1850 American Gold Tycoon

When passing through Orleans, Liang Yao sent a telegram to Washington at the Orleans Telegraph Office. The content of the telegram read: The Qing envoy is on the way to the United States and will arrive in New York soon. Please be prepared to receive it. Google search reading

Liang Yao originally planned to send this telegram in Houston, but the day after the Houston telegraph office finished sending the telegram in Vanderbilt, there were some line failures. Liang Yao had no choice but to send the telegram in New Orleans, Louisiana. .

After sailing for several days, the fleet arrived in New York Harbor.

New York Harbor is like a big mouth, and Staten Island is a plug that blocks the mouth.

A three-kilometer-long strait separates it from Long Island, along which seawater slowly flows into the bay.

The western part of Staten Island extends into the interior of New Jersey, and across the harbor is Manhattan. The long and narrow island of Manhattan is like a natural bridge between the East River and the Hudson River.

When the ship arrived here, both Vanderbilt and Liang Yao had mixed feelings.

Vanderbilt was born in an ordinary Dutch farm family on Staten Island. Staten was the starting point of his life. From here, Vanderbilt started his business from a barge worth $100. Created his shipping empire worth tens of millions of dollars.

When the ship passed Staten Island, the captain and sailors on the ship took off their hats to pay tribute to a relatively dilapidated farmhouse on Staten Island. This was an unwritten rule of Vanderbilt's shipping company.

Vanderbilt himself also took off his wide-brimmed beaver hat and bowed deeply to the building on the island. His eyes seemed to be a little moist.

Because that inconspicuous building was his former home. When his mother, or his life mentor, was still alive, Vanderbilt's barges would always proudly salute his mother and neighbors on the island when passing by. They said hello and showed off their boats.

Liang Yao's eyes stayed on Manhattan across the harbor. In his last life, his hopeless life ended here.

Although Manhattan in 1851 did not have the towering skyscrapers of later generations, and the buildings were still dominated by four or five-story masonry buildings, at this time, the Manhattan area was already the center of New York City, and the economy of the entire New York State, and even North America. center.

This is the most densely populated place in North America.

Around Manhattan, there are acres of farmland, pastures, and aquaculture areas, providing a steady stream of blood transfusions and agricultural products for this international metropolis with a population of 700,000.

Although there is a vast inland in the hinterland of New York, New York has been a city born towards the sea since its birth. The city is not expanding to the inland area, but to the coastal areas. For example, South Street in New York is It was formed by reclaiming land from the sea in the early 19th century.

It is worth mentioning that at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, New York City was not the largest city in the United States. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the title of the largest city in the United States belonged to Philadelphia, not New York.

In 1790, New York had an urban population of 33,131, making it the second largest city in the United States at that time, while Philadelphia had a population of 54,388.

Of course, this census is not very accurate, because a considerable part of the slave population is not included in the statistics.

Yes, at the beginning of the founding of the United States, slaves were also kept in the North of the United States, and not only black slaves were kept.

New York State also gradually abolished slavery within 30 or 40 years after its founding. By 1851, there were almost no slaves in the legal sense in New York State.

The piers of New York are crowded with ships, and the tall chimneys are constantly spewing thick smoke into the sky. The paddle wheels on both sides of the ships slap the water, splashing waves, and the surrounding buildings and church spiers are in harmony with the sky. The domes complement each other, making the whole city look majestic, and the whistles of steamships are endless.

"I don't think there are cities in the United States with such a prosperous population and such prosperous commerce."

Wu Yuanhua looked at the cluster of four- and five-story high-rises at the southern end of Manhattan and sighed. At this time, New York was also the city in the United States with the most buildings above four stories.

When we were in Texas, Texas did not shock Chinese businessmen like Wu Yuanhua much.

Although these Chinese businessmen all speak fluent English, they have just arrived in the United States and do not know much about this country, and they have not let go of their arrogance as citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom.

Although they have now become American citizens, from the bottom of their hearts, they still believe that they are citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom. Even if they are foreign traders with a broader vision, they are not exempt from this custom.

It is difficult to change ideas that have been ingrained for thousands of years in a short period of time.

The population of Texas is only about 100,000 people. If you include the black slaves, there may be a population of 200,000 people. But for Texas, which has a vast territory, this population is evenly spread over the area of ​​700,000 square kilometers of Texas. , it’s really not enough to watch.

Even Houston, the largest city in Texas, is actually just a slightly larger town.

The social landscape of the entire Texas, or the entire southern United States, looks more like an agricultural society, not much different from the Qing Dynasty, which was also an agricultural society.

If there is any difference, it is that there are still a few poor industries in the southern region of the United States, but these industries are mostly concentrated in the highly developed states of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia.

"The prosperity of New York City is no less than that of Guangzhou and the capital." Pan Zhengwei said, "I think the American people of South Eucalyptus are full of vitality and their spiritual outlook is better than that of my people in the Qing Dynasty."

"This is the business district of New York. Most of the people who come and go in the business district are wealthy people. Of course they are in good spirits."

Liang Yao said while looking at the south shore of Manhattan Island that he just drove past.

"The workers in the factory have to work fifteen or sixteen hours a day and are struggling to make ends meet. Their mental outlook is very different from that of these rich people."

"That's it." Pan Zhengwei nodded as if he had some understanding, "Then I will have to investigate carefully this time. The market in New York City seems to be bigger than Texas. I think if Tongfu Bank can set up a branch here, "There must be great potential." "Although there are many people in New York and the market is large, the situation here is much more complicated than in Texas." Liang Yao asked Pan Zhengwei and others with his hands behind his back, "Have you brought your official uniforms?"

"I brought everything as you asked."

Pan Zhengwei subconsciously touched the empty back of his head.

"But my braids are gone, I'm afraid it would be a bit inappropriate to wear this official uniform."

"It doesn't matter. America doesn't know much about the Qing Dynasty anyway. As long as you wear this official veneer, people will believe you even if you say you are the emperor of the Qing Dynasty." Liang Yao said.

"Whatever you want, you can talk to American political leaders wearing this official veneer. Remember, as an official of the Heavenly Kingdom, you must speak forcefully.

I don’t care what you want to talk about. I only ask that the free immigration treaty must be negotiated. When we negotiate this treaty, I will be with you. "

Historically, in the 1860s, due to the shortage of manpower in the development of the western United States, to put it bluntly, there was a shortage of manpower to build railways. In order to alleviate the problem of labor shortage, American officials and the Qing Dynasty signed a free immigration treaty to encourage free immigration and trade between the two countries. Communicate what is needed.

This treaty is the "Treaty of Continuation of the Treaty of Tianjin between China and the United States," also known as the "Burlingame Treaty." Its main content is: The people of the Qing Dynasty and the people of the United States can go to other countries, or wish to live and naturalize, or come and go at any time. , cannot be blocked. It also stipulates that the two countries can set up foreign affairs agencies in each other's country.

This free immigration law was signed by the United States at the initiative of the Qing Dynasty. The United States is a very snobbish country and will allow you to immigrate freely when it needs you.

We don’t need you, and we introduced the Chinese Exclusion Act when we felt you might become a threat.

The California State House has legislated and officially passed the Free Immigration Act, but this is not enough. Liang Yao still feels that on behalf of the Qing Dynasty and the American federal government, a formal free immigration treaty will be signed to provide insurance for Chinese immigrants and facilitate Chinese immigration outside California. of state penetration.

This is not Liang Yao's whimsical or arbitrary idea, but a decision based on Liang Yao's analysis and judgment of the current objective environment in the United States.

The United States, especially the western United States, has a large labor gap. The United States needs immigrants to alleviate the labor shortage problem in the development of the west.

As for the issue of Chinese exclusion, the current total number of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. population is not enough to pose a threat to the demographic structure of the United States.

At this time, there are more important internal conflicts in the United States that need to be resolved. The hasty introduction of the Chinese Exclusion Act is just causing trouble for itself. American politicians are not so stupid.

Of course, the Qing Dynasty's international status at this time was not that bad, nor was it much lower than that of the United States. Britain and France bullied the Qing Dynasty and did not bring the United States to play with them. The United States could only pretend to sign a treaty with the Qing Dynasty after Britain and France left. The United States was so angry that it secretly went to bully Japan.

The United States also has to consider whether it will cause diplomatic disputes when it introduces the Chinese Exclusion Act.

"We can talk about things, but what if the Qing Dynasty investigates them?" Zeng Jinsong looked worried and said with some concern, "Although we are officials of the Qing Dynasty, we are all donated officials, and we pretend to be the imperial court. Important officer, this is a capital crime that will punish the Nine Clan, if the matter is exposed."

"As long as you don't say it yourself, who in the entire United States except me will know that your officers were donated?" Liang Yao said impatiently,

"The Qing Dynasty is busy encircling and suppressing Changmao. How can the officials in the capital still worry about what is happening in the United States thousands of miles away? You have been naturalized and are now a subject of the United States. Only American law can punish your crimes." "The Rules of the Qing Dynasty" is like a piece of paper for you."

In the 19th century, information was relatively limited, and there was not much communication between the United States and the Qing Dynasty. Not to mention that they pretended to be a high-ranking official mission of the Qing Dynasty, even if they pretended to be the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, some people would believe them.

Even in the 20th century, there were still people who took advantage of the information gap. Horace, a Cambridge college student, used poor impersonation skills to impersonate the Ethiopian prince and prank the senior officials of the British Empire and the Royal Navy, and he actually succeeded.

And these people Liang Yao led were all serious non-staff officials of the Qing Dynasty. Their people were real and their official uniforms were real. Hu Nong Hu Nong There was not much problem with the indigenous Americans in the mid-19th century.

"I think this is feasible." Pan Zhengwei said, stroking his beard.

"We, the Pan family, still have many acquaintances in the capital and in the palace. We will spend money to do a few things and make the wording of the documents more humble, showing the style of the great Qing Dynasty. As long as the emperor sees it and thinks it is honorable, he will take care of this matter. I won’t delve into it.

Since the 21st year of Daoguang reign (1841), the Qing Dynasty has signed more and more treaties, including this one. There are many ministers who are hiding things from the Qing Dynasty, including us, and besides, we are not the subjects of the Qing Dynasty now. "

Liang Yao showed admiration. Among the Chinese businessmen, Pan Zhengwei was more courageous and courageous.

The methods used by the early powers to amend the treaty with the Qing Dynasty were much more despicable than Liang Yao's current methods.

Liang Yao looked at Pan Zhengwei. Pan Zhengwei looked upright and steady, and he was also older. Perhaps it was the influence of the Pan family's family tradition. Compared with other Chinese businessmen, Pan Zhengwei also had a bit more official aura, which was more in line with the image of a high-ranking official in the Qing Dynasty.

"From now on, you are the Qing Dynasty's envoys visiting the United States who hitch a ride, and you are Pan Shangshu, the Minister of Rites of the Qing Dynasty." Liang Yao patted Pan Zhengwei on the shoulder and said, "Everyone, please go in and change into official uniforms."