Originally, Mellon, John, and Harding wanted to get some benefits from the democrats, so they took the initiative to ask Russell to negotiate, but they didn't think that the democrats didn't pay enough attention to this matter at all, and only sent Aster, Franklin, and Cox over.

Not only did they not get the corresponding benefits, but they put the business of army materials into it, which is simply more than worth the loss!

Harding was already confused by Russell's words, he didn't know why he was being targeted by Walker, and he didn't know what happened to him and Phillips, why Walker knew so well.

Mellon was also a little confused, he thought that the things of the group hi were very hidden, except for the participants and henchmen, no one else would pay attention to it at all.

When Russell threw out the chips in his hand, the three powerful people of the republican faction were directly dumbfounded, for them, if this kind of thing spreads, it will inevitably become a scandal within the faction, which will not only affect the career, but also affect the overall situation of the republican faction, such as running for the next president......

The Republicans have already decided on a candidate, and it is Harding!

That's why Harding showed his face today as the leader, and the resources and money were allocated, and if Harding had some accidents at this time, the Republicans would lose a lot.

The reasons for this are very complex, the main one being that the current presidency is held by the democrats, and the republicans must have someone to act as the vanguard and pull down the democrats' candidates.

It doesn't matter if Harding dies after taking office, because the presidency is controlled by the Republicans, and whoever wants to go up can go up.

After Harding's death in history, it was taken over by John, who served two consecutive terms for a total of five and a half years.

On the side, after hearing Russell's arrogant words, Bob admired it in his heart.

He only really knew Russell Walker today, and when he came out of the house to see the world, his uncle told him several times to listen more and talk less.

Russell, on the other hand, had already made his own decisions, and had put his foot on the faces of Harding and John, and they did not dare to speak.

Due to the tense atmosphere, Mellon dragged Harding away.

As he was leaving, John glanced at Russell, who smiled at him.

Bob's eyes flashed, and he shook Russell's hand excitedly, but he didn't say anything and left.

When they were all gone, only Astor, Franklin, Cox, and Russell were left at the table.

The three of them looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Franklin smiled and said, "Walker, I didn't expect you to be so strong. ”

Cox patted his chest and said, "On the way here, I'm still worried about you." ”

Astor knew him better, so he said, "Okay, this matter is completely settled, and Walker has won the benefit for us, since they left first, then let's dine here." ”

"That's right, we should celebrate."

Russell smiled: "You guys celebrate first, I'm going out to make a call." ”

"Okay."

He was to call Thomas Tyre and ask him to contact Magoya to order the mission to be voided.

Inside the house,

After Russell left, Cox was surprised: "Is Walker's personality so strong?" ”

Astor shook his head: "He is strong because he has confidence, think about it, you hold the handle of the republicans in your hands, will it be so rampant?" ”

Franklin laughed and said, "But he did surprise me a lot today, I didn't expect him to do things like this." ”

"He's always been like that, a very assertive and good young man."

"I agree!" Cox said.

In fact, Franklin's accompaniment to tonight's dinner has something else, that is, to recruit a youth core for the democrats.

Although Russell often mingled with people from the democratic faction, he was not a true democrat. Because he is not officially involved in Shoji, he is currently only a businessman.

After tonight, he will be recommended by Franklin and Cox to officially enter the Democratic core. Even the reigning president, Thomas, remembers Russell Walker's name.

The business of providing supplies for the U.S. Army alone can bring hundreds of millions of dollars of benefits to the democrats, and it can be said that Russell's first appearance on the stage of American justice created a record of clean republicans!

All communities of democratic interest owe Russell Walker a debt of gratitude.

Back at the table, Franklin reminded him to be careful of republican retaliation.

"They don't have the guts to trouble me, because I do have their handles, but they can't be given to anyone else, including Mr. Astor......"

Astor smiled: "I understand what you mean, Walker, you are a smart man, and the handle will only be safe in your own hands, otherwise the closest people around you will betray you." ”

"You're really a good fit for Masaharu." Franklin commented.

Russell lit a cigarette and said, "I don't want to participate either, but if I want to survive in the United States, I have to get involved, otherwise my business will be devoured and I won't even have bones left." ”

--

1917 year, February.

As a result of the scandal caused by Harding, the Republicans' original candidates who had been scheduled to run for 16 years were replaced by Charles Evans Hughes and his partner Fairbanks.

Charles was the Governor of New York and Chief Justice of the United States.

It's just that the timing of his campaign was bad, so Thomas was re-elected.

The Republicans are angry about this and are bound to win the next election!

They sent Harding's mistress, Phillips, and her husband to the Japanese island nation and gave them a 'long vacation'.

We are well prepared for the next Harding and John partnership election.

On this day,

Russell invited Astor, Franklin, and Garner to the house for dinner. Ghana was a good friend of Franklin and a two-term vice president during his tenure.

It is a pity that Franklin's old father, James, passed away......

At the table, everyone took their seats and tasted Russell's own grilled steak and leg of lamb.

"It tastes so good! Walker, you must have been a chef in your last life. Garner complimented.

Franklin laughed and said, "Cooks don't cook as well as Walker." ”

After a short chat, they talked about the current situation in the United States.

Franklin was very well-informed as an assistant secretary in the Navy.

"A few days ago, British naval intelligence intercepted a telegram encrypted in Germany's top diplomatic code, and the secret message came from German Foreign Minister Arthur."

"The message was addressed to the German ambassador in Washington, D.C., and was forwarded to the German ambassador to Mexico, and finally to the president of Mexico."

"When the secret message was revealed, we were all shocked. Because Germany, in order to prevent us from entering the war, actually suggested that Mexico invade the United States! And promised to help Mexico take Texas, New Mexico and Arizona from us! ”

"It's a fool of us!"

Garner asked, "What did Thomas say?" ”

"He will make the news public in a while, and then test the attitude of the republicans, and if the attitude is the same, he will definitely go to war."

Astor said, "How long will that take?" ”

At this time, Russell, who was sitting on the throne and was speechless, said: "It will be at least a month, and if you go to war, it will be about the beginning of April." ”

"Walker, what do you think about the war?"

Russell said solemnly: "Personally, I don't like war very much, because many innocent people have died. But I'm also a businessman, and if this war has to be fought, then I don't mind making some money from it. ”

"Haha... Walker, you are indeed a businessman. ”

"If the United States were going to go to war, we wouldn't have much time left, and maybe we should stop shipping and go all out to fund the Army, so we could have a lot of money left over and make more!" ”

Franklin nodded: "Once the war is entered, the navy will definitely have to move, and the navy I am responsible for building will be put into the battlefield, maybe I can propose to the minister to take a share of the military supplies." ”

"I will also give my full support." Ghana stated.

All of you here agreed, because most of the people who could be invited to the banquet by Russell were people from the new democratic school.

The new faction was mostly young, consisting of Franklin, Garner, Cox, Davis, Smith and others, all of whom had run for president, but only a handful had made it to chance.

Russell is the youngest, he is only 26 years old less than two years after graduating from college, while everyone else is in their 30s and is about to run for 40......

The New Faction, also known as the Young Democrats, was involved in it at the age of less than 30 and was trusted and prestigious, and it was precisely because of his unique vision that he brought them great benefits......

Of course, the main reason is the association in his hands!

When it comes time to campaign, who would dare to say that Russell's association is not needed? That's seven associations with nearly 200,000 people!

Sure enough, on March 1, Thomas released the 'cipher' information, which caused outrage among the Americans.

Because in February, Germany announced the implementation of unrestricted submarine warfare...... Earlier, German submarines had sunk a yacht with more than a hundred American citizens on board.

For various reasons, Americans hated Germany very much, so for several days in a row, the White House was full of people coming and busy with meetings......

Eventually, Congress unanimously agreed to enter the war on April 6.

During this period, Astor was not idle as the head of the 'New York Consortium', he first contacted the Army's Quartermaster General and signed a material contract.

Under Franklin's introduction, a contract was signed with the Navy.

These two contracts account for 68% of the military supplies of the U.S. Army and 42% of the Navy, which happens to be the same as the Republican faction.

As for the Air Force? At present, the US Air Force has only about 250 aircraft, which is not among the top 10 in the global air force...... Don't talk about it.

In the next few months, the United States issued mobilization orders, expanding the Army, which was originally less than 300,000 troops, to 700,000, and another 3 million people were drafted into the army.

At this time, the mobilization of the United States was very strong, after all, everyone who came to the United States had the American dream in their hearts.

With so many people enlisted, military supplies became very tight.

Russell told Franklin that he really couldn't get military supplies, so he went to Britain and France to ask for them, anyway, they bought a lot of weapons from the United States, and instead of putting them in warehouses to rust, it was better to take them out and provide them to the American army.

The suggestion soon reached Thomas, who contacted Britain and France, and after a few days of talks, they agreed to the idea of providing weapons and uniforms for the American army.

This has greatly eased the pressure on the US military.

Why would Britain and France agree? Because of the participation of the US army, the morale of the British and French soldiers was high, and they fought a lot of courage on the front line, and many tough battles were fought during this period.

But the U.S. military suffered heavy casualties as soon as it arrived in Europe, because these soldiers who were called up for the army had never been trained and had very poor combat effectiveness!

Britain and France felt that this would not work, so they asked French soldiers to take charge of the military training of the US army......

On August 14, the country of the East was invited by the United States to formally declare war on Germany, and then sent more than 100,000 laborers to the European battlefield.

On January 8, 1918, Thomas proposed the Fourteen Points of Peace, which was the premise for Germany to want peace talks!

Then in July, the German offensive against the Entente in the Marne region failed miserably, and the Entente began a major counteroffensive!

It was not until November 11 that Germany officially announced its surrender, and the First World War ended.

On the 15th, Astor, Franklin, Russell and others were invited by Vice President Marshall to attend a banquet in Washington.

It's said to be a banquet, but it's actually a carnival for the profiteers!

The United States profited greatly from the war, with 40% of the world's gold reserves flowing into the hands of the United States, and the Allies owed the United States $10 billion in war debt.

The Morgan consortium controlled the tin mines in Bolivia, and the Rockefeller controlled oil and rubber in Mexico.

The New York consortium led by Astor obtained the coffee and shipping channels in Brazil......

In less than two years, more than 20,000 millionaires have been born in the United States.

And the members of the consortium have also changed from millions, tens of millions, to tens of millions, billionaires!

Russell's family business, which was originally less than $70 million before entering the war, has now reached nearly $200 million.

Become a veritable billionaire!

At this banquet, Russell also met Thomas, and learned through the small talk of Franklin and others that Thomas revealed to them that the nether campaign might fail.

Because the democrats profited a lot from this war, this made the republicans very angry.

To strike a balance, Thomas suggested that Cox and Franklin run for nether presidency in order to ensure that their gains were not taken away from them.

Thomas also advised Russell to wait, after all, he is less than 30 years old, and if he runs at this time, he is likely to lose, after all, the people do not want to let someone who does not look very stable lead them to rich.

Originally, Russell thought so, anyway, he was young and had a lot of time to waste, so he just took advantage of his free time to make more money.

Thomas also thanked Russell for his advice, and if it was his advice, Thomas really felt powerless at that time. I thought that Britain and France would not agree to provide weapons and uniforms to the US military for free, but I didn't expect them to agree.

In fact, it is very simple, the war has been fought for a long time, Britain and France are quite tired, and at this time it is very morale-boosting to bring in an ally who looks strong.

Britain and France also did not want to see the American troops dressed in tatters, which would demoralize the soldiers......

On the way back to New York.

Franklin looked at Russell and asked, "Do you think I'm going to come out on top in this race?" ”

Russell shook his head.

"You don't think well of me?"

"I'm optimistic about you, Franklin. But for all sorts of reasons, you and Cox won't succeed...... The reasons are complex. ”

Cox asked, "Why?" If you take Harding's handle out, he won't be able to beat us. ”

Russell looked at the two and sighed, "From Thomas's words, you can analyze the reason, he must have made an agreement with the Republicans." ”

Franklin was stunned and a little excited: "He betrayed us? ”