Chapter 94 Playing with fire?

Sacramento Gold Producing Area.

The sudden rain made the whole of Sacramento feel warm and cool.

For gold mining companies and teams with sufficient supplies, the first rain in early autumn is nothing.

But for the New York conglomerates who were short of food and clothing, this was simply a nightmare.

The New York syndicate's gold mining camp is located on the American River fifteen miles away from Sacramento.

The machines they brought greatly improved the efficiency of gold panning.

The joy brought by the gold did not last long. Their camp was surrounded by old miners with extremely unfriendly attitudes. They had to be on guard day and night to prevent these barbaric miners from sneaking into their camp and robbing their gold.

This is Sacramento, and the people here are not as polite to the aristocrats and their lackeys as they are to the citizens of New York.

The local people in both Sacramento and San Francisco refused to sell food, daily necessities, and gold mining supplies to them, even if they were willing to pay a high price.

John and Milnus, two figures who were originally insignificant in the family, played the role of leader and savior at this critical moment.

The Astor family behind John is the most financially powerful family in the New York financial group, and the Van Rensselaer family behind Milners is quite old.

The key is that these two people are not the lackeys of the New York consortium, they are actually the children of the family.

The children of the aristocratic family personally went to California to pan for gold. This courage alone convinced the lackeys of other families in the consortium and elected them as the leaders of the team.

They hope these two leaders can lead them through this difficult time.

I have to say that California is a place that trains people. The setbacks and sufferings he experienced in the past two months have smoothed John's edges.

John is no longer as sharp as he was when he first came to California.

He united the New York consortium and other state consortiums who decided to fight Liang Yao to the end, and occupied a section of the American River for gold mining operations.

John also took out some food supplies for the first time and shared them with these collaborators.

John's generous actions earned him many accolades.

As for Milnas, his character is inherited from his family and he has always been known for his calmness.

Milners was very foresight. He had a small steamer brought from New York. This small steamer named the Western could sail on the navigable stretch of the American River.

This small steamer is responsible for transporting food supplies for the gold mining team of more than 900 people from the New York consortium.

Because Liang Yao claimed that the port of San Francisco belonged to him personally, they were prohibited from using the port of San Francisco.

Therefore, they could only use a small steamer to load the supplies that they had painstakingly unloaded from the large ship in advance, and then use the small steamer Western to transport them upstream to their camp.

But today, Matthew, the captain of the Western, brought them terrible news.

"Mr. Milners, I have some sad news to tell you. The steam turbine on the Western is malfunctioning."

"Then fix it, don't we have the best mechanics in New York?" Milners said.

Steam turbines of this era were unreliable, which was why people didn't trust ships.

In order to solve this problem, almost every capable ship owner will equip a steamship with a mechanic, just like a sailboat is equipped with a sail mender.

"Yes, our mechanics are very good. The fault of the machine has been found, but..." Captain Matthew hesitated.

"Just what?" Milnas's 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, no matter how skilled the mechanic is, it will be difficult for him to make a fool of himself in the face of mechanical failure.

"Are you kidding? Captain Matthew, you must find a way to repair him. Without the Western, we would all starve and freeze to death here!" Milnas said, "Is there any other way to repair him?"

"Yes, there is a ship repair center at the San Francisco Shipyard. They have the ability to repair small steamships." Matthew pointed.

Matthew has made his words very clear, and Milnas should understand what he means. The shipyard and ship repair center in San Francisco are 100% owned by Liang Yao.

"You must find a way to repair the Occidental yourself."

Milnas said a cold word and got into the warm tent behind him. He planned to go into the tent and drink a cup of hot coffee to warm his body, otherwise he would have to catch a slight cold.

Getting even a little bit of disease in this hellish place is a very fatal thing.

Not far from the tent, there were workers recruited by the consortium from New York. They were carrying out gold panning operations in the cold river water in the heavy rain.

"Unlucky things happen one after another."

In the tent, John, who was wrapped in a blanket, poured Milnus a cup of hot coffee. He also had bad news to tell Milnus.

"At least a quarter of the workers have been infected with cholera and malaria, and seven or eight workers have died in the past two days, which has dealt a big blow to our morale.

I heard that the doctors at the Sacramento Hospital are capable of curing these workers, but the hospital in Sacramento also belongs to Liang Yao."

In order to stabilize the emotions of these workers, John even asked his personal 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 endured in California cannot be in vain," Milnas said angrily.

"The Western must be repaired early. The supplies I entrusted Aspinwall to purchase from Oregon will arrive in San Francisco in a week. Without the Western, we will have to send people to carry these things overland to our camp.

.”

John emphasized the seriousness of not having the Western Horn, and then he asked.

"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 coastal manor. I think the fireplace there must be very nice.

warm."

Congress did not recognize the Mexican land grant and put out bidding for land in the Sacramento area. This was the driving force and spiritual pillar that allowed them to persist here for so long.

When Congress was mentioned, these two embarrassed aristocratic children cheered up in unison, believing 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 great 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 warm clothing."

Liang Yao was unable to buy off the New York consortium that divided them and was extremely united. The New York consortium was also at a loss to deal with the miners who were united.

But in the end, John found a breakthrough, and that was Liang Yao's enemy.

Thinking of this, John couldn't help but feel proud.

"Brandon? Isn't this the wanted deserter? John, you are crazy, I have to remind you, you are playing with fire!"

Milnus came from a noble family and naturally disdained to associate with bandits. He put down the cup in his hand and reminded John.

It believed that doing so would be a disgrace to his reputation, and that working with a guy like Brandon was tantamount to seeking the skin of a tiger.

"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, it is not impossible to whitewash Brandon into a hero who fights against criminals. We have more and more injuries and illnesses, and we need some local

Armed help, even from bandits."

John disagreed. He felt that this matter was very feasible.
Chapter completed!