Chapter 58: The Peasant's Son
Who lets Europe be so powerful? Naturally, it can create stereotypes for people in other countries. This is nothing new. The United States can get a copycat empire at the national level, and it is good enough for its citizens to get a person who is stupid and rich. The Russian Empire, which is also in Europe, is quite special, and it is always wandering on the road of whether it is European or not.
Russia is really strong, so Europeans think of it as a member of Europe and an inevitable and important part of maintaining order. If Russia is not so strong, Russians may become Asians at any time. Praising the powerful and trampling the weak is so real.
Even Rockefeller Jr.'s sister liked to live the life of a European aristocrat. The influence brought by a strong country is not immune even to the family of the richest man in the United States, let alone ordinary people.
This is not new. In Hollywood movies, yellow people are silent and do not speak in the same way. In the minds of some people in the Republic, Southeast Asians are always monkeys. No one should say anything about anyone else. The only difference is the strength of the country, and it has nothing to do with personal quality.
When leaving the Rockefeller Estate, Rockefeller Jr. came out to see them off. Although the two had not finalized any specific cooperation, a good attitude was a good start. Besides, this was not something that could be finalized just by a simple touch of the lips. It involved the future distribution of interests, as well as areas in which to cooperate and areas in which to keep distance. All of these required a professional team of managers to finalize the details.
"You American rich people really know how to enjoy life!" After leaving Rockefeller Manor, Anne held Sheffield's arm and said dazedly, "I've only been in the United States for one day and I've already met the richest man in the United States. It's like a dream. The richest man's sister married in Chicago. What kind of city is Chicago? Is it beautiful?"
"It's similar to the Ruhr area!" Sheffield glanced at the girl's pretty face and said teasingly, "If you don't mind the environment there, I can take you there."
Chicago is a region that occupies a leading position in the steel industry, machinery manufacturing, agricultural technology, trade, culture and education, etc. Chicago's industries are mainly steel, metal, food processing, electronics, petroleum processing, printing and transportation machinery and equipment industries, among which the steel industry ranks first in the United States.
At first glance, most of these industries are heavily polluting. Wudalian Lake is a serious victim of this. Huge amounts of heavy metals have accumulated in the Wudalian Lake and the Mississippi River. It was not until the Cold War that special treatment began. However, only some superficial work can be done. Wudalian Lake and the Mississippi River have accumulated silt rich in heavy metals due to a century of industrial dumping. This is how carp was introduced to the United States. The United States also relies on carp as a cleaner to control pollution.
However, the story of the hero turning into a dragon is repeated again and begins to spread across North America.
Although Chicago is the steel center of the United States, and it can use the Five Great Lakes and the Mississippi River as a garbage dump, it is not on Sheffield's schedule. In line with the original intention of picking the weak persimmon, he will not conflict with this king or that king at this stage, but will first cultivate his internal strength, start from the corners, clean up the miscellaneous fish first, and try to accumulate strength without interference from others.
Even if you want to become an industry giant, you should start from small industries. Start with industries related to agriculture and then nibble away at them bit by bit. Machinery is of course very important, but the foothold is still agricultural machinery.
Chicago actually has a very powerful presence in the field of agricultural machinery, and that is the International Harvester Company, which is Rockefeller Jr.'s brother-in-law and has been invested in by Rockefeller.
The cotton gin gave the American South and its planters a new lease of life, while the reaper made great progress in northern agriculture. At the time, the key obstacle to the development of commercial agriculture south of the Ohio River was that a farmer could only harvest half an acre of wheat a day at most. The growth cycle of wheat was also very unfavorable to farmers. It might take two weeks for the wheat to mature, or it might ripen all at once and fall to the ground in two days. Farmers were troubled by the harvest work every year.
The harvester invented by Mr. McCormick was equipped with a ground-wheel-driven cutting blade, a reel and a gathering platform. It could not only cut the wheat, but also automatically sort the cut wheat and neatly stack it on the workbench at the back. The harvesting speed was three times faster than manual labor. Later, McCormick came to Chicago. He built a factory on the north bank of the Chicago River in a place with convenient railway transportation and water supply, which later became the International Harvester Company.
However, Sheffield does not need to cooperate with the other party. It only needs to build a factory for production. The reason is very simple. The relevant patents of the harvester have expired long ago. It should be noted that it has been more than 50 years since the harvester appeared. There is no law that will protect the patent period for such a long time.
Now Sheffield is still prepared to focus on the core of the family, that is, agricultural issues. At the same time, this is also the idea of an agricultural empire that the Democratic Party has always advocated, which is inseparable from various agricultural machinery. Among them, tractors are the most important machinery.
When the United States dominated the world in later generations, among the most unbreakable hegemonies, the powerful agricultural hegemony was even more stable than the industrial hegemony. After all, there were countries that were close to or even exceeded the industrial scale of the United States, but there were no countries that could take agriculture into consideration, because the population of the Republic was large, and agriculture could only guarantee self-sufficiency, and they could not be expected to do more.
Russia, with its vast territory, sparse population and location in the frigid zone, cannot challenge the agriculture of the United States. As for Brazil? This country's industry is too backward. Compared with the United States, which has strong industry and agriculture, other countries are more or less at a disadvantage.
Forty years ago, the Frenchman Alabart invented the earliest steam-powered tractor. A miniaturized steam engine was installed on the chassis of a vehicle to drive the wheels, allowing it to drive into the field and directly pull agricultural machinery. This is how the tractor was born.
As for the internal combustion engine-powered tractors, they had only been around for a few years, so it was not too late for Sheffield to enter this field. Besides, he had the German internal combustion engine patent. In terms of geographical advantage, Texas had oil, so he did not have to worry about technology or fuel. With Rockefeller's help, he was confident that he could crush his opponents.
After entering Texas, Anne was attracted by the huge livestock and the endless pastures and farmlands. She couldn't help but exclaim, "It's so beautiful."
"Of course, I'm a farmer's son!" Sheffield said very proudly, "I want to solve the problem of food for the people of the United States!"
(End of this chapter)
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