The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 188



< Your misfortune is my happiness (2) >

“Before I make my proposal I would like to ask you a question. Is that okay?”

I nodded and made a wordless gesture.

Morgan continued to move his mouth seemingly thinking that my actions were a positive answer.

“Your Majesty how did you manage to cook Mr. Rockefeller so well?”

“huh?”

Morgan was a very aristocratic man even though he was a control freak.

Aristocratic speech and behavior are meant to be said in roundabout ways.

It’s not like I’m shooting straight out like this.

“I read through all of the contents of the last press conference of Chairman Rockefeller. It contained a story about transferring management rights and it said that it would be transferred to his son and nephews as well.”

Morgan’s words and actions are unusual.

Considering this it seems like he is very anxious at the moment.

“I’m listening. Go on with what you were saying.”

“Rumor has it that Princess Ethel is also being mentioned as one of the candidates. The Princess is a woman so she will not be involved in the management front line. If that happens….”

“In the end I will be the one exercising management rights?”

“Yes that’s right.”

I snickered and crossed my arms.

“So what you’re saying is… I’m behind all these decisions?”

“Yes. As soon as the antitrust ruling was announced Mr. Rockefeller bought a ticket to the West.”

Something stirred.

The brat inside me raised his head.

“I’ll tell you only. In fact I have mastered the secret art of hypnosis in the East. I am still using it to control Rockefeller.”

Morgan’s face twitched.

what.

This reaction.

You don’t really think I hypnotized Rockefeller into behaving like a puppet do you?

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I looked at Morgan chuckling.

“I’m joking.”

“….”

“You don’t believe that do you? This is the kind of article you would find in a third-rate tabloid.”

I continued to tease Morgan.

Then he quickly put on a serious expression and continued talking.

“Since you are so curious I will show my kindness and tell you the secret. Ah! It is all thanks to you. I am grateful.”

“Huh? What is that?”

“Have you forgotten what happened in Georgia six months ago?”

It’s a bit rude though.

I poked Morgan’s chest with my right index finger and made a negative expression.

“Didn’t you have people insult Rockefeller back then?”

“Me?”

“Yes. At that time the only people who stood by Rockefeller were me and his family. Even his brother-in-law Senator Aldrich turned his back on him.”

I tapped my temple with my right index finger and gestured for Morgan to think about it.

“Rockefeller must have thought at that time ‘People are not to be trusted. Ah! Family is the best.’”

“….”

“This kind of thinking must have led to the decision to transfer management rights. He must have thought it would be better to hand it over to his relatives rather than let it be taken over by others. Think about it. The Standard Oil shares he owns aren’t that big.”

Rockefeller owns about 27% of Standard Oil.

This is because he has been buying and merging with several companies and his existing stock holdings have been significantly diluted.

‘27% is an ambiguous number.’

It may be a big number but it is a bit difficult to completely take control of management.

In the past Standard Oil was so large that no one could possibly dream of owning the company so this wasn’t much of a problem.

Now that the company has split into more than thirty companies isn’t the situation a bit different?

‘Fortunately my younger brother William owns an additional 6% stake.’

Still 33%.

Adding my 7% stake here it becomes 40%.

‘The problem is that my stocks are liquid. They are not funds that were put in to invest for the medium to long term.’

Funds that can be withdrawn at any time.

But what if we just throw away some management rights and tie them up?

The story changes.

‘I am a family member who married Ethel. Moreover I am also a loyal ally who has stayed by his side when he was having a hard time.’

Rockefeller appointed me as his white knight to protect my company.

Thanks to this I was able to acquire some of Rockefeller’s subsidiaries without much difficulty.

“Because of you I ended up tying up a huge amount of money. I was planning on just hitting and running.”

My next words were blunt.

At this Morgan appeared to be shaking slightly and trembling.

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That which I wanted so badly.

That’s probably because I bought the oil company from Rockefeller at a very cheap price.

“I heard that the prince was allocated SOCAL (Standard Oil of California)?”

“That’s right. I heard that they’re handing over the management rights in Indiana and Texas to William Rockefeller Jr. Ethel’s older brother.”

I could have given up at this point.

Morgan’s obsession was a bit too much.

“I guess there will be an exchange of shares in the process.”

“Then why? Do you want the management rights I received?”

“Yes. I won’t deny it.”

Morgan made an offer to me with a look of disgust on his face like he was poking me in the face with an inedible persimmon.

“Can you hand over the management of Sokal to me?”

“Unfortunately I can’t give you that.”

“Can I ask why?”

“Of course… it’s because of my loyalty to Representative Rockefeller.”

“Loyalty?”

“Yes. He handed over the management rights to me because he didn’t want it to fall into the hands of others. If I were to sell it to someone else what would Rockefeller think of me?”

I shrugged and reminded Morgan of one thing he’d forgotten.

“I am an entrepreneur and an investor. But I am also a prince.”

Morgan made a face like ‘What do you want me to do I’m a prince?’

He answered with a raised eyebrow at the person he knew.

“I am a royal who must protect my honor more than anyone else. You may wonder what honor means in business but I have drawn a line for myself to at least maintain trust with my business partners.”

“So… you’re saying you can’t hand over the management rights of Sokal to me?”

“okay.”

Morgan seemed to think for a moment.

It seemed as if there was nothing more to say about my perfect logic.

“Your Majesty.”

“Tell me.”

“Wouldn’t there be quite a few shares left after the stock exchange?”

“yes.”

“Please hand me just this.”

Gather even the crumbs.

Looks like they’re trying to acquire another Rockefeller oil company.

I spread my right hand fingers and looked at Morgan.

“5 times.”

“yes?”

“5 times.”

“What is that…..”

Let’s ask for a premium that is five times the existing price.

Morgan gave me a look that said “What kind of punk is this?”

“Why when it’s a fair price… surely you’re not trying to buy up all my stocks with a small amount of money?”

It’s true.

It’s said to have increased by at least 4.5 times.

In the history of the original Rockefeller’s entire fortune quadrupled from $200 million to $900 million.

I rounded it up and multiplied it by 5.

“I think 5 times is too much.”

“What’s so bad? Next week the price of oil will go from 6 cents to 40 cents a barrel. If that happens it won’t be five times higher but gosh.”

I covered my mouth with one hand looking slightly surprised.

“This is confidential information that has not been announced yet. Keep it to yourself.”

“….”

Morgan seemed very shocked.

He rolled his eyes for a moment calculating the ramifications.

“Promise me. It’s confidential.”

“Oh I understand.”

Morgan left my office in a hurry.

I looked at Morgan’s back and raised one corner of my mouth.

* * *

“majesty.”

“Tell me.”

“Why did you leak the information about the increase in the price of shale to Representative Morgan?”

“Well….”

I continued to stare at the spot where Morgan had left off pushing back the bangs that were poking my right eyebrow.

“There are still many opportunities to catch Morgan. In comparison there are relatively few opportunities to catch the Baron.”

I plan to take this opportunity to drastically reduce the power of Baron Rothschild.

It would be difficult to completely destroy it though.

Wouldn’t it be possible to at least get him to withdraw his branches in the United States?

For that we need Morgan.

If that guy who is weaker than anyone else starts collecting short sales faster than the Baron.

Because the Baron is a total idiot.

‘Morgan’s grandson might even marry my daughter.’

I continued talking after thinking about the future which was far in the future.

“Moreover Morgan has been very interested in Standard Oil since long ago. He probably has many of his people planted inside without knowing it.”

“Like when US Steel was launched?”

“okay.”

Morgan is a heartless man.

A businessperson who will do whatever it takes to acquire the company he wants.

I would have planted my people in Standard Oil a long time ago which would be the final piece of the puzzle.

This means that even if it weren’t for me I would have known about the increase in the price of coal before the announcement.

Of course thanks to my help you could have figured this out a second earlier.

‘Come on let’s take up our swords and fight each other.’

Rothschild and Morgan.

I pictured the two of them struggling to escape the short-selling matrix first.

I smiled as I imagined this.

* * *

The new representative will take office in one month.

Meanwhile Rockefeller was forced to split up his own company overseeing the division of Standard Oil.

“Why does your complexion look so bright?”

“Isn’t the moment of revenge just around the corner? It can’t be helped.”

Rockefeller smiled and looked at the newspapers displayed on one side of his office.

The front pages of each newspaper contained articles about the rise in oil prices along with a picture of Rockefeller.

『Oil prices soar. Standard Oil price hike from 6 cents to 40 cents per barrel.』

『Standard Oil. Called it a side effect of the company split. The federal government’s Justice Department is embarrassed by this. Asks Standard Oil to reconsider its decision.』

“The worst nightmare for those in power is inflation.”

“Well the aftereffects are different.”

“Yes. When stocks crash only the red-hot New Yorkers scream but when prices rise that’s not the case.”

The early 20th century was still less influenced by oil than it will be in the 21st century.

But even so rising oil prices affect prices.

As we can see since 1910 the consumption of gasoline has increased more than that of kerosene.

Because petroleum was slowly being used all over the United States especially in industry and even in ordinary households.

“Teddy that guy is probably screaming in the White House right now his eyes wide open.”

Ring ring ring-

The phone rang.

Rockefeller smiled again at this.

“Look at this. We get dozens of calls a day from Washington.”

In this day and age there are few places that have telephones installed.

The wealthy.

Or it could be used by high-ranking government officials.

As Rockefeller responded the call appeared to be coming from Washington.

“Federal officials are calling me all the time begging me to stabilize the price of oil.”

Rockefeller glared at the poor phone with an annoyed expression.

“Aren’t they goldfish? They’ve completely forgotten the humiliation they caused me in less than a month.”

“…father.”

Rockefeller gets a little excited.

Rockefeller Jr. is standing next to him trying to stop his father.

I looked back and forth between the two rich men and cautiously asked a question.

“I have one question to ask.”

“Please speak.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“yes?”

“I was wondering if this was where it would end.”

Rockefeller jumped up from his seat with a look on his face as if to ask what that meant.

“This prince.”

“Tell me.”

“Revenge begins now.”

“….”

“What happened to Standard Oil my son? It was torn to pieces by those damned thugs.”

Rockefeller clenched his fists and grinned.

“Other guys will have to pay the price for this too.”

I gave Rockefeller a knowing look and an expression that suggested I understood him.

I leaned against the desk on one side of Rockefeller’s office and looked outward.

“With the last two announcements we have given the market several signals.”

I am slow.

He continued his speech while interpreting this.

“First of all your Standard Oil has made a great contribution to the stability of oil prices…”

“This is the second sign that if you continue to short Standard Oil your life could be ruined.”

Rockefeller quickly accepts.

I nodded in agreement.

“That’s right. It hasn’t even been a day since your second press conference. The market is still hesitant though…”

I continued to elaborate picturing the face of a certain person in my mind.

“Some are already reacting.”

“I heard that too. There’s a rumor going around that Morgan’s financial affiliates have stopped short selling.”

“Yes. And there is even talk of retrieving it.”

“That bastard really seems to have the best sense in the world. Tsk.”

Rockefeller’s anger was greater than expected.

I had a feeling I wanted Morgan to completely fall apart but I tried to appease him by telling him to give me some time.

“There are still a lot of cards to play against Morgan. Anyway if we just give a little more signal here things will get very interesting.”

“What kind of signal are you talking about?”

Rockefeller’s son interrupted our conversation.

I looked at him and opened my mouth because he was the future president of Standard Oil.

<Your Misfortune is My Happiness (2)> End