Chapter Forty-Five, The Reception (Part I)

The welcome reception was held on the estate of a wealthy merchant named Subi Jones in Cleveland, a shipbuilder whose factory produced all kinds of inland (inland) ships. At the same time, he also owned a small section of railroad, and before the economic crisis, he was the leader of Cleveland's business community, and after the crisis, although he managed the law and coped well, he still suffered some losses. But because other people have lost more, he seems to be getting richer relatively speaking. Taking advantage of the bankruptcy of a large number of people, he even expanded his own industry further— he bought another railway at a very low price. It is believed that when the crisis is over, his assets will grow dramatically. Mr. Subi was an old Whig, staunch abolitionist. Although he has also said things like "Intelligence is between humans and gorillas, or even closer to gorillas, so don't expect them to be up to any complicated job—even with a garden sawsaw—they can only do stupid things like pushing a cart to carry wood."

Scrooge and Rockefeller rode with Gardner to the door of Mr. Subi's manor. It is a European-style building with white walls and black wrought iron gates. As soon as the carriage stopped, a black waiter in uniform came up and pulled the car door so that the passengers could get out of the car.

"How can there be black slaves here?" Scrooge whispered to Gardner.

"It wasn't a black slave, it was just a black waiter, a free black man who had run from the South. Mr. Subi was a staunch abolitionist, and many of the blacks who had come to the North via the Underground Railroad in pursuit of freedom had been helped by him and had been given free work in his factories or other enterprises. If it weren't for the damn Fugitive Slave Act, there would have been more blacks with his help. Gardner replied.

Scrooge knew that Gardner's "Fugitive Slave Act" was not referring to the "Fugitive Slave Act" signed by Washington, who had more than three hundred slaves (sixty percent of whom were female slaves) who liked to pull out the teeth of black slaves and exchange them for their own fallen cherry axe, but to the "Fugitive Slave Act" passed in 1850 with the support of southern forces in order to stop more and more slaves from fleeing to the abolition states in the north. The bill even allowed slave owners in the southern states to go to the free states of the north to hunt down the fugitive slaves and bring them back to the south. Gardner showed the invitation at the door, and the servant shouted, "Mr. Gardner, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Scott has arrived." "It's a bit like the Southern slave owners who claimed to be aristocrats.

Walking into the black-lacquered wrought iron gate, is a set of fountains, and in the center of the fountain is a marble statue that Scrooge recognizes as a replica of the great Michelangelo's "bound slave." The statue depicts slaves who are desperately rebelling, and Mr. Subi puts it in this position with a conceivable intention.

Bypassing fountains and statues, it is a small building with a Romanesque portico. Although the momentum is far from the mansion in van der Fast, it is clearly imitating its style.

The host, Subi, was greeting the guest at the door, he was a tall thin man, looking about one meter and eight meters tall, with a thin face with deep wrinkles that looked like he had been chiseled out of a chisel, and his two small eyes were extremely divine, like a falcon.

As They walked toward the little building, Mr. Subi was talking to several other guests, but he had apparently seen Them—in fact there was a big Man Gardner here, and it wasn't easy not to be conspicuous. So Subi whispered two more words to the guests, then turned her head and greeted them with a smile.

"Ah, welcome, Gardner! My old friend! ”

"Thank you also for your hospitality!" Gardner also smiled and walked up to shake Subi's hand and introduce him to his two companions.

"This is my friend Rockefeller, a very hard-working and good businessman."

"Ah, I've heard of you." Subi shook Rockefeller's hand, "In today's economy, it's amazing that the company you lead is still profitable." If you don't have your own company anymore, I'd like to hire you as my business manager. ”

"You've passed the prize," Rockefeller said, "and I, along with Scott and a few other friends, have studied your recent investment activities, and we all think that your recent acquisition of the railroad is a classic, and will serve as a success story in the business schools of various universities for the future to learn from later generations." "What do you think of this acquisition?" A curious light flashed in Subi's small eyes, "Many people are not optimistic about my acquisition, they think I am playing with fire." ”

"The crisis cannot last forever. And the value of that railway was much more than the current price. Some mediocre people are frightened by the crisis of the moment, and only think that it is really the end of the world. The opinion of these cowards is not worth mentioning, they will all be scared to death by the illusions they imagined. If I could have that amount of money, I would have joined the acquisition of the railroad. Rockefeller said.

In fact, anyone likes to hear people slap their ass. Even those who claim to hate slapping the horse the most. The reason why there are so-called people who don't like others to shoot their own ass is only because the people who shoot him have not been able to shoot the idea, they want to pat the horse's ass, but they all shoot the horseshoe. Everyone has what they value most and are most proud of in their hearts, and sometimes they always like to hide it and deliberately not show it. But if you tout these aspects of him at this time, well, it will definitely make him comfortable.

Soby, too, was the one whose acquisition of the railways in the midst of the crisis was his proudest investment, but the investment had not yet earned him money, and many people were still attacking him for being confused. At this time, he was of course very happy to hear such an evaluation.

"Nice lad! Good job! You're all going to be Monopolies. Sue said rockefeller as he had exhorted his predecessors. Of course, decades later, when the elderly Subi stepped down to take his grandson, he told him that his eyes were poisonous, and he could see at a glance that Scrooge and Rockefeller were not in the pool. Although when he said this, he was mainly polite. In fact, many of the so-called discerning people in history are of this type.

"Mr. Subi, this is the Mr. Scrooge that you Asked Me to bring." Gardner continued to introduce his companions to Subi.

"Hello, Mr. Subi!" Scrooge shook Subi's hand.

"Ah, Scrooge. I really didn't expect you to be so... So young. Your performance in grain futures and the acquisition of arms companies even makes me tremble, and you are so young, in the future Cleveland, and even the entire United States arms dealers will tremble in your shadow for a long time, I must warn my son, do not be an arms dealer. Subi felt that his evaluation of Scrooge was high enough, but even he did not expect that the shadow of this little child would be shrouded for a long time and a wide range in the future.

"If you pass the prize, you'll spoil me." Scrooge said.

"If you can be exaggerated, I dare say that all American arms dealers will come and praise you." Well, I've heard Clark talk about your vision of the future of the United States, and you think there will be a civil war in the United States? Subi said.

Scrooge thought about it for a moment and then replied, "Yes, sir." I think this war is inevitable. "Subi was a businessman in the transportation industry, and whether it was rail or inland waterway transportation was very important for war. For him, a war that is bound to be won is not a bad thing.

"Ah, many people have been saying that we should avoid war as much as possible, and for this we must try our best to reach a compromise with the South. Scrooge, what do you think of this? Subi continued to ask.

"I certainly support efforts to avoid war. If the Southerners had not been so outrageous and willing to consult with us reasonably, to respect the basic principles of the Declaration of Independence, to abolish inhumane slavery, and to work with us to protect the interests of American business, we certainly would not want a civil war. However, if they arbitrarily reject this, act against the tide of history for their own selfish interests, continue to violate the founding spirit of the United States, and smear the face of the United States, then, in order to maintain the "self-evident truth that all life is equal", we can even face the armed armed with the teeth of the world's most powerful empire without fear, and will we still be afraid of those separatist rebels? We have olive branches in our hands all the time, please don't let the olive branches slip from our hands. To this question, Scrooge immediately made a statement, righteously and sternly, and answered it with a loud voice.

"Well said! You've said all that I want to say. It seems that you are really a natural Republican. How about, interested in joining us in the Republican Party? Subi extended an invitation to Scrooge, "Although in principle, we do not admit minors, but if you want, this is not a big problem." ”

"My father had been a staunch supporter of the Whig Party (in fact, Joseph Sr. did not have a clear political leaning, but Scrooge felt that as a Protestant father, supporting the Whig Party was more likely), and I would like to join any organization that was loyal to God and the ideal of American statehood." Although the National Party is now in power, it is clear that the economic crisis, and the incompetence of buchanan's government in the economic crisis, has angered most northerners, and his attempts to make peace between the north and the south have not been recognized by the southerners. Some radical Southerners even called him a traitor because he was reluctant to use federal violence to ensure that the fugitive slave act was unhindered. Therefore, in the next election, whether the Democratic Party can guarantee that it will not be divided is a question. The Republican Party, which has basically completed integration, is bound to win a big victory after receiving the blessing of the 57-year crisis. And Scrooge knew that not just the next election, but the Republican Party would be in power for a long time, not just in the decades after the war. Joining the Republican Party was definitely the right choice.