It must be said that the wealth accumulated by the Brannan family in just two years is still considerable.
Despite repeated setbacks in the business battlefield, Brannan was still able to turn over a full 13,000 ounces of gold as working capital, which shows how strong his financial resources are.
The first millionaire in the West, he lived up to his reputation.
What does one million dollars mean in this era?
In 1850, the total amount of money in circulation in the entire United States was only $1 billion.
The millionaires of this period were actually even more prosperous than the billionaires of later generations.
Of course, this gold cannot be equated with productivity.
Liang Yao's next task is to use this gold as raw capital and quickly convert it into productivity.
Liang Yao did not win this business confrontation easily.
If there were no gold mines to produce gold for him, and if there was no China Bank to absorb the gold from the gold mining companies as reserve funds for him.
It is hard to say who will win in the end.
Liang Yao put his hands in his pockets and watched the gold being moved out of Brannan's seaside estate continuously.
Strauss personally watched over the weighing and packing of each piece of gold and recorded them one by one.
When the box was full, Strauss carefully sealed the box full of gold, marked the seal, and then loaded it into the truck.
At first, the gold taken out from Brannan's estate were neatly arranged gold nuggets and bars, which were convenient for weighing and packing.
In the end, what was weighed and packed were not regular gold bars, but irregularly shaped gold vessels.
This shows that Brannan's wealth is about to bottom out.
"That foreigner Brannan looked at you just now as if he wanted to eat you alive. We still have to be careful." Deng Yan followed Liang Yao closely.
"I wish he would eat me right now."
If Griffin wasn't here, he would have wanted to solve the problem of Brannan once and for all.
Liang Yao won the business war, but the feud between him and Brannan still needs to be settled. The current result is just the product of a temporary compromise among multiple parties.
This fragile compromise, like the Compromise of 1850 that followed four or five months later, was doomed to fail.
The contradictions between northern factory owners and southern slave owners could not be compromised, let alone coexist for long. Entrepreneurs who wanted to develop industry could not live together under the same blue sky in California with speculators who only wanted to accumulate gold and make quick money.
They are born with irreconcilable contradictions.
Perhaps, this is their fate, either you die or I live.
"How do we deal with these two guys?!"
Sven was walking two of Brannan's henchmen like dogs. One was the notorious captain of the San Francisco security team, and the other was the real murderer who killed Cai Laixi.
These two lackeys had long lost their former arrogance and domineering attitude. Liang Yao cast a cold gaze at the two of them. They all looked servile and fawning, wagging their tails to Liang Yao and begging for mercy, hoping that Liang Yao would spare their lives.
"I need to give Uncle Cai an explanation. Let Uncle Cai deal with the murderer who killed Lai Xi. Second uncle, Uncle Cai is an honest man. If he can't do it at that time, you will do it for him."
"Mingsheng and I have been friends since childhood, and Laixi is also my half-nephew. I will never show mercy."
Deng Yan raised the butt of his gun and smashed it hard on the heads of the two hawks and dogs. Two blood flowers appeared on their heads.
"Nelson can be used to build momentum for us, and we can choose a date to hold a public trial in the square." Liang Yao said.
"Liang Yao, Nelson just told me that there are still a lot of treasures in Brannan's shop and casino. Look, it's getting dark, and Brannan's hired guns are scared by us and are hiding in the manor and dare not come out. Should we take this opportunity to do something?"
Sven had his sights set on Brannan's shop in San Francisco. Even if he failed to rob Brannan's manor, it would be good to rob Brannan's casino shop in San Francisco, which would be a good piece of meat.
Liang Yao also had the idea of cutting off Brannan's source of support. His only concern was Griffin's two infantry companies.
Griffin's two infantry companies are now preparing dinner, and it seems that they are not planning to leave tonight.
Liang Yao really couldn't praise the military discipline of the Griffin troops.
To put it bluntly, Griffin's troops' discipline is not as good as Liang Yao's guards' discipline. The US military has never been known for its strict discipline.
But to be honest, in terms of combat quality, Griffin's troops are definitely stronger than his guards, which Liang Yao also admitted.
No matter how poorly disciplined Griffin's troops were, they were a team of veterans who had fought in wars and were rich in practical experience.
Liang Yaoye and Tosven recruited some professional mercenaries. I heard that three of them were retired British officers who had been employed by the Mexican army and served as instructors of the Mexican army.
Hopefully, the arrival of these people will bring changes to his guard team.
"You can rob shops and casinos if you want, but you can't do it alone."
Liang Yao looked at Griffin's soldiers. Those soldiers were scattered everywhere. Some brought their own dry food and cooked on the spot, while others went to the food stalls in the commercial street in groups to eat. There were also soldiers who wanted sex after being well fed and warm, and asked where the brothels were.
"Take them with you to rob."
Hearing this, Siwen suddenly saw the light, and said, "Oh! My stupid brain, why didn't I think of this? This is a really good idea."
"You can rob, but you have to do it in an orderly manner."
"Robbery needs to be orderly?"
"First, you are only allowed to rob shops owned by Brannan. You are not allowed to rob other places. Second, you are not allowed to set fires. If you cross these two red lines, not to mention Griffin, even I will not forgive you." Liang Yao said to Sven with a stern face and a tone of admonition.
"Don't worry, I can tell right from wrong and what is important and what is not. Apart from the shops in Brannan, ordinary people don't have many cents at home. I am now a captain with a monthly salary of 30 ounces of gold. I don't even care about those few cents." Sven made a promise to Liang Yao.
After obtaining Liang Yao's consent, Sven, who suffered from social awkwardness, walked up to and started talking to several soldiers who were about to go into the city for prostitution.
"Doing this will only make Brannan, a mad dog, desperate. I'm afraid a dog will bite when it's desperate, especially a mad dog."
Although Deng Yan didn't speak English fluently, he could roughly understand the conversation. After all, he had lived here for almost four months and had dealt with many foreigners.
"Since it is a mad dog, it will bite you even if you don't force it." Liang Yao expressed his judgment, "Griffin doesn't want to get involved in San Francisco's affairs. Griffin will leave after dawn tomorrow. Brannan, this mad dog, will bite us only within two or three days."
"Leave the affairs of the Three Feudatories to my second uncle, and you go back to Sa City to take shelter first. You are our backbone, and anyone of us can make mistakes, but you can't." Deng Yan was a little worried about Liang Yao's comfort.
"This mad dog has chosen me. If I'm not in San Francisco, who else can it bite?" Liang Yao rejected Deng Yan's proposal.
The person Brannan wanted to take revenge on the most was him, and Brannan only had one chance to take action, so he would not act rashly. Only if he stayed in San Francisco could he induce Brannan to take action.
If Brannan made a move, he would be able to kill him with justification.
The war between them will only be truly over when Brannan leaves this world forever.
His guard team is not as good as the best, but better than the worst, and more than enough.
Moreover, Brannan's hired gunmen have suffered heavy casualties and morale is high, whereas in this conflict, the casualties among his armed guards are minimal.
He had a great advantage over Brannan in armed strength.
Besides, there were more than fifty mounted police officers under Sheriff Flagg in San Francisco, and he was in the same boat with them.
It is highly unlikely that Brannan could turn the tables in this situation.