The Philippines has more than 20 kinds of mineral deposits, including copper, gold, silver, iron, chromium, and nickel, of which about 4.8 billion tons of copper, 1.09 billion tons of nickel, and 136 million tons of gold.

If the Far East Company can change Washington's habits through the war with Spain, the first object that the US government will think of when launching foreign wars in the future is the mercenary company, which is Li Mu's ultimate goal.

So from this point of view, even if the remuneration given by the Ministry of War to the Far East Company is not enough to meet the requirements of Li Mu and Rockefeller, Li Mu intends to admit it, anyway, whether it is a loss or a gain needs to be tested in practice, and in this regard, Li Mu has enough patience, but the presidential palace with one master for four years may be suspicious.

"Sounds great, but Reem, I always feel like there's something wrong here, let's be honest, what the hell are you trying to do?" Sherman doesn't know what Li Mu's idea is now, but based on Sherman's understanding of Li Mu, Li Mu should not be a philanthropist, so Li Mu must have other plans.

In terms of economy, the acumen of a soldier is definitely far less than that of a businessman, if it is a confrontation between the two armies on the battlefield, Li Mu may not be as good as William Tekusai Sherman, but if it is in the commercial field, even if Li Mu sells Sherman, Sherman may have to help Li Mu count the money.

"William, as you can see, I can't give you any promises, about whether the Far East Company can beat the Spaniards in the Philippines, but what I can give you is a completely new choice, if I win, there is no hot river for you, if I lose, you don't need to bear any responsibility, what you have to do is that when Congress and the Presidential Palace consult you, it is enough not to create obstacles for the Far East Company." Li Mu's conditions are not harsh, they are completely within the scope of Sherman's duties, and there is no need to be strong.

Sherman looked at Li Mu who was confident, like an ocean-going freighter that finally saw the light of the lighthouse in the fog, and after careful measurement, Sherman finally put his mind at ease, and folded the pencil in his hand in two sections with a "snap", and then opened his hands to Li Mu: "Why not, if it is really as good as you say, I think I will thank you, but this must be built on a foundation" Hillman raised his index finger and stared at Li Mu to emphasize: "The War Department will not pay any upfront costs for this, If you can defeat the Spaniards, as you say, of course all will be fine, but if you can't, don't expect any compensation from the War Department. ”

It is rare that Sherman finally hardened himself in front of Li Mu and Rockefeller, but the degree of "toughness" is also limited, although the words are decisive, but there are prerequisites.

"If it were just to make amends, John and I wouldn't be here with you, and your time with us is worthless?" Li Mu is not angry, and the Ministry of War has taken advantage of all the cheapness, but now he is still talking about cool things, he really doesn't take a tycoon as a tycoon.

Speaking of this, Li Mu and Rockefeller should say goodbye, there is still a lot of work to be completed separately by Li Mu and Rockefeller, although the Ministry of War promised, but the task has only been completed less than one-third, the Far East Company still needs to obtain the presidential palace and the recognition of Congress, and then can obtain the right to go abroad.

"I just don't understand, why are you doing this, is it just for the timber and copper mines of the Philippines? Don't say I didn't warn you, there may be more gains than losses. When sending Li Mu and Rockefeller out, Sherman was still chattering.

"William, what I need is this pattern, do you understand the pattern? For your War Department, this may be just an attempt, but for our Far East Company, if we confirm that this model is feasible, then we may then be able to extend this model to the whole of Asia, Africa, the Americas, and even Europe, forget about the timber and copper mines, which are only insignificant ancillary benefits, and we can stand higher and see further. Li Mu did not hide his true intentions, anyway, sooner or later Sherman would come to Junma Group as a senior consultant, so there was no need to hide it, it was completely unnecessary.

After leaving the War Department, Li Mu and Rockefeller acted separately, respectively looking for familiar congressmen to ventilate, and then they had to win the support of Congress, and Li Mu and they had to continue to attack the fortifications.

Speaking of Congress, in addition to Runkel, Chen Guofang, Burnside and others, Li Mu's circle of friends has expanded again, and this year's gathering on the shores of Luoying Lake added Senator Albert Wilson of California and Senator Jerome Matthew of Indiana.

Sounds incredible, if you think about it carefully, almost half of the senators have all kinds of different relationships with Li Mu, including lineages like Runkel and Chen Guofang, as well as partners like Burnside and James Garfield, as well as new friends like Abel Wilson and Jerome Matthew, and even opposition leaders like Grover Cleveland, he is also a friend of Li Mu, and the relationship is unusually close, the Democratic Party is not unaware of this, but the strange thing is that The Democrats don't interfere with this, magically.

At a gathering at his home on the shore of Luoying Lake, Li Mu elaborated on the purpose of the establishment of the Far East Company and the shareholder structure of the Far East Company, which will undoubtedly increase the confidence of the senators, who would not want to be supported by these top billionaires, whether Democrats or Republicans will flock to them whenever they have the opportunity.

"So, if you don't want to be paid a penny, you will be on the front line of the war against the Spaniards instead of the Ministry of War, I have some doubts, Ream, what is your real purpose?" Burnside and Li Mu are very familiar with each other, so they always raise questions in person and never hide them.

"The purpose? If you say it nobly, as a part of the United States, I hope to contribute to the rise of the United States, but I don't think this reason will satisfy you" Li Mu's words made Bourneside laugh, which sounded very in line with the main theme, but from Li Mu's mouth, no matter how it sounded, it was a bit out of harmony.

Li Mu also knew that this answer could not satisfy everyone, and echoed the parliamentarians' "quack" and laughed a few times, and immediately corrected his attitude when he turned around: "Okay, I'll be honest, you all know that the horse weapons company has had a hard time recently, the horse weapons company is an arms company, if we don't fight, we won't have anything to eat, and if according to the plan of the Ministry of War, maybe the war won't break out until ten years later, I don't have the patience, rather than watching the rifle rust in the warehouse, I would rather fight on the battlefield until it is scrapped, Are you satisfied with this answer? ”

That's right, everyone here is a human spirit, and there is no market for high-profile singing, but to be honest, you can win more support.

Li Mu did not forget to observe the reactions of the parliamentarians when he spoke, and after speaking, Li Mu keenly noticed that Burnside and James Garfield exchanged a hidden look.

What are these two guys trying to do?

Li Mu knows that Burnside has always been politically ambitious, not to mention James Garfield, this guy has formed a campaign team with Arthur, aiming for the next president, if there are still people in the audience who are not desperate to fight for Li Mu's interests, then it can only be these two people.

In the adult world, don't say anything about trust and loyalty, the strongest bond that can maintain the relationship can only be interests, Bernside and James Garfield and Runkel, Chen Guofang They are different, Runkel is Li Mu held it up, Chen Guofang as a Chinese and Li Mu is a relationship of both prosperity and loss, the relationship between Bernside and James Garfield and Li Mu is mutual use, this use can be applied to Li Mu, can also be applied to any other top rich people.

"Everett, you should understand that the establishment of the Far East Company is not an obstacle to the United States, on the contrary, the Far East Company will play an important role in the expansion of the United States, I don't need you to emphasize, you will also understand this, I want to confirm to you that although the Far East Company has a strong military background, the Far East Company will never do anything out of the ordinary, and there is no difference between the Far East Company and any other company on the territory of the United States." Li Mu emphasized to Burnside that, of course, this was more for James Garfield.

Because the bond formed by interests has the strongest attribute in some aspects, but at the same time this attribute also has hidden dangers, after all, interests are not immutable, and many times in the face of greater interests, this bond is easy to become the object of sacrifice.

The relationship between Li Mu and Burnside is very good, but if this relationship does not continue to deepen, it will definitely become estranged over time, in short, the relationship between Li Mu and Burnside, and James Garfield needs to be constantly strengthened, otherwise one day, they will either be strangers or turn against each other.

"Reem, regarding the Far East Company, neither I nor the guys present have any opinions, the only question is whether the time of the start of the war can be postponed, we all know that according to the plan of the Ministry of War, the war with the Spaniards should not start until ten years later or even longer, so now there is a question, I can understand your feelings, but whether the objective conditions allow." Bernside said a lot of things, but in fact, the central idea was that he hoped that the Far East Company would keep a low profile for the time being.

Even if it is to fight, it is better to wait for James Garfield to come to power, so that it is in the interests of Burnside and James Garfield.

The reason why there is no continuity in the policy of the elected government has a lot to do with the opposition between the two parties and the political system of the United States, although James Garfield and Hayes both belong to the Democratic Party, but on the issue of war against the Spaniards, James Garfield has a completely different attitude from Hayes, of course Hayes hopes that the war will start immediately, and it is best to defeat the Spaniards in a short time and take the first step in American expansion, so that all the honor will belong to Hayes himself, and James Garfield's attitude is diametrically opposed to HaysJames Garfield certainly wants the war to be postponed as much as possible, preferably until Hayes leaves office and the next president is elected, which will undoubtedly bring more honor to James Garfield.

Look, people don't kill for themselves, even in the Republican Party, there are disputes between different interest groups, although Li Mu has always been outside of politics and doesn't want to be too involved in politics, but people can't help themselves in the rivers and lakes, if you don't look for trouble, it doesn't mean that trouble won't look for you.

"Everett, I understand your feelings, but I want to remind you that the opportunity will not always stand there waiting for you, miss this opportunity, and you don't know when it will be next time, you have to understand that you can do the right thing at the right time and in the right place, so as to maximize the benefits, so Everett, take a long-term view, there are more opportunities in the future." Li Mu sacrificed the Dafa of fooling, isn't it an honor, if he can win the battle this time and accumulate enough experience, then the next time will be smoother.

The impact of the economic crisis is by no means limited to the United States, in the Old Continent, Spain is the hardest hit area of the economic crisis, although the United States has slowly struggled out of the quagmire of the economic crisis, but the Spaniards have not yet gotten rid of the whirlpool of economic crisis, so the opportunity is hard to find, to launch a war against the Spaniards, it should take advantage of the fact that the Spaniards have not yet breathed their breath and cannot continue this period, otherwise when the Spaniards are relieved, the United States will have to pay a greater price if they want to defeat the Spaniards.

If it can win, then it means that the United States has been an independent force on the world stage and officially makes its own voice, if it cannot win, then the defeat of the Spaniards will not have a serious impact on the United States, after all, the Spaniards do not have the strength to counterattack the United States, this is Washington's last battle, no matter what the result is, the United States is already invincible.

"Ha, you've already said that, then I'll definitely support you." Burnside didn't hesitate and immediately agreed to Li Mu's request.

What if you don't agree, the Far East Company is not Li Mu's private company, if this is Li Mu's private decision, then Bernside can also ask Li Mu to think twice, but now the Far East Company has obviously won the support of a number of wealthy people including Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan, Henry DuPont, etc., so what Burnside can do is extremely limited.

It is not terrible to offend Li Mu alone, the key is to offend the entire interest group headed by Li Mu, even if it is Burnside and James Garfield, they must retreat.