Chapter Sixty No Answer Yet

  General Manager

  Good to see you! When the night falls in New York, and the darkness slowly covers the earth, perhaps the sun has already risen high in our homeland. Although it's deep into the night in this prosperous city that feels like a dream, I still can't fall asleep.

  The group's operation is going well, and the detailed issues are written more comprehensively in my formal report. This letter can be considered as a heart-to-heart talk between me and two close friends! Recently, many things have happened to Asia and America, apart from the formal report, I think it's necessary to discuss my own views, before that, I'd like to share my latest understanding of current America.

  I cannot deny that the United States has a large and powerful light and heavy industry, including their agriculture. However, all of this is due to certain natural advantages; without these advantages, they might be nothing.

  One thing I cannot deny is that the natural conditions of the United States are extremely superior. Over the years, I have experienced several American springs, summers, autumns and winters, and visited many places. The climate is mild, with abundant rainfall, and the eastern climate has always been warm and humid. The terrain is flat and vast, with deep and fertile soil, plus an abundance of river water sources, such as their Great Lakes region. Therefore, they have a very good foundation for agriculture and animal husbandry, which in turn provides a better basis for development.

  As we look westward, the climate gradually becomes warmer and drier with less rainfall, deserts and grasslands replace fertile fields, and the terrain becomes increasingly rugged. The soil also becomes poorer, but animal husbandry begins to take center stage. Moreover, there is another factor that cannot be ignored, that is, the population of America is relatively sparse, even poor land will not have a significant negative impact.

  The five Great Lakes in the northeast and the Mississippi River running through the central part form a massive inland water transportation system connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River, and is also linked with dense highways and railways. The traffic has developed relatively well, of course, it has a lot of excellent ice-free ports on its three sides facing the sea, which can enjoy both maritime transportation and fishing benefits, and strengthen economic trade exchanges with other regions and countries, benefiting the development of the economy.

  The region is also rich in natural resources; the Appalachian North and eastern Midwest have large coal deposits, the Great Lakes are a major source of iron ore, the Gulf of Mexico is a major source of oil, and the West has significant deposits of many colored metals. These natural resource advantages have been very beneficial to their industrial development.

  Thus, the solid foundation of agriculture and animal husbandry, convenient water and land transportation, and rich natural resources have indeed provided a solid foundation for the development of American industry. However, the main body of society is people, and the prosperity of industry and economy must be inseparable from human factors.

  At the beginning, a large number of foreign immigrants have long since taken root in America. The British, Irish, Germans, French, Dutch, Swedes, Jews and others, as larger groups, control most of the better social resources. They have long been rooted in this fertile land, thriving and flourishing. However, immigrants from Africa, Latin America, and Asia, who were originally objects of slavery, still occupy a very low social status in American society today, where whites make up the vast majority. Yet, it is precisely this unbalanced society that has forged human greed and creativity, not only without hindering social development but also making society more ruthless, thus accelerating their progress, as can be seen from the speed of expansion of the land of America.

  The North has a developed industry, with thriving shipbuilding, fishing, textiles, steel and wood processing industries; the fertile Central region is the country's main grain-producing area, with rich land that can produce enough food for all Americans and still have some left over. Even if other places are not as advantageous as these two regions, they are not much worse either.

  The Northeast has become one of the most industrialized regions in the world, from Boston to New York, from Philadelphia, Baltimore to Washington, and along the southern shore of the Great Lakes. The steel smelting, machinery processing, power energy, chemical industry and other industries are all large-scale raps, which are actually just a few financial groups with great influence. This is also one of the characteristics of America's strong industry, and it is also the focus of my story.

  Looking back on the rise of Ahme, it must be said that we have a close relationship with some financial groups. Without their "support", Ahme might not have grown so smoothly. The automotive manufacturing industry is indeed one of the huge gaps in the many trust industries in the United States. Ahme was able to seize the opportunity and rise up in this industry, becoming another trust giant in America.

  Apart from appreciating the Chairman and General Manager's exceptional vision and abilities, I would also like to thank our competitors, Ford and GM, who are not up to par. In the land of the strong, "respect" is a term used among the strong to compliment each other, while "pity" has no place. This may sound a bit harsh, but after years of tempering in America, I have come to realize the cruelty of society, and the law of the jungle is the only way to survive.

  Citic Bank may be a great help for our group to achieve success. At the critical moment, we borrowed key loans from this financial group and got through the difficult times. Although this financial group is not the largest or most powerful among all, it is the most worthy of mutual benefit cooperation, of course, this is just my opinion.

  The precursor to Citibank was the City Bank of New York, which was founded in 1812 and was one of the oldest banks on Wall Street. It was also the bank that lent us a crucial loan. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Stillman and Rockefeller families gradually took control of this bank, which began to serve as the funding center for the Standard Oil system and thus experienced rapid growth.

  Savoring the history of the past, the first big financial group to come into contact with us is the Rockefeller family, which is currently ranked second in the United States. If we count Citibank, which he controls, and our good interaction with it, then they are the first financial group to have close ties with us.

  The Rockefeller syndicate, based on the Rockefeller family's oil monopoly, has long extended its influence to various sectors of the national economy through continuous control of financial institutions. A refinery in Cleveland was the foundation for the family's rise, and the gradually expanding Standard Oil Company of Ohio soon monopolized the American petroleum industry. With the huge profits it obtained, they were not satisfied with the status quo and continued to invest in finance and manufacturing, developing their economic strength rapidly.

  It is undeniable that this financial group has a strong presence, they have infiltrated the government and firmly grasped many key departments. They welcomed the rise of the Asia-America Group with open arms, after all, they are oil sellers. When Americans have as many cars as they have wallets, the one laughing the most may not be us, but Rockefeller, a big shot with tens of billions of dollars in assets. Of course, our cooperation is still limited to special vehicles and crude oil transactions, capital mobilization, but it is undeniable that they have already shown a deeper intention to cooperate.

  It is our great fortune to have established a relationship with the world-renowned Morgan financial group, although so far they have only maintained a certain level of economic and trade relations with us. The largest financial group in the United States was formed at the end of the 19th century, and the monopolistic capitalist financial group that dominates the American economy is its highest honor, and also a fact today.

  The founder, J. P. Morgan, using his father's connections as a foundation, partnered with others to form Drexel, Morgan & Co., dealing in investments and loans. After the death of his partner, he took over the business and renamed it J.P. Morgan & Co., expanding its operations into financial services and economic sectors such as steel, railroads, and public utilities, beginning to form a monopoly.

  On Wall Street, Morgan was known as the "banker's banker", dominating over a dozen financial institutions with assets worth tens of billions of dollars and wielding enormous power in the American financial world. Of course, they included Rockefeller, naturally one of the black hands mentioned in the report, a powerful behind-the-scenes force.

  Among the financial groups I am familiar with, there is also a small enemy of ours, the Boston financial group. This financial group can be said to be one of the oldest monopoly financial groups in the United States, so it has a certain "private enmity" with us. It was formed by the Lowell, Lawrence, Adams and Lodge families from the Boston area who got rich from operating the slave trade in the 19th century, together with the emerging Kennedy family.

  At that time, these families invested the huge sums of money accumulated from colonial plunder in commercial banks, insurance companies and investment companies, and relied on these financial institutions to provide funds for operating textile, leather, footwear, clothing, food and chemical light industries. Due to the rapid development of the light industry, by the early 20th century, several generations of intermarried families in Boston had formed the Boston Financial Group with the First National Bank of Boston as its core.

  Yamei Group is mainly engaged in heavy industry manufacturing, especially various types of automobiles, but also has a garment company as part of the group. Our garment company is also mainly engaged in textiles, leather goods and footwear, and with the support of the domestic market, it poses a serious threat to the traditional strong industry of Boston's financial group - light textile industry. However, this industry is not their all, and fortunately, we are taking a high-end route that does not conflict with them, but rather both sides have generated a lot of textile trade exchanges. Overall, however, the relationship remains lukewarm.

  The First National Bank of Boston was founded in 1859 and after merging with Massachusetts Bank in 1903, it was still called the First National Bank of Boston. It is one of the earliest multinational banks in the United States, with considerable strength, plus its control over the insurance industry and manufacturing industry, creating a powerful financial group.

  The banking power of the Boston financial group is not as strong as that of Morgan, and it cannot be compared with the old-fashioned Mellon financial group. The Mellon financial group is one of the most famous financial groups in the United States, centered on the Mellon family, and a large monopoly capital group that started from finance.

  The founder of the Mellon family, T. Mellon, founded T. Mellon & Sons' Bank in 1869 and developed it rapidly with his exceptional skills and judgment. After changing its name to Mellon National Bank in 1902, it became a financial pillar for the Mellon family's rise. From this starting point, they gradually merged with industrial capital, and the financial group took shape. The financial institutions controlled by the Mellon family include Mellon National Bank, Pittsburgh National Bank, and General Reinsurance Company. In the long run, the Mellon family controlled the banking capital and industrial capital in the Pittsburgh area through these financial institutions.

  The Mellon Group's strength is also due to other pillar industries, such as the industrial and mining enterprises they control. The oldest and most powerful of these is the Aluminum Company of America.

  The predecessor of the Aluminum Company of America was the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, which was controlled by Mellon Sons Bank as early as 1890. To this day, the Aluminum Company of America has a monopoly on aluminum production in the United States and is one of our group's major suppliers of aluminum materials. Of course, after we have our own aluminum company, we need to carefully consider how to handle the future relationship between the two parties. This company is one of the industrial pillars of the Mellon financial group, but not all of them. They, along with the Rockefeller financial group, control many other industries, such as Pittsburgh's traditional steel industry.

  The Cleveland Syndicate and Chicago Outfit are perhaps the two weakest syndicates behind the scenes, but they should not be underestimated.

  The Cleveland Clique was named after its location in Cleveland, several closely linked wealthy families in the Cleveland area in the second half of the 19th century, including the Mather, Hanna, Humphrey and Eaton families, used the rich coal and iron resources locally to establish the steel industry. After obtaining huge profits, like other financial groups, they were not satisfied with the status quo and then invested in other industries, banking, rubber, rail transportation and other aspects of development.

  The Cleveland financial group's economic strength is mainly in the steel, rubber and railway transportation sectors, with a certain position in the basic industries of the United States. However, due to its weak strength, it must rely on the support of other financial groups, especially the tireless help of the Morgan financial group. The Chicago financial group belongs to the Midwest region of the United States, formed by local wealthy families such as McCormick, Wood and the emerging Crown family in the early 20th century, named after its activity center in the Chicago area.

  The US Midwest, especially the Chicago area, has a suitable climate, sufficient rainfall, and fertile land, making it an ideal place for agricultural development. As a result, the region became a major grain and livestock production center in the United States. The meat processing and agricultural machinery industries subsequently developed rapidly, making the Chicago area the second-largest commercial and financial center after New York. The wealthy families combined to form a large monopoly group. With their strong financial resources, they naturally had a strong desire for expansion and involvement in various industries, including banking and insurance. However, compared to other groups, they still lacked some strength and needed to rely on others, with the Rockefeller family being their choice.

  Apart from this, there are more independent forces, the American Bank of Gianini, the two major wealthy groups in San Francisco and Los Angeles. These individuals and groups almost control the entire US financial, industrial, transportation, energy, agriculture and other industries. The huge power behind them naturally has countless means, and in the front, there are also unbeatable political groups. We can acknowledge their current strong advantage, but we cannot agree with their approach.

  A long time ago, this group of people were tied together by interests and eventually became one entity, jointly brewing a beautiful and bloody European continental war. However, some of them could not withstand the long wait for returns on investment, especially after the failure of the American troops in the European battlefield. The unbearable failures would inevitably bring immense pressure to the government, with huge casualties and costs that couldn't be covered up. The pressure from the governments they controlled would slowly seep into themselves, and even a small-scale battle would result in tens of thousands of casualties and hundreds of millions of dollars in direct expenses. Even the most powerful financial groups could not withstand such turmoil for long.

  Finally, someone couldn't wait any longer and urged the government to let the expeditionary force launch a larger-scale campaign in anticipation of getting a better result, or directly fight out a decisive battle, even if the cost is high, it's worth it. This can thoroughly wash away the huge pressure caused by the previous consecutive failures.

  However, "the higher the expectation, the greater the disappointment", General Pershing's soldiers fought bravely in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, which was once considered to be the heaviest blow that America would give to the German Empire, but it was widely believed that the German army, which had already been exhausted, still remained unmoved under the crazy attack, with corpses all over the field and blood flowing like rivers. The trenches of the German army were still there, and the defense line was as solid as a rock.

  Apart from shocking them again, they have to reflect on all the processes and details. Failure is the easiest way to drive people crazy, but it's also the easiest way to release excess passion and return to calmness, especially for those businesspeople who are already clever and know how to summarize their failures and gain experience.

  They can't believe that the alliance led by the German Empire has gone through so much hardship and still hasn't collapsed. They can't believe that the American Expeditionary Force is actually so weak in combat power. They can't believe all of this. Fear began to rise from every behind-the-scenes person, the largest speculative attack in history, if it fails, will inevitably make the entire behind-the-scenes people, including the entire United States, collapse. At that time, even if the angry American people tore them to pieces, they couldn't solve their grievances and the pain of war. So they searched far and wide and found us, the Asia-America Group, which had always been lukewarm in its relationship with many financial groups.

  Not long ago, I was once again invited to a mysterious estate, where we were once again gathered with many big shots. Wilson's chief financial advisor Warburg, Morgan and his lawyer Frank, as well as senior partner Thomas Lamont, the chairman of the War Industries Board Baruch, the Dulles brothers, Rockefeller and others... For the first time among so many white people, my yellow skin and black hair made an appearance, which made many people feel uncomfortable. But on my second visit, I was treated much better. I no longer sat on a hard wooden bench, nor did I drink coffee, but authentic Chinese tea...

  Baron Edmund de Rothschild also appeared in my second visit, he warmly received me and my three drivers, which moved me a bit but I was definitely not able to agree with their request, an enticing request for AsiaMe Group to go public as a whole. I had no way of knowing what kind of conspiracy they were planning, but I knew that the "all-powerful" Rothschilds must have already known something about AsiaMe, or even more.

  The relationship between Rockefeller and some domestic forces has always been intricate, and other financial groups also have various means to know everything, even doing more things. They want to bring Asia into their unified whole, with mutual interests intertwined, of course, going in will have better results. But if you don't enter that circle, relying on their power, Asia doesn't need to stay in the United States anymore, and will even lose all of Europe, let alone more.

  American steel magnate Carnegie once said: "When I knew Rockefeller was going to make a foray into the steel industry, I knew that if I wasn't wise enough, a bloody battle would be inevitable, and neither side would benefit. Chicago, Cleveland, anywhere..."

  Later, Carnegie chose to cooperate with Rockefeller. In fact, he was the first person to apply the assembly line production system to large enterprises, a great man who could reduce the price of steel from $100 per ton to $12 per ton. But his most famous words are: "Cooperate with people stronger than yourself, rather than fight them." In fact, I have always thought that he is one of the best rational thinkers in the world, and his choice between cooperation and self-interest is very appropriate. As for us, I also believe that cooperation will be the best outcome, and it's not bad to make good use of people stronger than ourselves.

  In my view, the defeat of the Allied Powers has become a foregone conclusion, and we have long lost our trade channels with them. As their trading partners, we have done what is right and just for their "war of justice". It's time to think about our own future, after all, our country is still in turmoil...

  Finally, I wish the director's romantic affairs to come true soon, and also hope that our autonomous region will flourish and revive its business with solid progress. As for the matters mentioned in this letter, Gui Sheng (Tang Guiyin's courtesy name) awaits your instructions!

  ………

  After reading this letter, Zhang Yu knew that Tang Guiyin had been practicing hard on languages and characters from various countries, and it was rare for him to learn the language of his hometown. Simplified Chinese is easier to learn, but it's still a bit difficult for someone who is used to traditional characters like him to change suddenly. However, the words are written very neatly, and you can tell that he put in a lot of effort.

  But the end of the letter actually uses the words "wait quietly", it can be seen that this old man has also become quite bad. Other people's soldiers are queuing up to report to God every day, and ambitious people are living in anxiety every day, but he can use the words "wait quietly", his ability and psychological quality have increased, as expected, with these two words, Zhang Yu suddenly understood why his brother could hand over a large group to him for handling, and indeed became "barefoot and not afraid of wearing shoes".

  "Yam was originally penniless and started from scratch, now the important things are all in the country, no matter how much trouble is stirred up in the US, it's not a big deal..." Zhang Yu thought to himself about Tang Guiyin's thoughts when writing letters and handling various affairs. Perhaps it was with this confidence and Zhang Yusheng's strong support that this guy's audacity and behavior were simply astonishing.

  Of course, Zhang Yu did not dare to make a conclusion about the content mentioned in the letter. This matter still needs to be discussed and considered, but no matter how much discussion Zhang Yu had, he couldn't come up with any good ideas. The person who knew how to deal with it had already gone to the United States to handle it personally. Political and economic matters were not something for Zhang Yu to worry about.

  However, Li Si Guang and his team had already returned from the construction site, the car horn was honking loudly, Zhang Yu quickly put away the documents and materials, sealed them with glue and put them in a file bag, then opened the door with a smile to welcome them. After all, the two returning people were talents, who wouldn't like them?

  PS: Sorry for the fewer updates last night, I'll make up for it by updating earlier today.