Chapter 700: Imbalance of Yin and Yang

California was the fastest growing colony of the Austrian Empire at that time. The power of gold attracted countless gold diggers, just like Jason who was looking for the Golden Fleece, who came from all over the German Confederation.

(Jason is the hero who found the Golden Fleece in Greek legend.)

The Panama Canal had not yet been opened at that time. If you wanted to reach California from Europe, you had to disembark at the Central American colony of the Austrian Empire, then turn to the inland river to reach the Pacific Ocean, and then take the sea route to San Francisco (San Francisco).

The Central American colonies mainly refer to Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Nicaragua has a canal that can directly connect to Lake Managua, which can greatly shorten the journey and save a lot of time.

It was not the grand canal that was planned by later generations to drill through the Central American Isthmus to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to Lake Nicaragua. The main reason was that the engineering volume of this canal was too large and it was difficult to complete with the equipment at that time.

Since the Austrian Empire acquired the colony of Nicaragua, it has been digging a canal to connect it to the Pacific Ocean.

However, the canal is not deep enough to accommodate seagoing vessels, and even many narrow openings cannot accommodate large cargo ships, but small and medium-sized passenger ships can still pass through.

Or they can go directly around South America and reach California through the Strait of Magellan. This almost requires going around half the world, but it cannot stop the enthusiasm of gold diggers.

In history, many gold diggers died before reaching California. Although the death rate was greatly reduced under the leadership of Franz, they generally owed huge debts before coming.

Because whether they choose to bypass South America or take a shortcut through the Nicaraguan Canal, they need a lot of transportation fees.

It is well known that except for a few professional teams, gold diggers are usually composed of people who are not living well or are about to die.

Others, such as gamblers who dream of getting rich, businessmen who owe huge debts, and hooligans who want to rob and make trouble, are not good people, but they also have one common feature, that is, they are poor.

There is a reason why gold diggers in history would rather cross the Death Canyon than march on land, because although the land route is more dangerous than the sea route and will delay for several months, the cost is less than one-third of the sea route.

Although it is only three times the difference, many people can still afford a caravan and several horses even if they go bankrupt, but a person cannot afford a ticket to California even if he goes bankrupt.

In fact, most of the gold diggers can't even afford horses, they use ox carts. The advantage of using oxen to pull carts is that they can be used to pull carts and eat.

But the disadvantage is also very obvious, that is, it is slow. The longer you stay in the Death Zone before reaching California, the more dangerous it is. Most of the tragedies in the gold rush era are related to the Death Zone.

However, Franz still provided many discounts to attract people to California, especially the fact that the ticket can be paid in installments, which made the gold diggers call it "conscience"!

However, those gold diggers with simple gold panning tools found that almost all large and rich mines were included in the scope of state management when they arrived in California, and other small mines also required fees to enter.

And their simple tools could not compete with advanced machinery and scientific screening processes.

The machinery of those so-called professional teams was even more ridiculous. Most of them were designed by laymen, so they were not practical at all. The results of these people were even worse than those gold diggers with simple tools.

The gold in California is not fake. Many people have earned money that they could not earn in their lifetime through their own efforts.

But the prices in California are not generally high. After all, the Austrian-Mexican Joint Development Company has monopolized all local resources, even the return tickets.

So the living expenses in the local area are also very shocking. The greedy nature of human beings defeated rationality at this time. Most people did not choose to leave with the gold they dug, but chose to settle down and continue digging.

Of course, some smart people saw the opportunity to become farmers or small shop owners. But even so, they still need to pay various taxes, and the lawless places in history are impossible to reappear.

Despite the many pitfalls, life in California is still much better than that in the European continent, which is why it can attract so many immigrants.

Namibia is also a gold rush paradise promoted by the Austrian Empire, and it is closer to the European continent than California.

However, both the reputation of the Gate of Hell and the harsh natural environment are daunting.

The Karst Plateau, the Khomas Plateau, and the Schwarzland Mountains have been infiltrated by colonists for hundreds of years, but the natives are still fierce, and there are a lot of unexplored areas.

At the same time, due to the relatively low transportation costs, many people choose to make a fortune and leave. The population mobility is very large, and Franz has no better solution for this.

The several settlements established by the Austrian Empire in the inland have never been able to attract a large number of immigrants, and even some immigrants have given up agriculture and turned to grazing like the local indigenous people.

In comparison, the environment in California is much better, with flat land, endless fertile fields, rivers with abundant water sources, abundant but not scorching sunshine, and distinct four seasons. It is simply an agricultural paradise.

However, California, which has no worries about food and clothing and can make a lot of money, actually still has some problems.

The first is the threat from the United States and France. If it were not for the Nevada Desert and Mountains, the Americans would have already pointed their guns at California.

The second and most important problem is the extreme imbalance in the ratio of men to women.

There are less than 8,000 Hispanic natives, 25,000 Austrian imperial soldiers, 80% of whom are veterans and mercenaries recruited by Umbrella.

There are 200,000 immigrants from Germany, 150,000 immigrants from Central America, 30,000 American prisoners and surrendered soldiers, and 20,000 private soldiers of several Mexican warlords (those who invaded California privately and wanted to take advantage of the fire).

There are about 50,000 Indians, 20,000 to 30,000 Mexican immigrants, and some Americans who were deceived by human traffickers. There are about 20,000 gold diggers from other countries.

Among the total population of more than 500,000, there are less than 100,000 women, which means that the male population is a full 300,000 more than the female population.

These 300,000 bachelors have brought extremely unstable influence to the local area, and at the same time have spawned an industry that is more profitable than gold mining.

That is one of the oldest professions of mankind. Although Mexico has tried its best to cooperate, even if the local Indian women are included, there are not enough.

Las Novias, in which Tasan Anna and a group of Mexican senior officials have invested, has grown from one to fifty in just a few years, but it still cannot meet the local needs.

(Spanish, meaning bride.)