When the news spread that the U.S. Congress was about to launch the Nicaragua Canal Project, the European financiers were completely confused, they did not know whether the Interoceanic Canal Company had won the authorization of the Colombian government, and they did not know whether the U.S. Congress had actually launched the Nicaragua Canal Project.

In addition, there are rumors that the Colombian government has re-signed a contract with the United States government to re-grant the right to dig the Panama Canal to the United States government, and there are also rumors that representatives of the Interoceanic Canal Company are about to leave for Colombia in the near future to conduct actual exploration of the Isthmus of Panama.

In fact, the most unfortunate is the British, since the independence of the United States, Britain's influence in the Americas has been declining, seeing that Canada is about to become a vassal of the United States, for South America, the British are even more out of reach, as early as 30 years ago, the British in South America has lost its influence.

One benefit of the gossip is that it buys the Panama Canal Company more time to take advantage of it as long as Europe's financiers remain on the sidelines.

On March 5, Rutherford Hayes was sworn in at the Presidential Palace.

Rutherford Hayes was the first U.S. president to be sworn in at the Presidential Palace, and according to the scheduled schedule, Rutherford Hayes was supposed to be sworn in on March 3, but considering that March 5 was a Sunday, Rutherford Hayes took a private oath on March 3, and then took the public oath on Monday, March 5.

Unfortunately, Ulysses Grant stayed at the presidential palace until March 4 before leaving, which also caused Hayes to be unable to enter the presidential palace immediately after taking the oath, which became another stain on Ulysses Grant's political career.

Li Mu participated in Rutherford Hayes's two oath-takings, and on the eve of Ulysses Grant's departure from the presidential palace, Li Mu had a long talk.

According to the previous agreement, Ulysses Grant will go to the Horse Group as a senior adviser after leaving office, so this time Li Mu went to Washington, not only to attend the inauguration ceremony of Hayes, but also to welcome the arrival of Ulysses Grant.

Ulysses Grant and Li Mu met, and the topic was of course inseparable from the Panama Canal, which has been in a uproar recently.

"I'm really sorry, Hamilton and I tried our best, but we still couldn't get the authorization from Columbia..."Ulysses Grant was quite helpless when he mentioned the matter, which is also considered a person's tea, and the Colombian government will talk to Hayes even if it wants to talk.

To be sure, Ulysses Grant really wants to advance the Panama Canal during his tenure, which will be one of the few bright spots in Ulysses Grant's tenure, so that future generations will not mention Ulysses Grant and the only impression of that failed president will be the only one.

"It doesn't matter, you can push Congress to pass the Panama Canal project, you have done everything you can, and then it's up to the Canal Management Committee..." Li Mu said this, and suddenly took out an invitation letter from his suit pocket: "Speaking of the Panama Canal Management Committee, I have an invitation letter here, with the signatures of all our members, if you agree, we would like to invite you to be the chairman of the Panama Canal Management Committee." ”

There is no doubt that this chairman is building momentum for the Panama Canal Company again, and the French have set up an interoceanic canal company and let Fernand Resay be the chairman, and Li Mu and they simply invited a former president who had just left office to be the chairman, so as to fully demonstrate the confidence of the Americans in the Panama Canal project.

"Well, it's... I'm really a little flattered..."Ulysses Grant didn't expect Li Mu to send such a big gift, which is to link Ulysses Grant and the Panama Canal no matter what.

Don't look at Ulysses Grant's reputation in the future is very bad, in fact, in this era, if it weren't for the slander of the Democratic Party, few people really care whether Ulysses Grant is qualified as president, after all, the current environment is like this, all the governments in the world stand together in a row, and I am afraid that there is no qualified and honest one.

"You deserve it, American people... Even all Americans should always remember that it was you who drove the launch of the Panama Canal project, which will benefit all the people of the Americas, and that your credit should not be forgotten. Li Mu's words were sincere, and they were indeed not fake.

Don't care how bad Ulysses Grant's reputation is, no matter how unqualified Ulysses Grant is as president, but Ulysses Grant is really good to Li Mu, which must be admitted.

If there was no Ulysses Grant, then the Horse Arms Company would not have obtained the first order from the Ministry of War, if there was no Ulysses Grant, then there would be no Li Mu's trip to Cuba, let alone the next trip to Hawaii, Li Mu would not have such a big influence in the Senate, and if there was no Ulysses Grant, then it would be impossible for the Horse Arms Company to annex Springfield, Colt, Winchester and other arms companies one after another, so as to dominate the US arms market...

In this way, let alone the chairman of the Panama Canal Management Committee, even if Li Mu directly gave Ulysses Grant some shares of the Horse Group.

"Now that I'm the president of the Panama Canal Steering Committee, it's time to do my duty as chairman, and I think we should focus on Martinez Silva next, which will put us in a better position." Ulysses Grant got into the groove quickly and immediately found the key to solving the problem.

In fact, the solution to the problem is very simple, as long as you take one step at a time and be down-to-earth, but it is a pity that Ulysses Grant did not understand this until he stepped down.

Doing business is similar to fighting a war, and it is also about finding the opponent's weaknesses and focusing on attacking, as long as you think about this, Ulysses Grant will not say that he can be like a fish in water in the mall, at least not as bad as when he was in office.

When it comes to fighting, ten Li Mu tied together is not necessarily comparable to one Ulysses Grant.

"Martinez Silva..."Li Mu knew that this was the Colombian ambassador to the United States, but he did not think that Martinez Silva had much say in the matter of the Parama Canal.

What to say about the position of ambassador to a foreign country, it looks very beautiful on the surface, but in fact it is a microphone, and its living conditions are similar to that of a mouse in a bellows.

If there is a dispute between the Americans and the Colombians, then the Colombian ambassador to the United States can still play a role in mediation, if the Americans suffer in the dispute, then it is impossible to say that Martinez Silva will be summoned by the President of the United States, and then scolded for blood, and if the dispute is not properly handled, the Americans want to carry out some kind of retaliation, then it is inevitable that Martinez Silva will be labeled as ineffective...

That's the kind of work that the ambassador does.

"After you announced that you were going to start the Nicaragua Canal, Hamilton and Martinez had a lot of contacts, and Martinez was very anxious, in fact, if it was a little while, we could sign a supplementary clause to the concession agreement with Martinez Silva, although the Colombian Congress will not necessarily approve this clause, but it will allow us to take full advantage." Ulysses Grant has done a lot of work during this time, seeing that the results are about to be produced, but the presidential term has arrived, so you can imagine how depressed Ulysses Grant is in his heart, no wonder Hayes has taken the oath, and Ulysses Grant is still in the presidential palace and refuses to move.

Ulysses Grant was referring to the Treaty of Peace, Amity, Navigation, and Commerce between the United States and New Granada, which had been signed between the United States Government and the Government of New Granada.

In this treaty, the United States was granted the coveted right to open the Panama Canal for a period of 20 years.

Now, 20 years later, the United States has not started the Panama Canal as promised, so the original contract is said to be null and void, and now if the US government can sign a supplementary treaty with Martinez Silva, if the Colombian government can confirm it, then the Americans can continue to obtain the right to excavate, thus excluding the French.

It should be added that unlike the last time when he had a 20-year deadline, this time Ulysses Grant wanted a 100-year term.

As Colombia's ambassador to the United States, Martinez Silva can sign such a contract with the U.S. government, but the contract must be confirmed by the Colombian Congress before it can be valid.

It doesn't matter if the Colombian Congress doesn't confirm it, by that time, the U.S. government will have taken the initiative in its entirety, and there is a way to get the Colombian Congress to comply.

As for the fate of Martinez Silva at that time, it is not in the minds of Ulysses Grant.

Li Mu also didn't care about Martinez Silva's life or death, after listening to Ulysses Grant's words, Li Mu immediately cheered up: "Yes, I don't know what our ambassador likes to do?" ”

To be honest, if it was Li Mu before the crossing, he might feel ashamed to ask such a thing.

But for Li Mu now, this is completely a knee-jerk reaction.

This is the characteristic of the times, the Interoceanic Canal Company can buy 150 ministers and parliamentarians, and the Panama Canal Company is not bad in energy, and it will only be more efficient to launch it in full force.

"It doesn't need to be too high, a $50,000 or so should be enough to satisfy Martinez Silva." Ulysses Grant is even less ashamed, and this kind of thing is also commonplace in Ulysses Grant's opinion.

"That's $50,000!" Li Mu made a decision, this level of use of funds, Li Mu did not need to discuss with other committee members at all.

"Bingo! Wait and see. Ulysses Grant was full of confidence, and now he finally realized the freedom to do as he pleased.

Being president is actually a chore, Ulysses Grant must have known that he could buy Martinez Silva with money when he was president, but Ulysses Grant at that time could not implement it, which involves a matter of national honor, regardless of whether the actual US government is clean or not, the sheep's head on the face must still be hung.

In the position of chairman of the Panama Canal Commission, no matter what Ulysses Grant wants to do, he does not need congressional approval, and there will be no Democrats pointing fingers, let alone worrying about leaving a lifetime of infamy when the coffin is closed in the future.

At the Hayes inaugural dinner on the evening of March 5, Li Mu finally met Martinez Silva.

Martinez is a standard beautiful man, with a hard facial line, thick eyebrows, deep-set eye sockets, and a pair of charming blue eyes, from this point of view, Martinez Silva seems to be a bit of Nordic blood.

Li Mu was eager to see Martinez Silva, but he didn't expect that Martinez Silva's mood to see Li Mu was also extremely urgent.

"Mr. Reem, it's a pleasure to meet you, your achievements are impressive, and you are very welcome to have the opportunity to visit Colombia." Martinez Silva can get in the right position and his posture is very low.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Martinez, and I hope to visit Colombia if I have the chance, maybe there will be some unexpected surprises." Li Mu dealt with it casually, this is not perfunctory, Li Mu does have this plan.

Although the Junma Group is a West Coast company, in the East China Sea, in Cuba, and in the Far East, the Junma Group has its own branches, in this case, in Colombia, the Junma Group can also replicate this model.

Of course, this is just what Martinez Silva thinks, and the "walk" that Li Mu refers to is not what he means, Li Mu does want to invest in Colombia, but instead of opening a branch, he invests in the canal.

"Speaking of canals, I'm curious to be honest, and I ask you a question, Mr. Martinez, do you think the French are capable of building a sixty-mile canal in Panama?" Li Mu was straightforward and didn't beat around the bend at all.

For Li Mu, time is money, so speaking can be concise and concise, which is also a common feature of all successful people, they don't need to care too much about other people's ideas, and pay more attention to expressing their ideas completely.

"To be honest, I don't think so, if the right to dig the canal were given to the French, it would be a disaster." Martínez Silva knew how much the Americans had done to pave the way for the Panama Canal, so he was equally unfavorable to the French.

"In that case, then I hope to have the opportunity to have an in-depth conversation with you tomorrow on this issue." Li Mu extended an invitation to Martinez Silva.

"It's a great honor..."Martinez Silva happily agreed, he probably didn't know what kind of surprise Li Mu had prepared for him at this time, and even if he knew, it was estimated that Martinez Silva would not object.