"This is my friend, Captain Pablo, the commander of Fortress San Carlos."

Vanderbilt signaled everyone not to be nervous. After saying that, he stepped forward and chatted enthusiastically with Captain Pablo, like two old friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time.

"Mr. Vanderbilt, I just heard from nearby villagers that you came to San Carlos. I came here specifically to thank you for sending precious food to me and my soldiers when our fortress needed it most.

, otherwise my soldiers and I will starve."

Captain Pablo expressed his thanks to Vanderbilt.

"If so, I would also like to thank you for your concern and care for my route. Because of you, those lawless elements dare not harass my fleet." Vanderbilt asked with concern, "There is still enough food in the fortress.

Do you want to eat? If it’s not enough, I’ll have someone bring you some more.”

"Enough to last until next year." Pablo smiled.

"Pablo, go back to your fortress!" Chamorro sternly scolded the army captain who rashly left the military fortress.

"Yes, sir!"

The young captain who was reprimanded by Chamorro led his troops back to Fort San Carlos after talking with Vanderbilt.

After loading the gold, they boarded the boat prepared by Vanderbilt and set off again.

Vanderbilt personally piloted the ship and served as the helmsman of the pilot ship. He led the fleet across Lake Nicaragua, through the San Juan water system, and successfully arrived at the destination: Nicaragua's Atlantic port of Graytown.

The journey was very smooth and I didn't encounter anything unpleasant.

The enthusiasm of local Nicaraguan officials was beyond Liang Yao's expectation.

Liang Yao also understood why Vanderbilt's words were more effective in these Central American countries than in the White House.

The good relationship between local officials and Vanderbilt was not just due to Vanderbilt's deep pockets, as investments in Nicaragua provided tax revenue and jobs for the authorities.

It’s even more because of Vanderbilt’s unique personality.

From officials and politicians from various factions in the capital of Nicaragua to village chiefs and small military officers in villages passing through the route, Vanderbilt was not only able to accurately name them, he was also able to clearly remember the difficulties of these little people and try his best to help them.

They provide whatever help they can.

He doesn't have any airs or sense of superiority like that of a wealthy businessman from a big country, and the locals get along very happily with Vanderbilt.

As soon as the ship sailed out of Greytown Port, Liang Yao saw an American Navy warship flying the Stars and Stripes.

The American Navy warships were waiting for them majestically at Graytown Harbor.

This fleet has a total of twelve battleships, seven of which are steam battleships and the rest are traditional sail battleships.

The displacement of battleships ranges from small frigates of seven to eight hundred tons to cruisers of about two thousand tons.

Such a large battle shows that Fillmore attaches great importance to this batch of gold.

Vanderbilt prepared four large steamships in Graytown Port, all with a displacement of more than 1,500 tons.

The ship they originally took was used for navigation in shallow inland rivers and was not suitable for long-distance voyages across the ocean, so they unloaded the gold from the small ship again at Greytown Port and moved it to the larger ship.

Not only gold, but also all people and materials transported from the eastern United States to California have to go through several transfers, which is very troublesome.

But this was already the fastest mode of transportation between the east and west of the United States at this time, and it was also the reason why the United States, which had some foresight, advocated building a Pacific Railway across the North American continent.

Transportation between the east and west of the United States has to go through other countries, which is really inconvenient.

After the gold was reloaded and the ship sailed into the Atlantic Ocean, the rest of the voyage was to sail directly north along the coastline to Houston to deliver $5 million worth of gold to the Texas government.

———————

It was a sunny afternoon at the end of June 1851.

The Texas sun is as fierce as ever.

Delicate ladies will not choose to go out outdoors in such weather. They would rather go out for outdoor activities on a rainy day than go out on a sunny day.

Because the harsh Texas sun will not only burn their delicate skin, but also tan their fair skin.

Therefore, whether it is on the streets of Houston or the plantations in the suburbs, it is difficult to see white ladies.

Even if there is an emergency and they have to travel on a sunny day, Texas ladies and ladies can only take adequate sun protection measures, wear hats, veils, sleeves, gloves, and cover themselves with long skirts.

The legs are completely covered to ensure that no skin is exposed to the sun before reluctantly stepping out into the sun.

You can't see the white ladies and ladies, but you can see a lot of female slaves working in the plantations and female slaves who go out to purchase supplies for their masters.

Because they are already dark enough, there is no need to worry about the harsh sunlight making them darker.

Compared with the harsh Texas sunshine, these black slaves were more afraid of the whips and clubs in the hands of their masters.

This is something more poisonous than the poisonous sunshine.

I heard that the laws of the free states in the north did not allow private ownership of black slaves. These free states in the north treated black people well. As long as black people arrived in the free states in the north, they could obtain the status of free citizens and work in factories freely.

This was very attractive to many black slaves in the South. Under the instigation of the Yankees, many black slaves were full of fantasies about the North and wanted to go to the North and work in northern factories to make money.

After the Compromise Act of 1850, there were far fewer white factory owners and white people from the north to the south than before, which also disappointed the black people in the south.

However, there were still many black people who took desperate risks and tried to escape to the north. However, these escaped slaves were basically captured, and only a few lucky ones successfully escaped to the north.

As for the lives of these black men who fled to the north, they didn't know because the black slaves in the south could not receive news from them.

But I heard from the white people in the north that the black people who came to the north became free citizens and lived as well as the white people.

Even the black slaves thought this news was very exaggerated after hearing it, but they were willing to believe it was true.

Fugitive slaves who fail to escape and are captured will not die, because black slaves are becoming more and more expensive now. They are the expensive private property of their masters. The masters will not be willing to beat them to death, but they will definitely not be able to escape after a good beating.

.

Governor Bell's daughter, Miss Zoe, is a well-known eccentric beauty from all over Texas. This Miss Zoe is different from other ladies and gentlemen.

Not only did she travel under the scorching sun in early summer, she also did not wear hats, veils, sleeves and other sunscreen items to protect her skin. Therefore, her skin had already been tanned to a wheat color by the sun and was no longer fair.

The ladies and gentlemen in Texas often laugh at Zoe's wheat-colored skin in private, saying that if she continues to tan like this, Miss Zoe will soon become as dark as a black man.

Of course, these noble ladies and noble ladies only dared to talk about it in private, and they would never dare to break it in front of Miss Zoe and her father.

Because the father and daughter have notoriously hot tempers in Texas, if they knew about it, they would have to come to the door with rifles to greet them.

It's not so much that the Texas ladies and ladies laughed at Zoe's skin color, it's more that Zoe doesn't get along with these ladies and ladies.

Compared to gatherings among Texas aristocrats, Miss Zoe prefers to go hunting with Texas nobles carrying rifles, which also gives Mr. Bell a headache.

He often laments how wonderful it would be if Zoe were a boy. If Zoe were a boy, he could send Zoe to the military academy and join the army after graduating from the military academy.

Although Zoe is a weirdo in the circle of Texas aristocratic women, this does not affect Zoe's charm at all.

Harvey and Nathan, the sons of two California senators, were deeply fascinated by Zoe. They hung around Zoe all day long and did not even bother to study in college.

After Bell learned that Liang Yao was about to arrive in Houston, he rushed from Austin to Houston to prepare to receive $5 million worth of gold from California.

Like California, the capital of Texas is not in Houston, the largest city on the coast, but in Austin, in the inland area. During the Lone Star Republic, Austin was the capital of the Lone Star Republic.

After Texas joined the big family of the United States, the lone star became a star on the Stars and Stripes, but Austin's status in Texas has not changed at all, and the capital of Texas is still in Austin.

It just changed from the capital of a country to the capital of a state.

Bell was a well-known large plantation owner in Texas. He began working hard in Texas during the Mexican government and accumulated a large family fortune.

He not only has plantations and private estates in Austin, but also owns large tracts of land in Houston and even Antonio.

Bell was going to Houston, and Zoe was also clamoring to go to Houston with Bell. Firstly, because she had been in Austin for a long time and felt a little bored, but also because she heard about the man who was annihilating half of Colonel Mason's regiment.

The California colonel also came to Texas.

She had seen a lot of news about this California colonel in the newspapers. He was engaged in politics, doing business, leading troops in battles, and there were all kinds of news about this colonel. This colonel was almost omnipotent, allowing him to

Yi was filled with admiration.

More importantly, unlike other American colonels who are in their forties or fifties and are about the same age as his father, this California colonel is only in his early 20s this year, making him the youngest colonel in the history of the United States.

"Zoe, what are you thinking about? Why are you so distracted all the way?"

Nathan rode closer to Zoe and said with concern.

"We finally have the opportunity to travel to Houston this time. This is a happy thing. We should be happy."

“Zoe, look, there’s prey in the grass!”

Nathan noticed movement in the grass not far away, and there were rustling sounds coming from the haystack that was more than half a man tall.

"The movement is not small, it must be a big prey!"

As he spoke, Nathan picked up the rifle on horseback and fired a shot into the grass.

After the gunshot, two black figures jumped up from the grass.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot! It's us, it's us! We are the slaves of Mr. Dale's family!"

"Come out! What are you two niggas doing in there?"

Seeing that the thing in the grass was not prey and that he could not show his manliness well in front of Zoe, Nathan felt very disappointed and cursed the two black slaves.

"Nathan, your shooting skills are terrible. It seems you didn't hit anything with this shot!" Harvey laughed at Nathan from the side, "If that shot had been mine, I would have definitely been able to hit it!"

Two black male slaves walked out of the grass naked, with two dejected black mambas drooping underneath them. One of the black mambas was spitting unfinished white spit on the ground.

I'm not good at math. I did miscalculate the weight of gold in Chapter 173. Thank you all for correcting me. It has been corrected now.

Let me mention the issue of currency and exchange rate. During this period, the gold content of 1 US dollar is 1.50643g, the gold content of 1 pound is 7.32227g, and the gold content of 1 franc is 0.29032g. The gold here refers to pure gold. Unless otherwise specified in the following article, it will be assumed.

It's pure gold.

The exchange rate between currencies was calculated based on the gold content. This was actually how the exchange rate was calculated at that time. Of course, this refers to precious metal coinage, the credit currency of the 19th century.

Then there is the exchange rate of silver-standard countries (Qing Dynasty, Japan, Spain). Between 1850 and 1872, the gold-silver ratio was between 15 and 16. Silver became less and less valuable. Subsequent silver transactions also followed this price.

Silver price calculation.

Finally, let me mention the issue of ounces. An ounce is divided into a troy ounce (1 troy ounce = 31.1034807 grams) and a common ounce (1 common ounce = 28.350 grams). The gold in this article is calculated according to the troy ounce, that is, 1 ounce = 31.1034807.

In addition to these, there are also pharmaceutical ounces (same weight as troy ounces) and fluid ounces. The weights and measures of fluid ounces in the British system and the American system are also different, and there are some discrepancies.

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Chapter completed!