1850 American Gold Tycoon

"But these lands were also promised to us by Congress. We, the early American immigrants, made great contributions to the United States during the war. Without the intelligence we provided, the American army would not have defeated the Mexican army so easily."

Jim said angrily, not forgetting to pull open his shirt to reveal the scar on his shoulder.

"This is proof that I shed blood for America!"

"Now that Congress is taking back our land, it is burning bridges!" Sutter also agreed. "Texas, New Mexico, and Utah also have land grants from the Mexican government. If we want to take back the land grants from the Mexican government, there is no way. Reasons to only take back land in California.”

The old immigrants were very angry about this. Some of them not only provided intelligence to the American army, but some even directly took up arms and participated in the battle.

"Congress makes laws, and Congress has the power to change them. There is gold buried under the soil of California. This reason alone is enough for Congress to change the law. These are John's exact words, gentlemen."

Liang Yao imitated John's tone and attitude when he spoke.

"Mr. Liang, do you have any suggestions? We want to hear your opinions."

Deputy Sheriff Cai Mingsheng said.

Among the Chinese representatives attending the meeting, only a few early immigrants had mastered English proficiently.

Most of the remaining Chinese representatives have extremely limited English proficiency and only know some daily expressions and simple words. Their hearing level is not enough to fully understand the content of the meeting.

They mostly guess what they probably said through the spokesperson's demeanor, expression, and body language.

But this is not important to them. No matter what the outcome of this meeting is, they will stand unconditionally on Liang Yao's side.

Liang Yao is their bread and butter in California and their backbone. They also believe that Liang Yao's choice is right.

"You have two choices." Liang Yao said slowly.

"The first option is to surrender. It is undeniable that the consortium in the east has the backing of Congress. They are very powerful. They hand over their land and gold and depend on them to survive.

If you are lucky, you can find a gold mining job with them to support your family, but the gold panned from the land has nothing to do with us, it will all flow into their pockets. "

"What the hell are you talking about! We discovered this gold first!"

"California boys never give in!"

"I will fight whoever wants to steal my gold!"

The deputies on the committee were in a state of great emotion, and no one was willing to accept this option, either out of dignity or profit.

And this is exactly the result Liang Yao wants to see.

Liang Yao stood up and suddenly raised his voice.

“The second option is to fight to the end for our gold and bright future! Let the Congress thousands of miles away hear our voice!

Of course, this is a difficult road, and together we will face pressure from all sides, as well as unexpected difficulties and even threats from the military.

But I'm ready for the fight!

Mr. Vanderbilt will lobby Texas farmers and planters to support us.

I have also sent people to Utah, Nevada and New Mexico to tell them the news.

Congress dares to take back California's legal lands today and their Mexican government land grants tomorrow.

The Eastern Consortium is a group of greedy ghosts with insatiable desires.

In short, we are not alone! "

"Choose to defend our land and our gold, of course! California is California for Californians."

Sartre, a former artilleryman, had a fiery temper and spoke bluntly.

"If the army dares to step into my territory and illegally occupy my private property, I will shoot them to pieces! Until they get out of my territory!"

"I've got your back! My old man! I'll kill these bastards like I killed the Mexicans!" Jim echoed.

“I don’t think things will get to this point, but if Congress blatantly violates the constitution, seizes our private property, and tramples on our dignity, I will not sit still and wait for death. All employees of the Boston Company will also take up arms and fight to the end. .”

Compared to Sutter, Robinson's stance is relatively mild, but their goals are the same.

The views of other gold mining companies were similar to Robinson's, but not as radical as those early immigrants represented by Sutter.

Chinese representatives also expressed their support for Liang Yao.

"Very good, I will fight with everyone, and I will send more guards to the Sacramento area to protect our gold and land. Whether John or other people from the Eastern Consortium set foot in the gold-producing areas of the Sacramento area, I will not be polite. .”

Liang Yao made his final statement.

After the meeting, Sartre came to Liang Yao privately.

"I want to tell you that my land and the land I sold to you are not only land grants from the Mexican government, but also land recognized by the American government." Sartre said to Liang Yao.

"And land recognized by the American government?"

This was an unexpected surprise for Liang Yao.

“The place where gold was first discovered is 64 kilometers away from my territory, which is an unclaimed land on the edge of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

At that time, the United States and Mexico were still at war, so I wrote to Colonel Mason, the commander in California, hoping that he would recognize the ownership of the land. "

As he spoke, Sartre took out a letter from his pocket. It was Colonel Mason's reply to Sartre.

The content of the reply was also very simple: Mr. Sartre, given that there is no one living in the nearby 64 kilometers, you will not be accused of illegally invading other people's land. I personally recognize your ownership of this land.

It was signed by Colonel Mason, the commander of California, and the rest of the letter contained Mason's personal doubts about whether there was a huge amount of gold buried in California.

"This letter alone doesn't explain much of the problem."

After reading the letter, Liang Yao felt a little disappointed.

"I thought so too at the time. After all, there was gold buried under these lands, and I wasn't worried about it, so I personally visited Colonel Mason and gave him some natural gold nuggets. The largest gold nugget was as big as a fist!"

"Pick the key points, Mr. Sartre," Liang Yao said.

"Don't worry, the next step is the key point. Colonel Mason is a celebrity in Ohio and Kentucky. He is very good friends with the local congressmen. Therefore, part of my land has legal procedures from the United States and even has the seal of Congress!" Sartre said with some pride, "Fortunately, I saved a hand at that time."

“How can Congress be so hasty in recognizing your ownership of these lands?”

Liang Yao was very surprised. If it was true as Sartre said, part of the land in California had legal procedures in the United States.

If Congress wants to take back the land in California, the situation is not just as simple as taking back the land donated by the Mexican government.

"At that time, no one except Colonel Mason believed that there was so much gold in California. Even Colonel Mason's friends thought he was a complete madman." Sutter said.

"If that guy Brannan hadn't spread the word that there was gold in California, there wouldn't be such gold diggers in California now."

"Sart, thank you very much, I think this is a very useful message."

Liang Yao returned to his study and found his land deeds, most of which were written in Spanish.

After some rummaging, he finally found several land deeds and procedures written in English, which indeed had the seal of Congress on them.

Liang Yao carefully selected a few copies, stuffed them into envelopes, and sent a courier to send this special envelope to Fremont and Gervin as far away as Washington. Hope it helps them.