1850 American Gold Tycoon

"Business? I do have a big deal to discuss with you and Bahrain Bank." Liang Yao paused.

He wants to sell kerosene to Europe, where he needs agents, and more than two agents.

The most important thing is that his kerosene agent needs to have a good influence in Europe, because the sales of kerosene will crowd out the whale oil market.

The whaling industry in the West has a long history. Millions of people make a living from the whaling industry, and its influence cannot be underestimated. To move this piece of cake, Liang Yao must consider the pressure from these traditional industries.

At present, Liang Yao's kerosene has limited production capacity and is mainly sold in California. There was no decent whaling industry in California before, so there was naturally no resistance.

But when kerosene production increases and kerosene is sold to Europe, these problems will gradually become apparent.

After all, what he is competing for is not a market worth millions or tens of millions of dollars, but a market worth hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars.

Furthermore, the Rothschild family and the Baring family not only have wider connections than him in Europe, but also have wider connections in the eastern United States than Liang Yao. They have considerable influence in various states, and perhaps they can also provide some help to Fillmore's re-election.

The Vanderbilt family owns many real estate properties in New York, but there are only two places where they usually live. One is their former home on Staten Island, and the other is a wealthy villa area next to the Hudson River.

Perhaps it is not appropriate to use villa area to describe this wealthy gathering place in New York, because it is more like a group of manors than a villa.

However, compared with the large estates of southern slave owners that often span thousands of acres and can be seen as far as the eye can see, the estates along the Hudson River are a bit small, ranging from only a few dozen acres to hundreds of acres, and few have thousands of acres. Large estate. After all, this is New York, and the land in New York has always been very valuable.

Liang Yao came to the Vanderbilt family's estate on the Hudson River. Speaking of which, he was still a neighbor of the Vanderbilts in New York.

When he first came to New York two years ago, Liang Yao purchased a piece of land next to Vanderbilt's manor to build a manor. Now most of the main buildings of the manor have been completed, and he can barely move in.

Liang Yao came to Vanderbilt's manor with gifts. Liang Yao lived in Vanderbilt's manor for a while two years ago. The housekeeper of the manor also knew Liang Yao and quickly informed him of Liang Yao's visit. To the owner of the manor.

Vanderbilt was not in the manor today. The person who came out to greet Liang Yao was the mistress of the manor, Sophia Jason Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt's wife.

Sophia's Vanderbilt surname was not a surname she changed with her husband's family in compliance with custom after marrying Vanderbilt, but her original surname was Vanderbilt.

Before marrying Vanderbilt, Sophia, who was one year younger than Vanderbilt, was Vanderbilt's cousin.

Kony's congenital epilepsy was caused by the incest marriage of the two. In addition to Kony, their youngest son Washington also seemed to have some hearing problems in his right ear.

Fortunately, except for Coney and Washington, the other Vanderbilt children are still healthy.

Sophia has the virtues of hard work and frugality of the Vanderbilt women, even though their family is already one of the wealthiest families in the United States.

Normally in the manor, Sophia is still dressed like an ordinary housewife, with a simple headscarf on her head, and it seems that she just came out of the kitchen with a greasy apron tied around her waist.

"It turns out our neighbor is here, please come in."

Sofia still speaks English with a hint of Dutch Lowland accent.

This is related to the fact that she lived in the Dutch community on Staten Island in her early years. As an immigrant city, people who come to New York often like to live with their compatriots.

The Dutch like to live in the same area as the Dutch, the English like to live in the same area as the English, and the French like to live in the same area as the French.

However, as a generation or two later, the wealth gap and social status of immigrants gradually widened, and this type of settlement based on race was eventually broken by class.

In Kony's generation, it is difficult for Liang Yao to find any trace of the Netherlands in them.

"Mrs. Vanderbilt, this is the gift I prepared for you. I hope you will accept it."

With that said, Liang Yao asked Kony to deliver the gift box.

"Thank you, you are so polite." Sophia smiled and accepted Liang Yao's gift.

"Your Excellency General!"

Vanderbilt's youngest son, Washington, saluted Liang Yao with dignity, making Liang Yao dumbfounded.

Liang Yao had no choice but to return a military salute to the thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy and ask him to put his hands down.

It had only been a few days since he was officially appointed brigadier general by Fillmore, and it had already spread throughout the eastern region.

"Your Majesty General, I have heard about your heroic deeds. I want to become a soldier of the California Infantry Regiment and serve you." Washington said very seriously.

"It's a pity that you haven't reached the age of military service yet." Liang Yao said, stroking the red hair on Washington's head.

Washington is more lively and clever than the taciturn William, and appears to be well-behaved and sensible compared to Coney, who was causing trouble everywhere in New York and not doing his job properly.

It’s no wonder that among his three sons, Vanderbilt favored Washington.

"I can apply to West Point Military Academy first, where the age requirements are more relaxed." Washington replied.

Although he is still young, he already has a clear plan for his life.

At this point, the expression on Washington's face became a little frustrated: "It's just that I don't know if West Point Military Academy will want a deaf person with a little difficulty in hearing. My classmates said that the Military Academy will not want a disabled person."

His hearing deficiency made Washington feel somewhat inferior among his peers. Of course, this was the only place where Washington felt inferior.

Liang Yao took off the saber from his waist, knelt down and handed the saber to Washington's hand: "Don't believe those nonsense from your classmates. When I was a colonel, my colleagues often laughed at my age and race. When yours When your classmates tease you about your physical defects, it only means that they are jealous of you."

"What you said makes perfect sense." Hearing what Liang Yao said, Washington was immediately relieved. He happily accepted the sword presented by Liang Yao, then looked at Lisa White behind him, then at Liang Yao and said.

"My sister has not seen you for so long. She must miss you very much. I won't disturb the tryst between the two of you. My father and eldest brother went to Broad Street and I'm afraid they won't be back until later."

"George, what are you talking about, you nuisance?" Elizabeth Yin, who was behind Washington, said angrily. She was about to reach out and grab Washington's ears, but Washington had already disappeared out of sight.