1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 68 Digging the Panama Canal?

For the rudder master relying on dreams only Ma Jiageng!

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Vanderbilt carefully looked at the letter Liang Yao handed him. After reading the letter, Vanderbilt didn't feel too much turmoil in his heart, as if everything was within his expectations.

There is no free lunch in the world. From the moment he set foot in California gold, he was ready to be an enemy of these consortiums.

It's just that the quick response of these consortiums was beyond his imagination.

It is rumored that Astor Jr. is more conservative and less aggressive. In his opinion, this view is biased.

It is true that little Astor's ability may not be as good as his father, the founder of the Astor family, Old Astor.

But his ability is beyond doubt, at least stronger than his Vanderbilt's son.

In the case of the economic downturn in the United States, the safest way is to continue to invest in real estate in New York. At any time, rent collection is a guaranteed business.

Little Astor extended his hand to California gold while investing in New York real estate, which shows that his vision is still okay.

"What are you going to do about it?"

Vanderbilt returned the letter to Liang Yao.

"I have the people of California behind me. Of course, it's not enough to rely on the people of California alone. California is not strong enough right now."

After sorting out his thoughts, Liang Yao said.

"The East needs our mouthpiece. We cannot win the sympathy of the plutocrats, but we can win the sympathy of the people of the East. Especially the sympathy of the Texans.

Although Texas was born out of the Lone Star Republic, the land in the hands of those immigrants is, in the final analysis, land-grants from the Mexican government. If the government insists on taking back the land in California, they will feel uneasy, and what we have to do is, It just magnifies the anxiety. "

Liang Yao could remain calm in this situation and come up with a reasonable countermeasure, and Vanderbilt showed his appreciation.

"Although I have not been involved in the newspaper industry, I still have some contacts in the media circle.

It would be unconstitutional for Congress to pass a bill to take back land in California. I don’t think all congressmen are so brainless. I also have some friends in Texas. When I went back to New York, I happened to drop by to visit them. "

"I will let Henry go to New York and Washington to buy several influential newspapers. If Henry needs Mr. Vanderbilt's help at that time, I hope Vanderbilt will not hesitate to lend a helping hand."

Liang Yao is still willing to spend the money that should be spent. If the land in California is taken back by the federal government, all his efforts will be in vain. At that time, it will be too late to spend money to buy public opinion.

The decisiveness of Vanderbilt's attitude was beyond Liang Yao's expectation. He thought that Vanderbilt would be vacillating on this matter.

Vanderbilt was far more courageous than the Vanderbilt in his impression. Perhaps this was the reason why Vanderbilt, a man with mud legs, was able to rise in New York, a place full of veterans.

"It's the cheapest way to buy it outright," Vanderbilt said. "I can walk around for you in New York and Philadelphia, but in California, it's up to you."

Vanderbilt felt a little parched, and he continued to speak after drinking a cup of tea.

“I would like to connect the waters within Nicaragua and widen them so that larger ships can pass and improve the efficiency of shipping from the east to California.

And this requires a lot of manpower. The labor cost in the United States is very high. Of course, I can also hire local natives and native whites. They are cheaper than American labor, but I have visited Nicaragua and they are too lazy. Hiring them is not a wise move.

I also investigated Chinese immigrants in California. They are very hardworking and able to endure hardships, so I want to recruit some Chinese laborers through your channel to help me get through the water system of Nicaragua.

I won't let you help me in vain. I will re-establish the California Shipping Company, with the two of us holding shares together and monopolizing this route together. "

Vanderbilt thought of what he saw and heard on the Sacramento that day, and he was deeply impressed by the Chinese immigrants who braved the scorching sun to reclaim the land on both sides of the American River.

"I also learned some scattered information about China from some missionaries before. You built a grand canal running from north to south more than [-] years ago, with a length of nearly [-] miles.

More than two thousand years ago, in order to resist the invasion of foreign races, you built a city wall thousands of miles long in the north.For these news, I was skeptical until I saw those hardworking Chinese immigrants with my own eyes. "

"Mr. Vanderbilt, I can tell you responsibly that these are all true, but these great miracles are all piled up with thousands of corpses. Such miracles are not worth boasting about."

Vanderbilt wants to hire some Chinese laborers to carry out his ambition in Nicaragua. Liang Yao has no objection. He also hopes that more Chinese laborers can come to the United States and gradually increase the voice of the Chinese in the United States.

The premise is that they must get the respect and treatment they deserve.

Instead of deducting the wages of Chinese laborers to only [-]/[-] of that of white laborers like Leland Stanford built the Pacific Railroad.

"If you are willing to obtain legal American citizenship for them and give them a salary that is not much different from that of white workers, I think you can attract many Chinese workers to immigrate here. I can set up a labor dispatch company to solve the language communication problem. Wait until the project When the labor contract ends, these workers decide whether to stay or not.

However, my personal suggestion is to dig a canal connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean in Panama. The prospect of Panama is far broader than that of Nicaragua. Panama can pass large ships directly, while Nicaragua needs a combination of land and shipping.

In the next few years, we also have enough financial resources to support this huge project. "

Vanderbilt's idea of ​​hiring Chinese labor is nothing more than the cost-effectiveness of Chinese labor.

Using Chinese labor would not have any appeal to Vanderbilt if the labor cost of Chinese labor was similar to that of American labor.

After all, Vanderbilt is also a capitalist after all, not a good person.

All Liang Yao could do was try his best to win better conditions for his compatriots.

At this time, the cost of labor in the United States was five or six times that of the Qing Dynasty. As long as the wages of Chinese laborers and American laborers were not much different, they could live a better life here than in Qing Dynasty.

At the same time, Liang Yao also gave his pertinent suggestion. Rather than connecting the water system in Nicaragua, he would rather Vanderbilt directly dig the Panama Canal.

After digging this canal, for a long time to come, you can lie down and collect tolls.

"If possible, I would also prefer to dig a canal directly in Panama, and I have a close relationship with the senior officials of the Republic of New Granada.

They also welcome foreign capital to participate in this great project, but now the route from the eastern United States to Panama is controlled by William Aspinwall, the Pacific Cruise Company, and I have no right to set foot in this route at present, otherwise I will offend everyone in the government and it won't pay off.

Furthermore, Nicaragua also has the advantage of Nicaragua. This route is 500 miles shorter than the Panama route, which can save two days!

Indeed, as you said, the disadvantage of this route is obvious. It requires a combination of shipping and land transportation. Ships, especially large ships, cannot directly cross Nicaragua, which limits the transportation of goods.

Passengers travel up the San Juan River, cross the 100-mile-long Lake Nicaragua, and then travel 7.5 miles in a horse-drawn carriage to the Pacific coast, where they transfer to a boat bound for California. "

Nicaragua is 7.5 kilometers away from the Pacific Ocean. The land route is a section of mountains, and the geological conditions are not suitable for digging artificial canals. This is the biggest shortcoming of this route.

　Note: Nicaragua is a small country on the isthmus of Central America.

　　Thank you for the 1500 rewards of Magic Silver Cherry Monster Limeng yikhai, [-] rewards in the name of love!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)