I was the Founding Father of the United States

Chapter 180 Bonds and Divine Revelation

Selling corporate bonds to the upper echelons of the North American colonies was a way for Chen Wenbin to continue this model of binding interests in order to minimize obstacles to development in the West.

After all, your creditors are always the ones who care most about your financial situation. As long as the bigwigs in the North American colonies buy the bonds of Chen Wenbin's factories and companies, the goods produced by these factories can flow freely within the jurisdiction of these bigwigs.

As for whether those bigwigs, as John Smith worried, would feel uncertain about the future and be unwilling to invest in bonds, that's easy to solve.

Chen Wenbin's most important identity in North America is neither governor nor richest man, but a true miracle doctor!

It is a well-known fact that aspirin and Marcello made him a fortune and even directly helped him become the richest man in North America.

Therefore, as long as he packages Robin Pharmaceuticals' bonds with bonds from other factories and companies into a bond bundle, sells it as a package, and raises the interest rate a little, he doesn't need to worry about those who are envious of the huge profits in the pharmaceutical industry remaining indifferent.

Chen Wenbin even planned to use the VIP membership channel of Robin Blackrock Valley Sanatorium to sell bonds in limited quantities, so that those dying old men could make a fortune. The wealth they controlled combined was at least several million pounds, making them truly rich old men.

In short, selling £100,000 worth of bonds was not difficult for him at all.

What he really needs to seriously consider is the sales channels for the western factory's goods—currently, there isn't even telegram available, so the only solution is through the Robin Department Store, which is still under construction, and by developing lower-level agents and distributors.

That's why Chen Wenbin promised those bond salesmen from Bank of America that he would give them partnership status in the future.

Because he planned to emulate the practices of Wall Street investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in later years, the future partner positions at Bank of America, apart from a few truly elite individuals, would mostly be reserved for the sons and illegitimate children of those important figures.

These second-generation elites, after graduating from prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale, and the University of America, were directly assigned to internships at Bank of America and Robin Group companies.

After working for two or three years and becoming familiar with the situation, they are sent abroad to gain experience, or given the opportunity to manage a small project, or directly assigned to start a business within their father's purview. Ultimately, based on their "achievements," they are promoted to partner or become vice president, thus deeply binding themselves to their family.

In this way, an impenetrable network of connections and interests in the United States was established, based on Bank of America, the Robin Group, and various universities. With these partners, Mr. Chen had a real grasp on how to influence and control the United States in the future.

To achieve this, universities and elite education systems are the most crucial element.

The three most important bonds in life are the friendships formed during one's youth, which can closely connect different people for a lifetime!

The elite education system in modern Western society, especially its business education, has only a small part of its purpose: to impart knowledge. Its real function is to build networks for the descendants of the ruling class, so as to ensure that the country's future financial and economic power will always belong to those ruling families.

Mr. Chen took out £6,000 to establish the University of America in the West. He had previously donated money to the reconstruction of Harvard College and obtained a position on the board of trustees of Harvard College through the Winthrop family, with the aim of gaining influence in education.

While Boss Chen was racking his brains for a grand plan for the future, the immigrants below were mostly filled with longing and anticipation for the West.

Because of thorough preparations made in advance, there was no shortage of food, clothing, tents, cooking utensils, and various tools, and the organization and scheduling were managed in a militarized and meticulous manner.

For example, there are strict regulations regarding specific rules such as not being allowed to drink untreated water and the location of toilets.

Therefore, in the eleven days since they left Philadelphia, not a single person has died from illness or accident. Only two militiamen were accidentally hit by falling trees while sawing them down, and after being treated by doctors at Robin Hospital, they were not in any danger.

In this day and age, such a casualty rate is nothing short of a miracle!

With the promotion of revelationist pastors such as Davis and John Lee, this became evidence that God protected Prophet Chen!

As a result, more and more immigrants chose to join the Apocalyptic sect—in fact, the so-called new doctrines and scriptures of the Apocalyptic sect have not yet been formally compiled.

Immigrants only need to tell pastors like Davis that they believe God has a lineage of believers in the East, that Prophet Chen has received divine revelation, and that they wholeheartedly accept Prophet Chen's guidance to join the Revelation movement.

Anyone who joins the Revelationists, regardless of age or gender, can receive subsidies from the Revelation Fund and will be able to obtain 30 acres of land and a 20-pound interest-free loan in the West free of charge in the future.

That's thirty acres of land!

Even in North America, people who own this much land are not considered poor.

Furthermore, Chen Xianzhi's revelation sect has not actually deviated from the scope of Protestantism; it merely acknowledges the existence of a lineage of believers in the East and the authority of Chen Xianzhi.

Various Protestant churches in Europe, such as Calvinism and Anabaptism, actually developed in this way, so even some immigrants who insisted on their original faith could accept it—after all, everyone worships the same God, and the only difference was whether Dr. Chen was a prophet.

So, after ten days, 329 out of more than 800 new immigrants converted to Christianity and joined the Church of Divine Revelation.

Most of them were management personnel of the Robin Group, patients and their families whom he had treated in North America, family members of a large number of mercenaries employed by Hessen, and the thirty-seven orphans adopted by Chen Wenbin.

Of the seven hundred soldiers in the Western Legion, more than three hundred had joined the Divine Revelation Faction. The vast majority of them were mercenaries from Black Forest. They were mainly impressed by Chen Wenbin's extraordinary physical strength and were also tempted by the land in the west. In any case, Governor Chen was their commander and lord, so there was no problem in pledging allegiance to him!

Conversely, of the four hundred North American militiamen from Robin City, fewer than eighty chose to join the Revelationists.

These people weren't particularly committed to their original beliefs, but rather they felt that if they could acquire thirty acres of land in the West through their own efforts, they wouldn't have to submit to Chen the Prophet spiritually—North Americans are just that freedom-loving, and Chen Wenbin didn't force them to do so.

In any case, this is just a preliminary screening. People who do not join the Church of Divine Revelation can certainly live in the West, but they will soon find that there is a transparent ceiling that will firmly limit their development.

Free church-run daycare and kindergartens, church-run primary and secondary schools, church-run hospitals, various jobs and benefits offered only to church members, and the invisible entry barriers in the public sector—social pressure will force them to make choices.

You either join, endure it, or leave.

Although Chen Xianzhi did not intend to create a closed Mormon Church, he also did not want too many dissidents within it.

He will certainly implement a policy of religious freedom in the West on the surface, but he will never allow non-divinely inspired churches to gain dominance.

The church is an important tool for him to maintain social influence, and he must solidify his foundation in the West.

On the afternoon of September 16.

The immigrant caravan left Carlisle and officially entered the Alabacia Mountains.

But fate was unkind. The convoy had traveled less than three miles along the mountain road when a light rain began to fall in the evening. The immigrant group was forced to set up tents in a sheltered spot to avoid the spring rain.

The Blake Wyatt family of five also took advantage of the reduced rain to work together to set up their black tarpaulin tent and stuff the dry branches they had collected into the iron stove to start a fire for warmth—although the temperature had risen now, it would be freezing at night if they didn't have a stove in the tent.

Blake broke off a branch and stuffed it into the stove, then instructed his eldest son, who was securing the tent pegs beside him, "Mike, go check over at the mess hall. Why haven't Chris and Scarlett come back?"

"Okay, Dad."

Mike agreed, dusted off his hands, and laughed, "Chris must have gone to talk to that Anna from the Levi family again. I'll go drag him back!"

Upon hearing this, Blake straightened up and exclaimed, "—My Chris is growing up so fast!"

After his son left, he took a steel kerosene lighter from a small wooden box in the tent, placed it in the stove, and carefully pressed it down.

"Whoosh~"

A flame leaped out and ignited the dry branches and fallen leaves!

Seeing that the lighter was already lit, he quickly put it away, carefully closed the cap, glanced at it, and stuffed it into his shirt pocket.

This Robin-style lighter is a new product jointly launched by Robin Machinery Factory and Chemical Plant, and it is said to be the idea of ​​Mr. Robin himself.

Although it is very convenient to use to start a fire, a lighter costs five pounds. If he were not the leader of the second group of the sixth team, he would not have touched it at all. He simply could not afford it!

Lord Robin's new invention is great, but it's too expensive.

Thinking this to himself, he called his wife Laura, who was making a bed in the tent, and asked her to boil some tea on the stove.

He then put on a raincoat and prepared to visit the other two tents in the group.

After all, he is the group leader and has a responsibility to take care of the other two groups.

As he was putting on his raincoat, he heard his neighbor John's voice coming from outside the tent.

"—Blake! Laura! Reverend Wright is here!"

Blake quickly pulled open the tent and saw two men standing outside wearing tar-coated raincoats. One of them was his neighbor John, and the other was a middle-aged man with a clean-shaven chin and gentle eyes, who was the captain of Team Six, Pastor Wright of the Church of Divine Revelation.

He saw Blake and Laura enter the tent and greeted them with a smile, "Good evening, Mr. Wyatt, Mrs. Laura."

Good evening, Reverend Wright.

Blake, thinking the man was there to inspect his work, quickly pulled out his lighter and explained, "I'm just about to head out to John and Leamore's tent to help them start a fire, Reverend. I haven't forgotten my duty!"

Reverend Wright smiled and said, "Mr. Wyatt, I'm not here from the audit office to hold you accountable. I'm here to talk to the brothers and sisters in your group—I remember that none of your three families have acknowledged the prophet's revelation, is that right?"

Do you still have any questions or doubts about the prophet?

I can answer all your questions!

Blake and John exchanged a glance, and the former had no choice but to explain, "—I'm sorry, Pastor, I have great respect for Your Excellency the Governor, and for you as well, but I am a Baptist, and I have sworn to dedicate my faith solely to the Baptist Church. I cannot be certain whether Your Excellency the Governor has received divine revelation—"

He paused, then gritted his teeth: "The Governor is also a scientist; I cannot understand why he claims to have received revelation!"

Seeing this, John also expressed his opinion: "Pastor, even Pastor Jason, who is closest to Lord Robin, has not joined the Divine Revelation Faction. Why do you insist that we join?"

Does this mean your previous promise of religious freedom in the West is going to be reneged on?

Upon hearing this, Laura, inside the tent, clasped her hands tightly together and looked at Reverend Wright with a worried expression, fearing that he would get angry and drive them away—although that was unlikely, she didn't want her family to be ostracized by the governor and the Revelationists.

She even complained a little about why her husband couldn't just take the opportunity to join the Governor's Revelation faction.

Anyway, the Prophet's followers also believe in God, and His Excellency the Governor is a rare and truly good person. So what if he is not a real prophet?

The land and loans he promised were, after all, real.

To everyone's surprise, Pastor Wright did not get angry. Instead, he smiled gently and reassured the two men, saying, "Brother John, Brother Black, I am not here to force you to join the church, but to answer your questions."

"Brother Black, you say that you are a scientist, therefore you cannot be a revelation prophet, which is illogical in itself, because the two are not truly contradictory."

He pointed to the kerosene lighter the other person was holding, and the stove from which smoke was being vented out of the tin chimney, and began to explain.

"Look, the lighter in your hand and the stove you use are your inventions. Is this his cleverness?"

That's right!

But where did his intelligence come from?

It was God's arrangement!

It was God who blessed him, giving him the responsibility of enlightening, guiding, and benefiting the world. Before he understood his true mission, he also believed that everything could be explained by reason and science, but reality is not like that.

Besides reason, humans are also easily tempted and swayed by various demons. Beyond reality, and within the human heart, there exists a Creator.

If we do not allow the true God to dwell in our hearts and truly believe in Him, then those evil spirits will take the opportunity to inhabit our hearts, pollute our souls, and forever tarnish our souls, preventing us from experiencing true joy and happiness.

As for the choice of Pastor Jensen and religious freedom mentioned by the John brothers—I think you should know very well what kind of person he is; he is a prophet truly imbued with divine light.

Before he truly realized his mission, he had the deepest sympathy for humanity.

He hates all forms of coercion and enslavement!

Therefore, he will not force Pastor Jensen to join the church based on friendship, nor will he force you to join the church, because faith based on coercion is false faith and is blasphemy against God.

He believes that God has placed all the answers in everyone's soul, and that the church is always open to you once you have figured it out.

After saying that, he nodded to the two of them and Laura, took a booklet from his pocket, placed it on the folding chair next to him, and turned to leave the tent.