Chapter 324: In the middle of the cocktail party

A corner of Blackburn Manor.

The liquor in the whiskey glass created amber ripples. Blackburn Sr., who was almost recognized as the next Massachusetts Senator, knocked his knuckles on the oak table. "Last week at the energy bill hearing, the environmental protection organization sponsored by your foundation... was very elegant."

"It's just the art of balance." David turned the gold-rimmed emblem on the bottom of the cup, and the sound of the ice ball colliding covered his chuckle. "It's like you acquiesced to the Tea Party's attack on your own budget - let the wild dog bite the prey's hind legs so that the hunter can aim at the heart."

The Massachusetts Attorney General was looking over from the edge of the crystal chandelier's halo. The two old men simultaneously raised their glasses to their lips, as if they were performing some ancient ritual.

"The refinery in Pennsylvania needs a new pipeline." Old Blackburn used a cigar cutter to cut the seal, and the smoke entangled his gray temples. "I heard that the wife of the chairman of the Transportation Committee often goes to East Hampton for vacation recently?"

David opened and closed his silver lighter five times in his palm. When the flame rose for the last time, the sudden applause in the distance swallowed up his last words: "… So thirty-two years ago we wrapped the pipeline in the national flag, now it's time to give it a green vest."

There was applause over there because young Blackburn came out with his young Rockefeller.

As the core of the core of tonight's cocktail party, the appearance of this golden boy and jade girl naturally aroused applause from everyone in the audience.

Everyone, including old David and old Blackburn, were applauding the two men.

While clapping softly, a muffled hum like thunder rolled out of the future senator's nose. He looked at his grandson who was giving a speech, like a gardener looking at a thriving tree.

"There's a breakfast meeting next week, and you really should come. Claire will be there with her new rescue dog." He suddenly loosened his crimson tie. "Didn't that bastard just do some service in the National Guard?"

As the waiter passed by with the sturgeon caviar, David folded his napkin into a perfect boat shape.

As the cold light reflected from the silver tray passed through old Blackburn's pupils, the wrinkled right hand was pressing the metal cigar cap into the butter, and the emblem engraved with the black eagle pattern slowly sank into the ocean of cream.

"Okay." said Old David.

The Rockefeller family has actually been closely associated with the Republican Party since the beginning of the 20th century.

David Rockefeller's deceased brother Nelson Rockefeller served as Governor of New York (1959-1973) and Vice President of the United States (1974-1977), and was a core figure in the Elephant Party.

That was Rockefeller's attempt at politics, and they also wanted to stand in the forefront.

But later they found that it was not only very laborious but also not very efficient.

Instead of performing hard on stage, it is better to perform behind the stage and manipulate the puppets on the stage.

Moreover, international politics is gradually changing from elite rule to performativity under the influence of neoliberalism.

Whoever can perform better is more likely to get votes from ignorant voters.

This stage is no longer suitable for elites, but is quite suitable for actors.

So after this attempt, Rockefeller chose not to appear in public again.

But to some extent, Rockefeller naturally wanted to be closer to the Elephant Party.

Although David himself has not held direct public office, as a core member of the third generation of his family, he has always been a well-known moderate figure in the Elephant Party.

But who could have imagined that the moderates of the Elephant Party would support the radicals of the Donkey Party to come to power.

So many people are saying that Zipperton is David's son. Who says this guy looks so much like him when he was young!

However, both parties have never admitted or denied it because it has never been made public.

Now that La Zipperton's term of office is coming to an end, he is about to retire.

It was time for Rockefeller to pay back the debt they had for snatching the throne from Herbert seven years ago.

It can not only pay off the debt, but also ease the somewhat tense relationship with his in-law Blackburn due to the California consortium and Chevron Oil.

So after Old Blackburn made this invitation.

David Rockefeller agreed without hesitation.

"Look how well they look together."

Old Black took a sip of the whiskey in his glass with satisfaction, looked at the perfect couple surrounded by the crowd, and spoke softly.

"Yeah. We both made the best choices. They seem to have a great relationship."

Old David also sighed, but in his heart he wished he could have a few more children with Rockefeller blood in a few years.

Then he would die young like his brother.

"America's influence in Africa is actually not as great as that of old Europe. Not to mention France, the emperor of North Africa, Britain still has some influence. But in fact, in many places in Africa, our words are not even as effective as those of the Chinese."

In the eyes of the crowd, Milo was always surrounded by a group of Bostonians, which showed everyone present that he was the new king of Boston.

Just like Ariana is now always surrounded by Boston ladies.

At this moment Milo was talking to Ryders Lodge.

Rydes is an outstanding member of the younger generation of Rocky, but he is not a core member, but rather a bit marginal.

But relying on his family background and his own abilities, he stood out among the Textron companies of the Boston consortium.

Last time, many Bostonians went to California, but Ryan Lodge, the head of the Lodge family, was not invited.

Ryders Lodge, Ryan's cousin, went instead.

Some people in the consortium said that this was because Blackburn did not like Ryan Lodge.

In such a grand occasion, Ryan Lodge was pushed to the edge, while Rhydes, a marginal member, was able to stand beside Milo and talk to him.

It's already obvious.

"Things are much better now," Ryder Lodge responded in a low voice, compared to when he first officially met Milo at a cocktail party in Boston two years ago.

Ryders Lodge's attitude towards Milo has clearly changed from being equal to being inferior and respectful.

And compared to that time, Ryder Lodge was even darker.

Because he is now the general manager of Textron's African business unit.

In fact, he is also the representative of the interests of the entire Boston Consortium in Africa.

He runs around in black Africa all day long, and when he has free time, he takes a gun to shoot lions.

It would be strange if you didn’t get tanned.

"Of course, this is mainly because of your vision. I have to say, dear Milo. Africa is indeed worth our investment, just the resources alone are enough. More importantly, Rockefeller and others don't think much of that place. It's like Australia during the Age of Exploration, desolate and remote, but it has good resources."

Ryders Lodge continued in person.

Milo smiled, glanced at Ariana who was chatting with Robin, Haley and a group of ladies, and then returned to the men around him.

"We have always wanted to weaken Europe. We have been trying to do so and it seems to be quite successful so far."

"But……"

He said: "In my opinion, the real core of Europe is not them at all. It is Africa and their influence in Africa. Especially France!"

"If we can take Africa from the French, France will collapse without us having to do anything!"

In fact, this is true.

Although it is almost the 21st century.

On the surface, Africa has long been independent and there is no colonized country.

But what is the reality? The independence of many African countries was not achieved through their own national awakening or class struggle.

Rather, it was because the Red Bear and the United States frantically poached their talents 20 or 30 years ago, and France and Britain themselves did not have enough national strength to support them. Only then did they have the opportunity to gain the name of independence under the clutches of Britain and France.

But it’s the 21st century.

The culture, economy and even society of most countries in black Africa are still influenced by old Europe.

Simply put, they are still actually colonies.

It’s just that it has changed from a real colony where people could get whatever they want to an economic colony in the new era and new economic environment.

A more efficient, more covert, and less likely to provoke resistance from the other side.

Especially France, their dependence on North Africa is stronger than anyone else.

For France.

If they lose North Africa, it would be almost like the United States losing its dollar hegemony and military hegemony.

These are intolerable and will lead to the collapse of the empire.

This is also why Milo's United Global only showed up in Africa.

That's why the Frenchman ran up to him.

They are not afraid of not being able to defeat Milo's United Global.

They are afraid that the Americans will start to dig into their African corner.

And because of some historical factors, there are also reasons of cost and value.

The United States' influence in Africa is mostly indirect, and there is not much exchange of interests.

It's mainly the American consortium capitalists who have their own country's easy-to-exploit cattle and horses to exploit, Europe to suck, the Middle East to control, Asia as a OEM factory to help produce industrial products, and South America as a raw material producing area to exploit at will.

No American capitalist is willing to mess around in black Africa because they feel it is unnecessary.

This is also the reason why the United States’ influence and presence in Africa have never been strong.

In summary, I just don't like it! But now there is Milo and the Boston consortium that has never had any interests overseas.

So under the guidance of Milo, the Boston consortium set its sights on Africa and, like Rockefeller, Morgan, and First Citigroup, established its own overseas economic colonies.

And Ryders Lodge is the Boston Consortium's vanguard in Africa and the member of the Lodge family that Milo supports the most.

“Should we really give Chevron Oil back to them?”

Another half hour into the cocktail party, Lawrence's Ed asked quietly beside Milo.

The Lawrence family has always been the core family of the Boston consortium.

Raytheon is jointly owned by their family and Adams, and they are also a giant in the American textile industry.

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But this time, Ed Lawrence was appointed by Milo as the CEO of ConocoPhillips Energy, and the Lawrence family became the family in the Boston consortium that directly faced the energy industry.

“Unless we are willing to go to war with Rockefeller and let others take advantage.”

Milo motioned to Adams' Arthur to wait, then looked at Ed, "Otherwise, it would be best for us to hold the company together. Think about what they are exchanging with us, that is the share of Aramco! To be honest, sometimes I envy those white turbans. Our engineer told me that in some of their oil fields, if you stick a pipe into the ground, black liquid gold will spray up!"

As John C. Morgan and Laurance Rockefeller said when they were at each other's throats.

Milo has reached a reconciliation with Old David.

The Boston consortium took the initiative to sell Chevron Oil to Rockefeller so that they could fulfill their family obsession of taking over the Seven Sisters of Oil.

In return, the Boston consortium got a seat in JPMorgan Chase, as well as a share of Aramco that Rockefeller voluntarily gave up.

Ostensibly, Aramco had agreed to the Tessa government's request for a stake in the company as early as 1972.

In 1973, the Tessa government held a 25% stake in Aramco, which rose to 60% in 1974 and reached 100% in 1980.

But it was useless! The reason was that according to the agreement and regulations, even if the Tessa government acquired all the shares of Aramco.

However, Aramco is still operated by four American companies according to the original lease agreement, and the American companies are responsible for selling the crude oil of the Tesa government.

This is the share that ConocoPhillips got. Although it is not much, it is more than what they could earn from Chevron Oil.

At the same time, Rockefeller also gave up many board seats, giving ConocoPhillips the opportunity to officially enter the world energy stage.

It's not like before, when you could only play in the United States at most.

So Milo thought it was not impossible to return Chevron oil to them.

In order to obtain this company, Rockefeller paid more high-quality resources.

In fact, Ed Lawrence understood it well.

Ed just wasn't willing to accept this because it meant he would have one less disgusting Rockefeller family to use as a tool.

After all, Ed is almost fifty years old. He has experienced the embarrassing times when the Boston financial group was forced by the Rockefeller family to watch Kennedy being killed without being able to fight back.

Now that the Boston Consortium has become powerful, Ed would be happy to offend the Rockefeller family.

It was only fun for two months, and then this useful tool was gone.

Ed was somewhat unwilling.

"Okay, okay. I understand." After listening to Milo's explanation, Ed was still very satisfied.

Because this was originally what Milo got.

At the same time, given the relationship between Milo and Rockefeller, he was willing to explain a few things to himself.

This is already a sign of respecting yourself.

Of course Ed wouldn't keep chasing her, he wasn't that kind of fool.

He knew that the Boston Consortium’s current success was all due to the young man in front of him.

"I just communicated with the people in the Philippines. They hope that we can help them increase their presence in the South China Sea. Because there is oil and natural gas in that sea area. At the same time, they think they can help us better guard that sea area..."

Ed Lawrence brought up another incident.

But this time, before he could finish his words, Milo interrupted him, "Ed, do you think we are ready for the Muhai War?"

"Ah?" Ed Lawrence was startled and looked at Milo, "Shouldn't, right?"

It's not like before.

When Red Bear was here.

For a long time, the whole of America was really prepared for the Muhai War and the coming of the Muhai Winter.

But now the red bears are deader than dead.

Why does the United States need to prepare for the winter of Mu Hai?

"Then there is no need to provoke a big country like Mu Hai over certain things, especially when the input and output are disproportionate."

Milo looked at him. "Do you understand what I mean?"

Ed Lawrence looked at the handsome young man in front of him, the leader of Boston.

He quickly remembered that the man had visited that country not long ago.

It even appeared on live television in that country.

Obviously, he got greater benefits there.

Or maybe he wants a greater good over there.

"Okay. I get it." Ed Lawrence smiled broadly. "I'll give those Filipino monkeys a good smackdown. Just let them serve as sentinels. We'll leave the rest to us."

Milo raised his glass to him and said with a smile, "Yes, monkeys should be in the forest, not in the sea."

Ed Lawrence joined him in a toast.

Then he whispered to the young leader, "Melon is here."

However, in front of the left side of the two people, several core members of the Mellon family were lining up and walking towards them.

"Let's go and entertain them." Milo smiled and went forward.

Not to mention the interactions among the men from the consortium, the real ladies and socialites were also very busy at this banquet.

It's impossible for Ariana, Hailey and Robin to entertain all the female guests.

Many people of lower status were naturally received by Ivana or other close female friends and relatives of the Blackburn family who were invited by them.

For example, many of the guests from New York are entertained by Ivana.

For example, many people already know that the current first lady Hillary will run for New York State Senate election in two years.

Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Shilani came tonight.

With such a big party, how could the lively couple in the White House not show up? But only at such a cocktail party.

LaZitton and Hilary, who have always been the life of the party and the king of cocktail parties, seemed a little insignificant tonight.

For example, the core members of the consortium almost ignored them.

For example, the people who are receiving Hillary now are not Ariana or Hailey.

It's Ivana.

The daughter of a nouveau riche whom Hillary doesn't think highly of, and who's not even eighteen years old.

The woman who gave birth to an illegitimate child! Of course, on the surface, Ivana could not see that Shilani looked down on her at all.

The two men and several wives of Zipperton's staff were whispering about the Italian Mia-style trench coats that have been popular in New York recently.

"This year in New York, the main trend is to reconstruct the body proportions with three-dimensional edges, such as the Mia-style trench coat that fits the golden curvature of the human body like Haute Couture."

Facing a group of white house ladies, young Ivana spoke confidently:

"Victoria's Secret has launched a trench coat with a shoulder-padded design and a waist-cinching origami technique, outlining the geometric tension of modernism. It uses liquid cashmere and 18-micron microfiber to weave a draped fabric with a moonlight glaze luster."

"I think it's pretty good."

She said.

(End of this chapter)