If Liang Yao were to use up all his assets, he would certainly have enough financial resources to support both Gwen and Fremont in their senator campaigns.
But this is obviously unrealistic. His industry has just started and will require a lot of capital investment in the future. He does not intend to put his industry aside to support Gwen and Fremont.
The election is just the beginning. To maintain a certain influence in Congress and protect his interests in California, a lot of money is needed. Compared with this money, the political donations for the election are just a drop in the bucket.
In the United States, how much say and influence your interest representatives have in Congress depends on the thickness of your wallet. This has never changed from the founding of the country to the 21st century.
"Mr. Liang, I feel like you are teasing me. It's not funny at all to play this kind of joke on me."
Although Ge Wen had already greeted all the female family members of Liang Yao in his heart, on the surface, Ge Wen still maintained the magnanimity and tolerance that a gentleman should have, and continued to talk with Liang Yao in a humble and polite manner.
"I've already told you that this is only temporary." Liang Yao said calmly and confidently, "Once I take over Brannan's market in San Francisco, I'll have enough funds to support both you and Mr. Fremont in running for senator at the same time."
Liang Yao acted very confidently, as if Brannan's huge fortune was already in his pocket.
"How long will it take?"
"Before California became a state."
As a politician, Ge Wen is well aware of the art of lazy politics. He often promises others a vague time, but that does not mean he can accept an ambiguous time.
A politician usually has two standards in his mind, one for others and one for himself. Ge Wen is such a person.
"I need a clear time. If Mr Liang does not have enough confidence, I need to look for other political investments so as not to miss the opportunity."
"Mr. Gwen, Mr. Fremont is much more patient than you."
"I am different from him. If he fails to find investors in California, he still has his powerful family and father-in-law to back him up. I don't have such favorable conditions as him. Please forgive me, Mr. Liang."
"It will take one or two months at the fastest, three months at the slowest. It won't take longer than this."
Liang Yao thought about it and gave a relatively clear time.
This time made Gwen feel much more at ease. Given the character of the gentlemen in Congress, if nothing unexpected happened, the issue of whether the territories should become free states or slave states would continue to be argued for at least another half a year.
The earliest California can become a state is the end of this year. This is Gwen's preliminary assessment of the timing of statehood in the quasi-state area.
As for when the latest will be, it is hard to say.
"Are you really confident that you can turn Brannan into a pauper in three months?"
Ge Wen was still skeptical about this.
"It only took me three months to go from nothing to a millionaire. California is a magical place full of miracles."
Liang Yao smiled confidently. The confrontation between him and Brannan lasted less than ten days, and Brannan's losses had exceeded three hundred thousand dollars. This was even though he had not touched the two big cheeses of brothel and casino.
Three months is enough, maybe even less than that.
At the same time, Liang Yao was also somewhat disappointed with Ge Wen. As a politician, Fremont, a political novice, was more stable than Ge Wen, an old politician who had been immersed in officialdom for many years.
Perhaps this has something to do with their family background and personal experiences, Liang Yao thought.
"Mr. Ge Wen, you should trust your vision and Mr. Liang's ability. Although there is a lot of gold in California, it is highly liquid. It comes quickly and goes quickly."
Ge Wen's indecision made Stanford, who was standing by, a little bit annoyed. Stanford witnessed Liang Yao become a millionaire almost overnight. He was also a relatively successful gold digger and businessman.
Stanford knew very well that the difficulty in California was not finding gold, but how to keep the gold in your hands.
Liang Yao is not only able to keep the gold in his hands, but also able to continuously create business opportunities. Such a person is worth cooperating with and deserves full trust.
As he was speaking, Fremont returned on horseback. His harvest was not great, he only brought back a few rabbits.
Apparently, Fremont's gold-hunting trip yielded little to show for it.
"I am now certain that those rumors about the Golden Lake were just the imaginations of crazy gold diggers."
Fremont asked for a glass of water and drank it.
Fremont's attire was very different from Gwen's. He wore a tight military uniform and had two swords, one long and one short, on his waist.
The longsword is a Mamluk sword, and the dagger is an "Arkansas toothpick," famous for its sharpness, ability to stab and chop, and the tip of the sword being so sharp that it can be used as a toothpick to pick teeth.
Due to its practicality, the "Arkansas Toothpick" was widely used as a personal knife during the Civil War.
Liang Yao remembered that the Mamluk sword was an accessory for American naval officers, and Fremont was from the army. He didn't understand why a former army officer would wear a naval officer's sword.
"Not necessarily. It may be that you didn't go far enough. California is so big, there must be more than one place with gold in the Sacramento Valley." Liang Yao said.
"Mr. Liang, did you gain anything?"
Fremont put down his glass of water and, with his hands behind his back, looked at the American River, which had been changed in course.
"I think we will have the answer soon." Liang Yao saw Deng Wenqi and Deng Wenkang leading the workers to dump the ore washing trough, and he would know the result soon.
"May God bless you and have a good harvest."
"This is Mr. Ge Wen, I think you might know him." Liang Yao introduced Ge Wen to Fremont.
Fremont greeted Gwen very friendly. The two had only heard of each other and each other's families, but there was not much intersection between their families.
After completing the washing work, Deng Wenqi brought samples to Liang Yao.
"Third brother, the gold content of the mineral soil on the surface of the riverbed is only slightly higher than that of the mineral soil on both sides of the river." Deng Wenqi handed Liang Yao two small glass bottles filled with gold grains. "This is the gold washed out from ten buckets of mineral soil on the surface of the riverbed, and this is the gold washed out from ten buckets of mineral soil on both sides of the river. They are all labeled according to Third brother's instructions for easy comparison."
Liang Yao picked up two labeled glass bottles and observed them. The glass bottle labeled with riverbed surface mineral soil contained only about one-sixth more gold than the other bottle.
Such a result obviously disappointed Liang Yao, and he was too lazy to weigh them.
"It seems that God has not favored you, Mr. Liang."
Fremont said with a tone of disappointment mixed with a hint of gloating.
Ge Wen also looked at Liang Yao with suspicion. He questioned Liang Yao's ability to make money, and also questioned Liang Yao's abilities in other aspects.
Perhaps this successful young businessman who is said to be good at gold mining and has other ways of making money is just a reputation in vain.