1850 American Gold Baron

Chapter 242 Let’s see who scalps whom first

"What is the current population of California? How much revenue did it receive last year? Is there a surplus?"

After sending Deng Wenshun away, Liang Yao asked California Secretary of Finance Deng Wenyu about California's recent population and financial situation.

It has been more than half a year since he left California, and these data must be somewhat different from the data he knew when he left California.

"California currently has a population of 390,000, of which 220,000 are ghosts, and the remaining 170,000 are Chinese. However, the waterway from Guangzhou to Jinshan is thousands of miles away, and many people cannot bear the fatigue of boating along the way.

, died of illness on the way, otherwise the population would have been even greater."

"There are 390,000 people. How many of them are women?"

Liang Yao is quite satisfied with this population data. Historically, in just four years from 1848, when the gold rush began, to 1852, California's non-Indian population suddenly increased from 14,000 in 1848 to 220,000 in 1852.

Under Liang Yao's control, this population has increased again.

The proportion of Chinese in the total population has also increased to 43.6%. As long as he is given some more time, he can turn California and even the entire West Coast of the United States yellow, making it impossible for the federal government to bleach it.

California was only established as a new state in 1850. The United States’ mandatory requirement for statehood in the territory is that the population reaches 60,000. For a new state, the population reached 390,000 in just two years, which is already a record in the history of the United States.

A unique miracle.

As for the immigrants who crossed the ocean and died of illness on the way, he had nothing to do. Why didn't he hope that all those immigrants who had escaped the hardships of the Qing Dynasty would successfully reach California alive?

However, the conditions in the mid-19th century are not comparable to those in the 21st century. We can only say that everyone has his own destiny, and life and death are determined by fate. Fortune depends on heaven.

"As for the female population, the registered female population is less than 90,000. Except for Los Angeles, where the ratio of men to women is relatively balanced, in other places there are more men than women."

Deng Wenyu couldn't help but look worried when he mentioned the problem of population structure.

"California is mostly populated by energetic young bachelors. There is no work in the mines. During the off-season, they either go gambling or [whoring], or they are on the way to make troubles. And there are not a few young men making troubles, and the police department can hardly suppress them.

Here, these people have no families, and they have no scruples when it comes to causing trouble, and they are very wanton."

The imbalance of population structure is indeed a very troublesome problem. During the great development of the west in American history, the western states also had this problem.

But it’s not as serious as it is in California now. With the development of the west, many families have moved to the west. And during the California Gold Rush, men from all over the world flocked to California. It would be better if the ratio of men to women could be balanced.

It's a ghost.

Data is cold, but people are hot. The extra 210,000 men may seem like cold data, but each one of them is a living soul and a vigorous body.

If we don't find a way to solve the problem of these people starting families, the security problems in California will only become more and more serious in the future.

Fortunately, although the ratio of men to women is unbalanced in California, there are still plenty of jobs. Otherwise, facing such idle bachelors would be a disaster.

"Okay, I understand." Liang Yao nodded and said. He probably already had an idea of ​​the population. "Let's talk about California's finance last year."

“Last year (1851), the California state government’s fiscal revenue totaled US$4,788,752. After excluding various expenses and subsidies to the Department of Agriculture and the Ministry of Education, there was still US$2,145,015 left.

If it weren't for those wimps at the Federal Customs Administration, and including tariffs, the state government would have received six to seven million U.S. dollars in revenue this year." Deng Wenyu reported in detail.

After all, it is the richest first-level administrative district in the world, and its wealthy nature has been revealed since its birth.

The fiscal revenue of 4.78 million US dollars is already close to that of Illinois, but Illinois was established as a state more than 40 years earlier than California, and its population is about twice that of California.

Moreover, Illinois also has more taxes than California. California’s current main tax revenue comes from gold mining.

In order to support California's local industries and mining industries, California has a three-year tax exemption policy for other industries and mining industries other than gold mining. When those industries and mining industries are supported after three years, California's tax revenue will be even higher.

God will provide you with food, and it is comfortable to lie on the gold mine.

"The Federal Customs Administration will charge them, as long as it doesn't hinder us." Liang Yao said to Deng Wenyu.

Tariffs are one of the most important fiscal revenues of the federal government.

This time Liang Yao went to the east, Liang Yao also tested the bottom line of the federal government on this matter, requesting the federal government to give California partial tariff autonomy. Even if the reasons given by Liang Yao were sufficient, Fillmore and Corwin also refused.

The refusal to let go shows the federal government's attitude towards tariffs.

Liang Yao also knew that destroying a person's financial path was like killing his parents. Blocking the Customs Administration from collecting tariffs in California was not only unjustifiable in legal terms, but also intractable to the entire federal government. The Congressman had to confront him with a knife.

The most important thing for California right now is to develop its own industry. There is no need for Liang Yao to get into trouble with the federal government over the tariff issue and cause trouble for himself. Anyway, the federal government can't collect California's tariffs for many years.

"Remember Third Brother's teachings." Deng Wenyu nodded and accepted the instruction.

"I heard that many Chinese have moved to Oregon recently. Is this possible?" Liang Yao asked Deng Wenyu.

"Yes, there are. Some small traders in the fur business and some Chinese with Orion origins have moved to the northern Oregon region, but not many, just a thousand people."

Deng Wenyu didn't know why Liang Yao asked about the Oregon area. He just took care of his own one-third of an acre in California. Why should he care about the Oregon area?

"That's a good thing." Liang Yao asked Deng Wenyu, "Do you know how many people there are in Oregon right now?"

"I don't know the exact number of people, but according to my understanding, there are still more than 40,000 people." Deng Wenyu thought for a moment and said.

The Oregon region is the territorial region with the closest ties to California. After California's industry and commerce gradually developed, Oregonians no longer imported some necessary daily necessities and tools from the eastern region as they did in the past, but went directly to the closer Sacramento for convenience.

Purchase necessary supplies and tools directly with San Francisco.

"There are more than 40,000 people."

Liang Yao's mind suddenly came to life. With a population of more than 40,000, Oregon was not far from the threshold of statehood.

"Let those Chinese businessmen come to see me later."

"Understood."

Although he didn't know why Liang Yao suddenly asked about the Oregon area, Deng Wenyu did not interfere with this subject based on the principle of asking what should be asked and not interfering with what should not be asked.

Just mentioning the Oregon region, Deng Wenyu thought of a more difficult problem.

"Third brother, do you remember Bernat? He was the one who said he wanted to peel off his scalp to make boots."

"Remember, what happened? He caused trouble on our borders in California?"

Liang Yao couldn't help but frown when he heard the name Bernat.

"That's not true. California is our territory. He doesn't have the guts to cause trouble in California. It's just that after this kid returned to Oregon, he often led two to three hundred people to kill Indians. The Indian tribes were miserable. Usually,

Indians, whether in California or Oregon, will not rob Chinese caravans."

Deng Wenyu complained to Liang Yao.

"In the second half of this year, Indians in the Oregon area, such as the Coos, Klamath, Chinook, Cayuse and other tribes, have robbed our caravan several times. Fortunately, everyone is fine.

They were all released safe and sound. The Indian chiefs of the Topomo and Maidu tribes in the Oregon region sent us a message, saying that they had no choice but to rob the caravan because they could no longer survive.

The chiefs of the Pomo and Maidu tribes also hope that you can come forward to mediate this matter, but it is a pity that you were not around at the time. This is a major matter and only you can make the decision. Neither my uncle nor I dared to agree."

"How can this Bernat be so unreasonable? I think he is tired of living." Liang Yao said angrily.

His attitude towards Indian tribes, whether it is the six Indian tribes in California: Pomo, Maidu, Hupa, Yurok, Chumash, Serrano, or Indian tribes outside California

.We have always focused on peace, and even if we don't make good friends, we still keep our peace.

Therefore, there were no major disputes with Indian tribes, and we also exchanged information with some friendly Indian tribes, among which the relationship with the Pomo and Maidu tribes was particularly strong.

As a result, Bernat was involved in the incident. It seemed that it was impossible to get rid of this guy. Let's see who scalped whom first.

"Jinchen, go to the telegraph room and send a message to Lieutenant Colonel Deng, asking him to meet me in San Francisco."

Liang Yao paced back and forth in the room. After asking Hu Jinchen to go to the telegraph room to send a telegram to Deng Yan, he turned around and said to Deng Wenyu.

"Tell the chiefs of the Indian tribes that I am willing to come forward to resolve the matter. To show my sincerity, I am willing to go to Sacramento to meet with them in person to resolve the matter."

Mediation is nothing. That guy Bernat is a racist. The Indians didn’t mess with him and he wanted to kill his family. If the Chinese were not powerful enough in California, this guy would not only dare to kill the Indians, but also the Chinese.

As long as they are not white, they will be killed.

Reasoning with such people and taking the path of mediation will not work. The only way to completely solve this problem is through physical means.

There were 2k updates on July 17th. This update will make up for the missed update on July 17th. As long as I don’t suddenly work overtime tomorrow, I will definitely make up for it! Make up for the update on the day of leave on July 21st!

(End of chapter)