"When it comes to my safety and the safety of my family, I will not make such a hasty decision."
The war between Liang Yao and Brannan is a life-and-death war. Flagg would rather be an outsider and does not want to be involved in their dispute.
Flagg came to see Liang Yao today to vent his anger and to find out Liang Yao's attitude to see if there is any possibility for Liang Yao and Brannan to shake hands and make peace.
If this was possible, he wouldn't mind acting as a peacemaker and letting them be quiet for at least a year or two.
In this way, he could use this year or so to apply for transfer to other places. The gold he had accumulated was enough for him to live a more decent life in the East than his grandfather. He didn't want to continue to wade in this muddy water in California.
Although Deng Yan did not understand the conversation between Liang Yao and Flagg, seeing Flagg walk away in anger, Deng Yan also knew that Flagg's attitude was still wavering and he did not rashly choose to join forces with them.
He thought of the scene when he first met Flagg. After Flagg entered the mining area, he held the loaded pistol tightly in his hand from beginning to end. Among the several mounted policemen who entered the mining area, he was the only one who kept his index finger on the trigger, ready to fire at any time.
It is not easy to drag down a person who values his life so much.
"This person is extremely cautious and careful. It would be difficult to bring him to our side with just a newspaper."
"Uncle, in your opinion, what kind of person is this Flagg?"
Liang Yao was not disappointed with Flagg's departure. He had already arranged everything and Flagg was in his control. It would not be long before Flagg and Brannan would completely fall out.
"People who are greedy for money and cherish their lives are not trustworthy. However, he still has some principles. It's okay to deal with him based on this."
After a moment's silence, Deng Yan gave Flagg a rough evaluation.
"That makes sense. Second Uncle is good at judging people. Greed for money and cherishing life are Flagg's weaknesses. As long as we firmly grasp these two weaknesses of his, he can be used for our benefit."
Liang Yao nodded. Deng Yan's evaluation of Flagg was very objective, and his opinion of Flagg coincided with Deng Yan's.
Newspapers that exaggerated the gold rush in San Francisco even praised it as a city built on gold.
If the writers of those newspaper articles were allowed to visit San Francisco in person, their jaws would drop and their imagination of this golden city would be destroyed.
The city's buildings are in a disorganized mess, and the bumpy muddy roads are covered with dense new and old ruts. People dump sewage and excrement in front of their doors at will, making the city full of mosquitoes and flies.
Of course, not all places in San Francisco are like this. The exquisite seaside manor on the edge of the city stands out in San Francisco. It is clean, tidy and spacious, and seems so out of tune with everything around it.
Lighting was still a luxury in this era. After nightfall, the city of San Francisco was quickly swallowed by darkness, but the manor was still brightly lit by lamps lit by whale oil.
There is no doubt that the owner of this estate is Sam Brannan, the richest man in California.
Limited by Brannan's own aesthetic taste, the decoration of the manor is tacky, but its luxury is outrageous. Here, except for tableware, you can find any gold products and decorations.
The reason why Brannan used silver to make tableware was simply because silver was lighter than gold and more convenient to use.
A grand dinner party was being held in the manor, and the participants were undoubtedly Brannan's henchmen.
Revelry is not the theme of today's dinner. Brannan gathered his lackeys here to discuss how to deal with Liang Yao, the annoying guy who took away their cake.
"Liang Yao's existence is a huge threat to us. All the gold in California should belong to us, not those yellow monkeys. These inferior people should be our slaves like black slaves, but now, they are stealing our gold!"
Brannan held his civilized cane and inspected his henchmen like a king.
"That's right! These locusts are stealing our California!" "We are the only ones who own this land. Even if those yellow monkeys become naturalized citizens, they can't change their inferior skin color. We are the real American citizens!"
"If California becomes a slave state, I would be willing to spend some money to buy some yellow monkeys as slaves. Although they are not as strong as the black slaves I have seen in South Carolina, they work very hard. This will be a very cost-effective business."
"That's a good idea. Their women are much more attractive than female slaves, especially Liang Yao's sister. She is very much to my taste."
Seeing that he had aroused the emotions of these lackeys, Brannan smiled with satisfaction and motioned for them to sit down.
"I'm sure you've all read this newspaper. It's not just a newspaper, it's a naked provocation! It's a declaration of war!"
Brannan waved his copy of the Daily Californian.
"Sheriff Flagg is a complete scum! He actually got involved with the yellow monkey!" Nelson, the captain of the security team, stood up indignantly and said, "If you want to teach Sheriff Flagg a lesson, as the captain of the security team, I will do my best to do it."
The Sheriff's Committee was an organization established by Brannan himself, and the government did not grant them the power to enforce the law. However, those present had already regarded themselves as the sheriffs of San Francisco.
Nelson even kept mentioning the title of security team captain to show off his status to other lackeys.
"No, this is a conspiracy," Brannan said. "Liang Yao, that damned yellow monkey, is trying to sow discord between me and Sheriff Flagg. I know Sheriff Flagg very well, and I believe he is innocent."
Brannan's lackeys were obviously not smart enough and failed to follow Brannan's train of thought. They just stood there and looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Flager has indeed placed all the Sacramento mounted police officers under house arrest, and he also went to Sacramento yesterday. He must have been conspiring with Liang Yao to do something shameful."
said Roberts, the tool store owner.
When Flagg first arrived, he asked for a lot of protection money under various pretexts, and his men also stole from his tool shop. Roberts hoped that Brannan could take this opportunity to teach Flagg a lesson.
"Putting the Sacramento troopers under house arrest is just a show. Sheriff Flagg's men are his close friends and fellow townsmen, so they will definitely not make things difficult for them.
As for Sheriff Flagg's trip to Sacramento, I also know that Sheriff Flagg went there in anger, and he must have gone there to question Liang Yaoxing."
These lackeys were not smart enough, so Brannan had to patiently guide them and let them follow his own ideas.
"Sheriff Flagg is also white, he is one of us, we should unite and fight those yellow monkeys together.
There is a misunderstanding between Sheriff Flagg and me. When Sheriff Flagg comes back, I will visit Sheriff Flagg in person to clear up the misunderstanding between us.
If we consider Sheriff Flagg to be an enemy, we will fall into Liang Yao's trap."
Brannan didn't want to make too many enemies and push Flagg to the opposite side of himself. As long as Flagg stood on his side or remained neutral, he could accept it.
He and Flagg had no direct economic conflict. As long as Flagg did not stand on Liang Yao's side and become his enemy, Brannan was willing to pay some gold for it.
According to his judgment, a large part of the content in the California Daily was fabricated by Liang Yao. Flagg, a cautious guy, would not say such cruel words as drowning Brannan and the members of the Security Committee in a cesspool. Such cruel words were inconsistent with Flagg's usual style.
Obviously, this was Liang Yao's conspiracy and trap, and he would not fall into the trap easily.
"Then all you have to do is burn down all the stores of those yellow monkeys in San Francisco. They have no right to this wealth. Go, masters of California, and take back what is yours!
Imprison those yellow monkeys. Both men and women among them will become our slaves and our property!"