America 1881: Legend of the West

On January 1897, 1, William McKinley officially entered the White House after placing his hand on the Bible and taking the oath.

There is not much suspense about the new federal cabinet.

Without exception, they are all big businessmen.

Secretary of State John Sherman, a millionaire and shareholder of several banks and financial institutions;

Secretary of the Treasury Lyman J. Gage, banker, president of the National Bank of Chicago;

Attorney General John W. Grigg owned several large companies in New Jersey and was president of the Paterson National Bank.

When forming the cabinet, McKinley once again invited Chen Jianqiu to join the cabinet to serve as minister of the interior.

But Chen Jianqiu still refused.

First of all, I am not a politician.

He has no foundation in the Republican Party, let alone being Chinese. How can he really be the Minister of the Interior? He must be attacked by those congressmen who have nothing to do every day and use all kinds of excuses.

And he knows these businessmen very well.

When there is no conflict of interest, everything is easy to talk about and everything is fine, but if something goes wrong, I am afraid that not even my biological father will sell it out.

There is a high probability that he will be pulled out and pushed into the cylinder.

He wasn't going to do this kind of loss-making business, so why bother making himself uncomfortable.

However, Chen Jianqiu still left traces in the cabinet.

For example, his good friend Russell A. Agee, the largest lumber merchant in the West, became the Secretary of War; and the cotton tycoon James A. Gary, who was tricked into his election team, became the Postal Minister.

Most importantly, Theodore Roosevelt was promoted to the position of Under Secretary of the Navy under his strong recommendation.

Secretary of the Navy John Long is an old and sick man whose body is half buried in the soil, and has always been known as a wandering crane.

Therefore, Roosevelt basically held all the power and was the real talker and spokesman of the Navy Department.

In addition, in this election, many Chinese politicians affiliated with the "Chinese Political Participation Alliance" performed outstandingly and began to enter the more core levels of each state.

Chen Jianqiu asked Wang Qingfu and the "Political Participation Alliance" to start preparing for the mid-term election to enter Congress.

When it comes to repealing the bill, it is better to seek help from others than from yourself.

Only by daring to take fate by the throat can we seize the opportunity and turn things around.

As for himself, he continues to be busy expanding his business empire.

Everything needs strength to support it.

Helping the new president come to power will always bring some benefits.

And affordability is the most important thing.

However, what surprised Chen Jianqiu was that the first person who found him in the new federal government was not from the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Transportation.

Instead, it was Army Quartermaster General Henry C. Coburn.

When the Army's chief steward appeared at the door of No. 36 Baker Street, he bumped into Chen Jianqiu, who was walking out of the door.

"Sorry, I almost stepped on you," Coburn said after adjusting his military uniform.

The West Point graduate had never been on a battlefield.

He had a very strict upbringing and acted like a gentleman, not like a soldier at all. Therefore, he had been criticized by the big bosses in the War Department for many years.

He was just about to look up and apologize or something.

But a pair of black cloth shoes caught his eye.

Coburn raised his head and found Chen Jianqiu with his hands in his sleeves, looking at him with a smile on his face.

He took two steps back, stepped out of the door, raised his neck and looked at the house number on the upper right: 36 Baker Street.

"That's right." Cobain muttered, "Isn't this the headquarters of the International Gunpowder Association?"

If so, why would someone dressed like this appear here.

In his impression, the arms dealers he had dealt with either wore military uniforms like Old Henry all day long to show that they had served in the army; or they wore suits and ties and were elegant.

"Yes." Chen Jianqiu chuckled.

"You should also apologize to me, sir." Cobain said seriously, "You bumped into me."

"I'm sorry." Chen Jianqiu was still smiling.

Qyburn was confused.

Why do these Chinese value words so much? Is it because they are not proficient in English words?

But don’t reach out and hit the smiling person.

"Excuse me, is Mr. Chen in this building?" Coburn cleared his throat and asked, "I am Henry C. Coburn, the Chief Quartermaster of the Federal Army Department. I have something to talk to him about."

"Yes." Chen Jianqiu's answer was still brief.

Cobain felt a little impatient.

Any arms dealer in the United States will smile and come up to hold his hand when they hear the position and name he reveals.

Not to mention shocking, at least it would show respect.

The country bumpkin in front of me knew that he must be from here, but he seemed to have never seen the world.

Otherwise it would never be this reaction.

Cobain finally restrained himself from showing it on his face.

"Please take me to see him, please." He said in a gentlemanly manner.

Chen Jianqiu nodded, turned around, and walked towards the elevator.

When the receptionist at the door saw Chen Jianqiu returning, he was about to stand up and salute him.

But Chen Jianqiu gave him a look.

The little golden retriever's butt returned to the chair without saying another word.

Also in the same situation were people who drove elevators.

He saw the boss bring in a middle-aged man in military uniform, and then pressed down on him with his lowered hand.

He didn't know what kind of medicine his boss was selling, so he didn't dare to say anything. He had to open the elevator door and watch the two of them walking deeper into the corridor.

Chen Jianqiu said nothing along the way, and led Coben to a carved wooden door.

He took out a bunch of keys from his pocket.

Coburn suddenly realized that this person was the janitor, otherwise why would he have so many keys on him.

Chen Jianqiu quickly found a silver-white key by the light from the window at the end of the corridor and put it into the keyhole.

He gave it a slight twist.

The door was opened.

Cobain was quickly attracted by the decoration of the office in front of him.

The antique Chinese wooden furniture was very different from other arms dealers' offices he had seen. There was a case beside the window with a unique pine bonsai placed on it.

The large desk was heavy and simple, and a small ornament on the desk caught Cobain's eye.

It was a shell casing.

"The shell of the world's first smokeless gunpowder bullet." Chen Jianqiu said as he walked inside.

He walked to the window sill, took down a rag from the shelf there, and then took the rag to the edge of the wooden sofa and began to wipe the coffee table in front of the sofa.

"Um, is this Mr. Chen's office? He doesn't seem to be here." Coburn asked while continuing to look at the office. "Can you tell him for me?"

When he saw Chen Jianqiu cleaning the coffee table, he couldn't help but raise his voice a little higher: