Liang Yao and Robinson were about to say goodbye to Flagg with disappointment, but Flagg stopped them.
At this time, the modern police system in the United States was still under construction, and serving the public was just to paralyze and fool the ignorant people at the bottom who had no independent thoughts. What they really wanted to serve was the ruling class of the United States of America.
However, California currently does not have a widely recognized ruling class in legal terms, which makes Flagg feel confused and fearful.
Liang Yao was right. When those ruling classes recognized by law arrived in California, they were pleasantly surprised to find that this chaotic and disorderly borderland could be bathed in the light of civilization, and Flagg, as the local sheriff, would also be able to leave a glorious mark on his resume.
"Sacramento really needs order. It can't be as chaotic as San Francisco. I will consider your suggestions." Flagg looked at the dazzling gold that was almost crushing the solid oak dining table, took a deep breath and continued.
"All this gold will be used to build the Sacramento Police Department. Sacramento is so big, and we are short of manpower. We can only guarantee the security of a small area. Can you give me some suggestions on the location of the police station?"
Although the purpose of visiting Flagg went through some twists and turns, the ultimate goal was finally achieved.
Next, Liang Yao had to deal with the devil Brannan.
Although he focused his development efforts on Sacramento, he tried to avoid direct competition with Brannan.
But as long as he was in the gold rush area of California, Brannan was always someone he couldn't get around, at least for now.
Liang Yao wanted to buy a few shops and a warehouse at the port to transfer materials and receive Chinese gold diggers. He was in urgent need of manpower, a lot of manpower.
The meeting place was Brannan's Casino, which was packed with excited and stupid gold diggers.
They firmly believe that they can make a fortune in the casino, and they squander the gold they have worked hard to get in the casino, venting the most primitive animal nature in their hearts.
However, the cards on every gambling table here have been rigged. It is impossible to make a fortune here. Even if you are the God of Gamblers and can win a considerable amount of gold on the gambling table, the hired gunmen stationed in every corner of the casino will not let you leave the casino alive.
Knowing that it was a losing gamble, Liang Yao still chose to sit at the gambling table.
Brannan became increasingly arrogant and was only willing to do business at the gaming table.
Brannan called a few white prostitutes to entertain Liang Yao. Some of these prostitutes were older than his mother, but in a place like California where sows are as beautiful as Diao Chan, in the eyes of those vulgar gold diggers, they were all beauties like fairies.
It's not that Liang Yao doesn't like women, it's just that he's not interested in these women.
After losing more than 800 ounces of gold chips to Brannan, Brannan finally got to the point and talked business with him seriously.
"You're having bad luck." Brannan was smoking a pipe, and the smoke made it almost impossible to see his face.
"You are just very lucky, Mr. Brannan."
Liang Yao leaned back and leaned his back against the chair to make himself feel more relaxed.
"Some of John Jenkins' shops are vacant. If you have 1,000 ounces of gold, they will be yours." Brannan exhaled a puff of smoke, waved his hand to disperse the smoke in front of him, and looked at Liang Yao with some amusement. "Your luck at the gambling table is a little bad, but your luck in the gold mining field is not bad. I heard that you are the luckiest gold miner in Sacramento."
Brannan was surprised that Liang Yao could come up with so much gold in such a short time. In California, he was always very good at judging people, and there were not many people he could misjudge.
At first, Brannan, like most people, thought that Liang Yao and other Chinese gold prospectors would not achieve anything great. Now it seems that he was wrong. This Chinese gold prospecting group was able to produce so much gold in just over a month. There must be something extraordinary about it.
Like Brannan, Liang Yao was also surprised at this time. He thought he was very low-key. He didn't expect Brannan to know so much about the situation in Sacramento, more than 100 kilometers away.
In the depressing atmosphere, Liang Yao tried his best to stay calm. After calming down, he was sure that Brannan was trying to trick him and test him.
He kept his gold mining gains strictly confidential. Even the Boston Company, which was adjacent to the camp, didn't know exactly how much gold they had found. Brannan, who was far away in San Francisco, certainly didn't know more than the people in the Boston Company.
"Mr. Brannan must have misunderstood." Liang Yao shook his head very disappointedly and lowered his posture very much.
"Our luck in the gold rush isn't bad, but it's not great either. Before we go to the gambling table, maybe I can grit my teeth and come up with 1,000 ounces of gold, but I can't come up with that much gold right now. I wonder if Mr. Brannan is willing to make some concessions on the price?"
No matter how you look at it, Brannan is sure to make a profit from this deal, since those stores were not originally owned by Brannan. It was just that Brannan took all of Jenkins's property under the banner of law.
Anyway, there are no judges or courts in California now, so it is up to the local tyrant Brannan to decide how to deal with these properties.
Brannan had a very good plan. He killed the man and then sold his property.
If Liang Yao had no choice, he would not have asked Brannan to buy the shop.
"These shops are all prosperous, and their value far exceeds 1,000 ounces of gold. I am willing to sell them to you because you and I are quite compatible. If the gold is not enough, you can pay slowly, but I need to charge you interest."
Although it was a highly profitable business with no cost, Brannan refused to make any concessions on price.
Of course it's a prosperous shop. If it wasn't a prosperous shop, you wouldn't kill Jenkins. Liang Yao muttered in his heart and accepted the offer with a very reluctant expression.
After paying 860 ounces of gold for the bet and 700 ounces of gold for the shop, Liang Yao left the casino that disgusted and suffocated him. "Hire some Chinese to clean up the shop, sweep it, and get rid of this bad luck."
Liang Yao looked at the messy shop and said to Deng Wenyu that the goods in the store had already been sold out, and even the wooden boards, nails and bolts on the shelves had been removed.
"Dead things are easy to clean up, but what about living people? There are still people behind them."
Deng Wenyu pointed at the half-open wooden door and said.
Liang Yao pushed open the wooden door and saw a white woman with disheveled hair holding a child in her arms, with two half-grown children standing beside her. They were very agitated. When they saw Liang Yao, they picked up a kitchen knife, pointed at Liang Yao and cursed at him.
"Get out of here, all of you! You robbers! Bandits!"
"Are you Jenkins' wife?" Liang Yao said, staring at the four orphans and widows in front of him.
Hearing Jenkins' name, the white woman burst into tears and collapsed on the ground. Liang Yao tried to persuade the emotionally out-of-control white woman, but she refused to listen, so they could only remain in this stalemate.
Damn it, damn Brannan, he did some dirty work and I have to clean up his mess.
Cai Mingsheng, who had just arrived at the store, said something sinful after entering the store, then stepped forward to help the white woman up and comforted her, "Madam, everything will be fine."
Seeing Cai Mingsheng, the white woman's mood eased a little. They probably knew each other, and Cai Mingsheng had a good reputation here.
"This is John Jenkins' wife, Maine." Cai Mingsheng sighed and said, "Jenkins was an honest businessman when he was alive. Unexpectedly, he was a fool."
"Sir, for God's sake, please don't chase us away. I often help my father look after the shop. I can speak English, Spanish and a little French." A thin boy of about twelve or thirteen came forward and pulled Liang Yao's sleeve and said.
"It's a pity that you don't speak Chinese or Cantonese." Liang Yao looked at the clever little boy with some regret.
This little boy looks smart and has a bright mind. With a little training, maybe I can let him do things for me when he grows up.
There is just a language gap. Liang Yao is already exhausted from teaching English to the Deng brothers and sisters, and he doesn't have the time or energy to teach an American kid Chinese.
"Screw you! You idiot! You bastard! You bastard! I can also speak a little bit of your language sir." The little boy blurted out, "I can also learn your language sir. I have a little talent in learning languages. It doesn't take too long."
Liang Yao almost stumbled and fell to the ground when he heard this. It turns out that the language that people learn the fastest is always swear words.
"This child is very smart, let's keep him. The orphans and widows have nowhere to go. Brannan has robbed all their belongings, and they can't even afford a boat ticket to leave here." Cai Mingsheng couldn't bear it, so he interceded for these orphans and widows.
"You will run this shop for me from now on. What's your name, little guy?" Liang Yao asked the little boy's name.
It seems that this child is very talented in languages. Liang Yao has developed an interest in him and it would be fine to keep him and observe him for a while. If he can learn by himself, that would be great. He can keep him for his own use.
If he really had no future, it would not be difficult to send Jenkins' family away. He came to California to work hard, not to open an asylum.
He bought four stores from Brannan in total. To be honest, it was a very good deal for 1860 ounces to buy these four stores. Maybe Brannan also felt that these stores were unlucky, otherwise, given Brannan's character, he would not have sold these stores.
Apart from one shop converted into a reception hall and one used as a warehouse, the remaining two shops can also be used for some small business.
His development focus is in Sacramento, and right now he is in need of people, so it is impossible for him to withdraw staff from Sacramento to manage the store here.
Even for the guesthouse, Liang Yao had to go to great lengths to invite Cai Mingsheng to help manage it.
"Allen Jenkins, you can call me Little Allan, sir," the little boy said.
At this time, people in the Qing Dynasty were in dire straits, and a prairie fire was brewing. Due to the difficult living conditions, many coastal residents chose to go out to sea to make a living. California, where gold was rumored to be everywhere, naturally became their first choice, and more and more Chinese went to California to pan for gold.
Most of these people are from Guangdong and Fujian, and most of them are from Guangdong.
Areas close to Hong Kong and Macao and the five trading ports opened after the Opium War had more contact with foreigners and news spread the fastest. In addition, these places already had a tradition of business, so going abroad to make a living was not unacceptable for them.
During the Ming Dynasty, especially at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, many people from these places went to Southeast Asia to make a living, and many people chose to settle down in Southeast Asia.
After the guesthouse was established, Liang Yao employed a total of 85 Chinese gold diggers and 16 white gold diggers in San Francisco.
These prospectors were all failed prospectors who had not found enough gold and were living in extreme poverty in San Francisco, and the cost of hiring them was not expensive.
Relatively speaking, Liang Yao's conditions for hiring Chinese workers are relatively relaxed. As long as they are not cunning and deceitful, they will be hired. As for the standard for judging whether a person is cunning and deceitful, it is also very simple. Just look at what he does in the country.
As for white employees, Liang Yao had very strict standards and only recruited skilled workers such as craftsmen, engineers, and doctors. However, there were not many such people in San Francisco, and Liang Yao spent a lot of effort to recruit only 16 people.