Wild North America 1846

Chapter 9 Old Fox

town hall

There was a lingering aroma of brewed coffee. Beside the English-style small round table, Captain William Richardson, businessman Mr. Russell and Richard sat on chairs, enjoying a leisurely moment of coffee.

There were almost no twists and turns, and the 570 dollars had entered Richard's pocket, which made him quite satisfied, and his mood became happier.

Captain William Richardson was very interested in the newly established Datang Club in Grape Valley, especially when he heard that the armed cavalry already had more than 100 people, he rarely showed a warm expression on his face.

He said kindly;

"Oh, the Chinese are no longer fighting alone. This is really exciting news. Congratulations, young people. This is a very good start. Then ask, what help do you want from me?"

The British have always given people a rigid and inaccessible image of arrogance, and Captain William Richardson is no exception.

Although his expression looked kinder, the taste of almsgiving in his words made people feel very uncomfortable.

From the beginning

William Richardson tried to suppress the vigor of Richard, and placed him in the position of a servant, in his impression;

The Chinese are all beggars and coolies. Even if they gather some mobs, they still can't get on the table in their bones.

Although Li Cha's face is young, he has a mature soul, and he will not be dominated by the other party. He took a sip of hot coffee and said;

"Mr. Richardson, when I came to collect the bounty, I had arranged for people to go to the new town to purchase some necessary supplies, such as saddles, ropes and axes, and other things.

For the help you mentioned, I prefer to call it cooperation.

Datang will need to purchase a large amount of supplies, worth tens of thousands of dollars, which are nothing more than the two choices of New Town or Fangcaodi.

from a certain point of view
I think you will need the power of the Tang Dynasty even more. Now we have an armed cavalry of 110 people, and there may be 200 or even 300 people in a few months. Isn't this attractive? "

Hearing what Richard said, Captain William Richardson's eyes suddenly lit up, and then he picked up the coffee cup and took a sip, without rushing to answer, as if he was digesting the important information in it.

Russell, who was sitting by the side, couldn't bear it any longer. He was the owner of the Fangcao Grocery Store and a captain under William Richardson.

"Hey, Richard, I like your adventurous spirit of daring to challenge everything. We should talk about it. The Russell Grocery Store can satisfy all the supplies you need, even much more than you imagine."

"I need high-quality revolvers, and some flintlock rifles. It would be even better if I can get military ones. I also need some horses and corresponding things. The most important thing is that I need a senior military instructor. Let's play by the rules."

"Oh... little case, I can arm your cavalry to the teeth, and how about finding you a Frenchman? This old guy used to be an officer of the cuirassier regiment in Napoleon's army. You know, this was once the world The most powerful cavalry in the world, followed Napoleon to fight all over Europe. It is a pity that after the Battle of Waterloo, these Frenchmen were all unemployed and lived a very miserable life."

Russell snapped his fingers happily, agreeing instantly.

A business of tens of thousands of dollars is enough to make him feel very good, so Mr. Russell continued; "High-quality revolvers are not a problem. I know Mr. Samuel Coulter. Desperate guy, as long as you are willing to give him a business of 200 revolvers, he will come all the way from New York."

Li Cha's mind was shocked when he heard these words, he didn't expect to eat a big melon on an ordinary trip to collect rewards.

Who is Samuel Kirkett?
That is the epoch-making figure who invented the Colt revolver. He has developed more than a dozen revolvers in his life, and established the unshakable master status in the field of light weapons.

Li Cha forced himself to resist the shock in his heart, took a big sip from his coffee cup, calmed down and said, "I'm sorry Mr. Russell, as far as I know, Mr. Colt opened a large-scale weapon company……"

"Bankrupt, this unlucky guy." Mr. Russell replied with a sense of superiority. He raised his legs, picked up a biscuit from a small plate and put it into his mouth, chewing and said; "My grocery store There are also 27 Colt 1835 revolvers, which are indeed good guns, much better than the pepper bottle pistols, but the price is much more expensive."

"Can I hear a quote?"

"all?"

"Yes, Mr. Russell, all ... including the flintlock rifles in your shop. I would like to hear a quotation."

"Are you sure? There are 41 1777-style 9-year modified rifles in my shop. They are the best ever used by the French army. The price is not cheap!"

Li Cha smiled and said nothing, just made a gesture of please.

The 1777-style 9-year-old Republican smoothbore rifle equipped by the French army is indeed one of the best smoothbore rifles in this era. It is an improved model in 1809. Although it has a history of more than 30 years, it is still very easy to use.

These guns must be second-hand guns. Maybe they have three or four hands. After the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire, hundreds of thousands of smoothbore rifles equipped by the French army were scattered all over the world, and they can be seen in many armed conflicts. its figure.

In the early 19th century, white immigrants from North America used it to hunt Indians and bison in the wilderness. It was a very sharp weapon.

The French once conducted a destructive check on the flintlock muskets in stock for 30 years, and took out 12 rifles that were randomly selected for inspection.

In the extreme firing test, the earliest blasted gun fired more than 6800 rounds, and the other 11 smoothbore rifles all lasted more than 13400 rounds, and the most reached more than [-] rounds.

Therefore, the conclusion of the French on this batch of weapons is that if there are no other accidents, they should be usable for many, many years.

The biggest advantage of a smoothbore gun is that there is no rifling, so there is no high temperature generated by friction in the barrel. The inevitable shooting accuracy is much worse, and it can only effectively strike enemies within two to 300 meters.

Beyond this distance, we can only pray for God's blessing.

Russell looked at Li Cha's eyes with admiration. He put down the coffee cup in his hand, thought for a while and said, "What kind of cooperation do you mean?"

"To fight against the pressure from John Sutter, maybe this kind of cooperation can be broader, to jointly fight against all forces that have malicious intentions against us, and we can fight together if necessary. Of course, this needs to be discussed in depth, and it is not yet Perfect timing."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because the armed cavalry of the Tang Dynasty has not shown the necessary combat effectiveness, we need to be more certain before we can talk about fair cooperation, don't we?"

"I appreciate your pragmatism, young man." Russell's expression also turned serious. He glanced at Captain William Richardson intentionally or unintentionally. Seeing that the captain was still sipping coffee with great interest, he knew it in his heart. .

Then, Mr. Russell considered, and said;
"Mr. Richard, we already know about your strength. It can be said that you are one of the best shooters in the San Francisco area, but that's all.

If you don't form a Chinese-dominated Datang Club, to be honest, you don't have the qualifications to cooperate with us on an equal footing.

but now it's different
From you, we have seen some interesting changes in the Chinese ethnic group. As a nation with an ancient civilization, this kind of change is expected.

Can we cooperate?

Further observation is needed to draw conclusions, but given your sincerity in cooperation, Datang Club can get a good offer.

1835柯尔特左轮火枪27支，这种枪在市面上每一支都要卖到42~45美元，甚至50美元，而我给你的价格是32美元。

Needless to say
The purchase price of these guns is $22, and I want to earn $10 each. If you can show enough strength, I can pay $10 per gun in future transactions, but not now.

I can give away 100 rounds per gun, oiled paper stock, and as a good shooter you should understand that these are the best rounds available today.

This batch of 9-year-old smoothbore flintlock rifles has a total of 41 pieces. The price is much more expensive than the revolver, but that refers to buying a new gun. In fact, the cost of getting a second-hand rifle is very low, which is also 32 US dollars for you.

I can guarantee you won't be able to get a lower price than this in the entire Upper California area.

How are you interested? "

"Happy cooperation!" Li Cha stretched out his hand neatly, and shook Russell with a slightly hesitant expression. There was no bargaining at all, and the deal was made directly.

These $3 and $5 bargains for each gun are completely unnecessary. The other party has already made it very clear. As long as they can show enough strength, it is okay to give away all the weapons.

"interesting."

Captain William Richardson, who hadn't spoken for a long time, said abruptly, looking at Li Cha with an expression of admiration, he was clearly interested in this young man; "If you need anything else, let's say it together."

"Mr. Richardson, we can pay for the weapons and equipment in cash, but Datang will need some time to raise the remaining supplies."

"Specifically, it refers to..."

"Datang will plan to build a strong armed fortress at the entrance of Grape Valley. It needs to hire experienced engineers and purchase some construction materials. This is a relatively large expenditure."

"Well...the construction engineer has no problem. The construction of Fangcaodi Street has basically come to an end. We have very good engineers here, so how do you pay for the construction funds?"

"As the asylum of the Chinese gold diggers, the Datang Association charges the Chinese association a protection fee of US$5 per month. Today, there are about 1400 Chinese members joining the association, and this money is about US$7000 per month, plus other business , the initial estimate is about ten thousand dollars. But it will take some time before the money can be paid.”

In front of the old fox, Li Cha spoke very frankly.

William Richardson stared closely at Richard, as if he wanted to see something strange on his face, but his purpose obviously failed.

but
A smile gradually appeared on William Richardson's face, he turned to Russell and said, "Man, maybe we should go to Grape Valley to see what interesting changes have happened there?"

"Willing to accompany you, honorable captain."

(End of this chapter)