America’s Road To Wealth

  Chapter 541 Feast of the Empire

  New York State, Swan Wharf, Great Neck.

   "Hi, gentlemen. Welcome, I'm Abe Smith, and this is my girlfriend, Keira Wilson."

  Abel shook hands with Leo Melamed and Alan Greenspan with a confident and calm smile.

   "Thank you both for the invitation, it's a great honor..." Alan Greenspan smiled and shook hands with Abel, and then with the extremely elegant Keira.

  Leo Melamed did the same.

  Neither of them kissed Kayla.

   First of all, even in Europe and the United States, when they meet for the first time and they are not so familiar, they rarely give kisses.

  Secondly, it is someone's taboo in certain aspects, which has long been known by people in the same circle.

  Of course the two oil men will not commit such a taboo.

  There are no reporters at the scene, and it is impossible to have such a private banquet in the top circle.

  Those banquets that allow reporters to be present often have the purpose of showing off.

   Otherwise, the more private the banquet where so many bigwigs gather, the better. Only this kind of banquet can really talk about interests, and talk about content that is not suitable for the media or the public.

  After exchanging polite greetings with each other, a waiter played by a rock security staff behind Abel stepped forward and reached out to lead the two old oil men into the banquet hall.

  The second person who came was a silver-haired old man in his fifties and wearing a black suit. He walked slowly towards Abel and Keira with a smile on his face.

  Kayla said in a slightly unnatural voice: "I'm sorry, my dear, sir, I..."

   "Don't worry, I have everything." Abel smiled softly, knowing that Kayla might not recognize someone.

   During this period of time, she has been busy preparing for the dinner party, and has to work during the day, so how can she have the time to memorize the score of heroes.

   You must know that in the upper class in New York, one of the skills that must be mastered is to say the family name of the other party correctly. If you say it wrong, you will definitely offend people and even be laughed at. This is a very serious thing.

  Plus she is still a Californian, and her previous social circle has always been on the West Coast.

   It's normal to not be very familiar with the same kind here.

  Many of them may have just heard the name, but never met.

   Fortunately, Abel has a super memory, otherwise he would have a headache for this kind of thing.

   "Hello, Mr. Robert Miller, welcome, I'm Abel Smith, and this is my girlfriend Keira..."

   "Thank you. It's a great honor to be invited to tonight's dinner. It's a pleasure to meet you two." With a warm smile on his face, Robert Miller had a good attitude towards Abel and Kayla.

  Watching the back of Robert Miller walking into the banquet hall, Keira asked curiously in a low voice, "Who is this Mr. Miller?"

   "He is the director of the FBI who just took office last year, that is, the boss of the FBl. A senior Elephant Party member."

   "Wow, I see." Keira nodded, this is indeed a big shot.

  Compared to CLA whose main business is abroad, FBl has a much greater deterrent effect on the United States. Even if it is a consortium, it is often necessary to pay attention to the movements of FBl.

  Of course, FBl is actually in the hands of consortiums in many cases, and it is a common tool for everyone.

  As the leader, the leader of the armed forces like Robert Miller can still be respected by Kayla, who was born in a large consortium.

   This is mainly because the California consortium she was born in is somewhat marginalized in this regard and has no right to speak.

  If you were from a Texas consortium or a New York state consortium, your perception of Robert Miller would be different.

  The guests at the back all dazzled Keira.

  Derlin Schultz, the current leader of the Donkey Party. Richard Gephardt, Donkey Party House Whip. Le Colvin Jones, Senate Whip of the Ass Party.

  The donkey party now has all the big three members on the surface.

   A couple of back zippers also came as well.

  The Elephant Party is obviously not weak. The well-known Elephant Party whip and party leader Tom Drey in both houses also arrived at the scene in person.

   This is a Texan, and his style is very tough. The best skill is to stand up to unify the internal actions of the elephant party when the number of votes between the donkey and the elephant is evenly matched, and not shy away from threatening political retaliation to force the members of the elephant party to submit, hence the nickname "Iron Hammer".

   In the famous American drama "House of Cards", the powerful party whip in the later generations is the prototype of this person.

  Actually, a normal party whip does not have that much power. This position is internal, and its role is to maintain the unity and discipline of the faction when voting.

  Because they are elected by members of parliament, they generally have relatively high prestige, but few of them are as prestigious as the party whip in "House of Cards".

   Of course, "few" is not all.

  Tom Dray is such an exception, this guy has a brilliant record on Capitol Hill.

   During the two-year period of the 104th U.S. Congress, as the whip of the majority party, he used the "hammer" style to beat the members of his faction, and succeeded in 300 votes on 303 bills.

   Until his retirement, the voice of the Elephant Party on Capitol Hill was unprecedentedly unified.

  However, in the upper class in the United States, Tom Dray is most famous for successfully organizing a vote in 1998 and passing the resolution to impeach Zipperton, who was deeply involved in the "zipper door" scandal.

   It can be said that this whip and leader of the Xiang Party can be regarded as a well-known iron-blooded strongman in the American official arena.

but…

   "Good evening, Uncle Tom. This is Keira Wilson, my girlfriend..."

  Kayla was a little surprised to see Abel take two steps forward, and his attitude was much better than that of the previous group of people. It even seemed that when he faced Tom Drey, he looked like a junior facing an elder.

   Then Tom Drey looked at Abel with a blank expression, then smiled at Keira in a friendly manner, and said hello softly: "Hello, Miss Wilson. This is a bastard, and it is really difficult for you."

  Kayla was surprised. Now there are still people who dare to judge Abel as a jerk. Is this guy really so fierce and fierce?

  She didn't know how to respond.

  Although she also felt in her heart that Abel was really a **** in many ways.

   But on this occasion, it can't be like this, right?

  She immediately looked at Abel, worried that Abel might fly into a rage.

  At this time, she heard Abel say softly: "Uncle Tom is my grandfather's godson, and he often played with me when I was young. I used to like to draw, that's what he said about me."

   "Oh, oh, oh!" Kaila suddenly realized, thinking it's no wonder that Abel even has a different name.

   No wonder Tom Dray dared to call Abel that, and Abel wasn’t angry yet.

   It turned out to be a family friend.

   "Hmph—quit the Elephant Party, you have disappointed many people. Abel." Tom Drey looked at Abel expressionlessly.

  Abel shrugged, waved his hands lightly and said, "Uncle Tom, from my standpoint, I don't think I did anything wrong."

  Kayla could see that the atmosphere between the two was a little tense, she choked on the words she had planned, and looked at the two quietly holding her breath.

  However, the imaginary quarrel did not appear. Tom Drey just snorted again, nodded to Keira, then ignored Abel, and walked inside.

   When Tom Dray walked away, Abel looked at the curious expression on Princess California's face, and he could only explain a few words.

"Tom Dray's family is also a farmer, and he is from Tarrant County like me. His father and my grandfather have a good relationship. His father is also my father's godfather. But then my father's godfather passed away early, Tom. Dre took a completely different path from my father and grandfather. He himself didn't like my father's way of being a farmer in his early years. He thought my father had no ambitions, and the two were at odds and quarreled many times. It's getting stiffer."

"Oh, when I was young, I really liked drawing and wanted to be a painter. He didn't like this kind of thing either. He wanted to train me to be a gentleman since I was a child. He once wanted to be my godfather. But my father refused. No, because they have a bad relationship."

  Abel shrugged, "But he respects my grandfather very much. Because that is his godfather, and also his biggest supporter when he started out in Tarrant and Texas."

  There is another aspect that Abel didn’t say, that is, when he first came to New York, many people wanted to mess with him but didn’t do it. There were many reasons for their scruples.

  One aspect of it is probably related to Tom Dray.

  That's why a super realistic person like Herbert maintained a good relationship with Alex when Abel hadn't fully developed.

  Although, Alex Smith is not rich enough, nor is he famous. But Smith really saved a lot of people and contacts in the central area of ​​Texas.

   It is not important to say that this kind of thing is important, and sometimes it is quite useful to say that it is not important.

   When there is no real conflict of interest, these things are clearly in a pretty useful state.

  This is why Alexander was able to run the Texas Rangers with George later.

  Alex has a lot of connections like Tom Dray.

   But... For Alex now, the most important contact is actually only one.

   That is his grandson - Abel Smith!

   Otherwise, if Abel has no ability, he will quit the Elephant Party. If someone like Tom Drey knows about this kind of thing.

  This fiery Capitol Hill hammer will definitely not give Alex any face, and will definitely make something to trouble Abel.

   Networks are sometimes important, but in this place in the United States, the most important thing is to have strength!

   It is only useful if you have strong contacts.

   Without strength, even if you are a relative of Rockefeller, you are useless at critical moments.

   Further behind, the guests came one after another.

  Like Deputy Commander Cheney brought his daughter Liz, as well as ClA Director Tenet and other Washington bosses.

  In addition to these bigwigs in Washington, the invited Wall Street giants will certainly not be absent.

  Merrill Lynch Chairman David Komansky was the earliest Wall Street giant to come.

  This can be said to be the Wall Street executive most affected by the Abel Butterfly Effect.

  If Abel hadn’t appeared, he would have been taken over by Stanley O’Neill, the first black executive on Wall Street, in the parallel time and space.

   Unlike now, he not only kept the position of CEO. Also because of the downfall of O'Neill, he won the trust of the Merrill Lynch shareholders' meeting and became the chairman.

   After that, many of them are Abel's acquaintances.

  Like what Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis…

  Goldman Sachs Chairman Paulson...

  Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld…

  The two CEOs of Morgan Stanley and Jr....

  First Citibank…

  In addition to these Wall Street giants, there are also some foreign friends like the Mitsui father and daughter.

  For example, Mukesh Ambani, the current third richest man, and his brother Anil Ambani, who has a very tense relationship with him, and so on.

  As for Buffett, Bloomberg and the others, they arrived early, and they have already helped to greet the guests and make contact in the venue.

  …

As time went on, more and more guests came, and several people walked back and forth on the red carpet. Abel and Keira still welcomed them with elegant and calm smiles, until Rockefeller and Morgan Finally came hand in hand.

  The two old men and the little old man have always given Abel a feeling of being inseparable from Mengmeng.

  If it weren't for the big age gap between the two, and they are both very traditional WASP old white men.

  Abel was wondering whether these two guys had that tendency.

  Actually, Abel misunderstood this aspect.

  Rockefeller and Morgan didn't get together as often as he saw them.

  When they often appear together, 80% of them are because of Abel's presence.

   In other words, it was Abel who was so important that these two people attached great importance to it. So when they appeared in front of Abel, the two of them often appeared together.

   "Abel, you are such a shrewd kid. I have to admire you. No wonder you can accumulate so much wealth in such a short period of time. Your timing control is simply a genius."

  As soon as he came up, John Chris Morgan praised Abel without hesitation.

  To be honest, although to many people, tonight's dinner party is definitely a feast that cannot be repeated. After all, it is not an easy task to gather so many big names together.

   But John Chris is obviously not boasting about this.

  For a banquet of this level tonight, Morgan can afford it too.

   Letting John Chris praise him as soon as he comes up is another recent thing.

  Just as Kayla was a little surprised at why John Chris praised Abel so much when he first came up.

   Knowing the reason why the little old man said this, Abel smiled and said:

   "As a latecomer to Wall Street, I'm very honored to receive your praise, John. But at the beginning, I really just wanted to earn some Canadian dollars. I just didn't expect Ottawa to be so generous, so I had no choice but to be disrespectful."

  Abel said with a calm and indifferent smile, not paying any attention to the deliberate teasing of the little old man John Chris, and the helpless eyes of David Rockefeller, who had a somewhat stern face next to him.

   Thick-skinned, Abel doesn't think he will lose to others.

   Keira, who was watching the conversation of the Big Three, didn't know why John Chris said that when he came up, but he was actually teasing Abel and stimulating David next to him.

  What they were talking about was actually a piece of news announced by Canada a few days ago.

  In that news, Ottawa’s commercial department announced that it would sell the remaining 20% ​​of Petro-Canada’s shares to the American Pacific Energy Corporation at a price lower than the market price of 20%.

  The reason why Canadians are forced to do this is that as early as a few months ago, Abel began to short the Canadian dollar to attack Canadians.

  In order not to cause the Canadian dollar exchange rate to collapse, it will affect Canada's exports and even people's livelihood.

  In a situation where there was nothing to do, the Canadians made the same choice as the Norwegians.

  They "recruited" Abel Smith, the largest short seller, and used the shares of Petro-Canada they intended to sell to make Abel withdraw from this sniper.

  John Chris is joking about this, because Rockefeller has always wanted the 20% stake in Petro-Canada.

  David has been planning for a long time, and the parallel time and space was also in 2004, and these shares were taken by Rockefeller.

   Now being intercepted by Abel, David Rockefeller is of course a little unhappy.

  Even though he has actually used various methods to hold a very large amount of the other 80% of Petro-Canada's shares.

   But seeing the flesh that is about to reach the mouth is cut off, no one will feel comfortable.

  What John Cleese wanted was Rockefeller's unhappiness, and Abel's uneasiness.

   I just didn't expect Rockefeller to look really unhappy.

  Abel didn't look uncomfortable at all.

  Although everyone has shaken hands and made peace now, they are even allies.

   But whether it's Morgan and Rockefeller, or they and Abel. Everyone used to be rivals, enemies.

   In terms of general direction, although everyone is no longer engaged in confrontation and hostility, on the contrary, they will often unite together.

  But this kind of daily ridicule, if you can catch it, of course you will not let it go.

  Seeing Abel's answer as it should be, John Chris laughed, thinking that you are really thick-skinned.

   But the old guy probably won't be so happy.

  Morgan immediately looked at David beside him.

   Sure enough, Rockefeller almost vomited old blood when he heard Abel's words of being cheap and good-looking.

   Feeling very uncomfortable and in a bad mood. It happened that this was sent out by Ottawa on its own initiative, and Abel didn't even call the name.

  Besides, David’s long-planned action has not yet started, so it cannot be regarded as Abel grabbing food from this perspective.

   It cannot be regarded as a confrontation, and it did not violate the agreement at that time.

  David felt very uncomfortable and had nothing to say.

   "Hehe... okay, you're really good... let's go, let's go in together, don't you really want to keep welcoming me?" The old guy finally had no choice but to say angrily.

   "You came too slowly, making my feet sore. Let's go, let's go in together."

  Abel held the smiling Keira next to him, and said softly with a smile.

  Even Rockefeller and Morgan have arrived, and there are no more important guests behind.

  Even if there is, he and Keira have been standing here for so long, and they are already tired of standing here.

   For those who come later, just let the two Davids go to greet them.

   It’s a bit stuck, and it gets harder to write later. Sorry, there is only one chapter today. Tomorrow three more make up

  (end of this chapter)