeed useful, because Disney copied McDonald's business model, Ethan, who wanted to distance himself from Disney, disliked them even more, but...

Well, this method is actually not low.

As long as the goal can be achieved, all methods are good methods.

"Oh - this is business war -"

“This is really interesting…”

Ethan shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

After sighing, he sat up again.

Since he decided not to cooperate with these companies, he would naturally equip the upcoming home console with a trump card game, and the content of the game...that would naturally be the last act of the trilogy that had been decided before!

Ethan took out a handwriting paper and wrote a line of words on it——

"Northern Cube".

Note: ① In America, directly buying ready-made agricultural land, or even agricultural land with attachments, is a very common business in itself. In other words, in their agricultural investment methods, there are capitalists who directly purchase existing farms and then lease them back to the original farmers. For example, Gates did this with a lot of his land because he couldn't find so many people to arrange the operation. This approach looks stupid, because the farmers are still farming, but they have lost the most valuable land, and have changed from the original landlords to tenants, and have only received a sum of money that will depreciate, but in fact, it is still a business for the farmers, because after they get the money, they will continue to operate the farm, and then use the money they earn to buy wasteland and transform them into agricultural land and continue to sell. This involves another common land transaction in America, called land transformation. The return rate of this business is actually very high. ② The story about McDonald's founder Ray Kroc being cheated by Walt Disney was reported by Rolling Stone. The original article at that time also included a reply from Walt Disney. Walt Disney agreed to McDonald's entering Disney, but they wanted to take a direct commission based on the number of units sold, and if it exceeded 30%, Ray Kroc disagreed.

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(End of this chapter)