America 1881: Legend of the West

Shortly after, Stanford made two announcements in San Francisco.

In the first, he will endow a university in California.

The address of this university is on the more than 3,200 hectares of California land he owns, located in Palo Alto.

It is now a ranch.

In the second, Stanford sold all of his shares and assets in the Pacific Railroad, including the Rock Springs coal mine, to a mysterious man.

This coal mine originally belonged to the Pacific Railroad Company, and the operating rights were later transferred to Colonel Robert. It was regained after Robert's death.

This is a big deal.

According to accountants' estimates, even if Stanford did not raise the price, it would still be enough

Ten million dollars.

This is an astronomical number.

These, plus Stanford's fixed assets and cash, were his life's work.

Chen Jianqiu does not have so much cash, and he does not plan to sell properties or use Santa Fe Railway shares as collateral.

That doesn't make sense.

He first took out part of the land near the New Mexico railroad.

These lands were given to him by the state government when the railroad was being built. During that time, he made a lot of money out of Scott.

Chen Jianqiu could have waited for the land to appreciate and sell it at a high price, but he still decided to trade it with the state government for several vacant lands under the Rocky Mountains.

These places will serve as the addresses of future Chinese schools.

Later, Chen Jianqiu used his own assets as collateral and took out a loan from Sanjiang Bank.

The money is still not enough.

So he roped in little Astor and used his connections and guarantees to get another sum of money from Citibank.

At Little Astor's suggestion.

He even established a trust investment fund to serve as the main body of the purchase and raise the remaining funds to acquire Stanford's shares.

This is not an acquisition in the strict sense, but it is nothing less than an acquisition.

If the deal is completed, Pacific Railroad, the actual controller of North America's largest railroad company, will change hands.

As a front man of the trust investment fund, little Astor specially prepared to come to California with his accountant.

People thought that the New York real estate tycoon was about to enter the railway industry, but little did they know that Chen Jianqiu was the man standing in the shadows.

Chen Jianqiu plans to conduct preliminary integration of Santa Fe Railway Company and Pacific Railway Company after the acquisition is completed.

The transactions are complex and lengthy and need to be carried out in different batches.

Everything is going on in full swing.

However, the coal mine in Shiquan Town had already been acquired by Chen Jianqiu in the first batch of acquisitions.

He still has this little cash.

But then, the strike solution he announced caused an uproar in the surrounding coal mining industry.

"What? Accept the union's strike conditions in full? An eight-hour working day and overtime pay? Equal pay for equal work? Is Boss Chen crazy?"

Mr. Lucas, the head of the Carbon County Mining Association, was shocked after learning the news.

The other coal mine bosses have already begun to curse.

"This man is a psycho!"

"It's unreasonable. Can this person do business?"

"If you don't know how to do business, why don't you mess around?"

Mr. Lucas felt the need to have a chat with his unreasonable boss.

That’s really not how business works.

After finding out that Chen Jianqiu happened to be at the Shiquan Town Coal Mine in the past two days, Lucas rode over from Carbon County alone.

The coal mines in Shiquan Town have resumed production.

Chinese and white workers entered the coal mines in an orderly manner.

Along the way, Lucas saw many things that were extremely puzzling to him.

For example, each of these miners wore a gauze mask.

This is the best dust-proof thing that Chen Jianqiu can find now.

For another example, a so-called safety production group was established here. When Lucas entered the mining area, the leader of the group was spreading knowledge about coal mine safety operations to everyone.

Aren't you supposed to be working underneath the mine at this point in time?

"If we have this ability, we might as well let them dig more coal!"

Just as Lucas stopped beside the crowd and whispered softly.

A voice came from behind him:

"A sharpening of a knife will never make you a chopping wood."

Lucas turned his head and saw a young man wearing a cloth robe, his hands behind his back, looking at him with a smile.

"Are you Mr. Lucas?" he asked. "President of the Carbon County Mining Association?"

"Uh, um, yes, I'm Lucas." Lucas replied hurriedly, but then he quickly realized, "Eh? How do you know my name?"

"My people told me that a man wearing a top hat and a suit was wandering around the mining area, and he seemed to be very knowledgeable." Chen Jianqiu still maintained a smile, "There are not many such people in Carbon County."

Lucas was a little embarrassed.

"You, you are Boss Chen, right?"

Chen Jianqiu nodded: "I am."

"Is there a place where we can talk?" Lucas winked at Chen Jianqiu.

"Then come with me."

Chen Jianqiu took Lucas to the small wooden house on the hillside of Mine No. 3.

This turned out to be Riley's office.

"Boss Chen, I heard that you agreed to all the conditions of the workers? And gave them overtime wages?!"

After the door closed, Lucas took off the hat on his head and asked eagerly.

"Yeah, what else?" Chen Jianqiu sat down on the chair and lit a cigar for himself.

He pointed in the direction of the mine: "Do you think they are working hard now?"

Lucas looked around and saw that there was no second chair in the room, only a bed.

He had to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Boss Chen, is this your first time doing business in the United States?" he asked.

Chen Jianqiu smiled:

"Well, it certainly didn't take long."

"I don't know how you do business in your hometown, but it's definitely not possible to do this here!" Lucas persuaded him earnestly, "Don't you realize that the profits from the mine are pitifully low if you do this?"

Chen Jianqiu spread his hands: "No, I produce this coal for my own use. It is much cheaper than buying it directly from the resource dealer."

"But you could have made more money, right? You could have had higher profits!" Lucas tried to convince the person on the other side.

Chen Jianqiu held a cigar in his mouth and said something that Lucas would never forget.

"What do I make so much money for?"

These words left Lucas speechless.

Why do you think you make so much money? Isn’t the point of doing business to make so much money? Isn’t it just about maximizing profits?

It seems that this man's mind is really broken. Where did he get the money to take over this coal mine?

Seeing that Lucas was speechless, Chen Jianqiu continued to speak:

"I only need reasonable profits. If I make so much money, will I do charity after my death like Stanford? It's hypocritical."

Lucas felt that if he continued to struggle with Chen Jianqiu on this issue, he might be led astray.

So he changed his perspective.

This is also the real purpose of his coming.

"If you do this, what will happen to the other coal mines around Carbon County? The unions are all united together, and they will definitely make demands according to your standards. What will they do then?"

"What does that have to do with me?" Chen Jianqiu disagreed. "If you can do it, keep doing it. If you don't, you will close down."

He took a sip from the cigar in his hand and sat carelessly, looking like a nouveau riche: "Or, they can choose to sell the coal mine to me directly. I don't mind buying it, but the price may be lower."

Lucas was completely dumbfounded.

He has seen various ways of business competition, and this is the first time he has heard of improving workers' treatment to defeat their peers.

These people are not skilled workers! Why?

But Chen Jianqiu didn't care at all.

Because he controls the union.

After Lucas left angrily, Holly appeared in Chen Jianqiu's cabin.

"Boss, my mission has been completed. Can I go back to Roswell now?" Holly stood in front of Chen Jianqiu and asked.

Chen Jianqiu also stood up.

He walked up to Holly and straightened the blond young man's wrinkled collar:

"In the future, you don't need to be so polite in front of me, and you don't need to call me boss." Chen Jianqiu smiled and patted Holly on the shoulder. "Now he is also the leader of the regional trade union. He always shouts 'boss', 'boss' , what does it look like?”

Holly was stunned and asked hurriedly: "Boss, what did I do wrong?"

Chen Jianqiu waved his hand: "No, no, no, you did a great job!"

He smiled and asked Holly: "How do you feel about getting along with the workers during this time?"

Holly thought for a while and replied: "I think they are sometimes impulsive and sometimes very cute. When we are together, we don't differentiate between each other."

"Continue to work in the union, they need you." Chen Jianqiu looked into Holly's eyes, "I will give you my reputation today. I hope you can rise to the top."

"From today on, don't call me boss, just call me 'big brother'."

Holly also stared at Chen Jianqiu intently.

He hesitated for a long time before speaking out what was in his heart:

"Brother, what should we do if one day we have to stand on opposite sides?"

Chen Jianqiu burst out laughing:

"Holly, as a human being, you must have a clear conscience."

Holly was stunned.

What a clear conscience.

Chen Jianqiu turned around and returned to his chair:

"Don't worry. If that day comes, we can still talk. In America, what can't we talk about?"