1850 American Gold Tycoon

It was already mid-January 1852 when Liang Yao returned to San Francisco.

Just like the route he took when heading to the eastern United States, Liang Yao still took the Nicaragua route when he came back.

In addition to necessary supplies such as factory machines, machine tools, and books, the bulk cargo and ships accompanying the fleet still had to go around Cape Horn in South America to reach California.

Of course, the accompanying personnel, whether they were the talents and skilled workers Liang Yao recruited in the east, the Arizona Infantry Regiment, and other soldiers all followed Liang Yao back to California via the Nicaragua route.

"Second nephew, a letter from home."

Back at Tingtao Garden, Liang Shaoyu handed Liang Yao a letter from the Liang family.

Liang Yao opened the letter, which was a letter from his grandfather Liang Weiming.

Liang Weiming promised to send his mother to Jinshan, which is St. Francis. In the letter, Liang Weiming also expressed his longing for him and hoped that Liang Yao could return to Xiangshan to visit his old man when he had time.

During the expedition to Japan, he would take a trip back to Guangdong, but he would not go back specifically for Mr. Liang. He had no interest in participating in the messy affairs of the Qing Dynasty in Liangjiahe, unless he could make money.

"Third brother, the population of Jinshan has already exceeded 100,000. Sachs City is now a big city with a population of nearly 100,000. As for my little town, Los Angeles, the population has not yet exceeded 10,000. Shouldn't you also consider adding more to Los Angeles? Immigrate?" Deng Wenshun complained to Liang Yao.

"Next month, the railway from Jinshan to Los Angeles will be opened to traffic. By then, are you still worried that Los Angeles will not be able to attract people?" Liang Yao said with a smile.

The railway between San Francisco and Los Angeles has been under construction for nearly a year. Since construction started in both directions of San Francisco and Los Angeles at the same time, and finally converged in the Central Valley for docking, the project progressed relatively quickly and shortened the construction period a lot.

The coastal area of ​​California consists of the Coast Mountains and the terrain is relatively complex. Before the railway was built, Liang Yao did not consider this railway and chose to go directly to the Central Valley.

Liang Yao's goal is to turn the Central Valley into the granary of California and even the entire West Coast region. There is a main railway line directly crossing the Central Valley, and subsequent construction of the Central Valley can also benefit from it.

The later California high-speed rail connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles also took this route. The difference is that the later California high-speed rail project took a full 11 years from its establishment in 2008 to construction in 2015 and completion in 2019. .

In the end, the construction mileage of California's high-speed rail was shortened from 8 kilometers to 191 kilometers.

This is the advantage of not needing to acquire land and centralizing power, and is highly efficient.

In 1851, most of the land in California was unclaimed. Liang Yao did not have to worry about land acquisition to build the railway. He could start construction as long as the route was determined.

As for the state assembly, they just need to hold a meeting and go through the motions, and no one dares to cause trouble with him.

Of course, another advantage of not having to acquire land is that the cost of building railways is also much lower. The average cost per kilometer of the 840-kilometer railway from San Francisco to Los Angeles is US$21,000, which also includes the cost of building railways along the railway line. The cost of laying telegraph lines.

The cost per kilometer of railways of the same specifications in the eastern region is at least US$34,000 to US$34,000.

This is why Vanderbilt and Liang Yao came in to disrupt the situation and forced the original railway companies to abandon the use of old-fashioned rails, which caused a cry in the railway industry.

However, the cost of the California Railway still made Liang Yao feel pain. This did not include the cost of the locomotive, which already cost 17.64 million US dollars. The railway was really a gold-devouring beast.

Fortunately, he currently owns the California Railroad Company wholly-owned, and he can make money by selling only 30 to 40% of his shares.

Umbrella Company's gold mining in Australia is going well, and some gold can be recovered in the future, and the gold mining situation in Nevada is also very optimistic.

He doesn't have to worry about cash flow for the time being, he can still get on with it.

"There is no gold in Los Angeles, so who would want to come to Los Angeles?" Deng Wenshun muttered. "Just open up wasteland and cultivate land. There is a lot of open space around Jinshan Bay and the Central Valley. Who wants to come to Los Angeles where there is no shit?"

Deng Wenshun’s complaint is not unreasonable. The most fundamental reason why the population of Los Angeles has been unable to increase is that Los Angeles has no advantageous industries and cannot attract enough people.

"Even if we don't give people, it's okay to let America Group build more factories in Los Angeles. Several coal mines have recently been discovered near Los Angeles. It's also close to transporting iron ore from Mexico to Los Angeles. It's very suitable for opening steel plants. This year, I and Los Angeles The local squire pooled some money and opened a small steel factory, which allowed him to earn some pocket money." Deng Wenshun added.

"You have a lot of ideas. You know that you can raise funds to set up a factory. If you are short of money, you can find a bank loan. If you want to set up a factory, it is easy to borrow some money from Bank of America to turn over the money based on your reputation." Liang Yao sat down. Hou Youran said.

“The factory cannot grow without one,” Deng Wenshun complained.

"You are so careless, you asked me for help in a different way. I spent more than 17 million US dollars to build the railway from Jinshan to Los Angeles. If I wasn't optimistic about Los Angeles, I would be willing to spend all my money to build the railway." To Los Angeles? Do I look like someone who is good at losing money?" Liang Yao rolled his eyes at Deng Wenshun.

"It's not like you are smarter than those business people." Deng Wenshun admitted this truthfully.

"Isn't that the end of it? Have you found the oil I asked you to find in Los Angeles? It's dark, sticky, has a weird smell, and burns instantly." Liang Yao asked.

There are no gold mines in Los Angeles, but there is oil. Oil is the foundation for Los Angeles' future development and growth.

"Found it." Deng Wenshun waved his hand, indicating to his entourage to bring up a wooden wine barrel, and then said.

"When I was digging a well in my backyard, the well water failed to reach it, and this black oily water spurted out. It sprayed out for several days. This thing is good for making fires and lighting lamps. Now whale oil is becoming more and more difficult to find. Buy it, the lights on the streets of Los Angeles are lit with this stuff.

It's just that the smoke when burning is very strong, the smell is very strong, and it's not clean after burning. I often have to take off the street lamp and wash it. "

"Can you use crude oil to light the lamp and smoke it?" Liang Yao stepped forward out of curiosity and asked someone to open the barrel.

It’s not that oil can’t be used to light lamps, but kerosene must be purified so that it can be used to light lamps.

Crude oil not only smells bad when burned, but also leaves behind a bunch of impurities after burning. Naturally, using crude oil to light a lamp is not that easy to use.

After the wine barrel was opened, the wooden wine barrel was filled with a barrel of dark brown oily viscous substance. A pungent smell penetrated into Liang Yao's mouth and nose. This was it.

Liang Yao's eyes were staring straight at the oil in the barrel. The surface of the oil was like water, reflecting Liang Yao's silly smile.

"Third brother, why are you laughing? Isn't it just oil that can light a lamp? I never saw you so happy when I found gold." Deng Wenshun didn't know why.

"This thing is liquid gold, but it's a big treasure. As long as we have it, in less than three to five years, the population of Los Angeles will catch up with Sachs City and be on par with Jinshan." Liang Yao said with a smile, "This thing is Not only can Los Angeles develop, but it can also leave your mark in history.”

The significance of oil is extraordinary. Humanity's first oil well with modern significance: the Drake Well, was drilled by American Drake in Pennsylvania in 1859, opening a chapter in the oil industry.

Now history will be rewritten. Humanity's first modern oil well appeared in the United States eight years ahead of schedule.

There is no internal combustion engine yet, and petroleum cannot be used as a power fuel, but it can be purified into kerosene and used for lighting or as ordinary fuel.

Whales have been lighting up human nights for two to three hundred years, and it is time for whales to retire.

Before the advent of oil, lighting fuel for humans, especially in the West, mainly came from whale oil, so the whaling industry in the West was very developed.

Whales are full of treasures. Not only can they be used for food, but whale oil can also be extracted for night lighting, lubricating oil can be extracted for lubrication between mechanical parts, making soap, etc.

Before plastic was invented, whale bones could be considered an alternative to plastic.

This is also the reason why American crews went to the coast of Japan to hunt whales. Before the development of the chemical industry, whales were really important to Western society that had just stepped into industrial civilization.

The whaling industry has become extremely profitable. The emergence of oil and the development of the chemical industry can, to a certain extent, save whales from extinction.

"Just these dark oils?"

Deng Wenshun still couldn't believe that such a dark thing could be of such great use.

"Yes, just rely on it." Liang Yao said with great certainty, "Repackage the oil and send it to Nobel. He likes this weird liquid very much. He can definitely make this thing in his hands. Come on."

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