1850 American Gold Baron

Chapter 141 Iron Ambition (Part 1)

"It was at the height of the war in California, and both the Army and Navy had generals in California.

The top commander of the Army was Brigadier General Stephen Carney, Colonel Mason's immediate boss at the time.

The top naval commander was General Stockton, and at that time the two generals were competing for command of the front line.

I happened to have a relatively objective armed force in my hands, probably more than 300 people. At that time, General Stockton appointed me as the temporary governor of the California Territory. I accepted it, and my armed forces also obeyed his command."

Fremont talked about that bitter past.

If Liang Yaoruo realizes something, the American army and navy also have sectarian views.

As an officer with an Army background, it was naturally taboo for Fremont to accept the appointment and dispatch of the Navy Commander, and the outcome was self-evident.

"But you are an army officer." Liang Yao said.

"Here's the problem. The war was urgent at the time, and I didn't care about so much. Besides, General Stephen Carney was too greedy for credit.

With more than 300 cavalry, he wanted to take over the entire California by himself, and wanted to dominate the battle. If General Stockton hadn't arrived in time, he would have been killed in the city of Los Angeles."

Fremont said.

"Mexican resistance in Baja California is stronger than that in Upper California. I am more in favor of General Stockton's decision and feel that his decision is more reasonable, so I decided to follow General Stockton's command.

General Stephen Carney was so angry about this that he reported it to Washington. Not only did he have me court-martialed, but he also ordered me to be removed from the Army.

Fortunately, I have some connections in Washington and his conspiracy did not succeed.

Not long after the war ended, General Carney unfortunately contracted a tropical disease in Mexico and died not long after returning to the United States."

"What's the relationship?" Liang Yao asked curiously.

"President Polk and my father-in-law were good friends, and President Polk, thinking of my contribution in the western region, not only pardoned me, but also retained my military position.

But at that time, I was already disillusioned with the Army, so I resigned on my own initiative and didn’t want to have anything to do with the Army anymore.”

Freemont said with a very relaxed expression, but Liang Yao still saw the unwillingness in his eyes.

Perhaps this is why when President Fillmore appointed him as colonel and peace officer of the California Infantry Regiment last year, Fremont declined and gave up the position to Liang Yao.

The Army is a scar in Fremont's heart.

"You call this a little relationship?" Liang Yao laughed.

"Your idea of ​​building a Pacific Fleet on the West Coast is a good one, but the federal government currently has no money, and it is impossible for the Department of the Navy to establish a Pacific Fleet on the West Coast," Fremont said.

At the end of last year, he also lobbied in the Washington area. Fremont still has a good idea of ​​the financial situation of the U.S. federal government.

The Navy Department is downsizing even its active fleet, and its shipyards are also laying off employees. How can it possibly establish a new fleet in the Pacific region on the west coast.

Maintaining a navy is more expensive than maintaining an army.

"If the federal government doesn't have money, we can set up a Coast Guard in the name of the California Anti-Smuggling Bureau to be responsible for anti-smuggling and offshore patrol work in California." Liang Yao said, "I don't think the federal government wants them to collect tariffs.

What you see is a California where smuggling is rampant.”

The federal government cannot afford it, but the California government can.

At this time, the IRS (U.S. Internal Revenue Service), which would make later generations of Americans jealous, had not yet been established. The IRS was established during the Civil War by then President Lincoln and Congress to raise military funds. The income tax also started at this time.

Collection just started.

At present, the main source of tax revenue for the U.S. federal government is tariffs, followed by consumption taxes on some consumer goods.

The federal government's tax revenue source is relatively single, and the U.S. economy has been sluggish in recent years. It is strange that the fiscal system can be wealthy.

The federal government may not have enough financial resources for some wealthy states at this time.

The California tax bill has been passed. After the introduction of the tax, California's financial situation will definitely improve. There is no problem in maintaining a small fleet in the name of anti-smuggling and protecting merchant ships.

"A patrol ship of more than two thousand tons?" Fremont said with a smile, "If you are so determined, I can also help you clear up the relationship with the Navy. The Navy's shipyard is also short of orders right now. You can give it to them.

Placing a few shipbuilding orders will also make the Navy have a good impression of you."

With that said, Fremont motioned to the servant behind him to bring up the box in his hand.

Fremont opened the box and found a pile of drawings of the railroad route between San Francisco and Sacramento.

The precise map hanging in Liang Yao's office is Fremont's masterpiece.

The level of Fremont's cartography is very high, no worse than that of professional cartographers.

Liang Yao recalled that when he first met Fremont, he was looking for gold near Sacramento and drawing accurate maps around the Sacramento area.

Fremont and Liang Yao came to the shipyard's office, and the director of the shipyard hurriedly made a table for them.

Fremont took the drawings out of the box and put them on his desk to show them to Liang Yao.

"This is a railway map drawn by California Railroad engineers and I. I heard that the steel plant has accumulated a lot of iron recently. I think it's time to start construction on the railway line between San Francisco and Sacramento."

Fremont is also a shareholder of the California Railroad Company, but his shareholding is only a small fraction of Liang Yao's.

He hopes that the railway between San Francisco and Sacramento can be completed and opened to traffic as soon as possible.

The profits of the railway line connecting the two cities must be very high, and he believed that it would not take long to recover the cost.

Of course, Fremont's ambitions don't stop there. He has the same ambition as Liang Yao, which is to build a railway across North America and connect California with the eastern region by rail lines.

Currently, the main mode of transportation in California and the eastern region is through Nicaragua and Panama.

Both routes have to pass through a section of land on the Central American Isthmus, which is not only inconvenient but also relatively inefficient, limiting the transportation of large cargo.

Transportation is currently a bottleneck limiting California's development.

California needs a railway connecting the east and west. Of course, he also knows that the difficulty and amount of work to build this railway are unimaginable at the current technical level.

Fremont hopes that the California Railroad Company can accumulate experience in building short- and medium-distance railways and accumulate technology for the future construction of this railway across North America and connecting the east and west.

I have to go out for a trip, so I can’t add more updates tonight. Sorry, I’ll add more updates tomorrow!

(End of chapter)