1883, New York, end of December.

A snowstorm came suddenly, and the whole of New York City was covered in snow, and it was white.

There were snowflakes in the sky and few pedestrians on the road.

At this time, everyone prefers to stay in the house and bake the fire rather than get their noses frozen outside.

"Jingle bells."

A lavishly decorated carriage stopped at the door of a building, and behind the carriage was a group of men in black on horseback.

"Sir, we're here."

The groom who was driving gently knocked on the window of the carriage and said to the inside of the carriage.

There were a few slight coughs from the carriage.

Subsequently, the door of the carriage was opened.

An old man in an overcoat stepped out of the car.

Although it can be seen from the white beard that he has been reduced to one with the heavy snow around him, he is already very old.

But the old man still tried to straighten his waist.

Henry DuPont came to New York for the first time in the ten years since he formed the National Gunpowder Association.

At that time, the association set up its headquarters in New York to facilitate some business matters.

But people in the industry understand that the real headquarters is in Delaware.

For the past 10 years, every resolution of the association has come from Henry DuPont's office.

But this year is different.

DuPont and Henry DuPont have been through so much in the past year.

The explosion on the Delaware River, while blowing up the future of DuPont, also had a lot of implications for it.

First of all, a group of excellent technicians were killed in this accident.

Second, the accident caused extremely serious pollution to the lower reaches of the Delaware River.

Local residents are using this as an excuse to sue the Rapano explosives factory, which has turned to ashes, and its parent company.

In addition, the collapse of American businessmen in the international saltpeter market has led to a significant increase in costs.

Coupled with the impact of smokeless gunpowder and yellow explosives on the market.

There was a dark tide surging in the seemingly unbreakable Gunpowder Association.

And this meeting in New York is a case in point.

Henry DuPont didn't want to come to New York.

Meetings of the Gunpowder Association are convened by and only by the DuPont family.

A meeting without him is meaningless; Without his approval of the resolution, a piece of waste paper.

But the old man thought about it later and decided to come here.

Because, he wants to see what kind of farce these clowns are doing, and then dispel their thoughts with a thunderous force to stabilize the situation.

He's not dead Henry Dupont!

The old man walked up the steps surrounded by everyone.

But when he walked to the gate, it suddenly occurred to him that he seemed to have seen something when he just got out of the car.

He stopped, turned his head, and looked across the street.

"What is this?" He pointed to the two statues at the entrance of the building opposite.

The crowd followed the direction he pointed.

"It's, like, as if it's some kind of Oriental animal." One person said.

The statue is carved out of stone, with curly hair, bared teeth, and angry eyes.

"Hi~ It's two stone lions, the carving style on the Chinese side." An entourage who had been to China said disapprovingly.

Henry Dupont had a sense of foreboding.

"When did you move here?"

The entourage shook their heads, most of them were usually in Delaware, and they didn't come to New York much.

"Master, let's go up first." One of the attendants said, "It's too cold outside, and you're sick."

"I'm fine!" The old man looked displeased.

He straightened his back and turned and walked into the building.

The people of DuPont led the way to the conference hall by Henry.

It was very warm in the conference hall.

This is because the building is equipped with the latest steam heating equipment instead of a fireplace.

The entourage next to him took off his thick tweed coat for Henry Dupont, revealing the black suit underneath.

The old man's sharp gaze swept towards the hall, not angry.

The round table was almost full, and representatives of all the member companies of the Gunpowder Association came.

Among them were the other two of the "Big Three" of the Gunpowder Association, the Hazard Company, and the California Gunpowder Company on the West Coast.

Henry Dupont said nothing, and walked straight to the main seat facing the door.

This position has always been his.

However, when he sat down, he found that there was a vacant seat opposite him.

The old man waved his hand and motioned to his men to close the door before removing the chair from that position.

The boss of Hazard's company, the elder Hadze, shook his cheeks, but didn't say anything.

"The first of our agenda items today is to consider inviting the Roswell Gunpowder Company to join the association."

The president of the association handed a document to the table in front of Henry.

The old man found that in front of everyone on the table, there was an identical document.

He snorted, and instead of looking at the document, he looked around at the crowd and spoke:

"As I said, the door of the association is always open to them, as long as they are willing to accept the resolutions and arrangements of the association."

"Each of your companies has voting rights with different weights, and I'm fair, aren't I?"

Old Henry showed his generosity.

The bidding power of the Gunpowder Association is divided between the three companies of DuPont with 10 votes each, and the remaining 14 votes are divided among the remaining companies.

But in fact, the stake in the California Gunpowder Company had been secretly acquired by Henry DuPont; And the Hazard company has always worn the same pants as old Henry.

And those small companies, even if they want to rebel, don't say if they get the vote or not, he can turn around and let the traitors be physically destroyed.

It was also a source of his confidence.

All the people in the hall, you look at me, I look at you.

The chairman was a little embarrassed, and he glared at the entourage behind old Henry.

The entourage understood what the chairman meant.

He walked over to the old man and flipped through the papers on the table for him.

Henry Dupont glanced at his entourage.

He was not satisfied with the man's self-haul.

But when his gaze swept roughly over the contents of the document, his brow furrowed:

When Roswell Gunpowder joined the association, it received 10 votes

"Who drafted this?" Old Henry picked up the papers on the table and questioned everyone in the chamber.

It was not loud, but with a hint of anger.

He looked at the chairman: "Did you plan it?" ”

The chairman's head shook like a rattle.

Don't dare to do this if you kill him!

"I will."

Old Hadzer owed, looked at Henry Dupont, and said.

The conference hall was instantly quiet, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Old Henry stared at his old partner.

If vision could kill, old Hadze must be dead by now.

He never expected that it would be this person who usually seemed to be submissive and stabbed him in the back.

Hadzer was not at all stunned by the murderous gaze on the other side, and he said slowly:

"You're also buying a stake in my company privately, right?"

Henry Dupont was irrefutable, because he was doing it.

But can you keep a company and be on an equal footing with yourself? Isn't it normal for the jungle to be the strongest?

Hadzer's gaze continued to be on the same page as that of old Henry.

He continued:

"Henry, the black powder is about to be eliminated, the saltpeter market is monopolized by the British, and two-thirds of the goods that come out of them will be skinned by Rockefeller's Mobil Company, and our profits have fallen beyond their means!"

Representatives of other companies in the hall, some were talking, others were not talking, and seemed to remain neutral.

This is to rebel!

Old Henry didn't have much meat left, and his inelastic cheeks began to shake.

"So, let's vote!"

What future? What saltpeter? Sounding! Obviously, he just wants to pull someone into the game to rebel! Does that Chinese businessman have this qualification?

"So, let's vote!"

He stood up:

"If you agree with this proposal, please raise your hand!"

Old Hadzer raised his hand.

A few small companies also slowly raised their hands.

Representatives of California companies, not in the slightest;

Other small companies are still hesitating.

"Three!"

"Two!"

Old Henry's last "one" has not yet been spoken.

The door to the conference hall was suddenly pushed open.

A man walked in, and with him came the door, and his hearty laughter:

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! The snow was heavy and came a little late. ”

(End of chapter)