The United States is more merciful in this regard, even if it loses in the political struggle, if it does not make a heinous mistake, it will not be completely stinky, and if it is trampled on 10,000 feet, as long as it stays in Qingshan, there will always be a chance to make a comeback.

Li Mu has no intention of comparing the advantages and disadvantages of the Eastern and Western political systems, as far as the Civil War is concerned, Li Mu believes that this is an incomplete revolution, although the Northern Federal Government won the war, but did not completely eliminate the remnants of the Southern Confederate States, which is not a big problem at present, because the federal government is powerful, and the Southern Confederate States are silent, but in the long run, this is not in the interests of the Republican Party, as long as the Democratic Party still exists, the Democratic Party will definitely have a chance to turn over.

In a word: Americans, they are still too tender in terms of political struggle.

If Simon Steele's challenge to Li Mu is regarded as a counterattack by the Democratic Party against the Republican Party, then Li Mu still has the possibility of arrogance, but if we put this matter in the overall context of the eighties of the nineteenth century, we will find that this period is also a critical period for American political parties to move from jerky to mature, and what happened during this period has a profound impact on the future political ecology of the United States.

At the end of 1877 and the beginning of 1878, 12 years had passed since the Civil War, and in these 12 years, both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party were deeply aware of the destructiveness of the war, and the greatest inspiration left by the Civil War was that political disputes must be carried out within certain conditions, freedom without restraint is by no means real freedom, and disputes always exist, and consensus must be found in disputes, so that the United States will move forward with difficulty in forging ahead.

In December, the Far East was full of good news, first George Dewey led the dissatisfied Pacific Fleet to completely defeat the Spanish colonial fleet in the waters near Manila, and then the Pacific Fleet cooperated with the Luzon rebels to attack Manila, the war lasted only one week, the Luzon colonial government was cornered in internal and external troubles and was forced to surrender unconditionally, Luzon immediately established a provisional government, and then announced that Luzon broke away from Spanish colonial rule and became the first independent country in Southeast Asia.

- General George first issued an ultimatum to the Spanish colonial fleet, and then blockaded the port of Manila, the Spaniards held out for ten days, in order to break through the blockade of the Pacific Fleet, the Spaniards sent sixteen warships, including armed merchant ships - God, you must not imagine how far behind the warships sent by the Spaniards, there were two armed merchant ships that were still driven by manpower and sails, and those armed merchant ships were actually equipped with breech bronze running, It was an antique from a century ago - the Pacific Fleet sank a warship, including the flagship of the Spanish colonial fleet, and the Spaniards had three warships stranded, and only one warship surrendered, and this warship was forced to fly the white flag because it was unable to sail out of Manila Harbor, and even General George Dewey could not believe that the Spaniards had lost so quickly - "In New York, Charles Benson, the manager of the Far East Company, reported to the board of directors of the Far East Company.

It is now Christmas Eve on Christmas Eve, New York has been immersed in the atmosphere of the festival, it happened to snow tonight, the white snowflakes will shroud the whole city in a holiness, the festival is being celebrated on the Horse Square across the wall from the headquarters of the Far Eastern Group Company, countless New Yorkers go out of their homes on this auspicious day, choose to share the harvest and joy of the year with more people, of course, the same is true for the Far East Company, now is the harvest season, shareholders hope that their investment has a good return, So they gave up the days of reuniting with their families and chose to take stock with a group of cold-blooded capitalists in the Far Eastern Company.

"So we won the war." J· P. Morgan was investing in a mercenary company for the first time and didn't know enough about this model.

"Of course, we sent nearly 4,000 people to the Far East, and only 1,500 actually invested in Luzon, but we received far more than expected, because the War Department did not have any investment on land, so we have signed a series of contracts with the Luzon government, and the resources, markets, plantations, and even the issuance of currency in Luzon are now in the responsibility of our Far East Company, and we have acquired all the mineral resources and plantations in Luzon at an almost gratuitous price, and this part of the Spaniards has already made a certain amount of upfront investment, That is to say, we can make a profit immediately, and the local market in Luzon is completely open to us, and if there is any dispute between our Far East Company and the local government of Luzon after that, it will be tried by the court set up by our Far East Company, and as for the Ministry of War, an observation mission they sent has just passed through Hawaii, and it will be at least half a month before they can arrive in Luzon, and before that, we should have got everything we want. "Charles Benson is full of pride, the former U.S. War Department Army officer who has reached the pinnacle of his life at this moment, and he has done his job brilliantly and has a bright future.

"Okay Mr. Charles, thank you for your efforts, now go and reunite with your family, they are waiting for you in the presidential suite of the Clinton Castle Hotel, from now until Christmas, all your expenses in New York will be covered by the Far East Company-" For the meritorious heroes, Li Mu has always been stingy with rewards.

When Charles Benson left, there was an eerie silence in the conference room.

In fact, there are all tycoons present, and each of them has a decisive energy in their respective fields, but in the field of mercenaries, they obviously do not have enough experience, and they are not mentally prepared enough to face the new Luzon government's almost flattery.

"What's the matter, guys, victory was too easy? Then you underestimate the power of capital, in this world, if there is anything that capital cannot do, it must be because the scale of investment is not enough, in the future, you should be accustomed to such victories. "Li Mu has become accustomed to it, from Cuba to Hawaii to Luzon, capital has confirmed its omnipotence.

"Reem, I've always had faith in you, and I'm thinking about how to get the Luzon people used to lighting oil lamps." Rockefeller is good, he has a certain understanding of the energy of capital, but it has not reached the level of Li Mu.

It's a pity, so far, Standard Oil's biggest source of profit is kerosene for lighting, although Mobil Oil's gasoline sales are also rising, but it is obvious that Luzon people can't afford to buy cars, so naturally they can't use gasoline, for a long period of time, even in the entire East Asian region, the kerosene market is the focus of Rockefeller's attention, as for the oil fields, well, because of Li Mu's reminder, Rockefeller has no hope for Luzon, the Dutch East Indies may have, Rockefeller has also sent people to the Dutch East Indies to operate, But even if an oil field is found, Rockefeller is not ready to develop it, so he treats it as an oil field reserve of standard oil.

It's very strange, right, as the oil industry giant Standard Oil, but do not want to find too many oil fields, this is very understandable, at present the car is just a toy for the rich, ordinary people can not afford to buy a car, there is no demand for this, and the total amount of kerosene market is constant, Rockefeller does not want to find too many oil fields, that will definitely affect the interests of Standard Oil, even if there is only one oil company, too many oil fields will definitely cause the price of petroleum products to fall, In the same way that in times of economic crisis, farmers prefer to pour unsellable milk into rivers rather than sell it at a reduced price, businessmen are not philanthropists, and if they do not have profits, they have no reason and no obligation to be responsible for humanitarianism.

"Does this mean that our business development team can leave now?" Andrew Carnegie couldn't wait, steel is a necessity for human life at any time, Andrew Carnegie hopes to sell products all over the world, not to mention that Luzon is rich in iron ore and copper, which are Andrew Carnegie's goals.

"We're going to get more profit before the War Department, I can't wait friends, let's start a great adventure." Henry DuPont was not satisfied with his current achievements, and one Luzon could not satisfy Henry Dupont's appetite, and Henry DuPont believed that it was better if all of Asia should be a colony of the United States.

"Reem, is it possible that the Luzon model will be replicated in other regions?" J· P. Morgan was not satisfied, the Far East Company only paid a few million dollars of investment, and obtained a huge market of nearly 10 million people, which is almost a quarter of the American market, although the consumption level of the Luzon people is certainly not comparable with the Americans, but the concept of consumption can be cultivated, this business is very cost-effective, the return period is as long as decades or even hundreds of years, no matter how you think about it, it is cost-effective.

"Guys, I don't think it's right now—" The question isn't just about J· P. Morgan is concerned, and other shareholders are equally concerned, after all, the matter is concerned about personal interests, and everyone hopes to replicate the successful model, which means that a lot of dollars are rolling in, and who has a grudge against money: "- The declaration of war on the Spaniards is a special product under special conditions, Spain has declined, they are unable to protect their colonies, even if we don't make a move, there will also be other countries that declare war on Spain, and we are because we are ahead of everyone, so we have the greatest harvest - now look at the Far East, French Indochina, the Dutch East Indies, and then British Malaysia, the Dutch were the weakest, but the Dutch found the British as backers, so it is unlikely that we will be able to replicate the situation in Luzon to other regions in a short period of time. ”

It's not that Li Mu doesn't want to, but he really can't do it, the United States declared war on the Spaniards, because Spain is the weakest country among the great powers, and others, such as Britain and France, are not the current United States can watch, so the war must be limited to a certain range, this is not Li Mu's decision, but the current international environment is like this, Li Mu can make waves in the United States, but it is impossible to go abroad to subvert the colonial order dominated by Britain and France, even if this kind of thing is done by a country, it will take decades of advance layout.

Taking 10,000 steps back, the reason why the United States declared war on Spain is partly because the United States urgently needs to make its voice heard and strive for an international status commensurate with its national strength, and on the other hand, it is also to test the attitude of Britain and France toward American expansion; if the United States is strongly opposed by the British and French in opening up colonies in the Far East, then the United States must also think carefully and think twice, and may have to give up the victory in hand, which will outweigh the losses, and it is better to accept it when it sees the good, at least to replace the international status of the Spaniards. It was something that both the British and the French were happy to see.

"We have achieved great success, everyone-" Rockefeller resolutely stood on the same front with Li Mu this time, he had already communicated with Li Mu about the oil fields in the Dutch East Indies, at this stage, Rockefeller also needed Li Mu's cooperation in order to obtain the maximum benefits in East Asia: "Luzon itself is a big market, nearly 10 million people, what a huge market, think about it, if every one of them needs our products, then it will be disastrous good news, not to mention, There are bigger markets in the Far East waiting to be explored, but before we can do that, we need to be ready first. ”

As far as the Far East is concerned, the market in Luzon is not large, even in Southeast Asia, the population of Luzon is not as large as that of the Dutch East Indies and French Indochina, not to mention the Qing and Japan in East Asia, as for India, which is further away, it is the confinement of the British, unless it is a complete tear with the British, the Indian market will never have anything to do with the United States.

"Okay guys, let's all sober up, since Luzon has formed a new government and driven out the Spaniards, then the new government in Luzon needs a new force to take over the inheritance left by the Spaniards, and I am ready to send people to the Far East as soon as possible, if you want, we can form an expedition to fully understand the information of Luzon, so that we can live in the best interests." Li Mu reminded all shareholders who want to get into the wrong that now it is only a new victory in the stage, and it has not yet reached the level of complete victory.

After the "spoils sharing meeting", Li Mu returned to Governor's Island, and on such a day of celebration, he still had to stay with his family.

Since the beginning of Battery Park, we have seen a strong festive atmosphere, Li Mu has always hoped to integrate more oriental elements into American festivals, so don't look at Christmas Eve and the Chinese have nothing to do with it, but bright red lanterns can still be seen everywhere, and even there are lion and dragon dances at the entrance of Battery Park, which attracts many New York citizens to watch, Li Mu believes that as long as this persists for decades, these red lanterns and lion and dragon dances will also become a part of Christmas.

Tradition, in fact, is a habit, just get used to it.