Chapter 2 Vice Chairman
After passing the square and walking for a while, you will enter a manor. That is the Sheffield family's manor. There are already many carriages waiting in the manor. Obviously, today is an important day here.
Adjusting the bow tie around his neck, Sheffield slowly got off the carriage. At this moment, another carriage stopped and a middle-aged woman got off. Although she had left behind the immaturity of her girlhood, she was full of competence that was rare in this era. Her short golden hair gave her a sharp look, and one could tell at a glance that she was a rare strong woman.
It was January 1895. The winter in Texas was short, so there was no need to wear such thick clothes. However, the woman was wearing thick mink fur, and it was obvious that she had just returned from abroad.
"Hello, auntie!" Sheffield did not dare to neglect him and nodded to the middle-aged lady who had just got off the carriage. "Have you just returned from the north? Are you feeling well recently?"
Isabella glanced at her nephew, sighed and said angrily, "It's not good. The membership of the Rifle Association is shrinking. People nowadays don't buy guns anymore. It's really a headache."
"That's really bad news! But that's the chairman's worry, and you're the vice chairman, aunt." Sheffield shrugged, indicating that he could empathize with her.
The National Rifle Association is headquartered in Virginia, and its origins date back to the American Civil War. This geographical location is quite telling, as Virginia was the center of the South during the Civil War, and the South, which was mainly based on an agricultural economy, was highly prevalent in hunting and the so-called gun-carrying ranger culture, which also led to the fact that the shooting level of Southern soldiers was much higher than that of Northern soldiers in the early days of the Civil War.
Although there are many differences among the world's nations, it is generally true that Northerners are brave and good at fighting, while Southerners are good at economics. However, it is the opposite in the United States. During the Civil War, the North of the United States was several times larger than the South in terms of both economy and population, but during the war, the casualties suffered were also several times that of the Confederate Army.
The Civil War happened to coincide with a critical era in the history of firearms evolution. The use of Minié bullets and rifled guns gave the Confederate Army an even greater advantage. After realizing this, one of the Union veterans jumped out and shouted: We want to teach Northerners, no, all Americans, how to use guns.
After being injured in the war, Edward Sheffield felt that he might not live long, so he used the last bit of time to adopt Durant's strategy of "I can't beat you, but I can join you". When he heard that the North was going to establish a rifle association, he began to plan to infiltrate the rifle association.
"What's wrong with the vice president? With fewer and fewer members, our family's factory will be affected. If we can't sell guns, it will be our family that suffers the loss! William, you don't quite understand these things. Although you have done well in your studies, you still have a lot to gain in practice." Isabella looked at her lucky nephew and was unwilling to continue the conversation. If there was one person who was the most unsuccessful in the Sheffield family, it would be her brother. The legitimate heir was a playboy who had spent more time in Paris than in the United States.
"Aunt, that's not what I meant, but this is the current environment. Unless a war breaks out, there's really nothing we can do about it!" Sheffield said helplessly. Now is a rare time when the National Rifle Association is in a period of transition.
Of course, for such a self-proclaimed non-profit organization, it should be poor. However, after being infiltrated by some remnants of the South, they always want to use the Rifle Association to make profits for themselves. How can this be justified?
Isabella doesn't care about the fate of the Rifle Association. It's just that with fewer and fewer members, the sales of Sheffield's arsenal will also decrease. The vice president of the Rifle Association is also worried about the sales of his own guns.
Sheffield had no doubt that if killing people could generate profits, the Sheffield family would be the pioneers in this life. No one would do a business that would lose money, but everyone would rush to do a business that would cost them their lives.
Inside the Sheffield Manor, in the exquisitely decorated and huge conference room, a woman with white hair but very elegant, with a calm look between her brows, was quietly listening to other people's discussions.
Slowly, the conference room became silent. The men who were indignant just now did not dare to breathe, and their eyes fell on Annabelle. Even at this age, Annabelle's face still vaguely showed the appearance of her youth. Of course, this was not important. The others were not bowing down to Annabelle. The reason they came was all because of her status.
"It's a difficult problem. It seems that the companions who escaped at the beginning can't hold on any longer." Annabell lowered her head and rubbed the wedding ring on her finger. "My husband said when he was alive that they would regret running to Brazil sooner or later. At the beginning, we did our best to fight the Yankees and we could only achieve a conditional ceasefire. What can we do in Brazil where we are unfamiliar with the place? In the end, we will inevitably face this result."
"Anna, it's not our fault that we fell into the same pit twice. The Brazilian government's refusal to compensate for the losses of the plantations involves hundreds of millions of assets. It's just like the Yankees thirty years ago. It's easy to sign a decree, but who will compensate us for our losses? It's been thirty years since the events in the United States, and we can't say anything. But the plantation owners who fled to Brazil were all our friends and relatives. Many families were split in two because of this. Now they can't hold on any longer. What should we do?"
"Yeah, there's no compensation at all, this is just robbery."
Everyone started talking, and what was happening in Brazil reminded them of the Civil War thirty years ago. For them, this had always been a thorn in their hearts, and it had not healed to this day, but had been revived because of the worrying situation of many Brazilian plantation owners.
"So what do you want? Mobilize relatives in various states to take up arms and fight a war?" Annabelle blurted out with a frosty face. "If it weren't for the fact that everyone knows me and my husband is nostalgic, would the Sheffield family, which has already completed its transformation, still have to participate in the Civil War? Edward was shot in the battlefield and suffered from chronic lead poisoning. How do you settle this account? I became a widow alone at a young age. No amount of money can buy back my husband's life."
"It has been six years since the Brazilian abolition bill was introduced six years ago. Have you seen the attitudes of various countries? At the beginning, you also hoped for mediation from the British Empire, but in the end, mediation did not come. Edward said at the beginning that the British are not trustworthy. They are hypocrites. They are not as trustworthy as the Slavs I bought from Eastern Europe."
Thank God, it has been approved. I have a friend hosting a dinner tonight, but it shouldn't affect the update.
(End of this chapter)
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