America 1881: Legend of the West

Escorted by several detectives, Tesla got on the train to Roswell.

Setting off at the same time as him, there was also a telegram sent there by Chen Jianqiu.

Holmes, chairman of the Roswell Scientific Committee, received notice of the construction of an electrical laboratory there.

This again costs a fortune.

Not to mention the huge funds required for subsequent mass production and laying of power grids.

Regarding the specific situation, Chen Jianqiu decided to let his legal and financial center conduct an assessment.

The center has two offices, one in New York and one in Santa Fe.

The team is led by lawyer Dylan and includes many outstanding accountants and lawyers in the industry. It handles financial and legal matters for Chen Jianqiu, including but not limited to business.

The office location in New York is just above his office.

It is no exaggeration to say that this building is now Chen Jianqiu’s hometown in the east.

The first floor is the International Gunpowder Association, the upper floor is the Legal and Financial Center, and next door are the Chinese Voters League and the Border Detective Agency.

He even saved money on security.

One afternoon later, accountant Mr. Silas walked into Chen Jianqiu's office with a stack of reports.

Mr. Sellars once worked for Deloitte and Citibank in the UK and is now Chen Jianqiu's chief accountant.

He spread the reports one by one on the large desk in front of Chen Jianqiu, preparing to report the situation to him one by one.

"Let's get to the point, Mr. Silas." Chen Jianqiu turned around and walked to the side cabinet and poured Silas a cup of coffee. "I need your professional advice."

"Due to the equity acquisition of Pacific Company, our cash flow is very tight, and we may need to sell some assets or cut off some unprofitable businesses to provide liquidity."

Silas took the coffee and took Chen Jianqiu to browse the reports one by one.

"The production capacity and sales of refinery products have encountered bottlenecks. Our main markets are now limited to New Mexico and north-central Mexico. But as we all know, these places are not favored by Rockefeller, and the market is very limited."

"The raw materials of saltpeter have brought us considerable profits, but Rockefeller is using their resources in the UK to start secondary processing of raw materials, and using their financial advantages to erode our market share."

“The bullets and guns from local arsenals are selling well, but they need to share the stock market with Winchester and Colt companies, and there is no possibility of sudden growth for the time being.”

"The Border Detective Agency's business is very prosperous, but because it has been expanding and incurring a lot of costs, it can only maintain its own operations."

Chen Jianqiu looked over one by one.

These industries of his make a lot of money, but are limited by competitors and the market and cannot provide more profits in a short period of time.

As for other industries.

Mass production of fertilizers has not yet been realized, and market expansion is a dream;

The output of several mines has either not yet increased, or they have all been supplied to their own downstream industries;

Sanjiang Bank has provided support to the best of its ability for the acquisition, and the risk will be greater if it continues to do so.

The land in New Mexico cannot be moved for the time being. It is the basic market. Besides, it is not worth much money for the time being.

If it doesn't work, continue to issue bonds. Anyway, there was no such thing as financial supervision in the 19th century. These days, in terms of financing, everyone is showing their own abilities.

Besides, it’s not like I didn’t pay it back, so it definitely doesn’t count as fraud.

Chen Jianqiu continued to look down.

His eyes suddenly stopped on a shocking line of negative signs.

"How come Maxim has always been losing money?" Chen Jianqiu was a little confused. "Didn't he get an order from the British army?"

"Then you may have to write to him personally. This gentleman is obsessed with improving his machine guns, and he hasn't sold a few yet." Silas shrugged, "But I heard that he has already obtained it in the UK. nationality.”

"No, I'll go to England and ask him." Chen Jianqiu said.

It takes more than a week to take a boat from New York to Liverpool, and then take a day or two to drive to Kent.

Chen Jianqiu left as soon as he said so.

He had never been to the arsenal in Kent since its establishment.

At that time, the British Empire was at its peak.

The supreme glory that the Industrial Revolution and colonialism brought to this country can be seen everywhere on the British Isles.

The large-scale factories, imported products from all over the world, and the arrogant expression of the locals that "I am the best in the world" are constantly reminded by outsiders.

The most powerful country in the world is Britain.

Chen Jianqiu soon arrived at his factory in Kent.

Hiram Maxim had no idea he was coming.

So, when Chen Jianqiu saw him, it was already afternoon.

He had just returned from the British General Staff in London, looking very sad.

"Ah? Boss? Why are you here?"

Maxim was stunned when he saw Chen Jianqiu playing with a machine gun in the yard of the arsenal.

"I heard that you have obtained British citizenship? Are you doing well?" Chen Jianqiu straightened up and patted the barrel of the machine gun.

"Mr. Hunter helped me get it," Maxim confessed, "but he couldn't defeat the people from the General Staff."

He was a little helpless: "The people in the general staff insisted that Hunter and others exaggerated the power of the machine gun in order to show off their achievements."

Chen Jianqiu originally wanted to blurt out a question: Is this the reason why you can't sell even one Maxim?

But he still held back.

"You can invite them to come and visit." Chen Jianqiu said patiently.

"I have sent them many invitations, but there has been no response. They may still trust their Gatlin more," said Maxim.

This was obviously a trick.

"Where is Churchill? Is he in London?" Chen Jianqiu suddenly remembered this man.

This man is a real nobleman, and they had a good impression of each other when they were in Chile.

"It is said that after returning from Chile, his brother felt that he was almost ready for training outside, so he found a position for him as a close minister next to Prince Edward."

"He would come over for a walk from time to time, and last week he asked me when you would come over." Maxim said, "He was also very sorry. After all, he was one of the people who made the report to the General Staff. .”

"Why don't you ask him for help?" Chen Jianqiu was a little confused.

"It's useless to look for him. He's just a follower of the prince, even though the prince likes him very much." Maxim said.

"He's useless, but Prince Edward is."

Chen Jianqiu was even more surprised. He had never felt that Maxim was as stupid as he was today.

Was he stunned when he tested the machine gun, or was he deliberately pretending to be stupid?

But then, Maxim quickly told the whole story:

"Prince Edward is not popular with the Queen because the Queen has always thought that his behavior is ridiculous, so she has not allowed him to get involved in government affairs until now."

Chen Jianqiu suddenly realized.

It turned out that he was a playboy who was looked down upon by Queen Victoria. No wonder Maxim was helpless.

Based on his experience in dealing with the British, the people at the General Staff must be very difficult to deal with, and the two people who were introduced were unable to speak, which made Maxim feel a little desperate.

However, the dandy is also a prince and the future heir to the throne.

This kind of person might really be a breakthrough point.

"Can you contact Churchill? I want to see him!"

Chen Jianqiu said.