1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 9 Good News and Bad News

Suppressing his excitement, Liang Yao excitedly took out large and small gold particles from the bottom of the washing tank and put them into glass bottles.

Deng Yan and the Deng family brothers were also all smiling, changing the dull atmosphere before.

After the ore washing tank was put into use, their gold panning efficiency has been greatly increased, and they no longer need to sieve gold with a pan little by little.

Instead, the ore soil rich in gold is poured directly into the ore washing tank, and the light sand is washed away by the flowing water, and most of the screening work is done for them.

All they have to do is pick out the gold particles that have settled below from the uneven bottom of the washing tank.

It's a pity that the blankets are now used to keep out the cold, and Liang Yao doesn't have any extra blankets to use as a collection mat at the bottom of the ore washing tank, otherwise the gold panning efficiency can be raised to another level.

None of this is a problem though, the nearby Indians have furs.The Indians were initially unaware of the value of gold, and the whites often tricked them with cheap trifles in exchange for their valuable specialties, including furs.

Over time, the Indians have gradually learned to master it, and demanded gold transactions. Even Sartre's Indian employees and slaves no longer accept physical rewards, but ask for their salaries to be settled in gold.

As long as there is gold, it is not difficult to exchange some furs from the Indians. If he has enough sales and contacts, he can even start a fur business and sell these things to Europe and Asia.It's just too early to think about that.

"Third brother, it's a full [-] ounces of gold! This is indeed a mountain of gold! Gold is everywhere!"

As a large amount of gold was washed out from the mine soil and sand, Liang Yao's status in everyone's mind also increased.

Now they believe more and more that as long as they listen to Liang Yao and follow Liang Yao wholeheartedly, they will have a steady stream of gold.

"There are really so many? Third nephew, did you make a mistake in weighing sand for gold?"

Deng Yan felt unbelievable about this result. They had worked hard for more than half a month to find more than [-] ounces of gold.One hundred and fifty-eight ounces of gold were panned out in one day today, no matter how I think about it, it is just a dream.

Many people think this figure is exaggerated. In fact, the early gold diggers usually washed out about ten ounces of gold or more in a day.This is also the culprit for the crazy prices in California. If there is more gold, it will naturally be less valuable.

"It can't be wrong, it's full of several bottles." Deng Wenyu patted his chest to reassure Deng Yan, and said in a low voice, "We're rich!"

Deng Yan straightened the musket straps on his shoulders, and they have now developed the habit of keeping their guns close to their bodies.Immediately, Deng Yan slapped himself hard, grinning and said: "It's really not a dream."

"Congratulations to President Deng, congratulations to Mr. Liang, and congratulations to you all for finding a way to make money."

Cai Mingsheng congratulated them.

Liang Yao asked Deng Wenyu to bring two glass bottles filled with finely divided gold, weighing a full forty ounces, and wrapped them in a rag and stuffed them for Cai Mingsheng.

"Uncle Cai has been worrying a lot these days."

"It's all from the folks in the village. It's all thanks to Mr. Liang. Mr. Liang is a great talent, and he has the ability to turn stones into gold."

Cai Mingsheng waved his hand to express that he didn't need so much gold.After several times of refusal, he knew Liang Yao's temper in his heart, so he accepted the gold.

Cai Mingsheng had been working for them in Sacramento for more than half a month and had no home, so he temporarily bid farewell to Liang Yao and returned to San Francisco.Before leaving, Liang Yao asked him to find some reliable craftsmen.

It is not a long-term solution for so many people to live in tents in winter. Now that he has a certain income, Liang Yao decided to build a house here.

"Don't be too happy too early. There is a lot of gold in the mine at the beginning, and the gold in the mine will only decrease later on. If we want to make a fortune, we have to use our brains to think of other ways." Liang Yao told everyone I poured a basin of cold water.

The momentary success did not make Liang Yao lose his mind and lose his mind, and this income was far from his goal.In his opinion, the gold panning method of washing the ore tank is not efficient enough.

"understood."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Third brother, we have gold, why don't we rent more land from that Sartre? Before, we could only wash twenty or thirty barrels of ore soil a day, but now with this ore washing tank, we can wash seven or eight hundred barrels a day Ore soil. Find some craftsmen to make the ore washing tank bigger, or build a few more ore washing tanks, and it is not difficult to wash thousands of barrels of ore soil a day." Deng Wenyu suggested.

"You're the only one with a bright mind! Doesn't Sartre know that there is gold in his own land? Will you grant all these lands to you?"

Deng Yan knocked on Deng Wenyu's forehead angrily. What Deng Yan said was also reasonable. Sartre's short-sightedness is true, but it doesn't mean that he is a fool.

"These things have a long-term plan. Starting tonight, you brothers will follow me to learn the language of the ghost and write the characters of the ghost."

Some time ago, they had to use pans to pan for gold day and night in order to survive. Now that they have a washing tank, they can save a lot of time.

With a relatively stable path of primitive accumulation of capital, Liang Yao will also start planning to establish his own small business empire before the big consortia from the east come to California.

Liang Yao wanted to train his cousins ​​to become the core management of his team in the future, but illiterate people could hardly be qualified for those management positions, and it was difficult to deal with those foreigners if they didn't know English and couldn't write English.

"Foreigners' foreign yards look like bean sprouts, and all of them are similar. I know it, but it doesn't know me."

Deng Wenkang, who was the youngest, wanted to retire.

"I'm a vulgar person, you learn the words and characters of the ghost, I'm panning for gold"

"A worthless thing!" Deng Yan kicked Deng Wenkang hard, "You want to earn a living here, how can you do it if you don't know the ghost's words, and don't recognize the ghost's words? Panning for gold, wait until the day when the gold is dug out What are you supposed to do to support yourself?"

In general, Deng Yandang was inconvenient because he could not read. Sometimes when official documents came down from above, he had to ask someone who could read to show him the official documents.Seeing that Liang Yao is willing to teach the Deng family's children to read and write, but the Deng family's children are still unwilling to learn, which makes him very angry.

"I will learn too, count me in." Deng Yan took the lead in setting an example, expressing his willingness to learn.

"Fifth brother, if you want to study in a private school in Xiangshan, you have to teach the school teacher. Now Brother Yao is willing to teach us how to read and write. It is our blessing. Brother Yao's family was a high-ranking official in the capital. If you want He was selected as a scholar at a young age, and he has profound knowledge. You must know good and bad."

Deng Wenkang's elder brother Deng Wenqi also advised Deng Wenkang.

"I would like to learn." Deng Wenkang could only nod his head and agreed.

"I want to learn too." Deng Ying, who was lighting the fire beside her, also walked over disheartened when she heard their conversation, and said timidly.

Deng Yan was about to reprimand him, but Liang Yao stopped Deng Yan. Of course he knew what Deng Yan was going to say in this age of patriarchy.

"Mei Ying is willing to learn even a woman of the generation, but if you guys don't learn, then you are not as good as the women of the generation." Liang Yao laughed.

Liang Yao's joy hadn't lasted for a few days. San Francisco's Mounted Police came to Sacramento on horseback and brought very bad news to the miners who were panning for gold.

Recently, more than [-] deserters stationed in nearby military fortresses fled their camps.

It stands to reason that this news is nothing unusual. In 1850, the salary of ordinary soldiers in the US Army was a pitiful $6 per month.

And to join the gold rush team, as long as you are not a super African chief, it is easy to earn tens of hundreds of dollars a day.With such a large income gap, deserters are inevitable.

After the Mexican-American War, the U.S. government had at least [-] troops stationed in major military fortresses in California, and now most of them have run away.

Not to mention the garrison in California, there are even a lot of deserters from Oregon next door and even from the eastern United States to California.

It's just that this time the deserters chose a simpler and more brutal method of panning for gold, that is, to grab it directly.

What's more terrible is that there are also military officers involved. They also stole a large amount of ammunition from the arsenal before fleeing the fortress.

Ordinary gangsters are not scary, because most of them are loosely organized violent groups, and they will disperse if something goes wrong.

Obviously, these deserters are not ordinary gangsters, they are well-organized, have good military training, have actual combat experience in the Mexican-American War, and even professional officers take the lead.

Professional soldiers are bandits, and loose gold diggers like them are dimensionality reduction blows.

Many leaders of gold mining companies and hired gunmen have also served as soldiers, and many of them are officers with actual combat experience.For example, Captain Weber of the Boston company next door to them is an experienced officer. The five or six gunmen they hired have either served in various armies or participated in actual combat as mercenaries.

But these people are all scattered in different gold panning companies and organizations, but they are just scattered and do not form much combat effectiveness.

"Those daredevils, what do you think they did? They dared to attack San Francisco! They looted a lot of shops, and even our sheriff was shot! Fortunately, no harm was done! My God! These damned deserters should all be hanged."

Since Liang Yao sent twenty ounces of gold to these mounted policemen who ran errands, these mounted policemen were also willing to reveal more details to Liang Yao.Of course, some of them are exaggerated.

"Oh my God, send me my regards to Sheriff Flagg and I will pray to God that Sheriff Flagg gets well soon! California needs Sheriff Flagg and you officers of integrity without you , The law and order situation in California is unimaginable!"

Liang Yao said with a grief-stricken expression and tone, as if without Fleger and these mounted policemen, the entire California sky would collapse.

"Mr. Liang, I will bring your words to Sergeant Flag. I think he will be very happy to hear it."

Although Liang Yao's words were exaggerated and disgusting, these mounted police officers were very useful.

"We are very poor, and we don't have any good things to give to Sheriff Flagg to thank him for what he has done for us in California. We can only send some gold to Sheriff Flagg as a token of appreciation." Liang Yao reluctantly took Come thirty ounces of gold, and entrust these troopers to Flegg.

Flage's injury is not serious, and will not be life-threatening. California will not replace the sheriff in the short term, and there will be no disadvantages in building a good relationship with Flage.

(End of this chapter)