Chapter 384: New Governor

Chapter 377 New Governor

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Liang Yao boarded the ship and set sail to test the navigation capability of the Bold and the newly installed guns.

The maximum speed provided by the San Francisco Shipyard to Liang Yao was indeed not false, but the coal consumption at the maximum speed was astonishing, and it was not dared to run at such a high speed under normal circumstances.

Since Jinshan Bay is a very busy port with many civilian ships coming and going, it is not suitable to test the weapon systems on the ships in Jinshan Bay.

The Bold left Jinshan Bay and went to the open sea to test the guns.

Although it is called the open sea, it is actually only 20 nautical miles away from the coastline.

The test area has been cleared of civilian ships and target ships have been set up. These target ships are all old and broken sailing ships with a displacement of two to three hundred tons.

Liang Yao attaches great importance to this first cruiser designed and built independently in California.

The core personnel on the ship, including the captain, first mate, second mate, third mate, navigator, gunner, quartermaster, sail and cable chief, steam engine chief, and mechanic, were all the backbones drawn from the Roland and Yang Wei.

Even the ordinary crew members were not directly recruited, but were carefully selected from the old employees of the Global Shipping Company who had been serving the Global Shipping Company since 1851.

"General, everything is ready, shall we conduct the test?"

Captain Lin Sen asked Liang Yao.

Lin Sen, a native of Houguan, Fujian, worked as a boat boy on a trading merchant ship of Qichang Foreign Company in his early years. Later, he worked as a sail and cable hand on a steamship of the British Steamship Company and also worked as a sail and cable chief.

Because the treatment of sailors in British shipping companies was originally very poor, and there was a deep discrimination against the so-called colored crew members.

In 1850, after learning that there was a lot of gold in California, Lin Sen joined the gold rush without hesitation.

However, he was soon cheated by his fellow countrymen. Lin Sen, who was desperate, heard that the newly established Global Shipping Company was recruiting sailors, so he signed up to join the Global Shipping Company.

Because of his relevant work experience in his early years, Lin Sen spoke fluent English, and he was smart and clever. After joining the Global Shipping Company, he became very successful. In August 1852, he passed the assessment and became the first mate of the Yangwei.

"Don't worry, stand by!"

Before Liang Yao had time to give Lin Sen an order, he saw a sailing warship with a displacement of nearly 2,000 tons and two decks passing through the nearby waters surrounded by two armed merchant ships.

These three ships did not seem to have the intention to pass through this sea area quickly, but slowly slowed down and approached Liang Yao's Bold.

"Hudson Bay Company's ship."

Today's weather is very good. Through the telescope, Fremont can see the flags flying on the three ships.

The flag flying on the sailing warship is the flag of the Crown Colony of British Columbia.

The flags of the other two armed merchant ships have the Union Jack of the British Empire in the upper left corner, and the initials of the Hudson Bay Company in the lower right corner: HBC (Hudson Bay Company). This is an armed merchant ship of the Hudson Bay Company.

"Third-class ship, where do those poor people in the Crown Colony of Columbia get the money to buy a third-class ship?"

Liang Yao put down the telescope and frowned.

This sailing warship flying the flag of the Crown Colony of Columbia has a displacement of nearly 2,000 tons, and there are at least more than 70 guns on board.

According to the ship classification standards announced by the British in 1817, this is a third-class ship.

The British Columbia Colony is not so poor that it has no naval power, but its facade is a 1,000-ton, two-deck fourth-class ship, which is also the flagship of their Governor John McLoughlin.

The remaining naval forces are two single-deck fifth-class ships that have long been retired from the Royal Navy, and three mail ships, which are the entire naval power of the Columbia Colony.

The British Empire has many colonies. There are two main types of colonies, namely company colonies, crown colonies, and later dominions, according to the manifestation of Britain's sovereignty over the colonies.

The representatives of company colonies are the East India Company and the Hudson Bay Company. There are more crown colonies, from the Columbia region bordering the Oregon Territory of the United States, where there are border disputes, to southwest Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, and even Cape Town, all of which are crown colonies.

The difference between the two can be seen from the literal meaning. Crown colonies are colonies directly governed by the King of England, and company colonies are colonies authorized to be operated and managed by chartered colonial companies.

Dominions are the advanced versions of the two, enjoying a relatively high degree of autonomy. In addition to internal autonomy, dominions can also formulate their own trade policies, have limited independent foreign policies (without the right to declare war), and a certain number of troops.

As for the advanced version of dominions, that is independence.

Canada, the neighbor to the north of the United States, became a British dominion in 1867 and is still in the version of company colonies and crown colonies.

In addition to the vast area controlled by the Hudson Bay Company, the southeastern region of Canada and the Pacific coast bordering the Oregon Territory of the United States are all crown territories.

Interestingly, the Hudson Bay Company still exists in the 21st century and operates retail chains and logistics businesses.

"Five years ago, this place was still a wilderness. There were not many people on the entire west coast of the United States. Putting aside the attraction of the gold rush to the population, the population growth rate here is really too scary."

George, the former governor of Hudson Bay, who has already stepped down, said.

This time, he sent his good friend Elliot to British Columbia, the crown territory north of Oregon Territory, to serve as governor.

The rapid expansion of the population on the west coast of the United States made several governors in Canada, especially the governor of British Columbia and the governor of Hudson Bay, feel uneasy.

As the number of Chinese immigrants on the west coast of the United States increased, George recommended Elliot, who knew the Chinese very well, to serve as the governor of British Columbia to curb the influence of the Chinese and the further expansion of American power on the west coast, posing a threat to their colonies.

"It is really scary that California can build warships in less than five years. The growing strength of the west coast of the United States is indeed a great threat to our Crown Territory of Columbia.

These yellow people will spread to the entire North American continent like a disaster, polluting this clean new continent. I really don't know what the Yankees and Dixies in the United States think, and they will allow the yellow people to grow on their west coast." Elliot agreed deeply.

China has one-third of the world's population. If we allow the Chinese to enter the New World of America, sooner or later the white residents of the New World will be diluted by them into ethnic minorities.