I was the Founding Father of the United States

Chapter 85 London Textile Company

2:30 p.m.

Chen Wenbin and Henry Courtes arrived in a carriage at the entrance of a three-story Gothic building in the city of London.

Unlike London in a broader sense, the City of London specifically refers to the oldest part of London, which is about one square mile in size and dates back to the Roman era of Londinium in the first century AD. It is also the core financial district of present-day London.

The City of London is not only a hub for numerous banking and financial institutions, but also has its own mayor, police force, and judicial system, making it the core CBD and financial autonomous city of the UK.

The headquarters of the London Trades Association here is not the headquarters of any guild organization, but rather an upper-class club where British politicians and London businessmen collude on interests and build connections.

Receiving an invitation from the London trade association is essentially like having one foot in London's high society. Whether you can establish yourself there depends on your own abilities and skills.

To be honest, Chen Wenbin had no desire to deal with these rigid and hypocritical British nobles and greedy businessmen.

Especially the older British nobles, each one arrogant and hypocritical, could have several meanings in a single sentence, and they particularly liked to tell jokes in Latin, filtering out those in their circle who had not received aristocratic education.

Franklin suffered greatly from this, and privately complained to Chen Wenbin many times, such as this sentence—

"A bunch of dying old men speaking a dead language!"

Compared to these medieval nobles, the local tyrants of the New World were as simple and honest as country folk with clear eyes... Well, in the eyes of the traditional British aristocracy, people from the New World were country folk, and even people from outside London were country folk!

Chen Wenbin was not only a country bumpkin from North America, but also an Asian. If it weren't for his exceptional medical skills and the enormous potential profits in the cotton textile market, Chen Wenbin certainly wouldn't have received invitations from these old nobles so quickly.

"...Robin, don't overthink it. This afternoon is just a formality."

Seeing Chen Wenbin alight from the carriage and stand at the door with a solemn expression, Henry Coates comforted him, "They have accepted the offer of £160,000, but there are some problems with the payment method... Some landed nobles do not have enough cash, and they hope to postpone the payment or use British government bonds and East India Company shares to offset the cash."

Some people have heard that the royal family has invested in your Southern Development Company and pharmacy, and they also want to get involved.

In short, even a duke has to set aside his pride when faced with money!

Boss Chen glanced at him and thought to himself, "Let alone a duke, even a king has to bow down to money!"

Two days ago, the first Robin Pharmacy officially opened in Westminster, mainly selling aspirin and methifi for pain relief, as well as other medicines made with these two drugs as active ingredients and additional excipients, and of course, allicin.

Because of their scarcity, Robin's Pharmacy sets high prices for the two medications: a bottle of ten original aspirin costs £3, and a five-pill pack of Mafia pills costs £10!

Despite the exorbitant price of the medicine, with the endorsement of Dr. Chen and the Royal College of Physicians of London, they sold £860 in just one morning... The customers were mostly doctors in London, as well as nobles and wealthy people who had heard some inside stories and wanted to try the treatment.

This attempt quickly became unstoppable!

Aspirin can treat toothache and rheumatism, while malfi is an even more miraculous drug that can immediately relieve gout, joint pain, abdominal pain, and headaches caused by syphilis!

There was no need to wait until the next day; that very afternoon, many nobles sent people to the pharmacy, wanting to buy more malfi at a higher price to hoard, but what awaited them was a notice of purchase limits.

That same day, Mr. Chen also received a personal letter from King George III. In the letter, besides thanking Chen Wenbin for the two bottles of medicine he had given him, the implication was that his share dividends at Robin Pharmacy should be paid quarterly, as the royal family's finances were not in good shape.

Even His Majesty the King has to worry about money!

As they talked, the two stepped up the stairs and, guided by a waiter in a tuxedo, knocked on the door of a smoking room on the second floor.

The room was filled with smoke, and three old men were chatting on the sofa by the window. The one on the far left, smoking a cigar, was Henry Coates' father, Joseph.

The gaunt old man on the far right, waving and smiling, was someone Chen Wenbin also recognized: Matthew Clement, a Frenchman who had become the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. Chen Wenbin had dealt with him the day before yesterday when he deposited £10,000 in cash into the Bank of England.

As for the old man between the two, who was smoking a pipe and scrutinizing him with sharp eyes, Chen Wenbin had his own guesses.

"...Haha! Robin, you've come!"

Old Joseph seemed to be in a very good mood, and said with a smile, "You should already know Lord Clement, so let me formally introduce you to Sir George Colbrook, the manager of Britain's greatest company!"

He really is the big boss of the East India Company!

Chen Wenbin nodded politely to the old man and said, "It's an honor to meet you, Sir!"

George Colbrook put down his pipe, withdrew his scrutinizing gaze, and nodded, saying, "Robin, please sit down! You'll soon be a baron, and the only thing I can surpass you with is age."

"Being older is definitely not an advantage!"

Matthew Clement shook his head, looked at Chen Wenbin sitting on the opposite sofa, and said with emotion: "When I first saw Robin, I asked myself a question: What was I doing when I was his age?"

The answer is they're in the boring wine business... Good heavens! What a heartbreaking contrast!

Chen Wenbin knew that this French old man was one of the more mild-mannered types among important figures, so he smiled and said, "Mr. Clement, I'm just curious about science and medicine, and I've been fortunate enough to achieve some results..."

"Discovering allicin can be considered lucky, but new spinning and sewing machines are anything but lucky!"

George Colbrook took a puff of his pipe, stared at the relaxed Chen Wenbin, and said seriously, "...On the first Wednesday of next month, the council will grant you patent rights for the new spinning machine and sewing machine."

I hope you can hand over both patents to the London textile company after the financing, and do not charge any additional patent fees!

We've invested £56,000, and we absolutely must get a sufficient return!

Sewing machine!

Chen Wenbin's heart sank, realizing something was wrong, but his expression remained unchanged. He simply turned to look at old Joseph beside him, waiting for him to give an explanation.

"Robin, relax!"

Old Joseph knew he had to explain clearly, so he immediately said, "The London Textile Company is very important, as it relates to the future development of Britain's cotton textile industry and also to the national interest of tens of millions of pounds!"

The new spinning and sewing machines you created are the most crucial technologies, so we did not ask you to give up any additional shares.

After this round of financing, you will still have a 13% stake in the London Textile Company, and that is our way of thanking you... You don't think that all the shareholders in North America and New England will be able to keep all their shares in the company, do you?

London textile companies must be controlled by British shareholders who reside permanently in London; even British businessmen in North America are not permitted!