1850 American Gold Tycoon

Suppressing his excitement, Liang Yao excitedly picked out the large and small gold particles from the bottom of the washing tank and put them into the glass bottle.

Deng Yan and the Deng brothers were all smiling, changing the dull atmosphere before.

After the washing tank was put into use, their gold mining efficiency was greatly increased. They no longer had to slowly sift gold bit by bit with a pan.

Instead, the gold-rich mineral soil and sediment are poured directly into the ore washing tank, and the flowing water is used to wash away the lighter sand and soil, completing most of the screening work for them.

All they had to do was find the gold particles that settled beneath the uneven bottom of the wash tank.

It's a pity that the blankets are now used to keep out the cold. Liang Yao doesn't have any extra blankets to use as a collection mat at the bottom of the ore washing tank. Otherwise, the gold mining efficiency can be improved to another level.

But that wasn't a problem, the nearby Indians had furs. The Indians did not know the value of gold at first, and the white people often deceived them with cheap small items in exchange for their valuable specialties, including furs.

Over time, the Indians gradually became more sophisticated and demanded gold transactions. Even Sutter's Indian employees and slaves no longer accepted payment in kind, but demanded that their wages be settled in gold.

As long as there is gold, it is not difficult to exchange some furs from the Indians. If he has enough sales and connections, he can even start a fur business and sell these things to Europe and Asia. It's just too early to think about it now.

"Third brother, a full 158 ounces of gold! This is indeed a mountain of gold! Gold is everywhere!"

As a large amount of gold was unearthed from the mining soil, Liang Yaozai's status in the hearts of everyone also increased.

They now believe more and more that as long as they listen to Liang Yao and follow Liang Yao wholeheartedly, they will have a steady stream of gold.

"Is there really so much? Third nephew, did you weigh it wrongly, mistakenly weighing sand for gold?"

Deng Yan found this result unbelievable. After working hard for more than half a month, they only found more than 130 ounces of gold. One hundred and fifty-eight ounces of gold were found in one day today. No matter how much I thought about it, it was just a dream.

Many people think this number is exaggerated. In fact, early gold miners could usually wash out about ten ounces of gold or more in a day. This is also the reason why prices in California are so crazy. If there is more gold, it will naturally become less valuable.

"It's true, there are several bottles filled." Deng Wenyu patted his chest to confirm to Deng Yan, and lowered his voice and said ecstatically, "We are rich!"

Deng Yan adjusted the musket strap on his shoulders. They had now developed the habit of never leaving their guns. Then Deng Yan slapped himself hard, grinned and said, "It's definitely not a dream."

"Congratulations to Boss Deng, congratulations to Mr. Liang, and congratulations to you all for finding a way to make money."

Cai Mingsheng sent congratulations to them.

Liang Yao asked Deng Wenyu to bring two glass bottles filled with finely divided gold, weighing a full forty ounces, and wrapped them in a rag and stuffed them into Cai Mingsheng.

"Uncle Cai has been worrying a lot these days."

"They are all from the village. Everything is done without any trouble. This is all due to Mr. Liang. Mr. Liang has great talent and has the ability to turn stone into gold."

Cai Mingsheng waved his hand and said there was no need for so much gold. After several pushbacks, he understood Liang Yao's temper and accepted the gold.

Cai Mingsheng had been working for them in Sacramento for most of the month and had no home, so he temporarily said goodbye to Liang Yao and returned to San Francisco. Before leaving, Liang Yao asked him to find some reliable craftsmen for him.

Living in tents with so many people in the middle of winter is not a long-term solution. Now that he has a certain income, Liang Yao decided to build a house here.

"Don't be too happy too early. There was a lot of gold in the mining soil at the beginning, but it will only become less and less in the future. If we want to get rich, we have to use our brains to think of other ways." Liang Yao told everyone Pour a basin of cold water on it.

The temporary success did not make Liang Yao go to his head or lose his mind, and this income was far from his goal. In his opinion, the gold mining method of washing trough is not efficient enough.

"Understood."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Third brother, we have gold, why not rent more land from Nasate? Before, we could only wash twenty or thirty barrels of mineral soil a day, but now with this washing tank, we can wash seven to eight hundred barrels a day. Ore soil. Find more craftsmen to make the ore washing trough bigger, or make several more ore washing troughs. It will not be difficult to wash thousands of barrels of ore soil a day." Deng Wenyu suggested.

"You are the only one with a bright mind! Doesn't Sartre know that there is gold in his land? Will he grant you all these lands?"

Deng Yan knocked on Deng Wenyu's forehead angrily. What Deng Yan said made sense. Sartre was indeed short-sighted, but that didn't mean he was a fool.

"These matters will be discussed in the long run. Starting tonight, you brothers will follow me in the evening to learn the words and write the words of the ghost."

Some time ago, they had to pan for gold day and night in order to survive. Now with the ore washing tank, they can save a lot of time.

After having a relatively stable path for primitive accumulation of capital, Liang Yao also wanted to start planning and build his own small business empire before the large conglomerates from the east came to California.

Liang Yao wants to train his cousins ​​to become the core management of his team in the future. However, it is difficult for illiterate people to be qualified for those management positions. It is also difficult to deal with those foreigners who do not understand English and cannot write English.

"Foreigners' foreigners look like bean sprouts. They are all similar. I know them, but they don't know me."

Deng Wenkang, the youngest, wanted to quit.

"I'm a rough man, you can learn the ghost guy's words and calligraphy, while I dig for gold."

"Good-for-nothing!" Deng Yan gave Deng Wenkang a hard kick. "You want to make a living here. If you don't know Gui Lao, how can you do it if you don't know Gui Lao's handwriting? Dig for gold and wait until the day when the gold is mined. What should you do to support yourself?"

Deng Yandang felt that he was deeply inconvenienced because he could not read. Sometimes when official documents came from the superiors, he had to ask literate people to read them to him. Now he saw that Liang Yao was willing to teach the children of the Deng family to read and digitize, but the children of the Deng family were still unwilling to learn, which made him very angry.

"I'll learn too, count me in." Deng Yan took the lead in setting an example and expressed his willingness to learn.

"Fifth brother, if you want to study in a private school in Xiangshan, you have to submit to a private school teacher. Now that Brother Yao is willing to teach us how to read and digit, it is our blessing. Brother Yao's family has been a high official in the capital. If you want to He was selected as a scholar at a young age, and he is very knowledgeable. You must be ignorant of good and evil."

Deng Wenkang's brother Deng Wenqi also advised Deng Wenkang.

"I'm willing to learn." Deng Wenkang could only nod his head and agreed.

"I want to learn too." Deng Ying, who was lighting the fire at the side, came over in disgrace when she heard their conversation and said timidly.

When Deng Yan was about to reprimand, Liang Yao stopped Deng Yan. Of course he knew what Deng Yan was going to say in this patriarchal era.

"Yingmei is a female student who is willing to learn. If you guys don't learn, then you are no better than a female student." Liang Yao said with a smile.

Liang Yao's joy did not last for a few days. The San Francisco Mounted Police rode to Sacramento and brought very bad news to the miners who were panning for gold.

Recently, more than 40 deserters stationed in nearby military fortresses have fled their camps.

Logically speaking, this news is not surprising. In 1850, the salary of ordinary soldiers in the U.S. Army was a pitiful $6 per month.

As for joining the gold mining team, as long as you are not a super African sheikh, it is easy to earn dozens or hundreds of dollars a day. With such a huge income gap, deserters are inevitable.

After the Mexican-American War, the U.S. government had at least 800 troops stationed at major military fortresses in California. Most of them are now gone.

Not to mention the garrison in California, there were many deserters from neighboring Oregon and even from the eastern United States who came to California.

It's just that this time the deserters chose a simpler and cruder method of gold mining, that is, grabbing it directly. It's not as fast as grabbing it directly by panning for gold by yourself.

What's even worse is that officers were also involved. They stole a large amount of arms from the arsenal before escaping the fortress.

Ordinary gangsters are not scary, because most of them are loosely organized violent groups that will disperse when something goes wrong.

Obviously, these deserters were not ordinary gangsters. They were well-organized, had good military training, had actual combat experience in the U.S.-Mexico War, and were even led by professional officers.

Professional soldiers act like bandits, and dealing with loose gold diggers like them is a dimensionality reduction attack.

Many leaders of gold mining companies and hired gunmen have also served as soldiers, and many of them are officers with actual combat experience. For example, Captain Weber of the Boston Company next door was an experienced officer. The five or six gunmen they hired had either served in the military of various countries or participated in actual combat as mercenaries.

But these people are scattered in different gold mining companies and organizations. They are just scattered sand on the side and cannot form much combat effectiveness.

"Those daring guys, guess what they did? They actually dared to attack San Francisco! They also ransacked many shops. Even our police chief was unfortunately shot! Fortunately, no vital parts were hurt! My God! These damn deserters should all be hanged.”

Since Liang Yao gave twenty ounces of gold to these mounted policemen running errands, these mounted policemen were also willing to reveal more details to Liang Yao. Of course, there is some exaggeration in it.

"Oh my God, take me to say hello to Chief Flagg and I will pray to God for a speedy recovery! California needs Chief Flagg and you honest police officers, without you , the security situation in California is unimaginable!”

Liang Yao said with a grief-stricken expression and tone, as if without Flagg and these mounted policemen, the whole sky in California would fall.

"Mr. Liang, I will take your words to Chief Flagg. I believe he will be very happy to hear it."

Although Liang Yao's words were very exaggerated and disgusting, these mounted policemen were very useful.

"We are very poor and don't have anything good to give to Chief Flagg to thank him for everything he has done for us in California. We can only give Chief Flagg some gold to express our gratitude." Liang Yao reluctantly took it again. Take thirty ounces of gold and entrust these troopers to deliver it to Flagg.

Flagg's injuries are not serious and will not be life-threatening. California will not replace the police chief in the short term, and there will be no disadvantages in maintaining a good relationship with Flagg.