1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 559 Silver Mountain

Freemont stood in front of the gate of Weixiu Residence and coughed softly. ‘6’ ‘9’ ‘s’ ‘h’ ‘u’ ‘x’ ‘.’ ‘c’ ‘o’ ‘m’

Seeing that it was the governor who was visiting, the concierge invited Fremont into the house after asking a few questions.

In the study, Liang Yao was looking at the map and thinking about where to place the Mongolian cavalry and Sauron soldiers brought back from the Qing Dynasty.

After thinking for a long time, Liang Yao finally decided to arrange the Sauron soldiers and the Mongolian cavalry to train in the Utah Territory and the Colorado area respectively.

"I need your support. I want to extend the governor's term for one year." Fremont knocked lightly on the door of the study and walked in immediately.

"Is there a big project that needs more time to complete?" Liang Yao raised his head and glanced at Fremont.

"That's right, the steel project brought from Pittsburgh will take some time to come to fruition." Fremont did not deny it, he added.

"I want to complete the second five-year plan completely, but my term is only four years and I need your support."

Due to the lack of experience in California's first gubernatorial election and the relatively large area of ​​California, Fremont officially took over as governor in 1955.

His term would end in 1859, next year.

Most states have very strict regulations regarding the term and re-election of governors. The term of governors in most states is four years, and of course there are also two years.

With the exception of Virginia, most states have relatively strict restrictions on the re-election or term of governors. The laws of most states stipulate that governors can only be re-elected for two terms, but they can run again after four years after leaving office.

Five-year governorships are not without precedent. In 1789, Georgia passed a bill stipulating that the governor's term be five years, which was the earliest five-year governor's term law in American history.

However, many Georgians believed that a five-year term was too long, so in 1798 this rule was abolished and the governor's term was changed to two years. Later, Georgians decided that two years was too short to accomplish much during the term, so they extended the governor's term to four years.

In the 19th century, American states were quite diligent in amending their laws, and the political elites in each state were well versed in ways to adapt.

There are currently five states with five-year governorship terms. For example, in California’s two little brothers, Oregon and Liangzhou, the governor’s term is five years.

Fremont has heard some rumors. Although he did not commit any major dereliction of duty during his term, some Chinese elites were dissatisfied with Fremont after proposing several tax increase bills.

In California, without the support of most Chinese elites, it is undoubtedly wishful thinking to be re-elected. Fremont knew that his chances of re-election were already very slim, so he wanted to extend his term slightly.

"There is no precedent for a five-year governor's term. We can refer to current examples." Liang Yao motioned for Fremont to sit down.

"In the past two years, you have increased taxes on several types of taxes. I support the increase in mining taxes. This tax law should indeed be changed."

California is rich in products, and Californians can live a relatively prosperous life simply relying on mineral deposits.

But this is not the path Liang Yao wants to take. Although this path is easier and simpler, it does not last long.

The mineral resources industry chain is thin and easy to monopolize, and it is easier to breed giant mineral oligarchs that are difficult to tame, as was the case in Russia in later generations.

Liang Yao still hopes to increase the depth of the industry as much as possible. Mining only exists as one link in the industrial chain but not the whole, creating more jobs for the state and producing various types of industrial products with higher added value. Rather than just lying around and selling mines to make a living.

After the new tax law bill was passed, Liang Yao set off for the Nevada Administrative District, the place with the worst tax evasion in California.

As the saying goes, there are many demons in the temple, but there are many bastards in the shallow pond.

The most serious tax evasion in California is not in resource-rich cities like Los Angeles, but in small towns like Reno and Carson, which are relatively remote, have tough folk customs, and have complicated situations.

"And there's a place where you, Pinkerton, can't even put your eyeliner?"

On the special train heading to Reno City, Liang Yao learned from Pinkerton about the situation of the mine owners in the Nevada administrative district.

According to the information provided by Pinkerton, the richest, most difficult and mysterious mine owner in Nevada is Huang Kangrui, the owner of the silver mine in Funing Mountain.

Mount Funing, later known as Mount Davidson, was located on the Comstock Lode.

The Comstock vein contains the richest silver ore in the United States. It is a highly silver-rich sedimentary vein. At the same time, the gold reserves associated with the silver vein are also very considerable, making it a veritable super rich ore.

How rich can you be?

In the short seven years from 1857 to 1864 in history, the Comstock Mine produced an astonishing 70,000 tons of silver alone.

"This guy is a very thief. The miners only recruit people from his hometown in Funing, and they have to be guaranteed by acquaintances before they can join the mine. This guy will also look up your genealogy, so outsiders have no chance of getting in." Pinkerton said with a shrug.

"My previous focus was on the Utah Territory, and I did not focus on Nevada."

"Is there a murder case on hand?" Liang Yao asked as he closed the materials.

"Who is mining without blood on their hands, and how many of them are fuel-efficient lamps?" Pinkerton replied.

"This kid must have a lot of murder cases on his hands, but I haven't collected any evidence of his crime."

"Sure enough, people who are subordinates are more difficult to deal with than ordinary rash people." Liang Yao said.

"My instinct tells me that this guy must be doing more than just tax evasion," Pinkerton said.

26 kilometers southeast of Reno City, at the entrance of a large silver mine in Funing Mountain, hundreds of gun-wielding madmen blocked Deng Wenyu and others at the entrance of the mine.

Huang Kangrui, the leader of the silver mine, said to Deng Wenyu and others in a strange tone: "Finance Minister Deng, why don't you let people celebrate the New Year? There is no reason to conduct tax inspections during the New Year, and you don't mind the trouble and bad luck."

Huang Kangrui is not a typical immigrant in California, but grew up in a family of minor officials in Funing Prefecture, Fujian. Five years ago, he came to California with a speculative mentality after hearing from his fellow villagers that California had inexhaustible gold mines.

When he arrived in California, he didn't find any gold, but he got lucky and found a big silver mountain near Reno. He became one of the largest silver mine owners in California and the richest man in the entire Nevada administrative region.

Because he was born in a family of subordinate officials, Huang Kangrui, unlike other mine owners, had rich experience in fighting against the government.

"Mr. Huang, how can we talk about this?" Deng Wenyu said with a gloomy expression.

"Mining is your job, and tax inspection is my job, Deng. They are all jobs, so why should we say it's bad luck?"

Huang Kangrui serves as the deputy mayor and councilman of Reno City, and is a well-known thorn in the Nevada area. Deng Wenyu knows that if Huang Kangrui is not investigated, other mine owners may think that he bullies the weak and fears the strong.

This is extremely detrimental to the subsequent work and image of the tax bureau.

"We hard-working people are all waiting to start working in the mines to support our wives, children, and children. Unlike you, Finance Minister Deng, who sits in the office drinking tea and reading the newspaper and gets a dead salary, and the income is guaranteed during droughts and floods.

Finance Minister Deng, it’s hard for us low-level people to make a living. I hope you’ll be magnanimous and don’t pester us. "Huang Kangrui stirred up the antagonism between the miners and the tax bureau.

"That's right! Why are you pestering us?"

"These officials must be here to suck out the marrow again!"

"Damn it, brothers, don't let these government lackeys enter the mine! I think the government is just jealous of our mine and wants to find an excuse to take over our mine!"

"How can we survive without the mine? Thousands of our brothers can survive just by relying on this mine!"

"Yes! We can't let officials in!"

The miners were furious and verbally criticized the tax bureau staff.

Seeing this scene, a trace of imperceptible pride flashed across the corner of Huang Kangrui's mouth.

After arguing for a while, Huang Kangrui walked up to Deng Wenyu in a leisurely manner, took out a check for US$5,000 and handed it to Deng Wenyu: "Finance Minister Deng, we sympathize with the difficulty of your job, and we are not unreasonable people." , I won’t let you go all in vain, brothers, and I hope you can sympathize with our hardships haha.”