The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 461 Everyone is winning, no one is losing

"Also, send someone to Hawaii to find out the situation!"

"Hawaii is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is the hub for the Qing Dynasty to reach here, and it is also the most important supply point! In the future, it will also be a military base radiating the entire Pacific Ocean!"

"The British, French, Spanish and Americans are all fighting for this place. There is no reason why we shouldn't." Chen Zhengwei had actually thought about this place a long time ago.

He gave up because the place was too important and all countries were fighting for it.

But now... he felt that it might not be impossible to snatch it, at least he could place some people there first.

After all, Hawaii is ultimately a state of the United States, and he is an American.

After talking about building a branch in Guangzhou and Hawaii, Chen Zhengwei smiled and asked Chen Zhenghu: "Is it beautiful?"

"Very beautiful!" Ah Hu couldn't close his mouth with laughter.

Liu Xihong was a fifth-rank official after all. How could the concubine he brought with him when he went out to take up office not be beautiful?
"What do you mean by beautiful or not?" Qiao Niang stared at the two of them with eyes wide open.

"You have business everywhere!" Chen Zhengwei glanced at her.

"After all, she is Liu Xihong's concubine, so you better be careful!" said Chen Zhengwei.

……

Ouyang Ming stood at the window and looked down, where there was a lion dance team.

There have been lion dances in San Francisco for these seven days.

Ouyang Ming could see that many foreigners were watching, and there were people from the Investigation Bureau maintaining order.

After he came back yesterday, he also heard that Liu Xihong's men were arrested by the San Francisco police and thrown into jail.

"We are always under the roof!" Ouyang Ming sighed.

It can be seen from these policemen that San Francisco is completely Chen Zhengwei's territory, and even the police listen to him.

Especially Chen Zhengwei, he is not a member of the US government. He is a gang leader and naturally has no rules in doing things.

Maybe New York will be better.

But apart from that, we have to admit that Chen Zhengwei is indeed a hero of his generation.

A Chinese man built such a huge business from scratch in San Francisco that even the US government had to give in.

Especially at a very young age.

Although he looks tall and strong, from what he inquired, Chen Zhengwei may only be 20 years old this year.

It's quite terrifying for a 20-year-old to do this.

Ouyang Ming felt that it was fortunate that Chen Zhengwei came to the United States instead of staying in China.

Otherwise, it might become a serious threat to the court.

After standing at the window for a long time, there was a knock on the door.

"Sir, a man named Yung Wing is here to visit!"

"Let him come up... Forget it, wait for me, I'll change my clothes!" Ouyang Ming thought for a while, changed his clothes and went out.

A moment later, I sat with Yung Wing in the hotel cafe.

Ouyang Ming looked Rong Hong up and down. He was about fifty years old and looked very energetic.

He knew this person before, but he didn't expect that he would resign before he arrived in New York and come to San Francisco to work for Chen Zhengwei.

"Mr. Rong, why did you quit your position as deputy minister and work here? I'm just curious. If you don't mind, could you please tell me?" Ouyang Ming asked.

"Everyone has their own aspirations!" Yung Wing said with a smile.

"I have been busy for half my life and have achieved nothing. But here, I can do something."

"Lord Ouyang, I hope that when you arrive in New York, you will take good care of those Chinese children studying in the United States! They are the seeds and hope of the future. You must let them study in the United States with peace of mind and learn skills. These people are the sparks that can shine in the country!" Yung Wing said sincerely.

Ouyang Ming nodded: "Don't worry, Mr. Rong, my cousin is among these students studying in the United States."

"Lord Ouyang's cousin is Ouyang Geng?" Rong Hong asked immediately.

"That's right!" Ouyang Ming nodded.

When Rong Hong heard this, he immediately felt relieved. In this case, Ouyang Ming was the best person to be the envoy.

I can rest assured now.

"Mr. Rong, why don't you tell me about the situation in the United States! To be honest, I am still completely clueless about the situation here." Ouyang Ming said.

Yung Wing thought for a moment and said, "In the United States, the person you need to care about most is not someone else but Mr. Chen!"

Ouyang Ming smiled bitterly and nodded. It was indeed true. He felt it after only two days.

"Not only San Francisco is Mr. Chen's territory, Chicago, New York... these two places are one the industrial center of the United States, and the other the financial center of the United States, and they also have Mr. Chen's people." Yung Wing said meaningfully.

Ouyang Ming was startled when he heard this.

He thought things would get better if he left San Francisco and went to New York.

Unexpectedly, Chen Zhengwei's hand extended all the way to New York.

An industrial center, a financial center, what does it mean that Chen Zhengwei extends his hand here?
On the one hand, Chen Zhengwei is extremely ambitious, and on the other hand... the US government really can't do anything to Chen Zhengwei.

In his impression, although the United States is not as good as Britain and France, it is also a powerful country... He now begins to doubt the strength of the United States.

"Besides that, the Russian ambassador threatened to duel when he had an argument with someone. He was a barbarian. There's nothing much to say about the British and French ambassadors, but the British ambassador was beaten by Mr. Chen, and the news spread throughout the American upper class. In the end, the US government apologized..."

Whenever Yung Wing talked about this, he wanted to laugh.

What Chen Zhengwei did was really brilliant.

He beat up the British envoy, and as a result the British Foreign Office sent a telegram to Washington to accuse him, and Washington then apologized and paid compensation.

Although it's not a lot of money, it's really bullying.

Ouyang Ming felt his horizons broadened when he heard Yung Wing talk about these things.

Chen Zhengwei is indeed quite domineering in the United States.

He even beat the British ambassador, and the US government had to apologize and clean up its act. No wonder he didn't take me seriously at all and found a reason to beat Liu Xihong to death.

The imperial court wanted to extend its control to San Francisco, but as long as Chen Zhengwei was alive, this would be impossible.

……

Not long after the end of the year, the negotiations between the San Francisco government and the Pacific Railroad Company finally came to an end.

In fact, if the previous practice is followed, building a railway in such a place is nothing more than the city government giving the railway company some tax exemptions and land use terms, and some other benefits.

When the Pacific Railroad was being built, the top executives of the Pacific Railroad bribed members of Congress to submit and pass the bill in Congress.

Building one mile of railway can gain 20 square kilometers of land on both sides of the railway line.

This bill alone made the railway company a lot of money. But it was different in San Francisco, as it also involved Chen Zhengwei's interests. The entire railway line was Chen Zhengwei's land...

Therefore, Chen Zhengwei's people also joined the negotiations.

The result now is that the construction cost of each kilometer of railway is US$50000. The total length of the entire route is 600 kilometers, and the construction cost alone is US$3000 million.

Most of the $3000 million will be used to hire Chen Zhengwei's company to build the railway, and Chen Zhengwei will also be paid a land use fee of $500 per kilometer.

This is not a one-time payment, but a three-year payment. Every three years, Chen Zhengwei will have to pay $30 in land use fees.

The San Francisco city government will pay $1500 million and give the Pacific Railroad some tax breaks.

The San Francisco city government will use the $1500 million to issue more than $1800 million in bonds for railway construction.

This bond was also contracted and issued by Chen Zhengwei's San Francisco People's Bank.

Of this, 300 million will be the cost of issuing bonds, and the remaining 1500 million will be directly given to Chen Zhengwei as the construction cost of the railway.

At the same time, the railway company will also invest a sum of money as construction costs for the railway.

"This is a successful cooperation with win-win results for all parties!" At the signing ceremony, Chen Zhengwei raised his wine glass and smiled happily. After all, he won.

"With this railway, cargo transportation in San Francisco is faster, and the whole of California is connected. San Francisco is no longer isolated from the mainland."

Facing the reporters, Chen Zhengwei said with a smile.

"Yes, this is the most important achievement since I took office! The most important purpose of my campaign for mayor is to make San Francisco better and more prosperous! The city government is even working on new plans to improve public security in San Francisco! I believe every citizen of San Francisco can see the changes in this city!"

James also spoke freely to the reporters and smiled brightly.

For the San Francisco-Los Angeles railway, Chen Zhengwei will take out $100 million to distribute to others, and as the mayor of San Francisco, he will also get $30.

The Pacific Railway Company was also very satisfied, although they spent a lot of money on this railway line and would have to pay Chen Zhengwei a land use fee every three years, which would result in high operating costs.

But they received tax and land purchase fee reductions in San Francisco, so in the long run they not only made no loss but also made a lot of money.

Everyone made a lot of money in this business and no one lost money, so it was a successful cooperation.

After Chen Zhengwei got on the carriage, he said to Yung Wing: "So, doing business with the US government is the most profitable!"

"Whether it's Washington or local governments, they are spending taxpayers' money after all!"

Yung Wing smiled and said nothing. This was a typical case of collusion between officials and businessmen. What could he say?

He attended the signing ceremony as a representative of Los Angeles.

"Ouyang Ming and those students are leaving, so I won't see them off. But many of them are studying engineering. If they don't have a lot of schoolwork to do, they can come here and learn how to build railways," Chen Zhengwei added.

"What can you learn in school? You have to put this learning into practice."

When Yung Wing heard this, he immediately perked up and said with a smile, "I was thinking about this as well. Mr. Chen is the most thoughtful one."

"But they are only sophomores at most, so they can't fall behind in school! I'll tell them to take two months off to learn more."

"You decide on the arrangements! Now that Los Angeles has been planned and the railway is about to be built, the investment should also be in place! I have to ask someone to urge them to do so!"

Now Los Angeles has been planned. As long as the city center is determined, the next step is to spread out to the surrounding areas. First, a commercial area, three residential areas, and two industrial areas are planned.

Chen Zhengwei plans to sell part of the land to wealthy businessmen and Chinese people in Chinatown.

Only when they have their own land will they feel at ease.

However, Chen Zhengwei kept all the best locations in Los Angeles.

"I'm just worried that there won't be enough people..." said Yung Wing.

Next came the construction of railroads, the building of Los Angeles, and those factories also needed people.

Even though there are 90,000 Chinese people in San Francisco now, it is still not enough.

Next, let’s not talk about the Chinese in San Francisco who can find jobs as long as they are willing to work. Even those Irish people who like to drink and make trouble can find a good job as long as they are honest.

"It's almost there... this year's piglet ship should be here too! And the ship I bought is already halfway on its way. It should be here in another month. By then I will arrange for someone to go to Daqing to fetch the people."

After that, Chen Zhengwei said unhappily: "Damn those Spanish people in Cuba! There are still 30,000 Chinese workers there. I paid them money to buy them, but they refused to sell! I took a gun to exchange for people, but I don't know how Juan is contacting them."

"There has been no news for such a long time. Is he dead over there?"

Counting the time, Juan has been gone for more than a month.

He could have crawled to Cuba.

"I hope everything goes well!" said Yung Wing. He had also heard about this, but didn't know much.

All we know is that there is a group of Chinese people in Cuba. Chen Zhengwei wanted to buy them back, but was rejected.

After Chen Zhengwei returned to the club, three more pieces of news came.

One was that the Remington and Pratt gun and bullet production lines were installed and put into use.

After the workers become skilled, the monthly output of submachine guns can reach up to 360, and the monthly output of bullets can reach up to million.

This bullet production line also has five production lines, but its bullet output is 50% higher than that of the British production line, and it requires far fewer people.

Only 350 people are needed for each shift, so if we work in two shifts, that would be 700 people.

In other words, the cost of producing bullets with this bullet production line has finally dropped below 1 cent.

It's about 0.7 cents to 0.8 cents.

The second piece of news was that the shipyard had previously asked him for people from the metal processing plant, and had poached people from the steam engine company, and had finally built a steam engine.

Although the data is slightly worse than the design drawing, it is much more advanced than the current steam engine.

Moreover, they have found the reason why the data does not meet the design drawing, and they can continue to improve it to make the data close to the design drawing.

At the same time, the shipyard was also designing new warships and cargo ships according to Chen Zhengwei's requirements.

As for the third thing, Washington sent people to lobby the southern states and achieved some results.

Some southern states agreed to incorporate their militia regiments into the National Guard and to be mobilized by the Army in wartime.

However, the federal government also allocates some funds to the National Guard to purchase weapons, supplies and training, while state governments provide the rest.

In other words, in the future, these National Guard troops will be mobilized by state governments in peacetime and will be responsible for the security of each state and handling emergencies.

In wartime, they are mobilized by the federal government.

This can be considered a compromise between the two parties.

After hearing the news, Chen Zhengwei thought about it for a moment and then ordered, "Isn't there a nationalist movement going on in the southern states right now? Bribe off a few policemen and kill a few black kids!"

"And then they bribed the judges to acquit those police officers."

"Add fuel to the fire, help them!"

If those black people needed it, Chen Zhengwei felt that he could also provide them with some remote technical guidance or something.

(End of this chapter)