1850 American Gold Tycoon

Vice President Millard Fillmore received Fremont and Gervin at his modest home.

His clothes are as plain as his house, not because the Vice President is frugal, but because he is really poor.

Fillmore's background was very poor. He was a sharecropper and his family was poor. He had no formal education and relied entirely on self-taught.

He was very good at political speculation. He became a New York State Assemblyman at the age of 29 and entered the political arena. Just three years later, he was elected to the U.S. Congress. Until he became Vice President, he was still quite young: only 47 years old.

President Taylor's physical condition was deteriorating day by day, and Fillmore, who had a keen political sense, had a vague premonition that he would become the second person in American history to ascend to the presidential throne as vice president.

Both Fremont and Gervin who came to visit were relatively young, and their age immediately won the favor of the Vice President.

Fillmore was in favor of the compromise bill. He felt that politics should be flexible and changeable, so he resented those senior members of Congress who were born during the founding period.

They stick to the rules and drag the entire country into the abyss for their own selfish interests, but he can only grovel in front of these old legislators.

In contrast, young politicians are much more flexible.

"Your Excellency, Vice President, please look at the California Star!"

Fremont and Gervin struggled to lift the wooden box containing the California Star to the hall table.

The so-called California Star was a large piece of gold discovered accidentally while blasting the riverbed of the American River that day.

Although Fillmore is relatively poor, he is also a prominent figure in the political circles and a man who has seen the world.

When a 145 (77kg) piece of gold was displayed in front of him, Fillmore was overwhelmed by the huge piece of gold.

Fillmore pretended to be calm, carefully observed the huge piece of gold with a magnifying glass, and then expressed his heartfelt admiration.

"Gift crab! This is God's gift to America! It's really a natural gold nugget!"

"This is also a generous gift to you, Mr. President." Fremont said, and his title was quite bold.

"It's the Vice President!"

Although the likeable young man was very knowledgeable, and the title was very useful to Fillmore, he still corrected their mistakes in a serious manner.

At the same time, Fillmore also understands the principle of not going to the Three Treasures Palace for anything.

"I have also heard about the two of you. California's statehood is a sure thing. If you want to become California's senator, you should go back and win the support of California voters. It's useless for you to come to me."

"We are here for the future stability of the United States." Fremont said in an unassuming tone, "that is, about the land grant from the Mexican government."

Fillmore frowned slightly: "This is indeed a very difficult matter. I can understand your feelings. Not only does California have land grants from the Mexican government, but there are also many Mexican governments in Texas, New Mexico and even Utah. If California gets off to a bad start with the land grant, it’s hard to predict what the consequences will be.”

It appears Fillmore is on the same page as Fremont continues to strike with the iron hot.

"Those plutocrats who call themselves old aristocrats are frequent evaders of taxes. If California's gold is divided up by them, the federal government will not gain much substantial benefit from this gold mining activity, and the national treasury will not become full."

Fillmore stared at Fremont silently, admiring the bold young political amateur.

He also agreed with Fremont's point of view. Fillmore knew better than Fremont the virtues of those plutocrats who came from manor owners and big landowners. He also hates those old guys, because with these old guys, the establishment of the state in the Zhunzhou area has not come to fruition to this day.

However, as a mature politician, he will not express any personal opinions without being completely sure.

The future of the United States belongs to young politicians who are younger, more visionary and ambitious, not to those old antiques who consider themselves the elders of the United States. Their ideas and vision have no longer kept pace with the times.

That's Fillmore's take.

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"Are you still interested in politics?"

In the study, Vanderbilt flipped through Liang Yao's newspaper clippings without Liang Yao's permission.

Liang Yao has long been used to this. Anyway, the newspaper clippings are not secrets.

"If you want to be a successful businessman, you must first understand politics. We have a saying in China that the poor should not fight with the rich, and the rich should not fight with the officials. You don't have to fight with them, but you must understand them."

"It's an interesting saying." Vanderbilt put down the newspaper in his hand and sat down. He suddenly became interested, "I want to hear your views on free states and slave states. This is the hottest political topic at the moment. So connected to California.”

"The issue between free states and slave states is not so much a matter of ideals and principles, but rather an issue of economic interests and roads between the northern and southern states." Liang Yao said without thinking.

"Be more detailed." Vanderbilt crossed his legs.

"The tariff issue, I think Mr. Vanderbilt should know better than I do."

In 1850, the split between the North and the South and the voice of abolitionism were loud and clear. These were the seeds that were sown at the beginning of the founding of the United States 60 years ago.

Britain's traditional art of planting surprises and stirring up trouble in the colonies never disappoints.

When the United States was still a British colony, Britain placed the few industries in North America in the north, while the south practiced slavery and grew cotton to provide cheap raw materials for the British textile industry.

The founders of the United States were also aware of this. When Jefferson drafted the draft of the Declaration of Independence, he included this clause: Slavery was imposed on the United States by Britain.

However, this move caused a strong backlash from the southern states. In order to win the support of the South, the North had to remove this article from the official document, recognizing the legality of slavery in the United States of America.

The capital was also moved from Philadelphia to Washington, further south, and the United States of America was established under a compromise between the two parties.

The most direct manifestation of the conflict between the North and the South is the tariff issue.

The South hopes to reduce tariffs to facilitate the export of their cotton, sugar, tobacco and other products to Europe in exchange for advanced European manufactured products.

The North hopes to raise tariffs and restrict imports to protect its own industry and commerce.

Since 1815, U.S. tariffs have been rising and falling like a roller coaster, which is the result of the game between the North and the South in Congress.

"Tariffs, well said. It's really exciting. You not only have the talent for business, but also the talent for politics." Vanderbilt patted the armrest of the sofa with his hand that had nowhere to rest and asked, "Do you support the North or the South? ?”

Of course, Liang Yao knew that Vanderbilt's heart was toward the north, but this issue did not mean much to Liang Yao. He was not even qualified to take sides now. He handed Fremont's letter to Vanderbilt. special.

"I support California!" This was Liang Yao's answer.

Whether in the South or the North, he supported whoever supported the legality of the Mexican government's land grants.