After everyone left, Fang Lang turned his gaze towards the Henderson couple and said with a smile:
“Uncle Henderson, if you have anything to say to Auntie, please speak up.
I will tell you everything I know. "
Seeing that Fang Lang did not directly answer her question, Mrs. Henderson was a little stunned, but Fit Henderson was a smart person, and sometimes she would either deny or confirm.
Obviously Fang Lang indirectly acknowledged the problem between the two.
He grabbed Mrs. Henderson's hand, who wanted to continue asking questions, and said with a smile on his face:
"Actually, your aunt doesn't have any other intentions. I just heard that you have close ties with major American financial groups, and I want to ask you if you know that some time ago, US Secretary of State Marshall gave a speech at Harvard University."
After all this time, it turns out they were asking about this matter. It's not a secret. The Secretary of State has already given a speech. Although they deliberately avoided domestic attention in the United States, given the connection between the United States and Europe during this period.
The content of this speech will soon spread all over the world!
...
...
Of course, both President Truman and Secretary of State George Marshall have only proposed this plan, but how to implement the plan, the specific aid methods and amounts still need to be discussed in detail.
What’s more important is that each of these European countries has its own demands and certainly has its own ideas about the distribution ratio of aid. If these problems are not resolved, this so-called European aid plan will still be a castle in the air.
Even if these problems are solved, there is still the hurdle of the US Congress to overcome. You must know that the US Congress is not controlled by the Democratic Party alone. This plan, which is obviously to use US money to help Europe, will definitely attract a lot of opposition.
After all, in name, American political parties are all meant to safeguard the interests of the American people!
In actual history, after George Marshall proposed the European aid plan, although the United States had already begun to provide direct aid to Greece and Türkiye, the plan was not actually passed until April 1948.
The reason why it took so long was that European countries were arguing with each other and wanted to gain the most benefits. France suffered great damage from Germany in the two world wars and was unwilling to let Germany restore its pre-war strength.
But for Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, although they had also suffered from Nazi aggression, considering the close economic ties between themselves and Germany, they still hoped to promote their own economic prosperity and development by promoting Germany's revival.
The Scandinavian countries, especially Sweden, always adhered to two principles: one was that their long-standing trade relations with the Eastern Bloc countries should not be interrupted; the other was that their neutrality should not be violated.
However, the United States' European aid plan was originally intended to curb the development of the Soviet Union, so of course they could not agree to this. Therefore, the negotiations among European countries alone were a long process.
Not to mention the strong opposition from members of the US Congress later on. If it hadn’t been for the February Revolution in Czechoslovakia in February 1948, the US Congress would have been scared to the point of almost peeing their pants.
There is a big question mark as to whether this plan can be successfully passed.
Fang Lang looked at the Henderson couple with some amusement. It was really surprising that they would think of asking a Brazilian like him about such American policy.
However, thinking about the relationship between them and the Morgan family and the Rockefeller family mentioned earlier, they probably thought of asking me because they thought that I might be someone who could receive insider information!
"Uncle and Aunt Henderson want to know if I have heard of Mr. Marshall's plan for the reconstruction of Europe?"
Seeing Fang Lang looking at them with a smile, the Henderson couple smiled a little embarrassedly. Finally, Mrs. Henderson took the initiative to speak:
“I was wondering if your company, which is involved in the aid operations for Türkiye and Greece, knew some inside information about this plan.”
It has to be said that sometimes women are more appropriate than men in speaking about certain issues. Since Fang Lang has taken the initiative to mention the European reconstruction plan, it means that Fang Lang is aware of this plan.
So, Mrs. Henderson began to test Fang Lang to see if he knew some inside information that they were interested in.
Fang Lang certainly knew the inside story of this plan, and he could be said to be one of the behind-the-scenes promoters of this plan. But there were some things and things that he could discuss with the Morgan and Rockefeller families, but they were definitely not suitable to be discussed with the Hendersons.
It's not that they don't trust each other, but if something is not concretely implemented, some uncontrollable changes may occur if it is spoken out. After all, the Hendersons also have their own positions.
They are the party receiving aid. If they know some inside information in advance and spread it, the negotiations between European countries may not be able to proceed, let alone the implementation of the plan.
So, Fang Lang smiled and said:
"Although Mr. Marshall proposed this plan, the attitudes of European countries have not yet been unified, and the plan has not been submitted to Congress for approval. How can I know the inside story?
But as far as I know, Mr. Marshall's idea of providing funds from the United States to help European countries rebuild was supported by the Morgan family and the Rockefeller family. "
Although Fang Lang said that the plan had not been submitted yet and he did not know the inside information, the following sentence, that the idea was supported by Morgan and Rockefeller, was obviously a typical inside information.
This is also telling the Hendersons that this plan has the support of the American consortium and they will make their own judgment on the possibility of it passing.
They are smart and can quickly get the information they want from this news, and make relevant adjustments to their family's business.
In fact, in Fang Lang's opinion, this is just nonsense. After all, Secretary of State George Marshall has made it clear in his speech that the funds will be provided by the United States. If he did not get authorization, would he dare to express this statement?
But people are strange sometimes. Even though they have received the message, they may still have some reservations. However, when someone they think they can trust gives them a positive reply, they will truly believe it.
Just as Fang Lang expected, the Henderson couple breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what Fang Lang said.
Mrs. Henderson couldn't wait to speak up:
"If that's the case, it would be great. Many of our industries are already facing financial constraints. With the influx of American capital, we will definitely be able to get out of the quagmire."
Fang Lang did not respond after hearing this. He did not know the specific industrial situation of the Henderson family. Now his Global Group and the other family's shipyard have established a joint venture.
The other party's shipyard will definitely be able to achieve good development. As for other industries, Fang Lang may only know about the Bristol Aircraft Manufacturing Plant, but Fang Lang in later generations has never heard of this company.
Moreover, the other party's research direction is obviously wrong. In this era when everyone is researching jet aircraft, you are still researching propeller aircraft. If you are not eliminated, who will be eliminated?
Therefore, Fang Lang did not want to use his own funds to help the other party fill the hole.
Fit Henderson on the side was obviously not particularly concerned about the business, so after getting the answer he wanted, he stopped paying attention and instead looked at Fang Lang with some curiosity and said:
"Fang, this God's Whip Military Contracting Company is your business, right?"
This kind of thing is not a secret, and Fang Lang has never thought about keeping it secret, so he smiled and nodded:
"Yes, Uncle Henderson!"
"Then why did you set up a mercenary company like this?"
Hearing this, Fang Lang smiled and said:
"In fact, I didn't want to set up a mercenary company at first. At that time, our military wanted to have its own aircraft carrier fleet, and after negotiations, the United States was willing to sell us aircraft carriers.
But we don’t have the relevant technical personnel, and even if we have the equipment, we have no way to start it.
My friend's father, General Clark, was the commander of the aircraft carrier fleet and had just retired, so I hired him to teach us how to use and maintain aircraft carriers.
Finally, there were too many relevant officers to be hired, and it was somewhat complicated to have them sign contracts with our fleet one by one.
I invested in General Clark, brought together these American instructors, and established this military contracting company. This company directly signed a training agreement with our fleet, making the entire process much more formal.
Of course, the speed at which the company is developing has greatly exceeded my expectations.”
Fit Henderson didn't know what Versailles meant, but at this moment, he felt that Fang Lang in front of him was pretending to be cool.
He obviously didn't expect that this military contracting company called God's Whip was actually established in this way. After coughing twice, Fit Henderson calmed himself down before saying:
“So that’s how it is. Now your military contracting company is incredible. It actually accepted orders from the U.S. Department of Defense as a private company and is fighting on the battlefields in Greece and Turkey.
I heard that your company’s soldiers performed very well, even better than many American soldiers.”
Hearing this, Fang Lang just smiled modestly and said:
"This is nothing strange. Our company's employees are mostly retired soldiers. They have experienced the brutal European war. This kind of battle is nothing to them."
"I also heard that the teachers in your Brazilian military academy were also recruited through this company?"
Fang Lang didn't know why the other party was interested in this matter, but these were not secrets, and he was not going to hide anything. He smiled and nodded:
“That’s true, but it’s mainly the instructors at the Aviation Academy.
The teachers of the military academy are recruited directly from military academies in the United States.
These words obviously caught Fit Henderson's attention. He looked at Fang Lang with interest and said:
"If that's the case, would your company be interested in recruiting some military academy teachers from the UK?"
At this moment, Fang Lang finally realized the other party's purpose. It seemed that the other party wanted to expand Britain's influence in Brazil in this way!
After all, the relationship between teachers and students in schools is very special, and it is very easy for teachers to instill some of their own ideas into students. In this way, officers who are close to Britain can be trained in the Brazilian army without knowing it.
This sentiment could play a very useful role in Britain's favour if something happens in the future.
Fang Lang didn't mind this. After all, this was different from students studying in the UK alone. As long as the teachers were truly talented and knowledgeable, Fang Lang didn't mind the emergence of some pro-British forces in the future Brazilian army.
On the contrary, he welcomes this situation very much. Only in this way can the various forces in the military achieve a delicate balance and not everyone will be pro-American.
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