Chapter 545 Boston's Show of Goodwill
Without the support of the slave owners, Tesla would have been recruited by Morgan, who was shameless but would have achieved his goal. This is the situation that Baekeland is facing now.
In the field of shamelessness, Sheffield is still better than Morgan. Morgan at least tested Tesla's endurance step by step, while Sheffield, as an outstanding representative of southern citizens, did not do these superficial works, but directly came up with a full set in one step. Now it's like playing Gobang, Sheffield, a professional chess player, against Baekeland, an amateur, and said that he would win if he connected four pieces.
As a patent owner who has just achieved results but has not yet realized them, Baekeland is now penniless, while Sheffield has already prepared litigation costs that far exceed the other party's net worth, so that Baekeland, the owner of the plastic patent, can live a proletarian life for a while and not be separated from the people.
Sheffield was doing this for his own good. Shameless capitalists are despicable, and the fewer such people there are in the United States, the better. In order for the majority of citizens in the country to remember their roots, the slave owner was once again ready to sacrifice himself to highlight the greatness of the working people.
It happened to be the time when the annual Forbes list was collecting protection fees. Before the list of the richest and young richest people in the United States in the past year, that is, 1909, was about to be released, the staff of the United Company had already rushed to various places to have a good talk with these wealthy people. After some communication in which both parties were willing to fight and suffer, many wealthy people were blackmailed, and their property shrunk, and some of them transformed back into the appearance of the working people.
It is reported that this time hundreds of wealthy people accepted unequal blackmail, which brought more than tens of millions of US dollars in profits to the Forbes list. The consequences were also very serious. The blackmailed wealthy people directly lost more than 300 million yuan in wealth, so they naturally could not be included in the Forbes rich list.
While collecting protection fees, the United Company was not idle either, but was carrying out production conversion operations. Baekeland wanted to choose New Jersey as the starting point for his career. This can be said to be a case of great minds think alike. The base for the price war with the DuPont family was in New Jersey, and it exploded once last year.
In response, Anne announced on behalf of the United Company that these extremely dangerous gunpowder factories would be moved out of New Jersey. This statement, coupled with the unique protective color of women, won her widespread praise from the public.
But things are different now. The DuPont family has completely surrendered and given up the market. Even its enemies are gone. In fact, the United Company no longer needs to pretend to be a hypocrite and can reveal its true villain face. No one can do anything to Sheffield.
In other words, the past is the past, and the present is the present. It is okay for the United Company's factory to stay in New Jersey. This was the original appeal of the Arlington mistress. You have to know that Arlington still has a male owner. Anne wanted to move away, but Sheffield disagreed. It was reasonable for the gunpowder factory to continue to stay in New Jersey.
But after the Baekeland incident, there is another option. New Jersey, which has a foundation in the chemical industry, can switch to producing plastic products. As for whether it is polluting or not, it can be said at that time that "Bakeland's technology is immature, and the products of the small workshop were just developed by accident. After scientific comparison, the plastic products of the United Company are pure natural and pollution-free."
This is not bullying, not taking advantage of someone's misfortune, and certainly not for the pleasure of bullying someone out of boredom, but for the smooth development of future cooperation. No one can blame a businessman for wanting to make money. There is nothing wrong with making money. It would be even better if you could make money lawlessly.
Although with the progress of the times, many early acts of plunder are not desirable and there is always a reason to find one, but essentially nothing has changed. It's nothing more than whether the benefits are big enough. If they are big enough, it doesn't matter what the eating habits are. It's better not to have those face-saving projects. Emerging industries and sunset industries are always changing. If you want to be invincible, you have to act first. You can't blame the slave owners, just like you can't blame an eagle for catching rabbits.
Just like during the Spanish-American War, the United States said it would fight for Cuba's independence, but in the end it had to make a difficult decision to invade Cuba and turn it into a colony.
The unexpected visitor surprised Sheffield very much. He remembered that he had not seen Lowell for a long time, except for a quick glance at him at Rockefeller Manor last time.
Sheffield's mind raced when the distinguished guest arrived, and he immediately thought of Baekeland's question, hoping that his words would not come true.
"Oh, my friend, what brings you here?" After seeing Lowell, Sheffield opened his arms and wanted to give him a warm hug, but Lowell dodged him. He could only say in disappointment, "You Yankees are too cold. It may be related to the climate where you live."
But this doesn't make sense. Northeasterners are quite friendly. It seems that northerners in many countries are more indifferent than southerners. How come there is an outlier in the Republic? Do poor people rely on mutation?
"We are old friends now, so we don't have to start over again." Lowell said confidently, and his tone showed that he really had something to do when he came to visit.
With a sneer in his heart, Sheffield pretended to glance at the other side casually, but the equally shrewd Lowell also did not react at all. This kind of eye contact was very boring. Sheffield could only say, "Let's get straight to the point?"
"I want to get involved in the plastics field!" Lowell sat down without any hesitation, his tone very serious.
Why? Sheffield really wanted to ask, but having said that, Sheffield was not opposed to this form of negotiation. On the contrary, he preferred the current situation.
In fact, if you think about it the other way around, Lowell's coming all the way from Boston to Arlington Manor in person was already very sincere. This kind of thing could be said over a telegram or phone call, which was not difficult for Lowell. The other party's coming in person itself showed his attitude.
"Do you represent a group of people, or do you represent your family? This is a very important question!" Sheffield did not refuse directly. He could do whatever he wanted to Baekeland. He could even kill him and go directly to Baekeland's wife to sign the transfer agreement, but he could not do this to Lowell. He had to maintain class unity.
"On behalf of the Lowell family!" Lowell admitted, "The families in Boston only communicate with each other when they are under real pressure. Normally, we develop our own businesses."
This is probably the reason why you guys are always having trouble developing despite being the oldest, right? Sheffield shrugged. This consortium with the longest history in the United States has almost witnessed the establishment of other consortiums until they surpassed Boston. But it has always been practicing the original intention of the establishment of the United States, a federal system within a consortium.
After finally uniting and sending Kennedy to the presidency, he aroused public anger and was assassinated.
"Are you very reluctant?" Seeing Sheffield didn't speak, Lowell asked calmly.
"No," Sheffield was still so frugal with his words, and the smile on his face was still so innocent. He said easily, "What can't we talk about? You are in the northeast of the country, and my family is in the southwest. There is far more room for cooperation than conflict between the two sides, so we can talk..."
Sheffield's attitude was clear, but how to talk was another question. Lowell couldn't ask for too much. This was Sheffield's bottom line. He would always seek controlling stakes in areas he considered very important. This made him feel more secure!
Lowell also knew that if he didn't bring the entire Boston consortium out, there would be no great benefits waiting for him. The reason why he came in the name of his family was that he also knew the problems of the slave owners.
Over the years, he had been able to see from Sheffield's way of doing things that once this field was favored, the other party would always take the lion's share. That was why he accidentally learned about this matter and decided not to involve other families and come and talk to Sheffield himself.
At the end, Sheffield asked a confusing question, "How did you know this?"
"I just happened to know that Ogle is your mistress's brother!" Lowell forced a smile and said, "I never thought that the meticulousness I developed from practicing the piano would become an advantage."
"It's really embarrassing for others to know this kind of privacy." Sheffield just said this, and then changed the subject, "So what about this matter, about the lawsuit against Baekeland."
"I'll help you. I know you don't trust others and always want to see it with your own eyes. But Arlington is still a little far from New York, so I can help you keep an eye on it." Lowell took the matter over and said, "Besides, I have some connections in New York that I can use. It's not difficult to deal with an entrepreneur."
"Thank you!" Sheffield sighed and could only comfort himself that money cannot be earned by one person. As long as the majority is on his side, sometimes he has to learn to share.
"I can also help you campaign with the Democratic Party!" Lowell thought for a moment and said, "We can all develop in harmony. I believe this will benefit everyone."
"Of course!" Sheffield said briefly, but listening to what he said, why did he always feel like he was getting closer? Was it that the Democratic Party's philosophy was particularly attractive?
He didn't think so. Was he impressed by the three giants' split of DuPont? Now he was actively showing goodwill?
Anyway, Sheffield didn't think it was because of his kingly aura that the other party came over and bowed down. There must be a reason for this. Even if I don't understand it now, I will wait and see and the truth will come out one day.
(End of this chapter)
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