The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 185



< Anti-Trust (2) >

Life is like a blessing and a curse.

It may seem like the happiness you feel now will last forever but good things are always followed by bad things.

But even if bad things keep happening good things will come again someday.

Our people carry the word hope in their hearts.

“Your Majesty what did you just say?”

Rockefeller just arrived at my home in San Francisco.

I gave him some good news first as he had been running west with much distress.

“Haha- haha-”

Rockefeller came toward me with a bright smile.

He congratulated his niece on her pregnancy with great sincerity.

“Oh my! Congratulations my prince.”

“Thank you.”

“Your fourth child will be born soon. No right? Don’t they say that a woman who has given birth to twins will give birth to twins again? If you do this well you can have a fifth child too…”

what?

When I quickly straightened up Rockefeller scratched his head and grumbled.

“Anyway Your Majesty you are truly amazing. How has someone with such great energy been able to endure all this time?”

Rockefeller’s gaze turned toward my lower abdomen.

It was a little embarrassing.

But I was confident so I didn’t cover it with my hand like shy Asians.

Rather he even seemed to have the composure to carry the load on his back as if it were nothing.

Then Rockefeller looked at me as if something had occurred to him.

“Ah! This prince.”

“Tell me.”

“You know that medicinal herb called Mandragora in the East? I heard that the Prince’s company Ihwasa handles it?”

“Are you referring to red ginseng?”

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“Yes. There’s been a lot of chaos in New York these days.”

Rockefeller turned his head.

Ethel was where his eyes landed.

Ethel was in the middle of talking about something with her cousin Rockefeller Jr.

“Actually I heard this rumor a long time ago. At the time I was skeptical but now after seeing my nephew I have no choice but to admit it. It really is the best thing for stamina.”

“Stop talking nonsense and come here and have a seat.”

I pulled Rockefeller who was still standing toward me and invited him to sit down.

Afterwards Rockefeller ordered his maid to bring out the red ginseng tea that he was interested in.

“By the way…..”

Is it because I looked at his face so directly?

Or is it because I asked you to bring me some red ginseng tea?

Rockefeller rolled his eyes slightly and avoided my gaze.

I sighed in relief at the sight of such a Rockefeller.

“I was worried but thank goodness.”

“Huh? What do you mean…?”

“I expected you to be very shocked by the Supreme Court’s ruling but I’m saying this because your complexion looks better than I thought.”

“ah!”

When I finished speaking Rockefeller smiled faintly.

“Maybe it’s because I’m liberated?”

“Emancipation?”

“Yes. When I let go of everything and acknowledged the current situation something that had been weighing heavily on my chest disappeared. If this is not liberation then what is?”

well.

I did not agree with Rockefeller’s Buddhist remarks.

‘The eyes are still alive.’

The facial expression is like that too.

I chuckled to myself.

‘There’s a difference between experiencing something you’ve never imagined and knowing about it and responding to it.’

Because he occasionally mentioned the possibility of a forced split of Standard Oil.

Rockefeller seemed to recover from the shock quickly as if he had been given a preventive injection.

“majesty.”

“Oh you brought it. Thanks.”

I received the red ginseng tea that the maid had just brought.

After that they started putting honey in there.

“Your Majesty.”

“I’m listening Mr. Rockefeller.”

Rockefeller did something similar to me.

He began to add honey to his first glass of red ginseng tea and stir it with a silver tea spoon.

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After taking a sip he started to get to the main point.

“I think you know better than I do why I came here. I would like to talk about it more seriously.”

He kept his mouth shut.

In response to my silent reply to continue saying what I wanted to say Rockefeller began to reveal his true feelings.

“In fact even at the beginning of the trial most people around him predicted that the sentence would be limited to a fine.”

“Ah! I remember. When we formed a luxurious legal team everyone was making a fuss about it.”

“yes.”

I also advised Rockefeller when he was building his ultra-luxurious legal team.

Of course I advised reducing the size of the legal team for different reasons than those mentioned above.

He advised me to save on legal fees in a match where I knew I would lose.

“Of all the people who advised me only the prince predicted the current situation accurately.”

“….”

“Furthermore you proposed a preemptive division of the company. You said that if you did that I would not step down from my position as CEO.”

right.

If Rockefeller had listened to me then it would have been a different story.

“By any chance Your Majesty.”

“Why? Are you asking me for advice again?”

“Yes. I desperately need your wisdom Prince.”

I snickered and connected my right index finger and thumb.

“What’s the price?”

“Didn’t I introduce you to the beautiful Ethel Prince? What else do you intend to bring to this old man?”

Rockefeller who wants to ‘hit the jackpot’ without much thought.

I gave him a slightly bewildered look as he tried to act without conscience.

‘After all we’re family and I can be considerate just this once.’

I didn’t really intend to help in exchange for payment so I straightened my posture and began to speak with a serious expression.

“Representative Rockefeller.”

“Yes Your Majesty.”

“What do you want?”

“….”

“….”

There was silence for a moment.

“Are you dreaming of revenge?”

“….”

Rockefeller remains tight-lipped.

“You said you had let it all go but I guess the faces of those who humiliated you still linger in your mind. The split of Standard Oil aside… I’m sure the personal insults that you suffered are still fresh in your mind.”

In the original history Rockefeller was forced to give up everything.

Just like now.

This is because he suffered all kinds of humiliation during the lobbying process and developed a hatred for humanity that he had never felt before.

‘In the original history you were alone. Now I am here.’

Will Rockefeller’s later years be different because of me?

Well anyway.

I continued talking looking at Rockefeller.

“It seems like he doesn’t want to step down from the front lines of management. Once the water has been spilled….”

I carefully poured the half-remaining milk tea around me.

After that he spread out his handkerchief and looked at Rockefeller.

“You can’t pick it up again.”

“….”

“Your resignation from the front line has become a kind of unchangeable constant.”

He leaned back against the sofa he was sitting on and gave advice to Rockefeller.

“I’ll hand over the management to my son. You step back and start a charity business.”

* * *

“Charity work? Is it charity work that you are asked to do while keeping your hands off management?”

Rockefeller’s mouth which had been tightly shut finally opened.

I crossed my arms looking at that Rockefeller.

“Haven’t you felt it? How much the public hates and despises you?”

“….”

“….”

Should I be being a little harsh?

Rockefeller’s face turned red.

“Your enemies have been persistently harping on you and demonizing you but your past mistakes have also been big. Didn’t you indiscriminately merge with your competitors and earn the entire nation’s disfavor?”

“that….”

“Okay.”

I made a face that said I understood.

“Wasn’t the world where if you don’t eat you get eaten that the American oil industry in the late 19th century was like?”

“Do you still criticize me like that knowing that?”

I leaned toward Rockefeller linking my fingers together.

I changed my second language my body language because I was afraid that Rockefeller would misunderstand my meaning due to my defensive gestures.

“But the public doesn’t know the fierce and scary inside story of Wall Street like I do. They just think successful capitalists like us are full of greed and take over companies.”

“….”

“Everyone just judges based on the outer appearance rather than trying to understand the inside story which is a headache. Honestly isn’t that more convenient?”

“So are you saying that from now on we should focus on charity work and change our image?”

“okay.”

I leaned back on the sofa again feeling comfortable.

“I’m telling you to transform from greedy Scrooge to Daddy-Long-Legs. Then when you face difficulties the public will listen to your voice.”

I picked up one of the cookies that came with the tea and showed it to Rockefeller.

“Giving a loaf of bread to the poor is contrary to your usual beliefs.”

“Yes that’s right. One of my beliefs is that if you don’t work you don’t eat.”

In this era countless.

It was also the belief of successful businessmen.

Because they absolutely hated reward without effort.

I absolutely hated any actions that could be considered a kind of free welfare concept.

“There are many types of charity work. You can contribute a lot of money to the development of new medicines for sick people or you can donate money to churches to help spread the true faith here in America.”

“….”

“Also we can provide scholarships to smart students who don’t have money and give them a chance. Don’t you know how expensive college tuition is these days?”

“…That’s true.”

I made a long list of compromises.

Could Rockefeller also accept initiatives like student financial aid?

The snout that had been sticking out was quickly closed inward.

“Step back from the front lines and bide your time. At the same time improve your image.”

“So does that mean my chance for revenge will come to me?”

“Then isn’t Representative Aldrich going to introduce the US central bank bill next week?”

What I can’t eat others can’t eat either.

Any act of obstructing this is also a form of revenge.

“That’s how you get revenge.”

“Ah! Are you talking about the public opinion manipulation I mentioned last time? That ‘collusion between politics and business’ frame?”

“okay.”

The anti-monopoly lawsuit is probably over anyway.

Nana Rockefeller has no qualms.

“I was hesitant at the time but now I think I’m sure.”

“yes.”

“Your brother-in-law Congressman Aldrich will be greatly affected… Are you okay?”

When Aldrich’s name was mentioned Rockefeller smirked one corner of his mouth tugging up.

“Anyway you are going to be stepping down from your seat in the Senate at the end of this session. And what’s more you’ve done to me over the past six months haven’t you?”

I guess he must have been quite upset with his brother-in-law and close friend Congressman Aldrich.

When I see that kind of reaction.

“Well… if we don’t leave any evidence we won’t know if it was the Roosevelt faction or us who did this. Well since you gave us permission Aldrich will start the work as soon as he gets the bill into Congress.”

“I will help you too.”

“Or so.”

* * *

“ah!”

Rockefeller who was about to get up from his seat soon opened his mouth again.

“I was thinking of splitting Standard Oil into four as you suggested to me last time… What do you think Your Majesty?”

Because there is still more to the main topic.

Since there was still a lot of work left to be done on the forced division of the company they asked me for advice on this point as well.

“So… will the US government be satisfied?”

“yes?”

“At that time since it was a voluntary division of the company it could be divided into four by region. Now a mandatory division order has been issued by the court.”

“ah…”

“If you act like that another backlash will come your way.”

The Roosevelt faction must also suffer as much damage as possible.

Question here.

What is the best gift I can give to the powers that be now in power?

‘The best gift is inflation.’

There’s no better revenge than raising the price of oil.

There is nothing that the ruling party would rather avoid than that.

In order to legally raise prices you just have to make the distribution structure complicated.

This created an opportunity to create a number of subsidiaries related to this.

At least as far as the oil industry is concerned.

“Split Standard Oil into about 30 companies.”

“About 30?”

“Yes. If the opportunity arises we can merge again to reduce the number. But for now it’s time to split the company up indefinitely.”

I emphasized one thing.

“The sooner we can do this the better.”

“Huh? There are still six months left?”

“These six months will be a nightmare for you. There is no nightmare worse than the uncertainty of the stock market.”

The more time passes

It’s suffering.

It’s just me and Rockefeller.

“Standard Oil shareholders are panicking right now. And… the market is even more confused because you postponed an interview on the antitrust case to talk to me.”

“….”

“The IR departments in New Jersey and New York are probably sweating it out right now dealing with angry investors. Just look at the upcoming shareholder meeting. I can picture in my head how the shareholders will behave.”

Rockefeller looked as if he knew everything.

“So what you’re saying is that we need to resolve the uncertainty as soon as possible.”

“Yes. Your and my enemies must be having a blast shorting Standard Oil stock right now. If only we could act even a moment faster….”

“They may suffer losses rather than profits.”

“That’s right. That’s exactly what I said.”

< Anti-Trust (2) > End