1850 American Gold Tycoon

New York City, New York.

In the New York City Municipal Building, New York State Governor Myron H. Clark and New York City Mayor Fernando Wood summoned Stewart, the New York State retail tycoon, in the mayor's office.

"Your Excellency the Mayor, yo, Your Excellency the Governor, are you here too?"

Seeing that the governor was also in the office, Stewart also said hello to the governor.

"Stuart, you have gone too far in this matter." Fernando said to Stewart with a gloomy face.

To be honest, he didn't want to get involved in this matter. He was from New York City, and Stewart was also from New York City. The two of them were pretty good friends, and they usually saw each other without looking up.

It was only because of too much pressure from the Democratic Party that he had to wade into troubled waters and offend his wealthy friend.

After all, when political future and wealthy friends cannot have both, political future is more important.

"What are you talking about? Why can't I understand?"

Stewart's heart trembled, and he vaguely understood Fernando's intention of inviting him to meet, but he still chose to pretend to be dumbfounded.

"If you don't want to talk here and want to continue to act stupid, I can invite you to the New York City police station to talk with Jellal."

Myron slammed the table hard and yelled loudly.

"Do you still want me to tell you about the bad things you did yourself?"

Myron is also a Democrat, and he was forced to personally resolve the matter due to pressure from within the Democratic Party.

However, Myron and Stewart were not friends. They were just casual acquaintances, so he was not as worried as Fernando.

Furthermore, whether to offend Stewart alone or to offend Vanderbilt, Van Daze and Liang Yao at the same time. Anyone with a right mind should know how to choose.

Myron also hopes to use this matter to sell Vanderbilt and others a favor.

The familiar name of Jellal made Stewart completely give up his resistance. He took out the handkerchief from his chest and wiped the greasy sweat on his forehead. He had already greeted the family of this boy Jellal in his heart.

This kid Jellal is so damn unjust, he betrayed me so early.

The New York police are arresting thugs these days, and Stewart has heard about the recovery of stolen money.

He was confident that he had done a very clean job, but he did not expect that the New York police would find out about him so quickly.

Damn it, the New York police have never been so efficient in handling cases in the past.

"Mr. Stewart, if you want to go home on time for dinner today, then honestly tell your other accomplice and compensate the Crystal Palace Mall for US$250,000 in damage."

Remembering the friendship of the past, while speaking, Fernando kept winking at Stewart, implying that this matter was too big to be avoided.

"Stewart, I think you are a decent gentleman so I came here to talk to you in person. Otherwise, Director Matt Sell would have talked to you. Do you understand?"

"Bruce, we met when we were trading stocks on the exchange," Stewart said tremblingly.

——————

February 17, 1857, is a day worth remembering in the history of railroads in the United States and the world.

A transcontinental railway passed through mountains, rivers, deserts, and grasslands along the way, overcoming various geographical obstacles, and finally successfully merged in Provo, Utah, marking the first railway connection between the east and west coasts.

This 1,712-mile (2,754-kilometer) super railway is mainly divided into two sections.

The eastern section, also known as the Union Pacific Railroad, was named after it was built jointly by the New York Central Railroad and the Atlantic Railroad.

However, most of the construction of this section was carried out by Vanderbilt's New York Central Railroad Company, with the Atlantic Railroad playing only a supporting role.

This section of the railway starts in Omaha, Nebraska, travels westward through the plains and Rocky Mountains, and finally reaches Provo, Utah.

The length of this section of railway is approximately 1,022 miles (approximately 1,644 kilometers), and the laborers who built this section of railway were mainly European laborers, mainly of Irish descent.

The western section, also known as the California Railroad section, was constructed independently by California Railroad.

This section of the railway runs from Sacramento in the west to Provo in the east. Although the total length of this railway is only 690 miles (approximately 1,110 kilometers), it is not as long as the eastern section.

However, the western section of the railway spans the entire Sierra Nevada Mountains, and there are almost lofty mountains along the way. There is not much flat land. Therefore, although this section of the railway is shorter, the engineering difficulty and construction cost are higher than that of the eastern section of the railway.

The laborers who built this section of the railway were mainly Chinese laborers and Japanese laborers. However, in the middle period of the project, that is, after the Dutch-Chinese War, the California Railroad Company used a large number of Southeast Asian laborers who did not need to pay wages and only needed to take care of food in order to save costs.

Just when the project was about to be completed, the California Railroad Company secretly sent these Southeast Asian laborers back to the rubber plantations in Borneo in order to avoid unnecessary trouble.

“There is nothing better than building a road across mountains and building a bridge across rivers.”

After getting off Liang Yao's special train, Shen Baozhen pointed at the railway track and asked.

"How much iron will be used to build this railway?"

"The section I was responsible for cost 390,000 tons of pig iron and 20,000 tons of steel."

Today is a happy day when the railway is opened to traffic. Liang Yao is in a good mood and said with a smile.

"As for Mr. Fan's part, at least eight to nine million tons of pig iron were used."

The railways had a huge demand for steel. If it were not for the early formation of the California Coal and Steel Alliance, which integrated coal and iron mines in California and the Pacific coast of Mexico, it increased California's steel production in a short period of time. He really can't afford to build this railway.

"A total of 870,000 tons of pig iron were used. I am not as prodigal as you, but I can't bear to use steel to lay the track. What is the price of pig iron? What is the price of steel?" Vanderbilt did not hide it, and generously informed Shen Baozhen of the eastern section of the railway. How much steel was used.

Shen Baozhen tugged his fingers and calculated a figure that he had never heard of before and felt suffocated: "In other words, you used 1.23 million tons of pig iron and 20,000 tons of steel on this road. How many farm tools and weapons can be made with this much steel?"

In the past, Shen Baozhen would not have believed this astronomical figure, and would have thought that Liang Yao and Vanderbilt were bragging.

However, after visiting the arsenal in Sacramento, the shipyard and steel plant in Jinshan, Shen Baozhen has broadened his horizons. What's more, the eastern part of the country where Vanderbilt is located is the core of the United States. It is expected that the steel output will be even more amazing than that of California.

So much steel was used to lay the rails, Shen Baozhen thought it was really a fucking luxury.

"That's right." Vanderbilt was also in a good mood.

"The price of pig iron in the eastern states has increased for me."

It is no exaggeration to say that the price of pig iron in the eastern states increased for Vanderbilt. In order to build this railway, Vanderbilt single-handedly consumed more than one-fifth of the pig iron in the United States in recent years.

Liang Yao's situation was similar. Most of the steel produced in California was used by him to build railways.

"Don't tell me, if the steel production can increase and the price can drop below 70 US dollars per ton, and the production is sufficient, I will really consider using more rails. The rails have higher strength and durability and can bear greater weight. It has better resistance to corrosion and pressure, and has a longer lifespan. Unlike railway tracks, not only does it have poor corrosion resistance, it is also prone to deformation and breakage. Workers need to be sent out frequently for inspection and maintenance," Liang Yao said.

In the 1850s, the second industrial revolution had not yet fully taken off, and steel prices remained high.

The price of steel in the United States ranges from US$100 to US$200. Whether it is US$100 or US$200 depends on the quality of the steel and whether it is produced. After all, shipping costs for steel are high.

When California was established as a state in 1850, because California's industrialization had just begun, steel production was extremely limited, and the price of steel was once as high as $500 per ton.

The price of steel in California has now dropped to US$110 per ton. The only place in the United States where steel prices are cheaper than in California is in the eastern steel capital: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Of course, pig iron at this time was not cheap either, with the market price per ton ranging from US$20 to US$40.

Due to limited steel production, Liang Yao could only compromise with reality and only lay a small number of experimental rails on critical sections.

"According to this method, the steel in the entire United States will not be enough to build this railway." Vanderbilt shook his head and smiled.

Listening to the conversation between the two railway tycoons, Shen Baozhen felt greatly shocked by the United States.

Secretly sighing, the United States, as a second-rate power in the West, still has such a strong national power. Wouldn’t Britain and France, especially the United Kingdom, have even greater national power?

Fortunately, I came to the United States in person, otherwise I would have been a frog in a well for the rest of my life.

"Brother Liang Xian, I wonder how much steel production is produced in England?" Shen Baozhen couldn't help but ask.

"I'm not British, how do I know? But it must be much more than that of the United States. The steel output of the United States is only a fraction of that of the United Kingdom. When you meet a British reporter later, catch a British reporter and ask, maybe they will know. "Liang Yao said.

It's not that Liang Yao doesn't want to answer Shen Baozhen's question, but that he really doesn't know how much steel production there is in the UK.

He is a bit unsure about the steel production in the United States. Last year, the steel production in the Eastern United States was recorded to be around 450,000 tons, while the West Coast's steel production was around 150,000 tons (mainly concentrated in California).

The UK's steel production is estimated to be three or four times that of the United States. (In 1856, British domestic steel production was approximately 1.5 million tons)

Speaking of British journalists, Liang Yao suddenly remembered something. He called Carnegie and asked, "Carnegie, have all the European journalist friends I asked you to invite come?"

"Return to your Excellency." Carnegie jogged back and reported to Liang Yaohui.

"The Times, Le Figaro, Parisian, Neue Zeitung, Frankfurter Zeitung, Berliner Zeitung" Reporters from Berliner Tageblatt, Wiener Zeitung, and Gazetta di Torino are all here, just waiting for the opening ceremony to begin."

"Why are there so many media from the German region? I remember I didn't invite so many media from the German region?" Liang Yao was a little confused.

"General, I invited you here. Please forgive me for making my own decision." Colonel Kruger said, following Liang Yao.

"The opening ceremony is a grand event. I welcome more friends from the media to come and witness. I won't blame you for taking matters into your own hands. I just hope you don't make your own decisions on other matters." Liang Yao glanced at Ke expressionlessly. Ruger glanced.

This glance made Kruger shiver all over, and he nodded in agreement: "Yes, General."