"Is the collection of samples reasonable?" Liang Yao asked.
Deng Wenqi sighed: "Everything was done according to the method given by the third brother. Each bucket of mineral soil was collected separately."
Liang Yao felt an unprecedented sense of loss when he heard this. Could it be that his thinking was wrong?
Building a dam to divert the American River not only cost him a lot of manpower and material resources, but also a lot of his time.
Such a huge investment only resulted in a one-sixth increase in gold production, which was far from his expectations and he could not accept this result.
Liang Yao firmly believed that his idea was correct. There must be something wrong in some link. It must be like this.
He took off his shoes and prepared to dig into the riverbed to find out the cause.
Boston Company also brought their samples, and Robinson came to Liang Yao with Boston Company's samples.
"I have good news and bad news to tell you. The good news is that your idea is correct. The gold content in the riverbed is indeed much higher than that on both sides of the river. A large amount of gold is deposited in the bedrock below the riverbed.
The bad news is that there is a hard rock layer under the riverbed, and it is not easy to dig out the gold manually. It is relatively easy to build a dam to divert the American River compared to digging through the bedrock.
"Overall it's still bad news. Our gold mining efficiency has not improved much."
It is easy to dig through a rock layer to extract samples, but if you want to pan for gold you have to dig through all the rock layers, which is a huge waste of manpower.
"Yes, the shallowest rock layer is 1 meter thick, and the thickest rock layer may be 2 meters, 3 meters or even thicker. It is not easy to obtain these because we don't have machines. These machines are only available in major eastern cities such as Boston, New York, and Philadelphia."
Dr. Robinson spread his hands, expressing his helplessness.
Knowing where the gold is hidden but not being able to get it is more painful than not knowing where the gold is.
Now both the Boston company and the old miners' organization participating in the cooperation are getting anxious about this.
Liang Yao paced back and forth barefoot, thinking about a more efficient way to solve the problem, and soon he came up with a solution.
"Since there are no machines and human labor cannot effectively mine this gold on a large scale, let's use gunpowder!"
Liang Yao had a black powder workshop and he had ready-made gunpowder.
Of course, using dynamite would be more efficient and safer, but this highly efficient explosive was not invented until 20 years later, and he only had black powder available now.
"Good idea. I'll go back and ask if there's anyone skilled in using this explosive."
Robinson thought it was a good idea and worth a try.
California black powder is expensive, it can be called black gold, but it is worth using this powder to get more gold.
Besides, he also knew that Liang Yao had a gunpowder workshop, which was the largest gunpowder workshop in California, and they had no shortage of gunpowder.
"No need. I can use gunpowder. Let me see your gunpowder first. I need to know whether your gunpowder is suitable for mining."
Fremont was interested and eager to try these explosives. He was an expert in the use of gunpowder.
Liang Yao took Fremont and others to the gunpowder storage. To Fremont's surprise, except for a small amount of gunpowder that was more suitable for use as propellant for guns and artillery, the rest of the gunpowder stored by Liang Yao was almost all specially formulated for mining.
Fremont was very curious about this, as if the young man had already thought of using gunpowder to mine.
"The proportions of your gunpowder are very reasonable and they are all high-quality gunpowder. Do you have talents who are proficient in gunpowder?" Fremont couldn't suppress his curiosity.
Liang Yao certainly would not tell Fremont that the gunpowder was prepared for future gold mining in the foothills of the Nevada Mountains.
Although Sacramento has abundant gold reserves, the day will come when they are all mined out, so it is always a good idea to prepare early.
"San Francisco and Sacramento are undergoing massive construction projects, and they need a lot of stone materials for construction. These gunpowders are used to blast the mountains to get the stones."
"It seems that you intend to build Sacramento and San Francisco into a large city." Looking at the huge reserves of gunpowder, Fremont said thoughtfully.
This explanation made sense, and he couldn't find any flaws, but Fremont's intuition told him that things were not that simple.
Fremont prepared the gunpowder with ease and calculated the equivalent to be used to ensure that while being able to blast through the rock layer, the scale of the explosion remained within a controllable safety range and would not injure innocent people.
After all the work was completed, Fremont lit the fuse and it was successfully ignited.
Everyone hid in a safe place and waited for the explosion to happen, praying to God and the heavens that the gunpowder could successfully blast through the bedrock layer.
However, an accident happened.
The gunpowder did not explode for a long time. Anxious Deng Wenkang ran forward with a box of matches to check what caused the fuse to go out. If it went out, he would relight the extinguished fuse.
"Deng Wenkang! What are you doing! Come back quickly! It's dangerous!"
Liang Yao shouted hurriedly.
"The last part is a quick-twist! Even if you light the fuse, you will be blown to death! You reckless little bastard!"
Fremont didn't expect that there would be such a stubborn person. Without time to think about it, he rushed forward and skillfully knocked Deng Wenkang to the riverbed.
Not long after the two men fell on the riverbed, a dull explosion was heard from the blasting point not far away. The earth shook and the splashed sand almost buried the two men.
"You fearless little fellow, if you were my soldier, I would fire you right now!"
Fremont picked up Deng Wenkang and said something that Deng Wenkang didn't quite understand.
Although he didn't understand what was said, he knew that it was this foreigner who saved him. He said to Fremont in broken English: "Thank you, sir."
Fremont patted the wet mud on his body and returned to the dry shore. "Gold, such a big gold!"
Deng Wenkang, who was thrown out by Fremont, noticed a faint golden light in the crack of the bedrock that had just been blown open, and he couldn't help but exclaimed.
He pried open the crack, and a huge piece of gold appeared before his eyes!
It lay there quietly, emitting an alluring dazzling glow in the sunlight.
Although California is a land rich in gold, this was the first time he had seen such a large amount of gold.
"I found it! Gold! Such a big piece of gold!"
Deng Wenkang tried his best to lift the huge piece of gold, but the huge solid gold block was too heavy, and he could not move after just a few steps.
"Oh My God!"
"Oh my God!"
"Fuck!"
Everyone was stunned by the huge piece of gold. They had never seen such a huge piece of gold.
Even Liang Yao couldn't help but marvel at it. This gold nugget was much bigger than a real dog's head in terms of volume.
Liang Yao asked someone to wash off the dirt on the gold bars and weigh them.
"145 pounds! This piece of gold weighs a full 145 pounds!"
145 pounds is equivalent to 65.77 kilograms in metric weight units, which is about 1,800 ounces in metric ounces.
This is heavier than Liang Yao's weight, no wonder Deng Wenkang couldn't move it just now.
The largest natural gold nugget found during the gold rush weighed 151 pounds, which is a little bigger than the one in front of you.
But seeing a 145-pound natural gold nugget right in front of you is shocking enough. California is such a great place.
"Mr. Liang, it seems that you are well versed in gold panning." Fremont exclaimed.
He had never seen such a huge amount of gold. This piece of gold alone was worth as much as $60,000. It was a considerable fortune for the wealthy families in the East. No wonder countless people were crazy about it and were willing to take many risks to rush into this disordered and barren land of California.
His first job was as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Engineering Survey Corps. He remembered it clearly, and a second lieutenant's monthly salary was only a pitiful $15. Of course, the dollar would have been more valuable a dozen years ago, perhaps equivalent to $25 today, and no more than $30 at most.
"I want to become your partner and set up a mining company to make a fortune together."
Fremont was attracted by California's abundant gold reserves.
"It's an honor, but as far as I know, Mr. Fremont's family is very wealthy. Do you think this little gold is worth it?"
Liang Yao did not refuse Fremont's invitation.
What Fremont was talking about was to jointly establish a mining company, not to invest in his gold mining business, which did not touch his core interests.
It has to be said that Fremont had a high emotional intelligence. It is no wonder that this inexperienced political novice was able to become the first candidate of the Republican Party, a newly emerging political party in the United States, six years later, in 1856.
Even the Democratic Party tried to win over Fremont, hoping that Fremont could become the Democratic presidential candidate.
At that time, the Democratic Party and the Whig Party were the two major ruling parties in the United States. The Whig Party's golden age had passed, and it was internally divided and in a dying state.
If Fremont joins the Democratic Party, he will have a greater chance of winning the election. After all, the Democratic Party has far greater influence than the Republican Party.
However, the Democratic Party supported slavery at the time, which was contrary to Fremont's political ideals. Fremont eventually chose to join the Republican Party, which was still a small party.
Unfortunately, in the presidential election six years later, Fremont failed to get his wish and lost to his Democratic opponent Buchanan with a huge disadvantage of nine states' votes.
The Republican Party first came to power in 1860, and its first president was the famous Abraham Lincoln.
"Family is family, and I am me. I don't want to live under the protection of my family forever, otherwise I wouldn't come to you." Fremont said firmly, "I want them to know that I can achieve something without the support of the family. By then, it won't be me who is proud of being a member of the Fremont family or the Benton family, but my family will be proud of me!"
"You are so ambitious. I believe that this day will come and you will become an influential figure." Liang Yao didn't know whether he would agree with this or not, but Fremont did indeed do so later.
"Count me in!" Ge Wen took advantage of the situation and said he was willing to join the partnership. "Big shot, who doesn't want to be a big shot who shakes the world?"
"It's my honor, Mr. Ge Wen, no, it should be Senator Ge Wen." Liang Yao welcomed Ge Wen's joining.
He is looking for someone who can give him political protection. Without political protection, no one will speak for you in Congress.
Without a voice and influence in Congress, even if you are as rich as a country, in the eyes of those powerful financial groups, you are just a fat lamb. The fact that you still exist only means that you are not fat enough and it is not time to slaughter you.
Once you become a fat enough lamb, they will unhesitatingly show their long-hidden butcher knives in so-called legal ways, slaughter you mercilessly, and eat you up.
There is no doubt that these two people are very suitable candidates for cooperation, and binding interests with them is exactly what Liang Yao wants.
"Today can be said to be a double happiness. Mr. Liang found the largest natural gold nugget in American history and perhaps in the world's history, and the three of us happened to gather in Sacramento on this wonderful day. I think this is God's will." Ge Wen smiled happily.
"I suggest that we celebrate this great day."
Fremont was in a very happy mood. He didn't find gold in the mountains, but here he not only found gold, but also found something more valuable than gold.