Wild North America 1846

Old Kahn knelt down and swore allegiance to Richard with the traditional Prussian Junker military aristocrat etiquette, which resolved the originally tense atmosphere and turned into a loving family in the blink of an eye.

Richard was overjoyed and ordered a banquet to celebrate.

The cavalry team temporarily sent people back and drove a cow and five sheep to the camp of Kahn's family. Several captains and cooks from the Tang Dynasty Association also came with them.

They brought a cart of onions, potatoes, radishes, milk, honey and a dozen bags of flour, as well as two large barrels of beer and some Scotch whiskey to prepare for the grand banquet.

After a brief lunch, everyone got busy killing cattle and sheep.

Everyone started to help, and the Kahn camp was filled with a strong and cheerful atmosphere. Some men who were still panning for gold by the river were no longer thinking about the pans in their hands, but were looking forward to the sumptuous campfire dinner in the evening.

A delicious meal is an unparalleled attraction for gold diggers.

Although there are many wild animals along the American rivers, especially hares and pheasants, ordinary gold prospectors have no time to hunt and do not have the skills of hunters. What they eat most is dry biscuits, beans and soup, which is just the basics to survive.

need.

The driving force that supports gold diggers to persevere in this difficult environment is the dream of one day prospering gold mining.

The Kahn family is a powerful family among gold diggers. There are about a hundred men, women, children, relatives and friends, and more than a dozen horse-drawn carriages. They occupy a small river bay with relatively rich gold resources, covering an area of ​​nearly one kilometer.

One side of the river.

Their daily accommodation was mainly based on horse-drawn carriages, and they relied on these mobile horse-drawn carriages to build wooden sheds to form a simple camp.

Women, children and the elderly lived in the carriage, while the men crowded in the wooden shed on one side, put some hay on the bed and slept wrapped in blankets.

Women usually raise some chickens and ducks. They also go deep into the forest to pick mushrooms, fungus, nuts and wild onions, bake bread, and help pick gold sand. Men and women divide the labor and cooperate. Their lives are slightly better than those of ordinary gold diggers, but they are only just that.

That's all.

The men of the Kahn family also used pans when prospecting for gold, and the efficiency was not higher than that of others. They just occupied small river bays with rich gold resources, so the harvest would be higher.

But in the face of the astonishing prices in San Francisco, most of the gold mining harvest is consumed invisibly like sand flowing out from the fingers.

Two barrels of crudely brewed beer weighed about 250 pounds and were worth 25 ounces of gold, a 20-pound bag of flour was worth 3 ounces of gold, and milk, honey and tea were incredibly expensive, not to mention beef and mutton.

Therefore, although the Kahn family has a large population and strength, their daily consumption is also large. They must consume at least 4 to 5 bags of flour every day to keep both adults and children full.

Beer, honey and beef and mutton were rare luxuries. When the carriage carrying items arrived, the entire camp suddenly became noisy and lively.

Not only did the children gather around the carriage, their mouths drooled when they looked at the milk and honey.

Even the men who were panning for gold by the river couldn't help but put down their work and gathered around. They looked very excited when they saw the two large barrels of beer. They couldn't help singing traditional Germanic folk songs and started singing and dancing.

Looking at the festive scene in front of him, Richard, who was usually aloof, showed a smile. He turned to look at the 16 men standing in front of him. The oldest was 36 years old and the youngest was only 14. They were all old.

Nephew of Kahn.

The sons and nephews of the Kahn family all have distinctive Germanic characteristics, blond hair, blue eyes, tall and strong. According to the tradition of the Junker military aristocracy, they usually receive training in military skills such as horse riding and fencing. They are skilled in the use of firearms and are qualified cavalry.

Richard was currently extremely short of manpower, and of course he would not leave the people he guarded the Kahn family without. After asking one by one, and referring to old Kahn's opinions, he assigned all 16 people.

Several older nephews were steady in work but somewhat rigid in their thinking, so they were assigned to work in the American River Gold Mining Company. Some were in the cavalry patrol, some were in Sequoia Bank, and some served as captains of the security team in Upper River Bay Village.

Leading a cavalry squad composed of children of the Kahn family.

Seven people under the age of 30 and over 25 were assigned to serve in the cavalry or musketeers. They had a relatively solid military foundation and led the recruited white soldiers, all of whom belonged to the military force of the Tang Dynasty.

Richard also selected the sixth member of the Kahn family, James Kahn, the seventh member, Stephen Kahn, and the eighth member, Mark Kahn, to serve as his personal guard, as well as Mandelheim Kahn and Schlieffen Kahn.

Two nephews, 5 people in total.

Among these five people, James Kahn was the oldest at 24 years old and was appointed as the deputy captain of the Guards. Mark Kahn and Schlieffen Kahn were both 17 years old. Richard took these two people with him as guards.

Prepare to train it yourself.

After all, they are young people and have greater plasticity.

After arranging some matters, Richard turned his face and said: "Kahn, your big family has been panning for gold on the American River for more than a year, and you have some savings. I will leave three of you in Shanghewan Village.

The place where the group is organized is located near the commercial street, so the construction is up to you."

"Thank you sir for taking care of me. The Kahn family is very grateful."

"You're welcome. It's said that only by living in peace can you have a happy career. With so many people in your family, you can build a house quickly by helping each other. The officers of the Tang Dynasty will not only buy materials at a discounted price at the hydraulic sawmill, but they can also be supplied with priority. This

It’s also a benefit!”

"Sir, the Kahn family still has some savings, so I plan to either not build a house, or to build a traditional German-style house. I have been traveling for most of my life, and if I want a stable home, Shanghewan Village is a good place."

"Oh... then this project is not small." Richard knew that traditional German-style buildings are mostly made of mountain stones, which are strong and durable, with unique Germanic national characteristics, and require the use of expensive Portland cement, which is valuable.

He thought for a moment, nodded and said, "In that case, I will allocate 15 hard labor prisoners to you to help the Kahn family build their home. There are only more than 100 hard labor prisoners now, and most of them are used in commercial street construction and Sequoia Bank construction sites.

, not many can be drawn out.”

"Thank you sir, I would like to express my most sincere thanks."

"But... Portland cement is not easy to make. Forget it, if it doesn't work, just order a set of cement plant equipment from Europe. Anyway, it will be used for the construction of new towns in the future. It will be delivered in three months, almost

Production will start at the end of the year. During this period, you can accumulate enough stone and wood to sharpen your knives and chop wood!"

After thinking about it carefully, Richard made a decision and planned to send an order to the British when he returned.

A rotary kiln with a specification of 1.85 x 32 meters from the British company Korface has a daily output of 1.7 tons of Portland cement clinker and 230 barrels of cement per day, which is approximately 39 tons based on 170 kilograms per barrel.

This kind of production capacity can already meet the current needs of new towns.

A complete set of Portland cement plant equipment produced by Korface Company is worth about 14,000 pounds, which is about 70,000 to 80,000 US dollars. When shipped to the West Coast of North America, plus installation and technical personnel debugging and production costs, the price will double again.

That's like $150,000.

Measured in gold, it is worth 7,500 ounces of gold. Datang will be able to afford an investment of this scale.

Richard treated the Kahn family with great kindness and entrusted him with important responsibilities, which could not help but arouse the jealousy among the captains around him. Why did these ghosts allow the young master to treat them so favorably?

mid 19th century

The traditional Chinese people have been poisoned by the enslavement mentality of the Manchus for more than 200 years, and the feudal mentality of respecting superiors and subordinates is serious. Seeing these ghosts being favored, the captains of the Tang Dynasty were filled with discomfort.

Captain Liu Wu made eye contact with Zheng Laosi, Duan Debiao, Gao Shiheng, Wu Degao and others in private, and they all showed deep dissatisfaction with each other and wanted to compete.

The Musketeers captains George Rabiot and Embiid Rabiot, who were standing aside, were automatically ignored. In the eyes of these Chinese captains;

White guys are all the same thing.

actually not

Georges Rabiot and Embiid Rabiot are pure French people, and they still have the pride of traveling across Europe during the Napoleonic period. They speak French, eat elegant French meals, and look down on the barbaric Germans at all.

.

The French and the German kingdoms have always been rivals for hegemony in Europe. The war between the two sides lasted for hundreds of years. The bloody feud lasted for three days and three nights, and the two of them could not urinate in the same pot.

If it weren't for this foreign wilderness of North America, both sides would have been beaten into pieces.

"Young Master, I am requesting you in this lowly position. I would like to test the strength of the Kahn family. Please allow me to do so." Liu Wu couldn't bear it any longer. He clasped his hands, knelt down on one knee and loudly asked for instructions.

Following Liu Wu, the other Chinese captains also knelt down on one knee, clasped their fists and said, "We also have this intention, please Master."

They were speaking in Chinese, and neither the Germans nor the French could understand them. They could only look at Richard with doubts, implicitly asking.

Richard smiled slightly and explained what the Chinese captains meant.

This really stirred up a hornet's nest. The men of the Kahn family were instantly angered, and their emotions were ignited like flames. A large number of them knelt down on one knee, and the young guys beat their chests with their fists.

The sound was like a group of excited gorillas, vowing to fight.

Even old Kahn's face turned red. He put one hand on his chest and bowed solemnly. "Your loyal knight Kahn requested to fight. We will use blood and swords to show our bravery and safeguard the glory of the knights."

In this case, the fanatical fighting emotions have been completely ignited and cannot be suppressed.

Richard also wanted to let the two sides compete, firstly to consider each other's fighting level, and secondly to facilitate integration.

In the army, only the strong can conquer the masses.