1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 59 All!

"This steamship looks familiar."

Liang Yao took Vanderbilt's inspection team aboard the Sacramento steamship and went to the Sacramento gold mining area for investigation.

The steamship looked familiar to Vanderbilt.

Connie on the side was silent, yes, this is the Sacramento he sold in San Francisco.

"Of course it looks familiar. This ship was produced in your shipyard, and the steam engine on the ship was produced in my factory."

Steam engine builder Theodore Sekel recognized the Sacramento at a glance, a small steamship produced using the most advanced technology.

Immediately, Sekel turned to look at Liang Yao, and asked Liang Yao, "Mr. Liang, what is the name of this steamship?"

"Still called the Sacramento."

Liang Yao answered Sekel's question.

Vanderbilt glared at the bruised and swollen Coney: "Look, Coney, it's your good deed again!"

Although the steamboat can go upstream relatively easily, but the speed is not fast, starting in the morning, it is expected to arrive in Sacramento in the evening.

Chinese immigrants who had just immigrated to California were busily reclaiming wasteland on both sides of the river.

In addition to wasteland, there are also some sporadic rice fields that have been reclaimed and planted with rice.

Thanks to the appearance of Liang Yao, Chinese immigrants no longer need to work as coolies for white gold panning companies for a meager income.

As a result, Chinese immigration to California is growing faster than it has historically been.

There are even desperate people, starting from the coasts of Guangdong and Fujian, they took a simple clipper boat across the Pacific Ocean to search for gold in California.

Because crossing the Pacific Ocean, if you are lucky, it only takes two or three months to reach California from the eastern coast of China.

Of course, only some of the lucky Chinese immigrants who took the clipper boat could reach California safely.

The unfortunate ones among them either deviated from the course, and their life and death were uncertain, or they were shipwrecked and buried in the belly of fish.

After all, the small clipper boat can't bear the stormy waves of the Pacific Ocean.

Along the way, all the Chinese immigrants who came into view were sweating profusely under the sun and reclaiming the wasteland in full swing.

"It's the first time I've seen so many Chinese people. Before that, I only saw a piece of news about Chinese people in the newspaper, saying that a young Chinese man was admitted to Yale University with excellent grades." , this is the first Chinese student to set foot on an American university campus."

Vanderbilt's fellow countryman Fan Daze was surprised by the large number of Chinese immigrants in California. He couldn't restrain his curiosity and couldn't help asking Liang Yaodao.

"How many Chinese immigrants are there in California now?"

"Sorry, I don't know either, sir, but California doesn't have a Census Bureau."

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Liang Yao prevaricated Fan Daze's question.

Liang Yao did not know exactly how many Chinese immigrants there were in California. After all, Chinese immigrants arrived in San Francisco every day.

But Liang Yao knew the approximate number of Chinese immigrants. After all, these immigrants who arrived in California were received and registered by his hostel, and helped them handle naturalization procedures and arrange jobs.

The last time Liang Yao looked through the statistical manual of the hostel was five days ago. At that time, the number of registered Chinese immigrants was as many as 4896, many of whom came here with their families, so there were also 497 women, 514 There are only a few children, but most of them are young and strong laborers who have come out to make a living.

"Don't they rest? I haven't seen a Chinese who is resting until now? They are working tirelessly like machines in a factory."

Vanderbilt's assistant, John Nigel, also had his doubts.

This question made Liang Yao feel very bitter, and he couldn't help but feel sore: "Mr. Nigel, you don't know my mother country. My mother country has a lot of people and a small land, especially in the south. A big family with more than ten people has only one family. Two acres or even less, and they make a living cultivating these pitiful acres."

"My God, how can one or two acres of land feed a dozen people?"

Elizabeth was shocked. He couldn't imagine how a dozen people could live on one or two acres of land.

"It is difficult for these lands to support themselves. Do they need to pay taxes to the government? What if there is a natural disaster?"

"Of course you need to pay taxes. Taxation is a very complicated issue in China. The emperor will also show kindness and order tax relief for the disaster-stricken areas. No, it should be called grace exemption. Thunder and rain are all due to the king's grace."

Elizabeth's question is too complicated, and it may not be clear after spending three days and three nights.

"Fortunately, you have a good emperor."

Elizabeth said with some gratitude.

"It's just that the emperor's favors can only be enjoyed by officials and landlords. Ordinary people are not entitled to enjoy the emperor's favors. In case of natural or man-made disasters, they can only sell their property, even their wives and daughters."

Speaking of this, Liang Yao was unwilling to continue.

Compared with the people under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, the American people in this era are undoubtedly very happy. Their per capita income is only slightly lower than that of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, slightly higher than that of France, roughly equivalent to that of Belgium, and five times the per capita income of the Qing Dynasty. , four times that of Japan, and twice that of Tsarist Russia.

Yes, you heard that right. At the same time, Japan’s per capita income was higher than that of the Qing Dynasty. This shows how difficult the life of the people of the Qing Dynasty is, and the gap is still widening.

As for land, the United States has never been short of land. According to the United States' "Land Order" in 1785, the minimum land area for sale was 640 acres.

In 1854, when the land decreased sharply, there were also 40 acres, and the price per acre was only one shilling (not the British shilling, American slang used to call the Spanish one-eighth silver coin called a shilling) or 12.5 cents.

Although the "Land Order" has additional regulations, it actually costs more dollars to acquire these lands, but this is enough to make the people of the Qing Dynasty cry.

"They don't have a sense of security, and only by owning more land through continuous labor can they have enough sense of security."

Vanderbilt said sharply.

"As you said."

Liang Yao also agrees with Vanderbilt's point of view, Vanderbilt is still Vanderbilt after all.

"Speaking of land, I hear you have a lot of land in the Sacramento mines."

Vanderbilt looked away from the banks of the American River.

"indeed so."

"how many?"

Vanderbilt asked curiously.

It is indeed a wise move to hoard land before the Eastern Consortium arrives.If it were him, he would do the same.

Liang Yao is the most capable young man he has come into contact with so far, and he is also the one he admires the most.

It's a pity that people like Liang Yao won't work for others easily. Just like him back then, he has only signed an employment contract with one person in his life.

If he had someone like Liang Yao by his side, it would undoubtedly be even more powerful for him.That's what Vanderbilt is thinking now.

"all!"

Liang Yao's domineering answer made everyone on board gasp.

Vanderbilt shook his head frequently, feeling sorry for Liang Yao, young people are still young after all, or too young.

(End of this chapter)