America: My Time

Chapter 258 Leaking Secrets
Chapter 258 Leakage

With time limited, and after failing to reach a conclusion, John naturally didn't want to waste any more of his time. Even though the party wasn't over yet, John took the initiative to leave, showing no respect to these old guys. Since these old guys were unwilling to give up their suppression of him, he didn't need to save face for them.

As they watched John leave, the old men, including Lockmore, frowned. They were annoyed by John's unfriendly behavior and by Morgan's change of heart. In their view, it was all Morgan's fault; Morgan had failed to complete the task assigned to them and should be held responsible.

After John left, the beauties dispersed, and Julia also found an opportunity to leave the crowd's sight. She went to the restroom, took out a miniature recording device from her person, waterproofed it, and placed it in the sink.

After she left, the cleaning staff came in quickly. After making sure no one else was in the restroom, they skillfully took out the cassette tape, put it in the trash can they had prepared beforehand, cleaned the restroom a little, and then left.

This wasn't just happening to Julia; many other beautiful women were doing similar things. This gathering on Wall Street attracted a lot of attention, with people from all walks of life watching. By the time John returned to his residence, a lot of information about the party had already spread.

However, since everyone had different objectives, the messages they conveyed were also different. Everyone was aware of the public discussion, but not everyone was aware of the conversation between John and Morgan, or the conversations with those old guys, and not everyone was paying attention to John.

This time, Morgan and Rockefeller miscalculated. After the Lehman Brothers scandal broke out, when Lehman Brothers invited the White House to participate, far too many people were already watching their every move. Moreover, there were too many people with ulterior motives at this gathering, and many groups were watching them. Various forces were involved. Fortunately, John was very vigilant and did not accept Wall Street's proposal, otherwise those guys in Japan would have had their own ideas.

The Japanese also had informants at this party, and even if they didn't, someone would have told them everything. After all, the crocodiles of Wall Street had their eyes on them, and it was impossible for the Japanese to be completely unprepared. Given how crazy the situation in the United States was, how could the Japanese, with their cunning and treacherous nature, have been unprepared?

In New York, at his home, Old Bush was in a fairly good mood. After all, his meeting with Rockefeller and his ilk had earned them their approval, which would be very beneficial for his future development.

"Sir, this is something Rockefeller sent, saying it's what you wanted!" Soon the butler brought over a small box.

Old Bu hadn't slept at all; he was waiting for this, waiting for the party to end, waiting for this message.

After returning to his study, Old Bush picked up the small box in his hand and examined it carefully. Finding no signs that it had been opened, he took a small knife from the drawer and opened the tightly wrapped box. Inside was a stack of documents and a cassette tape. This was Rockefeller's speech for the party.

The tape recorded normal conversations, while the documents contained transcripts of conversations between John and the old guys like Rockefeller. Old Bush first turned on the tape recorder and listened to the normal conversations, paying close attention to John's remarks. Although Old Bush wasn't very knowledgeable about finance, he was quite knowledgeable about other things; otherwise, he wouldn't have become Vice President.

After listening to the recording, Old Bush picked up the document again, looked at it carefully, and then sighed. From the document and the recording, he could see that the conflict between John, the little fox, and those old guys like Rockefeller was very deep. If he got involved in their struggle, it might not be a good thing.

But now Old Man has no other choice. He can't go back on his word, otherwise Rockefeller and those old guys won't let it go. Fortunately, he doesn't need to get involved; the White House will take responsibility for everything.

Not long after Old Bush received this message, things also became unsettled in the White House. They received a message that was more detailed than the one Old Bush had, and even included some recordings of John. Perhaps this was the work of the problematic beauty Julia.

After listening to the recording and reading the report, Regan sighed, "To have such insight at such a young age is truly remarkable. No wonder you're called a prodigy; everyone has underestimated you!" As the owner of the White House, Regan has a lot to deal with every day, but he has always been paying attention to the issues in Japan, especially the changes in the United States recently, which have made him take them seriously. Compared to the madness of those guys on Wall Street, Regan is more accepting of John the little fox's perspective.

To deal with Japan, simply relying on the power of the White House to pressure them won't work. The problems in the United States are not entirely caused by those Japanese guys; they are more a product of its own problems. But no one cares about any of that right now; they all instinctively shift all the blame onto those Japanese guys.

Unfortunately, Tone couldn't change anything, because if he wanted to be re-elected, he would have to compromise, accept the lobbying of Wall Street and most groups in the United States, and exert strong pressure on Japan to make it accept the conditions set by the United States. As for whether he could ultimately change the situation in the United States, that's hard to say.

"Tell me, if we force Japan to accept the US's conditions, can we change the current problems in the US? You are all elites in the US, and I need a rational answer, an answer without any external influence!"

"Sir, it's hard to say. Japan is in a much better situation than the United States because they have a lower cost advantage. They have been using this price advantage to continuously encroach on the market share of various industries in the United States, which has had a significant impact on the automotive and other manufacturing industries. As for the semiconductor issue, it is indeed as John said. American companies have not focused their efforts on technological research and development, so they have gradually fallen behind Japan. Although the gap is not large, it will eventually become a generational gap, and then the problem will be much bigger!"

"What solutions do you have for this problem? Rockefeller and his ilk were right when they said that semiconductors are related to U.S. security. We can't turn a blind eye to this. We need to change everything!"

"Sir, this is not something that can be changed in a short time. It takes time. Even if we are willing to help these domestic companies and pull them out of the quagmire, it will take time and their own efforts. If they are unwilling to invest in research and development, even if we can force Japan to accept our conditions, it will still be difficult to suppress Japan's development. Perhaps Taiwan, which Mr. John mentioned, is a good choice, as it has a good cost advantage."

“It seems you’re more receptive to John’s opinion!” Reagan said with a soft sigh.

"Yes, we agree with John's opinion. His idea is correct, and he is doing just that. Whether it's Dreamworld, Nvidia, or even Bell Labs, they are all investing heavily in research and development to accelerate technological advancements. That's why Dreamworld and Nvidia have achieved their current pace of development."

"What do you think of the internet that John mentioned, and what about 'Global Online' that he's talking about?" Reagan quickly thought of the internet and 'Global Online' that John had mentioned.

"As John said, the development of the Internet in the short term may not be very significant, and will only be limited to the financial market and universities. After all, the current development of personal computers is not enough to support the full expansion of the Internet. 'Global Online' may have good development prospects, but its impact will not be too great in the short term."

"So, even after my re-election, the internet industry won't see much development and won't have any impact on the United States?" Reagan asked, frowning. This news annoyed him. If the internet truly had a bright future, it was unacceptable that he wouldn't benefit from it.

"Yes, according to our calculations, this is indeed the case. Even following Moore's Law, personal computers are unlikely to make any major breakthroughs during your term. As far as we know, achieving the level of network communication seen in the Dream World is beyond the capabilities of personal computers. It requires specialized workstations, minicomputers, and large servers, so it can only be developed in limited circumstances."

This result caused Tone to sigh. Even if he was somewhat annoyed, there was nothing he could do. This wasn't a problem he could solve; technology wasn't something he could achieve simply by wanting to develop it quickly. However, he wouldn't completely ignore the development of the internet. At least in universities and the financial market, it was an opportunity that could be promoted.

Little did Regan know that while he was eyeing the internet, someone was also using the White House's influence to scheme against John, and to manipulate Dreamworld and Nvidia, attempting to use government rules to restrict their development and limit John's expansion. Perhaps when all this happened, Regan would be dumbfounded, as such a situation might provoke John's wrath and cause an unnecessary uproar.

(End of this chapter)