1850 American Gold Tycoon

At the end of 1849, a merchant ship, the Cape Town, sailed from Hong Kong to California, drifting on the vast ocean. Google search reading

The salty smell of seawater seeped into the narrow, dark cabin through the gaps in the deck.

What followed was continuous ups and downs, and Liang Yao covered his mouth and almost failed to dig out the bread and boiled vegetables he had just swallowed.

Liang Yao looked around. Under the dim light, there were sallow, weak, and bony faces.

"Third brother, you don't look good."

A middle-aged man with his hair braided on his head walked up to Liang Yao and asked with concern.

"Second uncle, I'm fine."

Liang Yao waved his hand and said he was fine. This middle-aged man's surname was Deng Mingyan, who was once a petty commander of the Guangdong Navy.

Liang Yao's family background is much more prominent than that of Deng Yan. Liang Yao's grandfather was a military officer of the fifth rank, and the Liang family was considered a prominent scholarly family in Xiangshan. And Deng Yan was just a fisherman, and even Deng Yan's boss was helped by the Liang family to smooth the relationship and help him from being outsourced to become the boss.

Only this time, because Deng Yan was dissatisfied that Shangguan wanted to take his daughter as a concubine, he killed Shangguan and fled overseas with his family.

The Liang family suffered fraud in the Guangdong rural examination, and their grandfather lost his official position. Even the family's life was saved by selling off their property. The Liang family fell into ruin and inevitably headed for bankruptcy.

Although fraud in scientific examinations was common in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, once it happened, everyone was lucky to be able to save the lives of the whole family.

"The same goes for your Liang family. A son born to a wife is a son, but a son born to a concubine is not a son?

I heard that Citigroup has discovered a gold mountain and is forcing you, an 18-year-old boy, to go dig for gold in San Francisco. Why don't you let the boss and the second child go?

You have also been selected as a scholar, and your ability to read is no worse than the boss or the second child."

Looking at his young nephew, Deng Yan's eyes were full of pity, and he complained for his nephew, and of course for his sister who was a concubine in the Liang family.

When talking about the scientific examination, Deng Yan's wife Zhou quickly winked at Deng Yan and signaled Deng Yan not to continue talking. After all, this was a sore spot for the Liang family.

This is the pain point of the Liang family, but it is not the pain point of Liang Yao. In this desperate and suffocating era, it is not a bad thing for him to leave his hometown and go to California to start a career.

In his last life, in order to escape from the misery of involution, he also went from a first-tier city in China to work on Wall Street in the United States and became a stock trader at the lowest level.

He never thought that there would be no more papers, only more papers, and the intensity of his work continued to increase. After arriving on Wall Street, his working hours changed from 996 to 007, until he died suddenly on the ferry to work in Manhattan.

Perhaps in this life, in this virgin capital land full of golden opportunities, he can show off his talents, make a difference, become a legendary tycoon, and live a life that he could not even imagine in his previous life.

Suddenly, a woman's shrill scream in the cabin brought Liang Yao's thoughts back to reality from his ethereal fantasy.

Liang Yao followed the sound and saw his cousin Deng Ying, who was in shock, curled up and clinging to Zhou's side, wiping tears. Behind Deng Ying were several ugly smiling faces.

"The little girl has such a lively body, and her butt and balls are more comfortable to touch than Sister Yao. It's no wonder that Mr. Zhang Qian fell in love with your Deng family. Why don't I marry you as my mother-in-law when I get to San Francisco and live together, I don't mind you." The Deng family are fugitives.”

The speaker was Wu Daqi, a wretched young man who was a local gangster in Xiangshan. Due to his bad reputation and the difficult world, he could not survive in the local area. Hearing that Citigroup had discovered a golden mountain, he and a dozen of his friends pooled some money to buy a boat. Try your luck at Citigroup.

"Bah! You mangy dog!"

Deng Yan was furious, raised his fists and was about to charge forward. In the cabin, except for the five Deng family members who were on the run together, who came forward to help, the other neighbors and fellow villagers all looked as if the matter had nothing to do with themselves and turned their heads to the side as if they had not seen anything.

Seeing that there were only a few people on Deng Yan's side, but there were a large number of people on his side, Wu Daqi became more confident and laughed unbridled with his hands on his hips.

Liang Yao was not used to traveling on sea ships, so he had to be taken care of by Deng Yan along the way. Of course, he couldn't just stand by and watch his cousin being bullied.

Although he has the brains of a later generation who is in his thirties, his body is that of an eighteen-year-old scholar who has no power to bind a chicken. Wu Daqi and the others are outnumbered, so they will definitely suffer in a fight.

"You, a helpless scholar, come to join in the fun and ask for a beating?"

Seeing Liang Yao standing up and approaching unsteadily, Wu Daqi said disdainfully.

In the past, he would never have dared to speak in this tone to the son of an official and gentry in front of him.

Thinking of this, Wu Daqi couldn't help but straighten his waist by three points, and he became very proud.

"Third brother, it's better to leave this kind of matter to us roughnecks. You should go back." Deng Yan advised in a low voice. He was already satisfied that Liang Yao had such a heart.

"After all, I am also half a Deng family member. How can I not care if my own family members are bullied?" Liang Yao said loudly.

Liang Yao's words won the favor of several Deng family disciples, but Wu Daqi still looked disdainful: "No matter what, what do you care about?"

The green-skinned gangsters started laughing and didn't take Liang Yao seriously at all.

"Apologise to my second uncle and cousin, otherwise"

"What else?"

"Throw you into the sea and feed the fish!"

Liang Yao said very seriously, and then there was a burst of laughter. It was obvious that Wu Daqi and the others did not take Liang Yao's words seriously.

"Just you?"

"Last month, the ghost guy suspected that Chen Awei was infected with the plague. The ghost guy threw him into the sea without saying a word. In the eyes of those ghost guys and water pilots, we are not human beings at all, but white silver and golden gold. .”

At this point, the smiles of Wu Daqi and others finally froze, and they began to chew on Liang Yao's words.

Although I don’t know if this kid’s words have enough weight to make the ghost guy throw him into the sea, it is true that the ghost guy threw Chen Awei into the sea. Thinking of the splashing sound of falling into the water, Wu Daqi still had lingering fears.

And on the entire ship, apart from the pilot who worked for Gui Lao, the only one who could talk to Gui Lao was this young boy.

"Liang Yao, Captain Frank is looking for you."

Pilot Zhang Bingliang stamped his feet on the deck, stuck his head out and shouted to Liang Yao in the cabin. He immediately covered his nose in disgust and left, not wanting to stay in this damn place for a moment longer.

"Whether you want to apologize or die without leaving a whole body is up to you."

Liang Yao said a harsh word and left the cabin without looking back.

Liang Yao naturally knew what Captain Frank was looking for.

The Cape Town's weigher fell ill while passing through Malacca, and Frank had to leave him nearby in Singapore. In this era, sanitary conditions were limited, there were too many uncertainties in long-distance voyages, and crew attrition was common.

Frank originally planned to recruit weighers in Singapore, but Liang Yao volunteered and said that he could be a qualified weigher.

After all, all he has on his body now is the eight Spanish eagles that his mother gave him before leaving, and the monthly salary of the ordinary crew members on this ship is much higher than this number.

Liang Yao wanted to earn some money to buy some supplies. California was still a wild land and supplies were extremely scarce. Even if there were, prices were extremely high due to the gold rush. With the eight Spanish silver dollars in his hand, he could barely afford a few meals.

At first, Frank refused to hire Liang Yao, who had no experience, as a weigher. Even though Liang Yao showed him his English proficiency and accounting ability, Frank still shook his head nononoly until Liang Yao offered him an offer that he could not refuse. The condition was that he only needed half of the weigher's salary. Frank smiled a long-lost smile, nodded and said a long-lost yes.

"If nothing else happens, the Cape Town will arrive in Panama tomorrow. Here is the list of goods to be shipped tomorrow. Go to the cargo hold to check the goods."

The captain's cabin at the stern is spacious, bright and clean. Although it is on the same ship as the so-called "guest cabin" below, it is like two different worlds.

Frank was very reassured about Liang Yao after his previous experiences, and he even raised the idea of ​​hiring Liang Yao as a crew member. After all, he often sails to China, and it would be of great benefit to him to have someone on board who is proficient in English and the local language.

The key is that this young man from the Qing Dynasty is so cheap, and he does things neatly and beautifully. Hiring him is definitely a good deal with a guaranteed profit and no loss.

"We will arrive in Panama tomorrow. It would be great if Panama could open a canal. In this case, we would be able to reach California long ago."

Liang Yao is no stranger to Panama, but now there is no trace of the Panama Canal. When this canal was completed and opened to navigation, the Qing Dynasty was dead, and World War I was in full swing.

During this period, the people of the Qing Dynasty were still ignorant of the outside world, and very few people could name the names and capitals of several major Western countries.

Arrogant and ignorant, this is Frank's view of the Qing people in this period. It was beyond Frank's expectation that the Qing boy in front of him knew so much about Panama.

In the early years, President Bolivar of Gran Colombia had the idea of ​​building the Panama Canal. Later, the Republic of New Granada also proposed having Britain, France, the United States, Spain and other countries work together to build the canal, but in the end it was dropped due to various factors. .

"Yes, after tomorrow's work is done, your work will be over. This is your salary." Captain Frank took out a bag of coins and threw it on the table, squinting his eyes and showing an unconcealable smile.

"From Singapore to Panama, you served the Cape Town for a total of fifty-seven days. I am always generous and paid you two months' compensation for your fifty-seven days of service. This is what you deserve." Order reward.”

Frank was a typical example of getting a bargain and acting well. The contract they signed at the beginning was a 26 shillings per month contract including short-term allowances for the entire voyage, which was the total of a normal weigher. According to the contract, the money was also paid by the British Steamship Company, which owned the Cape Town.

Liang Yao weighed the 13 shillings in his wallet, knowing that the rest of the money would naturally go into the pocket of Frank, a kind man.

However, Liang Yao had no intention and was unable to argue with Frank. He just took advantage of the situation and made a request to go ashore to purchase some supplies to California tomorrow. Frank, who was in a good mood, readily agreed to this reasonable request.

13 shillings and 8 Spanish silver dollars, this is all Liang Yao's property, his first pot of gold.

Liang Yao was thinking about how to spend the money, and his understanding of the history of the California Gold Rush was very rudimentary.

It’s not that people of later generations don’t understand American history, but their understanding focuses on World War II and the United States that became the world’s hegemon after the war, and they know very little about the United States before its rise.

Liang Yao was no exception. He was familiar with every major military operation and economic policy that the United States participated in during World War II and after World War II, but he only had a relatively superficial understanding of the United States at this time.

After thinking for a moment, Liang Yao decided to use the money to buy pans, shovels, picks and other gold mining tools.

The first millionaire in the history of the American West, an ordinary store owner, Sam Brannan, made his fortune by relying on his monopoly on gold mining tools. Buying these items and selling them in California would definitely make a huge profit.