Chapter 226: Arizona Infantry Regiment

In the second half of 1851, a wave of building new railroad tracks swept across the eastern United States.

The old, inferior tracks were dismantled one by one and replaced with new railroad tracks that could match the new locomotives.

Not only did the three giants in the railway industry do this, but even the small railway companies that were struggling to survive had to build new railroad tracks.

They were forced to accept the industry standards exported by the three giants.

Liang Yao's Atlantic Railway Company and Vanderbilt's Central Railway Company reached an agreement to allow the lines of the two railway companies to be connected.

This was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for other railway companies, including Yinli Railway Company, one of the three giants.

The Atlantic Railway Company and the Central Railway Company already controlled several very valuable railway routes, such as the New York-Boston, New York-Philadelphia, and Baltimore-Cleveland routes controlled by the Atlantic Railway Company, and the short-distance routes in New York State and the New York-Chicago route controlled by the Central Railway Company, which were all very commercially valuable routes.

The Atlantic Railroad and the Central Railroad were both very powerful railroad companies. The strong combination of the two companies was a big bad news for other railroad companies in the industry.

After the news of the connection of the two railroad companies was announced, Liang Yao and Vanderbilt were condemned by other railroad companies.

But it was just a mild condemnation.

Although the Yinli Railroad was dissatisfied, it still did not directly stand up to condemn Liang Yao and Vanderbilt.

If everything goes well, the new rails laid by the Yinli Railroad from New York to New Haven will be completed by the end of next month.

The Yinli Railroad is still waiting for Liang Yao's locomotive factory to supply them with the Pioneer locomotive and supporting carriages. There is no need to offend Liang Yao for those small and medium-sized railroad companies.

At the end of September 1851, Liang Yao received a reply from President Fillmore. Congress allowed him to recruit an infantry regiment in the name of the Arizona Infantry Regiment, which was fully responsible for the border defense of the Arizona Territory, guarding against Indians, and ensuring the safety of American immigrants in the Arizona Territory.

However, the federal government was in financial difficulty and could not provide enough food and wages for the soldiers of the Arizona Infantry Regiment. It could only provide a $5 allowance per soldier per month.

The remaining expenses, logistics, and even weapons had to be solved by Liang Yao himself.

If it were any other army colonel, he would never accept such harsh conditions.

But Liang Yao accepted it. As long as the establishment of the standing infantry regiment could be obtained, the rest were just some minor issues.

As long as the soldiers were raised by him and obeyed his orders, this infantry regiment would be firmly in his hands. In the future, even if the president ordered, he would not be able to mobilize his soldiers without his nod.

The army was his capital for self-protection in the future civil war, although after the outbreak of the civil war, both the North and the South quickly mobilized and expanded their armies.

However, the gap between veterans and new soldiers was obvious, especially the North, whose army was rapidly expanding. In the early days of the war, it did not show a record that matched the national strength and industrial strength of the North. Instead, it was very passive in the Virginia battlefield on the eastern front and the South.

The reason for this was that in addition to the fact that the generals of the North were not as capable as those of the South in the early days, the quality of the soldiers was also a very important reason.

The consumables that the North hastily pulled from the streets and stuffed with a rifle and sent them to the battlefield naturally cannot be expected to have strong combat effectiveness.

In the South, in addition to the all-star lineup of generals, most of the middle and lower-level officers are small and medium-sized slave owners who have participated in the Mexican-American War and even the Second War of Independence, and the soldiers are also veterans who have participated in the Mexican-American War and fought with Indian tribes for many years.

With the approval of Congress and the documents of the Ministry of War, Liang Yao sent people to major towns in southern states to recruit soldiers and form his Arizona Infantry Regiment.

After the Mexican-American War, the federal government carried out a large-scale military reduction, and a large number of active professional soldiers were dismissed and sent back to their hometowns.

These soldiers have undergone formal military training and have practical experience. Recruiting these forced retired soldiers only takes a short time to form combat effectiveness.

Of course, the most critical reason is that these southern veterans are inexpensive and good value for money.

Except for the special case of the California Infantry Regiment, the salaries of ordinary soldiers in other American infantry regiments are generally in the range of 7 to 10 US dollars.

Whether the soldiers get $7 or $10 a month depends on whether the colonel of the infantry regiment is financially strong and has a conscience.

Liang Yao offered a salary of $12 a month to ordinary soldiers of the Arizona Infantry Regiment, and officers were paid separately. Although this treatment was far worse than that of the California Infantry Regiment, it was very generous compared to other army infantry regiments, and enough veterans could be recruited quickly.

As for why Liang Yao chose to recruit soldiers in the southern states, the reason was simple, that is, compared with the soldiers in the north of the United States, the soldiers in the south were more martial.

In addition to the Arizona Infantry Regiment, Liang Yao also recruited an artillery company in California, and several officers who graduated from the engineering surveying department of the West Point Military Academy and the Virginia Military Academy to build an engineering company.

Liang Yao himself can train infantry soldiers in a short period of time, but these technical arms cannot be trained overnight.

The fastest way is to directly recruit retired veterans.

Liang Yao flipped through the list of this trip to the east.

Railways, eastern markets, sewing machines, talent, education, purchase of land from Mexico, expedition to Japan, and military expansion and recruitment.

These items have been successfully completed, and the last two items are left.

One was the retail business promised to Vandaze, and the other was to acquire steel mills in Pittsburgh and Ohio and transfer some production capacity to California.

Liang Yao asked Yin Lisabai to inform Fan Daze to inspect the retail industry in New York.

As soon as Fan Daze heard that Liang Yao was finally getting involved in the retail industry, he immediately rushed over.

"Thank God, you finally remembered what you promised me in California." Van Daze looked happy.

Although Van Daze is now a well-known millionaire in New York State, his income is still considerable.

But a large part of his income comes from dividends from shares in Staten Gold Mining Company and from opening grocery stores in California.

The New York grocery store that originally started out has not seen much improvement in recent years and has not grown much. This is a worry in Van Daze's heart.

"The scale of your stores in New York is too small, and the management is too weak. This business model is not suitable for New York. If you don't make changes and continue to stick to the rules, these ten or so stores may be able to barely support it. Sooner or later they will be eliminated.”

Liang Yao carefully analyzed why Fan Daze clearly had good supply channels and had good relationships with suppliers, but could not expand his store.

This is not to say that Liang Yao is alarmist. After the American Civil War, the rise of large shopping malls will give small shops in big cities a head-on blow. For small shops, even small chain shops, life will only become more and more difficult.

"Which business model is suitable for New York?" Fan Daze chewed carefully what Liang Yao had just said.

"Your grandfather inherited these shops from your father. After your father passed away, you took over these shops from your father." Liang Yao asked.

"Have you ever wondered why your family's grocery store has exactly the same business methods? Why can it grow bigger and bigger in the hands of your grandfather and your father, but not in your hands?"

"I'm also very confused. Like my father and grandfather, I have always been very trustworthy and have a good reputation. Even these shops in New York have been in a state of half-death, barely maintaining operations." Van Daze covered his bald head. , puzzled.

"I seem to understand." Yin Lisabai on the side seemed to understand the reason.

"Tell me about it." Liang Yao motioned to Yin Lisabai to continue.

"Uncle Vandaze, you told me that your stores in San Francisco and Sacramento are doing better than those in New York. I guess this is related to the size of the city.

When New York was in the hands of your grandfather and father, the population was far less than it is today. Forty or fifty years ago, the population of New York was almost the same as that of San Francisco. At that time, there were not many shops in New York, and people tended to go to familiar places. Shops to buy shops.

But today New York is a megacity with a population of more than 700,000. There are dozens or hundreds of shops on every street, and New Yorkers have more choices.

And immigrants who have just moved into New York don’t know that your store is of high quality and low price. "

Yin Lisabai said after sorting out her thoughts.

"The scale of New York is expanding, but your store is still the same. It's strange that it can grow bigger." Liang Yao said to Fan Daze, "Your family has a good reputation in the New York industry, and you have reliable and low-cost supply channels. , these are the capital to become a retail giant.”

The word retail giant is full of temptations for Van Daze. Why doesn't he want to become a giant in the industry like Vanderbilt and Liang Yao?

Standing at the top of the industry is the ideal of every aspiring businessman.

"Retail giant," Vandaze muttered.

"As long as you are willing to give up half of your family's shares, I will cooperate with you to build our own retail empire in New York, even Philadelphia and Boston."

Liang Yao put forward his conditions for cooperation. When he was weak, in order to cooperate with Vanderbilt and others to fight against the eastern consortium, he sincerely offered shares in Xiangshan Gold Mining Company.

The Xiangshan Gold Mining Company is still making money every day in a physical sense.

Things have turned around, and now it's his turn to take advantage of these people's shares.

He is a businessman, not a philanthropist. If Fan Daze wants to cooperate with him, he must show sufficient sincerity in cooperation.

The American retail industry is very big. The first generation of retail giant Alexander Turney Stewart began to get involved in the retail industry in 1846. By the time of his death in 1876, he had accumulated a huge fortune of US$80 million.

Ranked sixth on the list of America's richest people, the ones ahead of him are Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Asta, Girard and Carnegie.

At the same time, Stewart was not the only one who ranked among the richest people in the United States in the retail industry. Chicago retail giant Marshall Field ranked tenth, but this guy not only engaged in retail, but also engaged in real estate.

The well-known American retail giant Walter Sam Moore Wal-Mart also ranked among the top richest people in the United States due to his retail industry, and Wal-Mart ranked fourteenth.

The reason why Liang Yao is willing to cooperate with Fan Daze is because he is interested in the huge retail market in New York and the supply channels and network foundation laid by the three generations of the Fan Daze family in the New York retail industry.

If Van Daze is willing to cooperate, he will get twice the result with half the effort in New York retail.

If you don't want to cooperate, the worst thing you can do is do it yourself, but it will take more time and energy to start from scratch.

"Half of the shares?" After thinking for a long time, Fan Daze made up his mind and said through gritted teeth.

"I am very happy to cooperate with you, but this industry is not just mine, but the entire Fan Daze family's. I need to hold a family meeting to make a decision. This is not an excuse for me to refuse. Please give me a day.

Even if other members of the Fan Daze family are unwilling to give up so many shares in the end, I will leave the family and take out my part of the assets to work with you."