pjbooks Chapter 32 Hoover's Rise to Wealth
Chapter 32 Hoover's Rise to Wealth
"No, she invited me for coffee, and she said you two are friends."
"Is that so..." Jia was slightly taken aback, then murmured to herself, "We're not friends, at least not now."
However, Luther didn't care about these things. Instead, he asked Gia why she knew such trivial matters.
You should know that the last time Luther brought Gia to school, he did nothing except lend a hand to that poor black man (William Robinson).
He chatted with William for a while, and then went to sell antiques. He did it discreetly, so no one should know.
"A friend told me," Jia replied casually.
"Which friend?"
"A Chinese student studying abroad, you just don't know him."
"Have you made friends with Chinese students studying abroad?"
Luther wasn't particularly surprised by Gia's answer; what truly surprised him was that Gia could befriend a Chinese student.
It's important to understand that discrimination was common, even pervasive, in the United States during the 20s. Unsharp discriminated against the Irish and Italians, the Irish could discriminate against Black people, and Black people could discriminate against Chinese laborers. This series of events led to Chinese people being treated almost as less than human in China.
This will be better for international students coming to study, but don't expect it to be much better.
But the next moment, Gia explained:
"This is nothing. Wanying's family has some connections in China, which might be beneficial to me. Maybe I'll be able to make a fortune in China in the future."
Gia's words were clearly taken from Hoover, the Commerce Minister who had done some business in China and made a fortune.
If you ask what kind of business it was, it's actually quite simple: a small-scale fraud and robbery.
The coal mine they robbed was called Kaiping Coal Mine, which was the largest and most advanced coal mine in China at the time. It was founded by Li Hongzhang and managed by the unfortunate Zhang Yi.
Later, due to poor management, they had to borrow a large amount of money from the Molin Company, which was recommended by Cui Delin, and Hoover was an engineer sent by the Molin Company.
Taking advantage of the chaos of the Boxer Rebellion, he and an Englishman named Teddy Lin directly accused Zhang Yi, the head of the coal mine, of "colluding with the enemy" and then imprisoned him.
Afterwards, Cui Delin pretended to visit Zhang Yi and successfully "rescued" him.
Thus, under the combined coaxing and deception of Cui Delin and Hu Fu, Zhang Yi, who was already terrified, signed a "Contract for the Sale of Kaiping Mining Bureau," selling the assets of the Kaiping Coal Mine to Molin Company, which was behind Hu Fu, at an extremely low price.
Hoover earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from this single deal.
Keep in mind that this was hundreds of thousands in 1900—that's an incredible number!
After that, Hoover used the money to invest everywhere, helping people find mineral veins, and gradually accumulated wealth, becoming one of America's richest people.
This matter is little known in China, but it is widely known in the United States. Many wealthy Americans want to do business with China, and the Kennedy family is no exception.
That's why Jia, who was still in college, began to pay attention and even intentionally paved the way for herself.
Hearing this, Luther smiled and said, "That's true."
He didn't pry too much into who Jia's Chinese classmate was; with his gossipy nature, he was practically the real-life Bing Xin (a famous Chinese writer).
Of course, at this time she wasn't called Bing Xin yet, she was called Xie Wanying.
As for the great battle between her and Lin Huiyin and others, that would have to wait a few years, starting with "The Lady's Salon," but Luther had no interest in such trivial matters.
Scholars have always been the most boring people; they either complain or attack each other. They are either looking for trouble or on their way to looking for trouble.
He then spoke a few more words to Jia before driving away.
On the way back, Luther went to see William Robinson again. His injuries had almost healed, the bandages had been removed, and he looked particularly energetic.
"Mr. Luther, I have some great news to tell you! Wellesley has started to accept me! This is fantastic news!"
"Just yesterday, I received a job offer from the women's college to help clean the roof of the teaching building. What a huge trust that is!"
William beamed with joy; even the slightest bit of sweetness was enough to make him forget all the pain of the past.
In special times and circumstances, this can be considered a valuable skill.
Luther patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, this country won't stay like this forever, and equality for all won't just be empty words."
William blushed, looking rather embarrassed, and said, "Mr. Luther, I'm so happy you came to see me!"
"What's the big deal? We're friends."
"Really?" William asked excitedly.
"certainly."
"Thank you! Thank you for considering me a friend!"
William was deeply moved, but Luther had no intention of staying long. After a brief chat, he returned home.
Whether they were friends or not didn't really matter. Firstly, William wasn't a bad person, and secondly, Luther established the New Youth movement and needed his own network and influence. Elites like William, who came from the Black community, were exactly what he needed.
Making friends in this way is a bit like exchanging business cards in later generations, just in case it comes in handy someday.
On the way back, Luther passed through Boston and bought a tabloid. He only glanced at it before feeling sad, as if he had lost his New Year's money.
The tabloid had a headline written neatly on it.
[Ludwig's handwritten letter resurfaces in Boston and is sold to a mystery buyer for $6500!]
"Holy shit!" Luther immediately cursed.
Morris kept saying he wasn't making any money and might even lose a lot, but then he turned around and sold it for double the price. Who can you reason with that?
It seems I underestimated the American people's enthusiasm for European antiques!
Never mind, I'll just have to ask for more money next time we discuss business.
Having made up his mind, Luther continued driving home, where John F. Kennedy Jr. was already waiting.
"What class are we having today?" he asked excitedly.
"Language." Luther said without hesitation.
"Why language, brother-in-law? I also wanted you to talk about practice. Last time you said you wanted to talk to me about the practice of truth..."
Hearing this, Luther smiled and then explained:
"Never forget to learn languages. They are a key to unlocking the world and a shortcut to understanding another civilization. As long as a language is beneficial to you, you can try to learn some; there's no harm in it."
Johnny scratched his head: "Brother-in-law, what language are we learning this time, German?"
"More or less," Luther nodded, and continued, "but besides German, there's another language I hope you can learn more about."
"What language is that?"
Luther smiled and said, "It's Chinese. This language has a long history and is profound. Learning it well will be beneficial for your future career in politics and business..."
"But brother-in-law, China is so weak, does their language really have any value?"
"Don't worry, China won't stay weak forever. It will eventually return to its rightful place and become the other pole of the world. And you, my little one, you must learn to deal with China while you're young. It will be beneficial to your life."
Johnny nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
"Brother-in-law, even if I wanted to learn this, I can't find a teacher right now."
Although Chinese is not a particularly rare language in the United States right now, finding a decent Chinese teacher is still quite difficult.
However, none of this was a problem for Luther. He smiled and said to John F. Kennedy:
"No need to hire a teacher, I'll teach you."
"So where do we begin?"
Luther paused for a moment, then slowly uttered two words:
The Analects.