The welcome party is located in the manor of a wealthy businessman named Subi Jones in Cleveland. Subi is a shipbuilding businessman who mainly produces various types of inner lakes (inland rivers) ships in his factory. At the same time, he also owns a small section of railways. Before the economic crisis, he was the leader in the Cleveland business world. After the crisis broke out, although he managed it well and responded well, he still suffered some losses. However, because others lost more, he seemed to be richer in relative terms. So he took advantage of the opportunity of bankruptcy by a large number of people.

, He even further expanded his industry - he acquired another railway for a very low price. People believe that after the crisis, his assets will definitely grow significantly. Mr. Subi is an old Whig, a staunch abolitionist. Although he has also said such things as "the intelligence of the niggers is between humans and gorillas, and even closer to gorillas, so don't expect them to be competent for any complicated jobs - even if they use garden saws and saws of wood - they can only do some stupid things like carts and transporting wood."

Scrooge and Rockefeller and Gardner arrived at the door of Mr. Sube’s manor together in a carriage. This was a European-style building with white walls and black iron gates. As soon as the carriage stopped, a black waiter in uniform came forward to pull the door so that the passengers could get out of the car.

"How come there are black slaves here?" Scozhi asked Gardner in a low voice.

"That's not a black slave, but a black waiter, a free black man who ran out of the south. Mr. Subi was a determined abolitionist. Many black men who came to the north through the underground railway to pursue freedom had received his help and had the opportunity to work freely in his factories or other businesses. If it weren't for the damn Escape Slave Act, more black men would have received his help." Gardner replied.

Scrooge knew that the "Escape Slave Act" that Gardner mentioned did not refer to the "Escape Slave Act" that had more than 300 slaves (60% of whom were female slaves) who liked to pull out the teeth of black slaves and exchanged them for their own cherry-falling axe, Washington signed. Instead, in 1850, in order to stop more and more slaves from fleeing to the abolition states in the north, with the support of southern forces, the enhanced version of the "Escape Slave Act" passed with the support of southern forces. That bill even allowed slave owners from southern states to go to the free states in the north to hunt down the fugitive slaves and take them back to the south.

When Gardner showed the invitation at the door, a servant shouted: "Mr. Gardner, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Scrooge." This kind of behavior is a bit like those southern slave owners who claim to be nobles.

Walking into the black-painted iron gate, there is a group of fountains. In the center of the fountain is a marble statue. Scrooge recognized it as a copy of the "bound slave" of the great Michelangelo. This statue depicts a slave who is fighting to the death. Mr. Subi put it in this position, and the intention can be imagined.

Bypassing the fountain and the statue, it is a small building with a Romanesque porch. Although it is far from the Van der Fast mansion in terms of momentum, it is obviously imitating its style.

The owner Subi was greeting the guests at the door. He was a tall and thin man, who looked about 1.8 meters tall. His thin face had deep wrinkles like chisels. His two small eyes were particularly energetic, like a hawk.

As Scotch and the others walked towards the building, Mr. Subi was talking to several other guests, but he obviously saw Scotch and the others - in fact, there was a big guy Gardner here, and it was not easy to be conspicuous. So Subi whispered a few more words to the guests, then turned his head and greeted him with a smile.

"Ah, welcome, Gardner! My old friend!"

"Thank you for your hospitality too!" Gardner also walked up to shake hands with Subi with a smile, and introduced his two fellow travelers to him.

"This is my friend Rockefeller, a very hardworking and capable businessman."

"Ah, I've heard of you." Subi held Rockefeller's hand. "Under today's economic situation, the companies you lead can continue to make profits. This is really amazing. If you don't have your own company, I want to hire you as my business manager."

"You've been awarded," said Rockefeller. "Scrozhi and several other friends have studied your recent investment activities together. We all think that your recent acquisition of railways is extremely classic and will be used as a successful case in business schools in various universities for later generations to learn."

"What do you think of this acquisition?" A curious light flashed in Subi's little eyes. "Many people are not optimistic about my acquisition. They think I'm playing with fire."

"The crisis cannot last forever. The value of that railway is far more than the current price. Some mediocre people were scared by the temporary crisis and thought it was really the end of the world. The views of these cowards are not worth mentioning, and they will be scared to death by the phantoms they imagined. If I could have that amount of money, I would join the acquisition of the railway." Rockefeller said.

In fact, anyone likes to hear others flatter themselves. Even those who claim to hate flattering the most. The so-called people who don’t like others flattering themselves are just because the person who pats him did not get the point and wanted to flatter them, but they all slapped the horse’s hoof. Everyone has the things they value the most and are most proud of in their hearts. Sometimes, they always like to hide it and deliberately do not express it. But if you praise these aspects of him at this time, well, you will definitely make him feel comfortable.

The same is true for Subi. The acquisition of railways in the crisis was his most proud investment, but this investment has not made money for him, and many people are still attacking him for being confused. At this time, he was of course very happy to hear such comments.

"Young man is good! Do it well! You will all become a monster." Subi encouraged Rockefeller as his predecessor. Of course, decades later, when the old Subi stepped down to take care of his grandson, he told him that his eyes were fierce and he could tell at a glance that Scrooge and Rockefeller were not things in the pool. Although when he said this, he was mainly just polite. In fact, many of the so-called wise eyes in history were of this type.

"Mr. Subbie, this is the one Mr. Scrooge you, Terbie, asked me to bring me with you." Gardner continued to introduce his fellow travelers to Subbie.

"Hello, Mr. Subi!" Scrooge held Subi's hand.

"Ah, Scotch. I really didn't expect you to be so... so young. Your performance in grain futures and arms acquisition companies even made me tremble all over. You are so young. In the future, Cleveland and even the entire American arms dealer will tremble in your shadow for a long time. I must warn my son to never be an arms dealer." Subi felt that his evaluation of Scotch was high enough, but even he did not expect that the shadow of this child would be so long and wide in the future.

"If you are too much, you will praise me." Scrooge said.

"If you can be praised, I dare say that arms merchants across the United States will come to praise you. Well, I heard Clark talk about your outlook for the future of the United States. Do you think there will be a civil war in the United States?" Subi said.

Scozhi thought about it for a moment and replied, "Yes, sir. I think this war is inevitable." Subi is a businessman in the transportation industry. Transportation of both railways and inland rivers is very important for war. For him, a war that will inevitably win is not a bad thing.

"Ah, many people have been saying that we should avoid war as much as possible, and for this we should try our best to reach a compromise with the South. Scrooge, what do you think of this issue?" Subi continued to ask.

"I certainly support the efforts to avoid war. If the Southerners are not so arrogant and are willing to discuss with us rationally, respect the basic principles of the Declaration of Independence, abolish the inhuman slavery, and work together to protect the interests of American businesses, we certainly do not want civil war. But if they refuse this arbitrarily, and move against the historical trend for their own selfish interests, continue to violate the spirit of the founding of the United States, and give the United States

Smearing on our faces, then, in order to safeguard the "self-evident truth" of "all people are born equal", we can even face the armed army of the most powerful empire in the world without fear. Are we still afraid of those separatist rebels? We have always waved olive branches, please do not let the olive branches slip out of our hands." Scrooge immediately gave a righteous and loud answer to this question.

"Well said! You said everything I wanted to say. It seems that you are such a natural Republican. How about you? Are you interested in joining our Republican Party?" Subi sent an invitation to Scozhi. "Although in principle, we don't absorb minors, if you want, it's not a big problem."

"My father was a firm Whig supporter (actually, Joseph did not have obvious political inclinations, but Scrooge felt that as a Protestant father, there was a greater possibility of supporting the Whigs), and I was willing to join any organization that was loyal to God and the ideals of the founding of the United States." Although the National Party is now governing, it is obvious that the economic crisis and the incompetence of the Buchanan government in the economic crisis have angered most of the northerners, and his attempt to mix between the north and the south has not obtained the South.

People's identification. Some radical Southerners even called him a traitor because he was unwilling to use federal violence to ensure that the implementation of the "Escaped Slave Act" was not obstructed. Therefore, in the next election, whether the Democrats can guarantee that they will not be divided is a question. The Republican Party, which has basically completed the integration, will surely win a great victory after receiving the blessing of the 57-year crisis. Moreover, Scrooge knew that the Republican Party would be in power for a long time not only in the next election, but also decades after the war. Joining the Republican Party is definitely the right choice.
Chapter completed!