Chapter 141: Fencing (4k)

The success of the California Railroad Company gave Liang Yao great confidence.

This success proves that it is possible to develop California's local industry by absorbing the introduction of foreign talent, technology and enterprises.

As for whether foreign capital needs to be introduced, it doesn't matter. What California lacks most now is capital.

The introduction of large amounts of foreign capital is not a good thing for California. Liang Yao does not want California's local industry and manufacturing to be dominated by capital from out of state.

February 17, 1851, a special day for California, officially began construction of the railroad between San Francisco and Sacramento.

The railway will be built entirely by California's own railroad, California Railroad.

In order to shorten the construction period and complete it as soon as possible, the railway will be built from San Francisco and Sacramento at the same time.

This is a big challenge for California's railroad engineers, but Calrail's engineering team is confident.

Chief Engineer Ward said very confidently in an interview with the California Daily that they have been preparing for the construction of this railway since November last year.

He believed that Caltrain could deliver a satisfactory answer to the people of California and that Calrail would become the pride of all Californians in the future.

In Tingtao Garden, Liang Yaozheng was fencing with Fremont. The two were in a stalemate for a long time. Liang Yao finally found a flaw. While Fremont was distracted, he stabbed Fremont in the heart with his sword.

Fremont is a good fencing player, and this is the first time Liang Yao beat Fremont.

Liang Yao is now the colonel commander of the California Infantry Regiment. Your status as a politician, businessman, and scholar is not enough to convince those soldiers. You must have something to convince these big soldiers.

Officers in this era have not completely broken away from the category of traditional generals. Horse riding, cold weapon combat, and shooting are still their specialties.

"Your fencing skills have improved a lot. Who did you learn it from?" Freemont took off his protective gear, and the servant beside him handed him water to quench his thirst.

Liang Yao also put down his wooden sword, took off his bulky protective gear, moved his body and said, "Colonel Mason, Colonel Mason and I practiced fencing while you were away."

"It turns out to be Mason."

Fremont walked to the pavilion and sat down.

"This guy was really a good fencing player in the army. I was once defeated by him."

"But now he is our prisoner. There is no news from Congress yet. I wonder if they have forgotten Colonel Mason." Liang Yao said.

"After Mason is from a famous family, Congress dare not forget him." Fremont smiled. "Maybe Congress is still discussing the Nevada land. The efficiency of the American Congress is very low. I think you should know this."

"It's very low. It's outrageously low." Liang Yao also walked into the pavilion to enjoy the cool air. "You were worried just now. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to win against you. Do you want to go on an adventure?"

"Yes, you know, I am a restless person. Besides, I am very relieved to have you in California now." Fremont nodded and said, "Maybe when I come back from the expedition, the California Railway Company will be able to build a two-way railway." With more than a thousand miles of railway, it will be a miracle in the history of industry.”

"Kony, go to my study and take out the map from my desk."

Liang Yao said to Kony.

Soon, Kony brought the map Liang Yao wanted.

Liang Yao spread out the map and laid it flat on the stone table in the center of the pavilion.

"The West is so big, you have to have a clue when exploring the railway route. This is a route I compiled based on the geographical information I collected these days and the westward diary of the eastern gold prospectors. It may be able to provide you with a reference."

Fremont looked carefully at the map provided to him by Liang Yao. The route Liang Yao provided to Fremont was the famous 41st North Latitude route of the Pacific Railway in later generations.

The route starts from Sacramento, California, and passes through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska, with a total length of 3,000 kilometers.

Of course, the length of the railway route is only secondary. The areas this route passes through, especially along the western region, have very harsh climate conditions, and the complex geographical conditions along the way are even more difficult.

The areas along the western route need to pass through not only solid granite mountains but also a large number of deep valleys. If you want to build a railway here, you must open roads through mountains and build bridges across valleys. The engineering is extremely difficult.

"Although I am not a railway engineer, I still know that your line is too difficult to build and your plan is too crazy."

Fremont had traveled this route before, and he knew its conditions well.

Fremont was not optimistic about the railway line provided by Liang Yao. He did not believe that a railway could be built on this line with the existing technical conditions.

After all, Fremont still distrusted bridge technology. He had witnessed the collapse of a railroad bridge on the Hudson River in New York State. He believed that building railways should avoid building too many bridges as much as possible because thin bridges were not safe enough. .

Unlike the steel railway bridges of later generations, the railway bridges of this period were basically wooden railway bridges. The structure and strength of the bridges were naturally not comparable to railway bridges made of steel.

"What is your ideal route?" Liang Yao asked.

"Of course it is a route with relatively flat terrain. The purpose of my expedition this time is to find such a route." Fremont said his ideal route.

Liang Yao now seemed to understand why Fremont had failed to explore the route several times, because there was no such route from the west to the east of the United States.

"Fremont, give up your unrealistic idea. To the east of California is the Nevada Mountains, and to the east of the Nevada Mountains is the Great Basin and the Rocky Mountains. There is no route with relatively flat terrain. If we want to successfully build this railway, the mountains that stretch across the country are the obstacles we cannot bypass."

Liang Yao said to Fremont earnestly, hoping that Fremont would not avoid difficulties and waste energy on finding that unrealistic route.

If Fremont is unwilling to explore the 41 degrees north latitude route, he will personally send people to explore this route.

"I will consider your suggestion." Fremont thought for a long time and accepted Liang Yao's map. "Let's go to the shooting range and shoot some guns. I wonder if your shooting skills have improved as much as your swordsmanship."

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Huang Shuigen carried a heavy backpack with a pile of clothes to be changed.

He had just arrived in this legendary place where gold was everywhere and you would not starve to death if you had hands eight days ago on a ship with smoking chimneys.

In fact, it was true. This place was indeed a place where you would not starve to death if you had hands. He found a temporary worker in the laundry room and could earn 3 dollars and 50 cents a day.

This was only a very low income in Jinshan, but Huang Shuigen was already very satisfied with it.

He lived a very frugal life. After deducting the food money every day, he could still save about 2 dollars. In eight days, he had saved 15 dollars.

The gold coins here were rich in gold. If they were converted into silver, the foreign money in his hand could be exchanged for more than 9 taels of silver.

(In 1851, the gold-silver ratio was 13. In the 19th century, silver continued to depreciate. In the 1950s, 1 pound could be exchanged for 3 taels of silver. In the 1980s, 1 pound could be exchanged for nearly 4 taels of silver. The gold-silver ratio exceeded 18 in 1880. The exchange rate between the pound and the US dollar was about 87.

The price problem in California has been mentioned at the beginning of this book, so I won’t repeat it. The prices in the gold-producing areas are definitely not comparable to those in ordinary places. As the gold production decreases, the prices will slowly return to normal levels.)

Save more than 9 taels of silver in eight days, this is something Huang Shuigen could never dream of.

Here, as long as you have a pair of hardworking hands and are not tainted with other bad habits, getting rich is not just a dream.

But he heard that their group of immigrants will be arranged in batches in a place called Los Angeles.

There is no gold in that place, but Mr. Liang will give them 5 acres per person, which is more than 30 acres of land.

This was something he had never dreamed of in Xiangshan. Huang Shuigen's family of more than ten people only had 17 mu of paddy fields in Xiangshan, but here, as long as they registered at the immigration reception center, they could get 30 mu of land.

It is said that according to the laws here, as long as you open up unowned land and cultivate it for 5 years, this land can become your private land, and in the first five years, the court and the government will not levy taxes on the land.

Thinking of this, Huang Shuigen was full of hope for the future. He felt that as long as he worked hard for six or seven years, he could become a small landlord and live a small life with a wife and children.

Huang Shuigen was immersed in a beautiful fantasy. Several idle white people pointed at the braids behind his head and called him off. They picked up stones on the ground and threw them at Huang Shuigen.

One of the small stones fell squarely on Huang Shuigen's forehead, which hurt a lot.

But Huang Shuigen endured it. Based on the principle of not causing trouble on other people's territory, it was better to do less than more. Forget it.

Unexpectedly, the white idlers threw stones more and more vigorously, and one stone after another hit Huang Shuigen's body, making him almost cry out in pain.

At this moment, several Chinese police chiefs on horseback passed by, followed by several mounted police, some Chinese and some white.

The police chief passing by was Cai Mingsheng, the current police chief of San Francisco. After Flagg was promoted to state police chief, Cai Mingsheng also followed suit and was directly promoted to the police chief of San Francisco.

Cai Mingsheng took out the six-shot revolver from his waist and fired a shot into the air.

The loud gunshot scared the white idlers, and they were about to run away.

"Lie down!"

Cai Mingsheng pointed the gun at the white people's right hands and ordered them to lie down.

"Idle and provoking trouble, arrest them!"

As soon as Cai Mingsheng gave the order, several mounted police came forward and arrested the idle white people and handcuffed them.

"Sheriff, I heard that the railway company needs manpower to repair the railway. Send them to the railway company. These guys are idle anyway." A mounted policeman said to Cai Mingsheng.

"Take them back to the police station first."

Cai Mingsheng got off his horse and said to the mounted policemen under him.

He had experienced Brannan's indiscriminate revenge on the Chinese during the Brannan period, so he couldn't bear to see the Chinese being bullied in California.

"You useless guy! Why don't you fight back when you are bullied like this?"

Cai Mingsheng looked at the young man in front of him with great disappointment, who was much taller than him and had a strong body. His figure was really in vain.

"In the past, when we were bullied by foreigners in Guangdong, the government always favored foreigners. We are used to it." Huang Shuigen avoided Cai Mingsheng's eyes and said with his head lowered.

"It's different here. The government here is more biased towards us." Cai Mingsheng said, "Look up! From your accent, are you from Xiangshan?"

"This junior is from Xiangshan, and this gentleman is also from Xiangshan?" Huang Shuigan wiped his eyes, then raised his head and answered.

"It's really embarrassing for the Xiangshan people. Go back and cut off this pig's tail. And don't call me Mr. Cha. I'm the police chief of Jinshan City!"

Cai Mingsheng didn't like the title Master Cha. He always found it strange. He glanced at Huang Shuigan's braid and said.

"Are you Chief Cai?!"

Although Huang Shuigen had just arrived in San Francisco not long ago, he had already heard of Cai Mingsheng's name and heard that Cai Mingsheng had a close relationship with Lieutenant Governor Liang.

And Vice Governor Liang is a person who can make foreigners here tremble.

"Sergeant Cai, I am willing to run errands for Chief Cai. I have run errands for foreigners in Guangzhou and have written some foreign texts. I have also attended a private school for three years! I can write and do math!"

Huang Shuigen gritted his teeth and knelt in front of Cai Mingsheng. He wanted to find a job under Cai Mingsheng. As long as he wore Sheriff Cai's body, he would not have to worry about being bullied in the future.

This is what Huang Shuigen is thinking now,

"Get up, the United States is not the Qing Dynasty, and we don't tolerate kneeling and worshiping." Cai Mingsheng raised his hand and said, "Can you write English?"

"Yes! I know some simple things! I learned it from foreign monks in a foreign temple!" Huang Shuigan hurriedly picked up a branch and started writing on the ground to prove that he could write English.

Cai Mingsheng carefully looked at the English written by Huang Shuigan on the ground: In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.

"No need to write. Of course I can keep you in the police station to work, but since you are educated and young, I will miss your future by leaving you in the police station. Now you have a better choice." Cai Mingsheng He helped Huang Shuigen and said.

"A better choice? According to the arrangement, when the ship arrives in half a month, I will be arranged to Los Angeles. I heard that everything there is good, there is a lot of wasteland, but there is no gold." Huang Shuigan said with some disappointment.

"It's not this way. Didn't you read the notice on the square?" Cai Mingsheng said, "Colonel Liang wants to select young people under the age of 20 with a good cultural background. He will hire specialized teachers to teach these young people and let them attend West Point Military Academy next year. and Virginia Military Academy exams.”

"I haven't seen the notice. What does Chief Cai mean for me to apply for a foreign school? Will there be a better future in the future?" Huang Shuigen shook his head and said in confusion.

"The military academy is not an ordinary school. As long as you are admitted to the military academy, you will be able to serve as an officer next to Colonel Liang in the future. It will have a much better future than being a mounted policeman under me." Cai Mingsheng said to Huang Shuigan earnestly, "Follow me. , I will take you to sign up, and you don’t have to worry about your livelihood. You can work for Colonel Liang, and you will be provided with food and accommodation, and you won’t starve to death.”

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