1850 American Gold Tycoon

After two years, a Pacific Mail Company ship appeared in California again.

Aspinwall, the president of the Pacific Mail Line and the president of the New York Shipping Association, raised the monocular in his hand and looked at the busy port of San Francisco not far away and said with emotion.

“When I first came here in 1848, the war between the United States and Mexico had not yet ended, and there was no gold rush. The port city in front of me was just a small village, but now it is a large-scale It’s a big city.”

“My men told me that your nemesis Vanderbilt sold three large steamships to a Chinese named Liang Yao.

This is a dangerous signal. If the two of them cooperate, one is responsible for the route from the eastern United States to Nicaragua, and the other is responsible for the route from California to Nicaragua, they will be a strong competitor of the Pacific Mail Line. "

The speaker was John Jacob Astor III.

At this time, the Astor family was the leading aristocracy in the United States, and the absolute C position in the upper class of New York and even the United States. Old New York is the best among the best.

Although Astor Sr., the founder of the family, died of illness two years ago, the Astor family's influence and status in the United States has not diminished. John's father, Astor Jr., took over the scepter from Lauster. The expansion of the Astor family continues.

Old Astor's last words to his descendants was to buy the most valuable land in all the big cities in the United States.

Although San Francisco is not yet a big city in the United States, little Astor believes that there is gold there and San Francisco will soon become a big city in the United States.

Born into such a family, John could be said to have been born with a golden key in his mouth.

"If we were to compete fairly with that rude sailor, I admit that my Pacific Mail Company was no match for that sailor.

But our Pacific Mail Company has a ten-year franchise on the Panama route granted by Congress and the government, as well as an annual order of US$199,000 from the federal government. It is still unclear who will win.

As for the Chinese named Liang Yao, I don’t think he can make any waves in the United States. Aspinwall said with great confidence.

Unlike Vanderbilt who started from scratch, the Pacific Mail Line was established with an investment of $400,000 from the New York State Senate.

When the Pacific Mail Line was founded, thanks to the influence of New York congressmen, the company received large mail orders from the government right after its establishment.

Thanks to the strong support of the government, in just two years, Pacific Mail Line's capital expanded dramatically from US$400,000 to US$2.2 million, becoming a truly large shipping company.

Aspinwall believed that with the company's monopoly on routes from the eastern United States to California and even Oregon, the Pacific Mail Line would further develop and grow.

"Mr. Aspinwall, I think you are overconfident. That Commodore is not an easy character to deal with.

At that time, Livingston and Fulton also had the monopoly privilege of the Raritan River route granted by New York State. Didn't Vanderbilt still tear a hole in it? " John said.

"I heard that your prospecting team's prospecting work in California is not going well?" Aspinwall brought the topic from the sea to the land, and the two began to sarcastically discuss each other.

"It's really not going well. The gold mining area near Sacramento and most of the real estate in San Francisco were bought by that guy named Liang Yao.

That loser Adal has brought me all bad news. They haven't discovered a mining area with considerable gold reserves yet. John said with a frown.

"Liang Yao is this annoying guy again. He is a Chinese. Now he dares to get involved in gold and shipping at the same time. What will he do in the future? It is simply unimaginable!"

After arriving in Panama, Aspinwall often heard the name Liang Yao, and now he is particularly disgusted with this name.

Even if Vanderbilt intervened in California's shipping, Liang Yao, a Chinese, dared to touch the cheese of shipping.

At this point, John and Aspinwall reached a consensus. One of them wanted to monopolize shipping in California and even the entire West Coast of the United States, and the other wanted gold and real estate in California.

Now the largest gold producing area in California is controlled by Liang Yao, and Global Shipping Company owns three large steamships purchased from Vanderbilt.

This is undoubtedly a huge threat to them.

"Perhaps he still doesn't understand that eating too much can easily lead to death. It's time to teach him a lesson and let him know who is the real master of the United States! Don't think that becoming an American citizen means you are an American." John said angrily.

"I heard that all the major real estate in California, especially the gold mines in Sacramento, is in his hands. He has the legal title deeds from the Mexican government. I think this is a headache for you."

Aspinwall said with a hint of schadenfreude, he was waiting for a good show.

People in the Astor family would never suffer a loss. He did not believe that John would be able to swallow this breath and give up the existing gold producing areas in Sacramento, spending more time and greater costs to find new mining areas.

People in the Astor family like to pick other people’s ripe fruits.

Aspinwall also hopes that John can take away Liang Yao's land, no matter how.

Shipping companies, especially shipping companies based on steam ships, are gold-swallowing behemoths. The initial investment cost is very high before stable profits can be obtained.

The maintenance of the ship, the fuel provided for the steam turbine, the training costs and salary of the crew, etc. are each huge expenses, which is why many shipping companies still operate ships mainly with sailboats.

Because sails were cheaper to maintain than steamships, and there was no need to provide additional funds to purchase coal for fuel, these two items alone could save a lot of money.

This is crucial for shipping companies that are just starting out and small and medium-sized shipping companies.

As for why the Pacific Mail Line, founded just over two years ago, could afford the maintenance costs of steamships and make huge profits.

The reason is also very simple. In addition to the New York consortium providing strong capital support to the Pacific Mail Line, they also have fixed government mail orders and a navigation monopoly on profitable routes.

With such unique advantages, even if the management of Pacific Mail Company is a bunch of fools, they can make Pacific Mail Company bigger in a short time.

When Liang Yao's Global Shipping Company just started, it spent huge sums of money to purchase three steamships of over 1,000 tons. Aspinwall had to admit that Liang Yao was very courageous.

But this courage comes at a price. If Aspinwall guessed correctly, Liang Yao's Global Shipping Company must be operating at a loss now.

As for Global Shipping Company's losses, if nothing else, it must have been funded by Liang Yao's gold industry.

As long as John takes away Liang Yao's land, Liang Yao's gold industry will surely suffer a fatal blow.

Without Liang Yao in the gold industry, even if Global Shipping Company is a golden eagle, it is a golden eagle whose feathers have been stripped and its wings have been stripped away. It cannot fly even if it wants to.

There is only one ending waiting for Global Shipping Company, and that is bankruptcy!

When John heard this, he looked up and laughed, as if he had heard a particularly funny joke: "Have a headache? I don't have a headache at all. As long as Congress does not recognize the legality of land grants from the Mexican government, those lands with gold buried in them will be terra nullius." !”