North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 67 Legal Robbery

At this point, Azu suddenly remembered something else.

"Captain, the Cameron family has fallen. Didn't they own the largest shipping company in the entire bay area?"

Azu asked, "So now, who has Cameron's shipping company in their pocket?"

Vic thought for a moment: "I haven't been paying attention to this. Maybe I should go ask about it right away...!"

"No need to ask!" Edgar Allan Poe interjected. "The whereabouts of the Cameron family's main assets are all in my head."

"The vast majority of the Cameron family's real estate, including the luxurious Cameron Estate, now belongs to Acting Mayor Mr. Locke!"

"The Cameron family's gold mining company is now in Chief Hawke's pocket!"

"The Cameron family's trading company is now owned by City Council Speaker Cox!"

"The Cameron family's shipyard is now under the command of Commander Hamilton of the San Francisco Militia!"

……

"As for the Cameron family's shipping company...!" Edgar Allan Poe paused here, then asked in suspense, "Boss, why don't you guess whose pocket it ended up in?"

Azu grinned: "Since Mr. Allen asked me to guess, it must be some powerful person I know!"

"Among all the people I know in the Bay Area, the only ones who can be considered powerful and influential are Bishop Evan and... our respected banker, Mr. Ross!"

"Although Archbishop Evan has enough power, as a high-ranking clergyman, he shouldn't be so greedy, nor would he be interested in shipping companies."

Azu replied with a smile, "Then, only Mr. Ross is left, right?"

“That’s right!” Edgar Allan Poe nodded with a smile. “The shipping company did indeed end up in Mr. Ross’s pocket, but not entirely!”

"Shortly after the Cameron family fell, this esteemed Mr. Ross brandished a huge loan agreement and took the Cameron family to court, demanding that they repay the huge loan that had already come due."

"However, the entire Cameron family has disappeared. In the absence of the trial, our judge swiftly and naturally awarded the Cameron family's shipping company to Mr. Ross to offset the loan."

"Of course, I also have solid evidence that Judge Lawrence, who ruled on this case, owns a large stake in Ross's Bay Area Bank."

"Therefore, Your Honor, Judge Lawrence, has in fact become one of the major shareholders of Cameron Shipping Company!"

"Clap clap clap!" Azu clapped his hands with a smile: "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! This kind of legal and legitimate plundering of other people's assets is simply beyond reproach!"

Everyone present wore a knowing smile.

Then Azu asked, "So, Ellen, will we see the inside story of this judicial trial in tomorrow's inaugural issue of the Standard?"

Edgar Allan Poe nodded and said, "Of course, this is one of the pieces of evidence that has completely sealed Mr. Ross's fate!"

"No...!" Azu stopped him, saying, "We can report on everything else, but we'd better not get involved in this matter!"

"Why? My boss, why?" Edgar Allan Poe was utterly bewildered.

So does everyone else.

Ah-Zu explained to himself and others present: "If we make this dramatic judicial trial public, will the verdict be overturned?"

Edgar Allan Poe thought for a moment and replied, "Very likely!" Azu continued, "Once the verdict is overturned, will Cameron Shipping Company no longer belong to Bay Area Bank and Mr. Ross?"

"Indeed it is!"

Azu smiled and took a sip of his drink: "But I want Cameron Shipping Company... and at the lowest possible cost!"

Edgar Allan Poe was also an extremely intelligent man. After hearing what Azu said, he thought about it for a moment and suddenly realized the truth.

Having grasped Azu's line of thought, Edgar Allan Poe stared at Azu with wide eyes and exclaimed, "Boss, you're a devil! No... you're an incredible genius!"

Vivian and the others were still confused, their little faces full of bewilderment. They asked, "Grandma, what's wrong with Mr. Allen? Why did he call you a devil and a genius? What are you talking about?"

Azu didn't answer directly, but just smiled and said, "It's nothing! Perhaps, Cameron Shipping Company will soon be ours!"

Acquire Cameron Shipping Company?
That was a behemoth with twelve ocean-going sailing ships, more than thirty coastal steamships and galleons!
Moreover, Cameron Shipping is now under the control of Bay Area Bank and Judge Lawrence, a combination of formidable financial and judicial power!
How could they just take it down like that?

Of everyone present, only Daisy was able to somewhat keep up with the train of thought of Azu and Edgar Allan Poe.

She frowned, pondered for a long time, and finally thought of something.

"Wow...!" Daisy couldn't help but exclaim, then quickly covered her mouth.

Captain Vic turned to look at her, frowning. "My dear daughter, what's wrong?"

Daisy, covering her mouth, quickly shook her head.

Azu smiled slightly at Daisy: "Beautiful and intelligent Miss Daisy, have you thought of something? We're all on the same side here, so just say what you're thinking and see if you think the same thing as me."

Daisy lowered her hand from her mouth and asked uncertainly, "Boss, I... can I really tell you?"

"Of course we can talk about it! This time, it's an open strategy, no need to hide anything!"

"Ahem!" Daisy cleared her throat and glanced at Azu somewhat timidly.

Only after Azu nodded at her with an encouraging look did she speak up: "As everyone knows, tomorrow, the inaugural issue of our Standard will feature on the front page the dirty tricks that Mr. Ross and his Bay Area Bank have been up to!"

“Mr. Allen, we have enough evidence to crucify Mr. Ross and Bay Area Bank.”

"After tomorrow, Mr. Ross and Bay Area Bank will be discredited and their reputations ruined, and they may face many lawsuits as a result!"

“We can easily imagine that Bay Area banks will face an unprecedented run on their banks! No one will deposit their money in Bay Area banks, and those who have already deposited money will rush to withdraw all of it!”

"A massive bank run is the ultimate nightmare for any bank!"

"A bank run will drain all the funds from Bay Area banks in a very short time! After that, Bay Area banks will be unable to fulfill depositors' withdrawal requests, and Mr. Ross and his Bay Area banks will only have one option left!"

Bankruptcy...!

“No…!” Azu shook his head slightly: “Mr. Ross can also urgently sell all his assets to raise funds to deal with the run on the bank!”

Azu smiled and continued, "During this period, almost all the powerful figures in San Francisco were eager to swallow up the Cameron family's assets, which consumed a lot of financial, material, and human resources."

"So... now, who has the capability to come up with a large amount of cash in a very short time and acquire the assets under Mr. Ross and the Bay Area Bank?"

(End of this chapter)