After a while, seemingly satisfied with Constantine's cooperation, Ms. Kris came to Sanford's side, the two talked quietly, and then turned around and left in a hurry.
"Mr. Sanford, who is she? Why is she so enthusiastic?" Constantine asked Sanford, seeing that Sanford seemed to be familiar with Chris.
"Your Excellency, don't worry, it's a good thing. That's Samuel's wife. As for who Samuel is, he is a shareholder of Standard Oil", Sanford smiled.
The period between the American Civil War (1861-1865) and the Spanish-American War of 1897 was called the Gilded Age by the Americans because of the rapid economic development.
With the development of the economy, the wealth of a large number of wealthy people has risen, just like Rockefeller.
However, the United States, as of 1883, has a history of only more than 100 years. It is so young that it appears to be inadequate.
Europeans look down on these nouveau riche relatives, and think that the United States is a cultural desert and a dregs of soil.
After some wealthy people wanted to improve their social status, European aristocrats entered the sight of American wealthy people.
Through marriage, the rich and powerful have improved their social status, the nobles have gained wealth, and both parties get what they need.
Therefore, in the late 19th century, the phenomenon of the daughters of American rich men married to European nobles became commonplace.
The most well-known are the father and mother of later British Prime Minister Churchill.
As an experienced diplomat, Sanford, who has been roaming among the upper echelons of New York all the year round, saw Chris' appearance and knew what her idea was.
Constantine, who was confused, was still in the dark, looking at Sanford with a mysterious expression, and after asking twice without getting an answer, he gave up the question.
"Sanford, if I'm not mistaken, this banquet seems to be a gathering of a group of oil tycoons?" Constantine turned to the subject.
"Yes, to be precise, it was a meeting of shareholders of the trust company Standard Oil," Sanford replied.
"Did they have any trouble?" Thinking of President Chester being invited to this banquet, I am afraid that these monopoly capitalists have encountered some trouble.
"What can be the trouble? Standard Oil is such a behemoth, the largest crude oil producer in the United States, and it monopolizes 95% of the U.S. refining capacity, 90% of the oil delivery capacity, and 25% of the crude oil production. Many people are concerned about this company. Dissatisfaction, its energy is too powerful," Sanders said.
"I'm afraid this gathering is the shareholders of Standard Oil Corporation, testing the president's attitude," Sanford said, lowering his voice.
"Of course, their trouble is not only the public's dislike of Standard Oil, but they have also encountered trouble," Sanford said with a gleeful expression.
"What's the trouble?" Constantine asked cooperatively.
"Do you know the electric light? Edison invented the light bulb two years ago, which can be used for lighting," Sanford said.
Talking about this, Constantine suddenly realized.
Speaking of it, the world's largest oil producer is the United States. It can be said that the origin of the modern oil industry is in the United States.
But in this era, automobiles and diesel ships have not yet appeared. Without them, they consume a lot of oil. Where can the oil produced by large companies like Standard Oil Company be used?
The answer is lighting.
The biggest use of petroleum in this era is to refine kerosene, which is used as fuel for kerosene lamps and used for lighting.
Crude oil is mined from oil wells, and kerosene is produced after refining. This refined kerosene has a good combustion effect, strong light source, and extremely stable light, so it quickly became popular.
However, kerosene lamps have some disadvantages, such as easy to catch fire and cause fire.
Two years ago, Edison invented the light bulb with a lighting time of 1,000 hours. This status quo caused oil magnates like Rockefeller to be worried because the kerosene lighting market was threatened.
After the refining of kerosene in this era, in addition to the kerosene obtained, there is also gasoline.
A large amount of gasoline is useless and difficult to store. Oil merchants usually dump the gasoline for disposal.
Because the gasoline engine has just been invented (1883, the German Daimler invented the gasoline engine), it will take a long time for large-scale applications to consume a lot of gasoline.
Therefore, the good days for oil producers are far from coming.
With the opportunity of this banquet, even if you do not see President Chester, it is a good opportunity to meet some American business tycoons.
At this moment, the hall suddenly became quiet, the band stopped playing, and the ballroom dancers on the carpet also stopped dancing.
Seeing this, Constantine looked towards the entrance, and saw a man of about 50 years old with a thick beard on his upper lip and a black round cap walked in.
"This is President Chester." Sanford approached Constantine whispered.
As the host, Rockefeller stepped forward to greet them, and then the two and several men in black suits walked into a room.
After a cup of tea, Rockefeller walked out of the room with a few men, only to see a few people chatting and laughing, their expressions were relaxed, it was obvious that they got a good answer.
Rockefick walked up to Constantine, said; "Mr. Constantine, I heard that you are also here to meet with Mr. President. If you say yes, now is the time. President Chester is still in that box."
Hearing Mr. Rockefeller's prompt, Constantine thanked him and walked into the room under Sanford's gaze.
The man sitting on the sofa saw someone coming in, stood up, straightened his wrinkled clothes a little, walked towards Constantine, and stretched out his right hand and said: "Welcome to New York, the Lord Duke."
Obviously, the identity of Constantine is not a secret in the eyes of the president.
"Thank you, Mr. President."
After shaking hands, the two sat on two opposite sofas.
"Mr. President, what do you think of Africa?" Constantine opened the door, not wanting to waste time.
"I heard that European adventurers are very active there recently, and the American people are also very concerned about European adventures in Africa. As for me, to be honest, I am not interested in it. The North American continent is enough for me to worry." President Chester replied.
"That's it. In order to maintain the normal trade between European and American merchants and the indigenous peoples of southern Africa, maintain necessary business contacts, drive out the darkness of the African continent, and bring ignorant Africans into civilized society, the Congolese Committee has been working with Arab slaves there in recent years. Traffickers, and other evil indigenous struggles that are hostile to European and American merchants."
For politicians, making a sounding explanation of their actions is an essential skill.
"I hope you, Mr. President, can agree and support that the Congolese Commission will be responsible for maintaining the order of the Congo River Basin and providing necessary protection for European and American businessmen." Constantine made no secret of the purpose of the Congolese Commission.