1850 American Gold Baron

Chapter 380 Sven Island

"Stop! Stop! That's my goods! You are invading my private property!"

Two British ships in good condition: the Yukon and the Kangaroo are rescuing the crew members of the Glass who fell into the water. The crew of the Bold are busy with the cargo that fell into the water from the merchant ship Glass.

This made George so angry that he shook his fist at the Audacity, wishing he could smash the Audacity into pieces with one punch.

After competing with the British to salvage the cargo floating on the sea, Liang Yao walked away amidst the protests of the British crew and returned to San Francisco in Jinshan Bay.

There are coastal defense artillery batteries guarding San Francisco in the Golden Gate Strait. If they have the guts, they will follow them to the Golden Gate Strait.

Liang Yao looked back at these British ships. These British ships had no intention of chasing the Bold. Instead, after salvaging the remaining cargo and the drowned crew, they watched the Glass sink to the bottom of the sea.

, and finally headed north in despair back to their old nest.

"Hurry up the development of ironclads. The British are very vindictive. They will not forget the loss they suffered today." Liang Yao told Jeremiah.

He can be reasonable for a while and make the British feel frustrated temporarily, but only for a moment.

After withdrawing from the battlefield in the Near East, the British will have plenty of time to deal with him.

As for being a dog for the British?

This is an unrealistic idea. The British are very happy to see the United States, a former British colony, being used as a dog on the North American continent to cause trouble.

But the premise is that you are white, and the most important thing is that you cannot touch the fundamental interests of the British, that is, the economic interests of the British.

I'm just sorry, Liang Yao can't do this.

If it wants to industrialize, it will inevitably have to compete with the British. This is an unavoidable problem.

"I used to think that wasting money on building warships was a waste. What happened today made me realize that it is very necessary for California to be able to build its own warships and maintain a maritime force that can protect itself."

Jeremiah sighed.

The U.S. Navy does not have a fleet on the Pacific coast, and the Department of the Navy has no idea of ​​establishing a Pacific Fleet. After all, with the budget of the Navy Department, it is difficult to maintain the current size of the navy to ensure the security of the Atlantic coast area.

Not to mention establishing a Pacific Fleet to ensure coastal defense security along the Pacific coast.

If California wants to deal with threats from the sea, it cannot rely on the U.S. Navy and can only rely on its own strength!

"As long as you know, just go ahead and do it, Jeremiah. I believe in your ability. If the shipyard needs anything, just come to me and ask for it." Liang Yao put his hands on Jeremiah's shoulders and said.

"What happened today was that the British were rude first. I will submit a report to Congress to clarify the facts."

After speaking, Fremont asked, pointing to the Fu Shou pills salvaged from the sea.

"What are you going to do with these things? Take them back and destroy them?"

"destroy?"

Liang Yao stared at these longevity ointments, shook his head and said.

"The British traveled thousands of miles to transport these things here from South Asia. It would be a pity to destroy them directly. They are such valuable things."

Fu Shou Ointment is not just for smoking. Military doctors in hospitals and military camps in California use opium as a pain reliever and cough medicine.

Narcotics are a double-edged sword. When used properly, they are drugs; when used improperly, they are addictive drugs.

However, the medicine in California will definitely not be able to use so much Fu Shou Cream. We still need to find ways to deal with the excess Fu Shou Cream to make these things play their due value.

Liang Yao has reached a cooperation with the Rothschild family and uses the Rothschild family's sales channels in Europe to sell kerosene.

The demand for kerosene is so high right now that varying quantities of kerosene and other cargo are shipped from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Europe almost every week.

The Rothschild family's sales channels in Europe naturally include channels in the British market.

Liang Yao was still able to carry some Fu Shou ointment into these goods and transport them to the British market.

What's more, Jardine House has even opened a smoke shop in London, selling the fushou ointment grown in their Mexican plantations.

It can be seen that this stuff also has a market in the UK.

Since the British like Fushou ointment, there is no harm in letting them try the authentic Fushou ointment produced by the British East India Company.

At the same time, thousands of miles away, the Micronesia region in the central Pacific Ocean had clear skies.

Sven looked for the island rich in phosphate minerals based on the vague coordinates given by Liang Yao: 60 kilometers south of the equator, between 165° and 169° east longitude.

After several days of sailing, an oval-shaped coral reef island appeared in front of Sven.

Sven and the pilot immediately measured the longitude and latitude of the island, and finally determined that the longitude of the coral island was about 166.5°.

"Is there really such an island? Are the records of those Chinese navigators true?"

Sven said with suspicion.

Within the area given by Liang Yao, only this coral island meets the conditions.

Sven ordered his James Day to circumnavigate the coral island, firstly to conduct a rough survey of the coral island, and secondly to confirm whether anyone else had already arrived to avoid unnecessary disputes.

After some rough surveying and mapping, Siwen estimated that the length of this coral island is more than 6 kilometers, the width is more than 4 kilometers, the circumference of the island is about 30 kilometers, and the land area is about 22 to 23 square kilometers.

It is a small, tiny island.

Fortunately, no one else on this island has arrived first. Only a few scattered indigenous people looked curiously at the black smoke-emitting monster at Sven's feet, coming and going freely on the sea.

After seeing James Daihao, some of the natives ran away, while others paid homage to James Daihao.

The sea conditions around this tiny island are unknown. The James Day Hao is a large paddle steamer with a displacement of more than 2,000 tons. There are few other ships passing by this area. Once the ship runs aground, the consequences will be catastrophic.

of.

Therefore, Sven could only lower three lifeboats and boarded the coral island with 23 fully armed crew members and the California scientific expedition personnel accompanying the ship.

Sven took out some glass beads, bottles, knives, and cotton cloth to communicate with the local indigenous people. Sven said that these were gifts for them.

After more than ten minutes of difficult communication, these natives finally understood what Si Wen meant and happily accepted Si Wen's gift.

Then Sven pointed to his mouth and gestured to the local indigenous people to ask for fresh food and drinking water.

The local indigenous people soon understood what Siwen meant. Siwen wanted to exchange these things for food with them. Soon, the chief asked the young people in the tribe to bring some bananas, coconuts, fish, seabirds, mice and some unknown things.

famous mammal.

This is the daily food of the local indigenous people. The crew members are nauseated when they see fish and mice. Naturally, they have no appetite. As for those unknown mammals, they don't dare to eat them.

However, the tropical fruits such as bananas and coconuts brought by the indigenous people were quickly robbed. These are the nutrients they need now.

Sven also cracked open a coconut and poured coconut water into his mouth.

After eating, Sven sent eight crew members to protect the scientific expedition personnel in search of phosphate mines.

Sven also exchanged some bananas and coconuts with the local indigenous people, and sent people to deliver these fresh fruits to the James Day for the crew on board to enjoy.

He led 12 crew members to search for fresh water on the island.

There were flocks of birds on the island, one after another. Before long, Sven's body was covered with bird droppings falling from the sky.

Looking at the densely packed bird droppings of various colors on the body, including black, brown, cyan, white, gray, yellow and white, I felt calm and happy instead of angry.

Since there are so many birds on the island, there will naturally be no shortage of phosphates. California scientific researchers told him that phosphate ore is formed from bird droppings after tens of thousands of years of changes.

This is good news. Last year, California spent more than $5 million importing guano from Peru, Chile, and Bolivia.

If this island is really rich in phosphate mines, the value of this island will be inestimable.

California could also get rid of its phosphate mines being choked by the British and South Americans.

After all, the phosphate mines currently used in California are all minted with California dollars, which is exchanged for heavy amounts of gold.

More importantly, he discovered this island, and he himself can gain tangible benefits from it.

Sven took the accompanying crew members around the small island but could not find any fresh water.

The surface of this island is so permeable that it is difficult to retain fresh water.

As for rivers, they don't exist. There are small lakes here and there, but it's a pity that they are salt water lakes.

Fortunately, the local indigenous people told him that it often rains here, and when it rains, he can collect some rainwater, filter it and drink it.

After several days of investigation, California scientific researchers brought unexpected good news to Sven. This island is indeed rich in phosphate minerals, very high-quality phosphate minerals.

When Sven asked about the approximate reserves, the scientific expedition personnel pondered for a long time and then gave a reply: "It is difficult to estimate."

Sven jumped up excitedly. He ran under a coconut tree, took out the Bowie hunting knife from his waist and scratched a few letters on the trunk of the coconut tree.

"Sven Island, this island will be called Siven Island from now on." Siven murmured to himself as he admired the few letters he had carved.

(End of chapter)