1850 American Gold Tycoon

“$500,000 is just the cost of building the ship. It’s more than $500,000 when you include the interior decoration and the crew on the ship.

From the captain to the common crew, stokers, and stokers, they are all the elites I have carefully selected. They are the best steamship crews in the United States. "Vanderbilt said proudly.

"My old man, I remember when the keel of the Polar Star was just starting to be laid, you told me that you would take a long vacation for yourself until the Polar Star was completed?"

Vandaze asked.

"Are you planning to travel to Europe on the Polaris?"

"There is this plan. A large yacht from the United States, with the American stars and stripes flying on the ship, and American crew members and wealthy people on the ship, swaggering through places like the English Channel and the Baltic Sea. It is exciting to think about it."

When it comes to vacations and travel, Vanderbilt's eyes sparkle and he is full of anticipation for his trip to Europe.

"It's really exciting." Liang Yao said.

"But the plan can't keep up with the changes. I think you won't have time to go to Europe to show off your wealth before your railway company has completed the acquisition and reorganization."

"As you said, I have postponed my travel plans and postponed my vacation for the time being."

Vanderbilt shrugged helplessly.

"If I had not wanted to enter the railway industry, I would have taken the Polaris to London to visit the World's Fair in London to see the world."

"I also heard about the World Expo in London. I heard that the British used steel and glass to build a dreamy crystal palace. This kind of palace only appeared in fairy tales! Now it has become a reality!" Van Daze said.

"It is the power of industry, which makes fairy tales become reality." Liang Yao said.

“With 4,500 tons of steel, 300,000 pieces of glass, and nine months of construction time, only a first-class industrial power with a complete industrial system and strong organizational and mobilization capabilities can build the Crystal Palace to host the World Expo.

The Polaris under our feet is also the crystallization of industry, and industry is changing the world. "

In the mid-19th century, the British Empire's national power was at its peak, and it was a well-deserved world hegemon. There was no doubt about the operating efficiency of the British Empire's national machinery during this period.

In terms of flexing muscles to show national strength, not only the UK, but all rising powers after the UK are very efficient in showing off their national strength.

What was the concept of 4,500 tons of steel in the mid-19th century? Equivalent to half the steel production of the United States in 1850.

"My old man, the World's Fair has 23 weeks of exhibition time, and we still have enough time to go to London to participate in the exhibition. The British have sent invitations to civilized countries to participate in the World's Fair.

The United States also received an invitation letter from London, which at least shows that the United Kingdom still recognizes that the United States is a civilized country. "Theodore said.

"It is an irrefutable fact that the United States is a civilized country and does not need to be recognized by the British." Vanderbilt puffed out his chest and said.

"One day, America will be able to host a World's Fair."

"Why didn't Great Britain invite me, the Qing Dynasty, to such a grand event? Is it possible that our majestic Qing Dynasty is still a barbarian?"

Zeng Jinsong was very unhappy and complained in Mandarin.

The British Empire sent invitations to civilized countries to participate in the World Exposition. The United States received it, but the Qing Dynasty did not. In other words, the British regarded the Qing Dynasty as a barbarian country.

This was something Zeng Jinsong, who had accepted since childhood, that the Qing Dynasty was a celestial kingdom and that all parties were barbarians, could never bear it.

"The imperial court avoided dealing with foreigners. Even if the British sent an invitation letter to the Qing Dynasty, would the imperial court be willing to send people there? Even if the imperial court was willing to send people, would any ministers be willing to go?"

Pan Zhengwei asked Zeng Jinsong two questions worth pondering.

Pan Zhengwei still knows the concept of 4,500 tons of steel.

California's steel plants are working hard to produce every month, but they can only produce about 20 tons of steel every month.

After seeing how Liang Yao trained in California and visiting some factories in New York, some of Pan Zhengwei's ideas had changed.

He no longer continues to believe that the Qing Dynasty lost to the British in the war 11 years ago because the man in the Forbidden City sympathized with the people and temporarily stopped fighting, unwilling to continue fighting with the British to avoid wasting people and money.

This is just the court giving itself a step down for the sake of dignity.

The actual situation is that the Qing Dynasty really cannot defeat the British. The Eight Banners soldiers that the Qing Dynasty is proud of need to be trained from an early age to master the riding and shooting skills and form combat effectiveness.

The infantrymen of the California Infantry Regiment trained by Liang Yao in California only need a few months to form combat effectiveness. Not to mention Great Britain, which has a more complete military system.

Elvis, whom Liang Yao hired, had previously been an officer in the British Empire Army.

Elvis trained his soldiers as efficiently as anything that could be mass-produced in a factory.

If these cheap infantrymen want to destroy the well-trained Eight Banners soldiers, they only need to pull the trigger of their rifles and shoot a projectile worth less than 2 cents from the barrel of the gun.

The range and accuracy of the Qing bows and matchlock guns were far inferior to those of the new rifles, and the gap with artillery was even greater.

What's more, the Eight Banners Soldiers of the Qing Dynasty were already rotten, and the Green Camp was also rotten.

The Qing Dynasty is no longer a question of whether it is willing to fight Daying, but it is really unable to defeat them.

They have more steel, stronger ships, sharper cannons, more professional officers, and more professional soldiers. How can we fight with them?

If this continues, the Qing Dynasty will sooner or later become a piece of fish that can be slaughtered on the chopping board of the European powers and even the United States.

"Whether he invites the Qing Dynasty or not, and whether the Qing Dynasty is willing to send people there are two different things." Zeng Jin still defended himself.

"I will write to high-ranking officials in the DPRK and tell them what I saw in the United States." Pan Zhengwei ignored Zeng Jinsong's excuse and said reluctantly.

"It's useless. You can never wake up a person who is pretending to sleep. If the Qing Dynasty was willing to wake up, it would have woken up more than fifty years ago. There is no need to wait until today." Liang Yao said.

He knew very well the virtues of the Qing Dynasty, which was cruel internally and cruel externally.

"My old friend, the trip to Europe can only be put on hold for the time being, but we can take a short trip, such as from New York to Baltimore. We can also take this opportunity to check out the Polaris. sailing ability and the caliber of the crew.”

Jeremiah suggested.

"That's a good, good idea."

The Polar Star had ample fuel and supplies, and Vanderbilt readily agreed and ordered the crew to blow the whistle and set off.

Liang Yao walked out of the cabin and came to the deck.

There were still excited people waving to the Polar Star on the pier, but Liang Yao was not interested in these.

His attention was focused on the Polaris' power system.

Vanderbilt transferred all his shipbuilding technology and shipyards to him. He wanted to know what level of shipbuilding technology Vanderbilt had mastered.

The power system of the Polaris is two huge walking beam steam engines with a piston stroke of 3 meters. There are 4 huge boilers, each with a diameter of 3 meters.

Two huge walking beam steam engines provide powerful power to the paddle wheels on both sides.

In an era when steamships were not yet popular, the Polaris was undoubtedly very advanced, at least in the United States, and there was no opponent that could compete with the Polaris.

But looking around the world, the Polaris can only be said to be one of the best in terms of luxury. Some of the technologies used on the ship are actually not the most advanced.

For example, there are two huge paddle wheels on the boat string.

Compared to paddle steamers, Liang Yao prefers hidden steamships, which are steam ships driven by propellers.

History has proven that concealed ships are the development direction of future ships, especially large ships.

He didn't want to stick to the direction of the paddle steamer and go all the way to darkness.

"Mr. Jeremiah, I heard that you and Vanderbilt designed and built the Polaris together?"

Vanderbilt was on the verge of success, and Liang Yao did not want to cause trouble to Vanderbilt by raising the technical issues of the Polaris in front of Vanderbilt.

Jeremiah is one of the top shipbuilding experts in the United States and is deeply involved in shipbuilding technology.

Jeremiah may not be as skilled as Vanderbilt in sailing ships, but he is more expert than Vanderbilt in shipbuilding.

Asking Jeremiah would be better than asking Vanderbilt, who is currently a little distracted.

"Yes, Mr. Liang, do you have any questions?"

Jeremiah asked, grabbing a bottle of rum in his hand and taking a sip from his mouth.

"How much do you know about propeller ships, also known as concealed ships?" Liang Yao asked Jeremiah.

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