Chapter 29 Conversation

After a while, as if she was satisfied with Constantine's cooperation, Ms. Chris came to Sanford, and the two talked in a low voice, then turned around and left in a hurry.

"Mr. Sanford, who is she? Why is she so enthusiastic?" Constantine saw that Sanford seemed to be familiar with Chris, and asked Sanford.

"Don't worry, your Excellency the Duke, it's a good thing. She is Samuel's wife. As for who Samuel is, he is a shareholder of Standard Oil," Sanford smiled.

The period between the American Civil War (1861-1865) and the Spanish-American War in 1897 was called the Gilded Age by Americans because of the rapid economic development.

With the development of the economy, the wealth of a large number of wealthy people has risen, just like Rockefeller.

But the United States, as of 1883, has only a history of more than 100 years. It is too young and therefore lacks foundation.

Europeans look down on these nouveau riche relatives and think that the United States is a cultural desert and is very rustic.

After some wealthy people got rich, they wanted to improve their social status, so European nobles came into the sight of American wealthy people.

Through marriage, the wealthy improved their social status and the nobles gained wealth, and both sides got what they needed.

Therefore, in the late 19th century, the phenomenon of American wealthy daughters marrying European nobles became popular.

The most well-known is the father and mother of the later British Prime Minister Churchill.

As an experienced diplomat, Sanford, who has been rolling among the upper class in New York for many years, knows what Chris is up to when he sees her.

Constantine, who was confused, was still in the dark. Looking at Sanford's mysterious expression, he gave up the question after asking twice without getting an answer.

"Sanford, if I'm not mistaken, this banquet seems to be a gathering of oil tycoons, right?" Constantine changed the subject.

"Yes, to be precise, it is a shareholder meeting of the Standard Oil Company, a trust enterprise," Sanford replied.

"Have they encountered any trouble?" Thinking that President Chester was also invited to this banquet, I'm afraid these monopoly capitalists have encountered some trouble.

"What other trouble could it be? Standard Oil is such a behemoth, it is the largest crude oil producer in the United States, monopolizing 95% of the United States' refining capacity, 90% of the oil transportation capacity, and 25% of the crude oil production. Many people are dissatisfied with this company, its power is too strong," Sanders said.

"I'm afraid this gathering is for the shareholders of Standard Oil to test the attitude of the president," Sanford said here, lowering his voice.

"Of course, their troubles are not only the public's aversion to Standard Oil, they themselves have encountered troubles," Sanford looked gloating.

"What other troubles?" Constantine asked in cooperation.

"You know the electric light, right? Two years ago, Edison invented the light bulb, which can be illuminated by electricity," Sanford said.

At this point, Constantine suddenly realized.

Speaking of which, the world's largest oil producer is now the United States, and it can be said that the origin of the modern oil industry is in the United States.

But cars and diesel ships had not yet appeared in this era. Without them, a lot of oil was consumed. Where did big companies like Standard Oil use the oil they produced?

The answer is lighting.

The biggest use of oil in this era was to refine kerosene, which was used as fuel for kerosene lamps to provide lighting.

Crude oil was extracted from oil wells and refined to produce kerosene. This refined kerosene had a good combustion effect, a strong light source, and extremely stable light, so it quickly became popular.

However, kerosene lamps had some disadvantages, such as easy to catch fire and cause fires.

Two years ago, Edison invented a light bulb with a lighting time of 1,000 hours. This situation caused oil tycoons like Rockefeller to worry because the lighting market for kerosene was threatened.

After kerosene was refined in this era, in addition to kerosene, there was also gasoline.

A large amount of gasoline was useless and difficult to preserve, so oil merchants usually poured it out for disposal.

Because the gasoline engine has just been invented (in 1883, German Daimler invented the gasoline engine), it will take a long time to use it on a large scale and consume a lot of gasoline.

Therefore, the good days of oil producers are far from coming.

Taking advantage of this banquet, even if you can't meet President Chester, it is also a good opportunity to get to know some American business tycoons.

At this moment, the hall suddenly became quiet, the band stopped playing, and the men and women dancing on the carpet stopped dancing.

Seeing this, Constantine looked at the entrance and saw a man about 50 years old with a thick beard on his upper lip and a black round hat on his head walked in.

"This is President Chester," Sanford approached Constantine and whispered.

As the host, Rockefeller came forward to greet him, and then the two of them walked into a room with several men in black suits.

After a cup of tea, Rockefeller walked out of the room with several men. They were talking and laughing, and their expressions were relaxed. Obviously, they got a good answer.

Rockefeller walked up to Constantine and said, "Mr. Constantine, I heard that you are here to meet the President as well. If that is the case, now is the time. President Chester is still in that box."

After hearing Mr. Rockefeller's reminder, Constantine thanked him and walked into the room under Sanford's gaze.

The man sitting on the sofa saw someone coming in, stood up, slightly straightened his wrinkled clothes, walked towards Constantine, and stretched out his right hand and said: "Welcome to New York, USA, Your Excellency the Duke."

Obviously, Constantine's identity is not a secret in the eyes of the president.

"Thank you, Mr. President."

After shaking hands, the two sat on two sofas facing each other.

"Mr. President, what do you think of Africa?" Constantine got straight to the point and didn't want to waste time.

"I heard that European adventurers are very active there recently, and the American people are also very concerned about the adventures of Europeans in Africa. As for me personally, to be honest, I am not interested there. The things on the North American continent are enough to bother me." President Chester replied.

"It is like this. In order to maintain normal trade between European and American merchants and the natives of southern Africa, maintain necessary commercial exchanges, drive out the darkness of the African continent, and enable ignorant Africans to enter civilized society, the Congo Commission has been fighting against Arab slave traders there and other evil natives who are hostile to European and American merchants in recent years."

For politicians, making a high-sounding explanation for their actions is a necessary skill.

"I hope that Mr. President, you can agree and support that the Congo Commission will be responsible for maintaining order in the Congo River Basin and providing necessary protection for European and American merchants." Constantine made no secret of the purpose of the Congo Commission.