Six Hundred and Sixty Eight Merry Christmas

Lorraine suddenly became busy.

At the end of 1787, his schedule seemed to be packed overnight. First, he would go to New York to attend Pierce’s wedding in mid-December, and then he would immediately transfer to St. Dynas, Bermuda, to host the General Chamber of Commerce’s 1787 Yule Ball and 1788 meeting.

The annual meeting will probably end on January 3, and he can take a short rest before returning to Miami to attend Wang Ye's wedding.

After marriage, Wang Ye and the father and daughter of the Shi family are about to leave for Asia. It is certain that they will miss Christmas, but Eddie, who will never miss the annual meeting, will also go with them. They have a farewell party.

These things were recorded one by one on the schedule, including the time spent traveling by sea, blacking out sections of the calendar.

"There's not enough time, getting married one by one is like being reincarnated..." Lorraine complained depressingly.

Time is a little short.

At the end of November, almost two days after Pierce's cowardice came to light, Hamilton's courier came to Miami and invited Lorraine and several other big businessmen from the Baishang Association to his Christmas party.

The actual purpose of the party was the consortium salon where the US dollar coinage and the details of the preparations for the First Bank of the United States were secretly discussed. It was a social event that Lorraine could not be absent from.

This time the Federalists won a big victory at the Constitutional Convention, the disintegration of the Confederacy, and the establishment of the Confederation was almost a foregone conclusion.

Hamilton's ambition is to announce the revolving door plan as soon as the United States of America is established and launch the First Bank within two months, without giving time and space for opposition forces and foreign forces to intervene.

As for the U.S. dollar, its actual issuance time has been clearly delayed until the establishment of the Federation, and after the new Congress passed the discussion and passed the coinage bill, it slightly deviated from Lorraine's original idea of ​​currency first.

However, dozens of powerful figures in American politics, including Mr. Washington, have formally agreed to the idea of ​​merging the Mint Committee and the Preparatory Committee of the First Bank. In this regard, the investment behavior of Baishang Association has achieved a major victory.

This time the salon is for harvesting.

Although it happened suddenly, Carmen and her team have already started to prepare the topic of the salon.

The entire Chamber of Commerce knew that even if the original arrangement of St. Dyna was cancelled, Lorraine and Carmen must appear in the banquet hall in New York on time.

"The annual meeting... the annual meeting is going to be yellow." Shuashua put a red circle on the blacked-out calendar frame, and Lorraine wrote a small [future] in the lower corner.

For young people, it is enough to have a future. What do you want for the annual meeting?

There was a knock on the door.

Monica came in from the door, holding a wonderful expression of indescribable joy and anger, and looked at Lorraine tremblingly.

Lorraine's hair stood up all over his body: "Mo... Monica, who stimulated you?"

Monica turned her eyes shyly: "Master, you have guests."

"Guest?" Lorraine glanced down at today's schedule, "Not making an appointment?"

"No appointment."

"he is?"

Monica's eyes flashed: "He said he was Santa Claus."

"who?"

"Santa, Santa Claus."

"Is that the old rogue with red underpants and white beard who takes 364 days off every day of work and never knows how to reflect on his work attitude?"

"You're going to hell, sir!" Monica was terrified,

"By God, you're going to hell!"

"Why do believers in God always like to scare me with hell?" Lorraine sighed helplessly, "Santa, Santa, since I became clear about Niord's belief when I was six years old, this old rascal has never climbed My fireplace. What happened this year? Could it be that he intends to make up for the debt he owed me over the past twenty years?"

"Maybe he is here to take you to hell, sir." Monica said seriously. "To be precise, I hope he was sent by God to punish you."

"Santa is not that diligent, my dear Monica." Lorraine stood up with a smile, "Tell me, where is that Santa?"

...

Santa Claus is Rear Admiral of the Royal Navy, Chief of Staff of the American Fleet, His Excellency Chris Emmons, a devout Protestant in legend, but a very devout gambler in fact.

From this perspective, Satan’s hell is far stricter than heaven in issuing green cards. Even fallen believers may not be able to find household registration. Heretics like Lorraine...

Ah! wishful thinking!

Lorraine poured a glass of wine by himself, neither did nor planned to entertain the guests in front of him.

"Major General Emmons, or should I call you Santa Claus?"

"It doesn't matter what it's called."

Emmons sat down on the sofa unceremoniously, snapped his fingers to call the maid, and ordered a glass of Louis XIII for himself.

"Mr. President, I heard you plan to visit New York on Christmas?"

"I don't seem to be obliged to report my whereabouts to Newfoundland."

"You haven't, but your whereabouts may be related to the quality of Christmas gifts."

"Quality?" Lorraine frowned deeply, "Christmas gift?"

"yes."

"What news did you get?"

Emmons grinned: "The American Fleet doesn't seem to be obliged to report to a chamber of commerce."

"Aha."

Lorraine was amused and looked at Emmons for a long time...

"Yes, I will go to New York, but not for Christmas. I will arrive on the 15th and will not leave until Christmas is over."

Emmons didn't seem to be too surprised by Lorraine's words.

"As long as you hear good things about good children, there is no reason not to stuff a stocking in a Christmas present."

He took the wine from the maid and took a big sip.

"Long story short, the economic crisis in France is starting to affect the whole of Europe, and Great Britain is no exception. Parliament has cut the national budget, and every sector is shrinking, with the Royal Navy bearing the brunt."

"The Home Fleet, the Channel Fleet, the Mediterranean Fleet, the African Fleet, the American Fleet... Except for the Asian Fleet whose finances are attached to the East India Company, all fleets are planning to lay off officers and arrange conditional warships to retire or transfer to the reserve. .”

"I am honored to tell you that your brother has once again won unanimous praise from the king to the navy in this turmoil."

"The officers in the Americas maintained high morale amidst the tide of layoffs, and the old warships transferred to the Americas sold at higher-than-expected prices more than once, effectively alleviating the financial constraints of the Admiralty."

Lorraine listened patiently.

He is aware of the retrenchment of the Royal Navy.

In June of this year, Nelson ended his years of nominal house arrest, and the charges ended without cause. He was also recalled to the UK by the Admiralty and forced to transfer to the reserve.

Reservists can only receive half pay.

Lorraine had written to him offering to serve as admiral of the Chamber of Commerce in Europe or the Mediterranean until he found service again, but that would require Nelson to formally leave the Navy.

Nelson was unwilling to do this, so Lorraine's idea of ​​hiring Nelson could only be aborted.

There are so many mid-level officers like Nelson who have been abandoned by the Royal Navy in the past few years, but there are very few officers like him who are obsessed with officials and do not want to suffer damage to their resumes even if they live in poverty.

Emmons said that the morale of the American Fleet is high because Drake and the American Fleet established a close officer reemployment process after helping Shaq deal with a group of retired officers in 1786.

The key to this process is that the Drake Chamber of Commerce does not eat all the officers, but acts as an intermediary to introduce those sought-after products with experience, skills, and knowledge to the Baishang Association, which implements a two-way talent selection model. choose a career.

Every retired military officer has found a satisfactory home according to his own ability and hope, and the Associated Press has also absorbed a large number of talents that are scarce in the market.

The situation of those decommissioned warships is exactly the same as that of officers.

Through the three major shipyards of the Maritime Group in the New World, these outstanding warships have been properly managed, valued, and transferred. In 1787, a total of 26 related transactions were concluded, including 10 Brigantines, 12 Brigs and 4 V Galens.

In fact, in order to reach a deal as soon as possible, the valuation made by the Maritime Group is 5% to 7% lower than the average price of the second-hand ship market in Newland, but compared with the British market, which has long been accustomed to the navy, the price has risen by a full 15%. , So, everyone is happy.

It is undeniable to say that the unanimous praise of Shaq in the mouth of Emmons was arranged by Lorraine. Although the two brothers are still awkward, although they have not met since the early days of the Anglo-American High Seas Talks in Wai Rust, but in this case In the handling of the matter, the two sides have obvious tacit understanding and trust.

This made Lorraine very upset.

He snorted coldly: "So, should I congratulate Master Tavistock for being promoted again?"

"It's not enough to be promoted." Emmons is so humble that he hates ghosts. "The Royal Navy has its own promotion process. Your Excellency the General is already a white flag admiral. If he wants to be promoted to the red flag in peacetime and take charge of the Admiralty, he still needs to be in the symbol The Home Fleet of the King's Guard has completed its leadership training."

"As it happens, the local fleet's response to this turmoil is the worst. The officers have accumulated a lot of dissatisfaction. Some time ago, there was even a scandal of a scout ship defecting. The Admiralty is very disappointed with the leadership of the local fleet and has decided to let the general Move to the homeland to boost morale."

This is a sudden and explosive news.

It took Lorraine a long time to react: "Master Tavistock is going to be transferred?"

"The order has not passed the imperial court, but since even I know..."

"Is it a certainty?" Lorraine's fingertips rubbed against the rim of the cup, "Chris Emmons, what did Shaq Drake ask you to do?"

"I said it at the beginning." Emmons pulled out a document from his carry-on bag, "Recently, some insignificant damages were discovered during the inventory inventory at the Chanel-Bast anchor port. This kind of thing happens every year. When it happens, the off-duty audit finds a lot, and it's nothing to be surprised about."

"However, the opportunity is rare. I think some of the waste products may be suitable for Mr. President's collection hobby, so I brought them here on my own initiative." He handed the document to Lorraine, "Merry Christmas, Mr. President. Please sign for it."

Lorraine's pupils shrank as small as the eyes of a needle.

"This is... sixty-eight, mortar?!"