Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 157 The Storm Is Brewing (5.2k)

“Shares in General Computer,” John Morgan said instinctively.

This is also what he feels he can be most proud of.

Coming from the Morgan family, they didn't believe there was anything money couldn't buy.

"I'm really not interested in money." The professor genuinely wasn't interested in money.

"Plus a huge secret, a super huge, incredibly huge secret." John Morgan's face was full of mystery.

Without even thinking, Lin Ran guessed what the other party was going to say: "Deal."

John Morgan asked in surprise, "Aren't you afraid that the secret I'm about to tell you won't meet your expectations?"

"Don't worry, I can always back out if your secret doesn't satisfy me," Lin Ran said.

The initiative is in my hands.

“Well, Kennedy is dying,” John Morgan said casually.

For ordinary people, this is bigger than the sky.

The president of the world's largest country is about to die.

Who is the murderer? Why? Who benefits from this? How many conspiracies and schemes are involved?

But to John Morgan, the matter seemed quite trivial, and he didn't take Kennedy seriously at all.

Lin Ran feigned shock, "Really?"

"Of course it's true, otherwise why would I have asked you to come to this hotel instead of going to the Redstone Base to see you?"

It's because this information needs to be kept a little secret, not too much.

"It's not easy to offend almost everyone, from the military to the IAC, to the BAC, and to the business world," John Morgan said.

John Morgan continued, "Professor, but you don't need to worry at all, because neither Kennedy nor Lyndon Johnson can shake your position."

After listening, Lin Ran asked curiously, "Who intends to kill him?"

John Morgan shook his head: "I don't know. Whether it's Cubans betrayed by the Bay of Pigs, assassins hired by the Democratic Party in the South who opposed the abolition of apartheid, white supremacists, or even gangsters who have been prosecuted, too many people could have been involved."

When these grievances come together, things will naturally happen.

No one needs to organize it, and no one needs to take action.

Killing someone isn't difficult; the difficult part is what happens afterward.

Once those who control the resources of this country reach a consensus, his life begins its countdown.

Kennedy would have met with an accident if the USSS personnel had simply relaxed their security measures even slightly; they wouldn't have needed to do it themselves.

The assurances made by the military, however, have made it possible for these forces dissatisfied with Kennedy to take action.

Lin Ran still couldn't get an answer from John Morgan.

I originally thought I would be able to find out exactly who did it.

Surprisingly, even John Morgan didn't know.

It's true that I've offended too many people.

It's fair to say that if we consider the 60s as a large-scale live-action simulation game unique to it, then the death of Kennedy is an indispensable large-scale DLC for this game.

In Lin Ran's view, Kennedy's death was a turning point for America that was just as important as the Tumu Crisis in the Ming Dynasty. From this turning point onward, America was headed towards the irreversible end of the empire, never to return.

In other words, the sudden collapse of Soviet Russia gave America a huge lifeline. Without this lifeline, America's collapse would have happened much sooner and the problems would have been much more severe.

“Professor, don’t you want to save Kennedy?” John Morgan asked.

Lin Ran shook his head: "I don't want to."

In ancient Chinese wisdom, this is called "prudent self-preservation," meaning one should know one's place.

Since everyone wants him dead, why should I save him?
If you can save someone once, can you save them a second time?

After Kennedy's death, Lyndon Johnson succeeded him as president and established the Warren Commission to investigate the death. The investigation concluded that Oswald acted alone and there was no evidence of collusion with domestic or foreign parties.

In 1992, Congress passed the Kennedy Assassination Files Collection Act, requiring all relevant files to be made public within 25 years, that is, by October 26, 2017.

Approximately 2.8 documents were released in 2017-2018, but some documents remain withheld due to pressure from the IA and BI.

As of 2020, when Lin Ran was in the news, there were still 1.6 documents that had not been declassified.

However, this does not preclude the possibility that Lin Ran knew the cause and effect, the ins and outs of this incident.

Although Lin Ran didn't know the truth, he at least knew who Kennedy had offended, and he confirmed this with John Morgan.

"The wisdom of the Chinese?" John Morgan thought to himself.

"But Professor, you made the right choice. You really can't save Kennedy."

From John Morgan's perspective, Lin Ran was just a scientist, and how could a scientist possibly save Kennedy?

Bruce Lee hadn't yet become a global sensation, and kung fu hadn't yet become synonymous with Chinese people.

Even if we have the concept of kung fu, it's strange to think that a scientist knows kung fu. Knowing kung fu is useless; can kung fu stop a bullet?
Kennedy's diplomacy was centered on the Cold War, emphasizing the containment of Soviet Russia while seeking limited détente with the Soviet Union.

Kennedy approved the Bay of Pigs invasion, an attempt to overthrow Cuba by training Cuban exiles. The invasion failed, resulting in the exiles being either captured or killed.

Because he was worried about offending the Soviet Union, he canceled large-scale air support at the last minute, offending the IA and the military leadership.

People like Richard Bissell and Lyman Lannitzer were very dissatisfied with Kennedy, believing that he lacked decisiveness and betrayed the Cuban exiles.

According to my sources, Kennedy even privately threatened to crush the IA.

Cuban exiles living in Miami, on the other hand, felt that Kennedy had abandoned them and failed to keep the promises he had made.

Cuban exiles are likely to take action; they hate Kennedy to the core.

If Ia makes even the slightest provocation, they might take action.

John Morgan quipped.

Clearly, Kennedy was not well-liked by the family, who had placed some bets on Nixon beforehand.

"His firing of IA Director Allen Dulles further exacerbated the IA's discontent."

In the subsequent Cuban Missile Crisis, although Professor's hotline was of great help, many hardliners actually believed that it was a failure of America and that America had compromised.

Although the Soviet missiles were eventually removed, the incident was broadcast live nationwide.

But the missiles were secretly withdrawn from Turkey as a condition for the withdrawal of missiles from Cuba.

It also offended the hawks in the military.

As far as I know, Curtis LeMay was very dissatisfied with Kennedy's weakness and believed that he had missed a great opportunity.

From the Bay of Pigs invasion to the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy bypassed everyone else in his negotiations, leaving his brother Robert to lead the talks.

The military was very dissatisfied with his diplomatic strategy, believing he was only interested in compromise.

Why do the military want to fight wars? Isn't it because they think the military-industrial complex can make money, and they can also make a fortune from it?

“Do you sense anything from this?” John Morgan asked.

Lin Ran said, "When undertaking great tasks, one should cherish one's life; when faced with petty gains, one should forget righteousness."

He always wavered between the two sides, offending everyone in the process.

Lin Ran gave a brief introduction to Yuan Shao, and John Morgan nodded: "That's right."

"Including Baiyue, he expanded our military presence in Baiyue, increasing the number of military advisors from 900 during Eisenhower's time to 1.6 today. He also approved the IA to conduct operations in Baiyue."

He did all the work himself, but then he signed a security action memorandum to gradually withdraw some of his advisors over the next two years.

He added the consultant himself, and then he wanted to withdraw. Don't you find that ridiculous?

"From the Pentagon to Lockheed, Boeing, and even General Electric, everyone wanted to expand the war to make a profit and was dissatisfied with Kennedy's intention to withdraw troops."

The records show that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Maxwell Taylor warned Kennedy that the withdrawal of troops could lead to the instantaneous collapse of forces on the Vietnamese border.

Wu Tingyan was overthrown with the assistance of the International Criminal Court (IA), but the assistance was limited and no further support was provided.

Kennedy's micromanagement of the Baiyue region provoked strong opposition from the military and conservatives.

"He also wants to pursue some limited détente with the Soviet Union this year." This refers to Kennedy's "Strategic Peace Speech" delivered in June of this year, following the Cuban Missile Crisis, in which he called for peaceful coexistence.

In August, it facilitated the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited atmospheric nuclear testing.

Europe is pleased with this, as it is a good thing for them.

After all, Soviet nuclear bombs might not be able to reach America's mainland, but they would certainly be able to reach Europe.

Even England, which wanted to cause trouble, didn't want the Soviet Union to conduct nuclear tests all the time.

But this led hawks to believe that negotiations or a halt to nuclear testing were both forms of appeasement.

After signing the Munich Agreement, Chamberlain returned to England and said, "I have brought a whole generation of war." Churchill commented, "Given a choice between war and disgrace, you chose disgrace, and you will have to fight a war in the future."

This lesson from the past was not long ago, and for those in power in Washington at that time, it was almost imminent.

That happened just over twenty years ago.

Back then, everyone was probably just an assistant; now they've become members of parliament.

From Congress to the military and within the IA, many were skeptical of Kennedy's foreign policy optimism.

The nuclear test ban restricts the development of new weapons and also affects the interests of the military-industrial complex.

Kennedy's détente policy was seen as a departure from the hardline Cold War approach, which angered a large faction within the party.

“This is just the number of people he has offended diplomatically; he has offended everyone domestically. His indecisiveness has caused everyone to have complaints,” John Morgan said with a wry smile.

Perhaps because he had benefited from Lin Ran and secured a contract with the Department of Defense for general-purpose computers, John Morgan was in high spirits and began to give orders:
"In domestic policy, he focused on the rights of the people, economic growth, and social welfare, but these touched the interests of conservatives and privileged groups."

The Civil Rights Act prohibited racial segregation and also deployed federal law enforcement officers to protect civil rights activists.

A march in support of Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington.

The Southern Democrats would love to skin him alive; Georgia Senator Richard Russell practically called him a donkey outright.

Russell strongly opposed the abolition of segregation, believing that Kennedy betrayed the racial order of the South.

White supremacists viewed Kennedy as a promoter of racial integration and staged numerous protests in the South.

Hoover felt that Martin Luther King Jr. and his group were not good at causing trouble. He monitored Martin Luther King Jr. through the "COINTELPRO" program and was extremely dissatisfied with Kennedy's attempt to pass the Civil Rights Act.

Kennedy's stance on this issue alienated Southern voters and the conservative Democratic Party.

"The stupidest one is the New Frontier Plan, which advocates tax cuts and increased government spending to stimulate economic growth."

While significantly lowering the top income tax rate is a good thing, increasing investment in education and healthcare could substantially increase national debt.

Your tax cuts benefit large corporations and wealthy individuals, but you also want to strengthen anti-monopoly oversight of businesses and implement price controls in the steel industry.

We only asked for a 6% price increase, and he started threatening us in all sorts of ways.

He even threatened to break up the Big Steel Company again. Who does he think he is, Roosevelt?
He also reduced tax breaks for the Texas oil industry in an effort to increase federal revenue. He offended almost everyone.

It's a bit like giving me a hundred dollars and then punching me.

There's a story behind this: the breakup of a monopoly.

The only person in history to accomplish this was Franklin D. Roosevelt.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Rockefeller family monopolized 80% of America's oil refining industry and 90% of its pipeline business, while America Steel Company held more than 65% of America's steel market. Together, they accounted for one-third of the nation's wealth.

The remaining two-thirds do not belong to the entire nation.

Including Rockefeller and America Steel, there were eight major conglomerates at the time, and America was practically their private kingdom.

For example, Northern Securities, one of the eight major conglomerates, monopolized the railway network in northwestern America and exploited farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises through fixed freight rates.

At that time, a unique term was also coined: trust monsters, which referred to these enormous creatures.

If they hadn't been split up, America today might actually be a cyberpunk society. Or rather, a large part of the inspiration for cyberpunk comes from these trust monsters in America's modern history.

First, Theodore Roosevelt stepped in, bypassing the traditional procedures of the Department of Justice and directly appointing a special prosecutor to prosecute Northern Securities for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act.

This company belongs to the Morgan family.

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to break up the company, setting a precedent for the federal government to directly challenge conglomerates.

Morgan attempted to negotiate with Roosevelt, but was rejected. He stated, "If the president wants to destroy my business, he should at least give me advance notice."

In 1902, the financial magnates, not to be outdone, instigated a strike by coal miners. Roosevelt directly threatened to send troops to take over the mines, forcing the owners to compromise and establishing an arbitration committee to compel the owners to accept an eight-hour workday and a 10% pay rise.

If Theodore Roosevelt was like that, then Franklin D. Roosevelt was even more outrageous.

Leaving aside the various divisions and federal government intervention in the economy, the Tax Act of 1935 directly levied a 79% income tax on people with an annual income of more than $10, and the progressive tax rate for people with an annual income of more than $500 million was as high as 94%. If wartime surcharges and state taxes were added, the tax rate reached a terrifying 99.5%.

Lin Ran had already noticed something. It repeatedly mentioned Texas. Wasn't it Texas where Kennedy was assassinated?
You just recently started repeatedly stabbing Texas industries in the back.

Price controls on the steel industry are indirectly impacting Texas's oil industry.

The price controls mentioned here refer to the April 1962 announcement by America Steel and other major steel companies that they would raise steel prices by $6 per ton, a move that drew strong opposition from Kennedy. Kennedy believed this would drive up prices and undermine his goal of economic stability.

Kennedy publicly condemned the steel company, accusing it of "disregarding the public interest."

"The steel company's actions are a blatant disregard for the American people," the White House said at a press conference.

Then threaten these steel companies, saying that an antitrust investigation may be launched. Get the Department of Defense to shift procurement contracts to smaller steel companies that haven't raised prices. Mobilize the Bureau of Investigation (BI) to investigate the steel companies' pricing practices, implying possible price manipulation.

It's an old tradition for Lin Ran to find a way to give the procurement contract to John Morgan.

The president manipulates large orders, while Lin Ran manipulates small orders.

In addition, the oil and steel industries are highly related.

It seems that oil extraction, transportation, and processing require large amounts of steel; drilling platforms, pipelines, storage tanks, and refining equipment all use steel. Controlling steel prices can reduce the operating costs of the oil industry.

The problem is that oil tycoons are also steel tycoons, and many Texas oil company owners also own steel mills.

Price controls have squeezed profits in the steel industry, limiting its expansion capabilities. However, steel mills also reduce investment in oil-related projects, delaying oil field development.

The most direct example is that in 62 and 63, exploration plans for the North Sea and Alaskan oil fields were hampered by a shortage of steel.

Therefore, Kennedy's economic maneuvering offended a large number of oligarchs.

Who are the people who can do the steel and oil business these days?

Those are all ruthless people.

Franklin D. Roosevelt's most ruthless move was to establish the Gold Reserve Act, which made it illegal for private individuals to hold gold and forced them to surrender it at a price of $20.67 per ounce, thus pushing the price of gold up to $35.

Franklin D. Roosevelt dared to do this because he controlled the army.

Kennedy dared not because he had not yet taken control of the military; in fact, he was on the path of offending the military with no turning back.

Both Roosevelt and his successor were Democratic presidents, and the current president, Kennedy, is also a Democratic president.

We're just asking for a tiny price increase, and you're already resorting to threats and bribes? What are you trying to do?

After Roosevelt came along, Kennedy arrived, right?

Although Kennedy's relationship with the military seems strained now, what if things change?
What if it happens?
We absolutely have to take him down.

The chaebols' unpleasant memories were awakened.

"It seems Kennedy is doomed. He's offended so many people," Lin Ran said.

John Morgan nodded and said, "That's right, as far as I know, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow."

In short, you could turn on the TV at any time and see all the news reporting on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

"Will replacing Lyndon Johnson affect General Aerospace and General Computer?" Lin Ran asked.

"Of course not. With Kennedy as a precedent, his successors will only be more cautious. And at most, eight years. Why always think about causing trouble? Wouldn't it be better for everyone to make money together?"

You even have to regulate price increases in the steel industry.

Some people tried to persuade Kennedy, but he wouldn't listen.

After John Morgan left, the room fell silent again. Lin Ran then put on his coat, took a sip of his whiskey, and disappeared into the night.

Lin Ran knew that Kennedy's death would stir up a storm, and he had to find the right camera position in that storm.

Nobody should interfere with me finding a suitable shooting location.

(End of this chapter)