Wild North America 1846

Chapter 60 Sidaoling Village
In the evening, the brilliant sunset glow fills the sky.

The scenery along the American River is beautiful, the clear river is flowing, and the gorgeous redwoods and green trees on the river bank complement each other, and the scenery is particularly gorgeous and colorful.

On the river beach, there was a strong smell of boiled meat, and a large group of gold diggers gathered, including Chinese and white people, who were excitedly whispering to each other, as if it was a festival.

Four large pots were lined up along the river beach, inside of which were cooked large pieces of beef and mutton. On the bed boards not far away, tall noodle cakes had been piled up like hills. It is browned and crispy, tempting the appetite.

Li Cha has never been a stingy person. Since so many gold diggers gathered to watch the excitement, the atmosphere was particularly strong, so he arranged for someone to drag 5 barrels of beer back to Shanghewan Village.

It cannot be said that you can drink freely, at least one cup per person is enough.

The Kahn family nailed a few tables with door panels and covered them with checked sheets. The skillful women picked wild flowers of various colors from the forest to decorate the tables in a decent way.

In more than a dozen clean pans, there are all kinds of meat, mashed potatoes, mushroom and bean soup, stewed beef, eggs mixed with wild onions and other dishes. The Chinese chef from Shanghewan Village is preparing to stir-fry. What? Stir-fried beef tendon with onion water, fried tripe, stewed beef offal with mushrooms, etc., need to be well prepared.

According to the tradition of the Orientals, this is the main table of the banquet.

As the most honored guest, Li Cha sat at the main table surrounded by everyone, and there was only a wooden block under his buttocks, and other Chinese captains sat in a row on both sides.

There was an empty seat beside Li Cha, which was reserved for the old Kahn, which was a special courtesy.

The nephews and nephews of the Kahn family sat on the tables on both sides. Today, they have enough meat and wine, so they can drink as much as they want.

Old Kahn waved his big hand with a red face, announcing the start of the banquet, and lit three bonfires amidst the cheers of the crowd. When the bonfires blazed up, the feast began.

The beef offal soup boiled in the four large pots is savory after adding potatoes and wild onions. The gold diggers participating in the banquet can make a large bowl of soup here for free, half a piece of dry biscuit, and eat a round stomach first.

When there are not enough bowls, wait for others to finish eating, and then fill the soup with an empty bowl. After finishing a big pot of beef offal soup, a new pot is poured in and boiled. The raging bonfire illuminates everyone's happy faces. It's a day of celebration.

The well-fed boys danced around the bonfire to the beat, venting the heavy pressure of life on this rare day of relaxation and happiness.

main table

Li Cha raised his head and drank a few mouthfuls of wheat beer, put down his cup, looked at old Kahn and said, "Kahn, I will give you a 100-man cavalry squad, try to recruit as many as possible these days, I only want those A down-to-earth farmer, you are an old soldier, you should know what kind of people you can't accept."

"Don't worry sir, I won't make trouble for myself, I will definitely choose the soldiers with the best obedience."

"That's good. The Datang Society I founded does not discriminate against race or skin color. As long as you are willing to follow in my footsteps, open the door and welcome to join us. This wasteland in North America must be decided by ourselves."

"Understood, sir, the Kahn family is always at your beck and call."

"Well, the recruited personnel will be concentrated in Shanghewan Village for training, and the logistics equipment and supplies will be replenished as soon as possible. I ask you to bring out all your previous skills and train these bastards well..."

Li Cha sat on the table and talked eloquently, the shining bonfire against his young face, outlining a sharp outline.

And at the table beside, Brienne Kahn, the No.14 little sister of the Kahn family, looked at him with beautiful big eyes, and fell into the fascination of the little girl;
The young master of the Kahn family, as handsome and handsome as a prince in a fairy tale, is deeply imprinted in the little girl's heart.

next morning

Li Cha led more than fifty personal guards to leave Shanghewan Village, and marched towards Grape Valley on Qingqi.

grape valley

The camp stretching across the entire valley entrance is like an iron lock, closing the entire Grape Valley entrance. On the rust-red iron-clad gate, there are ninety-nine and 81 bowl-sized copper nails inlaid, which looks solemn and solemn, and is extremely strong.

On the plaque on the top of the gate, there are three big characters "Shanhaiguan" written in dragons and phoenixes, which is extraordinarily magnificent under the sunshine.

Li Cha led a group of 10 riders through the pass, and did not stop at Toudaoling Village, but kept going deep until the open terrain near Sidaoling Village before slowing down the speed of the horses.

The entire Grape Valley is a long and narrow valley, about hundreds of kilometers long, until it merges into the continuous Sierra Nevada Mountains.

It is generally in the shape of a spindle, with a small entrance and a large valley and plain in the abdomen. When it approaches the Sierra Nevada, it shrinks again until it merges into the continuous mountains.

Among the villages where the Chinese live in the valley, the surrounding area of ​​Sidaoling Village is relatively flat and open, suitable for the construction of firearms factories, brick kilns, hydraulic wood factories, hydraulic mills, oil presses and other facilities to support the construction of the valley.

But currently
Due to the lack of necessary manpower, the Chinese rushed to the American rivers to pan for gold. These planned production facilities were only in conception and had not yet been put into practice.

From Toudaoling Village to Wudaoling Village, there are less than 280 male laborers remaining in the valley. Except for the Chinese soldiers recruited by the Tang Dynasty, thousands of other people all flocked to the American River to pan for gold.

Now in Grape Valley, the number of stranded women has reached nearly 447. Among them are prostitutes in the new town, young maids, 111 women who were trafficked in Rose Manor, and ten who were sent to Sacramento by the Agreement Hall. The beauties, as well as some local women of good faith, are now all living in Grape Valley, and most of them are housed in houses near Sidaoling Village.

The weaving factory, garment factory and textile factory Li Cha plans to set up will also be settled in Sidaoling Village one after another in the future, which also includes the weapons processing factory, and will be built into an industrial village.

The reason for this consideration
One reason is that Sidaoling Village is relatively close to Taniguchi, less than 10 kilometers away, and only 26 kilometers away from Xinshi Town, so the transportation is very convenient.

The second reason is that there is a small coal mine in the neighboring Wudaoling Village. The coal used for cooking and cooking in the nearby villages comes from here. The coal is shallow buried and of high quality, which can provide a sufficient supply of industrial fuel.

If you continue to go deeper into the valley, you will enter the territory of the indigenous Indian tribes, and you will be attacked by the indigenous people, and even be brutally killed in the dense forest.

Therefore, so far, due to safety considerations, Chinese immigrants seldom go deep into the valley, and they don't know much about the valley.

Sidaoling Village
The arrival of the cavalry team attracted the attention of many women in the village. The women stood in front of and behind the houses "twittering", commenting on these young and vigorous cavalrymen, bursting into uncontrollable laughter from time to time.

Those girls who have never been out of the cabinet are a little shy, and among them are extraordinary and good-hearted women. They have been in battle for a long time, and what they talk about in private is what makes people blush.

With that look, he wished he could swallow these boys in one gulp.

The guarding cavalry parted to the sides, and the tall and straight Li Cha turned over from his horse. He looked around with a handsome face, and the women around him became silent all of a sudden, and then said respectfully.

Speaking of which, all the women here should thank Li Cha for saving them from the fire pit and returning them to their deeds, so that they can be upright women from now on.

Li Cha's tall figure stood out from the crowd, and his temperament was particularly outstanding. He saluted the women around him slightly, and then strode into the courtyard of the village office.

At this time, the voices of the surrounding women suddenly became louder.

"This is the young master, he looks so handsome!"

"Hmph, do you want this foxy girl to talk about it? Of course, the young master is the number one person in heaven and earth. He is handsome and powerful. Those ghosts will obey him!"

"Have you heard that the young master slaughtered thousands of people in the battle by the American River? He was so vicious. Those ghosts were frightened when they heard the young master's name."

"Thousands of people, I heard that more than 3000 people were killed, and the water in the American river changed color."

"Ah... so fierce? I'm so scared!"

"What are you afraid of? The young master is not cruel to us, and he always stands up for us Chinese in everything. If the Tang Dynasty founded by the young master is not for the great power and prestige, when will those ghosts treat us kindly?"

"That's right, there is a young master in North America who takes over the sky, and we Chinese can have a good life!"

Regardless of the excitement and inexplicable gossip of these women, on the other side, when Li Cha strode into the courtyard, he saw several white men coming out to welcome them.

The person next to Odom Russell, the general manager of logistics for the federation, is a bearded middle-aged man in his 30s, wearing a decent black tuxedo, and this person should be Samuel Colter , Li Cha's dream of a master weapon designer.

Let's say hello, the guess is really good.

Samuel Colt not only arrived in San Francisco in person this time, but also brought his close assistant Rodling, as well as skilled workers and equipment from the entire weapons factory.

And all of this was paid for by Richard, including all travel expenses and boat tickets to the west coast of North America.

Before this
Samuel Colt had already gone bankrupt due to business failure. He not only sold his weapons factory, but also incurred huge debts. There were only a dozen patents for the invention of the rotary revolver on hand.

"Welcome, Mr. Colter, your talents can only be fully realized in this Wild West.

You are a talented designer, and your extraordinary talent should not be buried. I really look forward to having more excellently designed firearms. I believe you must be able to do it.

We need you here, and we need you too, and I see this as the biggest opportunity for Colt to take off again, provided we maintain a relatively close cooperation..."

Richard delivered a warm welcome speech, gave Samuel Colt a high hat, expressed his sincere expectations for cooperation, and quickly won the respect and trust of the guests.

nothing else
The real money that Richard spent was not fake. It was with this large sum of money that Samuel Colt was able to purchase a complete set of stamping and milling equipment for weapon production, as well as 20 steam engines. All the skilled workers in the weapon factory were recruited back, and they came to the western part of North America with great ambitions, wanting to do a big job.

(End of this chapter)