1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 580 Let the entire United States bathe in the glory of slavery!

Out of strategic considerations, Liang Yao agreed to Espy's request to purchase the Sacramento coastal defense artillery and said that priority could be given to supplying it to Texas as soon as possible.

Espy was overjoyed when he heard this. After all, the Sacramento Cannon was the most advanced cannon he had ever seen in his life.

Immediately afterwards, Liang Yao watched the Texas coastal patrol fleet.

Although it is said to be a coastal patrol fleet, Texas actually also has four thousand-ton Bold class frigates.

However, two of these Bold-class frigates were purchased from Umbrella, and the other two were built by the Houston Shipyard.

Because the top officials in Texas preferred large cannons, and Texas had no need for ocean navigation. Houston Shipyards chose to install larger guns on the Daring-class hulls, sacrificing ocean-going capabilities.

Therefore, the two Bold-class frigates produced in Texas are positioned more like shallow-water heavy gunships, focusing all their skills on firepower.

These four Bold-class battleships are the core surface force of Texas. The remaining ships are all loach ships with a displacement of three to four hundred tons, or even one or two hundred tons.

Similarly, most of these loach boats are also typical small boats carrying cannons, and the cannons they are equipped with are larger than those used by California's own loach boats.

After visiting Texas, it was time to return to California. Liang Yao's father-in-law, Bell, held a banquet for Liang Yao in Houston and invited prominent figures from the South to attend in advance.

The banquet was held in Houston's manor. Compared with the last time we came to Bell's manor, the current manor has changed a lot.

The main change is that the manor is larger and more magnificent than before, and oriental architects were hired to build some oriental-style buildings.

This is where Bell often shows off to his relatives and friends.

Because he believes that compared with the nondescript buildings built by other wealthy people in the East, the Oriental buildings in his estate that were designed by Oriental architects and constructed by Orientals are the most orthodox Oriental buildings. architecture.

This is indeed the case. Bell specially built a Chinese-style courtyard in the manor. The courtyard is often planted with flowers, trees, pavilions, and even a special artificial lake and Taihu stones shipped from Shanghai. It is even more beautiful than Liang Yao. Weixiuju, a new estate in Sacramento, needs to be more particular.

At the same time, Bell is also a person who pays great attention to details. Not only are there many carved window lattice, painted brackets, and glazed tiles on the outside of the building, but also inside the building, in addition to exquisite craftsmanship and exquisitely carved red sandalwood furniture, there are also exquisite products specially purchased from Chinese businessmen. Even Liang Yao couldn't help but marvel at the scenes of export porcelain, jade carvings, wood carvings, root carvings, and celebrity calligraphy and paintings.

What surprised Liang Yao the most was that Bell actually obtained a lot of porcelain from official kilns, a few of which were royal blue and white porcelain from the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties. These blue and white porcelains have bright and rich glazes, exquisite painting techniques, and elegant shapes. They don't look fake. I really don't know how much Bell spent on them and where he got them.

When it comes to enjoyment, it is the slave owners in the South who enjoy it.

On the eve of the Civil War, the South's cotton trade alone contributed more than $300 million in wealth to the United States every year. It is no wonder that slave owners in the South could afford such a luxurious life. Politicians in the north are desperately trying to increase tariffs to steal the wool of the south.

Slave owners from other states who came to Bell's manor for the banquet all praised the authentic oriental-style architecture and exquisite handicrafts in Bell's manor. Even the teacups were used with caution, for fear of being bumped and broken, because these teacups did not look good. It's like an ordinary product, not like something you can buy with money.

The lifestyle of the European aristocracy, especially the French aristocracy, was admired by southern slave owners. It's just that although France's historical and cultural heritage is second to none in Europe, it is still inferior compared to the Eastern countries with deeper historical heritage. Even these arty southern slave owners who had a careless understanding of Eastern history and culture could feel the gap in cultural heritage.

Compared with the north, the south also favors the culture of the great eastern countries. In the past ten years, the number of slave owners who admire the culture of the great eastern countries has also increased.

A very important reason is that the pastoral life that southern slave owners yearned for is reflected in many oriental literary and artistic works. Although many slave owners do not know Chinese characters, the pictures on porcelain, calligraphy and paintings, they Still understandable.

Another important reason is that the British and French forces did not invade the capital of the Qing Dynasty this time and suffered heavy losses. The Qing Dynasty's international reputation has not yet suffered a serious decline.

Although the Manchu and Qing government signed unequal treaties after the war and still ceded territory and paid compensation, in the eyes of the outside world, this time it was a draw between the Qing Dynasty and the British and French forces. After all, the Qing Dynasty also took back its customs autonomy from the British. . And judging from the process and results of the war, it is not very shameful to be able to fight like this with the British and French forces that had just defeated Russia in Crimea.

Liang Yao looked at the porcelain collected by his father-in-law with great interest. Unexpectedly, some of the porcelain exported to cater to these American buyers even had southern slaves presiding over gun hunting, holding banquets, and such things as the founding president. Portraits of Washington, the Boston Tea Party, the First Continental Congress, the Battle of Lexington, and even the surrender of the British troops at Yorktown.

The slave owners who attended the banquet were full of praise for Bell's manor and collection of art. This made Liang Yao suspect that his father-in-law held a banquet for him just as an excuse to show off his manor and collection to his slave owner friends in the south. That's his true purpose.

As night fell, the kerosene lamps in Bell Manor emitted a bright light, illuminating the gorgeous banquet hall. The slave owners and their wives, dressed in gorgeous dresses and with proud and solemn faces, walked into the banquet hall with their heads held high.

Glasses of fragrant whiskey and high-quality Havana cigars were passed in their hands in turn. For a while, the entire banquet hall was filled with wine and smoke, as if they were in a heavenly palace.

That's the smell, it's really a bit choking and unpleasant.

After three rounds of drinking, the next part is the enjoyable bragging and denunciation of the North.

"Damn it, I don't understand those Yankees. Don't they know that black people are inherently inferior?" Daniel Henry Chamberlain, Secretary of State of South Carolina, began.

Soon, slave owners took over Chamberlain's words.

"Without our care and restraint, these chimpanzees who listen to the rhythm of drums and start dancing and singing in public like primitive people will lose control!"

"Yes, without our control over them, they will just continue to indulge in alcoholism, vent violence everywhere when drunk, and carry out various criminal activities!"

"Or you may faint and fall asleep on the way, and in the end you will either starve to death! Or you may be picked up by a wild beast and become its dinner!"

"Liberation! Liberation! Speaking this word from the mouth of a Yankee, I always feel that it is a stain on this word!"

"Yes! Damn liberation! Our black slaves are not better fed, clothed, and housed than workers in northern factories?! We don't have to worry about unemployment. We care about their lifelong employment, and they don't have to worry about having no work at all. !”

"These dirty Yankees just want cheaper slaves. If they really want to liberate black slaves, let them set an example first and liberate the workers in their factories who live worse than animals." Bar."

"Oh, my old man, you overestimate their moral level. Don't ask these Yankees to liberate the workers in the factory, even if you let them increase the wages of each worker by even a few cents a month. , it’s even more like killing them.”

"Slaves are assets worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars, and we can't bear to treat our private property as roughly as the Yankees did. Damn it! These Yankees were in the newspapers last month attacking us in South Carolina. Negroes don’t live past thirty-five.”

"Make it as if those Yankee factory workers who worked eighteen or nineteen hours a day could live past thirty-five."

"Yes! That's so damn right! We have to find a doctor for the black slaves when they get sick. The Yankees don't find doctors for the workers in their factories."

"There is no better system in the world than slavery. This perfect system can guarantee the safety, survival, and even longevity of black people.

As long as they are responsible for working, they will not die of hunger, and we can save time on working for scientific research and artistic creation. Is there a more perfect system in the world than slavery? "

"Those Abeizi are a group of hypocritical and extremely stingy Puritans. They would rather point fingers at us from the moral high ground and talk about liberating slaves. They are not willing to spend one more minute to understand and improve their skills. The lives of laborers down there.”

"Abeizi are all a group of people who have fallen in love with money. In their eyes, there is only money and interests, and they will do anything for money. Unlike us in the south, where people are full of humanity. Even slaves can do it. Enjoy the slow pace of life, and have a drink with friends during your free time.”

"Fucking hell, next time I hear these Abes want to free slaves, I'm going to go north with guns and free the workers in their factories! Let the entire United States bask in the glory of slavery!" South Carolina Governor William H. Gist raised his glass and shouted.

"Let all America bask in the glory of slavery!"

A group of drunken slave owners raised their glasses and cheered with red faces. Looking at the loud slogans, it seemed that they were really going to take up arms in the next second to go north and liberate the working people in the northern factories.