Chapter 176: Texas

"You two disgusting things should be sent to the gallows and hanged. Google search to read"

Nathan only felt that this scene was a bit dirty to his eyes. The West of this era was far less tolerant of homosexuality than later generations.

"It's quite lively."

Harvey noticed that there was still movement in the bushes behind the two black slaves, pointed his rifle at the bushes, and shouted.

"Don't hide, I know there are still people in the bushes, if you don't come out, I will shoot!"

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

Another black shadow came out of the bushes and shouted loudly.

"I am a servant of the Firestone family."

Harvey put away his gun and frowned at the disheveled female black slave: "It is your indecent behavior that makes many newly born black slaves not know who their father is."

"Let's go."

Zoe's wheat-colored face turned red, urging Harvey and Nathan.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Liang Yao and Vanderbilt's fleet arrived at La Porte, Texas, escorted by the U.S. Navy.

La Porte is the closest port to Houston, located 20 miles southeast of Houston.

Texas Governor Bell warmly welcomed Liang Yao at La Porte and took Liang Yao to Houston, 20 miles away.

It is unimaginable that a slave state would welcome a representative of a free state so grandly in the context of the incompatibility between the North and the South.

On both sides of the road to Houston, there are endless cotton fields, and among these cotton fields, there are tobacco plantations and sugarcane plantations.

Cotton, tobacco, and sugarcane are the economic pillars of Texas and the entire southern United States.

Especially cotton. It is no exaggeration to say that cotton is the lifeblood of the economy of the southern states of the United States.

Black slaves worked in these plantations with their backs bent under the scorching sun. Liang Yao noticed that some black slaves had shackles on their feet, which were put on them by the plantation owners to prevent their private property from escaping.

Although the 1850 Compromise Bill had been issued for a year, this compromise bill recognized the legitimacy of slavery in the South to a certain extent.

But the restless factory owners and freedom fighters in the North still did not give up "rescuing" the black slaves in the South who were in dire straits from the hands of the southern plantation owners. Instead of being alleviated, the problem of fugitive slaves became more and more serious.

Several Texas Rangers came from the north and passed by Liang Yao. They held the rope tightly in their hands, but the rope in their hands was not the reins of the mounts, but the linen ropes that tied the fugitive slaves.

"Almost every day, there are restless black slaves who try to escape to the north."

Bell glanced at these fugitive slaves who were drooping their heads and looking dejected, and said with a frown.

"There were a few black slaves on my plantation who tried to escape, but they were all caught and severely punished by me.

Those untrustworthy northerners are the most insidious and cunning. They say one thing on the surface and another behind the scenes.

On the surface, they admit that black slaves are our legal property, but secretly they send people to the South to instigate black slaves in the South to escape to the North. This is not only the case in Texas, but also in Georgia and South Carolina. There are always restless northerners active in these states."

Although Bell is the head of Texas, he is not a good person to talk to. He has a fierce face and does not look like a good person.

Bell suddenly remembered that Vanderbilt next to him was also a northerner, so he said to him with an apologetic tone: "Mr. Vanderbilt, no offense, although you are also a northerner, you are a very peaceful northerner, and the door of Texas will always be open to you."

"Mr. Bell, I am afraid that you want to open the investment door of Texas for me, and I have to think carefully about it." Vanderbilt complained to Bell.

"The cotton market is getting worse and worse. The two cotton ginning mills I opened in Texas last year have not made any profit so far. The price of Texas workers is more expensive than that of New York workers."

Last year, Vanderbilt's investment in Texas was a complete failure. His investment in Texas was not so much an investment as it was to maintain friendship with Texas dignitaries.

Because his shipping empire needs a long-term and reliable port in Texas.

"Cotton is white gold."

Liang Yao looked at the endless cotton fields. In addition to black slaves working in the cotton fields, there were also many white people working in the cotton fields, which shows the shortage of labor in Texas.

Black slaves are very expensive. Liang Yao did not specifically inquire about this, but in the slave market in La Porte, Wu Yuanhua and others wanted to buy some black slaves to go back to guard the house and asked the slave traders about the price of black slaves.

The price of an adult male black slave of $1,800 made these wealthy businessmen stay away.

This is just the price of an ordinary adult male black slave. As for those strong male black slaves who work all year round, the price will only be more expensive.

Fortunately, Wu Yuanhua and others did not buy slaves but only asked. If they bought and brought them back to California, they would probably face imprisonment.

California is a free state, and California law has already prohibited the private keeping of slaves. Privately keeping slaves will face imprisonment.

In the mid-19th century, the monthly salary of ordinary workers in northern America was about 6 to 9 US dollars. The price of an adult male slave of 1,800 US dollars was indeed a sky-high price.

Only large plantation owners could afford black slaves. As for those small plantation owners, it was good enough to have one or two black slaves. They still had to do many of the work on the plantation.

Texas' industry was indeed very backward. Except for some scattered cotton ginning mills, sugar cane factories, and cigarette factories, there were no other factories. Many industrial products in Texas needed to be imported from outside.

Texas' industrial products mainly came from Britain and France, followed by industrial products from the United States.

American industrial products were not popular in Texas.

In addition to the fact that Texans brought their hatred of the Yankees to their products, the industrial products of the North were indeed industrial garbage compared with those of Britain and France, and had no appeal compared with the high-quality and low-cost industrial products of Britain and France.

Although Congress and the federal government raised tariffs and the prices of industrial products imported from the European continent rose, the prices of American industrial products were not much lower. But in terms of quality, compared with the industrial products of Britain and France, they were not a little bit worse.

Therefore, Texans are still willing to pay a little more to buy imported industrial products from Britain and France.

This is not only true for Texas and the southern states, but also for the North. The Yankees do not like the industrial products they produce.

"Maybe it was white gold in the past, but it is not now. Although the cotton in Texas and even the whole of America is of good quality, it is not competitive at all compared with the cotton in India."

When it comes to cotton, Bell looked sad.

"India has endless cheap labor, while Texas only has expensive black slaves, and these black slaves are becoming more and more restless. There are also tariff issues. In the face of high tariffs, Texas cotton is becoming more and more difficult to export."

It takes a lot of labor to grow cotton. The population of the United States is mainly concentrated in the north, or more accurately, in the free states in the northeast.

Although the population density of the southern slave states is higher than that of the western wilderness, as far as the entire South is concerned, even if the black slaves are counted, the population and labor force of the southern slave states are not very abundant.

When the Civil War broke out, the population of the South accounted for only 39% of the total population of the United States, with a population of only 9 million. However, the South squeezed out an army of 1.1 million with a population base of 9 million.

This was the population of the South ten years later, and the population of the South at this time would be even smaller.

As for the issue of tariffs, it has been the focus of the conflict between the North and the South since the founding of the United States.

The domestic industrial capacity and market of the United States cannot digest the huge amount of cotton in the South. In fact, the cotton in the South of the United States is not grown for the United States itself.

The cotton in the South of the United States is mainly exported as raw materials to European countries, mainly Britain. The lower the tariff, the more beneficial it is to the South.

The Congress is the one who formulates the tariffs in the United States. In recent years, the influence of the South in Congress has become smaller and smaller. On the important issue of formulating tariffs, the South’s voice is far less than that of the North.

In addition, in the mid-19th century, Britain’s rule over the British Indian colonies was already quite stable, and it was able to obtain a large amount of cheap raw materials from India, including cotton.

The cotton in the South of the United States is no longer as attractive to Britain as before.

"Simply exporting cotton as raw materials, of course, will not bring any profit. If Texas cotton is spun into cloth or even made into clothes, I think the profit will be very high," Liang Yao said.

After Liang Yao said this, Bell couldn't help but feel a little disappointed with Liang Yao.

In his impression, the speaker of the California State Assembly was not an ordinary person. How could he say such unrealistic words?

Texas didn't even have enough people to grow cotton, so where was the labor force to spin cotton into spindles and cotton cloth? As for making ready-made clothes, it was even more of a joke. Everyone's body shape was different, and it was difficult to sell ready-made clothes in advance. Who would be willing to pay for clothes that didn't fit?

Making clothes not only requires a large number of skilled tailors, but also takes time and effort to sew clothes. A skilled tailor can only make a few sets of clothes a month.

Summer insects can't talk about ice. Bell is still a large plantation owner after all, and his vision and perspective are limited.

It can also be said that Liang Yao's idea was too advanced. Before the emergence of mature and efficient sewing machines, sewing clothes in both the East and the West relied on inefficient manual work, and tailors were all craftsmen.

"Your idea is bold, but impractical."

Bell shook his head disappointedly.

"California will buy cotton, sugar and tobacco from Texas in the next five years. Is this idea practical enough?" Liang Yao said slowly.

Before leaving, he had discussed the import of cotton, sugar and tobacco from Texas in the state legislature.

The arable land in California will be used to grow rice, wheat and other food crops first.

California's population is growing very fast, and more and more immigrants are flocking to California. Food problems will plague California for a long time.

But California's demand for cash crops is also increasing. Textile factories need cotton, people need to eat sugar to adjust food, and tobacco is a necessity for the majority of miners.

In order to solve this problem, importing cash crops from Texas is undoubtedly a good choice.

California and Texas can not only get what they need, but also deepen the connection and friendship between the two states.

The more trade between the two states, the more support there will be for the proposal to build a railroad between California and Texas, at least there will be no opposition in Texas.

"California wants to buy cotton, sugar and tobacco from Texas?"

Bell's eyes lit up, and he rubbed his hands excitedly.

"California doesn't have to pay tariffs to buy goods from Texas. As long as you can provide high-quality and low-priced goods, why not?" Liang Yao said.

"Thank you so much, you are really the savior of Texas." Bell said gratefully, "I wonder how much cotton California imports from Texas every year?"

"Let's talk about it after we get to Houston." Liang Yao said lightly, "I prefer to appreciate the beauty of Texas on horseback rather than talk about these trivial matters."

"That's natural. You have traveled all the way to Texas. I think you must be exhausted. Please come to my manor tonight to have a good rest. I will treat you well.

Tomorrow I will take you to my plantation to see my cotton, those beautiful white and big cotton! My cotton planting technology is the best in Texas."

Bell said enthusiastically.

The 20-mile road is not long, but not short. It was already evening when Liang Yao arrived at the largest city in Texas.

Although Houston is the largest city in Texas, Liang Yao and others think that this largest city in Texas is not very prosperous.

The population of Houston is comparable to that of San Francisco, and this is when black people are counted as people. If black people are not included, the population of Houston is likely to be less than that of San Francisco.

The streets are bumpy, like the surface of the moon that has been destroyed by meteorite impact.

The construction of the urban area is also chaotic, allowing all kinds of buildings to grow wildly on the land of this city, without any order.

The most unbearable thing is a wastewater collection pool not far from Houston City Hall, which is a pond with a foul smell.

Surrounding the wastewater collection pool are the slaughterhouses and tanneries in Houston. The wastewater from the slaughterhouses and tanneries without any treatment measures is mixed with animal blood and discarded animal viscera and directly discharged into this pond.

What's worse is that it's summer now, and this pond is not connected to the outside water system, which means it's a dead pool.

"The Texas State Assembly is discussing filling this pond, but the slaughterhouse and tanneries next to the pond are opposed to filling it. This involves their livelihood issues. In general, it's a headache."

When passing by this stinking pool full of maggots and flies flying all over the sky, Bell speeded up and said to Liang Yao.

A few steps away from the stinking pool is Houston's City Hall.

From the front, Houston's City Hall is quite impressive. The front of the municipal building is decorated with marble like big cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Boston.

But it's only limited to the front. There is no decoration on the back of the municipal building. It is bare and looks a bit ugly.

This may be due to the limited finances of the Houston Municipal Government.

.