Chapter 531: Three Families Divide
"You are so honest that you don't even pretend to be forced to do it." Sheffield snorted and laughed, and after thinking for a while, he said, "I have no reason to stop now. With the current public opinion, political environment and all factors, everything is in my favor. I can even take advantage of the opportunity to eliminate the DuPont family and avenge my grandfather."
Morgan snapped his fingers at the waiter, then turned around and sighed, "You're going to scare people and break the rules. This is terrifying. Our country is not suitable for people like you."
"Can I understand this as a threat?" Sheffield said with a cold smile, "I have descendants, and I have several sons. Some people don't think that they can solve the problem by killing me when I'm not paying attention."
"It's advice, advice! I'm a reasonable person." Morgan tapped his fingers on the table, as if looking for a way to communicate. "Although the DuPont family is not as good as me and the Rockefeller family, everyone knows it, but for some companies, it is also an extremely powerful giant. The tens of millions of wealth are not fake. It's really scary to be in such a mess like now. Coleman DuPont has already told me that he wants to know your purpose."
"My purpose?" Sheffield said slowly, still holding his chin with his hand, "I heard that after Coleman DuPont was driven out by Pierre DuPont, he also began to try to be a banker. What's wrong with being a banker? The entire DuPont family is a banker, making money quickly and without any effort. Isn't that great? As for the mines, chemical plants, and steel companies, I don't want them all. When the time comes, you, I, and even John, we can divide the three of us. Isn't this a problem?"
"I don't know what benefits Coleman DuPont has given you, but the benefits he has given you are definitely not as favorable as the conditions I proposed. As long as the three of us decide on this matter, it will be easy to divide the DuPont family's industry. Isn't this great? I only want the mines and chemical plants. You and John can share the steel company and other industries."
The slave owner, who was familiar with Chinese and foreign history, found inspiration in the stories of the Four Emperors' Co-rule and the Three Families' Division of Jin. If Morgan Jr. could come to explore the bottom on behalf of the DuPont family, wouldn't he in turn win over this banker among bankers?
At the same time, he also indirectly revealed his thoughts to Morgan Jr. that all the DuPont family businesses could not be retained. Standard Oil, United Company and Morgan Bank could take their own share of such a big pie. This way everyone would be happy and others would not think that the slave owners were too greedy.
"You are so greedy. This is a business worth 40 to 50 million U.S. dollars, and you want it all!" Little Morgan took a breath of cold air. This was not much different from killing the entire DuPont family.
"You can't say that. They were all bought with money. The ones who are really miserable are the trust companies that were dealt with by you during the financial crisis and didn't get any help from me. They are more in line with the meaning of bankruptcy. The DuPont family is not one of them. They can learn from the Vanderbilt family and become the enviable real estate tycoons in New York." Sheffield shrugged and said, "Am I wrong? The Vanderbilt family is already very enviable. They are even my creditors."
Young Morgan felt that he had underestimated the shamelessness of the slave owner, who could talk so openly about borrowing money and not paying it back.
But frankly speaking, this proposal is not without room for maneuver, as it involves tens of millions of dollars.
Sheffield is still fiddling with his business acumen, indicating that no one knows real estate better than himself. In the government's infrastructure projects, neither the investor nor the construction party makes much money. As the investor, the government needs to take out money to fill the budget and return the funds to the construction party. As for the construction party, they can certainly make a profit, but before they can really get the profit, they still need to spend a lot of money. In a word, they have to use the principal to make money.
And in this whole process, there is a middleman who makes the most money but does not have to pay any capital. They obtain the bidding for engineering projects through their relationship with the government, and then resell the bidding to the construction party and earn huge kickbacks from it. The reconstruction project of San Francisco belongs to this category.
This was certainly not the case in New York, but the DuPont family had cash in hand, plus their achievements in the political field, and New York was a stronghold of the Republican Party. The slave owners believed that the DuPont family could rely on their strong financial resources to become a respected real estate businessman.
"The DuPont family has always been Morgan's ally and even holds shares in the electrical company." Although young Morgan was moved and interested in Sheffield's suggestion, he still spoke reluctantly. His dry lips showed that his master was in the middle of a struggle.
"Yeah, it's really unfair to ask you to betray such an obedient ally." Sheffield saw through Morgan's nature of wanting to get more money at a glance, and said sarcastically, "An arrangement like the DuPont family is actually not easy to control, right? In your territory, you can completely turn such an ally into a vassal or servant! Isn't this much better than an ally who doesn't obey you for no reason? Think about it, isn't this the truth?"
Is Morgan Jr. a reliable ally? The answer is of course no. Wall Street bankers respected the Morgan family enough. In order to achieve their own ulterior motives, didn’t they finally take action?
"I hate people like you who make things too clear. We have to abide by the rules, just like the financial industry. At least on the surface, we are loved by people." Little Morgan said angrily, "You can't explain all the reasons clearly, otherwise how can we deceive the public?"
"You are not ordinary people. I understand everything. We cannot take the initiative to break the rules unless there are attractive enough benefits. It's just like the financial crisis. Although it happens every time, we have to give it some time to let the grass grow stronger." Sheffield waved his hand to signal to stay calm. Why is he still so anxious?
If you don't make some things clear, it will seem a little insincere, at least that's what Sheffield thinks. There are times to use words, like now, it's not appropriate. It's more suitable to be honest and reliable. Morgan has obviously been wearing a mask for a long time, and he can't adapt to it for a while.
The business world is like a battlefield. Today, it seems like wearing the same pair of pants, but tomorrow, it seems like a mad dog biting each other. Isn't this normal? Is there anything that the DuPont family cannot sell out?
Not to mention business, this is true in any field. The sayings "a loyal minister will not serve two masters" and "a wise bird will choose the right tree to roost in" are both referring to scholars. Saying that rural farmers are simple and honest is the same as saying that farmers living in poor mountains and bad waters become unruly people. Aren't they referring to the same group?
"I only want the chemical plant and the gunpowder market. The rest can be divided between the two of you." Sheffield lit a cigarette and said with white smoke, "If it still doesn't work, then there is nothing else we can do."
The chemical industry and the gunpowder market were essential. The upcoming World War I was actually a critical moment for the DuPont family to rise from a second-rate company to a giant. Before World War I, the DuPont consortium was also a large company, but it could not be compared with the Rockefeller family and the Morgan family. Even compared with the Carnegie and Vanderbilt families, it was not as good.
The World War was a turning point for the DuPont family, which rose to become a giant. At the end of World War I, it even surpassed the Rockefeller family and the Morgan family, although it soon fell back.
But from this, we can imagine how much help the world war brought to the DuPont family. If the United Company was replaced at this time and World War I broke out as scheduled, it can be said that there would be no New Roman Triumvirate after the war, and there would only be one Augustus.
Sheffield was not prepared to look for someone else. He felt that his own company was the right fit and he could take on the responsibility.
Steel companies and even mineral resources were divided up by Rockefeller Jr. and Morgan Jr. As long as Sheffield had industries related to arms, there was no problem.
After a long while, Little Morgan scratched his ears and said with a smile in a somewhat awkward tone, "This is really an irresistible suggestion. It makes me feel excited."
Sheffield pretended not to notice this hypocritical behavior and said nothing, acting like the honest William, waiting quietly for the other party to explain.
"Then we have to wait until the Supreme Court comes up with a result!" Morgan Jr. said seriously, "Only when the Supreme Court comes up with a just ruling that meets the expectations of the citizens and leaves the DuPont family with nowhere to go, will we have a chance to take advantage of it. It won't work now. I'll try to negotiate with Coleman DuPont. It depends on whether you can make the result favorable to us."
Young Morgan had already discussed with the slave owners and had obviously approved the proposal to divide the DuPont family into three parts. Young Morgan comforted himself that there was actually no other way. Even if he opposed it, as long as Sheffield gritted his teeth and held on to the pressure, he would still have a high probability of winning and inflicting heavy damage to the DuPont family. On the contrary, he came here in person to fight for the opportunity for the DuPont family to cash out.
Anyway, as long as the money is there, it is okay to enter some new industries and continue to act arrogantly, and life will not be worse than now.
If Coleman DuPont knew that Morgan Jr. was turned against the DuPont family after coming to Washington, he would definitely thank his ancestors. But he certainly didn't know, because Morgan Jr. would conceal it.
After returning to New York, Morgan Jr. even contacted Rockefeller Jr. directly. After careful discussion, he called Coleman DuPont to appease him, saying that although Sheffield's attitude was arrogant, he was not impossible to persuade and he would take care of everything.
(End of this chapter)
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