1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 8 Farming Nature

Everything seems to be slowly falling into place.

Many miners chose to try their luck in Sacramento after the San Francisco Christmas carnival in 49.

There were more and more Sacramento gold prospector camps, and Liang Yao had to drive stakes to enclose his own territory and put a sign on it.

Before the ore washing tank was completed, they, like ordinary gold diggers, used pans as gold pans in the icy river water, and slowly sifted fine alluvial gold from the sand in the river.

It's just that their luck is not good. On average, only a dozen or twenty ounces of gold can be sieved from the American River every day.Moreover, with the passage of time, the nearby rich mines were almost wiped out, and the gold they could obtain was getting less and less day by day.

A dozen or twenty ounces of gold seems like a lot, but considering the outrageous prices in California, after deducting the daily expenses of their group, there is very little gold left.

You know, in the early days of the gold rush boom, it was not uncommon for an ordinary gold prospector to pan out twenty or thirty ounces of gold from the American River every day by using the most primitive gold panning method.

From time to time, someone discovered that the news of Goutoujin reached their ears, which undoubtedly greatly stimulated their nerves and made them even more discouraged.

The Boston Company's camp was just [-] yards away from them. At first they laughed at the inefficiency of Liang Yao's team's gold panning, because they had a gold laundering machine bought at a high price from Boston, which was their company's secret weapon.

Heard they even paid with their lives on the western trails trying to get this machine to California.

Now it seems that these high prices are not worth it. Not to mention the frequent failures of this machine, it has not washed out a single grain of gold for them for several days in a row.

Even so, their engineers are still stubbornly repairing this "high-tech" machine repeatedly. They firmly believe that as long as they have this machine, they have an incomparable advantage over other gold diggers.

In Liang Yao's view, this was no longer stubbornness, but stupidity.

Liang Yao did not abandon the traditional art of farming of the Chinese nation. In addition to panning for gold, he organized people to reclaim a vegetable field near the camp. He bought some agricultural tools and seeds of vegetables and fruits when he was in Panama.

Bulk commodities such as rice and wheat can be imported, but if they want to eat fresh vegetables and fruits, they have to grow them themselves.

It's just that he has no experience in farming, and he in later generations only spent his childhood in the countryside, watching his grandparents plant some crops, and although he himself planted some melons and fruits out of curiosity to satisfy his hunger, but that It's all recreational in nature and doesn't help much with planting experience.

And after going to the city to study, Liang Yao completely forgot these few planting knowledge and experiences.

Professional people also need professional people to do it. After the vegetable field has been reclaimed, Liang Yao will hand over the planting to the Deng brothers.

However, the climate and seasons in California are different from those in Guangdong, so the Deng brothers had to consult Cai Mingsheng, who has settled in California for several years, on these issues.

Deng Wenshun came to their camp in a carriage, and took out eight old flintlock guns and ammunition from the carriage. The oldness made Liang Yao wonder whether these old antiques were cultural relics that participated in the American Revolutionary War.

But it's better than nothing, after all, except for Liang Yao who has a cap gun, the rest of the people can only defend themselves with a shovel.

As more and more gold diggers enter Sacramento, there will be more and more threats around them. It is still very necessary to store some guns and ammunition in case of emergency.

Of course, these things were not given to them by Sartre out of kindness, but they bought them from Sartre with real money.

"The master asked me to send these foreign guns and chicken and duck seedlings to you, third brother, this is a letter that the master asked me to bring to you."

Deng Wenshun moved the wooden cage containing the chicks and ducklings from the carriage, wiped his hands on the lapel of his clothes, and handed Sartre's letter to Liang Yao.

The content of the letter is nothing more than to remind Liang Yao that February will be one week away, don't forget to pay this month's land rent, otherwise he will lead people to expel Liang Yao and others from his territory and so on.

Sartre did not accept Liang Yao's opaque plan to pay one-tenth of the gold mining income every month. In his opinion, this income is very unstable. He still prefers to receive 300 ounces of gold from Liang Yao every month. land rent.

Such a decision made Liang Yao feel that Sartre was stupid. He didn't know whether the farmer had no confidence in the gold reserves of his land, or whether he had no confidence in Liang Yao's gold mining ability.

With such short-sightedness, it is no wonder that Brannan gave Sartre the opportunity to make a fortune first.

The Deng family brothers happily packed up the supplies bought from Sartre with gold, especially the five hens.

That's a good thing, and now that eggs are two dollars apiece in California, it's not an exaggeration to say that these hens are golden egg-laying hens.

"It's hard to come back, and I'll cook for you to cook something to eat."

Liang Yao picked up a clean pan, went to the water tank to wash it, and asked Deng Ying to help Mr. Huo get up.

Since there are not many gold diggers coming to Sacramento to pan for gold, the water of the American River is still clean, at least it looks clear.

But at this time, cholera was very serious in both the Asian continent and the American continent, and countless people died of cholera every year.Even the President of the United States was not spared.

美国第9任总统68岁的威廉·亨利·哈里森的死于1841年4月4日这个不怎么吉利的日子，从上任到死亡，他只为美利坚人民服务了一个月。

Since then, the 11th president of the United States, the young and vigorous James Knox Ball, insisted on serving the American people for a term, but after resigning from office last year (1849), he passed away after only 103 days, and Like his predecessors, he died of cholera.

This is not over yet. If there is no accident, the current president is already on his way to report to God. He will die of cholera in the White House on July 1850, 7, which is this year. Meet your predecessors.

The main culprit that caused the sudden death of three US presidents in a row was the water source. Liang Yao did not dare to neglect the convenience of the water source.

In this era, people are helpless against cholera. Once infected with cholera, whether they can survive depends on God's will.

Liang Yao attaches great importance to personal hygiene. He resolutely does not drink, does not use the water from the American River, and only uses the mountain spring water from the guide. If he wants to use it, he must boil it. Anyway, there is no shortage of firewood here.

The absence of cholera in Sacramento now does not mean that there will be no outbreak of cholera in the future. In Liang Yao's memory, during the vigorous westward movement of the United States, including the California Gold Rush, the number of deaths from cholera was much higher than other natural and man-made disasters.

"Let the cooking work be left to your aunt and cousin. What are you talking about as a scholar?" Deng Yan carefully used his thumb and forefinger to force a grain of alluvial gold out of the pan and put it into a glass bottle. Then he put down his work and said to Liang Yao.

Zhou Shi, who was washing clothes at the side, also hurriedly cleaned his hands, trying to snatch the pan from Liang Yao.

"Auntie, you are busy with your work. Cousin Shun comes back rarely, so it happens to let Cousin Shun have a taste of my craft."

Liang Yao asked Mrs. Zhou to continue with the work at hand, fried an egg and a piece of beef, then sprinkled some sauce, took two slices of toasted bread, and handed it to Deng Wenshun who was watching everyone panning for gold in a daze.

Deng Wenshun came back to his senses, took the hot food and gnawed it.

"There's still some gin here to keep out the cold, I'll pour you some to warm you up." Liang Yao turned around to fetch drinks for Deng Wenshun.

Deng Wenshun shook his head and said, "I'm afraid I'll miss my master's affairs by drinking, so save these wines for everyone to keep out the cold."

"Then it's up to you." Liang Yao found a clean stone and sat down on the spot, and chatted with Deng Wenshun, "How does the master treat you? If it’s too harsh, I’ll talk to my boss someday.”

"Although the boss has a bad temper, he still treats the hired workers very well. He eats and drinks enough. Seeing that I am working hard, he invites me to drink. It's just that I can't understand the words of the ghost. I can only pretend to listen to the boss if he drinks too much." Understood, follow the meaning of the boss."

In just ten days or so, Deng Wenshun has matured a lot and changed a lot.

Liang Yao was not worried that Sartre would abuse Deng Wenshun,
The Deng family, Liang Yao, still knows the basics. They are a family of farming and fishing that has been good for generations, and the nature of the Deng family brothers is not bad.

But everything is one size fits all, and since you break the rules, you should be punished.

"We will have to deal with ghosts here in the future. We still have to learn what ghosts say. You are still young, and ghosts are not difficult to learn. You can learn quickly." Liang Yao nodded and said.

"Third brother, I know I was wrong, so you let me stay, and the brothers dig for gold together! I must abide by the rules!"

With moist eyes, Deng Wenshun said to Liang Yao in a pleading tone.

"I understand how you feel." Looking at Deng Wenshun, who was crying and in ragged clothes, Liang Yao entered the tent and found a brand-new cotton robe with dense stitches from his luggage. This is the robe that your third aunt made for me before leaving, you have to take care of yourself when you are working alone at your boss’s house, it’s cold, don’t freeze your body.”

Deng Wenshun understood what Liang Yao meant, it was only his own fault, and he couldn't blame Liang Yao.

"This dress was made by my third aunt for my third brother." Deng Wenshun refused to accept it.

"If you don't accept me, you won't recognize me as a brother." Liang Yao stuffed the padded robe into Deng Wenshun's hands, not allowing Deng Wenshun to refuse.

Deng Wenshun paid a visit to Deng Wenyao. Deng Wenyao was seriously injured. Although he saved his life, it would take at least ten days and half a month to go to work in the fields.

When Deng Wenyao became active, Liang Yao also sent Deng Wenyao to Sartre.

After sending Deng Wenshun away, Liang Yao gave each of Deng Yan and the Deng brothers a gun.

"Second Uncle, you used to be the general manager, you know how to use muskets, and I will teach you how to use muskets in a while. Although these guns are old, they can be used in a critical moment."

Deng Yan carefully fumbled for the old flintlock gun in his hand and sighed: "When your second uncle followed Admiral Guan to guard the Humen Fort, if there was this thing, why would the Humen Fort not be able to defend it.

Admiral Guan, what a good official, he finally died for the country on the Humen Fort with more than [-] brothers.

Your second uncle also deserved his life, Admiral Guan ordered me to send an order to ask for reinforcements, so he came back with his life. "

"These foreign guns are old objects of the foreigners decades ago. The foreigners now have faster boats, better guns, and can shoot farther and more accurately."

This humiliating history made Liang Yao feel sad and indignant. The first Opium War was just the beginning, and the subsequent events became more and more humiliating.

It's not that China doesn't have these things, but they were thrown in the dark corner of the Old Summer Palace by the Manchu ruling class in the Forbidden City as tributes and playthings from the vassal state.

It's just these, Liang Yao is also powerless now, how to gain a foothold in California is the most important thing right now, and he can't worry about those military affairs.

"Although this gun is old, its workmanship is solid, and there is no risk of explosion. I will teach you how to use this foreign gun after I find out." Deng Yan said.

When he was a soldier, he used an arquebus, and the operation of the flintlock was quite different from that of the flintlock. He had to be familiar with how to use the flintlock first, and explored a bit.

　Ask for a recommendation ticket. Of course, it would be better to have a monthly pass. I want to know if I am on a stand-alone machine!Thank you book friends!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)