The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 395 On the verge of breaking out

"Thirty-eight votes in favor, five abstentions, twenty votes against..."

A total of 76 of the 63 members of the Senate attended the meeting and vote.

Watching the Senate vote to resolve the issue, Sherman looked relaxed, with a smile on his face, and nodded slightly to others.

The vote also confirmed the correctness of the actions of the Department of Justice and the Army, so he should prepare to set off for Aurora.

A lot of time has been wasted these days due to the summons from Congress.

The Senate then held several more votes.

First, the proposal to mobilize the navy to blockade California was rejected, and both the western and southern states were extremely opposed to it.

Secondly, the increase in military spending for the navy and the army was approved, and the military spending for the navy and the army will increase by a total of 800 million US dollars next year.

This year, 1879, the U.S. Navy's military expenditure is $1400 million, while the Army's military expenditure is $3200 million, a total of $4600 million.

The original plan was to reduce military spending for the navy and army to $4400 million next year, but now it has increased to $5400 million.

The proposal to expand the army by adding six cavalry regiments and twelve infantry regiments was rejected. After all, the United States has no foreign enemies now. The only enemies are the Indians... and the Chinese who have been causing trouble recently.

After the meeting, Sherman said goodbye to everyone else and left.

Soon, the results of the vote spread and naturally reached Chen Zhengwei along with the telegram.

"Sure enough, it's almost as expected!" Chen Zhengwei crossed his legs, looking at the telegram in his hand with a sarcastic smile on his face.

"No matter where people are, they all like to reconcile!"

"The people in the navy and the army should thank me!" Chen Zhengwei felt that he had contributed to the 800 million increase in military spending.

I guess the navy and the army don't plan to give it to him.

The next day, Chen Zhengwei was basking in the sun in a Chicago park, while Anna was feeding pigeons on the lawn not far away. She had a smile on her face and looked very happy.

The henchman came to Chen Zhengwei's ear and said, "Brother Wei, that Churchill is here again! He's in the hotel now!"

"Let him stay in the hotel first. I will have dinner with him in the evening." Chen Zhengwei said.

"Brother Wei, what do you want to eat?"

"French food!" Chen Zhengwei thought for a moment.

In the evening, Chen Zhengwei took Anna to have dinner with Randolph Churchill. Randolph Churchill was in high spirits, talking a lot with a smile on his face.

After all, he and his wife had £3000 a month, which was barely enough to support their luxurious upper-class life, but they often felt tight on money.

If he had an income every month in Chicago, he would have much more money.

Especially since the money was his own.

So he came here this time just to see what kind of property he could get here.

Chen Zhengwei finally learned the origins of Randolph Churchill: the third son of the Duke of Marlborough, who had no right of inheritance.

The Duke of Marlborough is now Lieutenant-General of Ireland.

This made Chen Zhengwei even more enthusiastic. He estimated that the Churchill of later generations was most likely from this family.

But he only knew his name was Churchill, not his real name, nor did he know whether he was Randolph's son or nephew.

However, the relationship with the Randolph family can be maintained.

"So, do you have any plans for what kind of business you want to do?" Chen Zhengwei asked with a smile.

"Do you have any suggestions? After all, I don't know much about this place!" Randolph asked. This was also the reason why he let Chen Zhengwei know his identity, so that he could protect his own interests.

"How about a textile factory? Maybe you can find a few designers in the UK. Brands from British aristocrats, I believe they will sell well! You know, these nouveau riche in the United States are very yearning for European aristocrats!"

"Rich people have their things custom-made!" Randolph reminded.

"You can sell it to the middle class! They are actually the ones who are most eager to improve their status!"

"Sounds good!" Randolph's eyes lit up.

"I have two textile factories with a market value of approximately 20 US dollars. According to the previous agreement, I can give them to you!" said Chen Zhengwei.

He spent less than $15,000 on the two textile mills.

"One is enough! I have a suggestion. You can merge these two textile mills, and then give me half of the shares and you keep half." Randolph said. Although he didn't understand business, he knew how to cooperate with others.

He will be returning to England soon and doesn't have much idea about the business, he just wants a share of the money every month.

Cooperating with Chen Zhengwei is the best way. With Chen Zhengwei's style of doing things, he will never lose money.

In addition to his status as the son of a duke, even if the business really loses money, Chen Zhengwei will find a way to make the accounts profitable.

This is the most basic wisdom of a politician.

"Sounds good." Chen Zhengwei nodded. This is indeed a good idea, which will help maintain the cooperative relationship between the two parties.

"In that case, I have a furniture factory and I can give you some shares!" Chen Zhengwei added. He was never stingy with valuable people.

"It's a pleasure working with you!" Randolph's smile became even brighter.

After eating half of it, Randolph changed the subject: "Do you know who is the commander of the army this time?"

"Sherman!" Chen Zhengwei said firmly.

He was not sure at first because there was no news from Washington, but after Randolph said this, he was immediately certain.

"Your information is very accurate!" Randolph said with some surprise.

"No, I just guessed it!" Chen Zhengwei laughed.

Randolph looked at him for a long time and said, "Amazing insight! I have confidence in you now!" "But Sherman was the man who ended the Civil War. He was very good at using cavalry and continuous attacks to create pressure on the enemy and destroy the enemy's morale!" Randolph reminded again. He had heard this at a banquet in New York, and now he just happened to use it and it could also show his erudition.

"I've been looking forward to it for a long time. Welcome to Chicago!" Chen Zhengwei grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.

Randolph felt that the man in front of him seemed to have turned into a ferocious beast that would choose its prey.

Although Chen Zhengwei fought beautifully in the previous battle, it is hard to say how he will perform against Sherman.

But it doesn’t matter. As long as he gets his shares, he will have a way to protect his interests even if Chen Zhengwei dies.

After dinner, Randolph went out to have fun.

Chen Zhengwei sat on the sofa in the corner and began to think about Sherman's situation.

He had known Sherman before, and his fighting style was completely opposite to Nelson's, bold and even radical.

Although this was his fighting style more than ten years ago, Chen Zhengwei estimated that he should not have changed much now.

Every successful person has his own inertia, and they believe in and even firmly believe in the secret of their own success.

Unless there is a major setback, not much will change.

Chen Zhengwei put the cigar into the ashtray, stretched himself and went upstairs.

He was looking forward to Sherman's arrival and he would give him a good welcome on behalf of Chicago.

The only question is...when will the Army arrive?

He now has about 20,000 smokeless powder bullets in his hands, which is only enough for a small-scale battle.

The transported bullets are still in the Gobi Desert in the south.

It would take at least two more days to reach Eugene.

However, the next day Chen Zhengwei learned that Randolph Churchill had been beaten.

"What happened? Who did it?" Chen Zhengwei frowned. Randolph Churchill was his partner. How could someone in Chicago dare to attack him?

"Brother Wei...that guy went out to have fun...but he had a sexually transmitted disease! And then he was discovered..." The henchman looked a little strange.

Chen Zhengwei was stunned when he heard this, and then cursed: "Fuck!"

"Why doesn't he just die!"

"Just pretend this never happened... don't let anyone know he has anything to do with me!" Chen Zhengwei warned:
He couldn't afford to lose this person.

"Also, throw away everything he used in the hotel!"

……

On the other side of the ocean, in the Zongli Yamen of the Qing Dynasty, a telegram was delivered to Dong Xun, the then Prime Minister.

"Sir, an urgent telegram!" The tutor hurried into the room and spoke.

"Where did it come from?" Dong Xun put down the teacup in his hand and saw that the tutor had a strange expression on his face. He knew that it must be something important.

"The United States of America! It was sent by Vice Minister Rong Hong. Chen Lanbin... was killed in the bombing!"

This telegram was sent from the United States to Britain, and then from Britain to India.

The telegraph cable between Britain and India was also laid a few years earlier.

Then it was sent to the Zongli Yamen.

Dong Xun's heart skipped a beat. He opened the telegram with a frown, and then his frown deepened.

After a moment, I breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that this matter had nothing to do with the United States, so that was not a big deal.

What he feared most was that Chen Lanbin’s death was related to the US government, which would be troublesome.

Although the officials in the court still hold the mentality of a central power, ministers like him who are in charge of foreign affairs understand the current situation of various countries better and know that foreigners have strong ships and powerful artillery and are not easy to deal with.

According to the telegram, Chen Lanbin's death was related to a Chinese named Chen Zhengwei. The specific information of Chen Zhengwei is unknown. It is only known that he is from eastern Guangdong and arrived in the United States not long ago. He is very prestigious in San Francisco.

Dong Xun snorted coldly: "The people killed the officials. As expected, when this man arrived in the land of foreigners, he had no regard for the court and no law! This matter must not be tolerated!"

He then put the telegram aside, signaled the reader to leave, and began to think about how to write the memorial and how to put pressure on the United States.

The murderer must be caught and handed over to the court, where he must be cut into pieces to bring justice to the people.

The next morning at court, when this memorial came out, many officials in the court were immediately in an uproar.

Empress Dowager Cixi and Empress Dowager Ci'an were in charge of the government. When they learned of this, they summoned George Frederick Seward, the American Minister to the Qing Dynasty.

……

The next day, Chen Zhengwei first took Randolph Churchill to see his property. Churchill's face was a little swollen and there was a black eye.

Seeing that Chen Zhengwei wanted to stay two meters away from him, Randolph Churchill also looked embarrassed.

In the next few days, Chen Zhengwei also received news from various places.

Protests continued across the United States, and conflicts of all kinds began to increase, especially between whites and blacks in the Southern states, where many large-scale conflicts occurred, killing hundreds of people.

His batch of bullets also arrived in Eugene. Marcelo sent someone to pick them up and used his connections to get them on a train. They would first arrive in Detroit, then go to Grand Rapids, and then be shipped to Chicago.

At the same time, the 9th Infantry Regiment and half of the Cavalry Regiment appeared on the outskirts of Los Angeles and engaged in a firefight with Chen Zhengwei's men.

The three regiments then arrived in Aurora and Joliet by train.

Sherman later arrived in Aurora.

Two days later, the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments also arrived in Aurora.

(End of this chapter)