Wild North America 1846

Richard and his group were driving the horses with guns and ammunition, and two dead bodies on the saddles. They were driving in silence, and they didn't look like they were easy to get along with.

Pedestrians and cowboys I met along the way gave way and kept a wary distance.

No one came up to them without opening their eyes and asked questions, but they just watched them leave silently.

San Francisco has a Mediterranean climate, with warm winters and cool summers, and plenty of sunshine. Chinese immigrants also called it "San Francisco".

This is an encircling bay topography, with several settlements scattered throughout the bay area, distributed along the coast like a string of pearls.

Europeans first arrived in the Bay Area in 1542. It was part of the Spanish province of Alta California in the 16th century. Due to its remote location, it has not developed.

On March 28, 1776, Spanish explorer Juan Bautista di Anza came here and chose two construction sites in the Bay Area, one for military purposes and the other for missionary and living purposes.

Spend energy and energy building.

The dangerous highlands in the northern part of the Bay Area are called the Fortress Area, and there are still remains of the military fortresses built by the Spanish.

Nowadays, the place is deserted, and the grass grows taller than people. Horse bandits and gangsters often appear here, and they engage in illegal activities such as killing people and stealing goods.

The church and living area originally built by the Spanish were the new town that Richard and others had just left, and it was also the main urban area of ​​San Francisco.

With the continuous influx of white immigrants, the urban area expanded rapidly, and all kinds of monsters and monsters were involved.

Among them, three white forces and one Mexican force are the main ones, as well as other loners and adventurers, sailors and gold prospectors from Britain, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and other countries. The situation inside is very special.

complex.

Grocery store and plantation owner John Sutter is a white force in the city, and Sheriff Old John is his sharp minion, a very difficult old man to deal with, with a bad temper and a tough temper.

Richard openly killed people to establish his authority on Old John's territory, which was tantamount to a naked slap in the face. This undoubtedly touched Old John's sensitive nerves.

The dozen or so gunmen who chased after him were probably his men. Although they were frightened away by the sound of gunfire, the matter was not over yet.

Now that he has embarked on this dangerous road to fame, Richard is not afraid of offending others. In fact, he has no way to escape.

The identity of "Protector of the Chinese Gold Diggers in San Francisco" is destined to be in the same pot with the white and Mexican forces. Sooner or later, there will be a sword-on-knife and gun-on-gun fight.

The awesomeness that I had boasted was almost complete with tears in my eyes.

The western part of the peninsula, about 10 kilometers away from the new town, is a rolling hilly area. William Richardson, a British captain, built the first private house here in 1835. Later, he began to plan a street market near the house.

, and called this area "Fangcaodi".

"Yerba Caidu" is mostly made of stone buildings with a strong British style. It is a high-end residential area dominated by British people. Most of the businessmen, captains, ranchers and dentists from Britain and France live here. It is independent of the new city.

Another white force in the town.

Richard's destination is not here, but the Napa Valley a few kilometers away from "Fangcaodi". It is called "Grape Valley" by the Chinese because it produces many wild grapes. It is where Chinese and Indians live together.

The land is also where Richard's lair is.

It won't take long

The beautiful Grape Valley is in front of you. The Grape Valley is a long and narrow hilly valley with snow-capped mountains in the distance. A clear river with abundant water meanders through here. Green grass is dotted on both sides of the river, dotted with wooden houses.

.

More than half of the Chinese people in San Francisco live here, about 1,400 people, as well as some Mexicans and Indians, forming more than ten villages of various sizes, stretching for tens of kilometers in depth, and living near the water.

Generally speaking

The Chinese village is close to the mouth of the valley and closer to the new town, while the Indian camp is deep in the Grape Valley. They are clearly separated from each other and rarely interact with each other.

Back to the village

Richard and his entourage immediately attracted everyone's attention. He silently rode forward slowly on his horse, playing a cold and aloof image, while his subordinates Dai Changfu and others couldn't wait to shout loudly;

"All you gentlemen, young and old, come here and listen to me...

Master Richard has already said it;

We Chinese must stick together when we go out, otherwise we will be oppressed and bullied by white people. If we don't stick together, even those Mexican gangsters will sit on our necks and bully us.

Have we Chinese received less ill-will over the years?

What do you get in return for being resigned?

They were doubly humiliated and despised, the gold sand they had worked so hard to acquire was taken away, and the person was beaten half to death.

If you are unlucky and lose your life, you will be thrown into the mountains without even leaving a complete corpse, and you can only become a lonely ghost in a foreign land. How miserable is it?

How did white people ever think of us as human beings?

When we arrive in a new town, we still have to be exploited and squeezed. The price of rice and oil is doubled, and women dare to pull our braids and make fun of us. What kind of life do we live like this?

Look at these two people. When the young master took us to rescue them, it was already too late. One had been tortured to death, and it was hard to say whether the other could survive.

What capital crime did they commit?

Wasn't it because you picked up a piece of nugget gold and ended up being killed? Think about it, what would be the consequences if such a thing happened to you?

Young Master Richard has revealed his new identity, that is, "Protector of Chinese Gold Diggers in San Francisco." From now on, we have a backbone and we are no longer afraid of being bullied.

You all don’t know…

The young master took us to the town today. It was so impressive. Aren't the gangsters like Fergus so arrogant? Aren't they beaten to death now?

At that time, when we broke in..."

More and more Chinese people gathered around Dai Changfu, and the other three gunmen also spread out and preached hard, alarming hundreds of people in the village. There were also faint cries of women, who seemed to be the family members of the deceased.

Richard ignored this, as long as his subordinates could do these things. Since he offended Sheriff Old John, he must expand his team as soon as possible and strengthen his strength.

If a man fights alone, how many nails can he hit even if he is covered in iron?

Richard rode alone to a wooden house near the woods, then dismounted and led his horse to the hay shed next to the wooden house. After taking off the cowhide saddle, he tied the horse in the shed.

Then he fetched water, cut grass, and brought a small pot of black beans to add some nutrition to the horse. After finishing these tasks, he wiped the fine beads of sweat on his forehead, slung the cowhide horse bag over his shoulder, and carried two barrels

The flintlock spear walked into the wooden house.

The furnishings in the wooden house are very simple. In the main room is a fire pit, where food and water are cooked. The fire pit has been darkened for many years with some gray wood ash remaining. There is an iron shelf in the middle, which can hold both a kettle and an iron pot.

Richard walked to the water tank, scooped out a ladle of cold water and drank it. This was clear mountain spring water flowing out of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It had a slightly sweet feeling and was very thirst-quenching.

He drank harder, and the cold water overflowed from both ends of the ladle. Richard wiped the water stains with his hands without caring, feeling refreshed all over.

At this time, his stomach growled unsatisfactorily, and he was obviously hungry.

Richard took out the matches and lit the fire, then placed the wooden blocks next to the fire pit one by one, and the bonfire started burning brightly.

Put the iron pot on the stand, put a few ladles of cold water in it, cut a large piece of salted beef into pieces, throw it into the water and blanch it, then pour out the hot water in the iron pot.

Put the iron pot back on the fire pit, put in a large piece of snow-white lard, add ginger and chopped jalapeno, fry the washed beef, finally add a few ladles of water, then cover the pot and cook slowly.

busy for a while

The red bonfire set off Richard's young face, and his eyes revealed a calmness that was inconsistent with his age, showing an extraordinarily heroic charm.

A pot of beef soup was already simmering. Richard looked out through the door of the main room. Under the grassy slope in the distance, there were crowds of people around Dai Changfu and others. It seemed that this intuitive demonstration was very effective.

The dead Chinese gold digger had been placed on the door panel, and the seriously injured one was sent to the village's traditional Chinese medicine doctor "Er Duodao" to see if he could be saved?

According to Richard’s estimation;

This man's injuries had spread to his internal organs. He kept coughing up blood along the way, and there was a high probability that he would not be able to bear it.

He shook his head slightly, stood up and walked to the back room.

This wooden house has three rooms arranged in a row, with the main room in the middle, Richard's bedroom on the left, and the bedrooms of his four subordinates on the right.

There is a stable and hay shed next to the wooden house, where large bundles of hay are stacked. On the other side is a utility room where some tools and food are stored.

Richard's bedroom was also very simple, with a bed, a chair and a table. The bed was covered with thick sheepskin. In the cold weather of March in early spring, Francisco felt warm sleeping on such a soft bed.

He sat on a chair, put the two revolvers and the captured Fergus cowhide armed belt together, then leaned the heavy front-loading double-barreled flintlock gun against the edge of the table, and took out the gun oil and purge

, gun cloth, and began to carefully maintain the gun.

In this era, fixed bullets have not yet appeared, and it will take a few years to do so. Revolvers use black powder and iron pellets. Each bullet in the revolver must be loaded in advance, and a primer is added, about 3.8 grams of black powder.

The gunpowder is compacted, spaced, and finally the iron pellets are put in.

These tedious and meticulous tasks cannot be completed during combat. You can only do it with your own hands and feet in your free time, so that you can use it with confidence.

If too much black powder is poured in, it will easily cause the chamber to explode, which will be a lot of fun.

Richard was very attentive in doing these things. He carefully removed all gunpowder residues, carefully lubricated the barrel, bolt and hammer with gun oil, wiped them clean with a gun cloth, and carefully loaded the bullets one by one.

After loading all three revolvers, he began to carefully maintain the double-barreled flintlock rifle. These are life-saving guys, so they should not be careless.

Just when Richard was finishing all these things, the room was already filled with the rich aroma of beef soup, which made the glutton in his stomach scream. He couldn't bear it anymore, so he finally put down his work and stood up.

Uncover the pot

The strong aroma of beef soup hits your face. Large chunks of beef are tumbling in the milky white soup, sprinkled with some salt, pepper and chopped wild onions. The beef soup seems to have a soul and becomes more appealing.

Filling a large bowl, Richard couldn't wait to blow the hot air from the edge of the bowl and took a sip. He couldn't help but moan intoxicatedly, it was so delicious.

Bison meat from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and clear mountain spring water give this pot of beef soup an original, fresh and rich flavor. Pepper and chopped wild onions are just the finishing touch. It’s amazing!

After cooling down a bit

Drinking the beef soup in big gulps, he devoured the chunks of beef with splashes of soup. The bread was equally delicious when dipped in the beef soup. Richard finished three large bowls like a storm and ate 4 pieces of bread. Only then did he take a picture with satisfaction.

I patted my belly, I was full.