Chapter 26: Black Water, Black Gold

Annabelle slowly walked out of the church and said to Sheffield, who was silently following behind her, without looking back, "I'm old, I don't have time to slowly change your mind. You must accept the essence of the world; this is not negotiable, it's a must."

"Ordinary people should think about what they can do for the Union, but we are not ordinary people. We should think about what the Union can do for us. If that doesn't hold true, then the Union has no meaning for me." With the help of servants, Annabelle got into the carriage and left a spot for Sheffield, saying indifferently, "Starting now, part of the business will be handed over to you to manage. While I still have the energy, I can assist you in some areas. Do you have any ideas?"

"I do have many thoughts, I've been thinking about it recently," Sheffield naturally understood the subtext of the venerable lady, who was always yearning to restore the status of dominating the Union back in the day.

Considering the domestic and international situation of this era, Sheffield wasn't without ideas. The internal form of the Union could be described using some terms from later times: currently, the Union mainly relied on domestic demand for development and didn't heavily depend on foreign markets. One reason was because the Union itself was an immigrant country with a continuous influx of foreign populations. Another reason was simply that it couldn't rely on external support.

Because the Union's industry could be said to have far surpassed others in scale at this point, its growth momentum far exceeded that of so-called old imperialist countries in Europe. However, it was only in terms of scale; in terms of product strength and quality, there was absolutely no competitiveness.

This lack of competitiveness could even rival that of the Soviet Union decades later. Though it wasn't as explosively powerful as the Republic would be a hundred years later, given the different eras, the growth during this period was indeed astonishing.

The internal environment of the Union's industry was still in the stage of extensive development—having scale but lacking strong products. It wasn't as well-known internationally as European countries, which led to difficulties in selling their goods. The external environment was dominated by European nations led by the British Empire, who treated the Monroe Doctrine as irrelevant and obstructed the Union's efforts to establish influence in America.

The Union's industrial products couldn't compete with those from Europe and could only seek markets through cost reductions. Therefore, the impoverished Latin American countries nearby were extremely important because, at this stage, the Union's products could only barely compete with Europe's in Latin America by leveraging the Union's geographical advantages and scale. If even Latin America couldn't be secured, other markets would certainly be no match for European industrial products.

If the Union couldn't even compete with European countries in poor nations, then larger markets were out of the question. Currently, there weren't many companies that could truly step out of the Union's borders, with Standard Oil being one of the few outstanding ones.

If the Union's industrial products remained locked within the domestic market and unable to transfer contradictions externally, economic crises would occur frequently—either inflation or contraction.

Naturally, Latin American countries became extremely important. When weak, one could focus on developing industries behind closed doors, but once a foundation was established, continuing in isolation was inappropriate. To reach the next level, one had to open the doors to other markets. At present, the Union only had Latin America as an option, which explained why the Union was so belligerent regarding the current Venezuelan crisis. They were even prepared to endure heavy losses to demonstrate that the Monroe Doctrine was not empty talk and must not be allowed to fail.

However, to be fair, the Union at the end of the 19th century, though far from being a paragon of virtue, could still be considered a beacon of humanity compared to the old imperialist nations of Europe. The Union didn't need to be flawless; it just needed to look better than the Europeans, since this was, after all, a world where everyone else was worse.

"Grandmother, if possible, I'd like to visit Europe and see what the environment there is like these days," Sheffield requested with anticipation as he stepped down from the carriage upon returning to the estate.

"Europe? What for? Well, if you really want to go, I'll need some time to prepare and arrange it for you," Annabelle originally intended to oppose but thought better of it, hesitating before saying, "Your father is in Paris. If you have time, it might be good to meet him, though it's not important."

Annabelle had already lost all hope in the previous generation of heirs, but she believed this generation wouldn't repeat past mistakes. What was so great about Europe anyway? Why were there so many in the Union these days who admired foreign ways?

"Prepare? Prepare what?" Sheffield didn't understand. Going to Europe was straightforward; what was there to prepare?

"Someone will escort you there; safety is paramount!" Annabelle gave Sheffield a sidelong glance and said, "Even if you have grand ideals, you need to live long enough to achieve them. Take John D. Rockefeller, the oil tycoon, as a positive example—he had only two goals in life: making money and living long. On the flip side, your grandfather, my husband."

"Oh, the Texas militia?" Sheffield always felt that entities like remnants of the former dynasty shouldn't have survived merely through visible operations. There must be some unknown dark forces, but where were they? He seemed to have never encountered any related personnel.

"The militia came after the dissolution of the Texas Legion. After all, they were not officially private forces of the family. They could serve as tools for demonstrations, but you couldn't count on them when it came to real matters," Annabelle, having decided to let Sheffield operate independently, naturally didn't conceal anything, "They are stationed outside the Union—in Liberia in Africa and Haiti in the Americas. This force has nothing to do with your grandfather; it belongs to my family."

Upon hearing these two countries, Sheffield already had some understanding. In later times, these two nations were known as the Union's two notorious sycophants. One had to admit, the venerable lady sure knew how to choose places. Then again, maybe it was chosen by predecessors.

These precursors to capitalist henchmen were actually armed forces engaged in international transportation and labor trade when Annabelle was young, commonly known as slave-hunting teams, numbering over two thousand. There were five hundred in Liberia and nearly two thousand in Haiti, ostensibly employees of oceanic transport companies, but their essence hadn't changed.

Two thousand people were certainly insufficient for warfare, but for activities like murder, robbery, and seizing control of territories, they were more than capable.

"Aren't there any formal names? Just calling them the slave-hunting team seems a bit too blatant, doesn't it?" Sheffield scratched his head.

Without missing a beat, Annabelle responded, "When your grandfather was alive, he wanted to rename them Blackwater Company. I didn't quite like that name. Since Africa is the land of gold, they were later renamed Sheffield Black Gold Company." Annabelle chuckled softly, "A telegram will bring them here in a few days, and then they'll escort you to Europe."

"Great name!" Sheffield flattered insincerely, inwardly finding no distinction between the two names.

(End of Chapter)