Charles' arrangements for the Southern States were very targeted. The very next day, many businessmen who attended the dinner immediately dispatched their trade representatives, braving the war, to advance towards the Southern States.
They were both promoting their own goods and purchasing supplies from the South.
For a time, the entire Northern economic circle was invigorated.
These actions later showed their results immediately after the entire war of Independence ended.
The Southern economy recovered quickly after the war, and the Northern economy, even after experiencing the war, was not greatly affected. The losses were basically in kind, and the overall economic environment did not suffer much damage. Instead, because it formed an economic complementarity with the Southern States, it performed more actively and healthily in all aspects.
The greatest capital in the world is people. A politician must have the widest network of contacts. Charles kept this in mind, so after the Continental army marched south, in addition to his normal work, Charles constantly visited the various political and business elites in the city.
As the leader of the largest faction in the current Continental Congress and a representative of syndicate interests, Charles' efforts to win over others were not only for his personal needs but also for the needs of his faction's interests.
In the past, although Charles' status was high, his social influence was insufficient. Even if he visited some people, he might not receive much respect. But now, his influence is absolutely enough to make anyone in America proactively leave their home to welcome his visit.
In the days after returning to Philadelphia from Pittsburgh, his constant, humble visits not only made his title of "Defender of Philadelphia" more resonant but also earned him unofficial titles such as "Wise Man" and "Federalist."
The busiest place in the city now is undoubtedly the residence of Charles, this truly emerging powerful figure.
Although Charles' power, in the context of all America, is not the greatest, due to his age and his influence being primarily in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, his status and influence in Philadelphia are undoubtedly the strongest.
However, as the syndicate interest faction he organized increasingly united on Philadelphia's political stage, it has already caused many other politicians, when facing this powerful political group, to passively band together and unite to resist this syndicate interest faction.
The factional divisions within the Continental Congress are becoming increasingly apparent.
"Charles! It's really not easy to see you now. I heard that many people who want to see you have to make an appointment first?"
Thomas Jefferson, who had finally managed to make time to visit Charles, was surprised to find that more people wanted to see Charles than him. He, the foremost democratic fighter in America, almost had to wait a while to see Charles. Upon meeting, he naturally couldn't help but complain to Charles.
"Hahaha! Thomas, don't just talk about me. Several times I wanted to see you, but it was even harder. But here, no matter how difficult it is for others to see me, you can absolutely see me whenever you want."
Charles laughed and retorted to Jefferson.
The fact that Jefferson initiated this visit was because Charles had tried to visit him earlier and failed. If he hadn't gone first, perhaps this important figure wouldn't have returned the visit. As the factions within the Continental Congress became increasingly distinct, Jefferson, as the leader of the democratic faction, also officially emerged. He had already had several small political clashes with Charles' syndicate interests.
Their meetings now are far less cordial than before.
"Alas... you, you never want to suffer even a little loss."
Jefferson looked at Charles with a complex expression.
Originally, as Charles' power and prestige increased, their relationship had somewhat faded. Now, with the involvement of political factional struggles, their relationship naturally grew colder.
In fact, their political disagreements were already very clear during their first long conversation after meeting. However, at that time, Charles' influence was simply not comparable to Jefferson's, so this democratic fighter naturally generously expressed his willingness to wait for time to prove whose views were correct.
But now it seems that whether the views are correct still needs to be slowly waited for, but on the path of their development, it is undoubtedly this younger Charles who has achieved greater success. In just over a year, the social status of both has changed greatly. Jefferson is the father of the Declaration of Independence and the leader of the democratic faction of the Continental Congress; Charles is the Conqueror of the Iroquois and the Defender of Philadelphia, the leader of the syndicate interest faction of the Continental Congress. From a historical perspective, Jefferson's future status will undoubtedly still be higher than Charles', but at this time, common people still respect Charles, the Defender of Philadelphia, more.
"Thomas, how is your review of the Articles of Confederation coming along? Without such a formal legal document establishing a country, the United States always feels like its foreign relations lack legitimacy."
Charles was not polite and directly brought up the topic he wanted to discuss with Jefferson yesterday.
"Haha! I've been a diplomat myself, so of course I know that without these Articles of Confederation, our diplomats have a hard time speaking out. However, this agreement is currently difficult for the various states to approve. Several states north of Albany are now almost completely in the hands of the British army. Plus, one state was originally a French Colony, and now that we have the American-French alliance, they are already very unhappy. How could the Articles of Confederation be so easily passed by those few states?"
Jefferson said with a helpless expression.
Although Charles, Washington, Adams, and others all advocated for the establishment of a States, the reality was that the Continental Congress Representatives from the various states only agreed to form a confederation at most. The consideration of a States would have to wait until at least after the war of Independence was won. They did not want to rashly form a States in the current situation, leaving themselves no room for retreat.
Since the Declaration of Independence was issued and the Thirteen American Colonies declared independence from Great Britain, establishing the United States, the name "United States" has been widely recognized by the people of the Thirteen Colonies. However, there is a very amusing reality: the United States at this time did not have any constitution or national law to confirm its existence. In fact, the United States was still an illegal country.
This situation indeed caused great trouble for the United States in diplomatic and internal affairs.
Charles' syndicate interest faction and other federal proponents had no choice but to settle for a secondary option, acknowledging Jefferson's and their democratic views, and first establishing a confederation to make the so-called United States of America a confederate nation in a legal sense. Unfortunately, the discussions for the Articles of Confederation, which began after the Battle of Philadelphia, have yet to yield results.
—
"Actually, the establishment of the General Headquarters now has more centralized power than any Articles of Confederation. Why would those states still disagree?"
Charles was a bit impatient about this.
If those representatives from the North are truly so stubborn, he could completely take advantage of the opportunity when the main army marches north to replace the Continental Congress Representatives from those states. He could just replace them all with those who support the States, which should reduce a lot of trouble at that time. However, this approach cannot be openly proposed, nor can it even be discussed with anyone.
"Haha! Although the General Headquarters has a lot of power, it is, after all, a temporary organization. I and other Representatives have discussed that once the war ends, the functions of the General Headquarters will cease, and that Continental army, which has always been viewed with wisdom, will be disbanded."
Jefferson said triumphantly.
Charles frowned, knowing that Jefferson was referring to the idea of his democratic faction.
Now that he had power and influence, he naturally no longer overly concealed his emotions, and his aversion to the idea of disbanding the army was completely unconcealed.
"Let's not talk about ending the General Headquarters for now, but regarding the disbandment of the Continental army, I ask you to consider it carefully. If this news were to get out now, I think it would be very difficult for the Continental army soldiers, who are currently shedding blood and sweat for the country, to accept such an act of betrayal. If a mutiny were to occur, it would be no laughing matter."
"How could there be a mutiny? Certainly not."
Jefferson still didn't care at all, "Those ordinary soldiers are all eager to retire and go home. No one likes to fight and die for officers on the battlefield while only getting a tiny bit of military pay. The ones who truly oppose the disbandment of the Continental army should be those officers who are accustomed to controlling the army. If these people don't disband their soldiers early now, they will sooner or later develop into warlords!"
"Uh..."
Charles found it difficult to say more.
To say more would make it seem like he wanted to become a warlord.
As a historical great, Jefferson's insights were indeed good. Charles had always felt that if the army was disbanded after victory, it was a betrayal of the soldiers, but in reality, for those cannon fodder soldiers who had to charge into battle, it was a kind of liberation. The true opposition indeed only came from the generals and officers who held military power. However, if those officers betrayed, the harm caused would absolutely be no less than the harm caused by a few small soldiers mutinying.
Feeling that the topic had drifted a bit, Charles brought up the situation of the various states again.
"The war has been going on for two years now, and the economic situation of all the states is not very good. If we don't sign the Articles of Confederation sooner, and everyone truly unites under one national name, I'm afraid it will be very difficult for us to provide mutual economic assistance to the various states."
"The economies of the various states are not good right now, so this mutual assistance probably won't have much effect. Besides, many of those Representatives have invested in the Pittsburgh stock market you opened, so they don't have to worry about their own economic problems, and of course, they won't be in a hurry to improve their state's economy."
Jefferson gently shook his head.
"Hahaha! Speaking of the stock market, Thomas, haven't you received your bank share dividend from last year yet?"
"Share dividend?"
Jefferson was stunned.
He suddenly remembered that he did indeed hold a 10% dry share in Charles' bank. However, shortly after the bank was established, he returned to Virginia and never fulfilled his duties as legal advisor to the bank and Charles' other businesses.
Now, hearing that Charles still remembered the dividend, he naturally felt a little embarrassed.
"Forget about that. I haven't done any work for the bank's legal affairs. I'm not willing to take such a free dividend."
"Thomas, that's a dividend of several thousand pounds. Are you really going to refuse it?"
Charles said with a smile.
"Several thousand pounds? How could a 10% dividend possibly be several thousand pounds!"
Jefferson was greatly surprised.
Although he had always heard that banking was a very profitable business, generally speaking, an annual profit of ten thousand pounds would already be considered a miracle. After all, this bank had only just been established, and its capital was only one hundred thousand pounds. A 10% profit rate would definitely qualify it as a high-profit industry. But now it was several thousand pounds, which meant that last year, this bank, with only one hundred thousand pounds in capital, actually had tens of thousands of pounds in profit.
"That's right. Last year, our two banks participated in issuing the dollar and continuously provided loans to the Continental Congress. Although many of the loans used collateral, and the profits couldn't be immediately realized, judging solely by the book profit, we indeed made a profit of about fifty thousand pounds in one year."
Charles affirmed.
"Charles! Charles! You truly have a knack for accumulating wealth that rivals the God of Commerce."
However, he still chose to refuse Charles' offer of a dividend.
"This dry share was originally intended as compensation for my legal advisory services, but I haven't fulfilled my duties as a legal advisor, so I still cannot accept this money."
Seeing Jefferson's resolute expression, Charles knew he couldn't persuade this stubborn democrat and could only shake his head helplessly.
"Anyway, a lot of the profit hasn't been realized yet. I'll keep this money for you. Whenever you need it, just come and ask me for it."
There were few poor people in the Continental Congress. An outstanding lawyer like Jefferson, who had also served as governor of Virginia, while not as wealthy as the great plantation owners, still had a very substantial fortune. At least, Charles knew that Jefferson's household kept a large number of slaves.
Although several thousand pounds was already a huge sum, for Jefferson, who had ample family assets, it was indeed not a fortune that was difficult to part with.
"Speaking of accumulating wealth, Charles, I have to mention someone's opinion to you."
Jefferson complained to Charles.
"Oh, who is it?"
Charles was surprised.
For such an important figure as Jefferson to make a small report, the deeds of this person would be worth boasting about.