Chapter 114 Houston
Charity or not is a small issue. Sheffield believes that as long as a person has hands and feet, there is no need to help him, no matter what the person's skin color is, whether he is male or female. Of course, if you really want to do charity, you can still help the mentally ill and disabled, these two are the real vulnerable groups.
Apart from these two, the United States was founded through struggle. Please don't insult them with things like charity. This is a free country and they can die freely.
From the current cooperation between Rockefeller and Sheffield, Sheffield actually knew that he did not ask much from this oil industry giant, but seemed to provide more help. On the one hand, this was because when cooperating with a giant like Standard Oil, he had to maintain a gentlemanly attitude and put the cooperation between the two parties on an equal footing.
If we keep tripping each other up, it is likely that a series of consequences will occur due to relevant legal provisions.
Although the Rockefeller family temporarily gained more benefits, Sheffield did not think he was at a disadvantage. No industry is completely separated from the development of related industries.
Now he hopes to maintain a close relationship with the Rockefeller family so that he can free up his hands to deal with others. Then, if he lets the Rockefeller family make more money, it won't be considered a loss for him, but his speed of making money may not be as fast as theirs for the time being.
Since it was decided that it was a formal cooperation and there would be no obstacles, everything would be handled according to the formal cooperation. But it was not entirely true that the Rockefeller family made a lot of money while he got nothing.
As mentioned before, no industry is isolated from other industries. Now that Sheffield has intervened in the oil industry, it has to rely on Standard Oil's patents. It cannot monopolize the market like a small oil workshop and then cause a price war, resulting in a lose-lose situation with Standard Oil and then never have any dealings with each other again.
In an equal and formal cooperation model, since Standard Oil itself is the industry leader, the other party will definitely make greater profits at present, but this greater profit of Standard Oil is not unchangeable.
At present, oil is far from being as widely used as it will be in later generations, and it is still slowly replacing coal. Although Germany already has cars that use oil as raw materials, Germany itself has no oil resources, so this matter still needs to be handled by the United States.
Sheffield had already begun planning the patents and factories for internal combustion engines. So if Rockefeller wanted to make further progress in the oil industry, he had to rely on Sheffield, rather than Sheffield relying on Rockefeller.
The Rockefeller family is making greater profits now, but once agricultural machinery and automobiles powered by internal combustion engines go into production, it will no longer be Rockefeller who will make greater profits, so Sheffield is not in a hurry at all.
They have just arrived. Once various machines powered by internal combustion engines are rolled out, the Rockefeller family will realize that the seemingly profitable contract signed with the Sheffield family has also blocked themselves and made their partners stronger.
Of course, for now, if Sheffield has to choose one among various machines, it would still choose agricultural machinery and let cars give way first. Even if it wants to develop industry, it still needs to consolidate its position in the agricultural field at the beginning.
After arranging the exploration team, Sheffield took Edith Rockefeller to Houston. From the moment this woman came to Texas, he knew that leading the exploration team and being a member of the Rockefeller family were all excuses.
Would Edith Rockefeller really go into the field to lead the exploration? The princess of the oil empire is more suitable for occasions like balls, but she just said so before, and her perfunctory level is comparable to the president's level of posing for photos in a convenience store.
There is no problem taking this woman to Houston, after all, it is the largest city in Texas. Houston is famous for its energy, especially oil, and is the center of the United States' oil and petrochemical industries, aviation industry and canals. The Port of Houston is the sixth largest port in the world, the busiest port in the United States, and the largest in shipping tonnage.
Sheffield naturally cannot deliberately sing a different tune and distort history. He respects history so much that he is afraid that history will undergo unexpected changes, so he will naturally choose to make the best use of it.
The planned oil industry center, the land is naturally their own, the labor is also their own. Everywhere is a busy scene, but the first thing Edith Rockefeller saw was that these people were wearing very conspicuous clothes and shackles on their feet.
"You actually use criminals as workers?" Edith Rockefeller covered her mouth. Further away, there were uniformed police officers looking around, making everything look depressing.
"We lost the Civil War, so we can only settle for the next best thing. What else can we do?" Sheffield shrugged and said nonchalantly, "If I don't use the free labor, do I still treat them as gods?"
"I'm just a little surprised that I've seen this for the first time!" Edith Rockefeller shook her head, saying that Sheffield had misunderstood. She had previously thought that the Sheffield family's operation of a private prison was just talk. Unexpectedly, it was not just a management issue, but a complete business model.
That is natural. Private prisons are profitable every year. Sometimes farming alone cannot guarantee profits every year. Private prisons are generating income every year.
"Without a certain position and opportunity, can anyone run a private prison? When my family moved to Texas, we first bought a piece of land to hold Mexican prisoners of war. Later, in order to deal with the underground railroad, our family built the first private prison. In addition to escaped slaves, the inmates were Yankees. Later, we found that after the establishment of private prisons, they were even more efficient than plantations." Seeing that Edith Rockefeller was listening intently, Sheffield changed the subject and said complacently, "But others didn't have this opportunity. At that time, this place was still called the Lone Star Republic."
"It was only during the short time that the Lone Star Republic existed that there was an opportunity for private prisons to be established. This is a historical legacy and others cannot follow suit!" Sheffield laughed, "There is no such opportunity anymore."
When Edith Rockefeller heard this, she sighed and said, “That’s such a shame!”
"Do you really want to come and steal my business?" Sheffield raised his eyebrows. Of course there are still opportunities. There was still the Spanish-American War and the seizure of Hawaii. Sheffield felt that his private prison business could completely go beyond the United States and into the world. Guantanamo was a good place.
"The progress of the project is still a bit slow. Go call the warden!" After whispering to John Connor, Sheffield turned to Edith Rockefeller and asked, "Do you want to see the women's prison?"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
