"What wind is blowing here today that has brought so many far-sighted politicians here! Sacramento welcomes you! Dear Mr. Gwen!"
Liang Yao warmly received Ge Wen at the American River. The dam on the American River had been completed and his employees were carrying out the final drainage work.
"It seems that I am not the first politician to come to see you, Mr. Liang. You are younger than I thought, and your English is better than I thought."
Gervin had a very good impression of Sacramento. Although the city looked very simple, the streets were clean and the people were orderly.
In San Francisco, Gwen had to walk carefully for fear of stepping on feces or splashing sewage that would stain his expensive pants.
Stanford was right. Sam Brannan was the first millionaire in the western United States and a rare talent, but Liang Yao was even more capable than Brannan. Ge Wen had a very good first impression of Liang Yao.
"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Ge Wen."
"Let me introduce you. This is my friend, Leland Stanford." Ge Wen introduced Stanford to Liang Yao.
"Hello, Mr. Stanford."
"I heard that you are a nobleman of the Qing Dynasty?" Stanford said, looking at the extraordinary young man in front of him.
At this time, not only did the Qing Dynasty not understand the outside world, but the outside world also knew very little about the Qing Dynasty.
When the Qing Dynasty sent the first group of children to study in the United States, almost all Americans mistook those boys wearing long gowns and pigtails for little girls.
The first group of children went to the United States to study in 1872, not to mention that it is still 1850, and the United States' understanding of the Qing Dynasty will only be less than it was in 1872.
"I am not a noble. According to your terms, I may be a gentleman. My grandfather was a middle-level official in the capital, and my grandfather's brother once managed a county with a population of more than 300,000.
Our family is considered a prominent family in the local area, but unfortunately it has declined in my generation due to some reasons."
Liang Yao could have chosen to brag in front of them that he was a noble or even a royal family member.
But there is no need to do so. A true aristocrat is one who has been cultivated for three or more generations, and the temperament he possesses is difficult for common people to imitate.
Although Liang Yao is not a professional actor, his acting skills are decent. If he acts out, he might be able to fool them and make them believe that he is a noble.
But these politicians are all very cunning. They can deceive people for a while, but not forever. There will always be a day when they will be exposed.
Furthermore, the aristocrats they admire are those who are enterprising and talented, not those Eight Banners descendants in Beijing who only know how to walk their dogs and play with birds and waste their time on playing with toys.
"My God, a population of 300,000 is actually a very small administrative unit in your country? A population of 300,000 is enough to set up a state in the United States!" Ge Wen adjusted his glasses. He was shocked by the large population of the Qing Dynasty.
According to the United States' statehood standards, a state with a resident population of more than 100,000 is eligible to submit a bill to Congress to apply for statehood.
"There's nothing strange about that. My motherland has a population of 400 million, maybe even more. You know, it's hard to get an accurate count of such a large population. There's an error of 20 to 30 million that's still being cleared up."
"The current population of the United States is only over 20 million! My God, this is such a huge market! No wonder the British want to open your country." Ge Wen exclaimed.
Didn't you also take advantage of the situation to force the Qing government to sign the "Wangxia Treaty" and demand that the Qing government give you the same treatment as the British in China? Liang Yao sneered in his heart, the British and American powers are just birds of a feather.
"It's not as good as you imagined. The size of a market is not measured by its population. Unfortunately, the local residents are very poor and don't have much purchasing power." Liang Yao said as he walked towards the shed by the American River.
Strauss had already prepared tea for them. "Mr. Liang, can you tell me which gentleman visited you before me?"
After sitting down, Ge Wen asked.
"I think you should know John Charles Fremont, a great explorer and outstanding soldier who opened up the Western Trail, allowing Americans from the East to reach California by land.
The Sacramento River Valley under our feet was first discovered by him. He is very interested in Sacramento and should be investigating the surrounding area to look for gold. Maybe you can see him later. "Liang Yao said.
"I had heard that his father-in-law was Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, a family so famous that I had to look up to them.
If it weren't for his father-in-law, he would have been on the wrong side in the military struggle, and it would have been more than just being expelled from the army."
The American political circle is not big, but not small either. Ge Wen is familiar with the people involved in this circle.
"I just didn't expect that this frustrated soldier now wants to go into politics. From what I know, he should be more interested in adventure."
Liang Yao smiled and said, "Wouldn't it be a more exciting adventure to get involved in politics?"
"I didn't expect you to have such insights at such a young age. You have a maturity that is not commensurate with your age, which surprises me deeply." Ge Wen sighed with great regret and said, "It seems that my vision is not as good as this political novice. I came too late."
"No, you came at the perfect time."
"What's the meaning?"
"California can't accommodate two millionaires, but it can accommodate two senators."
Ge Wen was deeply shocked by this. This young man from the East was too ambitious.
"You mean, you're going to fund both of our Senate campaigns?"
"That's right. Among so many politicians in the United States, only the two of you arrived in California first. This shows that you two are the ones who really care about California. As a citizen of California, who else can I support if I don't support you and Fremont?"
Ge Wen, who originally had no hope in Liang Yao and had given up trying to get Liang Yao's political donations, suddenly had a burning light in his eyes after hearing Liang Yao's words.
He was so eager to become a senator that he did not have much confidence in competing with Fremont, after all, Fremont's backing was more powerful than his.
Although he has more political experience, in an election, political experience is far less important than a prominent family background and a reliable backing.
He felt this deeply, otherwise he would not have struggled in the House of Representatives for so many years and still failed to enter the Senate, while people with far inferior abilities and qualifications to him were able to enter the Senate openly.
Politics has never been a fair game.
Liang Yao's ambition is so big that Owen doubts whether Liang Yao has enough financial resources to support two Senate candidates at the same time.
He and Fremont are running for the future California senator, and the money they have to spend is incomparable to running for a representative.
"Do you have enough financial resources to support both my and Fremont's Senate campaigns?"
Ge Wen didn't care about pretending and asked Liang Yao his question directly. Supporting two senators' campaigns at the same time would cost an astronomical amount of money!
"Not yet," Liang Yao said frankly.
He really doesn't have that much spare money to support two candidates for Senate at the same time.
Ge Wenton felt disappointed and couldn't help cursing in his mind, "If you have no money, what are you talking about?"