1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 67 The struggle between the old and the new and the struggle between the north and the south

Vice President Millard Fillmore received Fremont and Girvan in his modest home.

His dress is as plain as his house, not because the vice president is frugal, but because he is really poor.

Fillmore's background was very poor. He was born as a tenant farmer, his family was poor, he had no formal education, and he was self-taught.

He is very good at political speculation. He became a member of the New York State Assembly at the age of 29 and began to enter the political arena. Only three years later, he was elected to the US Congress. Until he became the vice president, he was quite young: only 47 years old.

President Taylor's physical condition has been worsening day by day. Fillmore, who has a keen political sense, has a faint premonition that he will become the second person in American history to ascend to the presidency as vice president.

Both Fremont and Girvan who came to visit were relatively young, and they won the favor of the vice president at the first time.

Fillmore is in favor of a compromise bill. He feels that politics should be flexible and changeable, so he dislikes those veteran members of Congress who were born during the founding period.

They stick to the rules and drag the whole country into the abyss for their own self-interest, but he can only bow down in front of these old congressmen.

Younger politicians, by contrast, are much more flexible.

"Your Excellency, please look at the California Star!"

With great difficulty, Fremont and Girvan lifted the wooden box containing the California Star to the table in the hall.

The so-called Star of California is the big gold that was accidentally found when the riverbed of the American River was blasted that day.

Although Fillmore was relatively poor, he was also a respectable figure in the political world and a man who had seen the world.

When a piece of gold weighing 145 (65.77kg) was shown in front of him, Fillmore was still conquered by this huge piece of gold.

Fillmore pretended to be calm, carefully observed the huge piece of gold with a magnifying glass, and then expressed his sincere admiration.

"Gift crab! This is God's gift to America! It really is a natural gold nugget!"

"It's also a generous gift for you, Mr. President." Fremont said, his title was bold.

"It's the Vice President!"

While the pleasing young man was very business-minded, a title that served Fillmore well, he corrected them ostensibly.

At the same time, Fillmore also understood the reason why he should go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing.

"I've also heard about the two of you. California statehood is a sure thing. If you want to become California senators, you should go back and win the support of California voters. It's useless for you to come to me."

"We are here for the future stability of the United States." Fremont said without humility, "It is about the land grant by the Mexican government."

Fillmore frowned slightly: "This is indeed a very difficult matter, and I can understand your feelings. Not only California has land-grants from the Mexican government, but Texas, New Mexico, and even Utah also have many land-grants from the Mexican government. The land-grant, if California gets off to a bad start, it will be hard to predict what will happen."

It appears Fillmore agrees with them, and Fremont continues to strike the iron.

"Those plutocrats who claim to be old nobles are frequent customers of tax evasion. If California's gold is divided up by them, the federal government will not get much real benefit from this gold rush, and the treasury will not become full."

Fillmore stared quietly at Fremont, who admired the bold young political amateur.

He also agreed with Fremont's point of view in his heart. Fillmore knew better than Fremont the virtues of those plutocrats who were born as manor owners and big landowners.He also hates those old guys, because of these old guys, the establishment of the state in the Zhunzhou area has not come to fruition until today.

However, as a mature politician, he will not express any of his personal views without being fully sure.

The future of the United States belongs to younger, farsighted and ambitious young politicians, not those old antiques who claim to be the elders of the United States. Their thoughts and vision have not kept up with the times.

That's Fillmore's take.

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"Are you still interested in politics?"

In the study, Vanderbilt flipped through Liang Yao's newspaper clippings without Liang Yao's consent.

Liang Yao has long been used to this, anyway, there are no secrets in the newspaper clippings.

"If you want to be a successful businessman, you must first understand politics. We have a saying in China that the poor should not fight with the rich, and the rich should not fight with officials. You don't have to fight with them, but you must understand them."

"It's an interesting saying." Vanderbilt put down the newspaper in his hand and sat down. He suddenly became interested, "I want to hear your opinion on free states and slave states. This is the hottest political topic at the moment. It's all about California."

"The issue between the free state and the slave state is not so much an issue of ideals and principles, but rather an issue of economic interests and roads between the northern and southern states." Liang Yao said without thinking.

"Tell me more in detail." Vanderbilt raised his legs.

"Tariffs, I think Mr. Vanderbilt knows better than I do."

In 1850, the voices of the division of the North and the South and abolitionism were raging. This was the seed that was planted at the beginning of the founding of the United States 60 years ago.

The traditional art of Great Britain planting mines everywhere in the colonies as a shit stick has never disappointed.

When the United States was still a British colony, the United Kingdom placed the few industries in North America in the north, while the south practiced slavery and planted cotton to provide cheap raw materials for the British textile industry.

The founders of the United States were also aware of this. When Jefferson drafted the draft of the "Declaration of Independence", there was such a clause: slavery was imposed on the United States by the United Kingdom.

However, this move caused a strong reaction from the southern states. In order to win the support of the South, the North had to remove this article from the official document, recognizing the legality of slavery in the United States of America.

The capital was also moved from Philadelphia to Washington, further south, and the United States of America was established under the compromise of both parties.

The most direct manifestation of the conflict between the North and the South is the tariff issue.

The South hopes to reduce tariffs to facilitate the export of their cotton, sugar, tobacco and other products to Europe in exchange for advanced European manufactured products.

The North, on the other hand, wanted to raise tariffs and restrict imports to protect its own industry and commerce.

Since 1815, the ups and downs of U.S. tariffs have been like a roller coaster, which is the result of the game between the North and the South in Congress.

"Tariffs, well said, it's really bloody. You not only have a talent for business, but also a talent for politics." Vanderbilt asked, patting the armrest of the sofa with his hands that had no place to rest, "Do you support the North or the South? ?”

Of course, Liang Yao knew that Vanderbilt's heart was towards the north, but this question didn't mean much to Liang Yao. He didn't even have the qualifications to stand in the team. He handed the letter from Fremont to Vanderbilt. special.

"I support California!" This was Liang Yao's answer.

He will support whoever supports the legality of land grants from the Mexican government, whether in the South or the North.

(End of this chapter)