1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 555 Restless Night

When Stanford first took office as the governor of the Utah Territory, the Mormons were relatively honest and behaved with their tail between their legs.

As Stanford revealed his pro-Mormon attitude and joined the Mormons himself, the Mormons became arrogant again.

It is nothing new for armed Mormons to station sentries at various traffic arteries in and out of the Utah Territory, interrogate and trouble people passing through, and force new immigrants to convert.

It's not that Liang Shaoyu hasn't reported these things to Stanford, but Stanford always excused himself by saying he couldn't bear it any longer.

"Please calm down first. I have a bigger problem with the Mormons than you do. They only occasionally commit crimes in California, but I have to deal with them every day."

When Cai Mingsheng got tired of scolding, Liang Shaoyu, who had always had a good temper, patiently said to Cai Mingsheng.

Stanford is fully responsible for matters related to the Mormon Church, and Liang Shaoqiong is only responsible for the specific immigration work in the Utah Territory.

Over the past year or so, immigrants from the east and west have poured into the Utah Territory in large numbers. The number of Han immigrants alone has exceeded 40,000, accounting for almost half of the population of the Utah Territory.

Merely demarcating land can ease conflicts between old and new immigrants, non-Mormon immigrants and Mormon immigrants. Liang Shaoyu was extremely busy with the complicated and trivial matters of resettling new immigrants and providing them with loans and tools.

He simply did not have the extra time and energy to deal with Mormon matters alone, not to mention that Liang Yao had already left all Mormon matters to Stanford. Liang Shaoyu was not in a position to intervene.

It's just that Mormonism has recently begun to have a tendency to spread its followers among the Han people, which has gradually touched Liang Shaoyu's bottom line.

Liang Shaoyu also hopes that the issue of the Mormon Church in Utah can be resolved once and for all as soon as possible.

"Occasionally? There are several cases that happen almost every month. You call this occasional. All the police force in California is wasted on the cases sent to Utah!" Cai Mingsheng roared again.

"If you want to get angry, get angry at Stanford. He will take care of this matter." Liang Shaoyu also had a sullen look on his face.

"Where is this kid? I heard that he has also joined a cult. I want to find out from him!" Cai Mingsheng shouted.

"He is busy preparing for his own birthday party tomorrow. It is easy to find him. You should have a good rest at my place today and recharge your batteries. Then you will have the energy to scold Stanford tomorrow." Liang Shaoyu advised. .

He also hopes to put pressure on Stanford through Cai Mingsheng to solve the Mormon problem as soon as possible.

Once the Mormon problem is solved, his immigration work will be much easier and smoother.

While Liang Shaoyu and Cai Mingsheng were talking, they heard the servant report: "Mr. Schneider, please see me."

Liang Shaoyu has been in charge of immigration work in Salt Lake City for more than a year, so he has to deal with local old white immigrants.

Schneider is one of the richest white men in Salt Lake City. Although he and Schneider were not very familiar, they had met several times at parties, so they had some impressions.

As far as he knew, Schneider was also a Mormon, but since Schneider did not fully recognize the teachings of the Mormon Church, Schneider had never been very friendly with the middle and upper classes of the Mormon Church.

"Mr. Schneider please come in."

Liang Shaoyu didn't know the reason for Schneider's visit, but since he was visiting late at night, there must be something very important, so Liang Shaoyu decided to meet Schneider.

It was already one o'clock in the morning when Schneider arrived at Liang Shaoqiong's residence. Liang Shaoyu was not in the habit of staying up late. If Cai Mingsheng hadn't made a special trip from San Francisco to Salt Lake City to vent his anger, Liang Shaoyu would have fallen asleep by now.

"Mr. Liang, I'm sorry for disturbing you late at night."

The first thing Schneider said was to apologize to Liang Shaoyu.

With the light from the kerosene lamp, Liang Shaoyu saw Schneider and his daughter. Their clothes were covered with dirty mud and snow. There were some fresh scars on Schneider's face, as if he had accidentally fallen on the way here. .

"I heard that your riding skills have always been very good. How could you fall off your horse so accidentally?" Liang Shaoyu motioned to the servant to bring some bruise medicine to Schneider to apply first.

"I didn't come here on horseback, I came here on foot." Schneider said breathlessly.

"Please be sure to save our family."

As he said this, Schneider knelt down directly to Liang Shaoyu, regardless of whether his daughter was still with him or his dignity as a father.

"You are the only one who can save us in Utah."

There are many Mormon spies in Salt Lake City, even late at night.

For more than a decade, the Mormon Church has exercised high-pressure rule over believers in Utah, encouraging believers to report on each other and providing generous rewards to whistleblowers.

To give an example that is not an exaggeration, it is such a private matter as which wife a Mormon slept with that night, the disharmony of the couple’s life, and how long they lasted. The elders knew everything about it the next day, as detailed as if they had watched a live broadcast.

The elders who are more harmonious will use this incident to ridicule and beat the believers involved in public. The elders who are more thoughtful will thoughtfully give you some folk remedies that they don't know whether they have any effect or not to encourage you.

Under such strict surveillance, Schneider did not dare to ride a horse to find Liang Shaoyu with great fanfare. Instead, he chose to walk, rolling and crawling all the way, avoiding the overt and covert eyes of the Mormons before arriving at Liang Shaoyu's residence.

"Let's talk about it when we get up." Liang Shaoyu helped Schneider stand up and sit down, and the servant also brought bruise medicine to apply on Schneider.

Schneider told Liang Shaoyu the whole story, and finally said to Liang Shaoyu in tears: "Mr. Liang, I know you have an unmarried son. If you don't mind it, I am willing to use all my property as a dowry. My daughter will marry your son.”

For an ordinary person, faced with such a good thing such as wealth and wealth, he would definitely be eager to ask for it, and he would like to agree immediately.

But Liang Shaoyu is not an ordinary person, and he is not short of money. Schneider is at best a rich man from Salt Lake City, and Schneider's little wealth is not of concern to him.

As for his son Liang Xi's marriage, Liang Shaoyu had also considered it.

Liang Shaoyu hoped that his son could marry a daughter of a prominent family in the eastern region like Liang Yao. Schneider is not qualified to marry into the Liang family.

Of course, these words are too hurtful to say directly, especially when the other party is now in a desperate situation. Liang Shaoyu said to Schneider very tactfully: "My children often tell me that he must first make a career before starting a family. What we do It’s not easy for parents to embarrass their children.”

"As long as you are willing, I can marry you as a concubine. I know that you Han people have the custom of marrying concubines to legalize your lover." Schneider risked his life.

Marrying his daughter to Liang Shaoyu as a concubine would at least break away from the control of the Mormons. Although this was not a good ending for his daughter, it was still better than marrying his daughter to a Mormon.

"Nonsense!"

Liang Shaoyu glanced at Sarafina. Although white children matured earlier, Sarafina's childishness could still be seen on her face. Besides, he was not good at this either.

"I can be your daughter's father, how can I do this!"

"Godfather!"

Sarafina was also smart and wanted to recognize Liang Shaoyu as her godfather on the spot.

Cai Mingsheng on the side was deeply moved when he saw this scene.

Schneider is a wealthy man in Salt Lake City. He has no way to deal with the difficulties faced by the Mormons and can only hope to be protected by Liang Shaoyu.

What would an ordinary person do?

"Mr. Schneider, please don't make it difficult for him."

Cai Mingsheng was kind-hearted and couldn't stand it anymore. He came to Sarafina who was crying and sighed: "What a handsome girl, those people in the cult are really evil."

Cai Mingsheng also has a daughter, so he can empathize more with Schneider's experience.

"Who is this gentleman?" Schneider had never met Cai Mingsheng, and he was curious and looking forward to Cai Mingsheng's identity.

"Mr. Schneider, let me introduce to you. This is the Chief Superintendent of California, Mr. Cai Mingsheng." Liang Shaoyu's eyes lit up and he immediately introduced to Schneider.

Cai Mingsheng lost his son in his early years, and now he has no children. He does have two godsons who are slightly older than Sarafina. It would be great if Cai Mingsheng is willing to take care of this business.

Liang Shaoyu is the leader of the Chinese immigrants in Utah. Before liquidating the Mormons, Liang Shaoyu did not want to break up with the Mormons directly.

"Girl, don't be afraid, those cultists can't change the world." Cai Mingsheng said to Sarafina in a gentle tone.

"I don't have a biological son, but I have two godsons who I regard as my own. They are both single and quite promising. When they come back from the Qing Dynasty, if you like them, choose one to marry. If Don’t be afraid if you don’t like me, I will accept you as my goddaughter!”

Liang Shaoyu rolled his eyes at Cai Mingsheng. One of your two godsons is Liang Yao's right-hand man, and the other is serving in the newly formed machine gun regiment. They are both promising young men. You call this still promising?

——————

Meanwhile, on the other side of Salt Lake City.

Tonight is also a sleepless night for Stanford, Kruger, Pinkerton, Pan Baolin and others.

Stanford came to the room where the papers were stacked.

The file cabinets were crammed full of mountains of information, which made him, a veteran litigator, sigh: "It's really shocking. What you Chinese say is too overwhelming to write down."

"This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are three other rooms, all of which contain evidence of crimes committed by the Mormon Church over the years." Pan Baolin said.

"In addition to these, there is a whole warehouse of physical evidence. There are also many witness witnesses. They were secretly sent to California for protection by Mr. Pinkerton. They can testify in court at any time."

"Have you sorted everything out?" Stanford walked out of the room cautiously.

"Everything has been sorted out, and the evidence is sufficient. Those criminals can be tried at any time! We are just waiting for this day." Pan Baolin said eagerly.

"It took our team of judges a whole year to collect and sort out their charges."

Stanford looked solemn, took off his hat and said to Kruger and Pinkerton: "Colonel Kruger, Mr. Pinkerton, after tomorrow, it will be an arduous war. Thank you for your hard work."

"It is the responsibility of our Intelligence Bureau to arrest criminals and cooperate with the court."

Pinkerton didn't feel the workload or pressure was heavy, but felt very excited.

Arresting criminals and matching wits with cunning criminals are his job and hobby. Pinkerton just likes this. The more criminals there are and the more cunning they are, the more excited Pinkerton feels.

This is something that is difficult for ordinary people to understand, but Pinkerton is immersed in it and enjoys it.

Krueger's reaction was relatively dull. For him, assisting Stanford in arresting the criminal Mormons was just following orders.

Stanford brought a bunch of letters of appointment and solemnly walked to Pan Baolin: "Your Excellency the President has specially appointed you as the Chief Justice of the Territory of Utah, and our team has been officially appointed by His Excellency the President.

I hope you will live up to your trust, fulfill your mission, uphold the spirit of the Constitution and a fair attitude, try these evildoers, bring justice to the victims, and bring peace to Utah. "

The United States adheres to the separation of powers, and executive interference in the judiciary is a taboo.

Although Stanford also came from the judiciary, he was already the chief executive of the Utah Territory and could not serve as a judge in the trial.

Therefore, Stanford submitted an application to Buchanan in advance and recommended Pan Paulin as the justice of the Utah Court. The team of 38 California judges who followed him to Utah were also appointed to preside over the trials of the Utah Court.

"We will definitely fulfill our mission!" Pan Baolin solemnly accepted the letter of appointment and prepared to do a great job.

The 38 judges also felt proud. This year, they had heard many cases involving Mormons.

However, due to various reasons, only some lower-class Mormons were convicted in the end, and the real heinous criminals remained at large.

Their focus is on collecting and sorting out criminal evidence against Mormons.

Therefore, these judges are also nicknamed Mormon judges by Utah people who do not know the actual situation.

They have long wanted to judge the middle and upper classes of the Mormon Church in order to clear their name.