"Mr. President, it's not appropriate for you to let the IRS check on me now, right?"

At a reception hosted by Astor's mother, Rockefeller found President McKinley, who was biting Hannah's ear.

He was not polite at all, and questioned the president in front of Hannah.

McKinley frowned.

This behavior of the oil tycoons is actually inappropriate.

questioned the president in public, and those who didn't know thought that the two had turned their faces.

But fortunately, there were not many people around, and Rockefeller's voice was not too loud.

Mr. President is still very self-contained.

He said goodbye to Hannah briefly, then raised the glass of champagne in his hand and motioned for Rockefeller to follow him.

The two entered a small room on the side of the hall.

Mr. President closed the door.

"What are you talking about? Mr. Rockefeller, tax audit? He looked at the oil tycoon in disbelief.

"Mr. President, do you really not know or do you not know? The IRS Commissioner, Mr. Danny Green, has gone to court to apply for an order of investigation against us. ”

Rockefeller tried to calm himself.

"Please forgive me for my presumptuousness, if it weren't for the urgency of the situation, I wouldn't have lost my temper so much."

McKinley was a little dazed:

"Danny never told me about it, he only told me that he got the ledger and I was hoping that he would find a breakthrough with Chen's company."

"But he didn't tell you which company's ledger he got from, did he?" Rockefeller gritted his back molars.

He waved his hands and gestured to the president:

"Listen, William, Chan is an ambitious heretic, do you know what it means to be a heretic? It means that He doesn't believe in what we believe, and if we don't fix Him, He will fix us. ”

"My ideas are not as extreme as yours, Mr. Rockefeller." The president took a deep breath, "I just don't want to see this country being dominated by arms dealers, it's horrible." ”

"We should be tougher, for example, find a way to issue some decrees to cut off his sources of income and supplies!" Rockefeller said, "We must try to awaken the conscience of those patriots!" ”

"Listen, Mr. Rockefeller, it's not a good choice to use tough means now, you can only take it step by step, as long as I am still in the position of president, Chen Jianqiu will not be able to turn the sky!"

McKinley tried to calm the anxieties of the oil barons.

But Rockefeller saw it very clearly.

If Chen Jianqiu continues to develop like this, sooner or later he will one day kill himself like Henry Dupont.

"Well, I'll go ask Green first and see what's going on." McKinley patted Rockefeller on the shoulder, "Remember, extreme means won't solve the problem now." ”

The two men walked out of the room together, only to be confronted by the last person they wanted to see.

Chen Jianqiu was holding champagne in his hand and was chatting with little Astor and Hannah.

Seeing the president and the oil tycoon coming out of the small room, Chen Jianqiu smiled and waved at them:

"Hey! Mr. President! ”

McKinley walked up to the three people with a spring breeze on his face and shook Chen Jianqiu's hand:

"Mr. Chen, I haven't seen you for a long time, how are you doing lately?"

"Not bad, thank you so much for keeping me in mind." Chen Jianqiu said with a smile on his face.

The president was scolding his mother in his heart, but his face didn't show it at all:

"Your performance in Cuba is really impressive, and the act of going to war for your country is really moving."

Chen Jianqiu replied "modestly": "I just did my best and made some insignificant contributions. ”

After talking for a while, McKinley made an excuse and left, leaving the oil tycoon.

"I heard that you have been in some trouble lately, sir, is there anything that can help you?" Chen Jianqiu's smile was still there.

Rockefeller didn't have the same good culture as McKinley.

The smile on his face was already a bit like papier-mâché.

"No, thank you very much, you are such a 'warm-hearted' person." The oil tycoon said almost through gritted teeth.

With that, he walked away.

"He doesn't seem to be very happy." Chen Jianqiu looked at Rockefeller's back and pursed his lips.

Astor Jr. and Hannah glanced at each other.

"He's been pretty miserable lately, and the antitrust matter has been targeted by Roosevelt and Taft, and he has been checked by President McKinley for taxes." Little Astor shook his head, "I was probably talking to McKinley about this in the house just now." ”

"Tax audit? What taxes to check? ”

Hannah looked at Astor Jr. in confusion, apparently unaware that the IRS was eyeing Rockefeller.

"Maybe the feng shui of the office building is not good." Chen Jianqiu said.

Next, he began to popularize Chinese feng shui knowledge to little Astor and Hannah, and the two of them were dumbfounded.

"Chen, look at the furnishings of my hotel, there is nothing to adjust." Little Astor said, pointing to his palatial hotel lobby.

"I'll ask the master to help you take a look when I'm free." Chen Jianqiu said happily.

He suddenly retracted his smile and turned to Hannah:

"Mr. MP, in the election in half a year, the party still intends to support McKinley, right?"

Hannah and Astor Jr. were taken aback.

Hanna pondered for a long time.

He glanced at Chen Jianqiu again, and quickly sorted out what had happened in his mind after a long period of time.

"Yes, Mr. Chen." Hannah replied in the affirmative.

"No one can shake McKinley's position in the party at the moment, and the recent war and economic recovery have made him a growing reputation at home, and the party is very supportive of him."

"People like Morgan and Rockefeller are also very supportive of him, and I hope you can look at the big picture and don't embarrass me on this issue."

Hannah said earnestly.

He was still thinking about when he would be able to officially talk to Chen Jianqiu about this topic, but he didn't expect Chen Jianqiu to bring it up by himself today, so he didn't hide it and told his thoughts truthfully.

Unexpectedly, Chen Jianqiu's answer was very crisp.

"No problem, I support him too."

Hannah's hanging heart fell.

He didn't want Chen Jianqiu to stir up the situation at this time and let people like Brian in the Democratic Party take advantage of it, nor did he want his interests in Chen Jianqiu to be harmed.

Chen Jianqiu can understand the general situation, that is the best.

But Boss Chen suddenly changed his words:

"But I hope that Mr. Roosevelt will be President McKinley's running mate in the office of vice president."

Hannah's hand holding the champagne trembled.

He was opposed to Chen Jianqiu's proposal.

For one thing, he himself had some opinions about Roosevelt.

Hannah thought Roosevelt was too impatient and showy to fit his definition of a mature politician.

Second, tycoons like Rockefeller and Morgan would never agree to Roosevelt going further.

Roosevelt was in favor of breaking up the monopoly trust, and now he is just serving as governor of New York, and he is choking to the death with Rockefeller.

If you don't do it well, it will shake the foundation of the Republican Party.

"Mr. Chen, I know that Roosevelt and you have a good relationship, but after all, this is a matter within the Republican Party, and there are some situations that you may not be aware of."

Hannah's words sounded polite, but they were a bogey.

It roughly means "this is an internal matter of our Republican Party, and you who are not even a member of the Party should not get involved." ”

The smile on Chen Jianqiu's face was still there, but it was already a little cold.

"Mr. Councillor, I am not consulting with you, but informing; If this demand is not met, then I will do everything in my power to support Governor Rooscher's candidacy for president! ”

"As you said, I don't care if the Republican Party is in power, Governor Rooscher has a lot of supporters in the party, and if necessary, we will choose to form a separate party to run."

Hannah was stunned.

He hurriedly said: "Mr. Chen, you should understand that this kind of behavior is futile, and without the support of the Republican Party, it is impossible for Governor Rooscher to succeed in the election!" ”

Chen Jianqiu laughed.

"So what? Even if Mr. Roosevelt can't run for election, there will be opportunities later, but without Mr. Roosevelt's followers, it won't be so easy for President McKinley to be re-elected, right? ”

The expression on Hannah's face froze instantly.

Isn't it that easy? There is a high probability that the Republican Party will lose the presidency!

The Spanish-American War not only brought glory to McKinley, but Roosevelt became an American hero.

His navy shone brightly, and his own heroism in Cuba was charismatic.

Once his group of people was diverted, coupled with Chen Jianqiu's energy in the west.

You know, Bryan of the Democratic Party is preparing to make a comeback!

Hannah couldn't even think about it.

He stared at Chen Jianqiu and found that Chen Jianqiu was also looking at him.

According to his understanding of this Chinese leader, Chen Jianqiu said so and will do the same!

"Is there a compromise?" Hanna tried to negotiate, hoping that Chen Jianqiu would take a step back.

But today Chen Jianqiu is terrifyingly strong.

"No, Mr. Hannah, it's already a compromise."

"Let me think about it." Hannah turned and walked away.

There are only two people left, Little Astor and Chen Jianqiu.

"Is it appropriate to force him like this?" Little Astor asked with some trepidation, "After all, Hannah is a Republican leader with a head and a face, and he is also our ally. Wouldn't that push him to the other side? ”

Chen Jianqiu smiled "hehe".

"This kind of person will never give up his own interests, if you don't force him, he will think you are easy to talk to." He said.

The day after the dinner, Mr. President returned to Washington, D.C., while Hanna remained in New York.

The first thing the president did when he returned to Washington was to call IRS Director Greene to his office.

"You're going to check on Standard Oil?" McKinley gets straight to the point.

"yes, I've got a lot of questions." Director Green did not shy away from it in the slightest, and replied proudly.

"Who told you to investigate Rockefeller?" The president held back his anger, "Didn't I ask you to check on Chen Jianqiu?" ”

"Chen Jianqiu, I also checked!" Green calmly replied, "There is nothing wrong with his accounts, there is no tax evasion!" ”

"How is that possible?" McKinley erupted, "He's got such a big business!" The guns have been sold abroad, how can it be that only the last time you reported it to me?! ”

"His profits are low, and some of them are losing money, Mr. President." Green replied disapprovingly.

"His workers are paid more than others, and the price of raw materials such as saltpeter is also very high, so the profit is very thin."

"Saltpeter? Didn't he import saltpeter in Chile himself? "The president found Green's explanation difficult to convince him.

"But the company he imports saltpeter is registered in the United Kingdom, and the phosphate and iron ore companies are registered in Mexico." Green spread his hands, "His actions are legal." ”

McKinley was silent.

If he had known that Chen Jianqiu had dozens of companies registered in the Netherlands, Germany and France, he would have been silent for longer.

It was through these companies that Chen Jianqiu poured arms into places like South Africa and Russia.

After thinking for a moment, McKinley spoke again:

"Then there must be something wrong with the tariffs he imports, why don't we check his tariffs." Mr. President asked.

"That's a customs business, I can't control it." Green spread his hands again, "On the contrary, it is Standard Oil, which takes advantage of the different laws of each state, and does a lot of things to take advantage of legal loopholes, and even some data is directly incompatible." ”

Then he began to gush on and on about Rockefeller's tax evasion.

The president suddenly found a problem.

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue spoke with great confidence today.

"Mr. Green, let's not talk about this for now, the order I gave you is Cha Chen's company, right? But I only saw that you applied to the court for an investigation order against Standard Oil, how did you come up with the conclusion about Chen Jianqiu? ”

The president decided to pull the core of the problem back, or else he would have to be led astray by Green.

"It's as you command! Dark! Visit! Target! Green said in a long voice.

"Is the data from the undercover interview real? By what means? The president continued to ask.

Who knows, the IRS director exploded in an instant.

"Smack!" He slammed the president's desk.

"Mr. President, I hope you do not insult my professionalism and professionalism!" "The IRS won't let anyone pay their taxes honestly, but it won't wronged a taxpayer who pays honestly!" Green yelled.

McKinley was taken aback.

It was the first time since he became president that someone had slapped a desk in his office.

"Your attitude is very bad, Mr. Green, and you should be respectful of your boss in any situation!"

Mr. President was also angry.

He does not slap the table, but expresses his displeasure in another way.

"You can go, and I'll work with the rest of the Cabinet to reassess whether you have what it takes to lead the IRS."

The president pointed to the office door and issued an eviction order.

"So, Mr. President, you're threatening me, aren't you?" Green stood still, staring at McKinley with a sneering expression.

"Your anger cannot hide your incompetence and your despicable character! America should be sad to have a narrow-minded president like you"

What the director said was getting worse and harder.

A man who has been given a long-term meal ticket has always been brave on this kind of issue, not to mention that McKinley had previously planned to take him to the top of the tank.

If you don't want to, you're just!

"Isn't it the director of the IRS, it's not appropriate, I'm ashamed to be in the company of people like you!"

"Smack!"

Finally, President McKinley, who is usually polite and mild-mannered, was also enraged.

He slammed the table, and the roar echoed through the first floor of the White House.

"Get out of my office! Get lost! ”