If American politics is regarded as a huge stage, then what is being staged on the stage is a shadow puppet, and all the politicians on the stage are stitch-controlled puppets, and rich people like Li Mu are the hands behind the scenes.

An obvious fact is that even after the former US president stepped down, he had to make a living in Li Mu's company. Needless to say, Secretary of State, even if William M. Elva went back to serve as his lawyer after resigning as Secretary of State, he mainly served wealthy men like Li Mu. So in front of Li Mu, William M. Elva really couldn't become strong.

"Your performance today is so exciting. I have to say, Mr. President has found a good helper." Li Mu's attitude towards William M. Elva is also good. He gives each other face. The Secretary of State is equivalent to a prime minister. People treat Li Mu politely and smilingly. Li Mu cannot be arrogant and yelling.

"I don't know what the effect will be, but I have already had the attitudes I should have, which should touch the Colombian government." William M. Elva didn't know how much touched Martinez Silva today's meeting. Judging from the atmosphere on the scene, the effect should be pretty good.

"Your mission has been completed, so let's wait for my good news." Li Mu expressed satisfaction with William M. Elva's work, and then it's up to Li Mu.

Yes, in today's Congress, whether it is William M. Elva or Winfield Hancock, they are all acting, a big show specially prepared for Martinez Silva.

The Senate has never considered launching the Nicaragua Canal Plan. When the agreement was signed with Nicaragua, it was originally intended to relieve worries to exclusively occupy the Panama Canal, and the United States has never considered digging the Nicaragua Canal.

The so-called fan of the authorities, Martinez Silva probably did not expect that Li Mu would have such great energy to motivate the Senate and cooperate with Li Mu to act.

A fact that Martinez Silva overlooked is that Li Mu is not alone. Li Mu represents the Panama Canal Company. Li Mu is indeed not qualified alone, but it is enough if the Panama Canal Company is included.

Just two days later, Martinez Silva signed the Supplementary Agreement on the Panama Canal on behalf of the Colombian government and the U.S. government.

As Li Mu asked, the period in the Agreement is 99 years, during which the Colombian government shall not interrupt the contract at will. After the expiration, if the Panama Canal Company is willing to continue to lease the Panama Canal, the Colombian government shall not refuse for other reasons.

In order to make Martinez Silva look better, the Panama Canal Company needs to pay the loan fee to the Colombian government every year to turn it into US$200,000. For this reason, the Colombian government rented the land within 20 kilometers on both sides of the canal to the Panama Canal Company.

Land lease is also a common method used by the government to attract private investment in public projects at this time. For example, the US government used this method when building the Pacific Railway.

If the Panama Canal Company owns only one Panama Canal, then the Panama Canal Company can obtain up to ten kilometers of land, but because the Panama Canal Company now controls the Panama Railway, 10 kilometers will only become 20 kilometers.

As a business group, the Panama Canal Company is indeed very efficient. None of the people on the committee are idle. J.P. Morgan and Ulysses Grant are busy selling stocks. Li Mu's task is to deal with Martinez Silva, and the acquisition of the Panama Railway is handed over to John Vanderbilt.

This was taken by John Vanderbilt. As the richest family in the United States now, the Vanderbilt family controls the most railways in the United States. Many people in the family are proficient in railway operations. John Vanderbilt is the most suitable person to do this.

It is indeed suitable. Unlike the huge Panama Canal, the Panama Railway is worth about 7.5 million US dollars. In the past history, the French spent 23 million US dollars to improve the efficiency of canal construction and bought the Bama Railway.

Of course, I couldn't use that much when I arrived at John Vanderbilt. John Vanderbilt bought all the shares of the Panama Railway after only $11 million, which cost less than half of the French.

With the signing of the Agreement, the French's wishful thinking finally failed, the Inter-Ocean Canal Company became a joke, and the stock price of the Panama Canal Company rose again.

The last time due to the emergence of the Inter-American Canal Company, the Panama Canal Management Committee was temporarily shelved in order to raise funds for the sale of shares. In early April, after the agreement was re-signed, the Canal Management Committee announced again that it would sell its shares publicly.

What is different from the last time is that the Canal Management Committee originally wanted to raise $500 million, but now in just one month, the Canal Management Committee's goal has been raised to $700 million, while the Canal Management Committee's stocks are still 10%.

"Is the price a little too high..." Li Mu couldn't help but be shocked after hearing this plan.

It is indeed high. At this price, the three-percent shares Li Mu and Will get will cost about US$210 million. This price may not be able to be obtained even if Li Mu is rich.

"Is it high? I don't think it's low." Rockefeller's attitude was even more radical than Li Mu. Judging from this attitude, he wanted to raise the price to $1 billion.

"This is just an ideal situation. In fact, even if we can only raise $500 million, we can accept it." J.P. Morgan is more cautious. Although he is a little optimistic, he is still much lower-key than Lockfell.

"There is a problem now. According to the agreement we signed with the Colombian government, 10% of the canal shares belong to the Colombian government. We originally planned to give 20% to Washington, but now it seems that Washington is not satisfied with this proportion." J.P. Morgan reported the latest situation.

The Panama Canal is probably the largest project in the late 19th century, and the funds involved are rare in the world. In this way, the distribution of equity is extremely complex, and it is a matter of ownership of the Colombian government and the US government.

"How much does Washington want?" Li Mu's expression was calm, but his heart was already in trouble.

As early as when Li Mu supported Hayes to run for president, Li Mu knew that some of Hayes' behaviors sometimes were difficult to control, so Li Mu was prepared in his heart, but Li Mu did not expect that this day would come so quickly.

"Thirty percent..." Even as calm as J.P. Morgan, his expression was a bit ugly.

"What a big appetite..." Li Mu laughed in anger.

Hayes' appetite is indeed too big. In this way, a Panama Canal project alone can contribute $2.1 billion to the US government, which is higher than the US GDP for the whole year last year.

"Twenty percent is already for the sake of the government's support for us. As for 30 percent, this is simply delusion." Rockefeller's face was gloomy, and his fingers holding the pipe were a little white.

"Thirty percent is absolutely impossible, twenty percent is our bottom line." Li Mu didn't know whether it was to say that Hayes was smart or Hayes was stupid. The Panama Canal project focused almost all the American rich people. Hayes did this, which was equivalent to standing on the opposite side of all the bourgeoisie in the United States, which was seeking death.

"Mr. President seems to have some misunderstandings about our work, so if necessary, it seems that you have to go to Washington and communicate with Mr. President in person to avoid some misunderstandings." J.P. Morgan said it more politely, and the subtext is that since you have brought people up, you have to be responsible for it.

"Maybe you don't know yet. Yesterday our President signed two orders to withdraw troops from South Carolina and Louisiana. You should know what this means. I think in the days to come, it will be difficult for our President to have a good sleep, and there will definitely be many people going to cause trouble for him." Rockefeller gloated on the side. This person is really a big heart and is not too big to watch the fun.

South Carolina and Louisiana were the last two states in the south to implement military control. This was one of the rights obtained by the federal government after the Civil War. What Rockefeller said, "Many people will cause trouble for Hayes" refers to the power they gained from bloody battles by Hayes.

Li Mu really knows a little about this matter. Hayes's intention was to ease the conflict between the north and the south and rebuild the southern states. This was a good thing, and Li Mu also supported it very much, because only the southern states also developed accordingly can Junma Group's products have more markets.

Now it seems that Hayes is a little too hasty. He just took office as president and has not even settled the differences within the party, so he began to think about easing the conflict between the two parties. This is also a person with a high opinion of being a low-key player.

It is indeed because of his high expectations and low skills. Not to mention anything else, just saying that Hayes often talks about establishing a "integrity" government when he is running, Li Mu is not optimistic about it. So in the last period of the election, Li Mu specifically explained to Hayes not to mention the word "integrity" anymore.

Of course, Hayes made this decision and did not discuss with Li Mu. Li Mu supported Hayes as president. Hayes would take care of the interests of Li Mu and the Junma Group within a certain range, but would never act as a puppet of Li Mu, so Li Mu did not have the right to point fingers in this matter.

However, Li Mu is not optimistic about Hayes' decision. Once the federal government withdraws troops from South Carolina and Louisiana, the Democratic Party will definitely make a comeback in these two states. Hayes' move certainly pleases the Democratic Party, but it also offended some people in the Republican Party and black people in the above two states.

Those blacks originally expected to completely eliminate racial discrimination in South Carolina and Louisiana through military control, but now they are still rushing to withdraw troops, which has to some extent failed the trust of blacks in the above two states. The consequences of this incident are indeed unpredictable.

"Guys, since we have chosen Hayes, we should be prepared for his personality. This is what he is like. Similar things may happen next, and even more excessive things will happen..." Li Mu did not want to defend Hayes. Although Li Mu and Hayes are still allies now, the degree of "alliance" is definitely not as good as those of Li Mu, Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan and others.

"Who knows, I wouldn't be surprised if one day Mr. President leaves the Republican Party and joins the Democratic Party." Lockefer didn't like Hayes at first, but now he's a little annoying.

"This probably won't be true. Mr. President is not that stupid..." Li Mu had to stand up and speak for Hayes. At this level, it was a bit off topic. If Li Mu didn't stand up again, he might be impeached in a while.

That would be funny.

Hespont was put on the throne of president on one hand and wanted to pull Hass up on the other hand. This was like a slap in the face by itself.

"I will go to Washington tomorrow, and then I will have a good chat with Mr. President." Li Meng's mood is a bit complicated now. Perhaps it is Hayes's sorrow to be born in this era. If it were decades later, a person like Hayes would definitely achieve great things.

“This is the best…”

"It's too late to say it." J.P. Morgan and Rockefeller had completely different attitudes.

When he returned home that night, Li Mu told Will about this matter and wanted to hear what Will, a soldier, think about this matter.

"Actually, we all know that withdrawing troops is a matter of time sooner or later. The only question is when to withdraw. Since Mr. President did this, it must be the result of careful consideration. We should not question this decision, especially me." Will was cautious and unexpectedly had a lot of favorable feelings for Hayes.

Before entering politics, he was a soldier and participated in the Civil War, so Will had a good impression of Hays.

Of course, this is without comparison. If Li Mu and Hayes were standing in front of him, then Will would stand on Li Mu's side without hesitation.

"I understand your position, what I want to know is your true attitude." Li Mu didn't want to hear Will's perfunctory words, wanted to hear Will tell the truth.

Politically, soldiers are a special group and the army cannot have their own tendencies, so Will will help Hayes speak, which Li Mu had expected.

"The truth is - this decision is standard nonsense. Let's see. It is estimated that it will be difficult for our President to spend his four-year term safely." Will is not optimistic about Hayes, and there is no need to avoid this in front of Li Mu.

"Okay, you won." Li Mu was depressed and finally learned what people really think of Hayes.

If I had known this was the case-

Well, I knew it if I had known it, haha, there is no regret medicine in this world.
Chapter completed!