1850 American Gold Baron

Chapter 338 City on the Oil Field

The decisive and tough attitude of Sultan Mecid of the Ottoman Empire surprised Menshikov.

Menshikov couldn't even believe that what he was seeing was real.

In his script, the plot should go like this. His tough diplomatic attitude as the plenipotentiary envoy of the Tsar will frighten the weak Sultan and make him succumb.

The final result will be that the Russian Empire will be defeated without a fight, gain the right to protect the Orthodox residents of the Ottoman Empire, and legitimately station its troops in the Ottoman Empire.

Afterwards, the Russian Empire could slowly encroach on the territories along the dark coast of the Ottoman Empire, and even seize Constantinople, the former capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

And he himself will return home with full honors, receive rewards and decorations from the Tsar, and become a hero of the Russian Empire, on par with his great-grandfather and Marshal Kutuzov, who led the Russian soldiers to defeat Napoleon's army in the Great Patriotic War of 1812.

It's just that reality did not go according to the script Menshikov imagined.

Nicholas I firmly believed that Britain would be on his side on the Near East issue because he gave the British enough sweetness.

Once Britain is on its side, the attitudes of other powers on the European continent will not matter.

France was defeated by Russia. The failure of the anti-French war greatly damaged France's vitality, which has not yet fully recovered. As for Prussia, it is just a small country.

Not to mention the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1848, he had just helped the new emperor Franz Joseph suppress the revolution in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This junior owed him a huge favor from Nicholas I.

If the Austro-Hungarian Empire wanted to take sides, it would stand on its own side.

Menshikov also had no doubts about Nicholas I's views and he believed in the Tsar's judgment.

Unexpectedly, he suffered a setback when he first came to the Ottoman Empire.

Sultan Meguid of the Ottoman Empire dared to be so tough on himself. Where did his confidence come from?

After thinking for a while, Menshikov vaguely had an answer.

There must be some great powers standing behind Mecid to support Mecid, and this great power is very powerful, at least not inferior to Russia.

Thinking of this, Menshikov couldn't help but feel chills coming over him. There were only two such powers in Europe, and that was Britain or France.

After thinking of this, Menshikov was still deceiving himself and others, thinking that this great power must be France.

If France supports the Ottomans, there is nothing to fear. After all, France was once defeated by the Russian Empire.

It's like this, it must be like this, it must be the French guy who is causing trouble behind it.

Thinking this way, Menshikov felt a lot relieved.

His waist stiffened instantly, and he said to Meguid arrogantly: "Sultan, please don't forget that the French were once defeated by our Russian Empire. I advise you not to retaliate too much against the French."

Expectation. I will give you three days to think about it. Come to me on my battleship when you have thought clearly!"

After saying this, Menshikov angrily threw up his sleeves and left.

Menshikov returned to the Mosets frigate. He did not leave Constantinople immediately, but continued to stay in Constantinople, waiting for Mecid to change his mind and respectfully invite him back to the palace.

However, the result did not go as Menshikov hoped. Meguid embraced the lap of a British man this time, and was not afraid of Menshikov's blackmail.

Three days later, Menshikov, ashamed and angry, had no choice but to leave Constantinople in despair.

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On the other side of the ocean, Liang Yao brought Lionel, James, August and others to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles has undergone earth-shaking changes in just three years.

In 1850, the population of Los Angeles was only about 1,600, and it was still affected by the San Francisco and Sacramento gold rushes.

In 1852, the population of Los Angeles soared to more than 30,000, becoming the third municipal administrative unit in California after San Francisco and Sacramento.

This was still the population counted in 1852. Five months have passed since 1853. Liang Yao estimates that the current population of Los Angeles is around 50,000, or even more.

Los Angeles's population grew not because of the San Francisco and Sacramento gold rushes, nor because of forced immigration, but because of the large population attracted by the local oil industry.

When you step off the boat, you will see countless wooden oil derricks as densely packed as a jungle.

These wooden derricks stretch from the beaches of Los Angeles all the way inland.

Under the derrick, there are busy oil workers with red faces and happy smiles.

The exploitation of oil has also caused the original lush forests near Los Angeles to disappear, and the price of local timber has increased more than tenfold in a year.

Many people even dig wells in their backyards, hoping that this dark liquid will gush out from their backyards.

Once an oil well is dug, it means the complete realization of oil wealth.

People in Los Angeles also call oil, a black liquid, black gold, water gold, and liquid gold.

The discovery of oil also triggered a "gold rush" in Los Angeles.

As soon as he landed, the pungent smell hit his face and penetrated directly into Liang Yao's mouth and nose.

Due to the rise of the petrochemical industry in Los Angeles in 1852, the Los Angeles city government, which was originally financially tight, instantly became wealthy, and the originally simple fishing village wharf was also expanded.

Last year, due to the slow increase in gold production, the fiscal revenue of San Francisco, Sacramento, and even Nevada was not very optimistic.

Only Los Angeles bucked the trend and became California’s new economic miracle.

After the expansion of the Los Angeles Pier, the entire terminal is much wider than before, and the supporting facilities are more complete.

The Los Angeles pier can now accommodate commercial ships with a displacement of 2,000 tons.

When Los Angeles Mayor Deng Wenshun heard that Liang Yao was coming, he greeted Liang Yao at the Los Angeles Pier early.

"Third brother, wear a mask, the smell here is strong."

Deng Wenshun handed white cotton masks to Liang Yao and the guests who came to Los Angeles.

"I've gained a lot of weight recently, but the more active you are in Los Angeles, the more healthy you are." Liang Yao patted Deng Wenshun's strong shoulder.

When they first came to California, the five Deng brothers, like him, were all malnourished and could barely work.

Now there is no trace of malnutrition in Deng Wenshun.

"No, the gold industry in Nevada and Sacramento has not been as prosperous as before recently. Now at least two to three thousand people flock to Los Angeles every month to beg for food. I can hardly accommodate them here." Deng Wenshun said with a smile.

In the past, he begged Liang Yao to recruit people and wanted to become the mayor as soon as possible. Now that Liang Yao wants to send people to Los Angeles specifically, he is afraid that he will have to think about it.

"Two to three thousand people every month? With so many people coming in all at once, can the situation in Los Angeles be sustained?"

Liang Yao was really surprised by the immigration growth rate in Los Angeles, which has caught up with the population growth rate of San Francisco.

With so many immigrants pouring into Los Angeles, Liang Yao couldn't help but worry about the local security in Los Angeles.

"I am in charge of five to six hundred militiamen in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Police Department also has more than 300 police officers, as well as about 800 brothers from the Loyalty Society, and the three companies assigned by my third brother to guard the refinery. I rely on these people to maintain

There is no problem living in order in Los Angeles." Deng Wenshun replied confidently and calmly.

"Los Angeles is no better than San Francisco or Sacramento. 90% of the people here are Chinese immigrants. It is much easier to control them than ghosts."

Los Angeles originally had a small population base. When it was established as a state at the end of 1850, the population of Los Angeles was less than 2,000.

Sherman's massacre also occurred that year, and the original local population of Mexican residents dropped sharply. Later, the immigrants in Los Angeles were mostly Chinese. Therefore, until now, the population of Los Angeles is still dominated by Chinese immigrants, accounting for 9% of the total population.

into about.

In San Francisco and Sacramento, the Chinese population accounts for approximately 40% to 50%.

The composition of immigrants is also what sets Los Angeles apart from San Francisco and Sacramento.

Chinese immigrants are relatively honest. They traveled all the way to California just to have enough to eat and live a relatively decent life. Few of them caused trouble. Therefore, despite the population explosion, the current security situation in Los Angeles is actually worse than

San Francisco was better back then.

Although it is not necessary to pick up items on the street and keep the house closed at night, at least it is not as outrageous as when Liang Yao first arrived in San Francisco, when gold diggers killed, robbed, dueled, and even burned down residents' houses in the streets.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that Los Angeles has established relatively complete administrative agencies and law enforcement agencies.

Hearing what Deng Wenshun said, Liang Yao also relaxed. He pointed at Lionel, James and others and said: "These are big capitalists from Europe. He is very interested in our kerosene. With these

A few distinguished guests would like to see how our kerosene is produced. If they are satisfied, we can get an investment of 1 million pounds at least."

"One million pounds?" Deng Wenshun took a breath, "No wonder I heard those ghost guys talk about how good Europe is. They almost praised Europe as the paradise of the West. There are not many people as rich as the United States.

Right? One million pounds. How many oil wells can be drilled and how many refineries can be built?"

"Stop talking nonsense and open their eyes." Liang Yao said.

"Gentlemen, please follow me."

Deng Wenshun straightened his collar and spoke to Lionel and James in fluent English.

As he walked through the streets, James paid attention to the price of kerosene in the street stores and the store shelves.

The price of local kerosene in Los Angeles is astonishingly low. The price of kerosene in several stores generally ranges from 10 cents per liter to 13 cents per liter.

And the shelves are full of kerosene, which never seems to be out of stock.

The cheapest store even sold it at a super low price of 8 cents a liter.

People who come to these stores to buy kerosene are not individual travelers, but people pulling freight carriages to buy kerosene.

This shows that Los Angeles is rich in kerosene.

"This is simply a city that specializes in producing kerosene." James sighed.

He originally thought that Liang Yao was just taking them to visit a factory, but he didn't expect that Liang Yao was taking him to visit a city directly.

Perhaps the kerosene output that Liang Yao originally provided to August was conservative.

In fact, this is indeed the case. The California kerosene industry only appeared in Los Angeles last year, that is, at the end of March 1852.

When Liang Yao discussed the kerosene business with Auguste and Hills at the Chinese Teahouse in the Crystal Palace, the data he provided to Auguste were from 1852.

In 1852, the annual output of kerosene in Los Angeles was more than 8 million liters. To be precise, the output was less than 9 months.

"In the future, the kerosene produced in this city will light up the nights of countless cities, making more cities become cities that never sleep like Paris and London." Liang Yao said confidently.

(End of chapter)