Chapter 283 Paradise on Earth
The purpose of coming here is nothing more than to grab land. In Sheffield's eyes, the land in Puerto Rico is a high-quality asset with the same advantages as Hawaii, a small population, a good geographical location, and most importantly, an ambiguous political status.
The ambiguity of political status is extremely important. The advantage of ambiguity in political status is that there will definitely be loopholes outside the law in Puerto Rico, and where there are loopholes there is room for maneuver.
Sheffield gave an example. The laws of a country, whether it is the Soviet Union or the United States, as long as the laws exist, you can find ways to circumvent them, but there will not be a lot of loopholes for profit.
When did large-scale profiteering appear in the Soviet Union? The answer is that after the map came to power, the national thinking changed, and many laws were in name only, which led to the emergence of oligarchs and eventually the collapse of the country. Those few short years were accompanied by political turmoil, which created a group of oligarchs.
Sheffield was not so lucky to catch the feast, but Puerto Rico was now at this stage, where there was no law in the strict sense, and everything was decided by the Governor's Office. This environment was Sheffield's favorite, and the United Company had always been a company that strongly supported the war, so it was natural for it to take the lead and appear in every newly occupied land.
"What do you mean by being interested in the land here?" Alan's eyes flashed with thought, and he asked uncertainly.
"What it means is..." Sheffield was also a little uncertain, and finally said vaguely, "Sheep eat people..."
The wool textile industry in Britain and other countries was booming, and the demand for wool increased sharply, so sheep farming became a very profitable business. British landlords fenced their own land and public land to graze sheep, and forcibly occupied the farmers' land. The farmers lost the land they relied on to support their families, and they wandered to unfamiliar places with their elderly and children. This was the "enclosure movement" in the history of the rise of British capitalism, where "sheep eat people".
The enclosure movement first began by depriving farmers of their public land. In Britain, although the land had already been owned, public lands such as forests, grasslands, swamps and wastelands had no fixed owners. Some nobles used their power to expand their sheep flocks and forcibly occupy these public lands.
When these lands could no longer meet the needs of the nobles' growing flocks, they began to use various methods to drive out the farmers who had rented their land for generations, and even enclosed entire villages and nearby land to turn them into sheep pastures.
To be honest, this kind of enclosure has appeared in Chinese history. It was done by the gentry during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Especially the gentry in the Southern Dynasty enclosed the deep mountains and swamps as their own private territories.
But the Northern and Southern Dynasties seem to have a very bad reputation. It was basically a competition between the Han court and the Hu court to see who was more shameless and had no bottom line. In the eyes of ordinary people, it was almost a period without advantages. Sheffield compared the enclosure of Britain and China, and we can draw a simple conclusion that China is not suitable for the emergence of capitalist society. The social structure closest to the period of sheep eating people in Britain was the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Capitalist society will not appear in the future historical period. The East and the West are completely two different systems of society.
"Sheep eat people? You want to enclose land in Puerto Rico?" Allen looked at Sheffield with a complicated expression, and finally nodded, "I wonder if I can help."
"How could there be no help from the Governor? In fact, United Corporation and other friends' companies have always wanted to be friends with the Governor. After all, Governor Allen should know something about the Southern Base. We have always been interested in things in the South!" Sheffield raised his eyebrows and said meaningfully, "Puerto Rico is in the South!"
Southern Base is a political term, referring to the Southern states where the Democratic Party has never lost in every election. The common point of these states is that they have all joined the Confederate States of America. As the governor of Puerto Rico, Allen certainly knows how stubborn the Dixie people are on this point.
The Democratic Party has always appeared as a face fighting for the rights of the poor because the southern states are indeed poorer than the northern states.
For Sheffield, Puerto Rico is nothing more than taking the initiative, first enclosing and hoarding the valuable places, and then slowly finding ways to develop them. Even if he doesn't take a shit first, he has to occupy the toilet first. If he doesn't occupy it, the Yankees will come and occupy it, which is unacceptable.
"It's not impossible, actually." Allen said hesitantly, "I heard that the governor of Hawaii has a good relationship with you, William. I wonder if it's true."
"It's more than good. We are the closest partners. The Governor of Hawaii is part of the sugar trust system!" Sheffield smiled as if he understood me, and said calmly, "Governor, you can make an offer. After all, I really like making new friends. The Governor of Hawaii can testify to this."
Before coming here, Sheffield conducted an investigation on this first governor. This governor was not a person who was honest and dedicated to his work. In fact, in this era, there were not many civil servants at all levels in the United States who were not greedy. In the Gilded Age, it was normal to be gold on the outside and shit on the inside.
As for the collusion between officials and businessmen, this is not the first time Sheffield has done it. He can make friends with the KKK, so what's the big deal about making friends with others? Let's see what price the governor is going to offer?
"William, I actually bought a coffee plantation in Puerto Rico!" Allen said, avoiding the subject. "I heard that most of the coffee on the domestic market is controlled by you."
"We farmers run plantations, so it's normal for me to have it in my hands." Sheffield said modestly, "There are currently two main coffee growing areas, the Philippines in Asia and Cuba. Of course, I also know that coffee was also an important industry in Puerto Rico before, so it's not surprising that the governor has a coffee plantation."
As for which Spanish nobleman the plantation belonged to before, it doesn’t matter at all. Since you lost, you have to bear the price of losing. The key is who it belongs to now.
The Governor of Puerto Rico officially put forward the conditions, hoping that his coffee plantation would be included in the domestic sales system. However, if Sheffield agreed, he would help the United Company obtain the most valuable land in Puerto Rico.
"No problem!" Sheffield quickly and neatly agreed to the other party's request. Compared with the gradually heating up election battle at home, he has already begun to expand his territory in Puerto Rico.
You can never wake up a person who is pretending to be asleep. For the current election, which is getting more and more heated, Sheffield is just pretending to be asleep. As long as California and the southern states are still in the hands of the Democratic Party, it doesn't matter whether he enters the White House or not. Well, he is indeed comforting himself now. Entering the White House is actually very important, but William McKinley caught up with the boom period between two capitalist booms, and Roosevelt is a nationally renowned war hero.
On the other hand, the Democratic Party's candidate was William Bryan, who hated the trusts more than anyone else. This battle was impossible to win. Although Roosevelt also attacked the trusts in order to concentrate power, he did not touch the most powerful companies. Most importantly, Roosevelt did not express his dissatisfaction with the trusts before he became president. He settled the scores after he came to power, catching the major companies off guard.
William Bryan's election goal of dismantling the trusts was hardly a miracle! Sheffield's political donations were just a token of his support for the Democratic Party. Although the candidates were the same, the issues of the election had changed. Although monetary policy had attracted the attention of many people, the Republicans chose issues that were more favorable to them, such as political victory, military victory, and economic prosperity, for publicity.
In Sheffield, Puerto Rico, several enclosure allies soon joined in, and a thorough survey of Puerto Rico was conducted, selecting several of the most valuable beaches and plantations.
Many shareholders are also very satisfied with the environment here. When it comes to charging into battle for the empire, they all unconditionally believe in Sheffield's vision. If the boss of the United Company says this place is good, then it is good.
"Puerto Rico is not far from the mainland, and it has an exotic atmosphere. You are all men, and you should know the weaknesses of men! I plan to open an overseas casino here." Sheffield said his thoughts, "Puerto Rico's ambiguous political status can help me succeed. As for what business you want to do, I will not interfere. This can be a place where some domestic rich people linger. It is difficult to investigate outside the country. Whether you are a wealthy businessman, a judge or a senator, you can come!"
"If it really works, I can't imagine what kind of scene it would be. In fact, I think the scope can be wider, and the source of customers should not be limited to domestic ones." McHale pondered for a moment and continued along Sheffield's line of thought, "People have common weaknesses, regardless of whether they are Americans or Mexicans. Puerto Rico is located in the Caribbean Sea, between North and South America, and its location can fully take into account the upper class of the entire Americas, so that a certain degree of national connections can be established."
"The most important thing is that this kind of connection is actually very useful. If the entire upper class of America gathers here," Gale said with a smile, "William, the internationalization that you have always dreamed of will be greatly helped."
"Then what are you still standing there for? We can start now! Let's make this place a paradise for the upper class." Sheffield said with a smile, "As for trivial matters like elections, who cares?"
(End of this chapter)
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