Chapter 177: Spain is an eyesore
"In the early days, it was the same for any family. They didn't care about breaking the law as long as they made money. Of course, it was the same for our family, so it's not surprising that my grandmother had this idea. She came from that era. Others said she was ruthless, but in that era, you couldn't be ruthless. So our family sold lottery tickets, worked as agents in the UK, bought and sold people, and did many other things, but that was in the past. Now we have passed that stage. Although not all the money, but some money can no longer be made."
Since Sheffield had doubts in his heart, he later asked Annabell whether it was the Louisiana Lottery, the only lottery in the United States that had been operating for decades, that was used to replace the banking industry for cash flow. Naturally, he got a positive answer.
However, the lottery is not a dark history. It’s just that Louisiana was the last state to pass legislation to ban the lottery. It was legal at the time, and the United Company also acknowledged it after it was banned.
Now that the dark history has passed, the bank should be run properly. It is not possible to deliberately create bloodshed and force citizens to deposit money in the bank just because there are not enough depositors. Sheffield will not do such a thing. Although he has always been prepared to exploit the citizens of the entire United States, he will not start with a certain individual unless this person has really harmed him.
Creating a bloody incident to attract financial reserves is similar to a pig farm firing seriously ill employees and forcing them to give in and refuse subsidies. Sheffield hates this company the most and must not learn from the pig farm.
"I was wrong, William!" Anne buried her head pitifully in Sheffield's arms and said, "I don't want to be a pretty decoration either. I want to help you."
"You don't care about anything and just make a beautiful decoration. In fact, that's your biggest advantage." Sheffield comforted Anne and said, "If it weren't for the civil war, I believe my grandmother wouldn't be like this."
In Sheffield's view, Anne's greatest strength is that she is a good vase. Although this idea may be criticized by female boxers in the future, Sheffield, who has some understanding of those pastoral female boxers, understands that the boxers are eager for this. If they can have such a life, they would be willing to marry a pacifist.
After secretly pulling Anne out to correct her three views, Sheffield returned to the living room and saw Annabell flipping through a book, a French novel. It can be seen that Karl Lagerfeld still has good taste. In terms of literature, France and Russia are indeed the fathers of modern literature.
"Are you done?" Annabelle didn't look up, but her tone seemed to know everything. She pointed out the heir's purpose in taking the girl out, which was definitely not for lovemaking.
"That's all!" Sheffield didn't even bother to pretend in front of Mr. Lafayette. There was no point in doing so. He was the only heir to such a large company, and he didn't even have any competitors, so there was no need for intrigue.
"You have your own ideas. I just proposed a quick and effective method. It doesn't matter if you don't adopt it." Annabelle took off her glasses and got rid of the image of the wolf grandmother. "Let's talk about work. This year you finally made up for the money you spent. Such a big pit, involved in so many industries, ordinary people would never be able to take it out. Do you want me to give you the management rights of agriculture and animal husbandry?"
"It's better for this kind of basic industry to be in the hands of my grandmother. This is the most reassuring way." Sheffield shook his head quickly and said, "I'm already very busy at the moment. I don't need to take on more projects."
"Yes, I'm always busy going to Chicago and Los Angeles. I'll leave Annie here." Annabell nodded and narrated calmly, "You can handle your personal affairs yourself. The domestic situation is like this for the time being. What do you think about expanding overseas business?"
High tariffs are like closing the door, forcing everyone to compete in one area. Annabell can also see that competition in various industries has become much more intense. Although Sheffield has brought out something called fried instant noodles, it seems that the market response is not good.
This was Sheffield's big mistake. He thought that the fast-paced life in the United States should be very suitable for instant food. However, he ignored the environment in which instant noodles came into being. The island countries were also very interested in noodles. The fast pace was different from that of the United States. Most importantly, the United States did not have the habit of boiling water to cook noodles, which was completely different from Asian countries.
Because most Americans don't have the habit of boiling water, and the tableware at home is mainly plates. For a nation that is not used to using bowls to consume instant noodles, it is almost equivalent to changing its eating habits, which is simply too difficult.
The paper-wrapped instant noodles launched by Sheffield have basically failed so far, and the only way is to find a way to enter the market in other countries, especially Asian countries.
The rapid expansion in the past two years also requires a break at home to consolidate its advantages. Under high tariffs, the first thing to be careful of is domestic competitors, and to find foreign markets to create new profit points.
"Yes, we must intervene overseas now." Sheffield nodded vigorously. At present, the domestic market only needs to continue to layout step by step. In order to survive under high tariffs, it must be supplemented by the outside market.
Annabell nodded, thought for a moment and said, "Then I will give you the Orinoco Estuary Land Investment. Before President Cleveland left office, he still valued the relationship with our family. It was a great help."
Because of the tension in South Africa, Britain finally decided to focus on dealing with South Africa and agreed to the arbitration proposal of the United States. Because of its great efforts in the Venezuelan crisis, the United States naturally got its share of benefits.
The United States successfully raised the Monroe Doctrine and threatened to fight the British Empire, which was dominant at sea at the time. Although the United States did not gain any actual benefits, Britain accepted the United States' ruling as an arbitrator, which meant that the United States' dominant position in American affairs was tacitly acknowledged by Britain.
The fact that the country did not benefit does not mean that capital did not benefit. The benefit fell into the hands of the loyal supporters of the Democratic Party. You must know that although Sheffield did not change the final result of the election, his counterattack after returning home was quite impressive, although he was ready to eliminate the candidate who opposed the giant companies if he won the election.
The land investment at the mouth of the Orinoco River fell into the hands of Sheffield United Company, Pao on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Orinoco River and south of Bolivar City. In addition, there are rich gold mines near Bolivar City and in areas such as Callio and Guasipati. There are large amounts of coal in areas such as the northwest shore of Lake Maracaibo, and iron ore resources are also rich.
Venezuela's basic conditions are pretty good. It can be said that all the resources for industrial base are available, and they are all concentrated near the disputed land. It can be said that in Latin America, which is rich in resources but has serious resource imbalances, it is pretty good, with coal, iron and oil.
In this era, oil had not yet been discovered. With so many basic resources important to industry and gold mines, it seemed that it would not be like later generations. But the United States was close, and it was not a big problem for the United States to strangle a Latin American country.
As long as the United States takes it seriously and treats Cuba the same as any other Latin American country, even Brazil will not be able to withstand it.
This is a good place, very suitable for vigorously expanding projects while consolidating domestic advantages, and it is also the last legacy left by the Democratic government to the financiers. Sheffield also knew this, but when he thought of the route to Venezuela, he blurted out, "Why is Spain so annoying?"
Annabelle gave the heir a meaningful look and said with great satisfaction, "Very well said, it's such an eyesore."
Cuba has long been in the sight of the United States. As the financial backers of the Democratic Party, the Sheffield family is particularly aware of this, and this time can be as early as the founding of the United States. The Democrats who support the annexation of Cuba are naturally those who want to establish a large agricultural empire.
Some powerful Democrats believed that Cuba was located at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico and could be seen from Florida. Therefore, if Cuba was in the hands of the United States, it would be a defensive barrier for the United States, but if it fell into the hands of other countries, it would be a danger. They believed that in order to prevent danger, measures should be taken now to occupy Cuba.
The slave owners in the southern states were particularly interested in Cuba. They annexed Cuba and made it join the United States as a state. As a member of the South, they certainly had a share of their own in it.
"During the Olympics, I sent John Connor to Spain. This country has declined and is no match for the United States." Sheffield said slowly, "The only problem is that we may not be able to annex it directly."
"You can think whatever you want!" Annabelle left an ambiguous remark, then slowly stood up and returned to the bedroom with the help of Padella.
As in previous years, Sheffield spent the New Year's Day at Arlington Manor. It was a holiday after a busy year, but recently Sheffield has obviously developed a strong interest in Cuba. This time, the rebellion in Cuba is more intense than ever before and has lasted for several years.
"Although the Republicans are in power now, we still have the geographical advantage. If a war breaks out, the southern ports will definitely be needed as bases." Sheffield even drooled at the corners of his mouth as he looked at the map.
The plan to open a private prison in Cuba once again came to his mind. Guantanamo was a good place. On the last day of 1897, Sheffield hugged Anne and did not rest until midnight. As the bell rang, 1898 began.
(End of this chapter)
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