Chapter 604 Helium Technology Transfer
In addition to welcoming a new family member, Sheffield was happy to know that the two battleships at the San Francisco Shipyard would be completed within the year.
Although it was not very profitable, and even far less than what Anne spent in Europe, it was not a bad thing to be able to test the manufacturing capabilities of its industry before the world war.
"Our navy was formed bit by bit by the diligent hands of these workers. To be fair, we should thank them!" Sheffield said emotionally as he stood on the seashore and looked at the busy shipyard.
The slave owner brought Louisa Morgan to the West Coast with Democratic candidate Wilson, who was giving speeches along the way. Compared to the Republicans, who were now divided into two factions, the Democratic Party showed unity. In front of the citizens of the Midwest, William Bryan helped Wilson familiarize himself with the environment here and transferred his political legacy to this new candidate.
The Democratic Party has always been a little more united than the Republican Party, which is normal because the Democratic Party has always been a loser. Losers always have higher internal cohesion, and at least after winning once, this unity has not been disintegrated.
Sheffield's sudden sentimentality made Louisa Morgan a little overwhelmed. This man was sometimes so contradictory. He would become a completely different person the next day, which was unpredictable.
"What's wrong with you? Why do you say such things?" Louisa Morgan put her hand on the man's shoulder. Is he sick again?
"My dear, you just encountered a rare moment of my life. I don't often feel guilty." When Sheffield turned around, there was no more melancholy on his face, and his tone was much calmer. "Sometimes it's like this. I know that many of the things I'm doing are wrong, but they are good for me, so I'll keep doing them."
As Sheffield knew, Roosevelt said he wanted to dismantle big companies to prevent monopolies from putting citizens in a disadvantaged position. Sheffield agreed, but he was also a business owner, not an ordinary capitalist, but a member of the monopoly bourgeoisie.
So it is good for the citizens but not for Sheffield, so he cannot let President Roosevelt take office now. The slave owners are also stirring up the fuse of the world war. Although he dared not do anything to the real powers such as Germany and France, and was very afraid of being caught, he did not stop with Austria-Hungary and Italy, which already had problems, and made his own contribution to the world war.
Sheffield certainly knew that tens of millions of people would die, and every one of those deaths was a living person, but not only could he not stand idly by, he even took the initiative to get involved, hoping to make the two camps more evenly matched.
Normally, the death toll would have been much higher, and the slave owners certainly knew it was a tragedy. But if other countries had not fought, the United States would not have had a chance to soar. If the big companies of these European powers had not been hit hard by the world war, the internationalization of the United Corporation would have had many rivals.
Sheffield now understood a little bit what the top leaders of the United States were thinking a hundred years later. They were not stupid, they were just pretending to be ignorant. They were just bastards.
Knowing clearly that what he was doing was a very bad thing, he still had to do it without hesitation. This was Sheffield's mentality, and it was also the practice of the elites of the United States a hundred years later. So what did it matter how many people died? Sheffield didn't have to go to the battlefield, and he had a certificate of hemophobia issued by Arlington Hospital.
The second Moroccan crisis has now entered the actual negotiation stage, with the major European countries involved and their allies playing their roles. From my wife's latest telegram, there have been voices in French politics raising vigilance against Italy's recent unusual military mobilization, but no warning has been issued yet.
Whether Sheffield's action of throwing money from an airship can bring about the desired result will soon be known.
"I don't know if Belgrade has done its part." Sheffield put his hands in his pockets, stood facing the sea breeze for a moment, and then made a mental decision that he had to take the initiative.
"Honey, let's go back to New York. I want to ask the Germans about some situations." Sheffield held Louisa Morgan's hand. Nominally, he followed Wilson out to warm up for the election. In fact, he just came here to relax, but this purpose was not successful. Things happened that could not be solved by relaxing. To solve the problem, he had to face the challenge head-on.
The increasingly fierce elections and the mediation negotiations on the second Moroccan crisis do not seem to be very relevant to him as a business owner, but in fact both things are very important to him.
Sheffield, who had been helping Anne with her plans for the past two or three months, finally remembered the mission of a senior German fan. Now he was ready to give the Germans a gift that would make them happy.
The airship was invented by the Germans. The United Corporation merely obtained patent approval, allowing it to build these airships for commercial operations in the airspace of the United States. In this respect alone, the United Corporation should be similar to an assembly plant.
Germany attached great importance to the development of air power, which consisted of the Imperial Army Air Service and the Imperial Navy Air Service, which were subordinate to the Army and Navy respectively, and carried out land reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, and sea search and rescue missions. However, the focus of Germany's expansion of its air force was not on aircraft, but on Zeppelin airships. They hoped to use these huge airships for tactical and strategic reconnaissance. And for a long time, the Zeppelin airship did not disappoint them, and also played an amazing role in air strikes on ground targets.
Early airships had obvious advantages over airplanes, but these advantages were extremely easy to break. For example, hydrogen is flammable and explosive. Later, the airship that attacked London was intercepted by British planes using white phosphorus bullets.
This is not unsolvable. We can just replace the hydrogen with safer helium, and continue bombing London without any scruples. The source of the United States' helium industry is the domestic natural gas oil fields. Germany does not have such an environment, and does not even have the basic conditions, so it is naturally helpless in the synthesis industry.
Just like how a country without coal resources can manufacture steam engines? If you don't believe it, look at South America, which is a continent without high-quality coal.
Helium extraction and purification is where United Chemical is ahead of the Germans. Sheffield met with the manager of Bayer's New York branch and took the initiative to propose the idea of helping the Germans establish a helium purification industry.
Slave owners would never be so conscientious when negotiating with people at home, but now it is different, because they are Germans.
"In the commercial operation of airships, my managers have discovered a major flaw, which is that hydrogen airships are too unsafe." Looking at the busy Fifth Avenue below, Sheffield said righteously, "Regarding United and Zeppelin, if hydrogen airships are used for the envisioned transatlantic air transport, accidents are extremely likely to occur in such a long journey and in complex weather conditions."
"The cooperation between the United Company and Zeppelin Airship Company must replace unsafe hydrogen with safe helium. This is a fact that must be done. After a long period of communication, our two companies have determined the plan to replace hydrogen airships. As for you Bayer, our long-standing partner of the United Company, our cooperation has always been very harmonious. Establishing a helium industry factory in Germany cannot be separated from your help."
The slave owner knew very well that it was better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. He could not send the helium thousands of miles away when the war came, and it would be too late. Once the airship bombed London, would the Royal Navy sit idly by and watch Sheffield, and the important filling gas of the airship be delivered to the Germans?
So at least when it comes to helium, the slave owners should forget about doing business on both ends. It would be better for them to be generous and help Germany build a helium extraction plant to help the Germans achieve self-sufficiency.
The slave owners did not need the Germans' thanks. They could just express their gratitude through aerial bombs and two more air raids over London. As the head of the New York branch, Augusto was of course very happy. Airships were a common thing for him who had lived in New York for a long time. Previously, the Sheffield airship landed at the Rockefeller estate, which caused a sensation among New Yorkers.
Now it seems that the king of this emerging industry in the United States is serious about aviation. If major cities have airship routes, this will be a considerable market, not to mention the envisioned transatlantic routes.
This is also a very good thing for Bayer. It can even be said that Sheffield is worthy of being a conscientious capitalist.
"If there is no objection, the contract will be signed and we will find a place to build the factory in the Ruhr area." Sheffield was completely businesslike and did not seem to think the helium factory was that important.
In a sense, the world war was not even in sight, and the slave owners had already started to do business on both sides. But they were still doing it very sensibly, and the reinforcement of the Central Powers was mainly focused on the Germans. As for the Allies, the reinforcement could be slightly delayed because the Allies were stronger.
We also need to see how this Moroccan crisis will go. Germany and France have been conducting two months of negotiations around the second Moroccan crisis. From the initial tensions to the current familiarity, if things continue like this, there will be a peaceful ending, but we are afraid of accidents.
The Italian Navy is undergoing an unusual build-up, with 1,500 Italian soldiers in port preparing to embark.
(End of this chapter)
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