Chapter 238: Oil

It was mid-January 1852 when Liang Yao returned to San Francisco.

Like the route he took to the eastern United States, Liang Yao took the Nicaragua route when he returned.

In addition to the necessary materials such as factory machines, machine tools and books, the bulk of the fleet's cargo and ships still had to go around Cape Horn in South America to reach California.

Of course, the accompanying personnel, whether it was the talents and technical workers recruited by Liang Yao in the east, or the Arizona Infantry Regiment, and other soldiers followed Liang Yao back to California via the Nicaragua route.

"Nephew, a letter from home."

Back at Tingtao Garden, Liang Shaoyu handed Liang Yao a letter from the Liang family.

Liang Yao opened the letter, which was from his grandfather Liang Weiming.

Liang Weiming promised to send his mother to Jinshan, that is, St. Francis. In the letter, Liang Weiming also expressed his longing for him and hoped that Liang Yao would have time to return to Xiangshan to see him.

When he went on the expedition to Japan, he would go back to Guangdong, but he would not go back for Mr. Liang. He had no interest in getting involved in the mess of the Qing Dynasty in Liangjiahe unless he could make money.

"Third brother, the population of Jinshan has exceeded 100,000 a long time ago. Saskatchewan is also a big city with a population of nearly 100,000. Even Los Angeles has not yet exceeded 10,000 people. Shouldn't you consider adding more immigrants to Los Angeles?" Deng Wenshun complained to Liang Yao.

"Next month, the railway from Jinshan to Los Angeles will be opened to traffic. At that time, are you still worried that Los Angeles will not attract population?" Liang Yao smiled.

The railway between San Francisco and Los Angeles has been under construction for nearly a year. Since the two directions of San Francisco and Los Angeles started construction at the same time and finally joined in the Central Valley for docking, the project progressed faster and shortened a lot of construction period.

The coastal area of ​​California is the Coastal Mountains, and the terrain is relatively complex. Before the construction of the railway, Liang Yao did not consider this railway, but chose to go directly to the Central Valley.

Liang Yao's goal is to build the Central Valley into a granary for California and even the entire West Coast region. There is a railway trunk line that directly crosses the Central Valley, and the subsequent construction of the Central Valley can also benefit from it.

The California High-Speed ​​Rail, which connects San Francisco to Los Angeles in later generations, also takes this route. The difference is that the California High-Speed ​​Rail project in later generations took a full 11 years from the project approval in 2008 to the start of construction in 2015 and the completion of construction in 2019.

And in the end, the construction mileage of the California High-Speed ​​Rail was shortened from 8 kilometers to 191 kilometers.

This is the benefit of not having to expropriate land and centralize power, and it is efficient.

In 1851, most of the land in California was unowned. Liang Yao had no worries about expropriating land for the construction of the railway. As long as the route was determined, he could start construction.

As for the state legislature, it only needed to hold a meeting and go through the motions, and no one dared to make trouble for him.

Of course, another benefit of not having to expropriate land is that the cost of building railways is much lower. The average cost per kilometer of the 840-kilometer railway from San Francisco to Los Angeles is $21,000, which also includes the cost of laying telegraph lines along the railway line.

The cost per kilometer of railways of the same specifications in the eastern region is at least $34,000 to $35,000.

This is why Vanderbilt and Liang Yao entered the market to disrupt the situation, forcing the original railway company to abandon the use of old-style rails, which caused a wail in the railway industry.

However, the cost of the California Railway still made Liang Yao feel painful. This did not include the cost of the locomotive, and it had already cost $17.64 million. The railway is really a gold-eating monster.

Fortunately, the California Railway Company is currently wholly owned by him, and he can get his money back by selling 30% to 40% of his shares.

The gold mining of the Umbrella Company in Australia is going smoothly, and some gold can be recovered in the future, and the gold mining situation in Nevada is also optimistic.

He does not have to worry about cash flow for the time being, and can still work hard.

"There is no gold in Los Angeles, who would want to come to Los Angeles?" Deng Wenshun said, "There is no land for cultivation. There are plenty of vacant land around Jinshan Bay and the Central Valley. Who would want to come to Los Angeles where no one lives?"

Deng Wenshun's complaint is not without reason. The fundamental reason why the population of Los Angeles has not increased is that there are no advantageous industries in Los Angeles and it cannot attract enough people.

"Even if you don't give it to people, let the American Group build a few more factories in Los Angeles. Several coal mines have been discovered near Los Angeles recently. It is also close to transport iron ore from Mexico to Los Angeles, which is very suitable for opening a steel plant. This year, I raised some money with the local gentry in Los Angeles to open a small steel plant, which can make some pocket money." Deng Wenshun added.

"Your brain has become much smarter. You know how to raise funds to build a factory by yourself. If you are short of money, you can ask the bank for a loan. If you want to build a factory, it is still easy to borrow some money from the Bank of America with your reputation." Liang Yao said leisurely after sitting down.

"A factory cannot be built big without people." Deng Wenshun complained.

"You are such a fool. You are asking me for help in all kinds of ways. I spent more than 17 million US dollars to build the railway from Jinshan to Los Angeles. If I didn't think Los Angeles was a good place, would I be willing to spend so much money to build the railway to Los Angeles? Do I look like someone who would do a business that loses money?" Liang Yao rolled his eyes at Deng Wenshun.

"No, you are smarter than those business guys." Deng Wenshun admitted this truthfully.

"Isn't that the end of it? Have you found the oil I asked you to find in Los Angeles? It's dark, sticky, has a weird smell, and burns instantly." Liang Yao asked.

There are no gold mines in Los Angeles, but there is oil. Oil is the foundation for Los Angeles' future development and growth.

"Found it." Deng Wenshun waved his hand, indicating to his entourage to bring up a wooden wine barrel, and then said.

"When I was digging a well in my backyard, the well water failed to reach it, and this black oily water spurted out. It sprayed out for several days. This thing is good for making fires and lighting lamps. Now whale oil is becoming more and more difficult to find. Buy it, the lights on the streets of Los Angeles are lit with this stuff.

It's just that the smoke when burning is very strong, the smell is very strong, and it's not clean after burning. I often have to take off the street lamp and wash it. "

"Can you use crude oil to light the lamp and smoke it?" Liang Yao stepped forward out of curiosity and asked someone to open the barrel.

It’s not that oil can’t be used to light lamps, but kerosene must be purified so that it can be used to light lamps.

Crude oil not only smells bad when burned, but also leaves behind a bunch of impurities after burning. Naturally, using crude oil to light a lamp is not that easy to use.

After the wine barrel was opened, the wooden wine barrel was filled with a barrel of dark brown oily viscous substance. A pungent smell penetrated into Liang Yao's mouth and nose. This was it.

Liang Yao's eyes were staring straight at the oil in the barrel. The surface of the oil was like water, reflecting Liang Yao's silly smile.

"Third brother, why are you laughing? Isn't it just oil that can light a lamp? I never saw you so happy when I found gold." Deng Wenshun didn't know why.

"This thing is liquid gold, but it's a big treasure. As long as we have it, in less than three to five years, the population of Los Angeles will catch up with Saskatchewan and be on par with Jinshan." Liang Yao said with a smile, "This thing Not only can Los Angeles develop, but it can also leave your name in history.”

The significance of oil is extraordinary. Humanity's first oil well with modern significance: the Drake Well, was drilled by American Drake in Pennsylvania in 1859, opening a chapter in the oil industry.

Now history will be rewritten. Humanity's first modern oil well appeared in the United States eight years ahead of schedule.

There is no internal combustion engine yet, and petroleum cannot be used as a power fuel, but it can be purified into kerosene and used for lighting or as ordinary fuel.

Whales have been lighting up human nights for two to three hundred years, and it is time for whales to retire.

Before the advent of oil, lighting fuel for humans, especially in the West, mainly came from whale oil, so the whaling industry in the West was very developed.

Whales are full of treasures. Not only can they be used for food, but whale oil can also be extracted for night lighting, lubricating oil can be extracted for lubrication between mechanical parts, making soap, etc.

Before plastic was invented, whale bones could be considered an alternative to plastic.

This is also the reason why American crews went to the coast of Japan to hunt whales. Before the development of the chemical industry, whales were really important to Western society that had just stepped into industrial civilization.

The whaling industry has become extremely profitable. The emergence of oil and the development of the chemical industry can, to a certain extent, save whales from extinction.

"Just these dark oils?"

Deng Wenshun still couldn't believe that such a dark thing could be of such great use.

"Yes, just rely on it." Liang Yao said with great certainty, "Repackage the oil and send it to Nobel. He likes this weird liquid very much. He can definitely make this thing in his hands. Come on."