C84

Chapter 84 - Carnegie Family

The French Merchant Shipping's Lucky was in the opium trade, and was also involved in smuggling, but in essence, it was still a merchant, a merchant with morals. When the Lucky ship slowly approached the wreckage, Xiao Letian found that the whole sea area had turned into a mess.

"Oh god, this is so tragic …" Ke Xijia kept crossing himself on his chest. In the sea at the bow of the ship, one could smell the faint scent of blood. Broken wooden planks and floating barrels were everywhere. Amidst the chaos, the remains of human corpses were still floating in the air.

The fins of a shark could be seen from time to time. There were at least forty to fifty sharks on those fins. It seemed like the boat was doomed.

"Look, there's a small sampan ahead of us..." "Oh my god, there's a man who's passed out. He's European …" The rowers hurried to the sampan and used ropes to haul the boat back to the Lucky.

The crew of the lucky ship searched the area for an hour before confirming that the only survivor was the European. When the sky began to darken and dinner was ready, the young man lying on the deck finally woke up.

"Oh, thank you …" I'm on a boat in that country? " The man took a few sips of water to regain his strength.

"English? American? You are a Americans... We are the France's merchant ship Lucky, I am the captain, Ke Xijia, these Chinese are my guests … " Ke Xijia said.

At this time, Xiao Letian also squatted down and asked in English, "Friend, I am a friend of the American Minister Hua Ruohan and the Cleric Louis. I am willing to provide you with the necessary help.

"Ah?" The people of Qing could actually speak with such a New York accent … Oh yes, the merchant ship I am on originally wanted to transport a boat full of sugar to Ningbo, but met with this storm halfway. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have gone to God.

During the conversation, everyone knew that the Americans's full name was Mike. Carnegie, inspecting the global market in the name of a sea merchant, was also a very common person. Most of them were the children of rich families who wanted to get some exercise, and the family gave them a sum of money.

For example, in this sugar trade, Mike had spent over two hundred bags of money to buy it. When he arrived in Ningbo, he would also sell the sugar along with the owner to earn some meagre travel funds.

Generally speaking, the sea merchants would be happy to help these young people because those who dared to play like this were all children with higher education and a certain background. Who wouldn't want to have more connections?

In the captain's room, Xiao Letian and Captain Ke Xijia invited the young people to dinner together. During the dinner, Xiao Letian asked Mike for his next plan.

"I have to go to Qing Country. As a commercial investigator of the clan, I have to understand the first-hand information about Qing Country. I heard that the Industrial Zones of Qing Nation is about to be activated, so I have to work hard for the clan …"

Hearing that, Ke Xijia and Ke Xijia looked at each other and laughed, then Ke Xijia said, "Mike, my ship is preparing to send Mr. Xiao back, I will be returning home, I'm afraid I can't send you back to Qing Province. However, if you are willing to follow Mr. Xiao, you can travel together with him. With this Americans's friend, I think that you will definitely reap rewards from your trip to the Qing Nation … "

Xiao Letian dipped some dry bread into the thick French soup, feeling the crispy taste in his mouth, his mind kept spinning, thinking. After some time, he thoughtfully asked, "Mr. Mike, did you just say your last name is Carnegie?" I have a question. I wonder if you know someone named Andrew. Where are the Carnegie people? The Jews, they should be in the steel business... "

He stared at Xiao Letian in disbelief. "Why do you know my brother? My uncle's brother's name is Andrew Carnegie, and this time I received money from my brother to explore the market in Daqing... "

Puchi … Xiao Letian spat out all of his tea in one mouthful, and the waves in his heart surpassed the storm that had just subsided. In his previous life, Xiao Letian had also read about this legendary Steel King before. Although Xiao Letian could not remember the date of that biography very clearly, he remembered one thing.

Shortly after the end of the Civil War, when Carnegie was thirty years old, he officially created the Carnegie Steel plant and quickly entered the fast track of his career. Right now, it was just when Carnegie was about to start. If he could get involved, the benefits would be countless.

In 1865, Carnegie established his own steel company, and it was this year that Xiao Letian met Carnegie's brother in Ryukyu.

Currently, Carnegie was not the richest man in the United States with a reputation all over the world. He was only a small accomplished steel merchant, so his Carnegie Steel plant should still be under construction. It was hard to say whether or not it would be put into production. For the current Carnegie, it was impossible for him not to pay attention to the huge Qingguo market.

Furthermore, Xiao Letian, this little butterfly, had already changed the history of the United States. With President Lin Ken not dead, the pace of American industrialization would only accelerate rather than slow down. His friendly relationship with Lin Ken, would definitely be able to give some points to his business. As long as he could get the points he wanted from the Ryukyu Royal Family, Xiao Letian believed that his future would be bright.

Xiao Letian kept calculating in his heart. He really couldn't understand why Carnegie would set his sights on Da Qing when his career was first started. In the real history, Carnegie's businesses would always hit the continental Europe and America, so he wasn't very interested in Asia.

But now, he had actually sent his clan members across the Pacific Ocean to explore the Great Qing market. This meant that there was only one possibility, the Jewish merchant with a keen sense of smell could have found some clues regarding the Lin Ken assassination attempt, or he could very likely find out about Xiao Letian, the person who could influence the Qing Government.

The facts proved that Xiao Letian's guess was not wrong. Although Hua Ruohan and Louis's identities on the surface were ministers and priests, their second identity was spies. This was also a diplomatic tradition. Hua Ruohan and Louis were in contact with the top financial groups in the country, so they would be able to find out about Qing Guo's every move very quickly.

At first, the top merchants only held curiosity towards Xiao Letian, this so called Master of Western Studies, and treated it as a piece of news from the East. However, when the concept that Xiao Letian had proposed spread to America, these top merchants immediately saw the business opportunity.

The United States, which had just finished its civil war, urgently needed orders. However, the establishment of the Industrial Zones was not only a matter of orders, it was also a shortcut to infiltrate into China. Imagine if the United States had obtained a construction contract with the Industrial Zones. Even if there was only one, it would be a glorious victory.

Think about it, when other European countries need distant shipping to do business with the Qing, and the United States can already produce and sell directly on the Great Qing land, the profits will be multiplied several times.

Ever since this news had spread throughout the high level business circles of the United States, the pressure that Lin Ken had received from the hidden channels never stopped. There were even merchants who expressed their hope that the United States Government would support Xiao Letian to become his spokesperson. Unfortunately, President Lin Ken's obsession with cleanliness was too severe, so he stubbornly insisted on his conditions.

Xiao Letian put down the tableware, smiled and said to Mike: "My distant friend, may I ask if you have any plans in your schedule that you would like to see Xiao Letian about?"

"Eh? "How did you know …" Mike's eyes were full of vigilance. At this time, Captain Ke Xijia could no longer hold back and laughed heartily. "Mr. Mike, your luck is very good, the person in front of you is a famous scholar in the Great Qing, the author of《 Journey to the West》, Mr. Xiao Letian …"

"Oh!" My God, you are so merciful to me. Mr. Xiao, can I take up some of your time? "Would you like to hear my introduction to the family business …" The young Mike stood up in excitement, grabbing onto Xiao Letian's hand and refusing to let go.

The dinner lasted until well past nine, and Mike was extremely tired before it finally came to an end. Under the sky full of stars, Captain Ke Xijia was using his sextant to change the route. On the bow of the ship, Xiao Letian was holding a cup of red wine, smelling the salty sea breeze, feeling the magnificence of the sea.

Tomorrow will be the Ryukyu, which is the gateway to the deep blue ocean. It is known as' Wanguo Jin Liang '. If this chain of islands is controlled by the Chinese, then it will be the bridgehead of the Chinese coastline. If this chain of islands is controlled by foreigners, it will become the lock chain of the Chinese nation.

Xiao Letian came here for a total of three reasons. Firstly, he had to come to an agreement with the weak Ryukyu Royal Family. Even if he had to spend money, he had to get a title of Prime Minister. Didn't you, Lin Ken, refuse to do business with a commoner? Then I'll give you a government of the same level as you as a negotiating opponent, I'll be able to do it in the name of the Ryukyu Kingdom, right? You can't say anything about me buying a battleship.

Secondly, the Ryukyu, which was an overseas land was not only important, but also a place that Da Qing was too lazy to pay attention to. As long as Xiao Letian's power could infiltrate here, no matter if it was in business or training the army, they could proceed boldly.

In the end, this was also because of a little bit of patriotism on Xiao Letian's part. Ryukyu was a Subordinate Country of China from the Sui Tang Dynasty, why would they let the Japanese occupy it in the end?

"Damn it, I'm coming for Ryukyu, with me here, you will never fall into my hands, even if I have to drain my last drop of blood!"

Right at this moment, Shi Dakai, who had disguised himself, walked to Xiao Letian's side and took a deep breath of the sea breeze, "The kingdom of heaven has been destroyed, and a large number of our old brothers have fled overseas. "I've already gathered more than 100 for you, and with the dozens of people we brought, we can barely gather 200. It's still not enough …"

"Do you know? The Shimadzu Family will just put it in that Tyrant Three Thousand Soldiers, led by a general called Huashan Liyuan. In addition to that, there are a lot of rogue cultivators in the Samoan, the Japanese can easily gather an army of a thousand over rogues, but our power is still not enough, it's simply too lacking … "

Xiao Letian shook his head: "I'm not going to war, I just want a name. There's plenty of time for us …. "But don't worry Master Shi, one day, I will bring many warships to invade Ryukyu Kingdom and chase away all of them …"

In the real history, fourteen years after the year 1879, when Xiao Letian was still in the current era, Japan had brazenly annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Xiao Letian only had fourteen pitiful years, so it was imperative to change his national destiny.