The turtledove tapped the cup and saucer boringly with the silver fork in his hand, making a monotonous tinkling sound.

"Peso, tea!" The turtledove said without replying, "Serve some good tea!" ”

After a while, Peso came with two cups of brewed hot tea, one in front of the turtledove and one in front of the Lorcin Loach.

On the map on the desktop, tiny Denver is inconspicuous.

But if it is replaced by a map with wealth as the latitude and longitude, Turtledove believes that Denver must be the thoroughfare of nine provinces, and it is dangerous to choke the mountains.

……

Ikaruga: "I have three questions! ”

Lorchen-Loach: "Please! ”

Turtledove: "First, do you have so much energy as a loach?" ”

Lorchen-Loach: "It's not just me! ”

Turtledove: "Who else?" ”

Lolchen-loach; "Procter & Gamble, Pfizer, Rockefeller...... Remember that covenant we signed three years ago at Fort Laramie? Later, it expanded, and there were many new partners who joined in, and everyone did a great job. ”

…… The turtledove had almost forgotten the covenant.

Regardless of the impressions from later generations, this covenant can be simply described as a 'dog skin plaster alliance', and whether it was Procter & Gamble or Pfizer, the biggest business in this period was selling insect repellent and mothballs.

The later famous Rockefeller was still a child, shining shoes on the Avenue of New York, and after being pulled into this alliance for some reason, he began to sell a copy of insect repellent when shining shoes.

On the contrary, the commercial bank of Lorqin, which was not originally in history, has become the leader of this alliance, and in terms of turnover, the commercial bank of Lorqin accounts for at least 60% of this alliance.

But the influence of an ally cannot be evaluated solely in terms of turnover. For example, the shoe-shining Rockefeller contributed a turnover of -5 dollars, and Ikaruga paid for him to sponsor a shoe-shine box, but it is said that he said hello on the streets of New York, and all New Yorkers had to wear dirty shoes to work.

Procter & Gamble and Pfizer formed a cartel that monopolized the insecticide business in the United States, so much so that even ordinary residents of White Rock could no longer afford it.

According to information obtained by Ikaruga in addition, the two companies also have a joint monopoly on a human experimentation business, and are secret data suppliers to various universities and medical institutions, and their revenues are not monitored.

Turtledove silently digested the list listed by Lorqin in his heart, and combined with the data of the Intelligence Department, he felt that although Lorqin was telling a story, even if it was discounted, the influence caused by it was definitely not low.

It is unlikely that Captain Beauregaard will be court-martialed, but it is possible to give him a medal to go to Guatemala to manage the Savage Legion.

……

Turtledove: "The second question is, Denver is not just a fortress, it's a big city!" Why do you think I can easily take it? ”

Lorchen-Loach: "We have an internal response!" ”

……

Ikaruga: "Then I only have one last question left. ”

Lorchen-Loach: "Speak!" ”

Ikaruga: "How much profit do you make?" ”

Lorqin-Loach stretched out a slap and said bitterly: "Let me tell you the truth, it's only 5 points of profit, it's all hard money!" These days, it's hard to make money! ”

***

New York.

On the steps opposite the City Bank of New York, a little boy sitting on a shoeshine box looks with envy at the crowd of people coming and going in the bank.

There is no business for the time being, so he wraps a shoe-shine cloth in his hands to keep warm.

A young man with blond hair walked over, whistled, sat down in the chair in front of him, and held his leather shoes in front of his chest.

When the shoes were still dangling in the air, the professional boy had already quickly wiped a few times on the upper, and he could be regarded as grabbing the business.

"Are you an Indian?" The little boy asked.

"No, don't you see my blonde hair?"

"But you look like an Indian!" The little boy said.

"What an uncultured fellow, shine your shoes!" The blonde youth kicked the little boy and nearly knocked him over.

The little boy quickly apologized, got up and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just thought ...... I'm sorry, because I heard that I have a bit of Indian blood in me, so that's why I asked. ”

The blonde youth poked his head out from behind the newspaper, looked at the little boy, and then silently retracted his head to continue reading the newspaper.

The little boy looked up and saw the news on the front page of the newspaper that read "The assassination of Mr. Walker, the Minister of the Treasury", Tong Kong shrank slightly, lowered his head, and quickly wiped his shoes.

When one shoe was finished and the other was changed, the blonde young man behind the newspaper suddenly asked, "How often do you shine shoes here?" ”

"Yes, sir!" The boy replied, "Because I charge a reasonable fee and wipe it clean, the decent gentlemen always tip me!" ”

"Are banks crowded today?" The blond young man asked, "Is it more than before?" ”

"It's a lot more than before," replied the boy, "I heard that the gold mines of the Federation have been shut down, and the dollars will be worthless in the future, so everyone is hurrying to exchange them for gold!" ”

"Did you get it?"

"I don't know. But they would tip me in dollars and not give me any gold or anything. The little boy said.

"New York is a mess!" The blonde youth complained.

"Isn't it?" The little boy said: "There was an assassination in three days, and even my business was affected, as if I had to be assassinated if I shined my shoes, hehe! ”

The blonde youth flipped the newspaper in his hand over, revealing a beautiful girl with big waves for the little boy who was shining shoes.

Apparently he didn't want to discuss this sensitive subject with the little shoe-shining boy.

The mounted police passed by the road one after another, and the little boy carefully polished the shoes of the blonde youth, not even sparing the soles of them.

"$10 credit!" The little boy patted the blonde youth's shoe and said.

The blonde youth looked at him a little strangely.

This price...... You can buy a better bullet and give it to him.

"Don't get me wrong, sir!" The little boy held out his finger, which was a little red, and said, "You have this on your shoe, but I wiped it clean!" And you know, the dollar is running out of money! ”

The blonde youth looked at the little blood stain on the little boy's finger, and the little boy put his finger into the bucket and stirred it, and took out a clean finger.

So the blonde youth touched his body and handed him a $20 bill.

"You're the best shoe-shiner I've ever met—extra money counts as a tip for you!"

"Thank you, sir! You're also the most generous gentleman I've ever met! Don't worry, in addition to my shoeshine skills, I am most assured of the quality of honesty and trustworthiness! The little boy said.