Chapter 91: The Great Depression (10)

Armand Hammer is the chairman of Occidental Petroleum and the second most oil-rich man after Rockefeller. However, in 1931, his assets had just reached 10 million, and he had not yet entered the oil industry, but was just a major capitalist in the Western world.

However, in the Soviet Union and China, he was a household name as a "red" capitalist, he was the first Western entrepreneur to cooperate with the Soviet Union after the October Revolution, and was affectionately called "Comrade Hammer" by Lenin; He was also the first Western entrepreneur to visit China on a private jet, and was hailed as "brave" by Deng Xiaoping, but what really caught Huang Xuan's attention was Mr. Hammer's ungodly spirit.

Many Chinese think that after the drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia is the most profitable place in the world for imports and exports. They were wrong, the period when the Soviet Union was able to bring the most profits was the era when it was just founded, and it was Hammer who first discovered this.

At the beginning of August 1921, Hammer went with a delegation to the Urals. The situation here puzzled him: on the one hand, there were huge treasures, rich in goods, and almost everything was available such as platinum, precious stones, and "fur" skins; On the other hand, the famine was severe, starvation was everywhere, and the minimum necessities of life were scarce. So, he asked the Soviets who led the group: "Why don't you export these things for food?" ”

"That can't be," replied the Soviets, "that Europe has just lifted its blockade against us, and it will take too long to sell these things and import grain." And to save the people of the Urals from starvation, at least 1 million bushels of food are needed. ”

At that time, there was a bumper grain harvest in the United States, and the price of grain had fallen to $1 a bushel, so Hammer suggested: "I have $1 million to urgently purchase 1 million bushels of wheat in the United States, ship it to Petrograd, unload the grain, and then ship $1 million worth of 'fur' and other goods back to the United States." Hamer's proposal soon reached Moscow, and Lenin personally telegraphed back to approve the deal and asked Hammer to return to Moscow as soon as possible. In his office, Lenin stood up to welcome Hammer and spoke cordially with him in English. When Lenin, on behalf of the Soviet "government", expressed his sincere gratitude to Hammer, the great Comrade Lenin shed tears of emotion. After that, Lenin encouraged Hammer to invest in a factory and allowed him to mine asbestos in Siberia, thus making him the first foreigner in the Bolshevik Soviet Union to obtain mining rights. This was the beginning of the barter trade between the United States and the Soviet Union. Hammer organized the United States Corporation, communicated with more than 30 American companies, and became an agent of the Soviet Union's trade with the United States.

Sloane, of course, knew Hammer, who was still a big figure in New York in 1931, because Hammer, who specialized in art during the Great Depression, was organizing an auction of Soviet art in New York, and almost every wealthy man had received invitations. He frowned lightly and said, "Mr. Huang is also interested in art investment?" "Huang Xuan has become accustomed to correcting his surname to foreigners, not Xuan.

"Yes, there are some." Huang Xuan smiled slightly, leaned his body on the sofa, and said, "As far as the current situation is concerned, the value-added potential of art is more than that of industry." ”

Sloane laughed and nodded, "That's true, then tomorrow, I think Mr. Hammer would be happy to see a generous investor." ”

“OK。” Huang Xuan gestured, then turned to Steve and said, "Are you interested in seeing another drawing?" ”

"Of course." Steve was already impatient to wait, Huang Xuan got up with a smile, Hans had already divided the drawings into two parts, and the fewer ones were the drawings of the Ford VB.

Compared to the Citroen TA, the VB can only be said to be decent, although the production time is a little later, but like all Ford models, it pays attention to production efficiency and despises the new technology application of the car itself, so its value is far less than TA.

But in any case, this is an advanced car, whether it costs $300,000 or more, it can satisfy Ford.

Huang Xuan has no intention of making Ford or GM bigger, of course, he doesn't want anyone to have a grudge against him, although he can stay here for a short period of 6 days, but if he wants to have more protection, he needs to pay careful attention to the people and things around him.

This time, the review on both sides was much faster.

With the foreshadowing of the Ford V8 and half of the Citroen TA, the technicians now pay more attention to the completeness of the drawings than to the authenticity, and after waiting for about three or four hours, GM's personnel took the lead in signaling to Sloan. Then there was Kent.

The three parties stood up happily, shook each other's hands, and Sloane said, "Well, let's go to the bank now." ”

Huang Xuan smiled and told Hans to look at the drawings, and he first opened the door and made a gesture of please.

This low-key is in stark contrast to the previous one, but everyone understands that this is just a gesture.

Chase National Bank.

It is often referred to as Rockefeller's "family bank," meaning that Rockefeller owns or at least controls the bank. Chase is particularly proud to be the nation's largest and best "wholesale" bank, handling the credit needs of large U.S. corporations, acting as a "banker's banker's" for thousands of domestic and foreign correspondent banks, and financing the nation's major foreign trade transactions. Chase, on the other hand, has no interest in the "retail" business of the banking sector and the expansion of international business. And this is one of the things that Huang Xuan is interested in.

In Chase's Manhattan bank lobby, Sloan, Steve, and Huang Xuan attracted a lot of attention, and Joseph, the bank manager, quickly walked over and ushered everyone into the VIP room.

It was Sloan who took the lead and said, "Joseph, please help this Mr. Huang open an account." ”

For the young man who was personally led in by the president of General Motors, Joseph put away the usual arrogance of white people, carefully took the identity certificate in Huang Xuan's hand, and quickly completed the account opening procedures after simply verifying the authenticity. And when he returned, it was little John who walked in front. Rockefeller.

The young Rockefeller was handsome and charming, his chin was not as fat as it was 50 years later, and his smile could not hide the sparkle in his eyes and the irrepressible ambition. His body was strong, energetic, and his hands were wide and powerful, and when Huang Xuan shook hands with him, the enthusiasm of Rockefeller Jr. made him think that he had returned to the new century - in his influence, only then Chinese would meet sincere, profit-hungry Americans.

After exchanging pleasantries with Sloane, Rockefeller spoke separately with Stephen and Huang Xuan, but neither gentleman from the two car companies told the new rich man why he would jointly pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to an Asian American.

Rockefeller, of course, wouldn't ask, he handed Huang Xuan a business card and left the room, handing over the work to Joseph. This is just a simple business card - not like those gentlemen who thought they were famous, printing a simple name on expensive materials, Huang Xuan's business card is indeed a simple business card, both in terms of material and content, and Rockefeller's value is very different.

"Mr. Huang Xuan. I hope there will be a chance to work with you. It was Sloane who spoke, and when he was there, Stephen kept a low profile.

"Of course, of course there will be." Huang Xuan smiled like a mouse that had drunk a drink, and took his bank deposit certificate from Joseph.