Chapter 138: Iron Ambition (Part 1)

“It was at the height of the fighting in California, and there were generals in the Army and Navy in California.

The top commander of the Army was Brigadier General Stephen Carney, Colonel Mason's immediate boss at the time.

The top naval commander was General Stockton, and the two generals were competing for command of the front line.

I happened to have a relatively objective armed force in my hands, probably more than 300 people. At that time, General Stockton appointed me as the temporary governor of the California Territory. I accepted, and my armed forces also obeyed his command. "

Fremont talked about that bitter past.

Liang Yaoruo realized that the American army and navy also had sectarian views.

As an officer with an Army background, it was naturally taboo for Fremont to accept the appointment and dispatch of the Navy Commander, and the outcome was self-evident.

"But you are an army officer." Liang Yao said.

"Here's the problem. The war was urgent at the time, and I couldn't care about so much. Besides, General Stephen Carney was too greedy for credit.

With more than 300 cavalry, he wanted to take over the entire California by himself. He wanted to steal the show in this battle. If General Stockton hadn't arrived in time, he would have been killed in the city of Los Angeles. "

Fremont said.

“Mexican resistance in Baja California is stronger than that in Upper California. I am more in favor of General Stockton’s decision-making and feel that his decision-making is more reasonable, so I decided to follow General Stockton’s command.

General Stephen Carney was furious. He reported me to Washington and not only had me court-martialed, but also had me removed from the Army.

Fortunately, I have some connections in Washington and his conspiracy did not succeed.

Not long after the war ended, General Carney also unfortunately contracted a tropical disease in Mexico and died not long after returning to the United States. "

"What's the relationship?" Liang Yao asked curiously.

“President Polk and my father-in-law were good friends, and President Polk, thinking of my contribution in the western region, not only pardoned me, but also retained my military commission.

But at that time, I was already disillusioned with the Army, so I resigned on my own initiative, not wanting to have anything to do with the Army anymore. "

Freemont said with a very relaxed expression, but Liang Yao still saw the unwillingness in his eyes.

Perhaps this is why when President Fillmore appointed him as colonel and peace officer of the California Infantry Regiment last year, Fremont declined and gave up the position to Liang Yao.

The Army is a scar in Fremont’s heart.

"You call this a little relationship?" Liang Yao said with a smile.

"It's a good idea to have a Pacific Fleet on the West Coast, but the federal government doesn't have the money right now. It's impossible for the Department of the Navy to establish a Pacific Fleet on the West Coast," Fremont said.

He also lobbied in the Washington area at the end of last year. Fremont still knows what the financial situation of the American federal government is.

The Ministry of the Navy is downsizing even its active fleet, and its shipyards are also laying off employees. How can it be possible to establish a new fleet in the Pacific region on the west coast.

Maintaining a navy is more expensive than maintaining an army.

"If the federal government doesn't have money, we can set up a Coast Guard in the name of the California Anti-Smuggling Bureau to be responsible for anti-smuggling and offshore patrols in California." Liang Yao said, "I think the federal government doesn't want them to collect tariffs. What we saw was a smuggling-ridden California.”

The federal government cannot afford it, but the California government can.

At this time, the IRS (U.S. Internal Revenue Service), which would make later generations of Americans jealous, had not yet been established. The IRS was established during the Civil War by then President Lincoln and Congress to raise military funds. The income tax also started at this time. Collection just started.

At present, the main source of tax revenue for the U.S. federal government is tariffs, followed by consumption taxes on some consumer goods.

The federal government's tax revenue source is relatively single, and the U.S. economy has been sluggish in recent years. It is strange that the government can be financially wealthy.

The federal government may not have enough money for some wealthy states at this time.

The California tax bill has been passed. After the introduction of the tax, California's financial situation will definitely improve. It is no problem to maintain a small fleet in the name of anti-smuggling and protecting merchant ships.

"A patrol ship of more than two thousand tons?" Fremont smiled and said, "If you are so determined, I can also help you smoothen your relationship with the Navy. The Navy's shipyards are also short of orders right now. You can give them Placing a few shipbuilding orders will also make the Navy favor you."

With that said, Freemont motioned to the servant behind him to bring up the box in his hand.

Fremont opened the box and found a stack of drawings of a railroad route between San Francisco and Sacramento.

The precise map hanging in Liang Yao's office is Fremont's masterpiece.

The level of Fremont's cartography is very high, no worse than that of professional cartographers.

Liang Yao recalled that when he first met Fremont, he was looking for gold near Sacramento and drawing accurate maps around the Sacramento area.

Fremont and Liang Yao came to the shipyard's office, and the shipyard director hurriedly made a table for them.

Fremont took the drawings out of the box and put them on his desk to show them to Liang Yao.

"This is the railway map drawn by me and the engineers of the California Railway Company. I heard that the steel mill has accumulated a lot of iron recently. I think it's time to start the railway line between San Francisco and Sacramento."

Fremont is also a shareholder of the California Railway Company, but his shares are only a small part compared to Liang Yao.

He hopes that the railway between San Francisco and Sacramento can be completed and opened to traffic as soon as possible.

The profit of the railway line connecting the two cities must be very high. He believes that it will not take long to recover the cost.

Of course, Fremont's ambition is not limited to this. He has the same ambition as Liang Yao, that is, to build a railway across North America and connect California and the eastern region with a railway line.

At present, the main mode of transportation between California and the eastern region is still through the routes in Nicaragua and Panama.

Both routes have to pass through a section of land on the Isthmus of Central America, which is not only inconvenient, but also relatively inefficient, limiting the transportation of large goods.

Transportation is currently a bottleneck restricting the development of California.

California needs a railway connecting the east and west. Of course, he also knows that the difficulty and amount of work in building this railway are unimaginable with the current technical level.

Fremont hopes that the California Railway Company can accumulate experience from building medium and short-distance railways and accumulate technology for the future construction of this railway across North America, connecting the east and the west.