America 1881: Legend of the West

"Mr. President, is it inappropriate for you to ask the IRS to investigate me now?"

At a reception held by Astor's mother, Rockefeller found President McKinley who was chatting with Hanna.

He was not polite at all and questioned the President in front of Hanna.

McKinley frowned.

This behavior of an oil tycoon is actually inappropriate.

The president was questioned in public, and those who didn't know thought they had fallen out.

Fortunately, there weren't many people around, and Rockefeller's voice wasn't too loud.

Mr. President is still very civilized.

He said goodbye to Hannah briefly, then raised the glass of champagne in his hand, motioning for Rockefeller to follow him.

The two entered a small room on the side of the hall.

Mr. President closed the door.

"What are you talking about? Mr. Rockefeller, tax inspection?" He looked at the oil tycoon in confusion.

"Mr. President, do you really not know or do you pretend not to know? Mr. Danny Green, the director of the IRS, has gone to court to apply for an investigation order against us."

Rockefeller tried to calm down.

"Please forgive me for being so presumptuous. If it wasn't an emergency, I wouldn't be so rude."

McKinley was a little confused:

"Danny never told me about this. He only told me that he got the ledger. I originally hoped that he could find a breakthrough with Chen's company."

"But he didn't tell you which company's account books he got, right?" Rockefeller gritted his molars.

He spread his hands and gestured to the president:

"Listen, William, Chen is an ambitious heretic. Do you know what a heretic means? It means he doesn't believe in what we believe. If we don't deal with him, he will deal with us."

"My ideas are not as extreme as yours, Mr. Rockefeller." The president took a deep breath, "I just don't want to see this country being dominated by arms dealers. This is really terrible."

"We should be tougher, such as trying to issue some decrees to cut off his source of income and material supplies!" Rockefeller said, "We must try to awaken the conscience of those patriots!"

"Listen, Mr. Rockefeller, using strong tactics now is not a good choice. We can only do it step by step. As long as I am still in the position of president, Chen Jianqiu cannot change the world!"

McKinley tried to calm the oil tycoons' anxieties.

But Rockefeller saw clearly.

If Chen Jianqiu continues like this, sooner or later he will kill himself like Henry Dupont.

"Okay, let me ask Greene first to see what's going on." McKinley patted Rockefeller on the shoulder, "Remember, extreme means cannot solve the problem now."

The two people walked out of the room together, but met the person they least expected to see.

Chen Jianqiu was holding champagne in his hand and was standing chatting with little Astor and Hanna.

Seeing the president and the oil tycoon walking out of the small room, Chen Jianqiu smiled and waved to them:

"Hi! Mr. President!"

McKinley walked up to the three people with a cheerful face and held Chen Jianqiu's hand:

"Mr. Chen, long time no see. How are you lately?"

"Not bad, thank you very much for always thinking of me." Chen Jianqiu said with a smile on his face.

The president was scolding his mother in his heart, but he didn't show it at all on his face:

"Your performance in Cuba was truly impressive, and your conduct in fighting for your country was truly touching."

Chen Jianqiu replied "humbly": "I just tried my best and made some insignificant contributions."

After chatting for a while, McKinley excused himself and left, leaving the oil tycoon alone.

"I heard that sir, you have encountered some troubles recently. Is there anything I can do to help you?" Chen Jianqiu's smile remained unchanged.

Rockefeller was not as well-bred as McKinley.

The smile on his face already looked a little like paper.

"No, thank you very much. You are really a 'enthusiastic' person." The oil tycoon said almost through gritted teeth.

After that, he walked away.

"He doesn't seem very happy." Chen Jianqiu looked at Rockefeller's back and curled his lips.

Little Astor and Hannah looked at each other.

"He has been in a bad situation recently. He was targeted by Roosevelt and Taft for anti-monopoly matters, and later he was investigated by President McKinley for taxes." Little Astor shook his head, "Maybe he was in the room just now. Just talking to McKinley about this."

"Tax inspection? What kind of tax?"

Hanna looked at little Astor in confusion. Apparently he didn't know that the IRS was targeting Rockefeller.

"Maybe the feng shui of the office building is not good." Chen Jianqiu said.

Next, he began to teach little Astor and Hannap about Chinese Feng Shui knowledge, which made them dumbfounded.

"Chen, look at the furnishings of my hotel and see if there is anything that needs to be adjusted." Little Astor said, pointing to his magnificent hotel lobby.

"When I have time later, I'll ask the master to help you take a look." Chen Jianqiu said cheerfully.

He suddenly stopped smiling and turned to Hanna:

"Mr. Congressman, in the election half a year from now, the party still intends to support McKinley, right?"

Both Hannah and little Astor were startled.

Hannah thought for a long time.

He glanced at Chen Jianqiu again, stringing together what had happened during this period in his mind, and quickly figured out what had happened.

"Yes, Mr. Chen." Hanna gave an affirmative answer.

"Currently, no one can challenge McKinley's position within the party. The recent war and economic recovery have made his reputation in the country skyrocketing, and the party is supportive of him."

"People like Morgan and Rockefeller also support him very much. I hope you can take the overall situation into consideration and don't embarrass me on this issue."

Han Na said earnestly.

He was originally thinking about when he could formally discuss this topic with Chen Jianqiu, but he didn't expect that Chen Jianqiu would bring it up today, so he didn't hide it and spoke out his thoughts truthfully.

Unexpectedly, Chen Jianqiu's answer was very straightforward.

"No problem, I support him too."

Hanna's heart dropped.

He neither wanted Chen Jianqiu to disrupt the situation at this time and allow people like Bryan in the Democratic Party to take advantage of it, nor did he want his own interests with Chen Jianqiu to be harmed.

It would be best if Chen Jianqiu could understand the general body.

But Boss Chen suddenly changed the subject:

"However, I hope that Mr. Roosevelt will become President McKinley's running mate and assume the office of vice president."

Hannah's hand holding the champagne shook.

He was opposed to Chen Jianqiu's proposal.

First, he himself had some opinions on Roosevelt.

Hanna believed that Roosevelt was too impatient and pushy to meet his definition of a mature politician.