The conversation with Roosevelt ended quickly. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

And rightfully so.

Roosevelt didn't want to talk to Qin Lang for a long time—and even he did so only out of politeness and respect for Morgan—and Qin Lang found it difficult to find a topic to continue with. There seems to be nothing worth mentioning between a businessman in California and a police chief in New York.

So the conversation ended quickly.

"Goodbye, Mr. Roosevelt, I'm sure it won't be long before we meet again." Qin Lang said, only getting a polite diplomatic smile, and then he turned around and walked towards Elizabeth, who had been sitting quietly in the corner since the beginning of the ball.

She didn't seem to feel well.

"What's the matter, Elizabeth?" He asked with concern, "Looks like I should call a doctor here." ”

"There's no need, Qin." She replied with a sad face, glancing at the beautiful evening dress she was wearing, "It's just this damn dress, it makes me very uncomfortable." ”

Qin Lang immediately realized the root of the problem - her evening gown was elaborate for the unmarried ladies of New York's high society, and it was of the most exclusive color, so it naturally had an aristocratic style of French origin: a terrible hourglass bodice and petticoat in order to make any woman who wore it look like ...... An hourglass.

An hourglass with normal ends but an extremely slender waist.

But this is the standard body type that the unmarried ladies of high society in this era must maintain. For the modern woman, an eighteen-inch waist can be called an extreme water snake waist, but in the late nineteenth century, a sixteen-inch waist was just the average level for unmarried women, and many people had even smaller waists.

Hourglass; The ladies of high society are all hourglasses. While this is changing, with the rise of cycling and the popularity of loose-fitting culottes that have made fashionable women less likely to maintain a slim waistline, the change in high society has always been slow.

Especially in a place like New York.

It was a disaster for Elizabeth. Since she didn't need to care too much about her waistline when she was in San Diego, and as a chemist rather than a high-society lady, she couldn't keep her waist at the caliber of the main guns of the Iowa-class battleships - but still equivalent to the guns of the Yamato-class battleships - so she had to suffer some pain now.

"It's just terrible." She grumbled under her breath.

"That's true." Qin Lang looked at her sympathetically, then turned his gaze to the other hourglasses who were dancing, looked at them with pity for a while, and then turned back. "Maybe you should leave early." He suggested.

"It's only been thirty minutes since the dance began, Qin. It would seem very rude if I left now. Elizabeth surprisingly refused.

"It's better to be considered rude than to continue to feel bad, and I can explain to others that you left here because you were sick." Qin Lang continued to persuade.

But Elizabeth's attitude was resolute. "Nope."

Qin Lang stared into her eyes, and Elizabeth also boldly replied, and after a stalemate for a while, he realized that her opinion would never change, so he had to choose to give up. "Okay, you stay here." "I'm going to get out of this swing as soon as possible," he said. ”

However, this is simply not possible, the prom is just a way to socialize, and most people who attend the prom are not for the pleasure of dancing, but to communicate, communicate, negotiate, and even secretly reach some questionable agreement with familiar or unfamiliar people.

Although Qin Lang had already completed all the agreements he was prepared to make, there were others who wanted to reach an agreement with him...... Or just know him.

One was taken by John. Pierponte. The people Morgan introduced to the venue and introduced to everyone, whether it was the first time people heard his name or not, they would always have a strong enough interest in him, and among the guests who attended this ball, there were not only a few people who knew Qin Lang.

Soon, he was ushered into a small circle of conversation.

"We've all heard about the victories of the Umbrella mercenaries in Africa" - in fact, just now, this was not the topic of this small circle, but now it is - "Mr. Qin, are you not at all worried that the Italian government will hold you accountable?" ”

"In fact, it is. After all, Abyssinia remained a recognized independent state, not an Italian colony. I signed an agreement with Emperor Menelik to provide him with soldiers and weapons, which was a legal act and Rome had no right to intervene. "Of course, the situation is by no means so simple, Qin Lang knows, and the guests also know, but who cares?

People are concerned about something else.

"Allow me to take the liberty of asking, how much did you earn in Abyssinia, Mr. Qin?" Someone asked, with a little curiosity and a little anticipation.

Undoubtedly, this is an adventurer who is ready to enter the mercenary industry; A sensitive, already smelling blood. And he is by no means the only one in this small circle who thinks this way - as long as the mercenary industry is profitable enough.

Secretly laughing, Qin Lang tilted his head slightly towards him. "The Emperor of Abyssinia would pay me a commission of two hundred thousand dollars a month."

"It doesn't seem that high." "Shark" frowned, "At least it's lower than I thought." ”

Qin Lang smiled, but didn't say anything - of course, why would he tell a potential competitor that the $200,000 was a net profit after deducting all expenses, and that the generous Emperor Menelik paid in gold? And more importantly, 200,000 is the official price, but the black market price is four times that number.

Although there will always be people who will eventually join the special industry of "security services", at least for now, he does not want them to join.

However, obviously low profits can't stop every "shark", because some people don't care about money, but glory.

"Mr. Qin, I heard that your two partners were canonized as dukes by the Emperor of Abyssinia, is that so?"

Qin Lang felt an overly excited gaze. A young man attracted to the "Duke...... Fortunately, there were no hourglass-like unmarried ladies in this small circle, otherwise he would have felt not only excitement, but also a lot of fanaticism.

But he replied earnestly: "As you have heard, two of my partners were given the title of duke by the Emperor of Abyssinia. Sighing deliberately, Qin Lang continued, "This dwarfs the title obtained by my other partner. ”

At first, none of the guests who had attracted all the attention of the two dukes remembered who he was referring to, but after a while, someone remembered the temporary lieutenant colonel of the Marine Corps who was in Canton Bay.

"You mean Colonel Yi Shui, who is in China?"

"Lieutenant Colonel!" Before Qin Lang could speak, someone exclaimed, but then stepped aside in shame - Yi Shui's promotion to temporary lieutenant colonel of the Marine Corps by Congress was a past last year, and it also caused quite a stir in Washington, if anyone is still surprised now, it can only show how lonely he is.

Soon, however, the contempt for the lonely and unheard of turned into an exclamation for Lieutenant Colonel Yi Shui.

"Lieutenant Colonel." Someone began to shake their heads, "Even if it is an excellent graduate of West Point, it is difficult to be promoted to lieutenant colonel, not to mention that Mr. Yi Shui is still so young." ”

The other nodded approvingly. "And he's still ......"

But he failed to name the "Chinese". At such times, the mention of "Chinese" is always inevitably accompanied by some contempt due to a sour mood, but Qin Lang is here, and the gentlemen who are thinking about obtaining a distinguished title do not intend to make him angry.

Although Qin Lang would never be angry because of such a trivial matter.

And he was now more concerned with how to dispel the idea of would-be competitors who were trying to enter the "security services" industry for various reasons - businessmen always wanted monopolies, although social development required competition.

He thought about it. "Gentlemen, you seem to be tempted to invest in the mercenary industry."

"Oh no." The "shark" at the beginning immediately replied, "Although I am interested in obtaining a title of nobility or a high military rank, the industry is a little less profitable than I expected. ”

"But profit is just one of many issues, not all. I value the title of nobility more than profit. You know, I don't even have a knight in my family. Another said, representing the attitude of young people who like to pursue unrealistic fantasies.

Young people are always easy to get away.

"If someone is ready to enter the mercenary industry, I will gladly provide him with weapons." Qin Lang smiled and said, "If the quantity ordered is large enough, I can also get a discount." ”

"Even so, it would cost tens of thousands of dollars to arm a mercenary army of 1,000 people, and this is the part that costs the least, and the rest, ammunition consumption, mercenary salaries, and pensions......" The first "shark" shook his head, "It's an industry with a lot of investment. ”

The young people were discouraged. Funding is always a big issue for them, and it's unlikely that their parents will agree that they are spending a lot of money in high-risk industries.

But there are still people who are not completely dead. "Mr. Qin, how much money have you invested...... In this industry?"

Qin Lang smiled. "In fact, I once borrowed fifteen million dollars from five banks." But not all of the $15 million went to Umbrella – again, of course, why would he tell a potential competitor?

The camels were crushed by the last straw.

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PS: Around the 1890s, the measurements of famous female stars were about 34, 14, and 32 inches, so in order to maintain this body shape, several female stars ended up strangling themselves to death because of strangulation, and some died because of suffocation by the corset (to be continued, if you want to know what happened next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )