Chapter 258 Private Gunboat Diplomacy

In the era of technological explosion, Sheffield was also very angry when he thought about the cost of building two warships. It was obvious that they would face the fate of being eliminated after not being used for long. For cost considerations, this era was very unfriendly to him.

Buy a shipyard and build it yourself? Not to mention that he is living a tight life now, and it is not suitable for him to expand his industry in the short term. Besides, even in the United States, a private enterprise cannot establish its own armed forces, at least not so blatantly, so if he wants to update the warships, he can only order them from Europe, and this expenditure is destined to be unreturnable.

Considering that a battleship costs millions of dollars, Sheffield will have to be frugal for a while, but it's not like he can't use it.

"This society is so unfriendly to me, and my life is so hard!" Standing on the beach, Sheffield hugged Natalia and couldn't help sighing. He had worked so hard, but the wealth he earned was still not enough.

A small white hand accurately grasped Sheffield's earlobe. Natalia pulled the man's ear and said, "My dear William, can you tell me why you are so shameless? You are so rich, but you still do this. Don't you know how much harm you are doing to most of the citizens of this country?"

"How have I hurt them? Just because they are poor, they are right?" Sheffield smiled and slapped Natalia's hand away, pretending that this outrageous behavior had never happened. "You are beautiful, is it your fault? Do you have to make yourself ugly just because someone is jealous of you? You can't do it, right?"

Women, especially beautiful women, always have advantages and people have their own value. Otherwise, why are all the women who do live broadcasts and collect money beautiful?

"If we have children in the future, if it's a daughter, she will definitely be very beautiful. With a beautiful mother like you, even if it's a boy, he will be presentable." Sheffield lowered his head slightly. He thought this was a good idea.

"Who wants to give birth to your child? You are shameless!" Natalia covered her face and said shyly, "Tiantian always wants to do something to me. I won't let you succeed so easily."

"If I don't want to do something to you, am I still a normal person?" Sheffield pouted and said, "I feel wronged!"

Sheffield has been thinking about letting Natalia do something recently. Evelyn is no longer suitable to show up in public after giving birth. Of course, this is just a small problem. The main problem is that her sense of justice is too strong, and it is not appropriate for her to always do things that go against her conscience. It would be quite appropriate for her to build sports facilities and promote happy education.

Considering that as a descendant of Slavs, she should have some demeanor of a strong woman, and taking over some industries should not be a problem.

We can talk about this issue later, but I don’t know if there has been any progress in recruiting in New Orleans.

"So, my two dear friends, I obviously have other things to do, but you insist on asking me to get involved. Now I want to ask, how is the recruitment situation going?" Sheffield was sitting in his villa. He had just taken his little sister on a trip and immediately came back to inquire about the recruitment situation. Most people are not as tired as him.

"It's still in progress. Hasn't it officially started yet?" When the time came, Gale was not in a hurry. He smiled and said, "How to deal with these black people and make them obedient? I believe that no one in the world knows better than us experts!"

"Yes, you understand black people the best!" Sheffield said, covering his forehead. "Then let me put it another way. How do you understand them?"

Considering the local construction environment, no one is more suitable for the local working environment than black people. This is not a question of hard work or not. Black people are more adapted to the tropical climate. Therefore, Sheffield had no intention of letting Chinese workers take charge of the main projects.

Otherwise, batches of people will die from the disease, not to mention the cost of transporting them, and delaying the progress of the project is also a troublesome matter.

"Once these blacks are on board, they have no say in anything. We have gathered many of our old subordinates from Brazil to make them behave themselves overseas. Besides, their lives are worthless. It is not thirty years ago now. When a black person died then, it was our own loss. Now we can save on wages if one dies." Gale laughed and said, "Sometimes we think about it. We don't have to be responsible for the birth, aging, illness and death of a black person like we did back then, and we don't even have to find a partner for them. Now they are responsible for everything themselves. Thanks to the progress of the times."

Gail's meaning was very simple. Since the relationship between the two parties was no longer that of master and servant, everything should be handled as that of employer and employee. They were responsible for how many people died and how they died. They deserved to die for the early realization of the American century.

As for overcoming the local environment, it just depends on whether it is necessary to do so. For normal private enterprises, there is no way to overcome the tropical diseases in Panama. Even a special medicine cannot cure all diseases.

But for slave owners like Gale, there are still ways. They can choose a dry month, set fire to the local rainforest, and then carry out construction in the burned area. When this section of the canal project is completed, they will find the next section to set fire to and do it again.

The power of nature should be fought against using nature's means. Since there is a problem with the local climate, then the local climate should be solved, and together with the environment that breeds tropical diseases, there will be no need to worry about the threat of tropical diseases.

Otherwise, what Sheffield said was that in Afghanistan, it was the British colonial policy that saved them. The colonial policy needed a population to be exploited as a market. If it were a dynastic war in the East, it would have been wiped out long ago.

"As a kind-hearted person like me, I just can't listen to these words. I am always easily aroused by pity." Sheffield sighed, his eyes seemed to be a little moist, and he said slowly, "It would be great if international labor trade was not banned. This is another opportunity to make money."

Sheffield's chest-beating look made the two men respect him. Otherwise, how could he make his business bigger? With his shameless look now, he should make money with the joint company.

"The key to this matter is the attitude of the federal government. The United Company can launch the first round of gunboat diplomacy, but whether it can scare Colombia depends on the attitude of the federal government. We are instigating Panama's independence, not taking out our best weapons to fight the Colombian government forces. This is a losing business for us. Do you understand?"

Sheffield lowered his voice and whispered to his two companions, "The only thing that worries us is that the current federal government is a little hesitant and not worthy of the environment created by our joint company. As long as we get a statement from Roosevelt, it will be much easier!"

"Isn't it time to create some public opinion?" McHale's eyes rolled, and he recalled the prelude to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War.

"Well, we don't have to worry about this. There are two media giants who are willing to help us." Sheffield smiled slightly. "I know the styles of these two dung collectors too well."

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

In fact, the two night soil collectors did not keep Sheffield waiting too long. The New York World published an article advocating that if the Colombian government insisted on its own way and still set up obstacles for the United States to acquire the French Canal Company's concession, the Panamanian people should secede from Colombia and become independent in order to defend their own interests.

This is a bit like the situation before the Spanish-American War. Soon, another giant dung collector followed up with the report, causing the Panama Canal project, which was already a hot topic at the government level, to really ferment among the people. As long as public opinion is formed, the federal government can respond.

The most important statement came from New York Governor Roosevelt. During the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt successfully established his own heroic image, participated in the war in a private capacity, and was widely respected by all parties. Although he returned to run for governor of New York without stopping, this wave of operations also made Roosevelt's status in the Republican Party rise, and his success in becoming the governor of New York was the best proof.

Roosevelt is now an important representative of the Republican Party. His statement has attracted widespread attention from the Republican Party to the Panama Canal. Roosevelt then formally proposed that the Panama Canal project be submitted to the Senate and House for discussion. Recently, Sheffield has been contacting partners across the South to unify the Democratic Party's opinions on the Panama Canal.

So with the joint efforts of a group of Republican congressmen influenced by Roosevelt and recognized by the Democratic Party, both the Senate and the House of Representatives of the federal government passed an overwhelming resolution to support the United Company to build the Panama Canal.

As expected, this typical bullying decision was met with strong protests and condemnation from the Colombian government.

"Alas, a weak country has no diplomacy!" Sheffield sighed and said to Jesla, "Send a telegram to Havana and ask John Connor to go there. Sometimes, gunboat diplomacy is shameful, but it really works."

As invisible radio waves communicated between Texas and Cuba, Havana, which had been quiet for a while, became lively again. The two warships left the port one after the other, cruised in the calm Caribbean Sea, and then turned directly and headed west towards Panama.

The country always has too many things to consider, and at this time it needs patriotic citizens to solve some of the problems for the country. As a representative of patriotic citizens, Sheffield feels that it is his responsibility.

(End of this chapter)