The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 774 Ownership of the Panama Canal
Chen Zhengwei returned to the manor and found Big Poland in the living room downstairs. Big Head was secretly watching him from a distance. He had heard of this person, but this was the first time he had seen him.

There are two living rooms in this house, and unimportant people usually go to the small living room next to it.

The main living room is where important figures or Chen Zhengwei's trusted subordinates will be received.

"Boss!" Big Poland stood up with his fat body shaking up and down.

Previously, Chen Zhengwei asked him to stay in Cuba for three months, but after three months, he stayed there for another three months, and then another three months. He stayed there for a year and a half, and he even thought that Chen Zhengwei had forgotten about him.

"Hey, you look a lot thinner, which is good. You look more energetic!" Chen Zhengwei looked Poland up and down. It turned out that Poland's weight was over 400 pounds and heading towards 500 pounds.

Now I look to be around 300 pounds, and I have indeed lost a lot of weight.

"The girls there are so enthusiastic... and there aren't many delicious foods... I've lost weight..." Greater Poland was also very happy about this.

"It's better to be thinner, so you can live a few more years! But don't get fat again when you return to the United States!" Chen Zhengwei said. With his previous body shape in Greater Poland, he estimated that he could only live for five years.

The body shape looks good now, and it should be no problem for him to live for another ten years.

You have to know that Greater Poland is less than 35 years old now.

"Let's talk about the situation in Cuba!" Chen Zhengwei said after sitting down.

"It's still relatively stable. There are no problems with the plantations, sugar mills, and tobacco factories... Although the new governor of Cuba won't cause trouble for us openly... he has done a lot of things in secret to restrict our development."

"The new governor? He is very brave?" Chen Zhengwei said casually.

"He should have guessed that those rebels are related to us... After all, he is not blind. Those rebels have Remington rifles and bullets in their hands..." said Great Poland.

"But he didn't dare to do anything openly."

"I can only do some small tricks!"

"What's the situation with the resistance army? The one I met last time was called... Bronzebeard? Or something else?" Chen Zhengwei thought for a long time but couldn't remember.

"The bronze giant Antonio Maceo is very famous now." Big Poland said immediately, and then looked at the big-headed boy on the side, who was writing something with a pen.

He just noticed that when he was talking to Chen Zhengwei, something was written next to it.

There was no such thing before.

"Don't pay attention to him!" Chen Zhengwei followed his gaze and then looked away.

Big Head remembers everything. At first, Chen Zhengwei was interested in reading it, but later he became too lazy to read it.

Anyway, he still has to read it himself after binding it into a book.

"Antonio Maceo is now the leader of the largest independence army in Cuba, with more than 10,000 men under his command. He has caused a lot of trouble for the Spanish and is a major concern for the Spanish."

"Last year, after the new governor arrived, he mobilized the army to encircle and suppress him, but he escaped!"

"In February of this year, Antonio led his men to attack a Spanish military camp and robbed their warehouse..."

Then Greater Poland said contemptuously: "The new governor is much worse than the old one."

"The original governor divided some of Cuba's independence forces and eased the conflict with the indigenous people... I think he still wants to use the independence forces to fight the independence forces."

"But this new governor caused a lot of trouble after he came... and the conflict between the two sides intensified again. In addition, Antonio's influence grew stronger and stronger, and the independent forces that had originally joined the governor's office also rebelled..."

"I really don't know why Spain would allow such a piece of trash to be the governor!"

"I guess Spain felt that the previous governor was too weak and wanted to replace him with a tough one." Chen Zhengwei sneered.

"Boss, I think you are right." Dapolan said immediately.

Chen Zhengwei just thought about it briefly and made a casual guess, but it was also right on the mark.

Because the original governor almost opened the door to Cuba, let Chen Zhengwei in, and occupied a large number of plantations and factories through violence.

This made the Spanish nobles and politicians very unhappy, as they felt that their interests were being robbed.

They want to take back those plantations and factories, which represent huge profits.

Therefore, after the matter calmed down, the original governor was called back and replaced by a new governor.

"Replacing this person is also a good thing for us!" Chen Zhengwei thought for a while and said.

Since the other party is just making small moves and not causing too much trouble, then keep this new governor... He can bring greater value to Chen Zhengwei in this position.

After saying this, Chen Zhengwei mentioned another thing: "You turned around and saw a man named Zavi Migdal, who is your fellow villager."

"They are engaged in the white slave trade and have connections with many gangs in Eastern Europe... You can use them to establish relationships with those gangs in Eastern Europe, build a trade network, and sell arms and some drugs, such as morphine and laudanum, which are very profitable there."

Many places in Eastern Europe have highly centralized political systems like the empire... Ordinary people are not allowed to own guns. Even if they do, they are old-fashioned flintlocks and smoothbore rifles, and there are even fewer pistols. "

An ordinary revolver costs more than 100 rubles, equivalent to 50 US dollars.

In the United States, it only costs $7.

The bullets are more expensive over there.

As for drugs… there was no shortage of opioids, because Austria-Hungary grew a lot of poppies in its territory, the Balkans, and parts of Russia, and sold a lot of opium at a very low price. But refined drugs like morphine were in short supply there, the market gap was huge, and the profits were high.

"Boss, I thought I could take a break in Los Angeles for a while. I even bought a house here..." said Dapolan.

"You don't need to go there in person. Just pick some people to do it! All your subordinates are from Eastern Europe. It's best to leave this to you."

"That's good..." Great Poland said immediately.

"Build good relations with the local gangs. It would be best if we could support the two larger gangs and absorb them into the Disciplinary Committee! Use them to expand the influence of the Disciplinary Committee over there!" Chen Zhengwei continued.

In fact, this is the real thing.

“This way we can also have our own distribution channels…”

Great Poland also looked serious and nodded seriously.

He knows what's important.

Things like guns are actually just small businesses.

No matter how much he sells, it is only a business worth a few million or tens of millions every year. Although it is a big business for others, it is not an important business for Chen Zhengwei.

Directly provoke a war in a region and then sell weapons there. Although the profit is not that high, the sales volume is large enough.

And the Disciplinary Committee is the core.

Selling them those weapons and drugs is actually just maintaining this channel network.

"Since you have a house here, I don't need to arrange a place for you to stay. Let's have dinner at home tonight!" After Chen Zhengwei finished his business, he started chatting with Da Poland about family matters.

"You should eat more Chinese food, it's good for your body! Haven't you noticed that there are very few fat Chinese people?"

"I haven't eaten it for a long time! By the way, boss, your son... I also brought a gift for him!" Big Poland immediately smiled and took out a box from his luggage. When he opened it, there was a necklace made of a string of gold pieces, and each piece of gold was engraved with a radiating sun pattern.

"I got this from a Spanish man. He said it was his heirloom. It was said to come from the Inca Empire. Only their emperors and nobles would wear this kind of necklace..."

"A civilization that has already died...but this thing looks pretty good!" Chen Zhengwei picked up the necklace from the box, somewhat disdainful of the necklace's origin.

A remnant of a destroyed civilization... To him, it was not as good as the painting stolen from the Japanese Imperial Palace.

But at least it's a kind gesture from Greater Poland.

……

In mid-April, Colombia launched an offensive against Panama, mustering a total of more than 4 troops, which was the majority of the troops Colombia could mobilize.

After all, Colombia's army is not controlled by the government, but by the states, and is closely related to the political families in each state.

There is no way they will hand over their army to the Colombian government.

This army was borrowed from various states only after the Colombian president made a lot of promises.

The army then landed in Cologne at night and was ambushed, with more than half of the troops killed or wounded, and most of the remaining troops captured.

The casualties of the Free Panama rebels did not exceed 100.

This failure also meant that Colombia had completely lost hope of taking back Panama, and Panama’s independence was a foregone conclusion.

France then reached a private agreement with the US government, in which France gave up building the Panama Canal, and Chen Zhengwei leased his two ports and Hongji Coal Mine in Vietnam to the French for 98 years.

Because the contract Chen Zhengwei signed was for 99 years, and now there are only 98 years left.

Subsequently, the new government of Panama announced that Colombia had previously leased the rights to build and operate the Panama Canal to the French without the consent of the Panamanians, and that they had betrayed Panama's interests.

Therefore, Panama will take back the rights to drill and operate.

For the better development and brighter future of Panama, all countries will be invited to participate in negotiations to discuss the ownership of the canal construction and operation rights.

Panama's new government has not yet taken back the rights to build and operate the canal, waiting for France and the United States to reach an agreement.

This incident caused quite a stir in France, especially among the president of the French Interoceanic Canal Company and former French diplomat Fernand de Lesseps, who was furious and began to criticize France, the United States and Panama.

Because of the prospects of the Panama Canal, the French Interoceanic Canal Company has already raised a lot of investment in Europe and carried out a lot of preparatory work.

Now all that work has been wasted and the investment raised has to be returned.

Subsequently, a corruption scandal broke out within the French Interoceanic Canal Company. The company's president, Fernand de Lesseps, misappropriated a large amount of investment raised by the company for luxurious personal enjoyment, and bought several manors, castles and a large number of works of art in France.

A large number of investors came to the headquarters of the French Interoceanic Canal Company, wanting to get their investment back.

Just half a month later, an international conference attended by representatives from various countries was held in Panama to discuss the Panama Canal issue.

The meeting lasted for two days, and in the end the rights to build and operate the Panama Canal returned to the United States.

The American representative participating in this conference is... a pretty Chinese woman.

Mai Shirong, nicknamed Vegetarian Duck.

(End of this chapter)