Chapter 1: I Float Across the Sea

At the end of 1849, a merchant ship, the Cape Town, sailed from Hong Kong to California, drifting on the vast ocean. Google search reading

The salty smell of seawater seeped into the narrow, dark cabin through the gaps in the deck.

What followed was continuous ups and downs. Liang Yao covered his mouth and almost turned out the bread and boiled vegetables he had just swallowed.

Liang Yao looked around. Under the dim light, there were sallow, weak, and bony faces.

"Third brother, you don't look good."

A middle-aged man with his hair braided on his head walked up to Liang Yao and asked with concern.

"Second uncle, I'm fine."

Liang Yao waved his hand and said he was fine. This middle-aged man's surname was Deng Mingyan, who was once a petty commander of the Guangdong Navy.

Liang Yao's family background is much more prominent than that of Deng Yan. Liang Yao's grandfather was a military officer of the fifth rank, and the Liang family was considered a prominent scholarly family in Xiangshan. And Deng Yan was just a fisherman, and even Deng Yan's boss was helped by the Liang family to smooth the relationship and help him from being outsourced to become the boss.

Only this time, because Deng Yan was dissatisfied that Shangguan wanted to take his daughter as a concubine, he killed Shangguan and fled overseas with his family.

The Liang family suffered fraud in the Guangdong rural examination, and their grandfather lost his official position. Even the family's life was saved by selling off the family property. The Liang family fell into ruin and inevitably headed for bankruptcy.

Although fraud in scientific examinations was common in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, once it happened, everyone was lucky to be able to save the lives of the whole family.

"The same goes for your Liang family. A son born to a wife is a son, but a son born to a concubine is not a son?

I heard that Citigroup has discovered a gold mountain and wants you, an 18-year-old boy, to go dig for gold in San Francisco. Why don't you let the boss and the second child go?

You have also been selected as a scholar, and your ability to study is no worse than the boss or the second child."

Looking at his young nephew, Deng Yan's eyes were full of pity, and he complained for his nephew, and of course for his sister who was a concubine in the Liang family.

When talking about the scientific examination, Deng Yan's wife Zhou quickly winked at Deng Yan and signaled Deng Yan not to continue talking. After all, this was a sore spot for the Liang family.

This is the pain point of the Liang family, but it is not the pain point of Liang Yao. In this desperate and suffocating era, it is not a bad thing for him to leave his hometown and go to California to start a career.

In his last life, in order to escape from the misery of involution, he also went from a first-tier city in China to work on Wall Street in the United States and became a stock trader at the lowest level.

He never thought that there would be no more papers, only more papers, and the intensity of his work continued to increase. After arriving on Wall Street, his working hours changed from 996 to 007, until he died suddenly on the ferry to work in Manhattan.

Perhaps in this life, in this virgin capital land full of golden opportunities, he can show off his skills, make a difference, become a legendary tycoon, and live a life that he could not even imagine in his previous life.

Suddenly, a woman's shrill scream in the cabin brought Liang Yao's thoughts back to reality from his ethereal fantasy.

Liang Yao followed the sound and saw his cousin Deng Ying in shock, curled up and clinging to Zhou's side, wiping tears. Behind Deng Ying were several ugly smiling faces.

"The little girl has such a lively body, and her butt and balls are more comfortable to touch than Sister Yao. It's no wonder that Mr. Zhang Qian fell in love with your Deng family. Why don't I marry you as my mother-in-law when I get to San Francisco and live together, I don't mind you." The Deng family are fugitives.”

The speaker was Wu Daqi, a wretched young man who was a local gangster in Xiangshan. Because of his bad reputation and the difficult world, he could not survive in the local area. He heard that Citigroup had discovered a golden mountain, so he and a dozen of his friends pooled some money and bought a boat. Try your luck at Citigroup.

"Bah! You mangy dog!"

Deng Yan was furious, raised his fists and was about to charge forward. In the cabin, except for the five children of the Deng family who were on the run together, who came forward to help, the rest of the neighbors and fellow villagers all looked as if it had nothing to do with themselves and turned their heads to the side as if they didn't see anything.

Seeing that there were only a few people on Deng Yan's side, but there were a large number of people on his side, Wu Daqi became more confident, and he laughed wildly with his hands on his hips.

Liang Yao was not used to traveling on sea ships, so he had to be taken care of by Deng Yan along the way. Of course, he couldn't just stand by and watch his cousin being bullied.

Although he had the brains of a later generation who was in his thirties, his body was that of an eighteen-year-old scholar with no strength in his hands. Wu Daqi and the others were outnumbered, so they would definitely suffer in a fight.

"You, a helpless scholar, come to join in the fun and ask for a beating?"

Seeing Liang Yao standing up and approaching unsteadily, Wu Daqi said disdainfully.

In the past, he would never have dared to speak in this tone to the son of an official and gentry in front of him.

Thinking of this, Wu Daqi couldn't help but straighten his waist by three points, and he became very proud.

"Third brother, it's better to leave this kind of matter to us roughnecks. You should go back." Deng Yan persuaded in a low voice. He was satisfied that Liang Yao had such a heart.

"After all, I am also half a Deng family member. How can I ignore my own people when they are bullied?" Liang Yao said loudly.

Liang Yao's words won the favor of several Deng family disciples, but Wu Daqi still looked disdainful: "No matter what, what do you care about?"

The green-skinned gangsters started laughing and didn't take Liang Yao seriously at all.

"Apologise to my second uncle and cousin, otherwise"

"What else?"

"Throw you into the sea and feed them to the fish!"

Liang Yao said this very seriously, and then a burst of laughter came into his ears. Obviously, Wu Daqi and others did not take Liang Yao's words seriously.

"Just you?"

"Last month, the foreigners suspected that Chen Awei was infected with the plague, and the foreigners threw him into the sea without saying a word. In the eyes of those foreigners and pilots, we are not human beings at all, but white silver and golden gold."

At this point, Wu Daqi and others' smiles finally froze, and began to chew on Liang Yao's words.

Although it is not known whether this kid's words have the weight to make the foreigners throw him into the sea, it is true that the foreigners threw Chen Awei into the sea. Thinking of the splashing sound of falling into the water at that time, Wu Daqi still has lingering fears.

And on the whole ship, the only person who can talk to the foreigners, except for the pilot who works for the foreigners, is this young boy.

"Liang Yao, Captain Frank is looking for you."

The pilot Zhang Bingliang stamped his feet on the deck, poked his head out and shouted to Liang Yao in the cabin, then left with his nose covered in disgust, not wanting to stay in this ghost place for a moment.

"Whether you apologize or die, you can't leave a complete body, you decide for yourself."

Liang Yao left the cabin without looking back after saying a harsh word.

Liang Yao naturally knew why Captain Frank was looking for him.

The weigher on the Cape Town fell ill when passing through Malacca, and Frank had to leave him nearby in Singapore. The sanitary conditions in this era were limited, and there were too many uncertain factors in long-distance voyages, and crew reduction was a common occurrence.

Frank originally planned to recruit weighers in Singapore, and Liang Yao volunteered to say that he could be a weigher.

After all, he only had eight Spanish flower-toothed eagle dollars that his mother stuffed into him before leaving, and the monthly salary of ordinary crew members on this ship was much higher than this figure.

Liang Yao wanted to earn some money to buy some supplies. California was still a wild place, and supplies were extremely scarce. Even if there were, the prices were extremely high due to the gold rush. With the eight Spanish silver dollars in his hand, he could only barely have a few full meals there.

At first, Frank refused to hire Liang Yao, who had no experience, as a weigher. Even when Liang Yao showed him his English level and accounting skills, Frank still shook his head nonono, until Liang Yao offered him a condition that he could not refuse. He only wanted half of the salary of the weigher. Frank smiled for the first time and nodded and said yes.

"If nothing unexpected happens, the Cape Town will arrive in Panama tomorrow. This is the list of tomorrow's shipment. You go to the cargo hold to check the goods."

The captain's room at the stern is spacious, bright and clean. Although it is on the same ship as the so-called "cabin" below, it is like two different worlds.

With the previous experience, Frank was very confident in Liang Yao. He even proposed to hire Liang Yao as a crew member. After all, he often travels on the Chinese route, and it would be very helpful for him to have someone who is proficient in English and the local language on the ship.

The key is that this Qing boy is too cheap, and he does things neatly and beautifully. Hiring him is definitely a good deal that will make a profit.

"We will arrive in Panama tomorrow. It would be great if Panama could open a canal. In this way, we would have been in California by now."

Liang Yao is not unfamiliar with Panama, but there is no sign of the Panama Canal now. When this canal was completed and opened to navigation, the Qing Dynasty was destroyed and World War I was in full swing.

The Qing people at this time were still ignorant of the outside world, and few people could name the names and capitals of several major Western countries.

Arrogant and ignorant, this is Frank's view of the Qing people at this time. It was beyond Frank's expectation that this Qing boy in front of him knew so much about Panama.

In the early years, President Bolivar of Gran Colombia had the idea of ​​digging the Panama Canal. The subsequent Republic of New Granada also proposed that Britain, France, the United States, Spain and other countries work together to dig the canal, but in the end, it was shelved due to various factors.

"Yes, your work will be over after tomorrow's work is done. This is your salary." Captain Frank took out a bag of coins and threw it on the table, squinting his eyes, with an unconcealable smile on his lips.

"From Singapore to Panama, you served the Cape Town for a total of 57 days. I have always been generous and paid two months' salary for your 57 days of service. This is the 13 shillings you deserve."

Frank is a typical person who gets a bargain and sells his goods. The contract they signed at the beginning was a contract of 26 shillings per month for the entire voyage including short-term allowances, which is the total of normal weighers. According to the contract, the money is also paid by the British Steamship Company to which the Cape Town belongs.

Liang Yao weighed the 13 shillings in his purse, and knew that the rest of the money would naturally go into the pocket of Frank, the great benefactor.

However, Liang Yao had no intention or ability to argue with Frank, so he just took the opportunity to ask to go ashore to purchase some supplies to California tomorrow. Frank, who was in a good mood, readily agreed to this reasonable request.

13 shillings and 8 Spanish silver dollars, this was all Liang Yao had, his first pot of gold.

Liang Yao was thinking about how to spend the money, and his understanding of the history of the California Gold Rush was also very superficial.

It is not that people in later generations do not understand American history, but their understanding focuses on World War II and the United States that became the world hegemon after the war, and they know very little about the United States before its rise.

Liang Yao was no exception. He was familiar with every major military operation and economic policy that the United States participated in during and after World War II, but he only had a superficial and vague understanding of the United States at that time.

After thinking for a while, Liang Yao decided to use the money to buy gold mining tools such as frying pans, shovels, and pickaxes.

Sam Brannan, the first millionaire in the history of the American West, an ordinary store owner, started his business by monopolizing gold mining tools. Buying these things and selling them in California would definitely make a considerable profit.