1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 22 Global Shipping
"I've finished what you told me, Mrs. Flagg, that poor little lady, was scared to death by us."

The itching from the soles of his feet made Sven feel very uncomfortable. He took off his shoes and scratched his itchy feet and continued.

"If it wasn't for gold and to repay my usury loans, I really couldn't bear to hurt a little woman and bully a woman, that's not what a man should do.

Moreover, Mrs. Flagg is just a little greedy for vanity and petty gain. Many people have these shortcomings. She is not a heinous person.My conscience is deeply troubled by this. "

"You didn't hurt her, you just threatened her. You don't have to blame yourself too much." Liang Yao pointed to a box of gold on the ground and said, "Good job, the gold is now yours."

Sven put on his shoes, rolled up his sleeves to move the box, felt the weight of gold, and then put down the heavy box.

"You gave too much. We agreed on 300 ounces of gold. I know you have a lot of gold, but I have my principles."

"We are old friends. You have helped me a lot. The extra gold is my gratitude to you as a friend. After paying off the debt, what are you going to do?" Liang Yao asked Sven about his future plans.

Sven and Liang Yao spent more than three months together on the Cape Town, during which time the two talked happily.

Liang Yao is different from other Chinese people that Sven knows. This young man does not have the humility of most Chinese people, and has his own unique ideas and ambitions.

Gold is certainly tempting, but these few months of gold rush time have also made Sven realize that not every gold prospector can make a fortune even in California, where gold is everywhere.

After all, it is the very few people like Liang Yao and Brannan who have a unique vision and some means who can make a fortune.

"You want to hire me?" Sven speculated on Liang Yao's thoughts. He shook his head after thinking carefully and said, "Compared to the mine, the sea is more suitable for me. After paying off the debt and the liquidated damages of the British Steamship Company , I will find another shipping company and continue to be the deputy on board."

Sven figured it out, the gold mine was not his proper destination, he gave up his fortune through gold mining, maybe he was born to belong to the vast and boundless sea.He should get out of this crazy place in California and get back to normal life sooner rather than later.

"Have you ever thought about being a captain?" Liang Yao looked at the unkempt gentleman and said, "I remember you once told me on the Cape Town that a first mate who doesn't want to be a captain is not a good first mate, even though you didn't even Neither is the mate."

"I didn't expect you to remember what I said."

Sven felt a little relieved, his cloudy eyes couldn't help glowing brightly, every first officer has a heart to be a captain, and being a captain was his childhood dream.

When he was a child mending the sails of a merchant ship with his father, he always had the unrealistic idea that if he could be the captain in the future, he would own and command a large ship to sail bravely on the stormy ocean.

Sven's background was not good. His father mended sails for a living. As the number of steamships increased, his father's mending jobs became less and less.

As for his mother, who was a prostitute, he was the accidental product of his father's one-night affair with the prostitute.

This kind of background doomed the ups and downs of the gentle career path. In this era, the sacred profession of captain, which makes him dream of, is still exclusive to noble gentlemen.

The first mate is already the ceiling that a lowly pariah like him can reach, and his resume in the Danish Asian company is perfect.Sailing knowledge and skills are better than many captains, but Danish Asia Company has never considered promoting him as captain.

"Of course I remember, you were my first white friend and the only one I had on the Cape Town."

Liang Yao wanted to change the population structure of California before the population structure of California was finalized, resulting in the fait accompli that the Chinese occupied an important position in California.

To achieve this goal, the current speed of immigration is far from enough.Although the traffic in California is inconvenient, the white people still occupy the geographical advantage. It is far more convenient to immigrate to California than the Chinese who are thousands of miles away.

If you have your own shipping company and fleet, you can open a route from San Francisco directly to the five treaty ports in the eastern coastal areas of China, which can shorten the original three-to-four-month long voyage to two months, and greatly speed up the process of immigration. speed.

Liang Yao had this idea a long time ago, but because he had no contacts in the nautical industry, he had to temporarily put this plan on hold.

The benefits of owning your own fleet are far more than this. In the future, bulk commodity transportation transactions will also rely on shipping. Having your own shipping company will not easily get stuck in this regard.

The New York shipping tycoon Vanderbilt, who was about to go to California for inspection, later used his monopoly position in the US rail transport industry to raise freight rates to put pressure on his competitors and force them to submit. Even Rockefeller, the later oil magnate, was not spared.

Of course, the ultimate winners in this classic business war are rising stars like Rockefeller and Carnegie.

The more far-sighted Rockefeller acquired the oil pipeline company, took huge risks and boldly adopted pipeline transportation, an immature technology at the time, to transport his oil, and invested huge sums of money to lay oil pipelines to the eastern coast of the United States and the Great Lakes The region's industrial estates succeeded in breaking Vanderbilt's monopoly on oil transportation.

Oil flowed to thousands of households in the United States through these pipelines, and wealth also flowed into the pockets of the Rockefeller family through these pipelines, making it another prominent and incomparably rich family after the Vanderbilt family.

Opportunities often favor those who dare to take risks and have vision.

Liang Yao never felt that these wealthy tycoons could stand out from the wild era of rapid industrial advancement in the 19th century. It was the era that made them, but that they were the best trendsetters of this era, and they and the era they lived in complemented each other.

"It is more than enough to set up a shipping company with your current financial resources, but although there are several so-called shipyards in San Francisco, they are all small in scale. The ships produced are not only small, but the quality is also worrying, and the technology is far behind. These small ships I can't do the job of ocean transportation." Sven reminded Liang Yao.

"I didn't want to eat a big fat man." Liang Yao also understands this point. Advanced large-scale steamships are definitely not available in California. Being able to go down the coast to Mexico, to the New Granada area is enough."

"You want to use these small boats to go to these places to buy supplies first? That's a good idea." Sven listened intently, two streams of clear water snot left from his nostrils, he took a deep breath, and then raised his hand Wipe away the tears, "It would be great if there was a big ship. A large steam ship with a kiloton class can transport as efficiently as several small ships like this. It is also safer and less risky."

"Big ships will be available soon. If you are willing to manage this fleet for me, I will be able to get a large steamship within two months." Liang Yao knew that Sven would never forget the big ships.

Those shipyards in California were more like marinas than shipyards.These small docks can be used to start off with the repaired ships, but if you want to become bigger and stronger, you still need to rely on big ships.

It's not that Liang Yao is trying to make a big deal for Sven, he really has hope of getting a large steamship with a capacity of more than [-] tons.

Ship magnate Vanderbilt, who will be visiting California in the near future, needs a boat most of all.

Vanderbilt is making a bold move into the railway industry, and a considerable number of transport ships want to sell them for cash. As long as the talks are good, Liang Yao can still take over some ships from the ship tycoon.

"If you say that, I'm very interested in your establishment of a shipping company." The temptation to lead and manage a fleet alone was too great for Sven, and he couldn't bear such a temptation.

Liang Yao gave Sven too many surprises. Liang Yao boasted that he could get a big ship within two months, and Sven also thought it was possible.

After all, when he was on the Cape Town, he could never have imagined that a skinny young man who traveled across the ocean to pan for gold with only eight Spanish silver dollars on his body would become a millionaire in just four months.

"I can solve the ship's problem, but I can't do anything about the crew and sailors. You know, I don't have any contacts in the nautical industry." Liang Yao has a lot to worry about now, such as recruiting sailors and crew. Liang Yao planned to let Sven solve it by himself.

"Among the gold diggers, there are quite a few crew members who sneaked off the ship to pan for gold after landing. I know them. Like me, they didn't make a fortune from the gold panning. They lived in a difficult situation. As long as you have gold, this is not a problem."

California gold diggers have their own small circles, and during the four months of gold mining in California, Sven mainly mingled with the circle of fugitive sailors.

"In this case, our shipping company can be established, and we can sign the contract today."

Liang Yao took a puff of his cigarette and put the pipe on the table.

"Of course, but what's the name of the line? California Line?"

"Too petty." Liang Yao shook his head, he was not satisfied with the name.

"American Shipping Company? American Shipping Company?" Sven said two more names.

Liang Yao still shook his head straight, and kept saying, "Still stingy."

"Pacific Shipping Company? Isn't the name impressive enough?"

"It's much better than the previous one, but it's still not big enough. Let's call it Global Shipping Company."

Global Shipping is the name of another shipping king group in later generations.

"Global Shipping Company. It's really more atmospheric. It's a good name."

After signing the contract, Siwen officially became Liang Yao's senior employee, and his dream for many years became within reach.

"Are you ready to go to war with Brannan? There is no turning back. Brannan is so powerful in California that I couldn't live without him when I was in San Francisco. You made With this choice, the subsequent backlash will be huge."

Out of goodwill, Sven still did not forget to remind Liang Yao that, except for the Sacramento area, almost all the gold diggers in California live in the shadow of Brannan, and only Liang Yao can break this status quo.

"The Security Committee has already set their sights on the Chinese shops in California, and they will do it soon. I hope you are well prepared."

Sven added a judgment based on what he personally saw and heard in San Francisco.

(End of this chapter)