Kapitel 43: Howard! Captain America!
Time flies, and summer has come in the blink of an eye. The weather in Chicago has also started to become hot.
In the morning, Josh, wearing a POLO shirt, leisurely sits in the yard drinking coffee.
Of course, he doesn't just drink coffee. He's not a person from Shanghai who will die without it. Occasionally, he also drinks some black tea.
As for green tea, it's not that he doesn't want to drink it, but in the US market, like in the UK, black tea is mainstream. Except for Chinatown, it's hard to buy green tea elsewhere.
But the problem is that the Pacific War is being fought fiercely, and things from Asia can't be shipped over. Even green tea is hard to find in Chinatown, and most of it is low-quality tea dust. Maybe the situation is a bit better on the West Coast in Los Angeles, but in the Midwest like Chicago... sigh!
So, for now, Josh can only honestly drink coffee and black tea.
Actually, it's fortunate that he is now rich and influential. If he were an ordinary person, he would barely have anything to drink, not even coffee or black tea, which are controlled commodities. The former can only be bought one pound per person every five weeks, and the latter only 20 grams per week... What the heck?!
Fortunately, it'll be better in two more years.
He's young and can endure.
"Darling, I have some bad news. It seems that you've caught the attention of the Joint Labor Army Organization!" Margaret, wearing a white chiffon dress, sits next to Josh with an invitation in her hand.
"...It's only been three months. Are they selling bonds again?" Josh's head immediately started to ache when he heard the Joint Labor Army Organization.
It's early July now. At the end of March, he bought three million bonds at once, which did bring him a lot of prestige and benefits.
For example, establishing three factories has been almost smooth sailing, and various raw material supplies have also been met.
Especially the syrup factory. With the help of the hired researchers from the University of Chicago, the saccharification enzyme was successfully put into large-scale production a month ago. The first batch of cornstarch syrup was successfully tested a week ago.
After experiencing it, the military representatives directly took over this batch of syrup and the subsequent production. Josh has now hitched a ride on the most powerful army of this era. Regardless of the quality, the US military at this time is undoubtedly the world's number one in terms of scale and equipment.
But this is not without a cost. Since then, Josh has been targeted by various anti-French XX organizations in this era, who are constantly thinking of coming to him for money.
Aren't you the vanguard of anti-French XX? You bought three million bonds. Can you spend a few thousand or tens of thousands of dollars to support our work? Isn't it too much to ask?
But the situation is not yet serious, and these small organizations are usually easy to deal with.
For example, he could say that all his money was spent on bonds and ask if he should donate some bonds to support them.
Usually, the other party would shut up at this point.
Because these organizations need money and materials, bonds, although good, cannot be used as cash in the short term.
But what if they don't use the bonds? Are you really contributing to the anti-French XX or just lining your own pockets?
However, is it possible to go to the bank directly with bonds? Absolutely not. The military sells bonds to raise funds for the war. If the bonds are redeemed before maturity, it may seem reasonable for ordinary people short of money. However, for an anti-government organization like you, are you sure you're not digging into the US military's interests?
But for some organizations related to the military, it is not so easy to deal with.
After all, Josh's sugar factory just took a large order from the military and is not short of money.
In this regard, the US military can be said to be a model customer with a good conscience. Most orders are paid in cash or advance and never delayed, unlike the UK next door, where all kinds of credit are given.
However, Josh had just received the money, and the Labor Army organization came shortly after.
This is a designated cooperative organization of the Department of Defense.
The invitation to Josh was also very clear.
You have earned so much money from your orders? Shouldn't you support us a little more, like buying more bonds? After all, the interest on bonds is not low, and you won't lose, will you? In this situation, can Josh not buy?
If he doesn't buy, he can forget about future military orders.
Of course, Josh doesn't really care about the military's orders. After all, he has a trading system. Selling the same sugar to Daenerys, the profit is many times higher than selling to the military.
But the identity of a military supplier is important to Josh.
Having such an identity is very helpful for his class promotion in the United States and integration into various capital circles.
And two years later, when World War II ended, this identity became even more valuable.
At that time, whether he went to Europe or Japan, he could be a top-notch figure and make a fortune at a very low cost.
So even if it's a pure donation, he must keep this identity.
However, this feeling of being controlled by the military made him very uncomfortable.
"Haha, dear, don't be so unhappy. Compared to Howard in New York, you're not bad. He was forcibly recruited by the military; even his staff was recruited." Seeing Josh's unhappiness, Margaret smiled and persuaded him.
"How can I compare with him? He is an aviation expert, and I am just a high school dropout." Josh shook his head, but at the same time, a doubt came to his mind. Isn't Howard Hughes supposed to live in Los Angeles?
"Dear, you don't have to be so modest. You've just turned 16 and already have three factories and a military order. Especially the glucoamylase enzyme and fructose syrup produced by the sugar factory are monopolistic products. Your future achievements will definitely be higher than Howard's." Margaret walked behind Josh, hugged his shoulder, and said with her face close to his, "By the way, many Hollywood stars are accompanying the Labor Army organization to Chicago this time, such as Jane Russell, Whitney Frost, and Pauline Goddard. Especially, Whitney Frost, she and Judy Garland starred in The Ziegfeld Girl, and they acted really well."
Whitney Frost? Josh looked bewildered. He had never heard of her.
He did have some impression of Jane Russell, who was Howard Hughes' mistress and was boycotted because she wore too little in a movie during World War II and later could only play small roles.
"By the way, there should be a program schedule on the invitation. Let's take a look." Margaret said cheerfully.
Josh smiled helplessly and opened the invitation in front of him.
The next second, his face instantly changed.
"Margo... What was the full name of the Howard you mentioned earlier?" Josh asked.
"Howard Stark? What's wrong? By the way, he had a big science and technology exhibition before he was forcibly conscripted by the Department of Defense last month. It was quite large-scale, but I found out too late. Otherwise, we could have gone to New York to see it. I heard there were many novel things there." Margaret's voice was cheerful, but Josh's voice at this moment sounded a bit trembling, which made Margaret feel strange, but she answered truthfully.
Because she was standing behind him, Margaret did not notice Josh's pale face and his fixed gaze on the program named 'Captain America' on the invite.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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