1840Indian rebirth

In the Indian world of the Midwest, the reputation of the horse whistle has spread far and wide. Even the Indian tribes in California have heard of him.

The image of Ma Shao is not difficult to recognize. He is nearly 1.9 meters tall and weighs 200 pounds of strong muscles. He is very rare everywhere.

So after only a brief contact, Big Er guessed his identity.

Ma Shao smiled slightly: "Have you heard of my story?"

"Of course I have heard of it!" A group of Maidu people were a little excited. "Son of Apache Sky, who hasn't heard of your story? Even the enemy is willing to pay respect to you!"

After calming down, Chief Big Ear first asked thoughtfully: "Dear Son of the Sky, as far as I know you live in the far east, why do I see you here? Of course, we have no intention of not welcoming you."

Ma Shao said casually: "We are here to explore the ocean."

"Exploring the ocean?" Big Er was a little confused.

Ma Shao said slowly: "Apache has lived inland for a long time, but now we want to get in touch with the ocean, so I brought people here and planned to build some settlements."

As he spoke, he pointed behind him: "This is the first settlement we built in California, East Valley City."

"That's it." Big Er nodded as if he understood.

Ma Shao continued: "We who are building this new city are facing a shortage of manpower. I don't know if you are willing to help. Of course, we will definitely pay you wages."

Big Er thought for a moment: "How much wages do you plan to pay?"

"For every two days you come to work, we will pay you one Spanish silver dollar." The horse whistle took out a silver coin, "If you are willing to accept copper coins, you can pay it daily."

California has long been a territory of Mexico, and it still is in name only. This fertile land will not be officially ceded to the United States until the U.S.-Mexican War is completely over.

The Spanish silver dollar is one of the most popular currencies in North America, especially in Mexico, and Indians generally recognize its value.

"A silver dollar in two days!" After hearing this, the people in Maidu couldn't believe it and started talking about it.

"Really or not?"

"This is several times higher than what I earned working at Sutter's Castle!"

"You're not lying to us, this is too much..."

Mashao listened to the discussion of the Maidu people and leaned into the nonsense ear: "Translate for me, what are they talking about?"

Nonsense: "They think this salary is too much, several times higher than what they earned at Sutter's Castle."

Ma Shao was a little surprised: "How many times?"

Half a silver coin per day is equivalent to a monthly salary of fifteen US dollars. This income is indeed relatively high in California, but it is basically normal.

The income of most white farmers is just this amount, a dozen dollars a month.

The income of Maidu people in Sutter's Fort is only a fraction of this level. How low can it be?

Nonsense explained: "This is what happened to Sutter's Fort. John Sutter was keen on deceiving and even enslaving and plundering the indigenous people here. His infamy is known to everyone from Maidu to Chumash!"

"The Wild Duck clan can get some wages, which is already a relatively good situation."

At this time, Big Er also expressed his disbelief at this high income: "We are not doubting you, Son of the Sky...but one silver dollar every two days, is this true?"

"Of course it's true, I can guarantee it with my reputation." Mashao smiled.

For the Apache tribe, the monthly expenditure of fifteen dollars is indeed not worth mentioning, especially after mastering the gold mine.

The reputation guarantee of Son of the Sky was obviously enough to convince the Maidu people. Big Er immediately said: "What kind of work do we need?"

"Do you have any experience in building buildings?" Ma Shao asked.

Big Er said: "Of course, we built Sutter's Castle!"

Ma Shao nodded, pointed at the tribesmen who were under construction and said: "Well, you can build houses with my tribe. If there is any difficulty in communication, just ask this translator."

Twenty Maidu people immediately joined the construction team and built Donggu City together with the Apaches.

Soon Mashao discovered that what they said was true. They indeed had rich construction experience and were more skilled than most Apaches.

Moreover, the super high income of fifteen dollars made their enthusiasm soar, and the overall construction speed suddenly increased a lot.

In accordance with the principle of comparative advantage, Ma Shao directly arranged for the twenty best people in the original construction team to be hunters to free up space for these Maidu people who were more suitable for building houses.

These people are also happy to do this. Most of them are senior Apache warriors who are better at fighting and hunting, and can create more value in the position of hunters.

After the hunters came back with the hunting results, the horse whistle also took care of the food for the Maidu people.

"Are these barbecues... included in the salary?" a Maidu man asked hesitantly.

"It doesn't count." Ma Shao said.

The Maidu people felt even more flattered after hearing this.

During the meal break, Ma Shao asked them: "I'm new here and I'm not very familiar with this place. Can you tell me about the situation in Sutter's Fort? I heard you say that you worked in Sutter's Fort."

Big Er nodded: "Yes. Not only us, many nearby clans have worked for John Sutter."

"Sartre is a fierce guy. People are afraid of him. Many people were even captured by him and made slaves. But our relationship with him is not bad, so we go to work there and get wages... but food is deducted.

After that, it basically disappeared.”

"Compared with Sutter's Castle, the salary and benefits you provide are simply a blessing." Big Ear couldn't help but sigh, "Son of the Sky, you are exactly as described in the legend!"

Listening to his narration, Ma Shao thought for a while: "Is Sartre an American or a Mexican?"

Big Er: "Both, or neither. Maybe Swiss, maybe French."

Ma Shao frowned at the nonsense, thinking it was his free expression.

Nonsense quickly explained: "These are Big Er's original words."

"What's the meaning?"

Big Er seemed to have sorted out his thoughts: "He seems to be from Switzerland. He got Mexican citizenship soon after he came here, but the country he loves is France. He even threatened to turn California into French territory. Unfortunately, he is not an American.

The human opponent has not really fought, and may already have American citizenship."

Horse Whistle: "So... John Sartre is now a spiritual Frenchman from Switzerland with dual citizenship of the United States and Mexico?"

"That's right." Big Er nodded, "It's hard for me to figure this out."