1850 American Gold Baron

Chapter 237 Liang Yao’s Troubles (4K)

Speed ​​has a bright future, and his family needs him to stay in Washington.

Although Lincoln had a very good relationship with Speed, he did not want his friend to leave Washington because of him. If his best friend Speed ​​missed his own future, Lincoln would spend the rest of his life feeling guilty.

spend.

"I'm not leaving Washington."

Speed ​​understood the character of this friend who had been with him for more than ten years, and he smiled and said to Lincoln.

"It's Herndon, a diligent and studious young man who is proficient in law. He once interned in your law firm. I think you should have an impression of this young man. You are his idol."

Lincoln thought for a moment and quickly remembered this person, he stroked his forehead and said.

"It turns out it was him. Herndon is indeed a promising young man in the legal profession. If he is willing to continue on the path of being a lawyer, he will definitely be a rising star in the legal profession."

Herndon once worked at the Logan-Lincoln law firm. During the years when Herndon worked at the law firm, Lincoln noticed Herndon's diligence, and Lincoln had a very good impression of Herndon.

The most important thing is that Herndon is very capable, but his reputation in the legal profession is relatively shallow. If the two cooperate, Lincoln will definitely be the leader of the law firm.

"I have sent him a telegram to tell him that you are coming back to the mountain. He is very excited and is now on his way to Washington," Speed ​​said.

"Working together, I think you two will be able to do something great in New York."

Lincoln and his friends held a simple banquet at his home, which was more like a symposium than a banquet.

It wasn't until late at night that Lincoln's friends reluctantly said goodbye to Lincoln.

The next day, Speed ​​brought the dusty Herndon to see Lincoln.

"Herndon, would you like to partner with me in running a law firm?"

Lincoln shook hands with Herndon happily and asked Herndon.

In 1844, not long after the Logan-Lincoln firm was dissolved, Lincoln briefly worked with Herndon for a period of time. Lincoln had a good impression of Herndon.

Lincoln was a tall and thin man, while Herndon was a short and fat man. Herndon wore a pair of patent leather boots and a pair of lambskin gloves. He had a very pleasant appearance and always had a positive smile on his face.

Lincoln's face always had a melancholy expression, just like his character.

"Mr. Lincoln, to be honest, I was surprised when I learned that you were going to return to the bar." Herndon said flattered.

"I am even more flattered that you invited me to be your partner. With my qualifications in the legal profession, I am not qualified to be your partner. But I still want to say that I am happy to accept your generous offer.

!”

American lawyers in this era like to rank based on seniority. Sometimes seniority in the industry is more important than professional ability.

Herndon, who was nine years younger than Lincoln, had little experience in the legal profession.

"Now that Herndon is here and we have reached a consensus on cooperation, I think it's time for us to leave for New York. If we go late, I'm afraid someone will get there first." Lincoln said to Si with a trace of worry on his face.

Peter said.

"It's just that Mary is pregnant and is not suitable to go to New York with me. It is best to stay in Washington."

"Don't worry, we have been old friends for more than ten years. I will take good care of your family in Washington. Just go to New York with peace of mind to attend the interview with America Group. I am waiting for your good news in Washington."

De patted his chest and assured Lincoln.

"Speed, thank you." Lincoln was not a person who was good at expressing his emotions, so he simply expressed his gratitude to Speed.

"We are good friends, there is no need to say this."

As he spoke, Speed ​​took out his wallet, took out the $300 dollar coupon he had already prepared and handed it to Lincoln.

"Abraham, the cost of living in New York is very high. It's not easy to settle down in New York. This is the $300 I'm loaning you. Remember to pay it back to me after you find a job and get paid."

Lincoln hesitated for a moment and accepted Speed's $300.

After Speed ​​left, Herndon said to Lincoln with great envy: "Mr. Lincoln, I really envy you to have a friend like Mr. Speed."

New York at this time.

Liang Yao's recruitment work and labor recruitment work are proceeding in an orderly manner.

Because the conditions offered by Liang Yao were very favorable, the recruitment of soldiers and workers went smoothly.

The Arizona Infantry Regiment quickly recruited eight companies of veterans. This was due to Liang Yao's careful selection. If the standards were relaxed, the infantry regiment would have been recruited long ago.

Recruitment is to recruit industrial workers and engineers in major cities in the name of America Group employees, which are scarce talents in California.

Of course, there are also female workers in textile factories.

The wages Liang Yao offers to female workers are almost slightly lower than those of male workers. Therefore, although they are separated by a continent of North America, many female workers are still willing to go to California to try their luck.

The machines Liang Yao purchased from Pittsburgh, Ohio and other places were also shipped to New York for shipment to California.

In addition to workers and machines, the most lacking thing in California, like other frontier areas, is books.

Liang Yao sent people to order many books from various bookstores in New York.

In the manor, Liang Yao held Napoleon III's "On the Abolition of Poverty" in his hand and started reading. This book was written during Napoleon III's imprisonment.

Napoleon III's diplomatic and military abilities were worrisome, but his abilities in domestic affairs were outstanding.

Some of the viewpoints in "Theory on Poverty Eradication" are very novel and refreshing.

"Boss, the statue has been carved!"

While Liang Yao was reading a lot, Kony came to tell Liang Yao that the statue had been carved.

"Is Mr. Belmont here?" Liang Yao put down the book in his hand and asked Coney.

"I heard that the statue will be completed today. Mr. August has been waiting for it for a long time," Kony said.

"Let's go, invite Mr. August to see the statue together." Liang Yao stood up.

"Mr. Liang, you are the only one in the entire United States who can make a statue of gold that is the same size as the human body."

When Auguste, the Rothschild family's agent in New York, heard that Liang Yao had used gold to reproduce the statue of Jacques-Louis David's "Napoleon Crossing the St. Bernard Pass in the Alps", he was very interested in this portrait.

Statuary replicas of famous paintings are full of curiosity.

"I can't wait to see this statue now."

During the conversation, everyone came to a curtain, and Liang Yao ordered the curtain covering the statue to be lifted.

After the curtain was lifted, everyone showed expressions of wonder.

The statue carved from pure gold exudes a dazzling golden light.

Not only is Napoleon carved from pure gold, but even Napoleon's crotch mount is also carved from pure gold.

Soon, Auguste realized something was wrong. The person on the statue was indeed Napoleon, but not Napoleon Bonaparte, but Napoleon Bonaparte's nephew Napoleon III, the current president of France.

"Is this the President of France?" Auguste looked at Liang Yao blankly.

"No, this is the French Emperor." Liang Yao said with a smile, "Mr. August, please send this statue and my letter to His Excellency Napoleon. This is the Christmas gift I prepared for him."

Napoleon III was the first democratically elected president of France, the last emperor, and the only emperor of the Second French Empire.

This December, the president will stage a coup and formally proclaim himself emperor next year.

For nearly 20 years before the Franco-Prussian War, he would be the helmsman of the Second French Empire.

If nothing else goes wrong, after returning from the expedition to Japan, Liang Yao will enter the French market, intending to use the French market as a springboard to open up the European trade market.

Moreover, Liang Yao also coveted French warship technology and artillery shell technology. The British would not sell these things to him, but the French might still sell them to him. He would not suffer any loss by spending some gold to build a good relationship with Napoleon III.

The cost of trying to build a good relationship with Napoleon III after he becomes emperor will be much higher than it is now.

After the establishment of the Atlantic Railroad Company was completed, troubles followed one after another along with the construction of the railway.

Land in the United States is private, but in the early years, in order to encourage private railway construction, state and federal governments promised each railway company that after the railway construction was completed, the railway company would obtain ownership of the land along the railway line.

Obtaining ownership of land along railway lines is the driving force for major railway companies to build railways.

This policy is excellent, but the problem is that a lot of land in the east is owned, and some poor local governments did not inform the railway companies in advance. After the railway companies were repaired, many railway companies realized that some

The land along the road section is owned by the owner.

Of course, some railway companies are actually aware of the situation, but they still start construction directly with a sense of luck.

After the railway was repaired and put into operation, the owners of these lands took the opportunity to demand compensation. At best, it was compensation, but at worst, it was blackmail.

If the compensation is not adequate, these people will also cause trouble on your railway line in the future, such as prying rails for sale, deliberately driving livestock onto the rails, making it impossible for trains to pass.

Atlantic Railroad has similar problems on some of its rail lines.

There are only two ways for railway companies to solve such problems. One is to go through legal procedures and resolve them through litigation.

Because this is a bad debt that involves not only railway companies and landowners, but also local governments at all levels, litigation is extremely inefficient.

The other is to go private, and the railway company will consider itself unlucky and pay money, or let the landowner use the land ownership as shares to invest in the railway company to settle the matter.

Although this method is quick and effective, it is not easy to implement and has many problems. The focus of the problem is naturally how much money to lose and how many shares can be exchanged for the land.

You know, the reason why many landowners kept silent during the construction of the railway and only jumped out after the construction was completed is to extort money from the railway company and obtain the maximum benefit for themselves.

Liang Yao also thought about spending money to seize their land to settle the matter, but he soon gave up this idea.

Although he has money, his money is not blown by the strong wind, but picked up from the ground by bending down.

It would be fine if only one or two landowners were compensated, but spending money to settle the matter would be a shortcut.

However, the Atlantic Railway Company has a total of 32 similar land disputes. As long as one or two of them are compensated, the remaining 30 will definitely jump out and demand even higher compensation.

This hole must not be opened.

The western region is better. There is no such problem in the western region, because in the vast and sparsely populated western region, most of the land is unclaimed land.

"How are the law firms you interviewed and the litigation cases assigned to them handled?"

After returning to the office, Liang Yao had a headache looking at the mountains of documents on his desk.

The East is no better than California. He can only solve problems in a more civilized way and cannot do whatever he wants.

"You have been in New York for some time. I think you should know about the efficiency of litigation in the United States. In short, there is no gratifying progress." Kony shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, "The lawsuit lasted for several years or even more than ten years.

It’s been a common occurrence for twenty years.”

"Those law firms that want to get contracts from America Group brag to me during interviews about how good their law firms are, but that's all." Liang Yao is very dissatisfied with the performance of the so-called well-known law firms in New York.

"Fortunately, I didn't sign a contract with them. I just entrusted them to fight a few lawsuits to test their abilities."

"Another law firm came for an interview today. Will you see me or not?" Kony asked Liang Yaodao.

"Which well-known law firm in New York is it again?" Liang Yao has no hope for these so-called well-known law firms in New York.

"It's not a well-known law firm in New York, it's a new law firm," Coney said. "But the lawyer in this law firm is quite famous. He is a well-known lawyer in Illinois. He has a record of winning 237 cases in Illinois courts.

It seems that his litigation efficiency is very high, and this person has also served as an Illinois state legislator and congressman, and has a rich resume."

This lawyer's resume made Liang Yao's eyes shine. This resume is indeed very beautiful.

"What's the name of this law firm and the lawyer?" Liang Yao asked with great interest.

"Lincoln-Herndon Law Firm, this lawyer's name is Abraham Lincoln, and his other partner also has a very good resume, but he doesn't have the political experience of Lawyer Lincoln." Kenny said, looking at the resume in his hand.

.

"See you!" Liang Yao sat on the chair, "Let them come directly to my office to see me."

Since it was Lincoln, of course he wanted to meet him.

This lawyer's full name is Abraham Lincoln, and he served as a state legislator in Illinois and a member of Congress.

Putting this information together, Liang Yao can be sure that this person is Abraham Lincoln, the first president of the Republican Party and the 16th President of the United States.

"I understand sir, I will invite the lawyer in right now."

Kony nodded and said. Kony could see that Liang Yao was looking forward to this lawyer, but he didn't understand what Liang Yao was thinking about at this moment. He thought it was the beautiful resume of the lawyer named Abraham Lincoln that impressed Liang.

Yao.

(End of chapter)