America 1881: Legend of the West

Danny Green ultimately stayed on.

After calming down, McKinley thought about it carefully and felt that firing Green for this reason would be unfair.

In addition, he really can't think of anyone who is more suitable to be the head of the IRS than Green.

At least he can collect taxes!

Rockefeller would not give up supporting himself just because he paid more taxes.

The taxes he paid should be regarded as political donations to help him campaign.

Let's go back and do some publicity and say that the oil tycoons voluntarily subscribed in order to support the government's decree.

By the way, it also saved some public image for Rockefeller.

The tycoon’s reputation is now a bit tainted.

Green was disappointed when he heard that the president had withdrawn his order.

He originally planned to give up his job and work at Chen Jianqiu's shipbuilding company in Florida.

As a result, Chen Jianqiu told him that the shares and remuneration he would hold in the future would be directly proportional to the time, qualifications and resources spent in the government.

Florida doesn't breed idlers.

For the sake of a better future, the director decided to endure it a little longer under McKinley.

As a result, the incident where the head of the IRS and the president slapped the table ended so peacefully.

Each side takes a step back.

The president forgave Greene for the following offenses; Greene remained silent about the incident.

Otherwise, other people in the cabinet may follow suit.

In the Masonic salon, several big tycoons behind the Republican Party gathered together.

In addition to Morgan and Rockefeller, there is also the Boston consortium headed by the Lowell and Lawrence families, who have a monopoly on light industry in the United States;

Mr. James Duke, whose American Tobacco Company controls 90% of U.S. tobacco production.

The rarest one is undoubtedly the steel tycoon Mr. Andrew Carnegie.

He stayed in Pittsburgh all year round and rarely came to New York, let alone visited the Masonic Lodge.

Because Carnegie hated the way Morgan stared at him.

That look was like a predator hiding in the corner, waiting for an opportunity.

Carnegie is not afraid of any challenge. His heart and strength are strong enough.

But he really didn't want to be around someone like Morgan.

This impromptu gathering of tycoons was proposed by Hanna and convened by Morgan.

The congressman himself is not a member of the Freemasons, but Morgan said he could use the name of the Freemasons to help bring these people together.

The sofa in the salon was barely large enough to sit on.

Little Astor had several plush chairs added inside.

As a member of the Freemasons and one of the traditional donors of the Republican Party, he also attended the party.

Everyone present, including Hanna, knew that little Astor had a close relationship with Chen Jianqiu.

But there is no way around him.

Who made my ancestors join the Freemasonry so early?

"I invited you here today because I want to discuss something with you." Hanna stood next to the fireplace with his hands behind his back.

"Regarding the selection of the next Republican presidential candidate, the party has preliminary discussions and decided to select the current president, Mr. McKinley." He said.

The tycoons in the living room stared at each other.

Are you calling them here from all over the place just for this?

Isn't the answer to this question obvious?

Which of you here has not made a lot of money during McKinley's term? Who could not support McKinley?

"Mr. Hanna, we will support Mr. McKinley, you don't have to worry about this." Duke, the bearded tobacco tycoon, took the lead in expressing his stance. "He is a trustworthy and respected person."

Everyone also followed suit.

It was broad daylight and everyone was very busy. After the discussion, the meeting was dismissed quickly.

Hannah nodded.

He continued:

"Then what we want to discuss next is the choice of vice president."

Hanna glanced at the people around him:

"President McKinley and I discussed it and decided to select Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, the current governor of New York State, as my running mate to run for vice president."

His voice was not loud, but it caused quite a stir like a stone thrown into the lake.

"Roosevelt? The one who encouraged prosecutors to launch an antitrust lawsuit against Standard Oil?"

"Why hasn't this damn cowboy gotten out yet? He has threatened me more than once!"

There was a lot of discussion, but generally speaking, it can be seen that Roosevelt's reputation among these tycoons is not good.

This person is indeed capable and has a large number of followers, but the more this happens, the more scared the tycoons become.

"Mr. Hanna, we don't know what the party is thinking about. Is there a change in policy? Or does the top management think it's time to touch us old guys?"

John Lowell, the patriarch of the Lowell family, stood up with a cane, straightened his clothes and asked.

The old man still has some say in this group of people.

While he spoke, everyone else shut up.

Lowell's voice was a bit old, but neither humble nor arrogant, with a vague sense of coercion.

He pointed at Rockefeller, who had been silent next to him:

"Mr. Rockefeller did nothing and yet he was taxed back, and the president acquiesced in this conduct."

"I'm not saying that we don't support the work of the government, but that way of paying taxes is obviously unreasonable."

"It's not that we didn't pay. The taxes we paid were more than tens of thousands of poor people combined. But it's a bit chilling to start with ourselves, right?"

Seeing Lowell mention him, Rockefeller sneered:

"Yeah, I might as well donate all the money, so no one will keep an eye on me every day."

"Good idea! It's a good idea. At least you don't have to pay taxes." Carnegie, the steel tycoon on the side, didn't know whether he was sarcastic or sincere.

Rockefeller was silent again.

"Is this what President McKinley really thinks?" Morgan suddenly asked.

"Yes." Hanna gave a very positive statement, "We all think that Mr. Roosevelt is very suitable for the position of vice president."

He emphasized on "very suitable."

"Is it proposed by the 'Chen Group'?" Morgan asked with a smile.

There was another uproar in the living room.

The term "Chen's Consortium" was also first proposed by Morgan.

Although Chen Jianqiu is currently involved in many industries, the traditional freemason tycoons are still unwilling to admit that he can be on an equal footing with them.

One reason is that Chen Jianqiu is Chinese, and another reason is that he is involved in many industries and no one can tell how much money he has.

Chaebols generally believe that Chen Jianqiu's assets are mixed but not refined.

"Chen's Consortium" is often a joking term among these people.

"No, that's what President McKinley meant," Hanna denied.

It's not like he's refusing to admit it.

Before coming to the Freemasonry, the congressman first communicated with McKinley. Who knew that the president readily agreed after thinking about it for a while.

This made Hanna's originally prepared rhetoric useless.

Morgan crossed his legs.

After staring at the blazing fire for a while, he suddenly nodded:

"I agree too."

The chaebols who were still discussing in the living room suddenly became quiet and looked at him.

Morgan also gave in?

But a second person who agreed also came forward.

Rockefeller walked up to Hanna and expressed his agreement with the president.

He glanced at Morgan, who was sitting next to him. The two old foxes looked at each other and smiled, and quickly understood that they might be thinking the same thing.

If there is any position in the cabinet that is the most idle, it is definitely the vice president.

The Vice President basically has no real power or tasks other than maintaining order in the Senate.

To put it bluntly, he is a backup tire for the president.

McKinley and Rockefeller both figured out that instead of letting this guy struggle every day as governor of New York State, it would be better to give him a sinecure and let him do his job.

The smart people present also figured it out. The dumber ones saw that everyone was supporting him, so he also expressed his support.

If Roosevelt becomes vice president, at least for four years, they, the plutocrats, will be stable for a while.

why not?