Chapter 92: Playing with Fire?
Sacramento gold-producing area.
The sudden rain made the whole Sacramento cool.
For the gold mining companies and teams with sufficient supplies, the first rain in early autumn was nothing.
But for the New York consortiums who were short of food and clothing, it was simply a nightmare.
The New York consortium's gold mining camp was located in the American River section fifteen miles away from Sacramento.
The machines they brought greatly improved the efficiency of gold washing.
The joy brought by the gold did not last long. There were old miners with extremely unfriendly attitudes near their camp. They had to be on guard day and night to prevent these barbaric miners from attacking their camp and robbing their gold.
This is Sacramento. The people here are not as polite to them as the nobles and their vanguards as the citizens of New York.
Whether it is Sacramento or San Francisco, the local people refused to sell them food, daily necessities, and gold mining supplies, even if they were willing to pay a high price.
John and Milners, two insignificant figures in the family, played the role of leaders and saviors at this critical moment.
The Astor family behind John is the most financially powerful family in the New York consortium, and the Van Rensselaer family behind Milners is old enough.
The key is that these two people are not lackeys of the New York consortium, they are real family members.
The children of the noble family went to California to pan for gold in person. This courage alone convinced the lackeys of other families in the consortium and elected them as the leaders of the team.
They hoped that these two leaders could lead them through this difficult time.
It must be said that California is a place for training people. The setbacks and hardships experienced in the past two months have smoothed John's edges.
John is no longer as sharp as when he first came to California.
He united the New York consortium and the consortium forces of other states who decided to fight Liang Yao to the end, and occupied a section of the American River for gold panning operations.
John also took out some food supplies for the first time and shared them with these partners.
John's generosity won him a lot of praise.
As for Milners, his character was inherited from his family and he was always known for his calmness.
Milners was very foresighted. He had a small steamer brought from New York. This small steamer named West could sail on the navigable section of the American River.
This small steamer was responsible for the transportation of food supplies for the New York consortium's gold rush team of more than 900 people.
Because Liang Yao claimed that the port of San Francisco belonged to him personally, he prohibited them from using the port of San Francisco.
Therefore, they could only use the small steamer to load the materials that had been unloaded from the big ship with great difficulty in advance, and then use the West small steamer to go upstream and transport them to their camp.
But today, Captain Matthew on the West brought them terrible news.
"Mr. Milners, I have some bad news to tell you. The steam turbine on the Western has broken down."
"Then fix it. Don't we have the best mechanics in New York?" Milners said.
The steam turbines of this era are not reliable, which is why people don't trust ships.
In order to solve this problem, almost every capable ship owner will equip the steamship with a mechanic. Just like a sailmaker on a sailing ship.
"Yes, our mechanics are excellent, and the fault of the machine has been found, but..." Captain Matthew hesitated.
"But what?" Milners' face was as gloomy as the weather today.
"All the spare parts we brought have been used up. This kind of parts can only be bought in New York." Captain Matthew said truthfully.
Without parts, even the most skilled mechanics can't do anything when facing mechanical failures.
"Are you kidding? Captain Matthew, you must find a way to fix it. Without the Occidental, we will all starve to death or freeze to death here!" Milners said, "Is there any other way to fix it?"
"Yes, there is a ship repair center in the San Francisco shipyard. They have the ability to repair small steamships." Matthew stopped there.
He had made his words very clear, and Milners should understand what he meant. The San Francisco shipyard and the ship repair center are all 100% owned by Liang Yao.
"You must find a way to fix the Occidental yourself."
Milners said coldly and got into the warm tent behind him. He planned to go into the tent to drink a cup of hot coffee to warm his body, otherwise he would have to catch a cold.
Getting a little disease in this ghost place is a very fatal thing.
Not far from the tent, the workers recruited by their consortium from New York were panning for gold in the cold river water in the heavy rain.
"Bad luck keeps coming one after another."
Inside the tent, John, wearing a blanket, poured a cup of hot coffee for Milners. He also had some bad news to tell Milners.
"At least a quarter of the workers were infected with cholera malaria, and seven or eight workers died in the past two days. This has dealt a heavy blow to our morale.
I heard that the doctors at Sacramento Hospital are capable of curing these workers, but Sacramento Hospital also belongs to Liang Yao."
In order to stabilize the workers' emotions, John even asked his private doctor to treat these workers.
Of course, just to see a doctor, he refused to use any of those precious medicines.
This is not because John has a good heart, but because John needs these workers to work for him, and he does not care whether these workers live or die.
"Sooner or later I will take this guy Liang Yao to court. The hardships we have suffered in California cannot be in vain." Milnas said angrily.
"The Occidental must be repaired early, and the supplies I entrusted Aspinwall to purchase from Oregon will arrive in San Francisco in a week. Without the Occidental, we will have to send people to carry these things overland to our camp. ”
John asked, emphasizing the seriousness of not having a Western.
"Is there any news from Congressman Calhoun? As long as Congress passes the bill not to recognize the Mexican land grant, we can end this hellish life and move to Liang Yao's seaside manor. I think the fireplace there must be very nice. warm."
Congress did not recognize the Mexican land grant and put out bids for land in the Sacramento area, which was the driving force and spiritual pillar that allowed them to persist here for so long.
When the Congress was mentioned, these two embarrassed aristocratic children cheered up in unison. They believed that the respected Mr. Calhoun would definitely surprise them.
"I think it's time. I heard that California is about to become a state. I already have a suitable candidate for governor."
Milnas said after taking a sip of steaming coffee.
"I also got to know a guy who is a good example of Brandon. He used to be an officer. This guy almost killed Liang Yao. He now has a team of more than a hundred people." John said proudly, "When necessary , I will order him to provide us with some services, such as helping us get some food and clothing to keep out the cold. "
Liang Yao was unable to buy off the New York consortium that divided them, and the New York consortium was helpless in the face of the united miners.
But in the end, John found a breakthrough, and that was Liang Yao's enemy.
"Brandon? Isn't this the wanted deserter? John, you are crazy, I have to remind you, you are playing with fire!"
Milnas came from a well-known family and naturally disdained to associate with bandits. He put down the cup in his hand and reminded John.
"Milnas! Please lower your attitude, surviving here is the most important thing!
Maybe Brandon was once a bandit with a lot of crimes, but as long as Liang Yao can be beaten as a criminal, Brandon can be whitewashed into a hero who fights against criminals. Our number of injured and injured is increasing, and we need the help of some local armed forces, even bandits. "
John disagreed. He felt that this matter was very feasible.