Chapter 54: Shoulders of Giants

Although Vanderbilt was 56 years old, he was still very strong. Google search reading

Liang Yao's hand was a little painful because of Vanderbilt's clamp, but he still pretended to be calm and persisted.

I wonder if Mr. Vanderbilt had other intentions, or did he like to shake hands with everyone in this strange way when he first met them?

Later generations had mixed opinions on Vanderbilt. Some people regarded him as an American hero, while others denounced him as an American scum.

But evaluation is subjective, and facts are objective. No matter how it is evaluated, it cannot change the fact that Vanderbilt changed the American society in the 19th century by himself.

Before Vanderbilt, no American had ever done this.

As for the old aristocrats like Astor, perhaps the assets they now have can still be compared with Vanderbilt, but they only changed the fate of a family, not the entire society.

And these families focus on real estate investment. In essence, they are still big landlords who are officials and businessmen. They are only responsible for sucking blood, not for making blood.

Their existence is a stumbling block to social progress.

Even if these old families and big financial groups drive up the land prices in New York to a level higher than the lowest prices in the whole of Britain. It cannot change the fact that the United States is now lagging behind Britain. It will only increase the cost of living of the American people, and finally cause public resentment and shoot themselves in the foot.

What really pushed the United States to the top of the world are the advanced factories and industrial products that have sprung up in the United States like mushrooms after rain during the Second Industrial Revolution.

Only industry is the cornerstone of a great power.

This is true for Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and any future world hegemon will be like this.

Even Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Morgan, who are richer than Vanderbilt, regard Vanderbilt as their predecessors and modestly claim that they have achieved these achievements standing on Mr. Vanderbilt's shoulders.

Undoubtedly, he is the most successful representative of the "American Dream" of this era.

It shows the world how a poor Dutch descendant can rise from the bottom of society to the upper class in the United States through his own struggle, which is similar to the script of a cool novel.

Although the so-called upper class still refuses to accept Vanderbilt, they have to admit the huge influence of Vanderbilt's wealth and huge shipping empire on the United States.

"Father, your old problem comes back again!"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at Vanderbilt, which broke the awkward handshake.

Vanderbilt laughed heartily and patted Liang Yao's shoulders hard.

"You are quite strong, young man."

"You are more like a captain or a sailor than a businessman. I will ask someone to prepare a carriage for you and this lady."

Liang Yao put his hands behind his back and moved his painful right hand out of Vanderbilt's sight.

"No need, the road conditions here are very good, we will walk all the way to your manor. Let me introduce, this is my daughter Elizabeth."

Vanderbilt introduced Elizabeth to Liang Yao.

"Hello, Miss Elizabeth, nice to meet you."

"I am also very honored to meet you, Mr. Liang. I have seen many reports about you in the newspapers, and those newspapers describe you as a rude thug and an uneducated upstart without exception."

Elizabeth pinched her small minibus, pouted her lips slightly, and looked at the light under the street lamp curiously. She really couldn't think of what words to use to describe the man in front of her.

At least from the appearance and behavior, it is difficult to give him a suitable label.

Say he is gentle, like his father dress casually, say he is rude, and treat people politely.

"At least you look more gentle and more cultivated than my father."

This made Liang Yao laugh a little, and Vanderbilt also glared at Elizabeth unhappily.

Although Vanderbilt dropped out of school at the age of eleven to work and had little education, a person's cultivation cannot be linked to his education level.

However, it is true that Vanderbilt has a lot of street-smart habits, which is one of the reasons why the New York upper class sneers at him.

"To be honest, the situation in California is better than I expected. There is really a lot of potential here."

Vanderbilt walked briskly while walking side by side with Liang Yao towards Tingtao Garden on the seaside.

"It's not that there is a lot of potential. California is the future of America. If you invest a dollar here, you will get ten dollars or even hundreds of dollars in the near future.

The Nicaragua route you opened will also bring you at least millions of dollars in revenue every year."

Liang Yao was not exaggerating. The Nicaragua route helped Vanderbilt get through the more difficult years of his life in the 1950s.

This route can bring Vanderbilt at least millions of dollars in profits every year.

The gold in California gave the United States the opportunity to stand on the stage of the gold standard and compete with Britain, defeating the two largest silver empires in the world: the Qing Empire and Spain.

He had begun planning the New York-Nicaragua-California route two years ago, and had established deep friendships with the leaders of Nicaragua and several surrounding Central American countries to pave the way for it.

Based on Vanderbilt's high emotional intelligence and money ability, what Vanderbilt says in these countries is more effective than the White House.

One of the secrets of Vanderbilt's success is his keen business sense and always one step ahead of his peers.

However, no matter how good his vision is, he can't stand his son's betrayal, which has led to the fact that his route has not yet been completed.

"But I don't have a monopoly on this route. There are seven large shipping companies competing with me on this route, and there are countless small and medium-sized shipping companies, but this is not the most critical."

Vanderbilt's face showed a trace of worry.

Although Vanderbilt was already one of the richest men in the United States at this time, and his shipping empire was also famous throughout the United States, he did not complete the monopoly of the US shipping industry.

Vanderbilt had to wait until the mid-1950s to completely complete the monopoly of the US shipping industry.

In the shipping field, he still has many powerful competitors.

The existence of these competitors forced him to slow down his pace of entering the railway transportation industry.

"You mean the Pacific Mail Steamship Company that monopolizes the Panama route?"

At this time, the information Liang Yao had collected at great expense came in handy.

The Pacific Mail Steamship Company is one of Vanderbilt's strong competitors. It is not a shipping company with a long history.

In fact, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company was only established in 1848, and its purpose was to monopolize the New York-Panama-San Francisco route.

It stands to reason that a newly established shipping company would not pose a threat to Vanderbilt, the shipping giant.

But the Pacific Mail Steamship Company is backed by the United States Postal Service, which has a strong government background, and the company's shareholders are those wealthy aristocratic consortiums in New York, and these consortiums are not on good terms with Vanderbilt.

This is the source of Vanderbilt's concerns.

The Pacific Mail Steamship Company later obtained the franchise for routes from the United States to China and Japan. The Chinese workers who built the Pacific Railway were transported from China to the United States by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company's ships.

Until the 21st century, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company still existed, but it was renamed as the American President Lines (APL).

"How did you know this?"

Vanderbilt was very surprised. He didn't expect that in California, where information was blocked, there were still people who knew that the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, which was established not long ago, had a monopoly on the Panama route.

His interest in Liang Yao also became stronger and stronger.