Chapter 119: The Thoughts of Britain and France

In the middle of the 19th century, the comprehensive national strength of Britain and France was far stronger than that of the United States.

The British Empire, known as the sun never sets, has the world's largest colonies and the most powerful navy.

France is the most powerful country on the European continent, with the most powerful army in Europe and even in the world.

After all, Fremont is still a young politician without much political experience. He contacted the ambassadors of Britain and France just to make a superficial article for Congress to see, and did not think about having substantive cooperation with Britain and France.

These two countries are the masters who will not get up early without profit, and the ambassadors of the two countries are more shrewd than each other, so how can they be willing to act as a dispensable tool.

What they want is real benefits, which is why Liang Yao does not want to contact the British and French high-level officials too early.

Liang Yao received two guests in Tingtao Garden, one of them was Gibson, a banker of the British Bank of Barings, and the other was Le Goff, a banker of the Bank of France.

It seems that Britain and France are still relatively restrained in the United States, and no one from the embassy has direct contact with him.

After a brief self-introduction, Liang Yao began to negotiate with the two British and French bankers.

Liang Yao was no stranger to the Bank of Bahrain and the Bank of France.

Four years ago was the golden age of the American Democrats, and their president Polk was an ambitious president.

Polk was keenly aware at the time that if the United States wanted to become an influential power, it could not be content with the Atlantic coast, but must achieve effective control over the Pacific coast.

To achieve this, it was necessary to achieve postal service between the Oregon region (California had not yet been annexed by the United States at that time) and the eastern states.

The best postal route was the Panama route operated by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company of Aspinwall.

At that time, the Democratic-led Congress and the State Department had completed contact with the government of the Republic of New Granada (roughly equivalent to today's Colombia) and decided to dig a canal in the Panama Province of the Republic of New Granada.

At that time, the Mexican-American War coincided, and the territorial disputes between Canada and the United States intensified.

President Polk, who always had a tough attitude towards foreign affairs, even shouted out the radical slogan "Fifty-four forty or fight" when facing the territorial disputes between the northwest border and the British Canadian colonies.

The British authorities believed that if the Oregon region and the eastern United States achieved postal service, it would damage the interests of their Canadian colonies, so they entangled France to ruin the cooperation between the United States and New Granada.

The main participants in this matter were the Bank of Bahrain and the Bank of France. They estimated the canal at more than 10 million US dollars, forcing Americans who were willing to dig the Panama Canal to stay away.

At the same time, they told the New Granada government that the United States could not afford more than 10 million US dollars, but Britain and France could, so the New Granada Republic was more inclined to cooperate with Britain and France, which had stronger financial strength.

At that time, the United States was at war with Mexico, so it naturally could not afford more than 10 million US dollars, and the wealthy people in the United States could not afford 10 million US dollars, so the matter had to be abandoned in the end.

After the United States gave up digging the Panama Canal, when the government of the New Granada Republic urged Britain and France to dig the canal again, Britain and France expressed their attitude towards the difficulty of the project and said that the project was not feasible. The New Granada Republic was very angry and felt that it had been fooled.

"I would like to say hello to you on behalf of the ambassador, Mr. Liang."

Although Robinson was the governor, Gypsy, who had been paying attention to California for a long time, had long known that Liang Yao was the one who really controlled California.

"The ambassador had already met with Senator Fremont earlier. The ambassador and I deeply sympathize with the experience of the California Republic. I deeply admire the spirit of the California people fighting for freedom.

I would like to do my best to support the California people in resisting tyranny and striving for independence."

When passing by the square, Gipson noticed that there was no Stars and Stripes in the square, only the bear flag symbolizing the California Republic.

Gipson mistakenly thought that this was California's war of independence and was ecstatic.

California was originally a territory that the United States had just annexed from Mexico two years ago. From a legal point of view, it was naturally reasonable for Californians to seek independence.

Wars require money, lots of money.

During the Mexican-American War, the Bank of Barings provided loans to the American government while clearing the inventory of the British Empire and selling outdated weapons to Mexico, which was short of weapons, at high prices. It can be said that it made a lot of money.

The Bank of France also made a lot of money in the Mexican-American War, but the French mainly supported the United States and did not make as much as the British.

The British supported both countries and even sent British officers to help the Mexicans train their troops because they hoped that the war could last longer.

The British were very happy to see the United States' national strength being consumed by the blood of Mexicans.

France, on the other hand, wanted to make the powerful United States a nuisance to the British because Britain supported Prussia in Europe to make trouble for France.

Both sides knew each other's thoughts, but such things that were easy to tear each other apart could not be brought to the table.

Although Britain and France secretly disliked each other, on the surface, they still maintained harmony.

"Mr. Gipson, since you admit that Mr. Fremont is a senator of the United States Senate, how can there be a California Republic? This is just a war for Californians to defend their rights, not a war of independence."

Liang Yao had long seen through Gipson's conspiracy, and he explained the nature of this war to Gipson.

It's not that he doesn't have the idea of ​​independence, but the time for independence has not come yet.

California does not have a complete industrial system to support a long-term modern war.

At present, the cohesion of Californians is limited to defending California and their property. It is Liang Yao's wishful thinking to want them to follow him to expand the territory.

He still needs more time to increase the cohesion of Californians and their sense of identity.

Liang Yao can flirt with Britain and France, making Congress and Washington officials feel nervous and stressed.

But he will never fight for Britain and France to the last Californian.

Gipson and Le Goff looked at each other, and Liang Yao's answer was beyond their expectations.

This young man seemed very sober, sober enough to resist the temptation of the presidency of a republic.

Is he really willing to be a deputy governor who manipulates everything behind the scenes?

"Ahem, don't get me wrong, we just sympathize with the plight of Californians." Le Goff coughed twice to ease the awkward situation.

"We are bankers and come to California to find business opportunities, but if you need weapons, we are also happy to provide them, and we have our own channels."

Le Goff did not know that half of Colonel Mason's infantry regiment had been eliminated by Liang Yao.

He felt that the current situation in California was not very clear, and Paris had not made clear instructions on the matter. Le Goff decided to wait and see.

"As long as you abide by the laws of this state, we welcome businessmen and entrepreneurs from any country to invest in California." Liang Yao said, "As for weapons, as long as the weapons you provide are advanced enough, I can buy some weapons to arm the California Infantry Regiment."

"Great, can I conduct an inspection in California?" Le Goff asked.

Gibson's purpose in coming to California was very clear, that is, to instigate the American Civil War.

At the beginning of the year, when the North and South of the United States were at loggerheads, the British authorities secretly rejoiced, thinking that a large-scale civil war was about to break out in the United States.

London bankers even prepared war bonds for the United States, but in July, after the new President Fillmore came to power, he quickly mediated the contradictions between the North and the South and eased the tense relationship between the two sides.

Fillmore successfully facilitated the passage of the Compromise Bill in September, which saved the United States from civil war.

This disappointed the London authorities across the ocean.

The disagreement between California and the United States Congress gave them hope of reigniting the fuse of the American Civil War. This was the purpose of Simpson's commission to come to California.

Le Goff's purpose of coming to California was not as clear as Simpson's. Although Paris did not make a clear statement and instructions on the matter, Le Goff also knew that a stronger America was in the interests of France at present.

Every second has the ambition to become the first.

France covets Britain's position as the world's hegemon, but France's comprehensive national strength, especially the navy, is far behind Britain. France needs a partner with the strength to contain Britain.

If California is worth investing in, French capital represented by the Bank of France can enter California and participate in local development, which is a great gain for Le Goff.

"Of course, I will let my assistant take you to California as your guide later." Liang Yao said.