1850 American Gold Tycoon

California's first bank was born amid bursts of firecrackers. Google search reading

In order to celebrate this grand event, Liang Yao even asked several Lao Guang who knew how to perform lion dances to perform lion dances to add to the fun.

Americans had never seen a lion dance before, and they were full of curiosity about this new thing. Many miners even put down their work and came to the bank building in the center of Sacramento to watch this new thing and cheer for the lion dancers.

After the lion dance, Liang Yao wrote an inscription for the bank in both Chinese and English.

"Unveiling!"

After finishing the inscription, Liang Yao personally unveiled the red cloth covering the plaque, revealing the four powerful Chinese characters of Bank of China, with the English name of the bank underneath.

Liang Yao had a very good reputation in Sacramento. Some individual gold diggers also felt that carrying gold with them would easily lead to unexpected disasters, so they tried to deposit gold in the China Bank.

It's just that the bank is a start-up, and people don't have much confidence in the new bank. Many people deposit gold in the bank on the first day and redeem it with gold coupons the next day.

This sent Jones' blood pressure soaring.

"This is simply a waste of our manpower!"

Just two days after the bank was established, Jones ran to Liang Yao dejectedly like a deflated rubber ball.

"For two whole days! We only absorbed 2,881 ounces of gold. Many of these golds were deposited by private gold miners. Our goal is to absorb gold from gold mining companies.

Currently, only the Georgia Company has deposited 300 ounces of gold in our bank, and the Boston Company has deposited 400 ounces of gold in our bank. "

This result was also expected by Liang Yao. Banks in the United States have no government backing and are responsible for their own profits and losses. Once the bank goes bankrupt, depositors' funds will be instantly wiped out and they will become paupers with nothing overnight. Therefore, people will be more cautious in choosing banks to cooperate with.

The Bank of China had just been established, so it was understandable that gold mining companies and gold prospectors had limited trust in the Bank.

"For a newly established bank, this is already a good result." Liang Yao patted Jones and said words of encouragement.

"But this is California." Jones said something Liang Yao often talks about.

As Liang Yao said, any bank in the eastern region can absorb 2,881 ounces of gold in two days, which is definitely breaking news.

But in California, gold is far less valuable than in the eastern states.

"Gold mining companies don't want to store gold with us because they don't have enough confidence in us. You are the president of the Bank of China. Tell me what you have in mind."

"Raise the interest rate? Maybe raising the interest rate a little bit can attract more gold mining companies to store gold with us."

"This is a solution, but it is not a good solution. Raising interest rates can only cure the symptoms but not the root cause."

"If I had an idea, I wouldn't come to you." Jones spread his hands helplessly, saying that he couldn't think of any other good ideas.

"Strauss, do you have any good ideas?"

Liang Yao looked at Strauss, the new assistant in Yipan.

Strauss thought for a while and said: "The best way to make gold mining companies have confidence in us is to let them know our strength and show that we have sufficient gold reserves."

"Very well, keep talking."

"Counting the gold absorbed in the past two days, you currently still have nearly 10,000 ounces of gold in stock. We can make a fuss about this and smuggle the gold to the mine in the middle of the night when no one is around, and then swagger it out during the day. The gold is shipped back to the bank.

Of course, to show that we have more gold, we can put some rocks underneath and put the gold on top, deliberately letting them see it. As for the safety of gold, you don’t have to worry. I believe no one in Sacramento would dare to try to take advantage of you. "

"Very good, let's do it." Liang Yao approved Strauss's idea.

Sartre and more than 20 guards delivered more than 800 kilograms of iron to Liang Yao.

In order to fight a price war with Brannan, Liang Yao transported all the gold mining tools in stock to San Francisco for sale. The fleet that Sven went to Mexico to purchase supplies did not come back so quickly, so he bought some iron materials from Sartre and made them into tools. Emergency.

"Just this little iron material? I remember you still have a lot of iron tools."

The iron material Sartre brought was less than he expected, which somewhat disappointed Liang Yao.

"Yes, I do." Sartre rolled his eyes at Liang Yao, "If those two cannons that saved your life were melted, they could melt seven or eight hundred kilograms of iron. How about I go back and melt them for you?" Come?"

"This is a mascot, it's better to offer it as an offering." Liang Yao smiled, looking like he didn't deserve a beating.

"I have brought you all the people you want, but in addition to their salaries, you have to pay me an additional fee as a reward. I will not help you in vain."

"That's natural."

"Almost all the high-quality mineral soil near the American River Valley has been mined. You said there is still a large amount of high-quality mineral soil. Where are these mineral soils buried?"

Sutter looked at the densely packed tents in the American River Valley, which were temporary camps for gold prospectors. With so many people panning for gold in the American River Valley, where else is there any high-quality mineral soil nearby?

"Just under the river, the mineral soil under the river is intact and high-quality mineral soil. The gold content of these mineral soils must be very high."

Liang Yao pointed to the endlessly flowing American River and said.

Liang Yao originally pinned his hopes of increasing gold production on mercury, but he hasn't found mercury yet.

Since it is impossible to improve gold mining technology, we can only start from the mineral soil at the source. High-quality mineral soil and inferior mineral soil are very different in terms of gold content and difficulty in extraction.

"Do you want to change the course of the American River?" Sutter turned his attention to the fast-flowing American River and exclaimed, "Oh my god, your idea is so crazy. This is a huge project that requires a lot of manpower. !”

"It's not crazy at all. I have asked engineers to calculate it. The width of this section of the American River is 18 meters, the depth is 9 meters, and the runoff is about 130 cubic meters. Although the water flow is relatively fast, it is not a big river. "

Sartre had not seen many big rivers. In his eyes, the American River in front of him was already a big river.

However, in the eyes of the well-informed Liang Yao, the American River is just a small river. The tributaries of many large rivers are wider, deeper, and more rapid than the American River.

It was not impossible with his present manpower to build a dam on the American River and force it to change its course.

As long as he successfully changes the course of the American River, he can mine the mineral soil under the river bed, which is enough for him to mine for two to three months, or even longer.

"Where are the people? To start this huge project, at least hundreds of people are needed."

“To free up some manpower from my mining area, the Boston Company has also expressed interest in this project and they hope to join.

There is also an old miner organization. Their leader is James Allen. He is very familiar with the hydrological conditions of the American River. He is also willing to join. Counting the more than 20 guards you brought, we now have 280 members. More than ten people are enough to start the project. "

Liang Yao originally wanted to stop the mine directly and concentrate more manpower to build the dam, but the mining area still had to show off to the bank. He could only transfer some people from the mining area, leaving some people to continue gold mining and show off to the surrounding people. The miners in the mining area watch.

"What about your mining area? If you remove the people from the mining area, the gold production there will definitely drop significantly." Sartre said with concern.

He was borrowed 1,500 ounces of gold by Liang Yao. He knew that Liang Yao was currently engaged in a price war with Brannan and was losing money almost every day. He was worried that Liang Yao could not pay the interest in time and even the principal was in danger.

"The old mining area only produces about 200 ounces of gold every day, which is something Liwock doesn't like."

"200 ounces of gold is a small profit to you? Your appetite is getting bigger and bigger."