Liang Yao mounted a snorting horse. After more than three months of recuperation and exercise, his body became stronger and stronger.
Dressed in a cowboy outfit with two Colt six-shooter revolvers on his waist, his image was completely different from the frail Chinese boy who had just arrived in California.
With this attire and image now, even if he stood in front of his biological parents, they might not be able to recognize him.
Next to Liang Yao's private residence is the newly established Sacramento Police Department, which has eight mounted police officers transferred from San Francisco. Liang Yao bought his mount from them.
When the mounted police saw Liang Yao coming out, they greeted him enthusiastically.
Not only these mounted policemen, all the gold diggers in Sacramento were very enthusiastic towards Liang Yao, whether they were Americans, Mexicans, Spanish, Chinese or immigrants from other regions.
Behind Liang Yao were two white cowboy guards and three Chinese guards. They also had the same Colt revolvers on their waists as Liang Yao, and they looked vigilantly at everyone who approached Liang Yao.
Liang Yao doesn't know exactly how many gold diggers there are in Sacramento, but there are already more than 2,000 gold diggers who have settled here, of which nearly 1,000 are Chinese.
Half of these Chinese are employed by Liang Yao, and most of the rest also rely on Liang Yao's related industries in Sacramento for their livelihood.
If Brannan is the king of San Francisco, then Liang Yao is now the king of Sacramento.
Looking at the increasingly prosperous and bustling Sacramento, who could have imagined that it was a barren land just a few months ago?
Liang Yao made Sacramento successful, and Sacramento also made Liang Yao successful.
Liang Yao now owns 31,000 ounces of gold, which is worth $960,000. Including other assets in Sacramento, Liang Yao's current net worth has firmly exceeded one million US dollars, making him a true millionaire.
The legendary experience of going from nothing to becoming a millionaire in more than three months can only happen in a place like California.
Liang Yao went to Sutter Castle to meet his partner Sutter.
As Sacramento prospered, Sutter's decadent estate showed signs of revival.
Sartre came out of the castle with a few Chinese guards to greet Liang Yao with a smile on his face. His temper was not as hot as before.
Sartre Castle has some of the flavor of a military fortress. In addition to the armed guards, Liang Yao actually saw two cannons.
Think of the famous Bloody Kansas Incident six years later, when fanatical abolitionist supporters even brought their own artillery to bombard Topeka, the capital of Kansas.
It's not surprising that Sartre, who dreams of becoming a castle owner, owns several cannons. Besides, he is a Swiss artilleryman, so maybe it's his hobby.
The American people are simple and honest, and it seems that they have a tradition.
Sartre took out the best vintage wine in the castle to entertain Liang Yao.
"Are you here to buy livestock or food this time?"
In the past, Liang Yao visited Sartre either to buy livestock or food, and Sartre had long been accustomed to it.
The cooperation between Sartre and Liang Yao was very pleasant and could be said to be a win-win situation. Sartre hired enough people to defend his territory, and his farm gradually improved.
It's just that Liang Yao won too much. In just over three months, he became the second millionaire in California.
"land."
Liang Yao said what he wanted. The reason he accumulated so much gold was to buy land.
Purchasing land was also a way out for him. If he failed to find mercury and lost his advantage in the gold rush competition, he could also resell the acquired land to the capital giants in the east and make a huge profit from the difference.
"I will not sell you any more land. I have already sold you more than 3,500 acres of land, including a lot of land on both sides of the American River."
Sartre flatly rejected Liang Yao's offer.
Liang Yao also knew that he couldn't just catch Sartre and fleece him. Although his purpose this time was to buy land, he was not here to buy Sartre's land.
"I heard that you have a good relationship with the immigrants who settled here during the Mexican government period, so I would like to ask you for a favor. I want to host a dinner to entertain them." Liang Yao explained his purpose. "Oh, you mean my old friends. They are now just like me more than three months ago. They are troubled by you parasites illegally occupying their land and stealing their property."
Sartre sympathized with his old friends. He hired enough Chinese workers and guards to defend his territory, but his old friends were not so lucky because they did not have a reliable partner like Liang Yao.
"If I buy their land, they won't have to worry about it. You've done your old friends a big favor. Isn't this good for all of us?" Liang Yao took a sip of wine and continued to ask, "Have they obtained all the documents from the Mexican government?"
"The procedures are quite complete. The Mexican government did not make it difficult for us in this regard in order to encourage us to reclaim more wasteland so that we could contribute more tax revenue to them." Sartre stood up and walked back and forth in the room with his wine glass. "As you said, those old guys and I have a close relationship, so I don't want you to buy their land at a too low price. If you can agree to this, I would be happy to help you."
Although Sartre did not have any lofty ambitions or vision, he was a very righteous person.
"I promise you." Liang Yao was not a heartless person. After a little hesitation, he agreed to Sartre's request.
Sartre sat down again, smiled and said, "But I can't do you this favor for nothing."
"Your benefit is indispensable."
"In that case, cheers to our pleasant cooperation!"
Sartre finally raised his glass and smiled heartily.
The man held his pipe in his mouth, tightened his belt around his waist, and walked out of the room contentedly.
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Mr. Brannan. I'm usually pretty persistent."
Even though they were talking in a private space indoors, the man was still wearing a hat with the brim pulled very low, almost covering his entire face.
"Five minutes is not a long time, Lieutenant Brandon." Brannan, who was sitting opposite, glanced at the time on the wall clock.
"I'm very embarrassed about the task you asked me to do. As you know, we lost a lot of troops in San Francisco last time." Brandon looked very embarrassed.
"Don't mention that to me. I've lost a lot!" Brannan roared. "You robbed four of my stores. If I wasn't a magnanimous person, I would have sent you to the gallows long ago."
"My men have been to Sacramento and have seen that the development there is indeed quite good, with a lot of gold. However, the armed forces there are also not weak, with eight mounted policemen."
Sacramento's rapid rise caught Brannan's attention, which was completely unexpected.
Of course, Sacramento's rise is not a bad thing for Brannan, but a good thing.
More gold diggers will need more tools, and if they want tools, they can only buy them from him, and his grocery store business will become more and more prosperous.
But now a new millionaire has emerged in Sacramento, and his wealth is rapidly expanding, threatening Brannan's dominance in California. He does not want any competitor, even a potential competitor.
Although Liang Yao has not yet touched Brannan's core interests and has not yet sold gold mining tools, Brannan believes that with Liang Yao's current expansion speed, it is only a matter of time before it reaches out to the gold mining tools market.
This was something Brannan couldn't tolerate, not to mention that Liang Yao was a damn foreigner, a yellow-skinned Chinese, which made Brannan even more unbearable. He seemed to have forgotten that he was also a foreigner in this new continent.
Brannan vowed to teach the newly minted millionaire a lesson, or even better, to make him disappear forever.
"The gunmen hired by the gold mining companies are all guerrillas. A plate of loose sand can't accomplish anything. As for the eight Sacramento mounted police, I have some friendship with them, so you can rest assured."
"But there is still a great risk. After all, it is me who has to fight with them, not you, Mr. Brannan. My men and I are in danger of our lives." Brandon continued to bargain with Brannan, thinking that he had gained the greatest benefit.
"Don't worry about that. No one in California will bid higher than me."
Brannan is willing to pay a high price as long as the threat of Liang Yao is eliminated.
After getting rid of Liang Yao, Sacramento will also be in his pocket, and the price paid now will be nothing.