North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 107 Have you ever thought about becoming president? (5,000 words)

"Mr. Lincoln, have you ever thought about becoming president?"

Lincoln was taken aback by Azu's sudden question!

"President? Me...?"

Azu nodded: "Yes! President Abraham Lincoln! I think the only way to fight the Freemasons is to become the President of the United States!"

“Mr. Lincoln, you are a very ambitious and idealistic politician. I believe you must have thought about becoming the President of the United States!”

"This...!" Lincoln was momentarily at a loss for words.

Azu smiled and raised his glass: "Mr. Lincoln, you've just completed a long sea voyage and must be very tired. Please rest well today! Tomorrow, I'll take you to meet the gentleman who created penicillin!"

Lincoln was indeed very tired, so he raised his glass and clinked it with Azu's: "Thank you again, Mr. Li, for your hospitality. Cheers!"

"Ding……!"

After their glasses clinked, the two men drank their wine in one gulp.

"Miss Monica, please escort Mr. Lincoln back to his room to rest!"

See you tomorrow, Mr. Li!

Lincoln stood up and shook hands firmly with Azu.

After seeing Lincoln off, Azu fell into deep thought.

Azu was unaware of this issue until Lieutenant Colonel Wharton revealed that Brigadier General George Phillips was a core Freemason.

His current focus is still on San Francisco and the whole of California.

In this land that has not yet truly joined the United States, the Freemasons' power is quite weak, almost non-existent.

But once California inevitably joins the United States, it will have to face the American government, Congress, judicial system, and... Freemasonry!

The reason he was able to thrive in California was because the existing forces in that land were not strong enough to begin with.

The Cameron family is one of the most prominent families in all of California.

The pillars of this family were merely a disabled retired colonel, a mayor of a small county-level city, and a young cavalry major.

But when he actually ventures into the entire West, or even the whole of America, will he still be able to do as well as he does today?

He was just a brigadier general who had joined the Freemasons, so I didn't dare to touch him easily!
Moreover, above the brigadier general, there are many more powerful figures.

Therefore, Azu felt he had to find a reliable ally within the core of American power!
It wasn't until he saw Lincoln in person that Azu truly realized that this ally was none other than Abraham Lincoln!
Overall, this future president, born into poverty, is a fairly upright person with an extremely strong and resilient spirit, and he is undeterred in his pursuit of his goals.

Moreover, this future president will enjoy extremely high prestige among ordinary people and the poor.

Having made up his mind, Azu rode in an armored carriage and left the "Rosewood Hotel" to the interim state council.

The state legislature was also converted from a private estate, and now, the owner is also Azu, but it is temporarily rented to the state legislature.

Here, Azu had no trouble getting through and found Edgar Allan Poe, the interim senator of the state legislature!

Both were too busy with their own affairs, and it had been a while since Azu and Edgar Allan Poe had seen each other.

"Hi BOSS!" Edgar Allan Poe was not too surprised to see Azu, who was buried in a pile of papers.

Even if Ah Zu doesn't come looking for him, he's prepared to go see Ah Zu right away.

"Bang, bang, bang!" Azu banged on the desk: "Our Speaker, could you please take a break from your busy schedule and meet with an ordinary citizen like me?"

"Haha!" Edgar Allan Poe finally put down his pen and rubbed his red, swollen, and sore eyes. "I'm sorry, my boss, everything is difficult at the beginning. There are just too many things going on in California right now, not to mention I'm also the Speaker of the San Francisco City Council. I simply can't handle it all!"

"Looks like it's time to assign you a few assistants!"

Ah Zu sat down across from him at his desk and said, "Speaker, guess who I just saw?"

Edgar Allan Poe stood up, poured himself and Azu two glasses of wine, and handed one to Azu, saying, "My boss, guess who I've met these past few days?"

"Boring!" Ah Zu picked up the wine and took a small sip, his brows immediately furrowing. He looked down at the wine glass and asked, "What kind of wine is this?"

“Absinthe!” Edgar Allan Poe laughed. “My boss, you don’t think everyone is like you, able to afford aged Macallan whisky, do you?”

“It’s too bitter!” Azu put down his glass. “Tomorrow I’ll have Monica send you a case of Macallan whisky.”

"No, don't send it to the office. I have a lot of people coming and going here, most of whom don't deserve to drink expensive Macallan whisky."

"let it go!"

“No, deliver it to my house!” Edgar Allan Poe winked at Azu.

After becoming the Speaker of the State Legislature, Edgar Allan Poe was clearly no longer suited to living in the shipyard building.

So he moved into the luxurious official residence that Azu had prepared for him as the speaker.

Azu continued, "Today, I met Abraham Lincoln!"

"Abraham Lincoln?" Edgar Allan Poe blinked in confusion, racking his brains for a long time but still unable to recall who that name belonged to.

"Huh? Mr. Speaker, you've never heard of Abraham Lincoln?" Azu was surprised.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking... I can't remember, who is this guy? What does he do?"

This is not Edgar Allan Poe's fault; it's just that in those days, Abraham Lincoln had not yet become president, but was merely a member of Congress, and was not worthy of being remembered by everyone.

If it weren't for the hotel staff's specialized training, probably very few people in all of California would have heard of this name.

Azu explained helplessly, "Abraham Lincoln was a famous lawyer and a former member of the U.S. Congress!"

“Oh…a fellow member of parliament!” Edgar Allan Poe exclaimed.

Azu continued, "Ellen, I think that now that we've developed to this point, we need to cultivate our own allies within the core of American power. What do you think?"

Upon hearing what Azu said, Edgar Allan Poe finally became serious: "Boss, even if you hadn't said it, I was just about to bring this up with you!"

"Oh?" Azu asked curiously, "What have you been through during this time? How come you're thinking the same thing as me?"

Edgar Allan Poe took a sip of absinthe and said in a deep voice, "Do you remember those letters I sent to the East last year?"

"Of course! Those letters brought us back several outstanding young people."

"Yes, Boss! But now, those letters are causing trouble!"

"Huh?" Azu was even more puzzled: "Those letters? Looking for trouble?"

“Yes!” Edgar Allan Poe nodded. “I mentioned penicillin in my letter, but it didn’t initially attract the attention of my friends in the East, who thought I was exaggerating.”

"But two or three months ago, didn't you, BOSS, have our merchant fleet transport a small batch of penicillin to the east to test the market's reaction?"

Azu replied, "Yes, that small batch of penicillin was released to the east to prepare for its large-scale market release later."

"That small batch of penicillin caused quite a stir in the east because its effects were truly miraculous!"

Edgar Allan Poe continued, "It was because of its miraculous effects that penicillin finally attracted the attention of my friends and others."

"Other people?" Azu frowned. "Let me guess, could it be... Freemasons?"

Edgar Allan Poe's eyes widened instantly: "Boss, how did you know?"

"Hehe!" Azu was also a little surprised: "It really is them? The name Freemason has been swirling in my mind these past two days. I guessed casually, and it actually came true?"

“Yes, Boss!” Edgar Allan Poe replied in a deep voice, “Just yesterday, I wrote to a friend in the East, Peterson, who came to me with two Freemasons.”

"What do they want? What do they want?" Edgar Allan Poe replied, "They want to buy shares in our pharmaceutical factory!"

"How much are they asking for?" Azu asked, his expression unchanged.

"70%!"

"Heh!" Azu sneered, "70%? They really dare to ask for that!"

Azu then asked, "What was your reply to them?"

Edgar Allan Poe shrugged: "I told them that the pharmaceutical company had nothing to do with me, and they had come to the wrong person!"

"And then what did they say?"

"They demand that I introduce them to you, Boss. If they can't see you or your demands aren't met, they'll suppress penicillin, block its sales channels, and even...!"

"Even what?"

"They even made personal threats against me and you, Boss!"

"Just as I expected!" Azu pondered, picked up the wine glass he had put down, and took another sip of the bitter absinthe.

“Ellen, you’re in charge of stalling them. Tell them I haven’t returned to San Francisco yet, and keep them occupied for a few days.”

Edgar Allan Poe asked, "Boss, what's the point of stalling them for a few more days? Sooner or later we'll still have to face their coercion!"

Ah Zu took another sip of absinthe and found that the bitter taste made his mind exceptionally clear.

"Ellen, I need these few days to clarify someone's attitude!"

"Who?" Edgar Allan Poe thought for a moment: "Boss, are you talking about Abraham Lincoln?"

"Yes!"

Edgar Allan Poe pondered, "If Mr. Lincoln were still a member of Congress, he might be able to play a role. But now that he's not even a member of Congress, how can he possibly contend with the Freemasons?"

"Don't underestimate this Mr. Lincoln. In my opinion, he is the most likely candidate to become the President of the United States in the future!"

"The President? Abraham Lincoln? How could that be?" Edgar Allan Poe exclaimed in a low voice.

"Hehe, Ellen, my friend, don't be too surprised. Believe me, anything is possible!"
-
The next day, early in the morning, Azu and his armored carriage arrived on time at the entrance of the Rosewood Hotel to pick up Abraham Lincoln and his assistant.

“Mr. Lincoln, did you rest well yesterday?” Azu asked with a smile.

“Mr. Li, this is the first time I’ve slept in such a luxurious room, and I’m quite unaccustomed to it!” Lincoln replied. “However, I must admit, it is also the most comfortable room I have ever stayed in!”

“Mr. Lincoln is comfortable here, that’s enough!” Azu laughed. “Today, I’ll first show you around the businesses under that gentleman’s name, and then I’ll take you to meet the gentleman who created penicillin, how about that?”

"Of course, Mr. Li, I am very touched by your enthusiasm."

So, for the entire day, Azu took Abraham Lincoln on a quick tour of all of his major properties.

Shipyards, machine shops, garment factories, textile mills, smelters, trading companies, shipping companies, mining companies, and militia regiments undergoing training!

As Abraham Lincoln traveled along, he became increasingly astonished that this man he had never met possessed such a vast fortune!
The fact that the man had two such large militia groups under his command was particularly unbelievable.

What exactly does a businessman with such a powerful armed force want to do?
However, Lincoln quickly came to terms with it!
In this wild west, without a strong armed force, it would be impossible to protect such a large industry and such enormous wealth.

Especially after the series of bloody incidents in San Francisco last year, having strong military force has undoubtedly become even more important.

Finally, Azu brought Lincoln into his pharmaceutical factory.

In the pharmaceutical factory, on a production line designed by Azu himself that was ahead of its time, vials of penicillin were being produced in an endless stream!
Witnessing the endless stream of penicillin being produced, Abraham Lincoln became excited!

In his view, each vial of penicillin might represent the potential to save a precious life!

Looking at the advanced production lines he had never seen before and the endless stream of penicillin, he couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Li, didn't you tell me that penicillin production is extremely difficult and hard to mass-produce?"

"Why is it that penicillin production doesn't seem as difficult as imagined, and has already achieved large-scale production?"

Azu replied, "Mr. Lincoln, based on the current output of the pharmaceutical factory, it can produce about three thousand vials of penicillin per day, and about one million vials per year!"

"This number sounds like a lot, but for countless patients around the world, this production volume is negligible! It doesn't even qualify as large-scale production."

Lincoln's assistant did the math: "One million doses of penicillin a year, and even if each dose costs one hundred dollars at the factory, that's... one hundred million dollars!"

"Earning a hundred million dollars a year, my God...!"

"Hehe!" Azu laughed, "Assistant, that's not how you calculate it! The production of penicillin is indeed facing a series of difficulties, and the cost is very high!"

Even Lincoln couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Li, do you know exactly how much a vial of penicillin costs?"

“About thirty dollars!” Azu replied.

Of course, Ah Zu wouldn't tell them the truth and that the cost of a vial of penicillin was no more than two dollars!

That would seem too sensational, and it would make it seem like I was being incredibly greedy to price it at $100!
“That year you could earn seventy million dollars…!” The assistant was shocked again.

Lincoln also pondered, "One million doses of penicillin a year could save a million lives! What if it were ten million or a hundred million doses a year? The whole world would benefit immensely from penicillin!"

“Yes!” Azu replied, “I think that gentleman is also eager to expand production and lower prices, but he is currently facing a series of problems.”

"Is it the Freemasons you mentioned yesterday, Mr. Li?" Lincoln pressed.

Azu nodded: "Let's go, Mr. Lincoln. We've seen everything we needed to see. I'll take you to meet that gentleman now."

Upon hearing this, Abraham Lincoln was immediately filled with anticipation.

Azu led them to the study in the shipyard's office building.

Inside the study, Parker Parker was already waiting.

Upon entering the room and seeing Peter Parker, Abraham Lincoln felt that this elegant and refined middle-aged gentleman perfectly matched his image of the creator of penicillin!

Parker Parker rose from behind his desk, smiled, and shook hands firmly with Abraham Lincoln.

“Mr. Lincoln, hello, I am Parker Parker, MD, Yale University, and a Presbyterian medical missionary in North America!”

"Now, I am also the general manager of Huamei Pharmaceutical Factory!"

A medical doctor, a Presbyterian medical missionary... Yes, everything makes sense!
Only such an outstanding person could create such a miraculous drug as penicillin, right?
So Abraham Lincoln gripped Parker's hand even tighter and harder!
"Mr. Parker, thank you for creating penicillin, this miraculous drug for all mankind. You have personally saved countless precious lives!"

Parker Parker maintained his smile calmly: "Mr. Lincoln, I think you've misunderstood! I didn't create penicillin; I merely manage this pharmaceutical factory for him!"

"Not you...?" Lincoln was startled again. "Then who could it be?!"

Parker Parker's smiling gaze turned to Azu beside him!

Following Parker's gaze, Lincoln's gaze finally landed on Azu!

“Mr. Lee…?” Abraham Lincoln was more shocked than ever before in his life: “This… how is this possible?”

“Yes!” Parker Parker replied, “He is the one who created the miraculous drug penicillin and owns such a huge industry—this young Chinese man in front of you!!!”

As Azu was pouring drinks, upon hearing this, he smiled and raised his amber-colored Macallan whiskey, giving Lincoln a slight nod.

"Lee, could it be... that all of this... really was you?!" Abraham Lincoln still found it hard to believe!

Azu handed Lincoln a glass of wine: "I'm sorry, Mr. Lincoln, I had to keep it from you for a day!"

"Everything you see today, including penicillin, belongs to my business!"

Abraham Lincoln, shocked, asked, "Mr. Li, you are so young, and you've only been in America for a short time. How did you manage to do all this?!"

(End of this chapter)