Chapter 670 Ace Spy
The New York Times has set an example for newspapers in the United States, and Sheffield certainly followed suit. Since everyone else is calling for peace, it would not be appropriate for Sheffield to be advocating war like crazy.
Sheffield believed that European diplomats were now working for peace, and this was absolutely sincere. Similarly, not all emperors were eager for war. Take Germany, the core of the Allied Powers, for example. Maybe William II thought this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity yesterday, but today he would think that peace is more valuable. This is very normal.
Whether it is the personal relationships between European royal families or the efforts of diplomats, one basic fact cannot be changed. That is, both camps have been preparing for war for a long time. From the two crises in Morocco to the two Balkan wars, conflicts have not evolved into full-scale wars, but we cannot expect that all conflicts are controllable. Nationalism will only rise, and the more crises there are, the more difficult it will be to get off the tiger.
It's like the green algae in a pond. It takes a month to cover the entire pond with green algae. But on the 29th day, the green algae in the pond only occupies half of the water surface. The remaining half of the water surface is covered on the 30th day.
"Dear, if you are worried, you can send a telegram and ask your mother to come to the country to live." Sheffield brushed his teeth with a dull look, and spoke vaguely when he glanced at Anne's absent-minded expression.
"Really? William, I'm a little afraid of grandma." Anne said timidly, "Actually, I'm afraid of one more thing. It seems that you have two sisters in Paris, and it seems that grandma doesn't like these two women."
"It's been many years. At that time, our family had no heir, and the old man made my grandmother very angry. Now it's different!" Sheffield spit out the mouthwash and said nonchalantly, "Now the issue of heirs has disappeared. Even if something happens to me, we still have our children. There is nothing to worry about."
"Will war really break out?" Anne murmured to herself, "What problems can't be discussed?"
"With the British watching, anything is possible." Sheffield said helplessly as he took the comb to comb his wife's hair.
The slave owners are not slandering the British. The role of the British in the First World War was definitely not like what they claimed, which was to protect the neutrality of Belgium or something like that.
The real core of the Allies was the Franco-Russian alliance, and the British played a role in the Triple Entente as a fanner of the flames. At the same time, there was a pro-German faction in the British Parliament and the cabinet. Twelve members of the British cabinet did not agree to join the war. The entire working class and most of the Liberals were against joining the war.
Among the pro-German factions in Britain, former Imperial Colonial Secretary Chamberlain was one of them. Although Chamberlain had retired from politics, the pro-German faction was still very powerful. Moreover, the British citizens of this generation were not good and opposed Britain's participation in the war.
So when the two major camps were simultaneously preparing for war and seeking peace through diplomacy, the British declared to the German ambassador to Britain that Britain was not an ally of the Franco-Russian alliance and that there was no such thing as an Allied Power. They also secretly encouraged the Franco-Russian alliance, the real core of the Allied Powers, to take a tough stance against the Central Powers.
In this matter, the forces in Britain that wanted to join the war deceived the Germans and circumvented the pro-German forces in the country. It is like the United States in later generations provoking war while holding anti-war demonstrations in the country. There is no contradiction at all. It was learned from the father, the British Empire.
How could the despicable and shameless nature of the British country be hidden from the Sheffield family, an outstanding representative of British immigrants? You should know that most slave owners in the Confederacy once hoped that Britain would help the Confederacy, but they were ultimately disappointed.
Anne went to send a telegram to Paris, while Sheffield boarded an airship under the guise of inspecting a factory and went directly to New York. He did not come to see Rockefeller Jr. and Morgan Jr., but went directly to the American headquarters of Thyssen & Co.
The manager of Jordan Associates in the United States plays golf on the golf course at the Rockefeller estate.
Except for the slave owner who was more familiar with shooting, he naturally lost to Grete Tison without a doubt. He handed over five hundred dollars to the other party and asked casually while holding the golf club, "It seems that Europe has been uneasy these two days. Will the war really break out?"
"If war breaks out so easily, it would have broken out many times long ago. Although His Majesty the Emperor is impulsive sometimes, this is exaggerated by some newspapers." Grettisen smiled nonchalantly and took the five hundred dollars from Sheffield. This was also a huge sum of money for him as a family manager.
"Oh!" Sheffield didn't know whether what the German said was true, but he thought it should be more credible than himself who was reading the newspaper across the Atlantic Ocean.
The slave owners believed the German's words. No one could realize how destructive the coming war would be. They thought it would be like the previous European continental war, with two battles and a treaty signed. So while the Sarajevo incident attracted attention, Britain was busy with the Irish issue, France was paying attention to the murder of a minister's wife, and Nicholas II was worried about his son's hemophilia recurring.
But as Sheffield realized, every time the spark of a war crisis was extinguished by diplomats, it only made the next war crisis more difficult to handle. No matter how good the mechanism is, it will eventually become dysfunctional. Many of the participating countries were right in thinking that the earlier the war broke out, the more it would help to reduce its scale.
"Why did you think of inviting the Germans to play golf at my estate?" Rockefeller Jr. appeared after Grete Tison left, and he was helpless about Sheffield's self-willed behavior.
"Dear John, don't be so stern all the time. Aren't you also a descendant of German immigrants?" Sheffield joked, thinking he was humorous. "I will stay in New York this month. You know the atmosphere in Texas is very depressing right now. We are still looking for the Emperor's daughter."
Of course, the real situation was not like that. When the countries declared war on each other, Sheffield would announce that the two grand duchesses had been found, and they would not be able to return anyway. He edited a touching story in the newspaper, adding some legendary stories about the daughter of the Russian emperor and how she was alert and sharp to escape, so that it would become a good card in his hand.
The purpose of being in New York was actually to contact the Germans nearby and remind them not to fall for the rhetoric of the despicable British.
At the same time, at the tactical level, some shameless British tricks were inadvertently revealed. After all, the slave owners were veteran German fans! Sheffield was ready to take on the responsibility of the Cambridge Five and organize an intelligence network for the Germans in the United States. Provide some powerful intelligence for the early German offensive, such as Belgium's resistance to the powerful German army, which many people did not expect.
Many people did not expect that Sheffield knew that he could use the secret contacts between the federal government and British diplomats as a basis to leak false intelligence to the Germans, and even suggest that Germany's hundreds of airships be quickly bombed and the Liege fortress be razed to the ground.
This certainly cannot be done in Arlington. Anne is French, and what he is about to do will cause great harm to France. Once discovered, it will easily affect the relationship between the couple.
"But then again, there won't be a war in Europe, will there?" Rockefeller Jr. was a little worried. The oil business in the United States is currently dominated by one company, and this one company is Standard Oil. With such a strong industry in the hands of the Rockefeller family, Rockefeller Jr. is naturally different from entrepreneurs in other industries.
Neither war nor peace has any impact on Standard Oil, and he naturally hopes that the peaceful state can be maintained.
If Sheffield's industries could all ignore trade barriers like the oil industry, he would not want a war to break out, but many of his industries are manufacturing, and it would be too difficult to break through trade barriers without a world war.
"It shouldn't happen. Europeans are the birthplace of modern civilization and they are wise enough to resolve disputes." Sheffield picked up the words of the New York Times and said without believing a word of it.
Sheffield did not disturb Rockefeller Jr., but went to live in his love nest with Alice Roosevelt. At the same time, he was planning how to become an ace spy and how to make the Germans believe in him.
Thanks to its years of career as a monopoly capitalist, brutally squeezing surplus value at home and licking the boots of imperialist powers abroad, Sheffield has a good reputation in many countries.
The harmonious relationship with Thyssen and Krupp is a very good foundation. Sheffield has been socializing with Grete Thyssen for several days, expressing his concerns about the situation in Europe.
Although the slave owners were worried that the war would not break out, this was indeed a real worry. At the same time, they intentionally or unintentionally leaked information about their connections in the federal government, and it seemed that the British were lobbying in recent days.
"Mr. William, are you saying that the British are deliberately provoking a war?" Grettisen said in disbelief, "No way?"
"I have also heard some things. The news is too chaotic right now and no one can guarantee its authenticity. But the British have always been stirring up discord among the European powers, using the weaker ones to fight the stronger ones. Isn't this a recognized fact?" Sheffield shrugged and said, "If there were no British, the world would be much more peaceful."
"Mr. William, many business owners say that you are a friend of us Germans." Grettisen's heart moved and he had some ideas.
"Of course, I always have!" Sheffield didn't seem to hear the hidden meaning and answered without thinking.
The unappreciated manager of this family seemed to want to use half-baked rhetoric to turn the richest man in the United States into an ace spy? But this was exactly what he wanted!
(End of this chapter)
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