1850 American Gold Tycoon

Thanks to Liang Yao's money-making ability, the environment of the temporary resettlement place for immigrants in Xiangshan is not that bad.

Chinese immigration is Liang Yao's capital to establish a foothold on the West Coast of the United States. When it comes to immigration, Liang Yao is still very willing to spend money.

However, because there were so many people and the refugees were weak, some people still fell down every day and never stood up again, unable to wait until the day they boarded the ship.

Especially in the cold winter, more people die.

When Liang Yao, Pan Shicheng, and Liang Shaoqiong arrived at the resettlement site, they bumped into managers wearing scarves on their faces. They took more than twenty cold and stiff corpses out of the resettlement site and cremated them on the spot.

The unkempt refugees have long been accustomed to this. People die here every day. The only difference is how many people die every day.

This is only the first hurdle for these refugees to immigrate to California. Even if they board the ship, some people will die on the ship.

Even in California, not everyone can handle the acclimatization.

Liang Yao had experienced these things personally. In 1849, when he took the Cape Town of the British Steamship Company to go halfway around the world to California, a small number of people died on the way.

He saw with his own eyes the dying British sailors and the dying Chinese gold diggers thrown from the ship into the sea like garbage.

The immigrants in the Xiangshan resettlement site are, to put it bluntly, desperate refugees.

Immigrants with a little money will not choose to wait here, but will choose to buy a ferry ticket to California at their own expense.

No matter where you are, in any era, the rich always have more choices than the poor who have nothing.

The person in charge of the Xiangshan resettlement site is Hu Jinchen's brother Hu Jinhou. Hu Jinhou, like Hu Jinchen, was a clerk at Yihe Bank in his early years, and later found a job here in Liang Yao.

Liang Yao's eyes swept across several fire pits where corpses were being cremated, and finally stopped at Hu Jinchen who came out to greet him.

"The report you submitted to me said that no more than fifty people die here every day, but the corpses I see now are at least seventy or eighty. How do you explain it?"

"My boss hasn't had time to read the latest report yet. It's from the old almanac two or three months ago." Faced with Liang Yao's questioning, Hu Jinhou replied calmly.

"Two or three months ago, the grain we purchased in Lianghu, Jiangxi, Jiangnan and other places could still be transported to Guangzhou. Now the turmoil in Hunan is getting more and more serious. The grain from these places cannot be exported, and the local grain from Guangdong cannot be shipped. It’s getting harder and harder to buy, but more and more immigrants are coming to Xiangshan from various places after hearing the news. All the small ones can do is try their best to maintain the situation and let as many people survive as possible.”

"The harvests in Guangdong and Guangxi have been poor for years. Rice prices have soared this year. It is not easy to feed 30,000 to 40,000 mouths." Pan Shicheng looked at the resettlement site and said with the string of rosary beads that he had wrapped in pulp in his hand.

"In the rice market in Guangzhou now, it's hard to find rice. Besides, not all of these dead refugees died of starvation, some also died of freezing."

"Global Shipping Company has also sent people to Nanyang to buy grain, but it will take some time to transport the grain to Xiangshan." Hu Jinchen also said at the side. …

"How much grain is left in the granary?" Liang Yao asked

"8120 stones." Hu Jinhou blurted out.

"There are 38,000 people, and only 8,000 dan of food are stored. These food reserves can only last for two months at most." Liang Yao frowned and said, "Ask the Guangzhou government for some food, and tell them that if they don't give them food, the 38,000 people in Xiangshan We can’t guarantee what kind of trouble a large number of refugees will cause.”

There was no civil uprising among these tens of thousands of refugees, and the officials in Guangdong had to give Liang Yao a kowtow. If they refused to give him any food they could dig out, then don't blame him for being rude.

"This" Hu Jinhou was a little hesitant.

"What are you afraid of?! You are a citizen of the United States. Citizens of the United States enjoy extraterritorial rights in the Qing Dynasty. The laws of the Qing Dynasty cannot cure your crimes, and the officials of the Qing Dynasty dare not touch you." Liang Yao raised his voice.

After saying that, Liang Yao turned to Hu Jinchen and asked him to send a ship to Japan to collect some grain.

There will only be more and more refugees in the resettlement areas in the future. It is always good to prepare more food for a rainy day.

"Looking back, I will also ask Governor Ye for some food in the name of training local braves to provide Mr. Liang with emergency supplies." Pan Shicheng said.

"I can't thank you enough." Liang Yao bowed his hands to Pan Shicheng to express his gratitude, "Can you please help General Pan to purchase some things to keep out the cold?"

"It's just a trivial matter, it's not worth mentioning. This matter is all done by Pan." Pan Shicheng urged, "Mr. Liang, let's go select Xiang Yong."

The resettlement site conducted simple statistics on the refugees in the resettlement site. With the help of Hu Jinhou, Liang Yao and Pan Shicheng quickly completed the selection of Xiangyong.

From more than 38,000 refugees, 150 people were selected as the foundation of the Yue Yong.

These 150 people are at least proficient in writing and have a certain cultural foundation.

Although the illiteracy rate in the Qing Dynasty was high, it was still possible to select 150 literate people from more than 38,000 people.

"Isn't No. 150 too few people?" Pan Shicheng felt that Liang Yao had selected too few people and wanted to select more.

"It's quite a lot. If you bite off more than you can bite off, the top priority is to put up a front for Yue Yong first." Liang Yao thinks that one hundred and fifty people are not too much or too little, which is just right.

"These people are trained as grassroots non-commissioned officers. As long as these people are trained, even if the number is quickly expanded tenfold in the future, the Yue Yong can still guarantee a certain combat effectiveness. Furthermore, the sudden recruitment of thousands of local Yongs may lead to disaster,"

Although Pan Shicheng obtained permission to compile and train Xiangyong, the Manchu and Qing officials still had concerns about opening up Xiangyong on a large scale.

Recruiting a large number of local warriors from the beginning would easily arouse the vigilance of the Manchu and Qing senior officials, which was not a good thing for Pan Shicheng and Liang Shaoqiong.

It is better to be cautious in this initial step.

Pan Shicheng was a smart man and quickly understood Liang Yao's intentions: "Master Liang is still thoughtful, but Pan is a little impatient and a little complacent."

"Wang Shu!" Liang Yao called to Wang Shu, the commander of California's first company. "Your team of instructors will stay in Guangzhou to assist Mr. Pan in training Yue Yong. Don't compromise on training. Train these new recruits according to the standards of the California Infantry Regiment."

"Yes, Colonel!" Wang Shu replied forcefully.

Liang Yao transferred fifteen squad leaders from each company of the California Infantry Regiment to form a team of instructors to help Pan Shicheng and Liang Shaoqiong train the first batch of rural warriors. …

The California Infantry Regiment was basically composed of early Chinese immigrants, while the Arizona Infantry Regiment was composed of veterans recruited by Liang Yao in the eastern and southern United States.

Obviously, the non-commissioned officers of the California Infantry Regiment are more suitable for training Yue Yong than the Arizona Infantry Regiment. After all, they are all Chinese and there is no language communication barrier.

Pan Shicheng looked at these strong and well-groomed instructor team with great envy.

He was very satisfied with Liang Yao's carefully selected team of instructors. Pan Shicheng knew that the California Infantry Regiment was the unit Liang Yao relied on most. Selecting non-commissioned officers from this army shows Liang Yao's sincerity.

"A good horse must be equipped with a good saddle, and a good soldier must be equipped with a good gun. Since we use Western methods to train troops, we should also use Western fast guns. I wonder if Mr. Liang can sell me some Western fast guns to arm the Yue Yong?"

Pan Shicheng told Liang Yao about the purchase of weapons.

"The gun is not the problem. I can give Mr. Pan Shangyun 500 Walter M1852 rifles first, but the guns and bullets are not cheap." Liang Yao said.

The Walter M1852 rifle is a breech-loading single-shot rifled gun self-developed and produced in California. In this era when the major powers have not fully popularized rifled guns, the performance of the Walter M1852 can be said to be very advanced.

Among the rifles in active service by the major powers, the performance of the Walter M1852 is only slightly inferior to the Dresser needle gun equipped by the Prussian army.

The musketeers of the Qing Dynasty are still equipped with matchlock guns from the pre-Ming Dynasty. If Yue Yong is equipped with this gun, it can be said to be a dimensionality-reducing blow to all armed forces in the Qing Dynasty.

Even if the great powers come, Guangdong's bravery is worthy of pure infantry against infantry.

There are two versions of the Walter M1852 rifle. One version uses metal-rimmed needle bullets, and the other version uses paper shell bullets and linen bullets like the Dresser needle gun.

The version using paper shell bullets and linen bullets is officially called M1852E. It is a foreign trade version specially produced by Liang Yao for export. The cost of the foreign trade version is about 25% lower than the ordinary version, with each costing $15.

Liang Yao directly sold the full-blooded Walter M1852 rifle to Pan Shicheng, which can be said to be very generous.

Of course, the full-blood version of the Walter M1852 rifle also has disadvantages, that is, it is expensive. The price is not only reflected in the gun itself, but also in the bullets.

Metal bullets are advanced, but advanced often means expensive.

The cost of each metal-rimmed needle bullet is 5 cents, which is a full four times that of paper shell bullets and linen bullets.

Therefore, the crews of the Universal Shipping Company who were already equipped with Walter M1852 rifles gave this gun a very apt nickname: the Dollar Launcher.

"Money is not an issue. As long as you can train Guangdong Yong, the money will be well spent." Pan Shicheng said happily.

Compared with the donations to the imperial court and the indemnities from foreigners, the money spent on buying weapons is not worth mentioning.

After the arrangements for Guangdong Yong were completed, Liang Yao sent Pan Shicheng away.

"Fifth uncle, my nephew has tried his best to do whatever he can for you. If the Yueyong can be trained, they will be the most powerful army in the Qing Dynasty."

After Pan Shicheng left, Liang Yao said to Liang Shaoqiong in a serious voice with his hands behind his back.

"How far the Liang family can go in the future depends on the fifth uncle's ability and luck."

Liang Yao was not sure what impact the flapping wings of the Guangdong army's butterfly would have on the future.

But he hopes that the situation on this land will develop in his favor in the future.

"Uncle Wu has been doing nothing for half his life and has accomplished nothing. Training Guangdong Warriors is the biggest thing that Uncle Wu has done in his life." Liang Shaoqiong clenched his fists and said with excitement.

"For the sake of our old Liang family, and for the sake of reputation, your fifth uncle will take care of Yue Yong even if he is exhausted!"

"The fifth uncle has such a heart, and my nephew is very relieved." Liang Yao showed a smile of relief on his face.