Chapter 31: The Arrival of Politicians

[Add more to ask you how you can be so far away! ]

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"What kind of wind is blowing here today? It actually brought so many far-sighted politicians here! Sacramento welcomes you! Dear Mr. Ge Wen!"

Liang Yao warmly received Ge Wen by the American River. The dam on the American River has been completed, and his employees are doing the final drainage work.

"It seems that I am not the first politician to come to see you, Mr. Liang. You are younger than I thought, and your English is better than I thought."

Ge Wen had a very good impression of Sacramento. Although Sacramento looked very simple, the streets were clean and the people were in order.

In San Francisco, Ge Wen had to walk carefully for fear of stepping on feces and splashing sewage to dirty his expensive pants.

Stanford was right. It is true that Sam Brannan was the first millionaire in the western United States and a rare talent, but Liang Yao's ability was even better than Brannan. Ge Wen had a very good first impression of Liang Yao.

"Thank you, Mr. Ge Wen."

"Let me introduce you to my friend, Leland Stanford." Ge Wen introduced Stanford to Liang Yao.

"Hello, Mr. Stanford."

"I heard that you are a nobleman of the Qing Dynasty?" Stanford said to the extraordinary young man in front of him.

At this time, not only did the Qing Dynasty not know about the outside world, but the outside world also knew very little about the Qing Dynasty.

When the Qing Dynasty excluded the first batch of children to study in the United States, almost all Americans regarded those boys wearing long gowns and pigtails as little girls.

The first batch of children went to the United States to study in 1872, not to mention that it was still 1850, and the United States would know less about the Qing Dynasty than in 1872.

"I'm not a noble. According to your saying, I may be a gentleman. My grandfather was a middle-level official in the capital, and my grandfather's brother once managed a county with a population of more than 300,000.

Our family is also a relatively prominent family in the local area, but unfortunately it has declined in my generation for some reasons."

Liang Yao could have chosen to brag in front of them that he was a noble or even a royal family member.

But there is no need to do so. The real nobles have been precipitated for three or more generations, and the temperament on them is difficult for ordinary people to imitate.

Although Liang Yao is not a professional actor, his acting skills are okay. If he plays a little, he may be able to fool them and make them believe that he is a noble.

But these politicians are all very cunning. He can deceive for a while, but not for a lifetime. There will always be a day when he will be exposed.

In addition, they admire nobles who are enterprising and talented, not those nobles in Beijing who can only walk dogs and play with birds and lose their ambitions.

"My God, 300,000 people is actually a very small administrative unit in your country? 300,000 people is enough to set up a state in the United States!" Ge Wen adjusted his glasses. He was shocked by the large population of the Qing Dynasty.

According to the state establishment standards of the United States, as long as there are more than 100,000 settled populations, they are eligible to submit a bill to Congress and apply for state establishment.

"There is nothing strange. My motherland has 400 million people, or perhaps more. You must know that it is difficult to make accurate statistics for such a large population. There is an error of 20 to 30 million that is also being cleared."

"The current population of the United States is only more than 20 million! My God, this is such a huge market! No wonder the British want to open your country." Ge Wen exclaimed.

Didn't you also take advantage of the fire to force the Qing government to sign the "Wangxia Treaty" and require the Qing government to give you the same treatment as the British in China? Liang Yao sneered in his heart. The British and American powers are just birds of a feather.

"It's not as good as you think. The size of a market is not measured by its population. Unfortunately, the local residents are very poor and have little purchasing power." Liang Yao said as he walked into the pavilion by the American River.

Strauss had already prepared tea for them.

"Mr. Liang, can you tell me which gentleman visited you before me?"

After sitting down, Ge Wen asked.

"John Charles Fremont, I think you should know him, a great explorer and an outstanding soldier. It was he who opened up the Western Trail, allowing Americans in the East to reach California by land.

The Sacramento River Valley under our feet was first discovered by him. He is very interested in Sacramento and should be investigating the surrounding area to look for gold. Maybe you can meet him later." Liang Yao said.

"I've heard a little bit about him. His father-in-law is Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, a family with a great reputation that I have to look up to.

If it weren't for his father-in-law, he would have been on the wrong side in the military struggle, and it would not have been as simple as being expelled from the army."

The American political circle is not big, but it is not small either. Ge Wen still knows the relevant people in these circles.

"I just didn't expect that this frustrated soldier wants to go into politics now. As far as I know, he should be more interested in adventure."

Liang Yao smiled and said, "Isn't getting involved in politics a more exciting adventure?"

"I didn't expect you to have such insights at such a young age. You have a maturity that is not commensurate with your age, which surprised me deeply." Ge Wen sighed with great regret and said, "It seems that my vision is not as good as this political novice. I came too late."

"No, you came at the right time."

"What do you mean?"

"California can't accommodate two millionaires, but it can accommodate two senators."

Ge Wen was deeply shocked by this. This young man from the East was too ambitious.

"You mean, you want to fund both of us to run for senator at the same time?"

"That's right. There are so many politicians in the United States, and only you two arrived in California first, which shows that you two are the ones who really care about California. As a citizen of California, who else can I support if I don't support you and Fremont?"

Ge Wen, who had originally given up on Liang Yao and had given up on winning Liang Yao's political donations, suddenly glowed with a burning light in his eyes after hearing Liang Yao's words.

He was too eager to become a senator. If he competed with Fremont on the same stage, he didn't have much confidence. After all, Fremont's backers were stronger than his backers.

Although he has more political experience, in the election, political experience is far less important than a prominent family background and reliable backers.

He felt this deeply, otherwise he would not have struggled in the House of Representatives for so many years and still not been able to climb into the Senate, while people with far less ability and qualifications than him could enter the Senate openly.

Politics has never been a fair game.

Liang Yao's ambition is so big that Owen doubts whether Liang Yao has enough financial resources to support two senator candidates at the same time.

He and Fremont are running for the future senator of California, and the money they have to spend is not comparable to running for the House of Representatives.

"Do you have enough financial resources to support me and Fremont to run for the Senate at the same time?"

Ge Wen did not care about pretending, and directly asked Liang Yao his question. Supporting two senator campaigns at the same time would cost an astronomical figure!

"Not yet." Liang Yao told him frankly.

He really does not have so much spare money to support two candidates for the Senate at the same time.

Ge Wen was disappointed and couldn't help cursing in his heart, if you don't have money, what are you talking about!