Fang Lang's eyes swept across everyone in the reception room. From everyone's performance, he was very sure that neither the US government nor the big financial groups had formed the mindset of being the world police.
Even the heads of the two largest financial groups in the United States, Morgan and Rockefeller, had not yet realized that the aid plan had to be supported by military force.
Mr. Marshall, who is about to take office as Secretary of State, has not yet realized the fundamental purpose of Duterte's choice of him, a five-star general, to serve as Secretary of State.
This made Fang Lang see an opportunity. Standing on the shoulders of historical giants, he knew very well what would happen in the future. He was not worried at all about whether he could make money by investing in road construction.
When everyone is afraid, he is able to stand up and take on this tough task. Does it mean that he can get bigger rewards from other places as compensation?
If this is the case, food exports become less important, and even investing in General Electric should not be completely impossible!
Now that the benefits have been distributed, when Lao Du's layout is completed, Lao Duism is made public, and begins to be implemented, he can reap the benefits.
In order to promote this matter, he could even promote the theory of world police to the future Secretary of State, Mr. Marshall! Anyway, this is what the Americans will inevitably do in the future, so it’s okay to take it out in advance in exchange for his own interests!
Thinking of this, Fang Lang began to think about how to maximize his own interests, but he said with a guilty look on his face:
...
...
"I'm so sorry, I didn't react for a moment and thought I was in Brazil."
But the people sitting here were all smart. Although Fang Lang only raised a question, everyone started to think about it in their hearts.
You have to know that those present here are either generals or heads of large financial groups. They never care about war. If war can bring benefits to their business, they will promote war at all costs.
Harken Morgan was the first to speak to Marshall:
"I think what Fang said makes sense! Isn't it that the U.S. military should protect our American businessmen?"
Marshall, who was in deep thought, looked up when he heard the words, and looked at the chairman of Morgan Company who looked interested, and fell into hesitation. Fang Lang's words today made him seem to have grasped something, but he was still not quite getting the point.
"You are right, but if our troops enter another country's territory to carry out armed intervention, it may cause international disputes! This will have a very bad impact on the international image of the United States."
Alvin Rockefeller on the other side also reacted at this time. He looked at Fang Lang with a meaningful look, and then slowly said:
"If I remember correctly, these countries that need our assistance are all our allies, right? As allies, it seems reasonable for us to send troops to help them stabilize domestic order and eliminate opposition forces!
Of course, there are also some countries that were defeated in the war, and our troops are already stationed in these defeated countries, so there is no problem at all.”
As soon as these words were spoken, smiles appeared on the faces of Marshall and the Morgan family. Yes! It seems that everything is going according to plan!
As long as the US military is stationed there, these businesses will not face much risk at all. After all, the US military has just won the world war and is at the peak of its power.
They feel that they are the most powerful army in the world, before they are hit hard by a blow from their hometown on some peninsula. With the protection of such an army, those investments that were originally assessed to be high-risk will instantly be reduced to a risk-free level.
High risk often means high income. The eyes of everyone present lit up, and they exchanged glances without saying a word, and reached a consensus in an instant.
Fang Lang, who witnessed all this, could only sigh and wanted to slap himself hard. Why did he say so much? Now everyone has thought of letting the US military escort their business, which makes him lose the opportunity to pick up the leak.
As for whether the US military will agree to protect the consortium's business, this is not a problem at all for the consortium. They just need to convince the US president.
Whether the American president can be persuaded is not a problem at all. After all, the American government is a government that represents their interests. If it cannot serve them, they need to replace an obedient president.
Moreover, Fang Lang knew very well that Truman did not need the consortium to persuade him at all. From the other party's arrangement of General Marshall's new position, it could be seen that he had actually considered everything in advance.
What Fang Lang needs to do most now is to unify the interests of everyone present, form a united front, and not let the two largest consortiums abandon him.
Therefore, he spoke directly without hesitation:
"In that case, I think it's not impossible to help them restore road traffic! I just don't know what benefits we can get in return for this difficult task."
Everyone present understood that sending U.S. troops to protect their business was no longer a problem, and the only thing left was to communicate with the President of the United States.
Even General Marshall knew very well that with the participation of Morgan and Rockefeller, it would not be difficult to push the White House to implement this policy.
So, everyone chose to keep silent about this topic.
Fang Lang's words brought everyone's thoughts back to the actual distribution of interests.
The Morgan family, who had not mentioned the issue of Nice Company's grain exports since they entered the room, looked at each other, and Harken Morgan spoke first:
"Fang, I think if our Morgan family agrees to provide infrastructure loans to the local government, we will be able to let Nice regain all of its grain market share."
Hearing this, Fang Lang wanted to curse in his heart. I have provided you with such a good problem-solving idea. All your businesses will be reduced from medium- and high-risk assessments to no risk or low risk.
Before others could react, they had taken on these high-risk projects and could get huge profits in other fields. Now they wanted to get rid of him with the conditions they had promised him, which was obviously unacceptable to Fang Lang.
After taking a look at Alvin Rockefeller who seemed to be thinking deeply, Fang Lang gritted his teeth and turned to Marshall and said:
"Mr. Marshall, I think simply helping the local government restore traffic does not reflect the generosity of our America. If the local government agrees to use its own taxes to provide me with a guarantee.
I would like to set up a company that specializes in building and operating highways, and be responsible for building highways for local governments that are better than the original roads.
Of course, for the highways I build, our company must have a franchise for at least 40 years. What do you think? "
Upon hearing this, Marshall raised his eyebrows, glanced at the Morgan family, and said to Fang Lang with a reserved smile:
"You mean, you only need the local government to provide you with a guarantee using tax revenue, and you don't need them to provide you with a loan, right?"
Fang Lang smiled and nodded:
"Yes, we can apply for a bank loan in the name of this highway company, build the road first, and then repay the loan by collecting tolls! In other words, we can borrow money to build the road and repay the loan by collecting tolls."
"I don't think they can find any reason to refuse. What are your conditions?"
Marshall's eyes lit up. Fang Lang's plan was a godsend for any government. No one would refuse it. As for the 40-year franchise period being too long, don't you see what the current situation is in various countries?
The risk of this investment is so high that the cost cannot be recovered in a short period of time. It is not excessive at all for others to ask for a 40-year franchise, right?
With expressways, the economic recovery speed of all countries will rise to a higher level. After all, the impact of transportation on the economy is still very huge.
At this moment, Marshall felt that this trip was really worth it.
After hearing Marshall's question, Fang Lang glanced at the Morgan family members and slowly said:
“Since the loan needs to be guaranteed by local government taxes, it shouldn’t be too much to ask the local government to deposit taxes equal to the loan amount into the bank providing the loan!”
As soon as these words were spoken, the faces of several people in the Morgan family changed instantly. Harken Morgan was even more incredulous and was about to jump up from his seat.
Fortunately, the old patriarch Charles Morgan next to him was relatively calm. He reached out and grabbed Harken Morgan who was trying to get up.
All of this naturally did not escape the eyes of Fang Lang, who had been paying attention to the reactions of several people. At this moment, Fang Lang couldn't help but laugh triumphantly in his heart. This time he could be regarded as pinching the Morgan family's weak spot!
You want to get rid of yourself by doing a simple grain merchant business? There is no such simple thing in the world.
Rockefeller on the side was also horrified when he heard this. He was not just an oil businessman. After several generations of development, the current Rockefeller family had already spanned multiple industries.
Although they cannot compete with the Morgan family in the financial field, they are not far behind.
What Fang Lang said about depositing taxes into the bank that provides loans is certainly not as simple as it seems. Taxes are the main source of revenue for the government, and taxes of various countries are generally deposited in their central banks, such as the Federal Reserve in the United States and the Bank of England in the United Kingdom.
Therefore, it is impossible to deposit all taxes in a private bank, or even to deposit taxes equal to the loan amount in a private bank.
However, the central banks of various countries can establish some cooperative relationships with this bank.
As for the specific cooperation method, it depends on the attitude of the local government and how much it is willing to pay for economic reconstruction and highway construction.
Fang Lang's words were obviously meant for Morgan and Rockefeller. This was a great opportunity to establish connections with central banks of various countries if Fang Lang's own Brazilian Development Bank took over this business.
The Brazilian Development Bank will instantly become a large global bank, not to mention how much profit the bank can generate from the various financial businesses it conducts in these countries.
Simply obtaining the right to international monetary settlement would allow the Brazilian Development Bank to become one of the giants of the world bank.
Compared with such a big cake, the tolls collected from building highways are not worth mentioning at all.
Therefore, just this short sentence shocked the Morgan and Rockefeller families. As for whether this request could be realized, the two families only needed to think about it to understand that the chances were very high.
The two families now understood the young man's huge ambition and had to begin to treat Fang Lang's existence with caution.
Marshall obviously didn't expect Fang Lang to be waiting for him here. This kind of thing was obviously not something he could decide, so he could only say hesitantly:
"This... I can't answer you either! I think you need to negotiate directly with the local government."
Hearing this, Fang Lang shrugged indifferently and said:
"Oh well!"
Then, Fang Lang looked at Morgan and Rockefeller with a smile and said:
“I wonder if any of you are interested in joining my project?”
As he said this, he glanced at Rockefeller calmly, and Rockefeller on the opposite side immediately understood what he meant.
Before the Morgan family members could speak, Alvin Rockefeller burst into laughter:
"Of course, Fang, how can such a good project be without the participation of our Rockefeller family! I think my petrochemical company can provide the best asphalt for highway construction.
Our family-owned bank is also willing to provide loans.”
This statement made the three members of the Morgan family frown. After looking at each other, Charles Morgan sighed helplessly and said:
"Fang, I have to say that I underestimated you. Here, I want to express my sincerest apologies to you on behalf of the Morgan family."
Hearing this, Fang Lang's face remained calm. At this moment, he had already seen through the true face of the consortium. There was no such thing as friendship with the Morgan family. There was only interest.
As for the so-called most sincere apology, it is probably just lip service. In the end, it depends on how the other party is prepared to respond to your proposal.
Therefore, Fang Lang did not respond, but waited quietly for the other party's next words.
"Regarding your idea of buying shares in General Electric, I can make the decision and answer you now. We are willing to transfer 10% of General Electric shares to you as compensation. What do you think?"
Eli Morgan and Harken Morgan beside him stared at their patriarch in amazement. This was different from what they had discussed! However, in this situation, the two of them obviously would not interrupt and refute the patriarch's words. They were waiting for his next words.
Although 10% of GE's shares may not seem like much now, Fang Lang knows what kind of company GE will become in the future.
That is to say, he has the opportunity to buy shares now because General Electric has not yet fully grown. He has to wait a few years. Even if Fang Lang wants to buy one thousandth of the shares, not to mention that the Morgan family will not agree, the US government will directly intervene.
This is a large enterprise that is related to the national defense and security of the United States. The aircraft engines it produces alone are products that many countries want to buy but cannot.
And now Charles Morgan actually agreed to transfer 10% of the shares to Fang Lang. What else could he be dissatisfied with?
After Fang Lang heard this, he was already very excited, but he still tried to remain calm. After coughing lightly, he slowly said:
“Will it not be diluted?”
Hearing this, Charles Morgan coughed twice and said unnaturally:
"It depends on whether you follow up when the company increases its capital and expands its shares."
Fang Lang said without hesitation:
"Of course, I am very optimistic about the future of GE and will definitely follow up with all my strength."
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