Chapter Thirty-One: The Arrival of the Politician
[I would like to ask you how you can be so distant and biased!]
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"What kind of wind is blowing here today? It has brought so many far-sighted politicians! Welcome to Sacramento! Dear Mr. Gervin!"
Liang Yao warmly received Ge Wen at the American River. The dam on the American River has been completed and his employees are doing the final drainage work.
"It seems that I am not the first politician to see you, Mr. Liang. You are younger than I thought, and your English is better than I thought."
Gervin had a very good impression of Sacramento. Although the city looked rough, the streets were clean and the people were orderly.
In San Francisco, Gervin had to walk carefully for fear of stepping in feces or splashing sewage and staining his expensive pants.
Stanford is right. It is true that Sam Brannan is the first millionaire in the western United States and is a rare outstanding person, but Liang Yao's ability is even better than Brannan. Ge Wen vs. Liang Yao
The first impression was very good.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Gwen."
"Let me introduce, this is my friend, Leland Stanford." Ge Wen introduced Stanford to Liang Yao.
"Hello, Mr. Stanford."
"I heard that you are a noble of the Qing Dynasty?" Stanford said, looking at the extraordinary young man in front of him.
At this time, not only did the Qing Dynasty not understand the outside world, the outside world also knew very little about the Qing Dynasty.
When the Qing Dynasty excluded the first batch of young children from studying in the United States, almost all Americans regarded those boys wearing long robes and mandarin jackets with pigtails as little girls.
The first batch of young children went to study in the United States in 1872, not to mention that it is still 1850, and the United States will only know less about the Qing Dynasty than it did in 1872.
"I am not a nobleman. According to you, I may be a gentleman. My grandfather was a mid-level official in the capital. My grandfather's brother once managed a county with a population of more than 300,000 people.
Our family is also considered a relatively prominent family in the local area, but it’s a pity that it declined due to some reasons in my generation.”
Liang Yao could have chosen to show off in front of them and brag that he was a noble or even a descendant of the royal family.
It's just that there is no need to do this. The real nobles have been accumulated for three or more generations, and their temperament is difficult for common people to imitate.
Although Liang Yao is not a professional actor, his acting skills are just okay. If he acted, he might be able to fool them and make them believe that he is a noble.
But these people in politics are all top-notch people. They can deceive for a while, but they cannot deceive them forever. There will always be a day when they are exposed.
Furthermore, they admire aristocrats who are enterprising and talented, rather than the aristocrats in Beijing who can only walk their dogs, play with birds, and play with children of the Eight Banners.
"My God, a population of 300,000 is actually a small administrative unit in your country? A population of 300,000 is enough to establish a separate state in the United States!" Ge Wen adjusted his glasses. He was shocked by the large population of the Qing Dynasty.
According to the standards for statehood in the United States, as long as there is a settled population of more than 100,000, one is eligible to submit a proposal to Congress to apply for statehood.
"There is nothing surprising. My home country has a population of 400 million, maybe more. It is difficult to accurately count such a large population, and there is an error of 20 to 30 million that is still being cleared up."
"The current population of the United States is only over 20 million! My God, what a huge market this is! No wonder Britain always wants to open its doors to you." Gwen exclaimed.
Didn't you also take advantage of the situation and force the Qing government to sign the "Treaty of Wangxia", requiring the Qing government to give you the same treatment as the British in China? Liang Yao sneered in his heart, the British and American powers are just the same thing.
"It's not as beautiful as you imagine. The size of a market is not measured by its population. Unfortunately, the local residents are very poor and don't have much purchasing power." Liang Yao said as he walked towards the pergola by the American River.
Strauss had already prepared tea for them.
"Mr. Liang, can you tell me which gentleman visited you before me?"
After sitting down, Ge Wen asked.
"John Charles Fremont, I think you should know him, a great explorer and brilliant soldier, who pioneered the Western Trail so that Americans in the east could reach California overland.
The Sacramento Valley below us was the first thing he discovered. He is very interested in Sacramento, and he should be inspecting the surrounding areas now to look for gold. Maybe you can meet him again soon," Liang Yao said.
"I have heard a little bit that his father-in-law is Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton, a family with a prominent reputation that I have to look up to.
If his father-in-law hadn't been on the wrong side of the military struggle, he would have been expelled from the military."
The American political circle is not big or small, but Ge Wen still knows the relevant people in these circles.
"I just didn't expect this frustrated soldier to want to go into politics now. As far as I know, he should be more interested in exploration."
Liang Yao smiled and said: "Isn't getting involved in politics a more exciting adventure?"
"I didn't expect you to have such insights at such a young age. You have a maturity that is not commensurate with your age, which surprises me deeply." Ge Wen sighed with regret and said, "It seems that my vision is not as good as this one.
A political amateur, I came too late."
"No, you came at the right time."
"What's the meaning?"
"California can't accommodate two millionaires, but it can accommodate two senators."
Ge Wen was deeply shocked by this. This young man from the East was too ambitious.
"You mean, you want to fund two of us running for the Senate at the same time?"
"Exactly, there are so many politicians in the United States, but you two arrived in California first, which shows that you two are the ones who really care about California. As a citizen of California, if I don't support you and Fremont, who else can I support?"
Ge Wen, who originally had no hope for Liang Yao and had given up fighting for Liang Yao's political donations, suddenly had a burning light in his eyes after hearing Liang Yao's words.
He is too eager to become a senator. If he competes with Fremont on the same stage, he does not have much confidence. After all, Fremont's backstage is stronger than his backstage.
Although he has more political experience, in the election, political experience is far less important than a prominent family background and a reliable backing.
He was deeply aware of this, otherwise he would not have been struggling in the House of Representatives for so many years without climbing into the Senate, while people whose abilities and qualifications were far inferior to him were able to enter the Senate openly.
Politics has never been a fair game.
Liang Yao's ambition was so great that it made Owen doubt whether Liang Yao had enough financial resources to support two senatorial candidates at the same time.
He and Fremont were running for the future California Senate, and the money they had to spend was incomparable to running for the House of Representatives.
“Do you have the wherewithal to support both me and Fremont for the Senate at the same time?”
Ge Wen ignored the pretense and raised his question directly to Liang Yao. Supporting the two senatorial campaigns at the same time would cost an astronomical amount!
"Not yet." Liang Yao told him frankly.
He really doesn't have that much spare money to support two candidates running for the Senate at the same time.
Chapter completed!