1850 American Gold Baron

Chapter 68 Digging the Panama Canal?

For the helmsman, rely on dreams and only horses!

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Vanderbilt looked carefully at the letter Liang Yao handed him. After reading the letter, Vanderbilt didn't feel too disturbed. It seemed that everything was as he expected.

There is no free lunch in the world. The moment he decided to get involved in California gold, he was ready to become an enemy of these consortiums.

However, the speed of response of these consortiums was beyond his imagination.

It was rumored that Astor was too conservative and not aggressive enough. In his opinion, this view was biased.

It is true that little Astor's ability may not be as good as that of his father, the elder Astor, the founder of the Astor family.

But there is no doubt about his ability, at least better than his Vanderbilt son.

In the context of the economic downturn in the United States, the safest approach is to continue investing in New York real estate. Rent collection is a sure-fire business at any time.

While investing in New York real estate, little Astor also reached out to gold in California, which shows that his vision is still good.

"How are you going to deal with it?"

Vanderbilt returned the letter to Liang Yao.

"I have the people of California behind me. Of course, relying solely on the people of California is not enough. California is not strong enough now."

Liang Yao collected his thoughts and said.

"The East needs our mouthpiece. We cannot win the sympathy of the plutocrats, but we can win the sympathy of the people in the East, especially the sympathy of Texans.

Although Texas was born out of the Lone Star Republic, the land in the hands of those immigrants is still land donated by the Mexican government. If the government insists on taking back the land in California, it will also make them feel uneasy. What we have to do is,

It just amplifies this uneasy feeling.”

Vanderbilt expressed admiration for Liang Yao's ability to remain calm in this situation and come up with reasonable countermeasures.

"Although I have not been involved in the newspaper industry, I still have some connections in the media circle.

If Congress passes a bill to take back California land, it will be an unconstitutional act. I don’t think all congressmen are so brainless. I also have some friends in Texas. When I went back to New York, I happened to drop by to visit them."

"I will ask Henry to go to New York and Washington to buy several influential newspapers. If Henry needs Mr. Vanderbilt's help, I hope that Vanderbilt will not hesitate to lend a helping hand."

Liang Yao is still willing to spend the money that needs to be spent. If the land in California is taken back by the federal government, all his efforts will be in vain. By then it will be too late to spend money to buy public opinion.

Vanderbilt's decisive attitude was beyond Liang Yao's expectation. He originally thought that Vanderbilt would be wavering on this matter, but it seemed that he was judging a gentleman with a villain's heart.

Vanderbilt was far more courageous than the Vanderbilt he remembered. Perhaps this was the reason why Vanderbilt, a man with a mud-legged background, was able to rise in New York, a place full of patriarchs of aristocratic families.

"It would be the easiest way to buy it outright," Vanderbilt said. "I can help you get around in New York and Philadelphia, but in California, it's up to you."

Vanderbilt felt a little dry, so he drank a cup of tea and continued talking.

“I want to connect the waters within Nicaragua and widen them so that larger ships can pass through, making transportation more efficient east to California.

This requires a lot of manpower, and labor costs in the United States are very high. Of course, I can also hire local natives and native whites, who are cheaper than American labor. But I have visited Nicaragua and found that they are too lazy.

Hiring them is not a wise move.

I also inspected Chinese immigrants in California. They are very hard-working and can endure hardships, so I want to recruit some Chinese laborers through your channel to help me open up Nicaragua's water system.

I will not let your help go in vain, I will re-establish the California Shipping Company, with the two of us holding shares together, and monopolizing this route together."

Vanderbilt thought about what he saw and heard on the Sacramento that day. He was deeply impressed by the Chinese immigrants who braved the scorching sun to reclaim land on both sides of the American River.

"I have also learned scattered information about China from some missionaries before. You built a Grand Canal that runs from north to south and is nearly a thousand miles long more than 1,200 years ago.

More than two thousand years ago, in order to resist the invasion of foreigners, you built thousands of miles of city walls in the north. I was originally skeptical about this news until I saw those hard-working Chinese immigrants with my own eyes."

"Mr. Vanderbilt, I can tell you responsibly that these are all true, but these great miracles were built using thousands of corpses. Such miracles are not worth boasting about."

Vanderbilt wanted to hire some Chinese workers to fulfill his ambitions in Nicaragua. Liang Yao did not object. He also hoped that more Chinese workers could come to the United States and gradually enhance the Chinese people's voice in the United States.

The premise is that they must receive the respect and treatment they deserve.

Instead of deducting the wages of Chinese laborers to only 33rd of white laborers like Leland Stanford did when he built the Pacific Railroad.

"If you are willing to obtain legal American citizenship for them and give them remuneration that is not much different from white workers, I think you can attract many Chinese workers to immigrate here. I can set up a labor dispatch company to solve the language communication problem. Wait until the project

After the labor contract ends, it is up to the workers to decide whether to stay or go.

However, my personal suggestion is that the first choice is to dig a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in Panama. Panama’s prospects are far broader than Nicaragua’s. Panama can directly cross large ships, while Nicaragua needs a combination of land transportation and shipping.

In the next few years, we will have enough financial resources to support this huge project."

Vanderbilt came up with the idea of ​​hiring Chinese workers because of their cost-effectiveness.

If the labor cost of Chinese labor is similar to that of American labor, using Chinese labor will have no appeal to Vanderbilt.

After all, Vanderbilt was a capitalist after all, not a good person.

All Liang Yao can do is try his best to obtain better conditions for his compatriots.

At this time, the cost of labor in the United States was five or six times that of the Qing Dynasty. As long as the wages of Chinese workers were not much different from those of American workers, they could live a better life here than in the Qing Dynasty.

At the same time, Liang Yao also gave his pertinent suggestion. Rather than connecting the water system in Nicaragua, he hoped that Vanderbilt would directly dig the Panama Canal.

By digging this canal, we will be able to collect tolls for a long time in the future.

"If possible, I would prefer to dig a canal directly in Panama. I also have a good relationship with the senior officials of the Republic of New Granada.

They also welcome foreign capital to participate in this great project, but now the route from the eastern United States to Panama is controlled by William Aspinwall, the Pacific Mail Line. I currently have no rights to get involved in this route, otherwise

I will offend everyone in the government, which is not worth the loss.

Furthermore, Nicaragua also has the advantage of Nicaragua. This route is a full 500 miles shorter than the Panama route, which can save two days!

Indeed, as you said, the disadvantages of this route are obvious. It requires a combination of shipping and land transportation. Ships, especially large ships, cannot directly cross Nicaragua, which limits the transportation of goods.

Passengers traveled up the San Juan River and across the 100-mile-long Lake Nicaragua, before changing to horse-drawn carriages and driving 7.5 miles to the Pacific coast, where they transferred to ships bound for California."

The land route 7.5 kilometers away from the Pacific Ocean in Nicaragua is a mountainous area, and the geological conditions are not suitable for digging artificial canals. This is the biggest shortcoming of this route.

Note: Nicaragua is a small country on the isthmus of Central America.

Thanks to the 100 rewards from Yikai, the magic silver cherry demon, and the 1,500 rewards in the name of love!

(End of chapter)