noffsinger Chapter 221 I Want to Become the Landlord of Red Gate
Chapter 221 I Want to Become the Landlord of Red Gate
After listening to Lu Chen's request, James thought about it carefully and felt that he could still meet Lu Chen's request, but he still wanted Lu Chen to provide more help. For example, election funds. Although he has already raised some funds, what if he doesn't have enough? So he said:
"Mr. Lu, I've thought about your request and I think I can still meet it. However, if you only provide votes, I think it's still not enough."
Lu Chen frowned when he heard James say that the help he provided was not enough. He asked:
"Then what kind of help do you want me to provide?"
James said: "I also hope that you, Mr. Lu Chen, can provide some financial assistance."
Hearing that James was asking him to provide financial assistance, Lu Chen breathed a sigh of relief. Things that could be solved with money were not a big deal to him. He was just afraid that James would ask him to help persuade someone or help him plan a plan.
He smiled and asked, "I wonder how much money you need from me, Mr. James."
James quickly said, "One million dollars."
When Lu Chen heard the amount, he frowned. This was too much money. Lu Chen remembered that when he supported Franklin, others only asked for three or four million dollars. That was a presidential campaign. You had to travel all over the country. Others only asked for this little money. You were just running for mayor. Even if you traveled a lot, it was only in New York City. You didn't need so much money there.
But Lu Chen did not refuse directly. He wanted to know where James was going to spend all the money. Also, since he took out so much money, Lu Chen would definitely not be willing to give him such a small return. Lu Chen must want some benefits if he wanted Lu Chen to give him so much money.
Lu Chen thought for a while and asked, "Mr. James, this is the first time I support someone to run for election. I don't know what you do when you run for election. Can you tell me what you need to do when preparing for the election?"
When Lu Chen asked this, James immediately understood that Lu Chen wanted to know where he would spend the money, and then considered whether the money he asked for was too much.
He knew very well that one million was definitely too much. He thought for a moment and said:
"When I'm campaigning, I need a team to help me. These teams are hired and need to be paid. Also, I need to do publicity in various places in New York City to increase people's familiarity with me.
In addition, I need to give speeches in various places. Not only do these speeches not bring any income, but we also have to pay for the venues and take precautions against unexpected events. So there are still many places where we have to spend money.”
Lu Chen thought for a moment and said, "After listening to your introduction, Mr. James, I found that you are actually only doing these things in New York City. It doesn't involve cross-city activities, right?"
James nodded.
Lu Chen continued, "It won't cost that much to carry out these works in New York City. Besides, I'm sure you're not the only one who supports you, Mr. James. I think they will also provide some funds. So the funding gap won't be that big."
James smiled bitterly and said, "The funding gap is indeed not that big, but that is the ideal budget. If something unexpected happens, the previous budget will definitely not be enough. So I want to prepare a little more in case of emergency."
Lu Chen thought for a moment and said, "Well, I can also take out the one million, but the terms we agreed on before are definitely not enough. We need to discuss it again."
James cursed in his heart, these businessmen are always unwilling to let him suffer a little loss. You have so much money, so what if you give a little more. But he certainly didn't dare to show any dissatisfaction on the surface. After all, Lu Chen is the sponsor. If Lu Chen is unhappy and doesn't help him but helps his opponent, then there will be no suspense in his election this time.
He smiled and said, "I wonder what other conditions you want, Mr. Lu."
Lu Chen thought about it and thought that if this investment was successful, the orders for his textile factory would be stable, but Lu Chen still had several factories of his own, such as the motorcycle factory and the pharmaceutical factory, which had not yet been settled.
After thinking for a while, he said, "I hope that the New York City Police Department will also be provided by our company. I wonder if Mr. James thinks this is okay?"
James heard that Lu Chen wanted the police station's car order again. He didn't understand why Lu Chen kept staring at the police station. Can't you go somewhere else? If I give you both the police uniform and the police car order, wouldn't that tell the citizens that there is something fishy going on? He said:
"Mr. Lu, can you change the conditions? If we give all the police uniforms and police cars to your Lu family, it will appear that the city government favors you. This will be detrimental to the future work of the city government."
Lu Chen was a little confused. When did the American governments at all levels care about these things? Look at the future generations. The American military aircraft and warships are not provided by fixed companies. The governments of the future generations are not afraid of being accused of favoritism. You are here to tell me that you are afraid of favoritism. Isn't this funny?
But since he proposed it, Lu Chen felt that someone must have proposed this condition to him before. He had already agreed. Only in this way could he explain why James rejected his condition.
He began to think again, what benefits should he ask for to be worthwhile. He recalled the history, this mayor would only serve for two years at most. In 1934, he would be replaced by La Guardia. In other words, the benefits he proposed must either be able to earn back the investment in these two years, or be the benefits of fixed assets, which would not be affected even if the mayor changed.
Lu Chen thought about it for a long time, and he thought of something that could be held for a long time. For example, real estate, or transportation lines. As for wanting to make a profit within two years, Lu Chen would definitely not even think about such a project. The economic conditions in 1932 and 1933 were the two most severe years of the Great Depression. It was definitely impossible to make a lot of money in these two years.
After careful consideration, he decided to buy some real estate. At this time, New York's real estate is at a low point. It's a good time to buy at the bottom. When the economy improves, the land price will definitely rise again. Lu Chen said:
"Mr. James, I'm planning to buy some land in New York City. I think you can help me with that."
After hearing Lu Chen's request, James smiled and said, "We can definitely help you with this. I wonder which piece of land you want to take."
Lu Chen thought about it. He had a lot of cooperation with Red Gate recently, and he would need some help from Red Gate in the future. If he became the landlord of the entire Red Gate, it would be more convenient for him to get along with Red Gate in the future. So he said:
“I want that land in lower Manhattan.”