New Gods of North America

Three days later, Wayne went to Mr. Russell's house for a meeting with an invitation letter from him.

So four carriages set out from the detective agency before daybreak and headed straight for Richmond, hoping to get back by midnight to sleep.

In fact, it doesn't take so many people to discuss the commission. If it's just to confirm the initial intention, Wayne can make the decision himself.

But the detective agency also wants to purchase some safes and other items, so it needs quality inspectors like Lina, as well as corresponding heavy cargo carriages and coachmen.

Then, since the heavy cargo carriages were out, those who had purchasing needs simply went shopping together, and the team became like this.

When they reached the city limits of Richmond, Wayne took Doug to Mr. Russell's estate.

The rest of the people agreed on a time and place, and went to purchase things separately. If there was something urgent, they would cancel the trip. If there was nothing unexpected, they would meet up on time and return.

These days, the wealthy people in the South have their own conventions for doing many things.

For example, if you plan to discuss something, if you hold a dance party, the main purpose is to "deepen friendship" or "get to know people" first. If you hold a banquet, it is almost to celebrate or discuss specific details. If you hold a meeting, it is probably to discuss how to "cut the cake" or even "screen people."

So when Wayne arrived at Mr. Russell's manor, the person responsible for the on-site reception was indeed his butler.

The host didn't come out to greet us personally, which meant that the matter still needed to be discussed. A sensible person would know from the look on his face that the so-called "friendship" should be put aside for now.

Then the maid led him into the living room and saw

Good fellow,

It's full of smoke and dirt.

This is a room that can double as a restaurant, with a fireplace and a long table.

At this time, there were already more than a dozen people sitting on one long side of the long table.

Although the etiquette of the American Federation is mixed nowadays, some basic etiquette principles are still universal.

Just like a long table, there are two ways of sitting: the highest-ranking people sit at the ends or in the middle of the long side, depending on specific needs.

However, the direction that is basically respected is "facing the main door of the room" or "closer to the fireplace".

At this moment, the main seats on the long table facing the fireplace were still empty.

Sitting in the row opposite the main seat should be the "competitors" who were invited just like Wayne.

Wayne was a little surprised by this.

While Mr. Russell did say that “a different team might be hired,” the current scale was a bit unexpected for Wayne.

The seats here seemed to have been arranged in advance, and Wayne was led directly by the maid to the seat opposite the main seat.

Then Wayne felt the scrutinizing eyes coming from both sides.

Most of the people present at this time were smoking cigarettes or lighting cigars, their eyes were quite sharp, and they were wearing all kinds of clothes, including work clothes, hunting clothes, and formal clothes.

The reception drinks served by the servants were also whiskey.

Wayne felt quite at home in this atmosphere, as if he had suddenly returned to a tavern in the West.

So Wayne still had a smile on his face and looked back at them one by one.

By the way, I also saw a gentleman accidentally revealing a revolver.

Well, that brand of gun is not of good quality. The bullets will start to drift after a short time. The townspeople don’t carry such guns to protect themselves from wolves.

After waiting for a while, the butler led Mr. Russell and several people in formal attire into the room and sat in the middle seats of the opposite row.

Mr. Russell didn't say much. He looked at Wayne and one or two of the other gentlemen, nodded slightly, and then got down to business:

"Thank you for attending this meeting. As you all know, our steam train company recently plans to invite some teams to crack down on some criminal gangs along the line and ensure the safety of the steam train line. As a director of the steam train company, I have been entrusted to have preliminary discussions with you.

“Everyone comes from different teams and has professional skills or connections that we cannot refuse, so it is difficult for us to choose.

"But the remuneration our company can pay is limited after all, so our initial plan is to divide the steam train lines into different lengths, and then have your teams clear out the wanted criminals in the areas they pass through. What do you think?"

Mr. Russell said,

At his signal, a servant spread out a map on the long table.

This is a map of a steam train route, with the stops along the way marked, as well as the scope of the cities and towns passed through.

Wayne took a quick glance and said "fuck" in his heart.

Generally, rich people show off their wealth.

For example, if you sit in an ordinary carriage, then I will sit in a first-class carriage, or if you sit in a first-class carriage, then I will book the entire train. It sounds really rich.

Mr. Russell is even more cruel.

Wayne took a steam train from Chicago to Virginia, and a section of the line was owned by him, so you were paying him for whatever carriage you took.

Although considering the scale of investment in line construction, the shares of steam train companies are usually not particularly concentrated, and those who own 10% of them may be considered "major shareholders".

But even for those who are called "small shareholders" in the steam locomotive company, the value of their shares converted into cash is enough to make ordinary people become "rich people".

The steam train line owned by Mr. Russell's company mainly connects a section of Virginia and Ohio.

Because of their early development, the land value of these two states has already appreciated.

By the time construction of the steam train line began, much of the land had already become private land.

Therefore, many of the steam train lines here are built on the outskirts of cities and towns, or even on "undeveloped" land that is still theoretically owned by the government.

Only some of the designed "sites" are close to residential areas.

The specific considerations will of course be much more complicated, requiring comprehensive consideration of terrain, construction costs, economic benefits, etc., but the general idea is very simple - try to move to flat or cheap places to control overall construction costs.

The construction cost has been reduced, but the problems that come with it are also obvious.

Outside the cities and towns, the local police or sheriffs have neither the power nor the obligation to manage the area. Agencies such as the state police should be responsible for managing the area, but in reality they are unable to do so.

So even in the East Coast states, steam train robberies were not uncommon.

Wayne actually thought that Mr. Russell's method of letting different teams compete in different stages was quite reasonable. He had originally thought that he should just pick a position that was as close to George Berg as possible.

Unfortunately, others didn't seem to think so. At least the gentlemen on Wayne's left and right soon started shouting.