Chapter 122 The Reason for the Great Effort

(Over five hundred words here were audited by the system due to political sensitivity and were forced to be deleted... Please forgive me, brothers.)

Take the simplest example: inviting someone to dinner.

If a mortal enemy suddenly sends an invitation for a meal, a Chinese person's first reaction would be that this bastard is up to no good, and that the other party has set a 'Hongmen Banquet' intending to take them out.

In contrast, Westerners, who lack the habit of recording history, often find it difficult to be on guard; they might be overjoyed by the flattering words in the enemy's invitation.

Naively believing the enemy can no longer hold out and intends to surrender, they gladly attend the feast, only for the entire family to end up dead on the enemy's turf.

The main reason for this difference is that Chinese people record history and adapt those classic cases into widely circulated stories.

Westerners, without the habit of keeping historical records, allow these classic cases to gather dust in time, with only a very few historians knowing these bloody historical tales.

Take the Massacre of Glencoe in England, which occurred in 1692.

The MacDonald Family warmly received their mortal enemies, the Campbell Family, only for the entire clan to be slaughtered, wiping out a brilliant family overnight.

Similar examples abound on the European continent, such as the most brutal political murder in Swedish history in 1568.

To consolidate his power, King Eric XIV of Sweden invited the entire clan of the great noble Johan Sture to a palace banquet under the guise of an alliance through marriage.

He then fabricated a reason to execute Johan Sture and all of his supporters.

In the 1390s, King Robert III of Scotland slaughtered all the supporters of King Richard II of England at a wedding banquet.

Each of these historical events would have been common knowledge in China even hundreds of years later.

But in Europe, these matters are known only to a few historians; this is the cognitive gap brought about by cultural heritage.

What Wang Xiuyuan is doing would be considered standard operating procedure in Chinese history; a Chinese person could basically tell what he's doing at a glance.

But Tom, being white, cannot see it because America's history is too short and information between different social classes is too closed off, leaving Tom with no reference cases.

Wang Xiuyuan glanced at Tom and then handed a freshly lit cigar to the accountant, Jerry, who was nearby.

“Tom, Jerry, in your view, how can a wealthy family be passed down for a long time? What conditions are needed to become a prominent noble family?”

This question would seem relatively simple to a Chinese person—almost anyone with a functioning brain could say a few words—but it is very, very difficult to truly get to the point and explain it thoroughly.

However, given Tom and Jerry's experience, they at most knew a bit of the surface level and couldn't have any detailed insights, so Tom and Jerry consciously shook their heads to indicate they didn't know.

Pretending to know when one doesn't is a very foolish act; Tom was already humbly seeking guidance from Wang Xiuyuan, so asking one more question wasn't embarrassing.

“Many people believe that for a wealthy family to be passed down for a long time and become a great noble clan, they need to accumulate massive wealth and strong political influence.

These two things are indeed the basic elements possessed by all great clans in America, but such a crude description is actually quite inaccurate.

A hamburger can fill your stomach, but it's not the only thing that can fill your stomach.

The foundation of a noble family lies in having enough influence and the ability to flip the table at any time, though the sources of these two abilities come from many different channels.

Take the Newsom Family of California for example.

This family took root in California starting in the 1850s, and now, a hundred and thirty years later, the Newsom Family's influence has gradually permeated every corner of California.

Although the Newsom Family's strength isn't ridiculously powerful, and their wealth is not even a fraction of my personal wealth...

The Newsom Family has formed a solid political alliance with the Brown Family, the Pelosi Family, and the Getty Family. With these four families working together, there is nothing they cannot accomplish in California.

In finance, real estate, hotels, high-tech, the beverage industry, and the political sphere, the combined strength of these four families is extremely formidable.

Currently, California is basically the domain of these four families. Any one of them taken individually wouldn't be worthy of comparison with the DuPont Family or the Vanderbilt Family.

But once these four families unite, even a power as strong as the DuPont Family has to weigh things carefully before making a decision.

They might not necessarily win against the DuPont Family, but their combined force would certainly leave the DuPont Family severely wounded.

Doing business in California, if the Newsom Family decides to trip someone up, even the mighty DuPont Family would most likely choose to give up or take the initiative to settle with the Newsoms.

That is influence.

Either your own influence is large enough, like the DuPont Family and the Rockefeller Family...

Or you have a group of particularly powerful allies who can influence every aspect of a state's decision-making together, like the political alliance of the Newsom, Brown, Pelosi, and Getty families.

These two paths do not conflict with each other, and I am also trying both.”

Hearing this, Tom became even more confused and asked, “But what does this have to do with gathering these retired special forces soldiers who are in financial difficulty?”

“Of course it’s related!”

Wang Xiuyuan responded with absolute certainty: “The problem is that I am Chinese-American, and there is no place for Chinese people at the top of the American pyramid.

When my wealth and influence expand to a certain point, it will inevitably cause a huge impact on the existence of other families.

To ensure they aren't kicked off the top of the pyramid by me, or to seize my wealth, the easiest way for those families is to get rid of me.

Although I currently have very good relationships with families like Rockefeller, Morgan, and DuPont, who knows what the future holds.

Always preparing as many trump cards as possible for oneself is an excellent tradition of us Chinese people.

Holt and the others are my military card; they are my confidence to flip the table at any time.

They can do anything for me, and even give their lives to avenge me if an accident happens to me.

This isn't something that can be achieved by simply finding a security company and hiring a group of Bodyguards; it's very hard to gain the loyalty of these warriors just by giving them a high salary.

So I must put a lot of effort into them.

Imagine, when your family is seriously ill but faces the threat of death because you have no money for treatment, when you are in extreme despair...

Suddenly someone appears before you, waving cash to help your family escape the threat of death and giving you a high-paying job so your whole family is well-fed and clothed. How grateful would you be to him?”

Wang Xiuyuan's words were so blunt that there was no way Tom could fail to understand.

Tom said without a moment's hesitation: “Without a doubt, these two massive favors could never be repaid in a lifetime.”

Wang Xiuyuan laughed: “Exactly, he could never repay these favors in his lifetime.

So when you learn that someone plans to kill me, or if you suddenly hear that I've been killed by someone, what would you do?

What would others do who have been helped by me just like you?”

Tom followed up subconsciously, the words coming out without even thinking.

“Kill the person who wants to kill you, or kill your enemy to avenge you!”

“Exactly!”

Wang Xiuyuan was very satisfied with Tom's reaction.

“That is the effect I want, and that is the reason why I've gone to all this trouble.”

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