Chapter 660 The Calm Before the Storm
"If you were not my son, would you be able to get into Union University with your grades? Similarly, if she was not Carnegie's daughter, would she be specially recruited? You are lucky to be born into this family. Don't think that everything is for nothing! If I only had you as my son, you might also enjoy special treatment, such as free love or something, but you happen to have a lot of competitors, so don't bargain with me."
Slave owners were not very good at educating their children. Apart from giving William Rockefeller a complete childhood, they also gave him a complete adolescence. What should they do if their children are disobedient? Just give them two slaps!
At least now the effect is still very significant. On many major issues, William Rockefeller dare not say no at all.
"I will be obedient and obtain Canadian residency when I come of age. Don't I have any objection?" William Rockefeller forced a smile. His most profound memories were the times he was beaten by slave owners.
"You dare to object?" Sheffield gritted his teeth and said, "But you don't have to feel unfair. You know Anne's child, your brother Alexander, is much younger than you, and I sold him for a good price. His future wife is the newly born daughter of tobacco tycoon James Duke. Doesn't it sound more balanced now? Our family is engaged in the trade of labor, and your father is still a fair person. If I can sell others, I can sell myself as well."
As he spoke, he pulled out a newspaper from his butt. The headline on it read that a fight between Italian gangs had affected a black community. Without even looking at it, one could tell that this was definitely done by the FBI under the command of Konstantinovich, who were eliminating local black leaders and claiming that it was the Italian gang's doing.
"I bought you a piece of land in Canada. It will be in your name when you come of age. It's about three million acres." Sheffield said while reading a newspaper. "It's on the other side of the Great Lakes, not far from Chicago. Your mother doesn't want you to go to Australia. The climate there is a little dry, but the other conditions are good. But Canada is not bad either. It's not far from China, so you can take care of both."
"If you can marry Margaret, with the shares she inherits, you will be able to control the steel industry and have more shares in the company than Rockefeller Jr. And he is your uncle after all, so he won't be a hindrance to you. Although it's a bit too blunt to say this when talking about your feelings, I still hope you can see the benefits." After reading the newspaper, Sheffield stood up and said, "Bring a gun with you when you participate in outdoor activities. Jesla will send the plan to you in a few days. If you only have one time in your life to put your heart into it, I hope this is it. Now go study. Although I can guarantee that you will graduate, you should pretend to be serious. I'm leaving first."
Back to Oak Manor again, all the women except Anne are there. The slave owner traveled all the way to the Middle East, and the women are so worried that his waist has been in bad condition recently.
"Where have you been?" Edith Rockefeller was old enough that she usually played the role of a good wife when Anne was not around.
"Don't mention your good son. It's a pity that he has grown up and can't be retrained." Sheffield said helplessly, "What's so difficult about this? I have never worried about love in my life."
"Aren't you not an adult yet?" Edith Rockefeller felt a little guilty. It was a little late for her to have children, which led to her favoritism towards her own children.
"I was not yet an adult when I met you." Sheffield snorted angrily, looking at the other women and pointing a finger. "I won't mistreat any of you, but I also don't want to see the business I built with the blood and tears of others fall into the hands of a mediocre heir. The Sheffield family came from the triangular trade, so they must be aware of what they have done. You can choose between being incompetent and being ruthless, but you can't be both incompetent and ruthless. That's stupid."
"I have controlling stakes in almost all the industries I control, and you should understand their value. I now have more than one billion dollars in cash. I dare say that no single person in this country can accumulate more than me. So much money is more likely to be envied, so I will divide some industries to make the joint company look less scary." Sheffield paused and said, "So, dears, please train your children well."
Since the Second Balkan War, the European continent seems to have vented some of its inner anger due to some local conflicts and returned to its original peace.
On the contrary, because of the outbreak of local wars, the federal government started a new round of naval development plans. Sheffield undoubtedly received a negligible contract from it.
Based on the principle that no matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat, the slave owner certainly would not mind anything as long as there was benefit. For this reason, he even specially received Franklin Roosevelt, the Deputy Secretary of the Navy who came to the South for vacation, so that he could experience the customs and culture of the South.
"Wars always break out in Europe. To be honest, although the people in the War Department are always alarmist, they are also quite concerned about the development of the United States' armaments." Franklin Roosevelt walked on the sunny beach, chatting with Sheffield.
"People in the War Department do that kind of thing. It's not necessarily alarmist. There are indeed some countries with bigger conflicts." Sheffield chuckled. What's so strange about the War Department planning how to deal with the war?
Although he was not very familiar with this department, the slave owner believed that the War Department should now have records of wars with multiple countries. He dared not say that all countries in the world were included, but at least among the American countries in the Western Hemisphere, there would definitely not be many that would slip through the net.
It is normal for a country's professional departments, or even a country's leaders, to have wild ideas about such things. Take Kaiser Wilhelm II, for example. This German emperor who looked down on the yellow race actually wanted to form an alliance with China for a while. Of course, the other object of the alliance was the United States.
Wanting to form an alliance with China, the United States and Germany to fight against the Allied Powers led by Britain, this has to be said to be a very big brain hole. The key is that this is a plan that William II took the initiative to propose to implement. Entering the new century, the situation of the great powers competing in China has changed. Due to the rapid expansion of the forces of Britain, France, Japan, Russia and other countries, especially Japan's invasion of China, the United States and Germany have lost their advantageous position in the competition for China. German Minister to China Rex wrote a letter to German Prime Minister Brough, expressing his concern about Germany being squeezed by Britain, France, Japan and other countries in the Far East. Under such circumstances, Germany once again proposed to China the proposal of a trilateral alliance between China, the United States and Germany.
But to be honest, Sheffield was not optimistic about the secret diplomacy when Roosevelt was about to step down. William II's attempt was impossible to achieve. Even if everything went smoothly and the treaty was barely concluded, it was very likely that the treaty would not be fulfilled when the war broke out. After all, the United States was a descendant of the British.
Even Roosevelt, who showed a little interest at the beginning, was mainly targeting Japan, not Britain. After the outbreak of World War I, Roosevelt publicly accused the pro-German forces who lobbied to join the Allies as traitors, which shows his obvious attitude.
If only Britain and the United States are left, the United States may stab Britain even more harshly than Germany did. But from the perspective of picking peaches, of course it is best to wait until the Germans are finished and then do it yourself.
"You admit it, too. If a war really breaks out in Europe, we will also need a strong navy to protect ourselves. My uncle and I have the same idea on this point." Franklin Roosevelt did not think as much as the slave owner did. Instead, he asked with interest, "What do you think of the military strength of our country?"
"The navy is among the top three in the world, and the army is probably at the level of Italy!" I'm very sorry to the Italians. Sheffield can only find such a reference. With the current United States army of about 100,000, it is still a question whether it can defeat Italy.
"The Italian Army is actually not bad! At least it is enough to protect our territory and prevent us from being threatened by Europeans." Franklin Roosevelt did not think there was anything shameful about it. It has to be said that the United States in the early twentieth century was so humble that it actually believed that the Italian Army was of good level.
"As long as we work harder on the navy, the army won't be very important to us." Sheffield did not discuss the issue of the army's combat effectiveness with Franklin Roosevelt. Anyway, the United States was in such a position that it could deal with Canada and Mexico. The navy could stop the Europeans, and there was no need for a strong army.
It seems that since the beginning of the year, all the haze of war has disappeared. After two Balkan wars, the European continent has entered a temporary state of peace. As for the United States, in addition to a batch of new naval orders, a new reconstruction plan has been launched. For many citizens, they would never have thought that a world war that fully reflects the achievements of the Industrial Revolution would break out this year. The cruelty of this war will exceed any war in the past thousands of years.
No one would have thought that this was the calm before the storm. The citizens of the United States believed that the major event of the year was the midterm elections to see whether the Democratic Party could maintain its strong advantage. The rest was what was seen in the newspapers, the Southern Reconstruction Plan, whether it could bring the economic balance between the North and the South closer and truly complete the reconciliation after the Civil War.
The same is true for Sheffield. The United Company has completed the adjustment for the war. Now it is to allocate some production capacity and use the reconstruction plan to train workers. In short, for him, all he has to do now is wait. By the way, he occasionally receives telegrams to see where William Rockefeller and Margaret Carnegie, who were followed by the Black Gold Company, are.
(End of this chapter)
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