1850 American Gold Tycoon

"Your roads in California are really good, better than New York."

Lincoln rode a Puma bicycle to Liang Yao's Tingtao Garden.

Lincoln was a man who was willing to try new things. When Liang Yao got married in New York, he used his connections to purchase a Puma bicycle from the Crystal Palace Mall in New York at a discounted price of US$110 (original price of US$150).

Cycling on the potholed roads in New York is a torture, but in California, since urban areas of major cities in California are paved with cement roads, some sections of the roads are also paved with expensive asphalt roads.

Therefore, riding a bike in a California city and riding a bike in New York are two completely different experiences, at least your butt won’t have to suffer so much.

"You came to me specifically to praise California's road conditions, right?" Liang Yao said with a smile.

California's road conditions are indeed second to none in the United States. This is due to the fact that most local governments in California have relatively strong finances and have sufficient funds for road construction and maintenance.

If you want to get rich, the slogan "Build roads first" has already spread throughout California. Governments across California are very enthusiastic about building roads.鎜

In addition to highways, the roads here also include railways.

Commissioner Lincoln's thorough investigation of the California Customs Bureau has made headlines in major newspapers in California. Although Lincoln has not announced the details to the outside world, it can also be indirectly understood that Lincoln requested the California Department of Finance to allocate manpower to temporarily take over the work of the California Customs Bureau. It can be seen that Lincoln's anti-corruption efforts this time are very strong.

It was so big that so many people were arrested that the California Bureau of Customs could no longer function properly.

Liang Yao was not surprised that Lincoln could complete the investigation so quickly. If he couldn't deal with the corrupt elements of the California Customs Bureau, then he wouldn't be Lincoln.

"I came to talk to you about the legal issues in California." Lincoln said after parking the car.

"Legal issue?" Liang Yao was a little surprised.

"Yes, legal issues." Lincoln said as he walked away.鎜

“According to the usual practice, if officers of the Bureau of Customs are corrupt, they should be punished according to the laws of the federal government, but the laws of the federal government are too lenient towards them.

According to the Diplomatic and Consular Appropriation Act passed in 1853, it is a crime for any customs official to accept bribes in customs duties, exchange of goods, etc.

Although I have collected enough evidence to confirm that the California Bureau of Customs, from the director to the clerks, is involved in corruption.

But the bill's sentencing is still too light.

Even if these morons are prosecuted for theft, bribery, bribery, fraud, embezzlement, and abuse of power, and are punished for several crimes, the maximum penalty is only to disqualify them from public office, fine them, pay compensation, and be sentenced to ten years in prison. punishment. "

Lincoln was very familiar with American laws. He believed that American laws were still too loose, had too many loopholes, and the cost of crime was too low, which gave these corrupt elements an opportunity to take advantage of.

Imperfect laws and systems and lenient sentences were important reasons for the prevalence of corruption in the United States in the 19th century.鎜

In 1856, the United States had very limited legal provisions related to corruption of government employees, and basically issued a new bill every once in a while to fill the loopholes.

For example, the Indian Appropriation Act passed in 1853, and the Foreign and Domestic Construction Act mentioned by Lincoln above.

The first relatively systematic and complete laws in this regard in the United States were the Bribery Act and the False Claims Act, which were passed by Lincoln in 1863.

These two laws not only clearly define corruption and the penalties for corrupt government employees, but also list bribers as targets of punishment.

The bill also stipulates that whistleblowers who report corruption will receive corresponding rewards to encourage people to expose corruption.

Once this law was enacted, all federal government employees who had blatantly asked for bribes in the past were in danger, and the endemic corruption situation in American politics has improved.

It's just that Lincoln only served as president for 4 years and 41 days. For a politician with ideals and ambitions, 4 years and 41 days of political career was too short.鎜

It was so short that Lincoln only accomplished one major thing, maintaining the unity of the United States. Of course, this one thing was enough for him to shine in the annals of history.

After Lincoln's death, the two bills that Lincoln worked so hard to introduce were not well implemented. During the post-war Reconstruction period, American government employees at all levels remained corrupt.

It was not until the early 20th century that the American government became relatively transparent and clean with the improvement of relevant legal and judicial systems.

"You want to use California law to punish the criminals of the Customs Bureau?" Liang Yao said.

"Yes, according to territorial jurisdiction, California law also applies to them. The maximum penalty for corruption in California is beheading and confiscation of homes. I think this law is very applicable to them." Lincoln nodded and said.

The huge amount of corruption in the California Customs Service made Lincoln furious. He was so angry that he studied California law all night, trying to find a suitable punishment for these people.

Lincoln was extremely excited when he read that the maximum penalty for bribery in California was beheading and ransacking homes.鎜

Other states have hangings for corruption, but Lincoln did not expect that California would take it to the next level and include beheadings.

“State law does have territorial jurisdiction, but in the federal system, if there is a conflict between state law and federal law, federal law takes precedence.

It is a bit difficult to use California law to sentence the Bureau of Customs. These people are not short of money. In order to survive, they are willing to spend money to hire the best lawyers. "

Each state in the United States has its own legal system and legal procedures, and does have territorial jurisdiction to handle criminal and civil cases within and across states.

However, in the U.S. federal system, although federal law and state law coexist, in the event of a conflict between the two, federal law will take precedence.

Compared with professionals like Lincoln, Liang Yao's understanding of American law is relatively limited. After all, he is not a professional lawyer. He has only read the main laws of the United States.

As a well-known lawyer, Lincoln relied on this to make a living.鎜

Even though Liang Yao had limited knowledge of American law, he also knew that if the case went to court, Lincoln's chances of winning would be slim.

These corrupt members of the Customs Service would rather be escorted thousands of miles away to Washington for trial than be tried in a California court.

"California's laws are so rough. How can there be any good lawyers in California? Besides, with your influence in California's judicial circles, as long as you express your stance, no lawyer would dare to seriously defend them." Lincoln also saw clearly.

“They will definitely ask for a trial in federal court, but as commissioner, I can decide on the spot in California because of the seriousness of the matter.

Minister Deng estimated that the amount of money embezzled by the Customs Bureau in the past few years was at least 16 million US dollars. However, after two weeks of tracing, I found that in addition to the part that they spent in extravagance, there was still 7 million US dollars that were unaccounted for.

There must be many people in Washington who don't want people from the California Customs Service to conduct trials and judgments in Washington. "

On that day, the amount of corruption amounted to more than US$15 million.鎜

Even though Liang Yao was mentally prepared for the huge amount of corruption at the California Customs Bureau, he was still shocked when he got a relatively specific figure from Lincoln.

The money these turtle grandsons have embezzled in California over the past few years has been more than what he has earned from investing in the East over the past few years.

No wonder even the people at the General Administration of Customs are eager to be transferred to the California Customs Branch, even if they are demoted. The California Customs Service is such a sweet job.

"In 1851, the federal government's compensation for the ceded land to Texas was only 10 million US dollars, and the military expenditures approved by Congress for me to attack Mexico were only more than 4 million US dollars. This money is enough for me to attack Mexico four times." Liang Yao couldn't help but burst out. Bad language.

"The great rat of the country!"

"I couldn't agree more. It's really shocking and unprecedented. That's why I came to you and wanted to clear the relationship between the California judiciary through you. I'm begging you for this, I owe you a favor," Lincoln said.

"The behavior is so bad. If we don't kill the chicken to scare the monkeys and set an example, even if the federal government sends new personnel to fill the vacancies in the California Customs Bureau, it will only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. The situation of the California Customs Bureau will not be much better than it is now."

The greatest value of these criminals who have committed heinous crimes is to set an example for those who come after them. The more severe the punishment, the better it will deter those who come after them. Minimize losses to the federal government. "

Corruption at the California Customs Service has caused huge tax losses to the federal government. There has never been a corruption case of this egregious nature in the General Administration of Customs.

Lincoln was a pragmatic man, and it was impossible to recover the $7 million in unaccounted accounts.

Therefore, Lincoln hopes to impose the death penalty on these scumbags of the California Customs Service to minimize future losses.

"Now that you have experienced California's laws, what do you think of California's laws?" Liang Yao asked.

He wanted to hear what Lincoln had to say about California's laws.

Lincoln was a little confused as to why Liang Yao asked him this question. Was he trying to change the subject? However, it seemed that Liang Yao had no intention of shirk the matter. After thinking about it for a moment, he gave Liang Yao a reply.鎜

"Compared with the laws of other states, California's laws are more stringent and the penalties are heavier. California's laws are very strange. Some parts are eye-catching, while other parts are hard to describe. It's hard for me to evaluate.

But generally speaking, California's laws are rough. However, rough laws are not a problem in California. This is an issue that cannot be avoided in any new state or border state. After all, when New South Wales was first established, there was a lack of outstanding judicial practitioners to participate in the formulation of laws. "

Lincoln was a professional lawyer after all, and Liang Yao agreed with this assessment.

When California was founded as a state, the Caotai team was composed of members of the gold mining organization. The gold mining organization team would bring doctors with superb medical skills to California to pan for gold.

But no one would be too lazy to bring lawyers and judges to California, where there is no law, to dig for gold.

The current laws in California were formulated by Leland Stanford under the supervision of Liang Yao.

Although Stanford was also a professional lawyer, he was still a young man who was more than 20 years older when he drafted California's laws after statehood. In terms of knowledge and professional experience, he could not compare with a nationally famous barrister like Lincoln.鎜

For a young lawyer in his twenties, Liang Yao had nothing to be demanding. He was able to build California's legal framework and Stanford had already done an extraordinary job.

As for California's strict laws, heavy penalties are required in troubled times. New immigrants enter California every day, and the quality of the people varies. The laws have to be strict and the penalties have to be heavy.

"You help me improve and supplement California's laws as a favor, and I will help you with this." Liang Yao said to Lincoln.

It is difficult to find judicial talents with national legal knowledge and rich experience like Lincoln in California. Liang Yao hopes that Lincoln can help improve some California laws.

"I am a congressman from Illinois, but I have no right to amend the laws of California." Lincoln said with some embarrassment.

"I didn't ask you to modify it, I just asked you to complete it for my reference." Liang Yao said.

"It's a deal." After thinking for a moment, Lincoln agreed.鎜