Chapter 103: Preparation for the Establishment of a State

"Colonel Griffin, Governor Bell, you and Mr. Fremont? In addition to the above three, maybe I should also thank the Mexican government."

Liang Yao thought for a moment and then said.

He guessed that the combination of Colonel Griffin's repeated applications to the War Department to return home, the friction between the local gentry in Texas represented by Governor Bell and the New Mexico region, and the minor frictions on the US-Mexico border contributed to Liang Yao's appointment as Army officer. Colonel prepares the California Infantry.

Of course, there is no free lunch in the world, Liang Yao still knows this truth.

Congress and the federal government asked him to serve as colonel to prepare the California Infantry Regiment, hoping that he could share some of the border defense pressure with Colonel Mason stationed on the U.S.-Mexico border. This would free up Colonel Mason to intimidate local forces in Texas.

"Very true, but your appointment as a colonel in the American Army is mainly due to Mr. Fremont. I played a minimal role in it." Gervin said.

"President Fillmore originally wanted Mr. Fremont to be responsible for preparing for the formation of the California Infantry Regiment and to serve as the commander of the regiment. After all, Mr. Fremont had served in the Army for many years and was the most senior commander of the California Infantry Regiment. The right person.”

"Mr. Fremont declined?"

Liang Yao asked.

Fremont should have his own ideas. Furthermore, the army is Fremont's sad place. Fremont's reluctance to command the California Infantry was understandable.

"As you said." Gervin nodded, "Mr. Fremont wanted to continue his exploration career after California became a state, so he recommended you to the President."

"Mr. Fremont probably wants to explore a railway line from California to the East."

Liang Yao guessed.

Fremont had repeatedly wanted to explore a railway route from California to the eastern United States before he met Liang Yao. It's just a pity that Fremont didn't succeed.

"The two of you always have the same ideas." Gavin said with emotion, "Mr. Fremont is a very courageous man. When we ran into obstacles everywhere in Washington, I was already discouraged and ready to give up. I still stayed in Washington. With the encouragement of Mr. Limont, I persevered.”

He recalled the time he and Fremont lobbied around Washington.

"What about the money to build the California Infantry Regiment? It takes a lot of money to build an infantry regiment, as well as soldiers' salaries, weapons and equipment, uniforms and other supplies. These are all huge expenses."

Liang Yao was somewhat looking forward to how much military spending Congress would approve for him, but he was soon disappointed.

"You need to recruit the personnel of the infantry regiment by yourself, and military pay will start from next year. The salary subsidy for each soldier is the same as other infantry regiments, which is 8 US dollars and 30 cents a month.

As for weapons and various equipment, part of it is paid for by the federal government, and the rest may need to be paid for at your own expense. After all, the federal government has been in financial difficulty in recent years and has to repay war loans owed to Britain and France during the U.S.-Mexican War. "

Ge Wen said with some embarrassment.

"But the War Department has prepared a brand new colonel's uniform for you! The uniform and letter of appointment are in the hands of the War Department investigator. I think he will come to see you soon after meeting Colonel Griffin."

"It seems that I need to pay a lot of dollars for this set of colonel uniforms." Liang Yao said with a helpless smile.

Congress and the government are too stingy, except that the military pay of 8 US dollars and 30 cents per soldier per month will be honored. The rest of the promises are probably just empty promises, and he will most likely have to pay for them himself.

The salary of 8 US dollars and 30 cents per month cannot support a soldier in California. Griffin's army is a lesson learned from the past.

However, as long as it is authorized by the War Department's letter of appointment and Congress, Liang Yao does not want to worry too much about other aspects. He is not a fool. He has his own army firmly in his hands, and he will not let the federal government spend an infantry regiment in vain.

Liang Yao's eyes stayed on the news about the shoddy project in the "California Daily".

California now not only needs his personal power to keep the lights on, but it also desperately needs a government to rein in these unscrupulous companies and speculators.

"Mr. Ge Wen, besides serving as a representative of Ohio, what other positions have you held before?" Liang Yao asked Ge Wen.

"Except for being a secretary to Mr. Lieutenant Governor for a period of time, I worked in some insignificant positions the rest of the time."

Ge Wen said that although he has a rich political resume, he rarely holds important positions in core departments. That's why he came to California to look for opportunities.

"Now that Congress has passed California's statehood bill, I think California should hold elections as soon as possible to set up California's government team. I hope you can serve as Secretary of State to organize the first election in this state." Liang Yao said.

Regardless of the outcome of the discussion in Congress about the Mexican government's land grant, he has already prepared for the worst.

The most urgent thing now is to build up California's government team.

"I have done similar work in Ohio before. This time I hurried back to California from Washington for the California statehood election. But now I am worried about two issues." Gervin said.

"What two questions?" Liang Yao asked.

"The first problem is that elections require a lot of financial support."

"I will find a way to solve the problem of funds. It's not a big problem."

"The second problem is the Eastern consortium, especially the consortium from New York. I am worried that the New York consortium will intervene in the California election.

After all, you, Mr. Fremont and I all hope that California will exist as an independent state. We don't want California to become a place for Eastern consortiums to make money."

This problem is what Ge Wen is most worried about. Once the state legislature, state government, and state court are filled with a large number of people from the Eastern consortium. In the future, no matter what California does, it will be bound by the influence and constraints of the Eastern consortium.

This is what Ge Wen does not want to see. It is also what Liang Yao and Fleet are unwilling to accept.

"What you said makes a lot of sense. California should be run by Californians. This matter will be left to me to solve. You just need to concentrate on doing your job well."

Liang Yao thought for a while and said.

Most of the other consortiums reached an agreement with him to leave Sacramento and go deep inland to find new gold producing areas. The only thing we need to guard against is the New York consortium that is still in the Sacramento area.

The New York consortium is now banding together to mine gold in one mining area. The personnel are very concentrated, so it is not difficult to prevent them from intervening in the California election.