On the way back, Liang Yao whistled a cheerful little tune. After all, he had managed to gain a piece of precious land through his eloquence.
Sartre was much more generous than he thought, and leased him 300 acres, or about 121 hectares of land. Sartre also helped them with the details of naturalization. He still had some connections in California, so these things were not difficult for him.
Although the contract stipulated that the land must be purchased at the price of 1,200 ounces of gold within two years, otherwise Sutter would take the land back, which seemed very harsh, Liang Yao could accept it. If he could not earn 1,200 ounces of gold here in two years, his gold rush would be over.
If it were anywhere else, the price of four ounces per acre would be sky-high, but this is California. Liang Yao believed that the three hundred acres of land, especially the five acres next to the American River, were worth far more than 1,200 ounces of gold.
"Uncle Cai, California is full of gold. Why don't you go and pan for gold? You can make much more money panning for gold than doing carpentry."
Liang Yao expressed his doubts. He didn't understand why Cai Mingsheng, as one of the first Chinese to arrive in California, did not join the gold rush.
If Cai Mingsheng had gone gold mining, he would have had a clear first-mover advantage and would have become a 1949 miner, or even one of the earlier miners.
Cai Mingsheng smiled bitterly, recalling the past that he didn't want to recall.
"I was in Peru, digging for silver day and night in a dark mine for three years. Even now, I still have nightmares at night. I dream that I was buried in the mine, and I dreamed that I was beaten to death by the supervisor. Of course, I also dreamed of our hometown Xiangshan.
You have great talent. I worked for my old boss for four years and only bought thirty acres of land from him. With just one word, you have bought three hundred acres of land from him. You are a young man indeed."
"He wants 1,200 ounces of gold. This Sartre has a really big appetite. And these lands, although they can be barely connected together, there are too few lands next to the American River." Liang Yao felt that something was not perfect.
"The land on both sides of the American River is already valuable. Although the previous employer's land is large, there is not much land on the American River. It is very rare to be allowed to give you five acres of land on the American River." Cai Mingsheng pulled the reins to slow down the horse so that the carriage could pass through the rugged road ahead more smoothly.
"Second Uncle, Brother Yao and the others were beaten by the foreigners!"
As soon as Liang Yao returned to his house on the outskirts of San Francisco, his good mood disappeared.
In the end, some people couldn't resist the temptation of gold and went out to mine for gold secretly.
"You are such a troublesome thing!" Deng Yan slapped Deng Wenshun in the face when he came back to report the news: "Did you go shopping in the gold mining area?"
"Brother Yao dug up a nugget of gold. Those foreigners came to steal our gold for no reason. The nugget of gold we dug up was as big as half a fist!"
Liang Yao said coldly with a straight face: "Uncle, take your weapons and go to the mining area. If you go too late, you may lose your life in the mining area, not to mention the gold!"
"What are you standing there for? Listen to Third Brother and fuck those ghost guys!"
Deng Yan hurriedly called on the remaining Deng brothers to rush to the gold mining area. Liang Yao also hurriedly loaded the percussion gun, installed the percussion cap, and regardless of the pain in his buttocks and inner thighs, he rode the old packhorse lent to him by Cai Mingsheng and set off in a hurry.
Muddy sewage, human and animal feces everywhere, disgusting smell, messy tents, and chaotic crowds, this is the situation in the gold mining area.
Deng Wenyao, covered in blood, curled up in the dirty mud like a wounded caterpillar. No matter how the gold diggers from all over the world beat him, he still held the nugget of gold tightly in his arms and refused to let go.
Among those crazy perpetrators, Liang Yao vaguely saw a few figures with braids.
Liang Yao fired a shot at Tianming without hesitation, then rushed into the crowd with Deng Yan and others and dragged up the dying Deng Wenyao.
Soon, they were also surrounded by the crazy crowd. Fortunately, Liang Yao had a trick up his sleeve and asked Cai Mingsheng to call the sheriff of San Francisco. Of course, all this came at a price.
There were more than 10,000 gold diggers near San Francisco. The dozens of San Francisco mounted police officers were simply unable to manage them, nor did they want to. Many mounted police officers had even given up their jobs with a monthly salary of only seven or eight dollars and worked as gunmen for gold mining companies and teams.
Sheriff Flagg brought a dozen armed and murderous mounted policemen, who barely managed to intimidate the gold diggers.
Many of these mounted police had served in the volunteer force during the Mexican-American War and had participated in the Mexican-American War three or four years ago. The murderous aura they exuded and the revolvers in their hands made the gold diggers involuntarily take a few steps back.
"Sir, I'm very sorry to bother you with such a small matter. You should be drinking afternoon tea at this time, not in this dirty mining area. You are really a good sheriff who is conscientious in his duties. It is a blessing for all the people of California to have a good sheriff like you."
Liang Yao's words made Flagg feel refreshed. Of course, Liang Yao also knew that his words were not enough to impress Flagg, and Flagg would not help him just because of his words.
As he spoke, Liang Yao had already stuffed the bloody gold nugget into Flagg's empty left hand.
No one would refuse gold. The reason why Flagg did not give up his low-paying job like his colleagues and chose to stay in this position was not because he loved this job so much.
Flagg knew that the law enforcement power in his hands could sometimes be exchanged for a lot of gold, so he didn't need to go out and gamble on his luck to dig for gold himself.
Flagg was very satisfied with the gains of this trip. For the sake of gold, he rescued Liang Yao and led Liang Yao out of the gold mining area amid the watchful eyes of the gold diggers.
"Your friend is really stupid and bold, or he has no brains. The miners in San Francisco are more like a group of irrational thugs than miners." After leaving the gold mining area, Flagg and his men put the Colt five-shooter revolvers that they had been holding tightly in their hands back into the holsters.
"This is an area that even the mounted police don't dare to enter easily. Today I risked my own life to save yours."
"Captain Flagg, is there a reliable doctor in San Francisco?"
Looking at the dying Deng Wenyao, Liang Yao interrupted Flagg. Flagg helped them, but they also gave Flagg gold. Flagg was by no means as noble as he claimed.
"You don't have your own doctor?"
Flagg was a little surprised. Almost every gold mining company and group had its own doctor. Flagg was very surprised that their group didn't even have its own doctor.
Liang Yao shook his head helplessly. His group didn't have any proper doctors, not even a traveling doctor who could treat injuries. If he couldn't find a doctor, Deng Wenyao wouldn't live long after returning.
"The doctors in the gold mining companies will also treat people outside the company, provided you have enough gold or US dollars. But the doctors here are not very skilled. Many so-called doctors are just people who want to avoid paying the $300 investment."
Although the US economy has stagnated and all industries have been depressed in the past decade, and the development of the entire American society has entered a bottleneck period, doctors are still a very respectable profession in the eastern United States, and not many doctors are willing to give up everything and take the risk of going to California.
As for the three hundred dollars, it is the investment capital for joining the gold mining company. The investment amount can be as low as one or two hundred dollars or as high as seven or eight hundred dollars. The specific investment amount depends on the size and strength of the company, as well as the storytelling ability of the founder.
Of course, if you are a doctor you can join any gold mining company or team without paying a penny.
"But you are lucky, Liang, you know me, and I know a doctor with superb medical skills and good medical ethics. The key is that this doctor does not accept gold or US dollars."
Flagg spoke slowly, stroking the gold in his pocket.
Liang Yao understood what Flagg meant, so he gritted his teeth and stuffed another ounce of gold into Flagg's hand.
Damn it, I haven't found any gold since I came to California, I've just given it away.
"Dr. Charles Robinson of Boston. I'll take you to him."
After receiving the gold, Flagg smiled with satisfaction.
Charles Robinson was probably in his thirties, thin and with a haggard mental state that could not hide his coordinated facial features and handsome face.
Although Sheriff Flagg said that the doctor had very good medical ethics and would not accept gold, Liang Yao still took out his remaining gold for the sake of his cousin's life.
"I don't save people for gold."
Charles Robinson's eyes, full of stories, only glanced at the gold in Liang Yao's hand. Then he concentrated on treating Deng Wenyao's wound.
The value of some people can be measured by gold, but the value of some people cannot be measured by gold.
"The injury is not optimistic. You need to stay here for observation and treatment for at least half a month, or even longer." Charles said after washing his bloody hands.
"We will leave for Sacramento the day after tomorrow. Doctor Charles has done his best. You can go now."
Captain Weber, the leader of the Boston Company, issued an order to expel them. They could not delay their journey and gold mining for a stranger.
"We just came back from Sacramento to purchase supplies, perhaps we could form a partnership, Captain Weber."
It seemed that Weber did not welcome them. Just as he was about to turn them down, Dr. Robinson spoke first: "Let's go together. We can take care of each other on the way."
Dr. Robinson has a high prestige in the Boston Company. Although the people in the Boston Company seem to respect Captain Weber on the surface, Liang Yao can see that their admiration for Dr. Robinson is from the bottom of their hearts.
Liang Yao breathed a sigh of relief. Deng Wenyao's life was half saved. If it were not for Deng Yan and the unity of the other Deng brothers, he would not have cared about Deng Wenyao's life or death.
After returning to the residence, Liang Yao did not give them a good look. It had only been a few days and Deng Wenyao and Deng Wenshun had treated the charter of the Loyalty Society as waste paper and secretly hid the gold. If this matter was not dealt with seriously, there was no guarantee that the other Deng brothers would not take the charter of the Loyalty Society seriously.
He is very short of manpower at the moment. Whether it is gold mining or starting a small business, a large number of people are needed.
But people who don't follow the rules will only cause harm, so it's better not to use such people, even if you are related to them by blood.