Chapter 67: Digging the Panama Canal?

More updates for the helmsman!

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Vanderbilt looked carefully at the letter Liang Yao handed him. After reading the letter, Vanderbilt didn't feel much in his heart. It seemed that everything was as he expected.

There is no free lunch in the world. The moment he decided to get involved in California gold, he was ready to fight with these consortiums.

But the speed of reaction of these consortia still exceeded his imagination.

It is rumored that Astor is too conservative and not aggressive enough. This view is biased in his opinion.

It is true that Astor Jr. may not be as capable as his father, Astor Sr., the founder of the Astor family.

But there is no doubt about his ability, at least better than his Vanderbilt son.

In the context of the economic downturn in the United States, the safest thing to do is to continue investing in New York real estate. At any time, closing is a sure-fire deal.

While investing in New York real estate, little Astor also reached out to California gold, a sure-profit deal, which shows that his vision is still good.

"How are you going to deal with it?"

Vanderbilt returned the letter to Liang Yao.

"I have the people of California behind me, and of course it's not enough to just rely on the people of California. California is not strong enough right now."

Liang Yao said after sorting out his thoughts.

“The East needs our mouthpiece. We cannot win the sympathy of the plutocrats, but we can win the sympathy of the people in the East. Especially the sympathy of Texans.

Although Texas was born out of the Lone Star Republic, the land in the hands of those immigrants is, after all, a land grant from the Mexican government. If the government insists on taking back the land in California, it will make them feel uneasy. What we have to do is, It just amplifies this uneasy feeling. "

Vanderbilt showed appreciation for Liang Yao's ability to remain calm in this situation and come up with reasonable countermeasures.

“Although I have not been involved in the newspaper industry, I still have some connections in the media circle.

If Congress passes a bill to take back California land, it will be an unconstitutional act. I don’t think all congressmen are so brainless. I also have some friends in Texas. When I went back to New York, I happened to drop by to visit them. "

"I will ask Henry to buy several influential newspapers in New York and Washington. If Henry needs Mr. Vanderbilt's help, I hope that Vanderbilt will not hesitate to lend a helping hand."

Liang Yao is still willing to spend the money that should be spent. If the land in California is taken back by the federal government, all his efforts will be in vain. By then it will be too late to spend money to buy public opinion.

Vanderbilt's decisive attitude was beyond Liang Yao's expectation. He had thought that Vanderbilt would be wavering on this matter, but it seemed that he was judging a gentleman's heart with a villain's heart.

Vanderbilt was far more courageous than the Vanderbilt he remembered. Perhaps this is why Vanderbilt, a man with mud-legged origins, was able to rise in New York, a place full of patriarchs of aristocratic families.

"It would be the easiest way to buy it outright," Vanderbilt said. "I can do some walking around for you in New York and Philadelphia, but in California, it's up to you."

Vanderbilt felt a little thirsty. He drank a cup of tea and continued talking.

“I want to connect the waters within Nicaragua and widen them so that larger ships can pass through, making transportation more efficient east to California.

This requires a lot of manpower, and the cost of labor in the United States is very high. Of course, I can also hire local natives and native white people, who are cheaper than American labor. However, I have visited Nicaragua and found that they are too lazy. Hiring them is not a wise move.

I also inspected Chinese immigrants in California. They are very hard-working and can endure hardships, so I want to recruit some Chinese laborers through your channel to help me open up the water system of Nicaragua.

I will not let your help go in vain. I will re-establish the California Shipping Company, with the two of us holding shares together, and monopolizing this route together. "

Vanderbilt thought about what he saw and heard on the Sacramento that day. He was deeply impressed by the Chinese immigrants who braved the scorching sun to reclaim land on both sides of the American River.

"I have also learned scattered information about China from some missionaries before. You built a Grand Canal that runs from north to south more than 1,200 years ago and is nearly a thousand miles long.

More than two thousand years ago, in order to resist the invasion of aliens, you built thousands of miles of city walls in the north. I was skeptical about this news until I saw those hard-working Chinese immigrants with my own eyes. "

"Mr. Vanderbilt, I can tell you responsibly that these are all true, but these great miracles were built with thousands of corpses piled up. Such miracles are not worth boasting about."

Vanderbilt wanted to hire some Chinese workers to realize his ambitions in Nicaragua. Liang Yao did not object. He also hoped that more Chinese workers could come to the United States and gradually enhance the Chinese people's voice in the United States.

The premise is that they must receive the respect and treatment they deserve.

Instead of deducting the wages of Chinese laborers to only 33rd of white laborers like Leland Stanford did when he built the Pacific Railroad.

"If you are willing to obtain legal American citizenship for them and give them a salary that is not much different from that of white workers, I think you can attract a lot of Chinese workers to immigrate here. As for the language communication problem, I can set up a labor dispatch company to solve it. When the project and labor contract are over, these workers will decide whether to stay or go.

However, my personal suggestion is that the first choice is to dig a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in Panama. Panama has a much broader prospect than Nicaragua. Panama can directly pass large ships, while Nicaragua requires a combination of land and shipping.

In the next few years, we will also have enough financial resources to support this huge project."

Vanderbilt's idea of ​​hiring Chinese workers is nothing more than the cost-effectiveness of Chinese workers.

If the labor cost of Chinese workers is similar to that of American workers, using Chinese workers will not be attractive to Vanderbilt.

After all, Vanderbilt is a capitalist, not a great philanthropist.

All Liang Yao can do is try his best to get better conditions for his compatriots.

At this time, the cost of American labor was five or six times that of the Qing Dynasty. As long as the wages of Chinese workers were not much different from those of American workers, they could live a better life here than in the Qing Dynasty.

At the same time, Liang Yao also gave his pertinent advice. Compared with connecting the water system in Nicaragua, he hoped that Vanderbilt would dig the Panama Canal directly.

After digging this canal, tolls can be collected for a long time in the future.

"If possible, I would also prefer to dig a canal directly in Panama. I have a good relationship with the senior officials of the Republic of New Granada.

They also welcome foreign capital to participate in this great project, but now the route from the eastern United States to Panama is controlled by William Aspinwall, that is, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. At present, I have no right to get involved in this route, otherwise I will offend everyone in the government, which is not worth the loss.

In addition, Nicaragua also has the advantage of Nicaragua. This route is 500 miles shorter than the Panama route, which can save two days. time!

Indeed, as you said, the disadvantages of this route are obvious. It requires a combination of shipping and land transportation. Ships, especially large ships, cannot directly cross Nicaragua, which limits the transportation of goods.

Passengers go up the San Juan River, cross the 100-mile-long Lake Nicaragua, and then need to change to a carriage to travel 5 miles to reach the Pacific coast, where they can change to a ship to California. "

The land route 5 kilometers from Nicaragua to the Pacific Ocean is a mountainous area, and the geological conditions are not suitable for digging artificial canals. This is the biggest disadvantage of this route.