Alice and Elena kept holding onto me and asking about the car.
"How did you make the engine?"
"Oh my, did you design that difficult thing?"
"So you're saying that wheel-looking thing preserves the engine's power and keeps it uniform?"
"How can you know all that at your age? Can't you help us with our exams too?"
Strange, they really aren't the type to do this, why are they praising me so much?
Alice and Elena had certainly become very beautiful, and with two beauties constantly praising me, my heart also started to soften slowly. I stopped glaring and answering curtly, and instead answered faithfully in terms they could understand.
While I was talking with the Alice and Elena twins like that, Pierpont Morgan approached.
"Did you make that automobile thing?"
"Yes, I made it with the salary Grandfather gave me and money I received from other banks."
"I knew you were smart, but I didn't know even something like this was possible. Could you explain the automobile in a bit more detail?"
Wait, why is this greedy grandfather acting like this?
If there is a difference between John Pierpont Morgan and previous financiers, it is that he doesn't just stop at lending funds to companies and receiving interest. If an industry is promising, he directly intervenes in that industry, reorganizes the entire industry to stabilize it, and then continuously extracts profits and exercises influence.
Just naming the famous ones right now, he created General Electric to compete with Westinghouse and exercises overwhelming influence in the electrical industry, and is deeply involved in the railway industry, like the Union Pacific Railroad and Northern Pacific Railway, monopolizing the railway industry itself. Not only this, but there is almost no industry he hasn't extended his hand to, including steel, telegraph and telephone, electricity, shipbuilding, shipping, agricultural machinery, construction, mining, retail, distribution, etc.
But if you ask if this person is a demonic octopus-like chaebol, that's not necessarily true either. In fact, there were many cases where he intervened to control competition and reorganize industries, reviving the entire industry when industrial capacity decreased due to excessive competition appearing in the early stages of an industry.
Of course, to those who were eliminated in that process, he would appear as a demonic human, but to those who survived, he was a human with two sides who could also be seen as a savior.
Currently, the only industry tycoons in America who can stand against this person are Carnegie and Rockefeller, but even Carnegie hands over his company to this person and retires a few years later. The steel company created that way is US Steel. And although Rockefeller revives later thanks to automobile fuel, these days he is on edge because Edison's electric light is gradually eating into the kerosene market, which was Rockefeller's money source. And that Edison electric light and the company supplying electricity is General Electric, created by this person.
But what happens if such a person takes interest in automobiles? If this person takes interest in the automobile industry and starts intervening in earnest, can the 'Ford Motor Company' I intend to create survive?
I was afraid that John Pierpont Morgan might take interest not just in the single car in front of his eyes but in the entire automobile industry, but right now, explaining properly to this person is the priority.
Whatever anyone says, it is true that the completion time of the car became incredibly fast because this gentleman gave me a job and paid high wages. Originally, I received $10 from Ford Bank, $20 from Morgan Bank, and $40 each from two other banks. Mr. Morgan, who made me receive that much, raised my daily wage at Morgan Bank to $40 as well, saying that if he paid less than others, I would do the work that much less sincerely. So my daily wage went from $110 to $130, and with that capital, I could easily build the car.
I explained the parts that make up the automobile in detail to Mr. Morgan. Whether Mr. Morgan takes interest in the automobile industry later or not, for now, I shouldn't offend this grandfather.
"So you're saying if you increase the engine's cylinders, this thumping sound disappears?"
"That's right. Right now, it's a 5-horsepower 1-cylinder engine, so the thumping sound resonates, but even with just 2 cylinders, the sound reduces significantly, and with about 4 cylinders, it disappears completely. However, making the engine becomes that much harder and more expensive. Not only that, since the engine becomes stronger, the car body must also become strong enough to withstand it."
Mr. Morgan listened to my explanation silently, nodded, and said,
"Then a 4-cylinder car must be very difficult to make."
"That is correct."
"Then, would it be difficult even if I asked you to make one 4-cylinder car for me?"
Huh, this grandfather is ordering a 4-cylinder car?
I thought a little about whether I could make a 4-cylinder car and said,
"I can make it, but it will be very expensive."
"How much do you expect?"
"At the very least over $5,000, and maybe over $10,000. And it will take quite some time too."
My words are absolutely not an exaggeration. Most cars of this era are 1 or 2-cylinder cars, and a 4-cylinder car is not only a top-class car but, as I said, the price will go up to around $10,000. A car like the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost or of that grade is something that will only come out at least 10 years later.
"If it's a 4-cylinder car, it would be faster than a 1-cylinder car, right?"
"Of course. If there are more engine cylinders, the power becomes stronger and the speed faster. The car I made now goes about 20 miles per hour, but if it's 4 cylinders, it will easily go 25 to 30 miles per hour."
"It became 4 times bigger, but the speed only increases that much?"
"If the engine gets bigger, the car gets heavier, so it's difficult to increase the speed more than that. Also, if it goes faster than that, it becomes difficult for the car to withstand it."
"Then, will you make one 4-cylinder car for me? I will pay the price as you call it."
Since it was a car for John Pierpont Morgan, the richest man of this era, a rough outline came to mind.
"Then, based on $10,000, I will try to make a top-class automobile. For the exterior, I'll invite a coachbuilder who makes high-end carriages to craft it."
"Oh, you guessed what I wanted."
"If it's a car Grandfather rides, it should naturally be at least that much."
"I will be looking forward to the car you make. How long do you think it will take?"
"I think it might take a little over 3 months. Since I haven't made a 4-cylinder engine, there are many things I have to test. Since it took over 4 months to make a 1-cylinder car, making a new car will probably take about that long."
"Then, since I'm ordering an expensive item, I should pay an advance, right?"
Mr. Morgan took out a checkbook, wrote $5,000, gave it to me, and stepped back.
As John Pierpont Morgan stepped back, this time Jack Morgan approached.
"Henry, what did you talk about with Father?"
When I told him about the car John Pierpont Morgan ordered, Jack Morgan also looked interested and said,
"Since you're making it anyway, make one of my car exactly the same too. I will pay the advance in advance too."
Jack Morgan gave me a $10,000 check, looked at the twins talking with me, and said,
"What's with you two talking so quietly with Henry? Isn't it enough that you tormented Henry that much last summer?"
Alice answered.
"Oh my, have you seen us playing pranks since we returned from the dormitory?"
Elena continued as well.
"We are ladies now. We just thought since we've aged, it's time to stop pranks."
Elena put her arm around my head, pulled me into her embrace, and continued.
"Since we found out Henry is smart enough to make a car, shouldn't we get close from now on so we can get a car too?"
I've been hugged by Mom and Dorothy a lot, but being hugged by a young and pretty lady like Elena feels different again.
This feels really good.
However, Uncle Jack kept glancing at the two suspiciously and stepped back.
When Elena released me, this time Alice hugged me the same way and said,
"Now, Duke Henry, won't you show us the car too?"
I fell for the two completely, showed them the car, and even gave them a test drive.
"So you drive while pressing this?"
"Yeah, if you press that, you can control the speed, and the one next to it is the brake, so you press it when stopping."
Since the car's speed was still slow and the stick steering system was so intuitive, the two quickly got used to driving the car.
"If you do this, it means reverse, right?"
Elena put it in reverse gear and was amazed while driving the car backward.
"This is really fun. Henry, you really are a genius."
Although it started as a bad relationship with the Alice and Elena twins, it was clear that the two were beauties, and the charm of a beautiful woman was enough to melt the frozen heart of a 7-year-old kid.
But I realized at too early an age that a woman's beautiful face is the devil's temptation to a man, and laughter is the devil's whisper.
The moment I sat in the driver's seat with Mom and Dad in the back seat to go home after the Christmas party ended, a loud and strange Pfft sound was heard from my butt.
Startled, I lifted my butt, and this time an even stranger sound was heard.
Junius Morgan, hearing that sound, said,
"Henry, did you fart?"
When 5-year-old Junius said that, the 3-year-old and 2-year-old girls next to him shouted simultaneously.
"Henry farted."
"Henry is a farter."
"The Duke farted."
In an instant, not only me but everyone seeing us off looked at the Alice and Elena twins, and the two held their bellies, laughed, and shouted.
"Uhahaha, fell for it again."
"Puhahaha, is Henry really smart?"
"Alice, Elena."
Uncle Jack and Aunt Jessie called the twins and got angry, but in that moment, my small affection, though not quite first love, was instantly shattered by the two's pranks and laughter. I turned around, hugged Mom tightly and cried, and while Mom patted and comforted me, eventually Dad drove the car and we returned home.
The day after Christmas, people who had reserved the cars we made flocked in and took the cars. There were even people who brought others to buy cars, so we sold all 37 of the 40 cars we had made in advance, excluding the 3 we would use, and received over 30 orders from people who couldn't get a car.
Dad, who doubted if this would really sell, was surprised by the tremendous sales volume and orders and said,
"I never thought they would all sell out so instantly; the item called an automobile is indeed attractive. But the people who bought or ordered today were all men, right? I guessed it the day before yesterday when presenting the car, but women just considered it a somewhat fun toy, while men are really crazy about it."
About a month ago, following Dad's advice, I had created an automobile company named 'Ford Motor Company.'
"It was good that we established the company in advance as Dad said. I never thought they would all sell out at once like this."
Dad said,
"If we hadn't made the company in advance, we would have only been able to apply for company establishment in the New Year. By the way, can you really make the items ordered by Jack and Mr. Morgan within 3 months while accepting all these orders?"
"Since I received $15,000 in advance, I have to make them somehow. So I need to recruit employees in earnest."
Currently, Ford Motor Company has only six employees, including Jimmy. I wanted to recruit more, but Dad stopped me, saying we should increase the company size while watching the car sales volume, so it became the current size. But now that he realized the car is a sellable item, Dad didn't oppose increasing the company size.
"Yes, with the funds you have and the $15,000 received as advance this time, you should increase the company size more. If funds are insufficient, you can get a loan from Dad's bank or other banks, so you must expand the company first."