Red Dead Redemption: The Great Philanthropist of the West

At first, East District Councillor Philip Matthews was reluctant to come, because Henry was his strongest competitor. However, he was also afraid that Henry would make things difficult for him if he was elected, since he couldn't compete in terms of wealth, power, or military strength. So what could he do but come obediently?

As they chatted, and the topic turned to the upcoming parliamentary elections, Henry noticed that Philippe's expression was a little unnatural, so he spoke up directly:

“Mr. Matthews, are you worried that I will take your seat as a member of parliament? I wonder if you have noticed that Representative Matthew is not present today.”

Hearing Henry bluntly express his concerns, Philip was first startled, then realized something: "Yes, Matthew isn't here. Does that mean he's already out?" Thinking this, Philip exclaimed with delight:

"Mr. Allen, do you mean I could go to the North District and run for councilor there?"

"Why not? Just move to the North District, and then give more speeches and do something practical for the people there. Add to that your existing network and our support, and given Councilor Matthew's current reputation and situation—and the fact that the bank won't support him financially until he recovers the lost funds—do you think you have a chance? Right, Mr. Tom (West District Councilor), Mr. Yotro (South District Councilor)?"

“Of course, we’re all friends, and we’ll definitely support you. Because of this big heist, if Matthew can’t recover the stolen money and lift the blockade to restore his reputation in a short time, he’s destined to lose the right to stand on the same stage as us,” Tom and Yotro echoed.

Philip was delighted; he had come to the right place and hadn't expected such an unexpected gain. "But Mr. Allen, how can I quickly build up my reputation in the North District? Can you give me some advice? If it's helpful, I'll remember this favor."

“I have some intelligence here, you might need it. If you do this well, you might quickly gain the friendship of many small and medium-sized businesses in the North District.” With that, Henry handed Philip a piece of intelligence—it was about the real estate fraud gang that Hosea and Arthur were tracking near the North District banks. They had already swindled almost all the small and medium-sized businesses.

Philip carefully accepted the intelligence, ignoring the representatives from the Southwest District, and began to examine it closely; this concerned his future. The more he read, the more excited and alarmed he became. After all, they were all seasoned representatives; no one was a fool. He knew the immense value of this intelligence at the moment. If he could wipe out these fraudsters and recover the people's investments, he could quickly gain the support of a large number of people in the North District. What alarmed him was Henry's intelligence and scheme; he had already quietly calculated everything.

"Just a heads-up," Henry said, "if you want to catch these scammers, you have to be quick. They've already scammed most of them, and they'll probably stop and run away in the next day or two. Also, if you want a smooth election, you have to use your connections to put pressure on Matthew, making it impossible for him to continue blocking Blackwater and leaving him no chance to turn things around." Henry offered a friendly reminder; having more friends is always better than having more enemies.

"Thank you, Mr. Allen, thank you so much. Time is of the essence, I'll go find someone to handle this right away. Please excuse me for now, I'll apologize to you all later." After apologizing to the three of them, he quickly left. Although Henry said there would be another day or two, who could say for sure? What if the criminal escaped before then? This was too important for him, he had to take it seriously.

"I wonder what you two think of my fast food restaurant?" After Philip left, Henry continued chatting with the two Southwest Congressmen.

"Blackwater Fast Food Restaurant? It's incredibly popular, especially during mealtimes. Every time I pass by, it's packed with people. I even had my servant buy fried chicken, hamburgers, fries, and Coke to try. I have to say, that Coke is really good. It's sweet and gives you a refreshing and stimulating feeling. The fries are also great. Of course, the fried chicken and hamburgers are alright too. The key is that they're cheap, which makes them popular with the working class."

"So, I wonder if either of you would be interested in joining us to run this business together, expanding it throughout the West, and even across the United States and the world." Henry planned to bind them with shared interests, leveraging their channels and connections to quickly open up the market and expand the industry. At the same time, he also wanted to use shared interests to jointly control the entire state of West Elizabeth, seizing political power and creating a one-man show, turning West Elizabeth into an independent kingdom that obeyed no orders.

"Really, Henry? You're willing to let us join in and share the pie? Everyone can see its potential." The two councilors were pleasantly surprised. They had originally thought they were just here to get acquainted and hopefully collaborate more in the future.

“Of course, I know that you, Yotro, own several ranches, and Tom owns several manufacturing plants. I propose that we jointly invest, with me providing the technology, you, Yotro, providing the raw materials, and Tom providing the production line. What do you think?” Henry proposed.

"I'm fine." X2

"I wonder if you, Henry, plan to let Philip join us? He owns shares in Blackwater Wharf and its shipping channels. Although his wharf suffered significant losses in this robbery, his network of connections outside the state is still quite good," asked Southern District Representative Yotro, who had a slightly better relationship with Philip.

"Of course, if he's willing, no problem. But what suggestions do you have regarding investment and shareholding?" Henry asked.

“This was originally your property, Henry. Now that you’re sharing it with us, we can’t let you suffer a loss. If you invest, we’ll split it equally. If Philip joins in, Henry will have 4% of the shares, and the three of us will each have 2%. What do you think, Yotro?” Tom said.

“OK, I agree.” Yotro didn’t hesitate. After all, the West is full of farms, and Henry can easily change his raw material suppliers. He’s not necessary. If Henry didn’t value their connections, he wouldn’t need to bring them along at all.

“Alright, it’s settled then. We’ll meet with Philip tomorrow to register a company. Let’s call it Blackwater Company, so the world will know about our Blackwater town.” Henry gave the final decision.

Thus, the world-famous Blackwater company was born.

.....