1850 American Gold Tycoon

In August 1856, Illinois Senator Lincoln came to California.觮

California dignitaries warmly received the tall, energetic Illinois senator.

Lincoln did not regret missing this year's election. He successfully ran for the Illinois Senate, served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, and took control of the Illinois Legislative Assembly, which showed that American voters, especially those in Illinois, had accepted the fact that Lincoln was the leader of an emerging party.

His political career took another big step forward.

After the dinner came to an end, Lincoln formally submitted his resignation to Liang Yao, resigning from his position as chief counsel of the Atlantic Railway Company. He also expressed his gratitude to Liang Yao for taking care of him when he was at a low point in his life.

"No need to thank you. You earned this job by yourself." Liang Yao agreed to Lincoln's request to resign.

"Mr. Liang, in addition to thanking you for your resignation in person this time, I came to California with a mission." Lincoln said.

"Are you the commissioner responsible for investigating the corruption case at the California Customs Branch?" Liang Yao guessed.觮

Congress and Fillmore had earlier sent him telegrams saying that they would soon send a commissioner to California to investigate corruption in the Customs Service. Liang Yao guessed that Lincoln might be the commissioner in charge of the investigation.

"Exactly, so I want to trouble you one last time." Lincoln nodded and said, "I came to California alone. Without the assistance of my colleagues in California, it would be difficult for me to start my work."

"Chief Flagg!" Liang Yao called Police Chief Flagg. Flagg was the Sheriff of California during the gold rush period and was a veteran of the California police.

"Your Excellency, are you looking for me?" Flagg came to Liang Yao after hearing the news.

"Commissioner Lincoln wants to investigate a case, and it is your responsibility to assist Mr. Lincoln in investigating this case." Liang Yao said to Flagg.

When he learned that Lincoln was going to investigate the case in California, Flagg was somewhat resistant. He was about to refuse when Fremont saw this and said to Flagg seriously.

"Mr. Lincoln was ordered by Congress and entrusted by the president to come to California to investigate corruption in the California Customs Service."

"It turns out they are investigating the Customs Bureau. We must cooperate! We must cooperate! The Customs Bureau should indeed investigate."

When he learned that Lincoln wanted to investigate the Customs Bureau in California, Flagg immediately changed his face and said that he would cooperate as much as possible.

"Then it's up to Director Flagg." Lincoln shook hands with Flagg and expressed his gratitude to Flagg.

After the dinner was over and the guests dispersed, Lincoln took out three tickets for the Jardine Theater from his pocket and invited Liang Yao and Fremont to watch the show at the theater.

“I heard from opera critics that there are dramas from China in California. Chinese dramas are very unique and more sophisticated than Western dramas. I have long wanted to see them, but it’s a pity that I am busy with work and have never had the chance to come to California.

I have no other friends in California except you two, and I would like to invite you two to watch the show with me. "

Lincoln was an avid opera fan, and Liang Yao knew this.觮

Liang Yao and Fremont smiled at each other and accepted the invitation of the rising Republican political star to go to the Jardine Theater in San Francisco to watch a play.

After 1853, in order to meet the spiritual entertainment needs of the rising middle class and wealthy class, a number of theaters appeared in large cities in California.

But the most famous theater is undoubtedly the Jardine Theater established by the Jardine Matheson Group.

Jardine Theater has two major theaters, one of which is located in Sacramento. This theater is mainly for the upper class. The ticket price of an ordinary theater ticket is as high as 3 to 5 US dollars, and formal attire is required to watch the theater. It is jokingly called the "Aristocratic Theater".

Another theater is the Jardine Theater in San Francisco. This theater mainly caters to the working class and middle class. You can buy a seat in a good location for only 20 cents to 50 cents. It is commonly known as the "popular theater".

Lincoln, who had just arrived, did not know the difference. He only knew that the Jardine Theater was the most famous theater in California, and the tickets he bought were tickets for the Jardine Theater in San Francisco.

The three of them rode to the theater. Since it was night, Liang Yao and Fremont were wearing top hats. Therefore, after arriving at the theater, the audience did not notice that the state speaker and governor had also come to the "Public Theater" to watch the play.觮

Having found his place, Lincoln waited expectantly for the drama to begin.

The opening play was a new play "La Traviata" that had just arrived in California from France. However, the purpose of Lincoln's trip was to see Chinese dramas, so Lincoln didn't have much interest in this opening play, which he had already seen at the Chicago Theater. Great enthusiasm.

The next dramas are six sets of Cantonese operas from Guangzhou. They are said to be Guangdong operas, but in fact they are also plays modified to cater to the tastes of the local people. However, the performance form of the dramas is still presented in the form of Guangdong operas.

Liang Yao looked through the repertoire of today's Guangdong opera. In addition to some traditional plays, there was also "The Gold Rush of a Scholar in Southern Guangdong" adapted from his experience, which made him dumbfounded.

When the Chinese opera started, Lincoln became very energetic and stared at the stage intently.

The first Guangdong opera to be performed was "Tang Minghuang". It resembles an opera-like coloratura soprano, and a long narration in Cantonese. Not to mention Lincoln, even Liang Yao, a Cantonese, may not be able to fully understand it.

However, thanks to the costumes and superb acting skills of the actors, Lincoln, an old theater fan, still understood the play, and followed the theatergoers on the side to frequently cheer for the performers' wonderful performances.觮

When the play ended and the actor came off the stage with the gong and asked for tips from the audience, Lincoln was particularly generous. He took out two one-dollar gold coins and put them into the gong, and looked at the actors curiously. costumes and makeup.

This kind of strange costumes and makeup was something he had never seen before.

"This show alone is worth today's ticket price. They are the most superb actors I have ever seen." Lincoln said very excitedly.

"Chinese drama is very much like Italian opera with circus acrobatics, Chinese kung fu, unique costumes, and unique music singing. It is very interesting. Unfortunately, I don't speak Chinese and can't fully understand the charm of drama."

Western theaters have complex stage facilities and scenery, which can show better stunts and performance effects, while Chinese theaters mainly rely on actors' performances and props to present the plot, which also tests the actors' performance skills.

Therefore, Chinese theater actors in the 19th century were slightly better in acting skills.

In order to accommodate more audiences and charge more ticket fees, the Jardine Theater adopts a Western-style theater building instead of a traditional Chinese theater building.觮

However, although the Yihe Theater is a Western-style theater building, these actors are basically famous actors poached from Guangdong, and their performance quality is definitely not bad.

"It's not necessarily useful to know Chinese." Fremont smiled, "These opera singers speak dialects. Although I know Chinese, I can't understand them just like you."

"If you want to watch juggling and kung fu, you'll be in for a treat in the next show." Liang Yao said, pointing to "The Monkey King" on the play list.

"I'm looking forward to it." Lincoln was looking forward to the start of the next play.

It was one o'clock in the morning when the play ended.

There is no curfew in San Francisco, so even though it is one o'clock in the morning, the streets of San Francisco are still very lively.觮

As the origin of kerosene, California's kerosene is relatively cheap and the supply is relatively abundant. The street lights on the main roads in major cities in California are usually lit until dawn and then go out, which feels like a city that never sleeps.

"I have only seen this kind of scene in New York. I didn't expect that there is such a bustling city that never sleeps in the border areas." Lincoln sighed.

"Mr. Lincoln, you invite us to watch a play, and we treat you to a midnight snack." Liang Yao pointed to the stalls outside the theater and said.

At one o'clock in the morning, most restaurants and even pubs have already closed due to operating costs.

Only the street outside the Jardine Theater was still in business until late at night due to the theater's stable customer base.

After watching the drama with Lincoln for several hours, Liang Yao felt a little hungry and planned to have some late-night snacks here before going back to Tingtaoyuan.

"It's a great honor." Lincoln said with satisfaction after watching the play.觮

The three of them came to a relatively clean stall. Liang Yao ordered a shrimp dumpling, a roasted pork, a stack of peanuts, and a bowl of Chaos. Fremont ordered half a roast goose and one Roast braised pigeon, and a seafood soup with abalone sauce.

Lincoln didn't know what to order, so he ordered exactly what Liang Yao and Fremont ordered.

Freemont was a little surprised to see Lincoln order so many, but Liang Yao was not surprised at all.

Lincoln came from a poor family, had done menial jobs, and it was not surprising that he had a big appetite.

They were surrounded by spectators who had just come out of the Jardine Theater. These spectators also gathered in small groups and found a suitable seat on the commercial street to eat late-night snacks and chat.

Unlike the east, the most hotly debated issue among Californians is not the abolition of slavery, but more of an economic one, such as where is the most promising place for development in California right now.

Learn a skill at an adult vocational school and work as a senior technician in a factory, work as an oil worker in Los Angeles, or use your savings to try mining in Nevada.觮

These are issues that immigrants in California are more interested in talking about.

Of course, there are a few people who talk about the North-South issue, but after all, this is the far west of the United States. The North-South issue is too far away from ordinary people, so there are relatively few people discussing these issues.

"After watching a wonderful drama and eating delicious snacks, life in California is really pleasant." Lincoln devoured the meal in front of him.

“The people live a prosperous life and are not disturbed by war. This can be regarded as a pure land in the United States. In the East, people are either talking about the black problem or whether they should vote for Buchanan or Scott.

I heard that the Civic Party is going to vote for Buchanan of the Democratic Party. Does your party support Mr. Buchanan’s campaign ideas more? "

Lincoln seemed to have a good appetite, and Fremont, who was sitting next to Lincoln, had a surprised expression on his face: You call this a snack? I can't even eat that much for a regular meal.

After taking a few bites of the shrimp dumplings, Liang Yao asked the stall for a small jar of wine and three wine glasses.觮

The stall owner saw that Liang Yao and others were dressed in luxurious clothes and had extraordinary temperament. He knew that the status of the three of them was unusual. He took out a jar of his own red lees wine and poured it for the three of them: "How can three distinguished guests come to a place like me?" The small stall is my honor, but here I only have some bad wine drunk by the peddlers and lackeys. If the three of you are not used to drinking it, why don't you go somewhere else and buy some good wine for the three of you?"

"No need, it's him."

Fremont took a sip of the wine in his glass. He still quite likes this kind of wine with a rich taste, a bit sour and sweet taste, and a bit strange color.

After drinking too much high-end wine, Fremont also wanted to try something new. Fremont took out a 5-dollar gold coin and handed it to the stall owner as payment for the drink.

The stall owner said that the jar of wine was not worth $5, and Fremont said that the extra money should be regarded as a tip for him.

"Not necessarily. To be honest, the Citizens Party is not satisfied with either candidate. I don't know where you heard these rumors. Will the Citizens Party vote for Buchanan or Scott in the end? It will be up to the voters of California and the all-party convention to decide." Fremont asked Lincoln.

"Mr. Lincoln, I wonder which candidate the Republican Party is more inclined to support in this election?"

"Like your party, the jury is still out," Lincoln said. "To be honest, the Republican Party wants to nominate a candidate to represent the Republican Party this time. But as you know, the Republican Party is new and weak, and there are many people in the party who are from Hui. There are members of the Georgian Party and the Democratic Party, and the Republican Party needs time to integrate the members within the party.

However, one thing is certain. Our party insists on safeguarding the unity of the United States and opposes slavery, an inhumane system that damages the country's image and hinders social progress. "

“However, the Constitution of the United States does not stipulate that the United States must be a unified political entity. States have the right to join the union and the right to withdraw from the union.

The Declaration of Independence never said that all people are equal regardless of color, size, intellectual level, moral level and social ability. "Liang Yao said sharply.

()

1 second remember network: