Chapter 235: Different Opinions
"I won't go. Am I easy to fool? You want to tempt me with some change? No way!" In Edith Rockefeller's villa, Sheffield threw the telegram aside with a firm attitude, "It's not like I'm so poor that I have to go to Rockefeller Manor in person to ask for a little money."
It doesn’t really matter whether there is money or not. The main thing is that Sheffield cannot bow his head. If the heir of the Rockefeller family does not get over it, Sheffield is afraid that he will not be able to get out.
"Why are you so cowardly?" Edith Rockefeller was furious when she saw this. "Does John dare to kill you? What's so scary?"
"That's easy to say. Go ahead! Anyway, I won't go. Little Rockefeller is coming to Chicago. It's impossible for me to go to New York." Sheffield ignored the woman's accusation. "Anyone can see that John is suspicious of me. The key is that he is right. How do you want me to explain our relationship? I say, we are separate. You call me your brother-in-law, and I call you John. Ask him if he agrees. If he agrees, then do it."
Sheffield lay on the bed like a corpse. No matter what Edith Rockefeller said, he believed that his own safety was above everything else. If he didn't want to talk about it, then he wouldn't talk about it. Anyway, if he looked closely, the shortcomings of Sheffield Rand Company were not that short.
"Then I can't come to your house either. If you, a man, don't show up for this kind of thing, how can I? It's no harder for me than it is for you." Edith Rockefeller sat at the head of the bed and sulked, "Don't you have any trusted assistants who can represent you personally?"
"That's true, but it's not convenient for her now!" Sheffield glanced at the room where his son was sleeping soundly. The symptoms were the same, but they just needed to be delayed for a while.
It's not that Sheffield must use women as assistants, it's mainly because the United Company has this tradition. And using women as assistants is easier to control and easier to establish a close relationship. The disadvantage is that a long-term close relationship will always lead to the consequence of absenteeism without reason, and if the woman is not physically fit, she can't be forced to work.
Although Sheffield always treats men as animals and women as men, there are times. If one body now has two lives, should he pay overtime?
After evading the small question of why it was inconvenient, Sheffield immediately continued to play dead. He had just returned home and needed to rest.
Originally, it was the biggest acquisition, but due to the close relationship, it became very difficult. Even if Sheffield was just an ordinary partner, as long as the price he paid was right, there was at least a 50% chance that Rockefeller Jr. would let go.
The problem is that this relationship has become too close, and being too familiar has brought obstacles. Later generations have a theory of the uncanny valley, which explains that when the degree of similarity between robots and humans exceeds a certain level, humans' reactions to them will suddenly become extremely disgusting, that is, even if there is a slight difference between robots and humans, it will appear very conspicuous and glaring, so that the whole robot has a very stiff and terrifying feeling, like facing a zombie.
Sheffield believes that the uncanny valley effect can be seen everywhere. For example, two monotheistic religions want to strangle each other, but when heresy appears, it is more important to deal with the heresy first.
Things came to a standstill, which made it very difficult for Lovelland, who was in the middle. It was like being in the eye of a storm. Why did he intuitively feel that everything was calm? No matter whether it was the telegram from Chicago or Rockefeller Jr. himself, they were all very friendly and never mentioned anything else? But he felt in his heart that everything was not that simple. The merger and acquisition was stuck at a point, but he didn't know where this point was.
This was nothing short of torture, leaving Lovelling at a loss, not knowing what was wrong. It was not until the New York World published a report on Morgan's acquisition of Roland Steel that the usually amiable young Rockefeller changed color slightly, and hurried back to the villa where the old Rockefeller lived.
"Father, Morgan acquired the Roland Steel Company of the DuPont consortium." Little Rockefeller came to his stern father and immediately became as honest as a child. "Morgan is determined to get involved in the steel industry."
"Oh!" Old Rockefeller had no expression on his face, and it was hard to guess what he was thinking. He said slowly, "Your performance during the negotiation with Mr. Morgan surprised your mother and me. We didn't expect you to have the courage to confront the domineering king of Wall Street. Moreover, you responded calmly, spoke appropriately, and were well-educated. Thank God for giving us such an outstanding child like you."
"My father's praise makes me feel ashamed!" Rockefeller Jr. said modestly, "He is so arrogant and gives people a great sense of oppression!"
"Is that so?" Old Rockefeller said indifferently, "Mr. Morgan treated you rudely and deliberately wanted to insult you. I think you are right. In fact, he wanted to retaliate against me and let you be humiliated in my place. You know, this time Morgan proposed to form an alliance with me because he was worried that I would pose a threat to him. I believe he was reluctant to cooperate with me because he knew that he and I were on two different roads and neither of us liked each other. I felt sick when I saw his arrogant and unreasonable look. I think he must have felt uncomfortable when he saw me."
"But I have to admit that Morgan is a business genius. He knows that I don't take Wall Street seriously, and I am not afraid of his threats to me." Old Rockefeller changed the subject and said, "In fact, although Morgan's own financial resources are superior to others, my oil empire is not in this range. He also knows that if he gets involved in the steel industry, his biggest opponent is not Carnegie, but me. Only I have the financial resources to fight against him. And I have a helper."
"Father, you are not talking about Sheffield United Company, are you?" Rockefeller Jr. laughed bitterly. "As an industrial company, I also believe that if the two companies can stand together, they can prevent Morgan from continuing to intervene in the industrial field, but..."
"Forget about Edith for now. This is a fact." Old Rockefeller showed a rare bit of helplessness when he said this. "She is the most troublesome of my children. Her marriage is undoubtedly a business marriage. You don't need to tell her this. She knows it in her heart. But this choice is not wrong. The strength of United Harvester is stronger than that of International Harvester. Just pretend that this matter does not exist and don't mention it again."
"My son, we grew up in a society that pursues dignity. I know what it means to be insulted for a person who loves dignity. But in many cases, no matter who you are, even the President of the United States is powerless to stop insults from others." Old Rockefeller said with a smile, "Of course, there are exceptions to everything. For example, Mrs. Anna's hatred for DuPont was because the bullet came from DuPont. Women are more paranoid. Carnegie and I believed that the unpleasantness in our early years could be resolved, but it is almost impossible for her to resolve this."
"My son, do you believe it or not? Once Morgan starts to put pressure on Carnegie Steel, the last bastion, Carnegie will definitely contact me. I am sure of this!" Old Rockefeller said confidently, "Now let's talk about it. Morgan came to me by acquiring the mine, hoping that I would not intervene. In fact, if it weren't for the antitrust investigations several times a year, I would really be interested in taking the initiative. But the pressure from the country is huge, and Standard Oil needs to share the pressure. If we can work with an ally to deal with Morgan, it can reduce the pressure on us."
What old Rockefeller meant was actually very simple. He wanted to forget about Edith Rockefeller. She herself was willing to do so, and neither he as a father nor young Rockefeller as a brother could do anything about it.
"I understand. I'll send a telegram first, then pack up and go to Chicago in two days." Rockefeller Jr. understood what his father meant.
The train arrived at the New York train station. Sheffield looked around through the window like a thief, got off from another car, hid in the crowd and walked out of the train station, then hurried to the Rockefeller estate.
"Why did you come just now? I thought you were lost along the way!" Edith Rockefeller, holding her baby, could not help but complain at the entrance of Rockefeller Manor, "How can I let you suffer any loss?"
"If I hadn't known that Morgan had acquired Roland Steel, I would definitely not have come!" Sheffield looked at the baby in Edith Rockefeller's arms, sighed, and said, "Let's go!"
If Sheffield knew that Rockefeller Jr. was also going to Chicago because of the alliance between Morgan and DuPont, he would definitely slap himself hard. Why couldn't he keep his composure?
Inside the Rockefeller estate, some servants were shoveling the lawn, and Sheffield and Edith Rockefeller separated and went straight to the golf course with a group of bodyguards, where Rockefeller Jr. was waiting for him. Now he felt that agreeing to the bodyguards' guns was a very hasty decision.
"Long time no see, William!" Rockefeller Jr. greeted him coldly, extended his hand to ask him to sit down, and then waved to others to stay away so as not to eavesdrop on business secrets. "You are really too busy, traveling half the world with the expeditionary force."
"It's always good to travel more while you're young!" Sheffield smiled dryly, not knowing what to say. "In fact, this is all for the development and growth of the company. You should understand this."
"I don't understand everything. For example, the air in Chicago is so bad. You've stayed there almost as long as Arlington and Los Angeles!" Rockefeller Jr. shook his head slightly, forcibly controlling his emotions.
(End of this chapter)
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