America 1881: Legend of the West

Hauke ​​did not deal with Walter in person.

Anyway, the biggest enemy has already withdrawn on his own, leaving this useless rich second generation to deal with it slowly.

Walter got his wish and became chairman of the board of directors of the Pacific Railroad.

Now he wishes he could immediately run to his father’s grave and dance:

father! Your son is chairman of the board of directors of Pacific Railroad! I have fulfilled your unfulfilled wish for you! Your son can be regarded as a glorious ancestor!

Walter decided to continue his efforts and work hard to let the Pacific Railroad Company flourish in his own hands.

Under his strong request, not only were all the previous railway construction plans put on the agenda, but a dozen more were added to the original ones.

In Walter's view, the company's former leaders, including Chen Jianqiu, were too conservative, causing the railway company to miss the best period of development!

What should I do if I don’t have enough money?

Go borrow it!

loan from the bank! Issue bonds!

With such excellent performance and assets as guarantee, you don’t have to worry about borrowing money!

Hauke ​​did not interfere directly with his plan.

He is quietly busy continuing to collect shares, and wants to become the largest shareholder of Pacific Railroad before the next round of board of directors!

At that time, it will be the turn of Walter, who is currently ambitious, to get out.

Chen Jianqiu didn't know about the intrigues among the Pacific Railway people, and he didn't care.

He was in Europe at the time.

This was not because there was a sales problem in the European branch of the military factory, but because he planned to collect a large sum of gold in Europe before the U.S. dollar turned into waste paper.

Before he came to London, Silas had already brought people here first.

At this time, London was the financial center of the world, so Silas's actions were seen as another cash-out from an American upstart.

In addition, the acquisition volume was relatively stable at the beginning, so it did not cause much disturbance.

The gold collected was shipped to the arsenal in Kent.

In Great Britain, no one should be thinking about this gold for a while.

But this brings up a problem, how to transport this gold back to the United States?

Under normal circumstances, Chen Jianqiu's company usually ships goods from London or Liverpool, then crosses the entire Atlantic Ocean, crosses the Caribbean, disembarks from the Mexican port of Monterey, and enters New Mexico via a special railway train.

He wasn't worried about it on land.

No one along the US-Mexico border is so bold as to rob his goods.

Because those who have the courage are either thrown into the Gulf of Mexico to feed sharks, or their bodies end up in the bellies of wolves and vultures in the Chihuahua desert.

But it's hard to say at sea.

Although at the end of the 19th century, pirates in the Caribbean had already passed their golden age.

Under the attack of the navies of various countries, large-scale piracy has disappeared.

But as long as the temptation of profit is strong enough, there will always be people who are not afraid of death and will jump out to return to their old careers.

The Caribbean area is still within the Spanish sphere of influence.

This aging empire has no time for others to take care of, and this area is also turbulent.

The U.S. government obviously would not escort him, and the reason why he took the Gulf of Mexico was because he did not want people on the east coast to know about it.

To put it bluntly, even if the government is willing, with the few broken ships the U.S. Navy currently has, the most it can do is patrol its own coastline.

The British Empire has a strong navy, but it is not a powerful and influential bank like the Rothschild family, so please don't move.

Chen Jianqiu had a headache.

He is still unable to judge when the crisis will come, and the accumulation of gold will continue for some time.

But it has to be transported back anyway. It’s not a problem to keep it in the arsenal. The more of these things, the greater the variables.

After another cart of gold was quietly transported into the arsenal, Chen Jianqiu glanced at the closed vault door, and then began to inspect the arsenal with Maxim.

They walked through many factories along the way.

Maxim introduced the new products in the arsenal to Chen Jianqiu.

Not only are there improved models of machine guns to cope with various combat environments, but there is also an experimental model of a fully automatic rifle that has just been developed.

"Fully automatic weapons are the future of weapons!" Maxim patted the new gun in his hand and said proudly, "Both Browning and I are already at the forefront of the world."

"Yeah." Chen Jianqiu just nodded to express his agreement with his words.

Maxim noticed that his boss was in a strange state today.

On weekdays, Chen Jianqiu is very interested in new products, but today his answer was very brief.

Based on his understanding of his boss, Chen Jianqiu must have something important on his mind.

"Chen, what's wrong?" Maxim asked cautiously.

Chen Jianqiu did not shy away and told Maxim about the issue of transporting gold.

When the military inventor heard this, he also fell into deep thought.

Chen Jianqiu held his chin in his hand and looked at the port in the distance in trance.

He said thoughtfully:

"If only we had our own escort ship."

When Maxim heard this, his eyes immediately lit up.

He came close to Chen Jianqiu and said mysteriously:

"Chen, do you really want an escort ship?"

Chen Jianqiu glanced at Maxim, who was usually very upright, doing as the Romans do, and acting like a gentleman, and raised his eyebrows:

"Do you have a way?"

Maxim smiled "hehe":

"After being involved in the military industry circle of the British Empire for so long, is this still possible?"

"But warships are strategic ships. Neither the US government nor the British government can accept this, right?" Chen Jianqiu thought for a moment and said.

"Hey, big cruisers will definitely not work, but gunboats are still fine. Besides, you can register it as a merchant ship first and then modify it."

Maxim seems to understand this.

"Armstrong Shipyard has sold many boats like this. From the beginning of construction to the official launch, it can be completed in one year! I know their boss very well."

"I talked to him. They live off these ships and orders from East Asia. How can they survive just on orders from the Navy guys?"

Chen Jianqiu narrowed his eyes.

This is a very good idea!

He pulled Maxim's shoulder, and the two began to whisper.

"That's it, we'll leave tomorrow!"

After a while, Chen Jianqiu let go of Maxim's shoulders and made a decision.

A few days later, Chen Jianqiu showed up in Newcastle with Maxim and several others.

Armstrong Dockyard is located on the River Clyde in Newcastle.

The scenery here is beautiful, with the water birds constantly rising and falling on the water and the white smoke emitting from the steam engines in the dock creating a unique picture.

Since Maxim had telegraphed his friends in advance before setting off, William Armstrong, the owner of the shipyard, went out to greet him in person.

He used to be a lawyer, but because he felt that there was no future in being a "litigator", he "abandoned law and entered business".

From Chen Jianqiu's current perspective, he is an extremely smooth businessman.

"You are Mr. Chen! Hello! Hello!"

Armstrong came up to him with a smile and held Chen Jianqiu's hands tightly.

The business people behind him who participated in the greeting also looked as if they were used to it. They did not have any of the arrogant airs of the British that Chen Jianqiu had dealt with before.

"Please come in! Please come in!" Armstrong stepped aside and welcomed Chen Jianqiu into the door.

He asked Chen Jianqiu to walk in the front while he accompanied him.

"I heard Mr. Maxim say that you are a very successful businessman. In a sense, we are peers?" Armstrong said with his hands behind his back.

"Yeah." Chen Jianqiu nodded as he walked away.

Armstrong glanced at the entourage behind him.

This man is really different from the Chinese people he has dealt with before. Not only does he not have braids on the back of his head, he is also not as humble as them.

They walked forward along the road in the shipyard, all the way to the dock by the river.

There are many boat docks here.

Basically every shipyard is full, workers come and go, very busy.

"We have also dealt with people from your government before. Your cruiser 'Zhiyuan' was produced in this shipyard." Armstrong pointed to one of the shipyards and said, "That is the fastest cruiser in Asia. .”

"That's my motherland." Chen Jianqiu replied lightly, "but that regime has nothing to do with me."

Armstrong was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted:

"Sorry, sorry, my fault, I forgot that you are an American businessman now, hahahaha." He resolved his embarrassment with laughter.

At the same time, he also complained about himself in his heart:

Damn it, from his behavior and dress just now, you should have been able to identify this person's identity. How could you have touched a radar point?

I heard that this man is quite rich. If he walks away because of this, it will be a waste.

Fortunately, Chen Jianqiu didn't have many emotional changes.

After visiting the entire shipyard, he said directly to Armstrong:

"Let's get down to business now."