America 1881: Legend of the West.

"Mr. President, is it inappropriate for you to ask the IRS to investigate me now?"

At a reception held by Astor's mother, Rockefeller found President McKinley who was chatting with Hanna.

He was not polite at all and questioned the President in front of Hanna.

McKinley frowned.

This behavior of an oil tycoon is actually inappropriate.

The president was questioned in public, and those who didn't know thought they had fallen out.

Fortunately, there weren't many people around, and Rockefeller's voice wasn't too loud.

Mr. President is still very civilized.

He said goodbye to Hannah briefly, then raised the glass of champagne in his hand, motioning 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 inspection?" He looked at the oil tycoon in confusion.

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

Rockefeller tried to calm down.

"Please forgive me for being so presumptuous. If it wasn't an emergency, I wouldn't be so rude."

McKinley was a little confused:
"Danny never told me about this. He only told me that he got the ledger. I originally hoped that he could find a breakthrough with Chen's company."

"But he didn't tell you which company's account books he got, right?" Rockefeller gritted his molars.

He spread his hands and gestured to the president:

"Listen, William, Chen is an ambitious heretic. Do you know what a heretic means? It means he doesn't believe in what we believe. If we don't deal with him, he will deal with 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. This is really terrible."

"We should be tougher, such as trying to issue some decrees to cut off his source of income and material supplies!" Rockefeller said, "We must try to awaken the conscience of those patriots!"

"Listen, Mr. Rockefeller, using strong tactics now is not a good choice. We can only do it step by step. As long as I am still in the position of president, Chen Jianqiu cannot change the world!"

McKinley tried to calm the oil tycoons' anxieties.

But Rockefeller saw clearly.

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

"Okay, let me ask Greene first to see what's going on." McKinley patted Rockefeller on the shoulder, "Remember, extreme means cannot solve the problem now."

The two people walked out of the room together, but met the person they least expected to see.

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

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

"Hi! Mr. President!"

McKinley walked up to the three people with a cheerful face and held Chen Jianqiu's hand:
"Mr. Chen, long time no see. How are you lately?"

"Not bad, thank you very much for always thinking of me." Chen Jianqiu said with a smile on his face.

The president was scolding his mother in his heart, but he didn't show it at all on his face:
"Your performance in Cuba was truly impressive, and your conduct in fighting for your country was truly touching."

Chen Jianqiu replied "humbly": "I just tried my best and made some insignificant contributions."

After chatting for a while, McKinley excused himself and left, leaving the oil tycoon alone.

"I heard that sir, you have encountered some troubles recently. Is there anything I can do to help you?" Chen Jianqiu's smile remained unchanged.

Rockefeller was not as well-bred as McKinley.

The smile on his face already looked a little like paper.

"No, thank you very much. You are really a 'enthusiastic' person." The oil tycoon said almost through gritted teeth.

After that, he walked away.

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

Little Astor and Hannah looked at each other.

"He has been in a bad situation recently. He was targeted by Roosevelt and Taft for anti-monopoly matters, and later he was investigated by President McKinley for taxes." Little Astor shook his head, "Maybe he was in the room just now. Just talking to McKinley about this."

"Tax inspection? What kind of tax?"

Hanna looked at little Astor in confusion. Apparently he didn't know that the IRS was targeting Rockefeller.

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

Next, he began to teach little Astor and Hannap about Chinese Feng Shui knowledge, which made them dumbfounded.

"Chen, look at the furnishings of my hotel and see if there is anything that needs to be adjusted." Little Astor said, pointing to his magnificent hotel lobby.

"When I have time later, I'll ask the master to help you take a look." Chen Jianqiu said cheerfully.

He suddenly stopped smiling and turned to Hanna:

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

Both Hannah and little Astor were startled.

Hannah thought for a long time.

He glanced at Chen Jianqiu again, stringing together what had happened during this period in his mind, and quickly figured out what had happened.

"Yes, Mr. Chen." Hanna gave an affirmative answer.

"Currently, no one can challenge McKinley's position within the party. The recent war and economic recovery have made his reputation in the country skyrocketing, and the party is supportive of him."

"People like Morgan and Rockefeller also support him very much. I hope you can take the overall situation into consideration and don't embarrass me on this issue."

Han Na said earnestly.

He was originally thinking about when he could formally discuss this topic with Chen Jianqiu, but he didn't expect that Chen Jianqiu would bring it up today, so he didn't hide it and spoke out his thoughts truthfully.

Unexpectedly, Chen Jianqiu's answer was very straightforward.

"No problem, I support him too."

Hanna's heart dropped.

He neither wanted Chen Jianqiu to disrupt the situation at this time and allow people like Bryan in the Democratic Party to take advantage of it, nor did he want his own interests with Chen Jianqiu to be harmed.

It would be best if Chen Jianqiu could understand the general body.

But Boss Chen suddenly changed the subject:
"However, I hope that Mr. Roosevelt will become President McKinley's running mate and assume the office of vice president."

Hannah's hand holding the champagne shook.

He was opposed to Chen Jianqiu's proposal.

First, he himself had some opinions on Roosevelt.

Hanna believed that Roosevelt was too impatient and pushy to meet his definition of a mature politician.

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

Roosevelt supported breaking up the monopoly trusts. Now he is only the governor of New York, but he is fighting with Rockefeller. If he goes a step further, what will happen? If he is not careful, it will shake the foundation of the Republican Party.

"Mr. Chen, I know you have a good relationship with Roosevelt, but this is an internal affair of the Republican Party after all. You may not be clear about some of the circumstances."

Hannah's words sounded polite, but they were really taboo.

The general meaning is that this is "this is an internal matter of our Republican Party, and you, who are not even a party member, should stay out of it."

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

"Mr. Congressman, I am not negotiating with you, but informing you. If this request is not met, I will do my best to support Governor Roosevelt's presidential campaign!"

"As you said, I don't care whether the Republicans are in power or not. Governor Roosevelt has many supporters in the party. If necessary, we will choose to set up a separate party to run for election."

Hannah was stunned.

He hurriedly said: "Mr. Chen, you should understand that this behavior is futile. Without the support of the Republican Party, Governor Roosevelt will not be able to win the election!"

Chen Jianqiu laughed.

"So what? Even if Mr. Roosevelt doesn't win the election, there will be plenty of opportunities later. But without Mr. Roosevelt's followers, it won't be easy for President McKinley to be re-elected, right?"

The expression on Hannah's face froze instantly.

It's not that easy! The Republican Party will most likely lose the presidency!
The Spanish-American War not only brought glory to McKinley, but also made Roosevelt an American hero.

The navy he led shone brilliantly, and his own heroic actions in Cuba were extremely personal.

Once his group of people were diverted, coupled with Chen Jianqiu's power in the west.
You know, Democrat Brian 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.

Based on his understanding of this Chinese leader, Chen Jianqiu would say so and do so!

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

But today Chen Jianqiu was so strong that it was frightening.

"No, Mr. Hannah, this is a compromise."

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

Only Little Astor and Chen Jianqiu were left.

"Is it appropriate to push him like this?" Young Astor asked uneasily. "After all, Hanna is a prominent Republican leader and our ally. Wouldn't this push him to the other side?"

Chen Jianqiu laughed, “Hehe.”

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

The day after the dinner, the President returned to Washington, while Hanna stayed in New York.

The first thing the president did when he returned to Washington was to call IRS Commissioner Mr. Green to his office.

"Did you check Standard Oil?" McKinley asked straight to the point.

"Yes, I found a lot of problems." Director Green did not hide anything and answered proudly.

"Who told you to investigate Rockefeller?" The president suppressed his anger, "Didn't I tell you to investigate Chen Jianqiu?"

"I checked Chen Jianqiu, too!" Green replied calmly, "There's nothing wrong with his accounts. There's no tax evasion!"

"How is that possible?" McKinley exploded. "His business is so huge! He even sells guns overseas. How could it be that he only has as much as you reported to me last time?!"

"His profits are low, and some of them are even at a loss, Mr. President," Green replied disapprovingly.

"His workers' wages are higher 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 from Chile himself?" The president found Green's explanation difficult to convince him.

"But the company that imported saltpeter was registered in the UK, and the phosphate and iron ore companies were registered in Mexico." Green spread his hands, "His actions were legal."

McKinley was silent.

If he knew that Chen Jianqiu had dozens of companies registered in the Netherlands, Germany and France, he would probably remain silent even longer.

Chen Jianqiu transferred arms to places like South Africa and Russia through these companies.

After thinking for a while, McKinley spoke again:

"Then there must be something wrong with his import tariffs. Why don't we check his tariffs?" asked the President.

"That's the customs' business. I can't control it." Green spread his hands again. "On the contrary, Standard Oil has taken advantage of the differences in laws in different states and exploited legal loopholes. Some of the data even don't match up."

Then he began to talk to the President about Rockefeller's tax evasion.

The president suddenly discovered a problem.

The Director of the State Taxation Administration spoke with great confidence today.

"Mr. Green, let's not talk about this for now. The instructions I gave you were to investigate Chen's company, right? But I only saw you apply to the court for an investigation order against Standard Oil Company. How did you come to the conclusion about Chen Jianqiu?"

The president decided to bring the issue back to the core, otherwise he would definitely be led astray by Green.

"It's a secret visit according to your instructions!" Green said in a long voice.

"Are the data obtained from the undercover investigation true? And through what channels?" the president continued to ask.

Unexpectedly, the Director of the IRS exploded instantly.

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

"Mr. President, I hope you won't insult my professionalism and ethics!" Green shouted, "The IRS will not let go of anyone who doesn't pay taxes truthfully, but it will not wrongly accuse a taxpayer who pays taxes honestly!
McKinley was startled.

This was the first time someone banged the table in his office since he became president.

"Your attitude is very bad, Mr. Green. You should respect your superiors under any circumstances!"

The President was angry too.

He didn't bang his head on the table, but expressed his dissatisfaction in another way.

"You may leave while I, along with other members of the Cabinet, reevaluate your ability to lead the IRS."

The president pointed at the office door and ordered them to leave.

"So, Mr. President, you are threatening me, right?" Green stood still, staring at McKinley with a sarcastic look on his face.

"Your anger cannot cover up your incompetence and your despicable character! America should feel sad for having a narrow-minded president like you."

The director's words became more and more unpleasant.

A person who has been given a long-term meal ticket is always brave on such issues, not to mention that McKinley had previously planned to use him as a scapegoat.

If you have no desires, you will be strong!

"You are just the director of the IRS. It doesn't matter if you don't want to be one. I am ashamed to be associated with someone like you!"

"Snapped!"

Finally, even President McKinley, who was usually polite and gentle, was angered.

He slammed the table, and then his roar echoed throughout the first floor of the White House.

"Get out of my office! Get out!"