I was the Founding Father of the United States

Chapter 8 Alliance of Interests

One percent of the shares?

Seeing Chen Wenbin's serious expression, Jansen directly refused, saying, "I already have five percent, there's no need to greedily ask for more! Besides, setting up the textile factory is also part of my job..."

"No!"

Chen Wenbin insisted, "I won't let my friend who trusts me suffer a loss, James, please accept it! If you don't accept it, I'll still give you a 6% cut of the profits!"

Now that Pastor Jensen's reliability has been initially verified, it is necessary to reward him. This is a basic operation for uniting allies, and Chen Wenbin naturally has to do it.

Besides, matters like buying land and hiring people can only be handled by Pastor Johnson, a respected local figure, so giving him an extra one percent of the shares is perfectly acceptable.

Despite Chen Wenbin's insistence, Pastor Jason accepted the shares. Although he could restrain his greed, he could not refuse Chen Wenbin's friendship. There was a fundamental difference between the two... He now truly admired and appreciated Chen Wenbin.

This is simply a knight of exceptional character and ability!

He has superb medical skills and is generous with his miraculous medicines for his patients!

He was erudite and had a profound understanding of nature, mechanics, and philosophy.

More importantly, he is a generous person who is willing to share with his friends...

Thinking of this, he hesitated for a few seconds, then, seeing that there were still a few other guests around, he spoke:

"...Excuse me, Robin, I think we need to go upstairs to discuss the textile factory issue!"

"OK!"

Chen Wenbin looked around, wiped his mouth with a napkin, got up, and returned to the guest room upstairs with the other person.

As soon as he closed the door, Reverend Jason didn't sit down. Instead, he said to Chen Wenbin with a serious expression, "...Robin, I told you before that the textile industry in the New England colonies isn't very developed, and they have to import a large amount of textiles from Britain every year. Do you remember?"

"...I remember." Chen Wenbin seemed to understand, and asked, "Is there a problem with that?"

"Of course there's a problem!" Reverend Jason said with a wry smile, "The North American colonies were British colonies! Do you understand what a colony means?"

Colonies have no right to decide their own fate. Once your Jenna spinning machines reach England, those textile industry bosses will certainly not let go of this opportunity to make a fortune!

They would use all means, including political and legal ones, to restrict the colonies from developing their own textile industry and turn North America into their own cotton supplier and textile market!

In fact, that's exactly what they're doing now!

The Major Commodities Act of 1663 stipulated that cotton yarn exported from North America to Europe must be transshipped through Britain. At the same time, Britain also prohibited the trade of wool, cotton yarn and woolen products between the North American colonies, and was also prohibited from exporting textile machinery to the North American colonies!

Even now, Britain adopts a repressive attitude towards non-family textile factories in the North American colonies…

Chen Wenbin frowned upon hearing this, thinking to himself that the British were so domineering, starting to impose technological blockades so early on. Like father, like son...

However, he didn't speak, but waited for the pastor to continue, since the other party was willing to invest in him in the first place, there must be a solution.

As expected, when Reverend Jason saw that Chen Wenbin only frowned instead of panicking, he nodded secretly and smiled, "...Robin, you should have guessed it too. Although Britain has taken a series of measures to control the economic development of the colonies, North America is, after all, a new continent. It is far from Europe, and the King and Parliament cannot firmly control everyone's thoughts and actions."

So we still have a chance to build a company that will change the textile industry, despite the pressure from the British government... but we need the support of more friends!

These friends not only had to come from Rhode Island, but also from other North American colonies, and even from London!

friend?

Does opening a textile factory require so many "friends"? Is this Britain or the Qing Dynasty?

Chen Wenbin mentally complained, but his mind was racing, processing the information. After a while, he looked up and asked, "...Pastor, are you saying that our textile factory needs more powerful shareholders?"

That's possible, but I hope to achieve some results first before accepting more investment. After all, it's difficult to secure much funding with just blueprints.

Seeing that Chen Wenbin was clear-headed, Pastor Jensen breathed a sigh of relief. "We do need many strong shareholders, but before that, I'd like to introduce you to an organization that has a wide influence in Europe and North America..."

He paused, looked at Chen Wenbin, and asked, "Robin, you were a Catholic before, you should have heard of 'Freemasonry,' right?"

Freemasonry... Free stonemason?

Depend on!

Isn't this just Freemasonry?!

Chen Wenbin almost jumped up, staring blankly at Pastor Jensen in front of him... He never expected that this Protestant pastor with thick eyebrows and big eyes would actually be a Freemason!

"Don't get excited, Robin!"

Pastor Jensen quickly reassured him, "Pope Clement XII's excommunication of the Free Stonemasons was merely to protect the interests of the Roman Catholic Church, just as the Roman Church persecuted Protestants in the past. If the Free Stonemasons were truly sinners and villains, so many nobles and gentlemen wouldn't have joined..."

Seeing Chen Wenbin's expression soften slightly, and considering his status as a descendant of Eastern nobility and his powerful inventive abilities, Pastor Jensen gritted his teeth and whispered again:

"...Robin! I can tell you a secret, but you must swear on your faith that you will never reveal it to a third person, otherwise it will be dangerous for all of us!"

Chen Wenbin's mind raced for a few moments. Knowing he probably didn't have the right to refuse, he immediately raised his hand and solemnly swore he would never leak the secret.

Pastor Jensen then let out a soft breath, and tried to speak in a relaxed tone:

"...This is not actually a particularly important secret. As you may know, many nobles in Europe were secret members of the Free Stonemasons."

For example, King Frederick I of Prussia and his godson, as well as our King George's father, the late Prince Frederick, were all important members of the Free Stonemasons!

Chen Wenbin was truly shocked!

The father of the current King George III of Great Britain was actually a Freemason!

This... seems surprisingly reasonable!

After all, according to the various fragmented "conspiracy theories" he heard in short videos in his later life, the Freemasons and imperialist countries such as Britain, the United States and France were inseparable and were all part of the same ruling class... It turns out they were mixed together in the 18th century!

Do not!

Freemasonry itself should be a club of interests concocted by these European nobles and emerging capitalist groups. Only by joining it can one qualify to become the ruling class!

If we follow this line of thought, it's not surprising that many of America's Founding Fathers were Freemasons during the American Revolutionary War a decade or so later, and that George III granted America independence after suffering a minor defeat...

They're all insiders from the same circle, just running a separate branch in North America. The shareholders haven't changed much, so it's easy for George III and Britain to let go!

As for the later American Revolutionary War, the British burned down the White House, which was mostly because the Founding Fathers of the North American branch got carried away and wanted to kick the British shareholders out...

Cough!

He coughed twice, shook his head, and stopped thinking about these unverified things. Right now, he still had to deal with Pastor Jensen's invitation to join the church... It seemed like he couldn't refuse this thing!

If I really refuse, Pastor Jason will definitely turn on me, and maybe tonight I'll be sunk into the Atlantic Ocean to grow lotus flowers!

He gritted his teeth, looked earnestly at the pastor, and sincerely said:

"...Pastor, you are my mentor and my best friend in North America. With your introduction, of course I'm willing to join...The Free Stonemasons!"

Pastor Jason smiled with satisfaction upon hearing this, "Very good! Robin, you have made a very correct decision!"

You don't need to worry about your Eastern identity. The Free Stonemasons of North America recruit elites and gentlemen. Your knowledge and creativity fully meet the membership requirements. You just need to find a recommender, and you can officially hold your initiation ceremony at the Seventh Clubhouse in Providence.

And I'm going to ask Mr. Peter Harrison, the most prestigious architect in New England, to be your other recommender. Your textile mill and future estate will certainly need his help in designing them..."