1850 American Gold Baron

Chapter 229 Arizona Infantry Regiment

In the second half of 1851, a wave of new railroad track construction began in the eastern United States.

Sections of the old and inferior track were removed and replaced with new rails that could match the new locomotives.

Not only the three giants in the railway industry did this, but also small railway companies that were struggling to survive had to build new types of railway tracks.

Forced to accept the industry standards output by the Big Three.

Liang Yao's Atlantic Railroad Company and Vanderbilt's Central Railroad Company reached an agreement to allow the lines of the two railroad companies to be connected.

This is undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for other railroad companies, including the Erie Railroad Company, one of the Big Three.

The Atlantic Railway Company and the Central Railway Company originally controlled several very valuable railway routes, such as the New York-Boston, New York-Philadelphia, Baltimore-Cleveland routes controlled by the Atlantic Railway Company, and the short-distance routes in New York State controlled by the Central Railway Company.

The New York-Chicago route is a route of great commercial value.

Atlantic Railway Company and Central Railway Company were already very powerful railway companies. The combination of the two companies was a huge bad news for other railway companies in the industry.

After the announcement of the connection between the two railway companies, Liang Yao and Vanderbilt were condemned by other railway companies.

But it was just a mild condemnation.

The Erie Railroad Company was dissatisfied, but it still did not directly stand up and condemn Liang Yao and Vanderbilt.

If the new track laid by the Erie Railroad Company from New York to New Haven goes well, it will be completed by the end of next month.

The Yili Railway Company is still waiting for Liang Yao's locomotive factory to supply them with Pioneer locomotives and supporting carriages. There is no need to offend Liang Yao for the sake of those small and medium-sized railway companies.

At the end of September 1851, Liang Yao received a reply from President Fillmore. Congress allowed him to recruit an infantry regiment in the name of the Arizona Infantry Regiment, which would be fully responsible for the border defense of the Arizona Territory, to guard against Indians, and to ensure the safety of American immigrants in the Arizona Territory.

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However, the federal government is financially strapped and cannot provide enough food and salary for the soldiers of the Arizona Infantry Regiment. It can only provide each soldier with a monthly allowance of $5.

Liang Yao has to deal with the remaining expenses, logistics, and even weapons by himself.

Any other army colonel would never accept such harsh conditions.

But Liang Yao accepted that as long as the establishment of a standing infantry regiment could be obtained, the rest were minor and trivial problems.

As long as the soldiers are raised by him and obey his orders, this infantry regiment will be firmly in his hands. In the future, even if the president orders it, he will not be able to mobilize his soldiers without his nod and approval.

The army was his capital to protect himself in the future civil war. Although after the outbreak of the civil war, both the North and the South quickly mobilized and expanded their armies.

However, the gap between veterans and recruits is obvious, especially in the North, where the number of troops is rapidly expanding. In the early stages of the war, it did not show a record that matched the North's national strength and industrial strength. Instead, it was very passive in the Virginia battlefield on the Eastern Front and in the South.

The reason for this is not only that the generals in the north were not as capable as those in the south in the early days, but also the quality of the soldiers was also very important.

The North hurriedly pulled supplies from the street and stuffed a rifle into them to send them to the battlefield. Naturally, they could not expect how strong their combat effectiveness would be.

In the South, in addition to the all-star generals, most of the middle and lower-level officers were small and medium-sized slave owners who had participated in the Mexican-American War or even the Second War of Independence. The soldiers were also veterans of the Mexican-American War and had fought fiercely with Indian tribes for many years.

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With approval from Congress and documents from the War Department, Liang Yao sent people to major towns in the southern states to recruit troops and form his Arizona Infantry Regiment.

After the Mexican-American War, the federal government carried out major disarmament, and a large number of active professional soldiers were laid off and sent back to their hometowns.

These soldiers have already undergone formal military training and have actual combat experience. Recruiting these soldiers who are forced to retire will only take a short time to form combat effectiveness.

Of course, the most critical reason is that these southern veterans are of high quality and low price, and are great value for money.

Except for the special case of the California Infantry Regiment, the salary of ordinary soldiers in other American infantry regiments is generally in the range of 7 to 10 US dollars.

Whether the top soldiers receive 7 US dollars or 10 US dollars per month depends on whether the colonel of the infantry regiment has strong financial resources and a conscience.

Liang Yao's salary for ordinary soldiers of the Arizona Infantry Regiment is 12 US dollars a month, excluding officers. Although this salary is far inferior to that of the California Infantry Regiment, it can be said to be very generous compared with other army infantry regiments.

Enough veterans will be recruited soon.

As for why Liang Yao chose to recruit troops in the southern states, the reason is simple. Compared with the military resources in the north of the United States, the military resources in the south are more abundant in martial arts.

In addition to the Arizona Infantry Regiment, Liang Yao also recruited an artillery company in California, as well as several officers who graduated from West Point Military Academy and Virginia Military Academy in engineering surveying to prepare an engineer company.

Infantryman Liang Yao can train himself into an army in a short period of time, but these technical arms cannot be trained overnight.

The fastest way is to recruit retired veterans directly.

Liang Yao looked at the list in his hand for this trip to the east.

Railways, Eastern Market, Sewing Machines, Talents, Education, Purchase of Land in Mexico, Expedition to Japan, Army Expansion and Recruitment.

These items have been successfully completed, leaving only the last two items.

One is the retail business promised to Vandaze, and the other is to acquire steel plants in Pittsburgh and Ohio and transfer some production capacity to California.

Liang Yao asked Elizabeth to inform Van Daze to inspect the retail industry in New York.

As soon as Fan Daze heard that Liang Yao was finally going to get involved in the retail industry, he immediately rushed over.

"Thank God, you finally remembered what you promised me in California." Van Daze looked happy.

Although Van Daze is now a well-known millionaire in New York State, his income is still considerable.

But a large part of his income comes from dividends from shares in Staten Gold Mining Company and from opening grocery stores in California.

The New York grocery store that originally started its business has not seen much improvement in recent years and has not grown much. This is a worry in Van Daze's heart.

"The stores you have in New York are too small, and the management is too weak. This business model is not suitable for New York. If you don't make changes and continue to stick to the rules, these ten or so stores may be able to barely support it.

Sooner or later, they will be eliminated."

Liang Yao carefully analyzed why Fan Daze clearly had good supply channels and had good relationships with suppliers, but was unable to expand his store.

This is not to say that Liang Yao is alarmist. After the American Civil War, the rise of large shopping malls will give small shops in big cities a head-on blow. Small shops, even chain small shops, will only become more and more difficult.

"Which business model is suitable for New York?" Fan Daze chewed carefully what Liang Yao said just now.

"Your grandfather inherited these shops from your father. After your father passed away, you took over these shops from your father." Liang Yao asked.

"Have you ever wondered why your family's grocery store has exactly the same business methods? Why it can grow bigger and bigger in the hands of your grandfather and your father, but not in your hands."

"I'm also very confused. Like my father and grandfather, I have always been very trustworthy and have a good reputation. However, these shops in New York have been in a state of limbo, barely maintaining operations." Van Daze covered his bald head.

, I can’t figure it out.

"I seem to understand." Elizabeth on the side seemed to understand the reason.

"Tell me about it." Liang Yao motioned for Elizabeth to continue.

"Uncle Vandaze, you told me that your stores in San Francisco and Sacramento are doing better than those in New York. I guess this is related to the size of the city.

When New York was in the hands of your grandfather and father, the population was far less than it is today. Forty or fifty years ago, the population of New York was almost the same as that of San Francisco. At that time, there were not many shops in New York, and people tended to go to familiar places.

Shops to buy shops.

But today New York is a megacity with a population of more than 700,000. There are dozens or hundreds of shops on every street, and New Yorkers have more choices.

And immigrants who have just moved into New York don’t know that your shop is of high quality and low price.”

Elizabeth said after sorting out her thoughts.

"The scale of New York is expanding, but your store is still the same. It's strange that it can grow bigger." Liang Yao said to Fan Daze, "Your family has a good reputation in the industry in New York and has reliable and low-cost supply channels.

, these are the capital to become a retail giant."

The word retail giant is full of temptations for Van Daze. Why doesn't he want to become a giant in the industry like Vanderbilt and Liang Yao?

Standing at the top of the industry is the ideal of every aspiring businessman.

"Retail giant." Van Daze muttered to himself.

"As long as you are willing to give up half of your family's shares, I will cooperate with you to build our own retail empire in New York, even Philadelphia and Boston."

Liang Yao put forward his conditions for cooperation. When he was weak, in order to cooperate with Vanderbilt and others to fight against the eastern consortium, he sincerely offered up his shares in Xiangshan Gold Mining Company.

And Xiangshan Gold Mining Company is still making money every day in a physical sense.

Things have turned around, and now it's his turn to take advantage of these people's shares.

He is a businessman, not a philanthropist. If Fan Daze wants to cooperate with him, he must show sufficient sincerity in cooperation.

The American retail industry is very big. Alexander Turney Stewart, the first generation of retail giants, began to get involved in the retail industry in 1846. By the time of his death in 1876, he had accumulated a huge fortune of US$80 million.

Ranked sixth on the list of America's richest people, the ones ahead of him are Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Asta, Girard and Carnegie.

At the same time, Stewart was not the only one who ranked among the richest people in the United States in the retail industry. Chicago retail magnate Marshall Field ranked tenth, but this guy not only engaged in retail, but also in real estate.

The well-known American retail giant Walter Sam Moore Wal-Mart also ranked among the top richest people in the United States due to his retail industry, and Wal-Mart ranked fourteenth.

The reason why Liang Yao is willing to cooperate with Fan Daze is because he is interested in the huge retail market in New York and the supply channels and network foundation laid by the three generations of the Fan Daze family in the New York retail industry.

If Van Daze is willing to cooperate, his retail business in New York will get twice the result with half the effort.

If you don't want to cooperate, the worst thing you can do is do it yourself, but it will take more time and energy to start from scratch.

"Half of the shares?" After thinking for a long time, Fan Daze made up his mind and said through gritted teeth.

"I am very happy to cooperate with you, but this industry is not just for me, but for the entire Vandaze family. I need to hold a family meeting to make a decision. This is not an excuse for me to refuse. Please give me a day.

time.

Even if other members of the Van Daze family are unwilling to take out so many shares in the end, I will leave the family and use my part of the assets to work with you."

(End of chapter)