"Natives?" Charles frowned. "How many of them? Are they hunters or warriors?"
This was indeed the second time he had heard about natives. The last time, Patrick mentioned natives, and he thought he was just saying it to get money from him. But hearing these two Philadelphians talk, he knew that natives might indeed be appearing in this vicinity.
"There were a dozen native warriors! Fortunately, we spotted them first and immediately galloped away. Otherwise, we probably wouldn't be here talking to you now."
Although the White people generally held the upper hand in battles against natives, there were often instances of devastating White defeats. As for encountering a similar number of natives in the wilderness, the outcome was definitely a fifty-fifty chance.
When Charles heard there were a dozen native warriors, his frown deepened. Even though he didn't know much about the surrounding native tribes, he knew they couldn't possibly send out almost all the warriors from their tribe. Charles guessed that either the colonists appeared in the Ohio area to claim land, which aroused the hostility of the tribes, so they dispatched all their warriors to expel or hunt the colonists, or a powerful native tribe had emerged here, capable of sending out a dozen warriors on patrol at any time. Regardless of the situation, it posed a threat to Pittsburgh.
"It seems there are still significant problems with developing those lands!" Charles sighed.
"Yes, esteemed Councilor Charles, no matter how good those lands are, if there are natives harassing us, we wouldn't dare to develop them, would we? Hehe! But we heard that the biggest landlord in Pittsburgh is actually the esteemed Councilor Charles, and besides…"
"And I don't even have a concrete development plan yet, and you already want a piece of the pie from me, don't you?" Charles interrupted disdainfully.
"No! No! We absolutely have no intention of taking your wealth." The three men immediately denied it with a drastic change in expression. "The land prices in Pittsburgh are already very high. Even if you were willing to sell a portion, we wouldn't have the financial strength to develop it after buying it."
They dared not offend Charles here. Offending the powerful in Philadelphia might not necessarily lead to anything, but here, they had already found out that Charles was the little king of Pittsburgh. With just a word from him, these few people would definitely not be able to leave Pittsburgh tomorrow.
Charles stared at these people for a while, and when he felt they weren't lying, he slowly nodded.
"So what are your intentions?"
"Esteemed Councilor Charles! We heard about your money-making methods as early as when we were in Philadelphia and have always greatly admired them. Now, we just want to invest our money into your family, to jointly develop those lands. The land will still belong to you, and the products will also belong to you. We will simply help you manage it, and in the end, we will only take a portion of the investment income from the net profit." The three men nervously presented their true thoughts.
"Is that so…" Charles smiled, nodding continuously.
It was truly a pillow when one was sleepy.
They could be his investors and managers.
To balance both industry and career, he actually only needed suitable agents or managers. In Philadelphia's political arena, he could arrange for some councilors and representatives supported by himself or his enterprises to form a party caucus; for enterprises in Pittsburgh, he could arrange for managers he appointed to oversee them. He would be the chairman, the leader of the consortium, secretly controlling both enterprises and the political sphere.
He hadn't thought of this before because he simply didn't have such talent under him. Jonathan's ability was insufficient, and Greenspan's academic level was also somewhat lacking. Even if their abilities were sufficient, one or two people couldn't manage both sides, nor could there be talent capable of handling both.However, with these few Philadelphia small wealthy individuals, things were different.
Their unwillingness to blindly buy land and instead choosing to personally come to Pittsburgh to investigate the situation showed their practical approach to work; when they saw natives in the wilderness and immediately gave up on buying land, it demonstrated their wisdom; as for their current initiative to approach him to request cooperation, it further illustrated their boldness. These individuals, judged solely by these aspects, were exceptionally talented.
Moreover, they could handle tasks on both sides. With their influence in Philadelphia, coupled with his support as a Continental Congress Representative, it wouldn't take one or two years to train several Pennsylvania Assembly members. As for the enterprises in Pittsburgh, as long as he set the general planning outline, with their abilities, and under the supervision of him and Greenspan, managing the industries here should not be a problem.
Thinking of this, he immediately grinned, revealing his white teeth, and said to them with a smile:
"Good! Let's discuss the specific cooperation plan!"
The cooperation with those Philadelphia magnates was quickly reached. The reason these individuals came to see Charles was because they saw his future prospects, and some had even directly proposed investing and participating. Of course, they would not refuse Charles' cooperation request. As for the specific cooperation agreement, Charles didn't demand much.
Besides the one who might go to Philadelphia, the other two were mainly tasked with managing the coal and steel joint venture. Their current top priority was to select personnel to cross the British-controlled Ohio and reach the French-controlled central America, which is the vast Louisiana area, to establish communication between them.
Ohio and Louisiana, their development started much later than the thirteen American Colonies. Although they were controlled by the British and French respectively, they had few regular troops and not many colonists.
In fact, throughout the entire region, the number of natives far exceeded the number of colonists. Charles was not preparing to do business with the French colonists in Louisiana; he had other objectives.
Once contact was established, Charles had a plan: first, for both sides to cooperate and drive out the small number of British controlling Ohio, thereby opening up trade routes between them. Then, utilizing a natural path between these two places, which is the Ohio River flowing from Pittsburgh directly into the Mississippi River. Louisiana is in the Mississippi River basin, and the river's outlet to the sea, New Orleans, is France's largest colonial city in America. She is both a river port and a seaport.
New Orleans, located in the Gulf of Mexico, was safely guaranteed by the French Navy, making her the only relatively safe port in America. As the most important river mouth city for entering the American interior, her commercial status, after she was purchased by the United States and before the large-scale construction of canals in America, was even on par with Philadelphia and New York.
Due to wind direction, oceangoing ships could directly sail against the current for a very long distance, and many modern American ships could theoretically sail directly from New Orleans to Pittsburgh.
Currently, the entire East Coast of America was blockaded by the British royal Navy, making communication between America and Europe extremely difficult, with every voyage carrying immense risks. By opening up contact with Louisiana, Charles would effectively find a safe outlet to the sea for himself and the American government.
This would not only provide America with an opportunity to receive foreign aid but also create an excellent opportunity for Pittsburgh's development. As the westernmost inland city of the thirteen American Colonies, she would serve as a direct maritime window for foreign interaction, and the sheer volume of maritime trade alone could drive Pittsburgh's development in the short term.
Historically, due to the obstruction of the British and natives in the Ohio area, and the French in Louisiana not having the inclination (the French and British colonists harbored deep grudges during the Anglo-French struggle for America), coupled with Pittsburgh's own insufficient strength, this could not be achieved. But now it was different. Pittsburgh itself underwent early large-scale development, gaining the strength to expand westward.
Furthermore, the construction of the canal between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia also gave Pittsburgh the opportunity to leverage eastern forces. Now, all that was needed was to send an eloquent negotiator to contact the French, persuade them to act together, and then appropriately discipline the natives in the Ohio area, to create the opportunity to open this trade route.
After a rough hearing of Charles' general plan, one bold wealthy individual immediately expressed willingness to personally select personnel for early reconnaissance, and even to personally travel to Louisiana later to conduct persuasion.
However, the precondition was that Charles and Pittsburgh must first find a way to deal with the appearing natives; otherwise, he would not go to Louisiana even if it killed him.
Of course, Charles smiled and guaranteed that it would be no problem.
Now Pittsburgh had guns and men. A dozen natives could be dealt with by simply deploying a few dozen temporary militiamen. In fact, even if they hadn't requested it, he would have had Patrick and Antoine prepare. Having such a potential threat nearby was always unsettling.
The preferred option was for Patrick to establish good relations with the natives; if that failed, Antoine would be instructed to prepare for a forceful clear-out.