The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 799 They told me what I did again

"Do you think they are preparing for war?"

"The United States is going to war with us over that Chinese man's assets in Cuba?" Interior Minister Venancio Gonzalez had a strange look on his face, and he couldn't help laughing after he said this.

It's like hearing a joke.

"Would they be so irrational?"

"Don't underestimate the influence and revenge of that Chinese guy in the United States!" Prime Minister Sagasta warned.

"I think it's more like putting pressure on us and intimidating us! Of course, we can see what they do next!" said Secretary of State Antonio Aguilar. He never thought that the United States would go to war.

The Secretary of State is the official in charge of diplomacy, and after he spoke, the others nodded in agreement.

However, Prime Minister Sagasta was still worried and asked the Minister of War and the Minister of the Navy: "If we go to war, will we win?"

"Of course! If a war breaks out, I will let them see our ironclad fleet!" Navy Minister Francesco Pavia nodded.

(Spanish names are really long, I tried to shorten them as much as possible.)
"The total tonnage of our fleet is close to 15 tons, while their tonnage is only half of ours! Moreover, the United States only has four lightly armored steel battleships, and the rest are old battleships, from the same generation as my grandfather..."

These four light armored warships were only built in the past two years.

"That Chinese has several obsolete warships bought from Britain... Although they are very advanced to the United States, obsolete warships are obsolete warships!" The words of the Navy Minister were full of contempt for the United States and Chen Zhengwei.

"If a war breaks out, our fleet only needs to send out a few main battleships to annihilate them with ease! There won't even be any casualties ourselves!"

"To be honest, I'm looking forward to it!" The Navy Minister said with a superior and reserved smile on his face.

"That's the best! But don't forget their war potential. After all, their land area is huge!" The Prime Minister felt relieved after hearing this, but still did not forget to remind them.

"War potential is just potential, not war capability! Just destroy their fleet in a short time and end the war!" War Minister Arsenio Campos finally spoke.

"Then I will go to see His Majesty the King in the afternoon!" Prime Minister Sagasta was also full of confidence after receiving the reply from the Minister of the Navy.

He also began to agree with the Secretary of State's idea that with such a huge gap in naval power between the two sides, even if the United States really wanted to go to war, it would have no chance of winning.

"Mr. Aguilar, you need to continue to make your voice heard internationally and guide international public opinion so that it will be favorable to us."

In the afternoon, after he returned from the Royal Palace of Madrid, he received new news.

"Sir, I just received news that the Chinese ship left San Francisco and appeared in the port of Panama!"

"Including the Warrior battleship and Palmer frigate, which are the main battleships he bought from the British! There are also two Tell-class battleships... In addition, there are several small battleships with a displacement of about 500 tons. There are no cannons on them. We suspect they are torpedo ships!"

"Their purpose is probably to round Cape Horn..."

“If they were to travel to Cuba, how long would it take?”

"One month to one and a half months!"

"Keep keeping an eye on them! Collect their information, especially where they are going!" Prime Minister Sagasta instructed.

"Also, keep an eye on the movements of the U.S. Navy!"

It takes a long detour to get from Panama to Cuba, passing through many countries along the way, so they have plenty of time to prepare.

He is not sure whether the United States will go to war.

But even if war breaks out, the Spaniards are very confident.

……

"That Chinese fleet left San Francisco?"

"He wants to go to war with the Spanish?"

In New York, William Rockefeller sat on the sofa and looked at the telegram in his hand.

"Is it a chance?"

He felt that he should ask the Navy Department first, and he certainly would not do anything rash.

No matter how much he hated Chen Zhengwei, he had to be cautious.

If you don't handle it properly, you will be beaten into a sieve.

"But I can make some preparations first!"

"Have you collected the information about the Bank of the West that I asked you to collect?" William Rockefeller turned to ask his assistant.

He needs to first acquire shares and control some small banks in the West to make his layout.

In this way, when necessary, he could create an economic crisis by tightening credit, demanding early repayment, and spreading rumors to hit San Francisco's foreign trade.

By creating an economic crisis at the critical moment of the war, Chen Zhengwei's war potential was directly interrupted.

By then, the enemy's military salaries will not be paid, morale will be affected, and military supplies and resupply will not keep up, so they will undoubtedly lose.

The reason why Chen Zhengwei can live such a comfortable life now is because he always wins.

As long as he loses, there will be many people taking advantage of his situation.

Too many people wanted him dead.

……

"So ordinary people can only see what others want them to see..."

Chen Zhengwei was sitting on the sofa, holding a newspaper in his hand, and said to Wan Yun with a click of the tongue.

After James Garfield left San Francisco, he stayed for another week before returning to Los Angeles.

During this period, American newspapers were flooded with reports about Cuba. "Just a few reports can make them feel sympathy for some strangers they have never met..."

"Just a few reports can make them hate the friendly people who smile at them every day, and they want to kill them as soon as possible!"

"What a cheap and stupid sentiment!"

"Most people in this world are just as stupid, or even stupider!"

Wanyun sat aside with her big belly, her face full of tenderness.

She is more concerned about the one in her belly now.

But she couldn't ignore Chen Zhengwei, so she said softly:
"There are always few smart people like Wei Ye! There are so many people in history, but how many are like Wei Ye?"

"That's right!" Chen Zhengwei threw the newspaper aside and picked up an international newspaper. After reading it for a few seconds, he flew into a rage and cursed, "These troublemakers! Damn! They are slandering me!"

It was the Times, which reported in great detail on the dispute between Chen Zhengwei and Spain, and also detailed what Chen Zhengwei had done in Southeast Asia.

Then Chen Zhengwei was described as a thug who did all kinds of evil.

The above also uses speculative remarks, suspecting that the Cuban resistance army is related to Chen Zhengwei.

And they believe that Spain froze Chen Zhengwei's assets in Cuba entirely because Chen Zhengwei brought this upon himself!

When Chen Zhengwei was in the Malay Peninsula, the Times was relatively restrained due to pressure from the Foreign Secretary and Randolph Churchill.

Now there is no pressure, especially after Chen Zhengwei left Malaysia, Malaysia's economy has plummeted due to the lack of a large number of laborers.

The Times seized the opportunity and began to report all kinds of negative information about Chen Zhengwei.

"Master Wei, how did they slander you?" Wan Yun asked curiously.

Chen Zhengwei thought for a moment and said, "They told me what I did again!"

"Ah?" Wan Yun's little face was filled with confusion.

"After we defeat Spain, we will turn around and cause trouble for them!" Chen Zhengwei cursed, getting angrier the more he thought about it.

"No, I can't stand this!"

"Xiwen!"

"Brother Wei, Xiwen is accompanying his sister-in-law to the orphanage!"

"Send a telegram to Xu Yan! Ask him to increase his funding for the Boers, and see if he can get in touch with Egypt through them!"

"Also, have someone burn it for me... Find the reporter who wrote this report and kill him!"

Chen Zhengwei originally wanted to burn down the headquarters of The Times, but then he thought that he did not have many people in the UK, and he had finally gained a foothold in London, and now his influence was not great.

He might get arrested after burning down the Times headquarters.

These people have other uses, and they will have to cooperate with the Count of Toulouse later.

It's easier to kill a reporter.

After finishing the explanation, Lin Changning came back shortly, followed by Li Xiwen and several of his men.

Lin Changning goes to the orphanage twice a week. Especially after returning from Malaysia, the number of children in the orphanage has increased a lot.

She adopted thousands of orphans who lost their parents during the riots in the Malay Peninsula.

This move also made her very prestigious among the Chinese.

When these orphans grow up, those who are not good at studying can go to security companies or chambers of commerce, while those who are good at studying can be sponsored to go to college, and later they can work in laboratories, become doctors, lawyers, or go into politics.

After dinner, Chen Zhengwei prepared to go out and have some fun. Two theaters had recently opened in Los Angeles...both were opened by him, and he planned to let the Chinese businessmen in Los Angeles be influenced by art.

What's more, there are some foreigners in Los Angeles, and many of them are rich.

"Brother Wei, this is Brother Long's telegram. He asked if there was going to be a war. He wanted to come back..."

"What does the war have to do with him? Let him stay over there quietly!" Chen Zhengwei sent Li Xiwen away without even turning his head and took people to the theater.

Today the theater has a ballet troupe invited from New York, and it is said that there are several singers who are very much to his liking.

The next morning, when he was leaving an apartment in Los Angeles to have breakfast, his henchman came running to him and said, "Brother Wei, the mansion asked you to go back! Sister Wanyun is about to give birth!"

"She's the one giving birth, not me. So what should I go back for? Help her give birth? And giving birth isn't that quick?" Chen Zhengwei went back after finishing his breakfast tea.

As soon as he walked in, the nurse in the room hurried down from upstairs.

"It's a baby girl! Both mother and daughter are safe! She's as beautiful as her mother!"

"Congratulations, Mr. Chen!"

"Congratulations, Brother Wei!"

Lin Changning sat on the sofa with an expressionless face, feeling relieved in every way.

"Wanyun is really lucky!" Chen Zhengwei exclaimed. It was the best result for Wanyun to give birth to a daughter!

And for Chen Zhengwei, it doesn’t matter whether he has a son or a daughter.

"Is the red envelope ready?"

"Come, let me see!" Chen Zhengwei was very interested and went to hug her, then said with some disdain: "You are so trembling, which eye of yours has seen someone as beautiful as your mother?"

"All newborn babies are like this! You can tell from their eyebrows and eyes that they will definitely be good-looking when they grow up!" Lin Changning came over and took the child away, pushing Chen Zhengwei aside with disgust.

(End of this chapter)