I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 397

If you were to ask who the richest person in the world is, the usual candidates always come up.

The Rothschild family, said to control European finance.

The British royal family, which has amassed enormous wealth.

And the James Group, which operates numerous corporations and enjoys tremendous fame on both sides of Europe and the New World.

Since it wasn’t an era where exact figures of wealth could be calculated, people always argued about this, using their own estimations.

“Hey, even so, the British royal family has the most money. What’s the most powerful country in the world? The British Empire, right? So, the highest royal family in the British Empire must have the most money.”

“Are you kidding me? The era when royals had a lot of money is over. Now is the era when finance dominates the world. No matter how much money the royals have, they can’t compare to the Rothschild Group, which controls the world’s finance, right?”

“No matter how much the Jews play with money, wouldn’t you make real money if you had a factory? I think the James Group is the best.”

Even if it was unclear which of the three was wealthiest, everyone acknowledged that the world’s richest person was one of them.

When James crossed the Atlantic and returned to the New World, he saw many people waiting at the port to greet him.

“Chairman! You’ve returned!”

“Yes. There weren’t any major problems while I was away, were there?”

“No. Everyone is doing their best in their positions.”

The number of affiliates had already spread so much that it was practically impossible for James to manage them all.

So, he formed a capable board of directors to manage the company, and he controlled them with stocks and financial incentives.

In fact, James himself didn’t know how complicated the overall structure of the James Group was and how the stocks were intertwined.

This was because Killian, not James himself, had planned it.

One thing that was certain was that no matter how much larger the group became in the future, his control over them wouldn’t change.

Killian often called James a *chaebol* [a South Korean term for a large industrial conglomerate] chairman, but of course, James didn’t even know what that meant.

He just assumed that was the case and diligently performed his duties, and the title of Chairman became fixed as the title to call him.

“The instructions I gave before going to London have all been carried out, right?”

“Yes. The instruction was to focus all efforts on securing steel and oil fields, right? Everything is going according to plan.”

“No complaints from within?”

“Everyone feels the need for steel, but there are still many skeptical voices about oil. Of course, everyone thinks that Chairman has a grand plan since it is your instruction.”

“Yes. I’m doing it with a plan, so make sure to secure it without any doubt.”

Killian asserted that this oil would be a key element in building a future golden empire.

Originally, he was a person who made many predictions, but none of his predictions had been wrong so far.

And he said that we should focus all our efforts not only on oil but also on the oil refining industry, and now the James Group occupies a unique position in this field that no one can follow.

There were many who said it was a waste of money, but the real horror of the James Group is that even spending this much money barely made a dent.

Railroads, steel, resources, coal—there was no industry they hadn’t set foot in, so if there was a necessary part, they could use money from within the group to crush competing companies.

Now that this economy of scale has been established, it’s impossible to stop them unless the state steps in and suppresses them with the law.

But who would suppress the James Group with the law?

His backing is the British royal family.

In addition, James had been scattering money in the northern political circles since before, so there was no one who could turn against him, regardless of whether they were in the ruling or opposition party.

He had provided a tremendous amount of support to the North in the Civil War, so public opinion was actually high.

Not only that.

The James Group also has a track record of being the fastest to improve the treatment of workers as soon as a socialist state was established in the South.

In fact, the companies belonging to the group had good annual salaries for workers, and the treatment was the best in the industry.

Employing a lot of people, giving a lot of money, and treating them well?

This is all possible because Canada and the North are continuing to grow, but anyway, from the government’s point of view, there was no reason to suppress them if they were pushing them.

“And how is the scholarship program going on in Canada and the North? Is it going well?”

“Yes. With the Chairman’s instructions to invest generously, we are aggressively selecting and supporting scholarship students.”

“Yes, yes. That will all become our group’s assets later, so don’t be stingy.”

Fully support outstanding talents who will be active in the political and legal circles in the future at the group level and put shackles on them.

It’s a truly sinister method, but there was no more efficient method in an era where politics and administration are becoming more sophisticated.

Of course, there were quite a few similar systems in the past, but the James Group was conducting the project on such a large scale that no one could dare to follow.

There is also a beautiful cause to ensure that outstanding talents do not feel financial burden, so there is no reason to be tackled.

Perhaps in about 10 to 20 years, talents with the signboard of James Group scholarship students will enter the political and legal circles on a large scale.

I don’t have any intention of committing illegal acts by using them, but this will be a solid insurance that will prevent anyone from harming this empire.

“I’ve confirmed that the business is running smoothly without any major problems, so there’s nothing to fix.”

The oil fields in the Appalachian Mountains have already been almost entirely secured by the group, and above all, the fact that they successfully acquired the large oil field in Cleveland made them feel satisfied.

If I told Killian, wouldn’t he clap and jump for joy?

“Ah, and Chairman. The representatives of the companies that you told us to acquire are also in New York now. When would you like to meet them?”

“I’ll meet them tomorrow.”

“They are young people in their thirties, but is there any reason why you are paying special attention to them?”

“Aren’t they young blood who are just starting to become self-made and are rapidly increasing their wealth? We need to quickly secure such promising people and cherish them.”

To be exact, it was Killian, not James, who picked them, but even in James’s eyes, who had been in business for a long time, they seemed to be very promising businessmen.

They weren’t scientists with great technology, but originally, to do business, you need a broad perspective, bold courage, and insight to read the industry.

Even though they were still young, the owners of the newly established companies that James acquired by paying a huge amount of money seemed to be worth it.

Still, you can’t know the true value of a person just by looking at a resume written on a piece of paper.

Before retiring, I need to properly check whether they are the talents who will be in charge of the steel and oil industry affiliates, which will become the future source of money.

James leisurely moved his steps to complete his last schedule before leaving for the South.

* * *

“We greet the Chairman!”

“It is an honor to meet Chairman James of the famous James Group!”

The young men, who were just around thirty years old, immediately bent over when they saw the elderly gentleman entering the room.

They don’t express such heartfelt respect even when they meet politicians, but this person was an exception.

To those who value money more than anything else and know the power of money better than anyone else, James was a real teacher worthy of respect.

“Don’t greet me too grandly and just sit comfortably. I’m just an old man who doesn’t have much time left before retirement anyway.”

“Retirement, you say!”

“We came here to learn Chairman’s management philosophy!”

Even though they are still regarded as young pups in the industry, the two young men were promising talents who were just beginning to show their potential in their respective fields.

The fields they were aiming for happened to overlap with the James Group, so they were almost in trouble, but Chairman James preserved the company through a merger instead of completely crushing them.

The company that had been ambitiously built was about to become penniless in an instant, but the young men had no reason to see James in a bad light just for overcoming the crisis.

If it were them, they would have crushed the competing company without hesitation, but that person didn’t.

“You want to learn my management philosophy? Why?”

“I thought Chairman had the insight to read the future. Steel is the best promising industry that will dominate the world in the future.”

As James nodded slowly as if agreeing, the young man next to him suddenly joined the conversation and opened his mouth.

“Hmm? This person doesn’t know anything. The industry that will dominate the world in the future is energy. At the center of that is oil. Coal is the trend now, but oil is clearly hiding amazing possibilities that we can’t discover.”

“Hey, I’m talking to the Chairman. And even if oil becomes like coal, industry won’t work without steel, right?”

Steel and oil.

Since both were convinced of different things, a debate naturally ensued, but as James clicked his tongue lowly, the two immediately shut their mouths.

“I think both businesses are promising, so that’s why I recruited you. So, I’m going to give you some work first and then decide whether to give you a higher position based on your performance. What do you think?”

“Yes? You said you would give us a general manager position now, but a higher position…?”

“Of course, it’s the president of an affiliate.”

“…?”

How long has it been since they were recruited, and he’s just going to give them the position of president of an affiliate? Even to people who are still quite young.

Even in the face of unbelieving gazes, Chairman James’s eyes remained indifferent.

“Weren’t you going to start your own companies and act as presidents anyway? So, if it is determined that you have that much ability, I will give you that position, so do your best. Of course, if you don’t have the ability, it will be difficult to keep your current position, so don’t be too surprised. Isn’t it the natural physiology of this society for capable people to go up and those who are not to quit?”

“That’s right!”

“I will do my best to meet the Chairman’s expectations.”

“From now on, you will have to meet the expectations of someone else, not me.”

After leaving a meaningful story, James stood up from his seat.

“Then I’m busy, so I’ll be on my way. Do your best to prove your abilities. Who knows? If you have enough ability, one of you may be sitting in my current position.”

They thought it was just a joke to encourage them, but James smiled casually and left the room as it was.

The two people left alone in the room were just sitting blankly and drinking only plain water, unable to keep up with the flow of the conversation that had passed like a storm.

“I was wondering what kind of job it was to be in charge of the general manager… Can you even give out the position of president of an affiliate? Is it usually like this here?”

“Didn’t he say that if we don’t prove our abilities, we should prepare to leave with severance pay? It means that if we want to stay here, we have to prove our business acumen.”

“Well, that’s something we can prove.”

Andrew Carnegie, a young immigrant from Scotland who believes that steel is the future without a doubt.

John Davison Rockefeller, a young businessman who wants to become the richest and most powerful person in the world through the oil refining business.

The two young ambitious men were half-doubtful and half-believing about the unexpected opportunity given to them, but soon they sharpened their lips, burning with ambition in an instant.

The bottom line is that if you can prove your ability to make money, you can climb to the top of the group.

He said that if they don’t have the ability, they will be kicked out, but they, armed with confidence in themselves, didn’t even consider such a possibility in the first place.

The two glanced at each other.

They didn’t know why, but they felt it instinctively.

If I get rid of that guy, this group’s second-in-command will be mine.