The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 485 Juan, I have a better idea

Juan's eyebrows jumped, he felt that he had heard something extraordinary.

But if you think about it carefully, Chen Zhengwei is a man who has fought all the way to Washington, so he naturally has the confidence to speak like this.

Juan looked at his nose and pretended not to hear.

"Okay, come over here!" Chen Zhengwei and Juan walked to their own special card bags and waved to the waiter, who handed them a bottle of root beer.

The formula for Coke hasn't been figured out yet, but this root beer is getting better and better.

It may also be that I am used to drinking it.

"Do you have something to talk to me about?" Chen Zhengwei asked while puffing on his cigar.

"Yes!" Juan said:

"Mr. Chen, the amount we can trade this year will be much less!"

"We expect only about 80 cigars this year."

"Juan, you have to give me a reason!" Chen Zhengwei lay back on the sofa, his voice very calm, without any fluctuations.

"Mr. Chen, to be honest, some Cuban families asked me to stop trading with you! Otherwise they will cut off my supply!" Juan said softly.

"Many plantations and cigar factories were influenced by them, and they tore up the contracts they signed with me and refused to supply me with goods."

"The Cuban family, it seems that I have no grudge against them? And then they target me?" Chen Zhengwei narrowed his eyes and stared at Juan.

"What happened in Villa Clara before... made them very angry! They felt that their position in that land was challenged!"

"Status?" Chen Zhengwei sneered, "The people hanging on the electric poles have the highest status. They stand high and can see far!"

His gaze turned to Juan again: "Juan, are you so useless? They just tore up the agreement they signed with you?"

"Mr. Chen... those families have various relationships with the Independence Army, and the Independence Army is even their people... Although I have some people in Cuba, my influence is far less than theirs!"

"That's your problem! Juan!" Chen Zhengwei said directly.

"They tore up the agreement with you... and then you want to tear up the agreement with me..." Chen Zhengwei flicked the ash of his cigar and leaned forward slightly: "Do you think the agreement with me is so easy to tear up?"

With this action, Juan immediately felt the pressure coming towards him, and sweat broke out on his head. He explained, "That's not the case!"

"Juan, you have to understand that not everyone can establish a long-term partnership with me! You can live so happily in San Francisco, no one bothers you, and everyone respects you, because you are my partner!"

"Yes, there is no doubt about it, Mr. Chen!" Juan's forehead was covered with more sweat.

The current situation is not quite what he expected.

Looking at Chen Zhengwei's emotionless eyes, Juan felt that he had to say something.

Gritting his teeth, he said, "Mr. Chen, I need your help!"

"If you say so...how can I help you as a friend?" A smile appeared on Chen Zhengwei's face.

"I need to kill some people. If it were in the past, this would be no problem. But now those families have spoken. If I kill them, I will face pressure and retaliation from all sides!"

"Mr. Chen, this incident has also affected your business, affecting millions of dollars in profits a year! I hope you can send some people to help me!"

"As long as we repel their two attacks, I can renegotiate with them!"

"Sounds good!" Chen Zhengwei whistled and took another sip of the root beer.

"So what are you willing to give?"

"I own half of the plantation in Cuba!" Juan said bluntly.

This is a big bleed.

You have to know that the plantations in Cuba account for half of his property.

Some are also in Panama, Colombia and other places.

But for the sake of future benefits, he can pay some price!
As long as there is a war between Chen Zhengwei and those Cuban families, it will never end easily.

Chen Zhengwei stared at Juan for a moment, then leaned back on the sofa: "So sincere!"

"Yes, Mr. Chen, cooperation with you is my most important business!" Seeing that Chen Zhengwei had returned to his somewhat lazy posture, Juan also relaxed.

"How about this, I have a better idea!" Chen Zhengwei said with a smile!

"I don't want your plantation. Let's join forces to kill those Cuban families! Then we'll rob their plantations and split it 30% to 70%. You take 30% and I take 70%!"

Chen Zhengwei originally wanted to kill those plantation owners, and having Juan, a local tyrant, would make things much easier.

When Juan heard this, his heart skipped a beat.

After thinking for a while, he asked, "Mr. Chen, are your targets the families behind the independence army? If the Spaniards intervene..."

"You don't think you can get 30% just by leading the way, right? You have to find a way to deal with the Spanish governor!" Chen Zhengwei said with a smile.

“Don’t tell me it’s hard, you have to show your worth!”

"One more thing, with all due respect, there are a lot of forests in Cuba, and those independence troops are very familiar with these terrains!"

"We don't need to defeat them all. We can blockade them all by occupying the plains and ports!"

"I need some time... I'm not sure if I can do it. I will try to contact the Spanish Governor!" Juan gritted his teeth after hesitating for a long time.

"If we accept the rule of the Kingdom of Spain, pay taxes as before, and even return the appointment of officials to the Governor's Office, perhaps there will be a chance!"

The Spanish Governor would never allow other countries to get involved in Cuba.

He would certainly not have had such an idea before, but the warships and cannons that Chen Zhengwei bought from Britain gave him a glimmer of hope.

In particular, those independence armies also caused a lot of trouble to the Spanish governor, and the current situation was formed after the compromise of both sides.

In name, the whole of Cuba was still under Spanish rule, but in reality, the areas controlled by the independence army had a high degree of autonomy.

In addition to paying taxes, officials were appointed from the families behind the independence army. Since the Spanish governor could compromise with the independence army, why couldn't he compromise with Chen Zhengwei?

After all, Chen Zhengwei was just an outsider, unlike those families who were deeply rooted in the local area. In fact, this was not a bad thing for the Spanish Governor.

Thinking of this, he felt that Chen Zhengwei's idea might be feasible, and his heart began to gradually heat up.

"Mr. Chen, I think we can give it a try! I will go back to Cuba soon!" Juan looked up at Chen Zhengwei and said, his voice not as hesitant as before.

"Pour two glasses of whiskey!" Chen Zhengwei said to the waiter not far away.

Chen Zhengwei picked up his glass and clinked it lightly with Juan's, smiling meaningfully: "Well, I wish you good luck!"

Originally, those Cuban families were looking for trouble with Chen Zhengwei, but with just a few words, Chen Zhengwei turned Juan into his own hound to take care of everything.

As for Spain...it's 1880!

What about Spain?
Chen Zhengwei felt that he would have to fight with them sooner or later.

But it would be best if we could push the United States to fight them!
"Speaking of which, the U.S. presidential election is about to begin."

On June 6, the Republican National Convention will be held to select the presidential candidate.

The location was announced in December and it will be in Philadelphia.

So Chen Zhengwei was considering whether he should go to Chicago, which is very close to Philadelphia... But he also felt that if he took the train, it was very likely that someone would blow up the train halfway.

In fact, what Chen Zhengwei didn’t know was that the Republican National Committee had originally planned to hold the meeting in Chicago, but the time had not been announced yet.

However, in August, Chen Zhengwei arrived in Chicago, and the city quickly fell into his hands. Now, everyone from the mayor to the police chief are Chen Zhengwei's people.

After the signing of the Washington Treaty, the Republican National Committee quickly changed the venue to Philadelphia and announced it through newspapers on December 12.

……

It was already evening, but someone in the Vice President's office was still receiving telegrams. After seeing the name, they immediately delivered the telegram to the Vice President's staff.

William A. Wheeler was attending a banquet and was talking to someone when he saw his aide walk in from outside and stand waiting by the door.

"Excuse me!" William A. Wheeler apologized to the other party, stood up and walked towards his staff.

"A telegram, sir!" the aide handed over the telegram.

William Wheeler glanced at the telegram and saw two lines of text.

"Transfer the money! Now!"

"Otherwise I'll go crazy!"

When he saw these two lines of words, a ferocious Chinese figure emerged in his mind. Then he looked at the signature and it was indeed Chen Zhengwei.

"This guy is threatening us!" William Wheeler said calmly.

In fact, he got a headache just seeing the name.

"Yes!" the staff answered expressionlessly. If someone else had sent such a telegram and threat, it would have been a joke.

But that Chinese guy… that’s not a joke anymore.

"What money is it?" William Wheeler pondered.

It doesn't seem like it's time to make another payment yet?
"I guess it's Los Angeles... There was an agreement in the original treaty that we have to pay for the construction of basic facilities for the Chinese community, such as transportation roads!"

"Go and ask the Finance Department if they have received the telegram! Then ask them what's going on!" William Wheeler handed the telegram back and returned to the sofa to continue the previous topic.

But he was no longer interested at this point, and his good mood was gone.

William Wheeler's staff ran around half of Washington, after all, the finance department had already gone off work.

Finally, I got the result.

"The bill they quoted was exorbitant... They wanted to build 4 kilometres of four-metre-wide roads, which is 275 million square metres... They also wanted to build Macadam Road gravel road, quoting $110 per square metre, for a total price of $330 million."

This is a type of road made of flattened gravel that has good drainage and is also very smooth. It has become widely popular in Europe and the United States in recent decades.

"Honestly, even the roads in Washington are not up to this standard!"

"Besides that, they need three carriage tracks... Yes, they want three carriage tracks, one around the city, one across the city, and one vertically through the city, a total of 62.94 kilometers... The offer is $72!"

"They're also going to build a hospital, a school... a total of more than $450 million."

"So the department is still discussing this matter. With all due respect, if it weren't for 'that person', there would be no need to discuss this matter at all!"

When William Wheeler's staff heard this number, they took a deep breath and then smiled bitterly.

You should know that the United States’ annual tax revenue last year was only 2.73 million US dollars.

This guy is asking for almost 2% directly. He is really asking for too much!

No wonder the Finance Department didn’t respond and has been dragging its feet.

What's more, he was awarded $1000 million in compensation at the end of last year, and another $1000 million in compensation will be paid two months later.

The staff found William Wheeler at his home late at night and told him the whole story.

"If other people said they were going to lose their temper, that would be intimidation! But him, with all due respect, sir, that guy can do anything!" said the aide.

In particular, the telegram was sent directly to the Vice President's office.

"I understand! I will go to the finance department to discuss it tomorrow!" William Wheeler felt even more tired.

Every time he heard news about that Chinese man, he always felt exhausted.

This is precisely because Chen Zhengwei's style of behavior has always made people fearful, as well as the results of the fight.

No matter how excessive his request is, others should seriously consider it even if they don't want to agree.

(End of this chapter)