The only sound remaining in the office was the tapping of a fountain pen against the desk.
Felix looked at the draft of the Ackerman report that had been tossed onto the desk.
To be honest, Grant's demands were not entirely unreasonable.
If it were any other businessman facing the President's ultimatum and demands for equity, they would likely have compromised long ago.
After all, going up against the state apparatus would only end in being crushed to pieces.
But he was no ordinary businessman.
"So... you want to send two bureaucrats onto my board of directors to point fingers and dictate how I lay my power grid?"
Felix's voice was as calm as stagnant water.
"And you even expect me to license the patents that the scientists in the Central Laboratory stayed up all night to create to those scrap heap factories you've designated?" Felix shook his head.
"Ulysses, it seems you've spent too long in the military camps. Do you really think a single administrative order can conjure up technology and efficiency out of thin air?"
"This is a compromise, Felix. It is also to dispel the doubts of Congress and the public." Grant frowned and gripped his fountain pen tightly.
"You have no other choice."
"No... I do."
Felix spat out the two words crisply.
Then he reached into the inner pocket of his suit.
Grant's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched Felix's movements.
Felix pulled out a folded telegram. He reached across the desk and pushed it in front of Grant.
"Take a look at this, Ulysses. After you've read it, then decide whether you want to sign your investigation order."
Grant frowned.
He put down his fountain pen, picked up the telegram, and unfolded it.
This was a top-secret telegram sent from Berlin, the text already decoded into English.
Grant's gaze fell upon the paper.
"German Empire Chancellor Bismarck... Special Envoy Ludwig Fischer has departed... Promises to establish General Electric and AT&T European headquarters in the Ruhr Area... Offering twenty-year tax exemption privileges... Full procurement of military and government communication network equipment..."
Grant's pupils dilated instantly.
His hand tightened unconsciously around the edges of the paper, his knuckles turning white from the force.
He read the telegram eagerly and quickly, then read it again.
Confirming that he hadn't misread a single word.
The air in the office froze instantly.
"Is... is this true?"
Grant jerked his head up and stared intently at Felix, his voice becoming hoarse from extreme shock and a trace of panic.
"Mm-hmm~ The special envoy should be on a ship crossing the Atlantic right now."
Felix leaned back in his chair, watching Grant's loss of composure.
"Bismarck and the German Emperor are more farsighted than you, Ulysses. They know where the key to the next Industrial Revolution lies. They even trampled France underfoot at the Palace of Versailles and secured a war indemnity that you wouldn't see in several lifetimes. Now, they intend to use that money to invite the 'Invisible Royal Family'—the one you guard against day and night and wish you could tear to shreds—to Berlin in its entirety."
Felix sat up straight, crossed his hands on the desk, his tone becoming extremely cold.
"Don't you feel that General Electric and the telephone company hold the lifeline of the United States? Aren't you afraid that I'll pull the power switch?"
Felix pointed to the telegram.
"I am giving you a chance now, Ulysses. You can sign your antitrust investigation order. You can also unleash Ackerman to bite me; it doesn't matter. My factories in New York and New Jersey can close down."
Felix began to lay out the stakes for the President.
"But... you need to think clearly about the consequences."
"General Electric, AT&T, Lex Steel, Metropolitan Trading Company, Vanguard Armaments, Umbrella Pharmaceuticals. These companies directly employ nearly thirty thousand industrial workers within America. The supporting factories and families that indirectly rely on our logistics and orders number over hundreds of thousands."
"If I accept Bismarck's terms, moving the scientists from the Central Laboratory, the core technical patents, and all cash reserves to the German Empire, and relocating the manufacturing center to the Ruhr Area..."
Felix stared into Grant's eyes, every word like a knife.
"These hundreds of thousands of people will be unemployed tomorrow. They will take rusty shovels and smash the windows in Washington."
"And what's even more terrifying, Ulysses."
Felix tapped his finger heavily on the desk.
"Losing the technology and capital of the Argyle Family, America will completely degenerate into a second-rate nation in this brand-new electrical age. The nation's factories won't be able to buy efficient Alternating Current motors, and cities will remain in the age of gas lamps. Meanwhile, the German Empire, with my technical support, will establish the world's largest and most advanced industrial system in less than five years."
Felix stood up and looked down at Grant.
"By then, you won't need to worry about any invisible royal family. You will only need to worry about how you, the President of the United States, will explain to your voters when German steel and goods are dumped into New York Harbor that it was you who personally handed America's future to Germany."
Grant's face completely stiffened.
The telegram in his hand felt like a red-hot branding iron at this moment. He finally realized that he was not facing an ordinary Wall Street businessman.
This was a behemoth that controlled core technical barriers and possessed the ability for transnational capital flow.
Political power appeared so fragile when facing this level of capital and technological monopoly.
Grant was not afraid of war, but he was afraid of becoming a sinner in the history of the United States.
If, because of his antitrust investigation, America lost its absolute leading position in electrical and communication technology, and even caused hundreds of thousands of people to lose their jobs.
This political responsibility would be enough to make him go down in history in infamy.
Not to mention, there was also British capital lurking nearby, eyeing them like a tiger.
"Felix..."
Grant swallowed dryly, his voice raspy.
He looked at the draft of the Ackerman report on the desk, and then looked at the telegram from Berlin.
His pride and the self-esteem of a general were crushed to pieces at this moment by cold industrial reality.
He had no way out.
"You win."
Grant slumped back against his chair, feeling as if he had aged ten years in an instant.
Grant picked up the draft of the antitrust report.
He tore it in half right in front of Felix, then tore it into shreds and threw it into the wastebasket by his feet.
"As for Ackerman, I will order him to cease all investigations. The report will be destroyed."
Grant's voice lost its confidence.
"And Secretary Boutwell."
Felix did not sit down, still looking down at him.
"Before two o'clock this afternoon, I want to see the official document from the Department of the Treasury revoking the discount privileges of United Trust Bank sent to the New York Federal branch."
Grant gritted his teeth.
"Actually, I had already asked Horace to handle it earlier; it will be done this afternoon."
Felix nodded knowingly; it seemed that Grant didn't actually want to burn bridges with him either.
"Stay in America."
Grant looked up at Felix, a hint of pleading in his tone.
"The factories cannot move; the technology must remain here."
"If I didn't have to, I wouldn't plan on moving either. After all... it was the United States that gave me everything."
Felix softened his tone; after all, he didn't want a falling out either.
He did not retrieve the telegram from Berlin, leaving it on Grant's desk.
This was a form of warning.
Felix turned and walked toward the office door.
Just as his hand grasped the doorknob.
Grant, behind him, suddenly spoke, his voice filled with exhaustion and reluctance.
"Felix, perhaps we can talk again." Grant called out to him.
"Regarding the federal government's policy support for you..."
Felix stopped and turned to look at Grant.
"As long as you stop listening to the slander of the British, everything is negotiable, Ulysses."
After saying this, Felix walked out, the wall lamps on both sides of the corridor casting a dim, yellowish glow.
Frost had been waiting in the lounge area a dozen steps away. Seeing Felix come out, he immediately stood up, grabbed his briefcase, and walked quickly to meet him.
"Boss, are you finished talking?"
Frost asked in a low voice.
Felix stopped, turned his head, and glanced at the tightly closed oak door.
"Yes, it went very smoothly."
Felix turned his head and looked at his secretary.
"Ulysses tore up that anti-monopoly draft."
Frost exhaled a long breath, his tense shoulders relaxing.
"Then, what about Old Morgan..."
"The British plan has failed; he will order the cutting off of the discount channel for United Trust Bank."
Felix reached out and took the briefcase from Frost, pulling out a pre-prepared document from inside.
"Have someone make a trip to deliver this to Thomas."
Frost took the document.
"Tell Thomas there is no need to collude with people on Capitol Hill to stir up trouble anymore. Call off all actions regarding Sherman and Garfield, and cancel the impeachment hearing."
"Since The White House has conceded, there is no need to turn Washington upside down."
"Understood, I will hire a carriage and head over immediately."
Frost tucked the document into his inner pocket and turned to walk toward the stairs.
Felix stood in place, watching his secretary's back disappear around the corner.
Then, after a moment's thought, he turned back around to face the door of the Oval Office again.
He reached out, grasped the brass doorknob, and pushed the door open once more.
Inside the office, President Ulysses S. Grant was leaning back in his leather chair, fingers rubbing his throbbing temples.
Hearing the door open, he opened his eyes sharply. Seeing Felix, who had returned, a flash of astonishment crossed his eyes, along with a hint of panic that hadn't completely faded.
"What else do you want? Felix."
Grant sat up straight, placing both hands on the desk.
Felix closed the door behind him and walked over to sit back down in the chair he had occupied earlier.
"Didn't you just say you wanted to talk?"
Felix leaned back in the chair, looking calmly at this President of the United States.
"So now, let's talk about America's own affairs."
Grant frowned.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I agreed to keep my factories and technology in the country just now." Felix crossed his hands on his lap.
"But you also mentioned earlier that you fear the monopoly of General Electric and the telephone company. You believe these enterprises control the lifeblood of the nation."
Felix looked at Grant seriously.
"Ulysses, the truth is, I don't like leaving hidden dangers. Since we are allies, I can't have you worrying every night when you go to sleep about whether I might pull the plug on Washington."
Grant fell silent, not understanding what Felix was thinking.
He had clearly just refused, yet now he was bringing it up again.
He picked up the half-smoked cigar from the table and tapped it in the ashtray.
"So... are you willing to accept the supervision of the Federal Government?" Grant asked tentatively.
"No, no, no. I already refused your proposal to send bureaucrats onto my board of directors. That is impossible; those politicians who only know how to win elections would ruin my laboratory and the progress of the wiring." Felix interrupted him bluntly.
Grant threw the cigar back onto the table.
"Then what do you want to talk about? Are you here to gloat about your victory?"
"No, I am here to discuss a practical issue with you." Felix leaned forward.
"After the German Empire tried to win me over, you should be clear-headed. You understand the principle that the meat should stay in the pot. As long as the technology remains in America, as long as I hire American workers and pay taxes to America, the United States will sooner or later catch up to Europe in industry."
Grant nodded; this was something he could not deny.
It was also the root cause of his ultimate compromise.
"But..."
Grant's gaze became extremely serious, revealing the farsightedness of a statesman.
"Felix, I might as well tell you the truth."
Grant pressed his hands onto the desk.
"I have indeed compromised now. Because I see the external threat, and I know that forcibly breaking up your company would bring disaster to the country."
"But how many years can I be President? Four years? Eight years?"
Grant pointed to the office.
"One day, I will leave this chair. One day, there will be a new guy sitting here."
Grant's voice became low and stern.
"By then, that new President might not have experienced the Civil War, might not know you, and might not care whether your technology can crush Europe. He will only see that you are wealthier than the nation. He will only see your business empire rampaging through every state, crushing all the small local businesses."
"At that time, the opposition in Congress, the capitalists who are jealous of your profits, and even the common people who think electricity is too expensive—they will unite." Grant stared at Felix.
"They will force that new President to raise the anti-monopoly blade. They might even use every federal law and state apparatus to chop the massive empire you have built into pieces and then devour it."
Grant leaned back in his chair.
"This is the political logic of America, Felix. Without a deep binding of interests with the government, no matter how large your business empire is, one day in the future, it will just be an extremely fat, living target."
Felix listened to Grant's words without refuting them.
Because he knew very well that what Grant said was historical inevitability. Because that future Theodore Roosevelt, the President known as the "Trust Buster" and "the Emperor of America," was the one who used this method to dismantle Standard Oil and the Northern Securities Company.
"Give me ninety-five out of a hundred; you know my methods."
"Don't spend the remaining five carelessly; transfer four point eight to me tomorrow night."
"Don't touch the remaining twenty cents; ten cents will be needed the day after tomorrow."
"Remember the last ten cents; five cents are for the child's future."
"Consider the last five cents deposited with you; pay it back with interest later."
Felix could currently suppress Grant by relying on massive cash flow and political contributions.
In the future, he could even coerce other Presidents.
But what if he died one day?
Could his descendants hold onto this business?
"You make sense, Ulysses."
Felix nodded, his tone revealing a rare sincerity.
This surprised Grant somewhat.
He thought Felix would continue to refute him with that arrogant attitude.
"It's good that you understand." Grant breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's why I said earlier that the Federal Government must acquire a stake. This is not only for restriction but also for your protection. If the nation is your shareholder, when those future politicians want to break you up, they will have to ask the Treasury if it agrees first."
"I understand your logic." Felix looked at Grant.
"But traditional methods of acquiring stakes won't work. I cannot have the Department of the Treasury come with a check to buy my stock directly. That would cause panic on Wall Street; the market would think General Electric has been nationalized. That would be devastating to my commercial expansion."
Grant frowned.
"This won't work, that won't work. Then what exactly do you want?"
The corners of Felix's mouth curled upward slightly.
In his mind, he quickly constructed an extremely massive financial model capable of changing the social structure of America.
"Ulysses, we can change the method of acquiring a stake."
Felix clasped his fingers together and placed them on the table.
"This method will not only allow the Federal Government to obtain shares in General Electric and the telephone company, but it will also allow you, as President of the United States, to gain the devoted votes of hundreds of thousands of public servants across the nation in next year's general election."
"It can even completely solve the problem that has been giving you a headache: the state governments paying lip service to the Federal Government while acting against it."
Grant's eyes suddenly lit up.
He had originally only wanted to solve the monopoly problem, but the chips Felix threw out directly struck what he, as a statesman, craved most—votes and centralized power.
"Explain in detail, Felix."
Grant sat up straight, staring intently at the young man across from him.