Chapter 26 Black Water and Black Gold
Annabell walked out of the church slowly, and without turning her head, she said to Sheffield who was following silently behind her, "I am old now, and I don't have time to slowly change your mind. You must accept the nature of the world. This is not a negotiation, but a necessity."
"Ordinary people should think about what they should do for the United States, but we are not ordinary people. We should think about what the United States can do for us. If this is not true, then the United States has no meaning to me." Annabelle got on the carriage with the help of the servants, leaving a seat for Sheffield and said calmly, "From now on, part of the industry will be handed over to you to manage. While I still have energy, I can help you in some areas. Do you have any ideas?"
"I have a lot of ideas, and I've been thinking about them recently." Sheffield naturally knew the old man's subtext. What he wanted most was to restore the status of the United States that it once dominated.
Considering the domestic and international situation of the time, Sheffield was not without some ideas. The situation within the United States was that, according to some terms of later generations, the current United States mainly relied on domestic demand for development and did not rely much on the outside world. On the one hand, this was because the United States itself was an immigrant country with a steady stream of foreign population transfusions. On the other hand, it was impossible to do so.
Because the industry of the United States can now be said to be far ahead in terms of scale, and its development momentum far exceeds that of the so-called old imperialist countries in Europe, but this is only in terms of scale. It has no competitiveness at all in terms of product strength and quality.
This uncompetitive comparison can even be compared with the Soviet Union decades later. In terms of scale, it is not as explosive as the Republic a hundred years later, but the times are different, and the growth in this era is indeed shocking.
The internal environment is that the industry of the United States is still in the stage of extensive development, with only scale but no strong products. It is not as well-known as European countries in the world, which leads to poor sales. The external environment is that European countries, led by the British Empire, regard the Monroe Doctrine as bullshit and prevent the United States from establishing influence in America.
The industrial products of the United States cannot compete with those of Europe, and can only find markets by reducing costs. Therefore, the poor countries in Latin America under its nose are very important. Because at this stage, the products of the United States can only rely on the geographical advantages and scale of the United States to barely compete with Europe in Latin America. If it cannot even take Latin America, other markets will not be a match for European industrial products.
If they can't even compete with European countries in poor countries, let alone a larger market. Currently, there are only a few companies that can really go beyond the United States, and Standard Oil is one of the best.
If the industrial products of the United States are blocked and consumed domestically, and conflicts cannot be transferred abroad, economic crises will occur frequently, either inflation or deflation.
Naturally, Latin American countries become extremely important. If I am weak, I will develop industry behind closed doors. But if I have a foundation, it is not appropriate to build a car behind closed doors. If I want to move to a higher level, I have to open the door to other markets. At present, the United States has only one option, Latin America. This is why the United States is so belligerent in this Venezuelan crisis. Even if it is ready to be beaten to a bloody pulp, it also wants to show that the Monroe Doctrine is not an empty talk and cannot be allowed to fail.
But to be fair, the United States at the end of the 19th century was far from being a white lotus. But compared with the old imperialist countries in Europe, it was worthy of being a beacon of humanity. The United States did not need to be perfect, as long as it looked better than the Europeans. After all, this is a world of bad things.
"Grandma, if possible, I would like to go to Europe and see what the current environment in Europe is like." Sheffield asked with an expectant look before getting off the carriage at the manor.
"Europe? What are you going to do? Forget it, since you want to go, I need some time to prepare and arrange for you to go." Annabelle actually wanted to object, but when she thought of other reasons, she didn't say the objection. She hesitated for a moment and said, "Your father is in Paris. If you have time, you can meet him, but it's not important."
Annabelle was extremely disappointed with the previous generation of heirs, but she believed that the current generation of heirs would not repeat the same mistakes. What was so good about Europe? Why were there so many people in the United States who worshipped foreign things?
"Prepare? Prepare for what?" Sheffield was a little confused. Just go to Europe, what is there to prepare for?
"Have someone escort you there. Safety is the most important thing!" Annabell glanced at Sheffield and said, "Even if you have great ideals, you can only realize them if you live long enough. For a positive example, look at Rockefeller, the king of stone. This upstart had only two ideals in his life: making money and living long. For a negative example, look at your grandfather, my husband."
"Oh, the Texas militia?" Sheffield had always felt that it was not normal for a remnant of the previous dynasty like his family to survive only through visible operations. There must be some unknown dark forces, but where are they? He seemed to have never seen the relevant personnel.
"The militia is something that happened after the Texas Legion was disbanded. After all, they are not the family's private force in name. They can be used as a demonstration tool, but we can't rely on them when we really need to do something." Annabelle had already planned to let Sheffield Xia Shiber operate, so she naturally didn't hide it. "They are outside the United States. The station in Africa is in Liberia, and the station in America is in Haiti. This force has nothing to do with your grandfather. It's my family's."
When Sheffield heard about these two countries, he already knew something in his mind. In later generations, these two countries were well-known as the two biggest lickers of the United States. It must be said that the old Buddha really knows how to choose a place. But maybe it was chosen by the predecessor.
These predecessors of the minions of capitalism were actually the armed forces that Annabelle used to engage in international transportation and trade and the buying and selling of labor when she was young. In layman's terms, they were slave hunting teams with more than 2,000 people, 500 in Liberia and nearly 2,000 in Haiti. On the surface, they were all ocean shipping employees, but their essence remained unchanged.
More than 2,000 people are definitely not enough for fighting, but they are more than enough for killing, robbing, and occupying the mountains.
"Is there no official name? Just called the Slave Hunting Team?" Sheffield scratched his head. Wasn't it a bit too blatant?
"When your grandfather was alive, he wanted to change their name to Blackwater Company, but I don't like that name. Africa is the land of gold, so it was later changed to Sheffield Black Gold Company." Annabell laughed dumbly, "They will be here in a few days after we send the telegram, and then we will send you to Europe."
"What a nice name!" Sheffield flattered him against his will, not really realizing the difference between the two names.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
