New Gods of North America.

Chapter 744 Small talk
One noticeable difference between a "small round table" and a "long table" is that the dishes cannot all be kept on it at all times.

So once the host clinks glasses and the banquet officially begins, accompanied by not-too-noisy background music, if an outsider were to glance into the banquet hall, the first thing they would likely notice would be the waiters moving about in an orderly fashion, like gears in a music box.

"I heard that the Fisk family had already made business investments in Philip Auster's grandson before the news broke. Samuel Fisk's business acumen is truly astonishing."

The speaker was Congressman Adam Stephens of Illinois, the "potential political leader in the state" that Miss Olivia was referring to as having considerable influence even in the South.
At his level, there are many things he can no longer say easily. However, if he remains silent in social situations, it can easily lead to different interpretations and speculations. Therefore, one of the safest approaches is to continue the conversation along the lines of the topic and talk about some trivial matters.

Sitting next to him was the old Basque from the Beaton family, who smiled as he spoke, "Wayne and Olivia were classmates at the academy. They probably met after they came to Virginia. The middleman was probably her brother, Ian Fisk. They may have gotten along because of the fraternity."

While it may seem like a digression, it actually gets straight to the point.

After all, the interactions between young people are quite different from the family relationships led by elders.

“No wonder I don’t think I’ve ever seen him at the ball before.” Virginia Governor Leitcher casually joined the conversation, though he didn’t even look up, his attention more focused on the food on his plate. “But I think I heard Warren say that he had a good relationship with the cathedral, especially with the former Archbishop Corleone.”

According to the original design of the Founding Fathers, the underlying structure of American politics was one of "checks and balances." Therefore, although the positions of high-ranking officials were relatively stable, judging "who is superior" solely based on their position and rank could easily lead to misjudgments in practice. Often, even a local official was less powerful than a powerful one, and everyone could encounter situations where they needed favors from others or were subject to their control.

This has led to the social atmosphere in the United States where everyone is treated like a gentleman, and anyone can receive extraordinary treatment in social settings. For example, Adam Stephens is considered the "guest" tonight, while Governor Leitch is, in a sense, "accompanying" him. However, if this were to happen in Illinois, the situation would almost certainly be reversed.

Therefore, when people are of similar status, "outsiders are guests."
As for who listens more to whom, it depends on the specific "events" and "situation" outside the political arena—some people don't even have a political identity, yet they can still have considerable actual influence in the political sphere.

“When I attended a banquet at the college a few days ago, I heard people mention him. They said that he does seem to be quite intelligent among the students. He made a new mathematical discovery after only a few classes, and recently he has started a small trend of fingerprint and bloodstain research. Especially after learning about the news from the Auster family, some people are seriously studying the ‘cottonseed oil refining’ he mentioned, and they feel that this research should not be without any benefits.”

Adam Stephens casually chimed in, then asked, "But it seems he hasn't been attending classes regularly for a while; it appears he's been spending most of his time in Richmond lately?"

The Fisk family is a key political ally and financial backer of Adam Stephens in Georgia. While the younger generation may not yet have a significant impact, some friendships require effort from the older generation to ensure their continuation.

That's why he paid a little more attention to this lucky young man whose family had fallen on hard times; otherwise, a young man who just seemed "promising" wouldn't have been worth his extra attention.

The path to high society is fraught with uncertainty. Often, a simple word of encouragement or a small favor is all it takes to accumulate enough "cheap favors."

Such "cheap favors" have a very low probability of being converted into cash, but fortunately, if the other party is really valuable, there are often plenty of opportunities for further investment later.

The elderly Basque gentleman took a sip of his wine and was about to continue the conversation when Governor Leitchard chimed in:
“He seems to have been helping Richmond’s city hall collect taxes lately, and has organized a few people, mainly staying in the dock area. There have also been some reports from the cathedral that he has provided some assistance in related matters and has some small business cooperation with the church.”

Adam Stephens was slightly surprised: "The business area of ​​Richmond's docks is quite large. Can a young man like him easily get involved?"

For those with sufficient background or access to truly "high-level affairs," the existence of extraordinary individuals is not particularly secretive; mentioning "the Church" is an allusion to this.
However, even in the Old World, it is no longer the era when the Holy See was in power. While extraordinary individuals are certainly useful, their abilities under normal circumstances are generally limited. In fact, most extraordinary individuals would find it difficult to withstand a single cannon shot fired by an ordinary person, at most being similar to the "heroic knights" or "evil witches" in medieval stories—and knights and witches, as it turns out, are not characters who can change "rule".

That's why Adam Stephens found it strange; even extraordinary individuals who had the support of certain forces were unlikely to overstep their bounds.

Otherwise, it will only invite "exorcism" from the church, "condemnation" from those in power and large families, or even suppression by the army.

Fortunately, Governor Leitch quickly answered Adam Stephens's question:
"According to the briefing I saw, he doesn't affect the normal operation of the dock area. Apart from assisting with affairs and maintaining public order, he's just busy with his own small business. Therefore, although some of his subordinates' actions are indeed slightly irregular, they are all targeting lawbreakers in small gangs, and there's no sign of them even trying to smuggle, so we haven't interfered. Richmond City Hall also has a pretty good opinion of him."

This is easy to understand; it's similar to how merchant ships in the Age of Exploration would actively assist in fighting pirates.
Without affecting the normal operation of shipping routes, neither the navies of any country nor the major fleets would mind their presence.

The old Basque gentleman offered his timely assessment: "There's nothing wrong with young people wanting to do what they can, at least it's much better than being obsessed with horse racing and hunting."

Adam Stephens, willing to give face to someone on good terms with the Fisk family, nodded slightly: "A direct descendant of the Auster family certainly needs to accumulate some experience in dealing with people. And it's proven that the South is quite attractive to young people from elsewhere; this is a very positive trend." No one objected, and a large estate owner at the table, clearly lacking sufficient experience, happily joined the conversation:
"Wayne is truly enviable to be able to choose between two beautiful young ladies from the Auster and Fisk families. If I had such an opportunity when I was young, I would probably have hesitated for at least half a month under the influence of alcohol, and in the end, I would probably have had to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit to come to an answer."

"..."

The conversation paused for a moment.

Every family can have mediocre or pleasure-seeking leaders or heirs, and large families are no exception. However, compared to ordinary families, large families possess more resources that they can squander.
Especially for large estate owners who control vast amounts of land and slaves, as long as they can inherit the wealth smoothly and not squander it excessively, the increase in wealth is often just a matter of time. Even if one or two generations of incompetent successors appear, it will not affect the family's prominence.

Out of respect for the wealthy family background and the riches possessed by this manor lord, none of the guests at the table readily refuted his words.

Such a superficial statement left the "wise people" present somewhat taken aback.

The Auster and Fisker families were roughly equal in wealth and status.

However, if we consider Wayne Constantine's current situation, if he can become the "transitional figure" of the Auster family, then before the next generation of offspring who will inherit the Auster name grows up, he will have the opportunity to possess the "entirety" of the Auster family.
Conversely, if he chooses to marry a daughter of the Fisk family, the greatest benefit he might gain would only be the cash wealth that a daughter could receive, and some prominent "cousins."

For sophisticated political beings and wealthy individuals, this isn't even a choice.
Unless the hope of the former possibility being realized has been completely eliminated in advance.

George Randolph, the host of tonight's banquet, reacted quickly and was the first to smooth things over:

"It is indeed a sweet trouble. And as a father, I have more trouble than any of you here right now—look at my daughter Sophia, she seems to be interested in that Wayne, but he is not a suitable candidate for her."

Most of those present were discerning individuals, and it was immediately apparent that Miss Sophia had been deliberately arranged by George Randolph, essentially laying the groundwork for a "friendship" with a young woman who might actually enter high society.

However, they didn't say anything after seeing through it. When the topic of their children's education came up, these important figures naturally changed the subject and started chatting about some trivial matters in their own families.

After chatting for a while, when the third dish was served, another large estate owner, following the others' complaints, began to casually steer the conversation towards matters he cared about:

"Speaking of which, Andrew, my funding is ready. When do you plan to make your move?"

The man sitting at the head table at this moment, "Andrew," is the current head of the Price family, Andrew Sr., who is also the father of the Secretary of State.

He wiped his mouth with a napkin, as if answering a trivial matter: "Next week. We'll release the news that the countries in the Old World are about to sign a peace agreement. When everyone sees the news in the newspapers, we can start taking action. Others will definitely not react as quickly as we do."

Adam Stephens nodded in agreement: "Once the Old World returns to peace, the corresponding orders for goods will certainly decrease. It's a story that people can easily accept: that some greedy banks went bankrupt because of a run on their banks by those cunning speculators."

"How's the food relief stockpiling going, as requested by the church?" Governor Leitch paused slightly in his motion of wielding his knife and fork.

Andrew Pryor Sr.'s answer was as simple as ever: "It should be around this weekend."

“That’s good.” Governor Leitcher then continued dipping the meat on his fork into the sauce. “Just in case, the militia drills around Richmond this year are already planned, and the pay rise for the city’s police officers has been approved. It’s just a commercial bank; it shouldn’t cause too much of a stir.”

The other important figures at the dinner nodded slightly upon hearing this. While they may not all have been involved in the matter, they didn't see anything wrong with it.
In order to quell the mess caused by Andrew Jr., the Pryor family has already spent a lot of time and effort, and promised corresponding support and votes, so that they can vent their anger at the instigator of the incident.

Anyway, he was just a nouveau riche outsider who broke the rules, and the big families also benefited.

(End of this chapter)