1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 147: Nevada belongs to California

"Thank you, Dr. Robinson. No, it should be Governor Robinson."

In Tingtao Garden, Deng Wenshun, who had almost recovered from his injury, thanked Robinson.

This is the second time Robinson has brought Deng Wenshun back from hell.

Whether he was at the helm of the Boston Company or the first governor of California, Robinson never let go of his medical skills.

Robinson just smiled and packed up his medical kit.

"Third brother, I'm almost in good health. I want to take a boat to Los Angeles tomorrow."

Deng Wenshun got off the bed and came to Liang Yao and said that he is still the mayor of Los Angeles Town and hopes to return to Los Angeles as soon as possible.

"Now you are finally willing to ask me for my opinion?" Liang Yao said with a straight face, "If you don't listen to me again in the future, our cousin will be in trouble."

After speaking, Liang Yao walked out of the room without looking back.

Robinson left a few pairs of medicines for Deng Wenshun and explained how to use them, and then followed Liang Yao out of the room.

"This is a silver medal awarded to us by Congress in recognition of our contributions to the United States of America. A letter of thanks from the President is also included."

Robinson took a box out of his pocket.

Liang Yao opened the box and saw a silver medal lying inside the box, with the words Hero of the United States clearly printed on it. Next to the medal is a personal letter of thanks from President Fillmore.

He looked at the medal in the box, and then at the medal hanging on Robinson's chest. The medal radiated dazzlingly in the sun.

Liang Yao calmly waved his hand and asked Kony to put the medal away. He had no habit of wearing medals.

The medal was delivered, and so was California's territorial claim to Nevada. Liang Yao learned the news immediately yesterday.

Unsurprisingly, the Congress and federal government of the United States are more concerned about Texas than California.

No matter how noisy the California issue is, it is unlikely to trigger the Civil War between the North and the South. However, if the territorial issue in Texas is not handled properly, it is likely to become the fuse of the Civil War between the North and the South.

Which is more important, politicians in Congress and the federal government still know very well.

Fillmore proposed to Congress that the area west of 117° West Longitude in Nevada be assigned to California, while the area east of it would still belong to Nevada. Although it was opposed by some congressmen, it was finally passed with little risk.

This means that more than 50,000 square kilometers of western Nevada will be under the jurisdiction of California and become part of California.

The area of ​​California has also increased from 10,000 square kilometers to 60,000 square kilometers. It is the second largest state in the United States after Texas.

However, the state of California had to pay a price of US$10 million. After deducting the US$5 million compensation from Los Angeles, the actual cost paid by the California state government was US$5 million.

Although US$5 million is not a small amount of money, the transaction of US$5 million in exchange for more than 50,000 square kilometers of land in western Nevada is still a very cost-effective deal.

Nevada not only has gold, but also silver.

This means that as long as silver is mined in Nevada, California's precious metal coinage can be completely self-sufficient, and Liang Yao no longer needs to exchange silver from the outside world to mint silver cents.

Of course, precious metals are only secondary. More importantly, there are coal mines and natural gas in Nevada.

These two resources can be more useful than precious metals.

Although natural gas cannot be developed and utilized at the current industrial level, coal is extremely valuable to Liang Yao.

California does not have the location conditions to vigorously develop the steel industry, but Liang Yao wants to carry out ambitious industrialization in California.

And steel is the foundation of industry, and it is the hurdle that California’s industrialization cannot get around.

But with the large number of high-quality coal mines in Nevada, California has the conditions to build large-scale industrial zones and become self-sufficient in coal resources. It only needs to import iron ore from Mexico.

As long as he controls the western Nevada region, Liang Yao can further expand California's influence to Arizona, Utah and even the Colorado and New Mexico regions in the heart of the United States.

These are vast and sparsely populated western territories, far away from the core territory of the eastern United States.

As for the next target, the Oregon region north of California is still eight years away from Oregon becoming a state.

In these eight years, he can immigrate to the Oregon region to dilute the influence of local American immigrants. He can also integrate the Oregon region into the supporting system of California's industry, forming a situation with California where you have me and you have me.

It will be difficult not to control the Oregon region by then.

Of course, all this is predicated on California’s population being large enough and its industrial strength strong enough.

Without population and industry, everything would be just a mirror image. Liang Yao still has a long way to go.

"What you said is very accurate. Congress and the federal government are indeed willing to transfer part of the Nevada territory to California, but we have to pay $5 million for it, and we must pay it immediately."

Robinson said.

"The federal government has paid 5 million in compensation to Texas and is urging California to immediately make up the 5 million in compensation. Texas is also urging us."

"The Treasury Department raised US$5 million so quickly? The federal government's Treasury Department is very efficient."

Liang Yao was a little surprised by the efficiency of the federal government and was curious about where the Ministry of Finance got the $5 million.

According to the information collected by Liang Yao, the federal government issued US$23 million in national debt last year. In addition to the national debt, the US federal government also had to repay a total of US$36 million in war debts from Britain and France.

Last year, the U.S. government’s annual fiscal expenditure was only about US$50 million.

Five million US dollars is not a small amount for the California government, nor is it a small amount for the federal government. This is one-tenth of the federal government's annual financial expenditure.

"I am also surprised." Robinson said, "I think you should know better than me how much money the California government currently has. We should raise this money immediately. The Bank of Boston has already collected $550,000 worth of gold."

Of course, Liang Yao knows the financial situation of the California state government better than Robinson. The California State Treasurer and Director of the Taxation Bureau are Deng Wenyu, a close confidant of Liang Yao.

"The state treasury currently still has 1.32 million U.S. dollars, but all of this money cannot be used. After all, the state government also needs funds to maintain operations." Liang Yao thought for a while and said, "The state government will use 1 million U.S. dollars, and the remaining The $3.45 million shortfall was loaned to the state by Bank of America."

California's state legislators, like those in other states, are part-time and receive no salary. Of course, those who can become state legislators do not lack this salary.

However, public servants at all levels of California government departments need to be paid, and it is unrealistic to spend all the state government money.

Although California's civil service team is very small. After all, California's current population is only about 130,000 to 40,000, and government departments at all levels do not need too many civil servants. However, it is still necessary to leave a sum of money for emergencies.

"You are still thoughtful. In three days, all the congressmen will go to San Francisco to discuss the Nevada region. Some congressmen are not very satisfied with the result. They want the entire Nevada region."

Robinson had no objection to Liang Yao's proposal, because the Boston Company had already benefited from this matter, and he had no reason to object to Liang Yao's proposal.

550,000 US dollars is all the working capital that Boston Company can come up with. At the beginning of the year, Boston Company spent a lot of money on purchasing machinery, exploring new mining areas, and recruiting workers. Otherwise, Boston Company could just bite the bullet and come up with nearly two million US dollars. of working capital is loaned to the state government.

"Their appetite is bigger than mine." Liang Yao said with a smile, "I will let the state assembly pass the federal government's proposal. After the federal government and Congress resolve the Texas territorial issue, they will never allow a second similar proposal. The proposal passed.”

People's hearts were full of dissatisfaction, but Liang Yao was not dazzled by the victory and decided to give up on the good news.

Why doesn't he want to take over the entire Nevada area?

Politicians in the federal government and Congress are not fools. This bill can be passed because there are many internal conflicts in the United States and the public opinion of the entire society is on the side of California. It is the federal government and Congress that make decisions on the actual situation. compromise.

Now the conflicts between the North and the South have eased, and at least on the surface, the North and the South are in harmony.

Even Texas got its wish and received $5 million in compensation.

The remaining $5 million in compensation is actually a matter between the two states, California and Texas, and has nothing to do with the federal government.

If the California Assembly does not agree to accept the federal government's proposal, the California government will not be able to pay the remaining $5 million in compensation to Texas.

Does Texas have the patience to wait?

If there is no patience, and Texas makes trouble again, the federal government can shift all responsibilities to California.

California will then become the target of public criticism and be accused of undermining the unity of the United States.

This is harmful to California, to Liang Yao, and to all Californians.

“The current bill is very beneficial to California, and asking for the entire Nevada region is going too far.

I will resolve the objections from the state government. You are the state speaker, and the state assembly depends entirely on you. Robinson said with a nod.

His thoughts are similar to Liang Yao's. If this matter continues to be delayed, it will be very detrimental to California. As a qualified politician, he should learn to assess the situation.

Liang Yao glanced at the badge on Robinson's chest. The words "American Hero" were so dazzling.

"I will silence those who oppose it. If this bill passes, you and I will still be American heroes. If it fails, you and I will probably become America's criminals."

As an American hero, Liang Yao said confidently.

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