Wild North America 1846

Grape Valley

A wooden wall stretches across the valley, blocking internal and external traffic. This is the newly completed Shanhaiguan. One side of it is connected to the mountains, and one side is about seven or eight meters deep into the sparkling Yudai River. The rapids of the river are exposed.

There are many sharpened wooden stakes with barbed wire wrapped around them.

In the spring season at the end of April, the snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains melts, and countless valley streams gather into rivers, rushing down the rivers with rapid water flow.

On the wide river, big fish more than a foot long often jump out of the water. Colorful wild flowers bloom on both sides of the river, creating a vibrant scene.

When Richard and a group of ten riders arrived at the pass, the guards on duty hurriedly came forward to salute him. He waved his hand to let the guards back off, then turned over and dismounted, walked forward with interest, and watched the blacksmiths who were busy working.

The blacksmiths are covering the Shanhaiguan gate with a thick iron plate. The side facing outside the valley is fully covered. It is made of dozens of overlapping small iron plates and is fastened with finger-thick rivets.

To do this, you first need to drill dozens of holes with a hand drill on the half-foot-thick wooden village door, which should coincide with the holes on the small iron plate, and then connect them firmly with thick rivets.

Thus

The defensive power of the village gate has been doubled, and it can even withstand bombardment from small and medium-caliber artillery.

Now that more than half of the construction has been carried out, the dark iron door is beginning to take shape, giving people a sense of unbreakable security. Finally, it needs to be painted with rust-red paint and brass door nails as big as the mouth of a bowl are put on. This is the final completion.

Enter the customs

You can clearly see that the back of the village gate is reinforced by palm-wide iron bars. The other end of the rivet that penetrates the village door is riveted to the iron bars. This is to reduce weight and save money.

In San Francisco (San Francisco), the prices of all steel-related items are extremely high. A pan costs 50 cents and a shovel costs $4.50. How much does a small iron plate weighing 95 pounds cost?

Woolen cloth?

The answer is 5.5 ounces of gold, worth about $110, which is still a preferential price.

The Coast Mountains on the Pacific coast are rich in iron ore resources, but there are no steel plants.

All steel products need to be shipped from the east coast of the United States, transported to the port on the Pacific side via the Central American Panama Railway, and then transported to the Bay Area by the captains of Yerba Buena.

With this back and forth, the price keeps rising.

The price of a ton of steel plates on the east coast of North America is 22 to 23 US dollars, which is almost one cent per pound. However, in San Francisco, it is sold by the pound, and the price is almost 1.1 US dollars per pound, a difference of 110 times.

Therefore, when William Richardson offered to help Datang Hui buy a set of steelmaking equipment, Richard immediately agreed and asked for two sets.

Who can have too much of this stuff?

Return to the mountaintop camp

Several maids came forward and diligently helped Richard take off his weapons, put on loose robes, and brought him freshly brewed tea, which he greatly enjoyed.

These pretty maids are all girls in the brothel who are willing to do good deeds. They originally worked as waiters, but because they are still young, they have not yet received customers.

These young girls had nowhere to go after their deeds were returned, so they were all taken under the Tang Dynasty Club, where they did some washing, sewing and mending clothes, working as kitchen helpers, serving as servants, and learning some words in their spare time.

You can't be idle.

Gaiwangshan specially selected smart girls. There are 6 of them here in the camp, about 10 in the new town headquarters (including the four girls in the back garden), and 6 in the Rose Manor, all of whom serve as presidents.

Richard's maid.

Richard accepted all the flattery offered by his subordinates and lived an enviable life as a great man.

Over the past few days, there have been a total of more than 220 girls who have obtained their deeds of prostitution and are willing to become good men. Among them, there are nearly a hundred women who have fallen into prostitution, and some are still young and work as maids serving girls and waiters in brothels.

Maid, there are one hundred people in total, nod your heads.

Overall

Good girls account for slightly more than half of the total number of women. The rest are willing to run the flesh business because those women can't bear the hardships, can't carry their hands, and can't carry their shoulders. They voluntarily share with the brothel and continue to engage in this business, while others are forced to do so.

.

Richard considered the future of these good women, so he added an order for 300 sewing machines and 50 looms to the purchased materials, just to put these women together and set up a clothing factory and then a weaving factory.

It can also be regarded as an industry under the Datang Society.

Nowadays, there are quite a few women under the Tang Association, there are more than a hundred women in Rose Manor, and there are also some in Sacramento.

Without the protection of the Tang Association, it would be difficult for these weak women to gain a foothold in the chaotic and disorderly Alta California province, and sooner or later they would become plump prey for those villains.

These women were a vulnerable group originally dependent on the power of the Agreement Hall. Richard believed that the Tang Dynasty had a natural moral responsibility for these women and should provide them with a stable job that would allow them to support themselves.

The situation of more men than women in San Francisco has been around for a long time, and the same is true among Chinese immigrants. Women are a scarce resource and have attracted the envy of countless people.

The benefits were obvious. The Tang Association's recruitment of gunmen received an enthusiastic response from Chinese immigrants. The quota of more than 140 people was quickly filled, and formal military training began.

Under normal circumstances

Military training is conducted in Grape Valley and Rose Manor. There are more than 320 people in Grape Valley and more than 220 people in Rose Manor. They are on duty in armed guard duty in New Town and on the American River in rotation every week.

In terms of the armed forces at his disposal, Richard has directly caught up with John Sutter, and there is not much difference between the two.

But no one knows the depth and prestige of John Sutter. If he ascends to the top and shouts, how many white cowboys will join the militia with horses and guns?

Five hundred, one thousand, or more?

John Sutter serves as the chairman of the citizens' council of the new town, and he has a great reputation. This is a place that both Green Garden and the lobby are more afraid of.

In the main hall

Richard was holding a teacup in his hand and was enjoying the tea leisurely. Dai Changfu strode in from the outside, raised his hands in front of him and said, "President, Mr. Zheng, hurry up and report that our people and

Madison's men started fighting, and there were casualties on both sides. Please ask the meeting to send reinforcements."

"Oh...what's the specific situation?"

"The conflict occurred on our territory, at the mouth of Xiahe Bay. Chinese gold diggers picked up several pieces of gold nugget of different sizes here, so they judged this to be a gold sands-rich area. Many Chinese people flocked here for a while.

They came to dig for gold sand, and the harvest was extremely rich, which aroused the greedy appetite of Alexander Madison's group, and there have been several frictions over this. But this time, Madison's group came with more than twenty gunmen to rob the property.

A piece of land, the two sides started fighting as soon as they disagreed."

"What are the casualties?"

"Four people in the armed cavalry were shot and injured. One of them was more serious. He was hit in the abdomen by a bullet. Whether he could survive depends on luck. Three Chinese gold diggers were killed, and several people on the other side were shot and escaped.

Unknown casualties.”

"Assemble the team, let's go to the scene and take a look. Everyone brings three days of dry food and prepares to fight."

"As you command!"

After Dai Changfu received the order, he immediately left in a hurry to gather his team for reinforcements.

Richard glanced at the maid who was standing outside the door with a somewhat frightened expression, frowned and said, "Why are you standing there stupidly? Quickly change my clothes and prepare some dry food for me."

"Please forgive me, young master. I will change your clothes for you now." The two maids were startled, and hurriedly came forward to say a blessing, and stuck out their tongues playfully, and then started busy with their hands and feet.