Chapter 318: Western Journey

When the issue of establishment was mentioned, the carriage suddenly became quiet.

Giving Liang Yao more establishment meant that military expenditure would be increased.

Fillmore crossed his fingers and tapped the back of his left hand with his right index finger rhythmically. He did not give Liang Yao an answer immediately, but thought about the cost of expanding the army.

Liang Yao waited for Fillmore's answer calmly and calmly. Now it was Fillmore who asked him for help, not him asking Fillmore for help.

"You have two regiments now. I can add a standing regiment to you. It is not a big deal for the army to expand a standing regiment. It only needs to go through the procedures of the War Department and does not require the approval of Congress. The resistance will be much smaller, and I can give you this regiment immediately after returning to Washington."

After thinking for a while, Fillmore separated his hands and said with his hands on his thighs.

"In this case, you have three regiments and can directly form a fully staffed Western Brigade. There are not many fully staffed standing brigades in the United States."

In the peacetime before the United States participated in World War II, the number of standing troops maintained was not only small, but also each standing regiment was rarely fully staffed.

There are relatively few people like Liang Yao who maintain their standing regiments at full strength or even overstaffed. Usually, only the standing regiments responsible for garrisoning in border areas maintain a high staffing rate.

And even in wartime, many combat units of the US military are still deployed to the battlefield without full strength after mobilization.

The New England Brigade commanded by Pierce during the Mexican-American War had only 2,800 people when it went to the battlefield, and did not meet the full strength requirement.

"Excluding the troops stationed in Nagasaki, the troops stationed in Japan are still under my charge." Liang Yao emphasized.

Having a brigade is an acceptable result for him. As for the troops stationed in Nagasaki, Japan, Liang Yao did not give a specific scale, so there is a lot of room for operation.

"The troops stationed in Japan are not in the mainland, so they can be counted as part of the Western Brigade." Fillmore agreed.

He is not a president from the military, nor does he have a military background, so his influence in the military is limited.

Liang Yao is the only general in the United States who was promoted by him and can be trusted.

If Liang Yao wants to contribute to the future war against Mexico and gain more chances of winning, the best way to win him over is to win him over.

During the conversation, the carriage unknowingly drove to the business district at the intersection of 42nd Street and Broadway in the West District of Manhattan.

Liang Yao pulled up the curtains on the windows of the carriage, and the buildings under construction on both sides of the street caught his eye.

These are the supporting facilities around the Crystal Palace and the small shops that will be rented out in the future.

After the carriage continued to drive for a while, it arrived at the completed Crystal Palace.

The news that the Crystal Palace would cut the ribbon today was released a few days ago, and along with it, the news that the Crystal Palace would hold a grand opening promotion on the opening day was also released.

At the sewing machine store in the Crystal Palace Mall, you only need to spend 10 cents to buy a lottery ticket, and you will have a chance to win a Butterfly brand pedal sewing machine.

There will be 10 Butterfly brand sewing machines participating in this lottery event. The lucky participant who wins the Butterfly brand sewing machine will also become a silver member of the Crystal Palace Mall, and will be given a sterling silver membership card.

Silver members enjoy a 10% discount when shopping in the direct stores of the Crystal Palace Mall.

At present, the price of an ordinary Butterfly brand sewing machine is $85, which is equivalent to the salary of a New York worker for more than half a year, so this event is very attractive to New Yorkers.

Many New Yorkers who came to watch the opening event were in the mentality of taking a small risk for a big gain, hoping to take the sewing machine home at the cost of 10 cents.

In addition to sewing machines, kerosene and kerosene lamps also have their own opening events, but the kerosene and kerosene lamp event is a preferential event of buying a kerosene lamp and giving 1 liter of kerosene for the opening week.

In addition, ready-made clothing stores, new hunting rifle stores, Chinese product areas, Japanese product areas, and Oregon fur products areas also have their own corresponding opening activities.

At this time, tens of thousands of New Yorkers who came to watch the excitement had already gathered in front of the gate of the Crystal Palace. The arrival of Liang Yao and the president made the dense crowd in front of the Crystal Palace surge and cheer.

Of course, there are still some New Yorkers who are not interested in Liang Yao, the new brigadier general and the president of the United States. These people are doing good deeds in the Crystal Palace Square, wearing low-cut dresses and dancing hot girls.

It is more interesting for the general and the president to watch these two fats on their chests dancing hotly.

Liang Yao and Fillmore got off the carriage at the same time. Van Dazer and others, including the designer of the Crystal Palace, Joseph Paxton, had been waiting for Liang Yao and President Fillmore to arrive in front of the gate of the Crystal Palace.

Van Dazer was very concerned about this matter. He attached great importance to the Crystal Palace Shopping Mall. In order to fill the Crystal Palace with 300 stores of various sizes so that it would not be deserted on the opening day, Van Dazer used the connections and channels accumulated by the Van Dazer family for three generations in the New York retail industry.

Many of the retailers who settled in the Crystal Palace Shopping Mall came from Stewart's Marble Palace.

Because Stewart's Marble Palace Shopping Mall had previously been the only one in the New York retail industry, it charged high entry fees to store owners and suppliers who settled in the Marble Mall.

Otherwise, their shops, stalls and goods can only be placed in corners where no one cares. Therefore, before the Crystal Palace opened, many shop owners and suppliers of the Marble Palace Mall consulted Fan Daze Crystal Palace about the entry fee, expressing their desire to enter the Crystal Palace Mall.

As for the staff of the Marble Mall, there are even more who jumped to the Crystal Palace.

Before buying the land under his feet, Liang Yao had visited Stewart's Marble Palace Mall. Stewart was very harsh on his employees, emphasizing the employees' dedication to the mall, and chose to turn a blind eye to the treatment of employees. He had the style of talking about treatment more narrow-minded, and talking about dedication more high-level.

The grassroots employees of the Marble Palace Mall only earned $7.50 a month, which is a lower-middle salary in New York, and the intensity of work is about the same as on the assembly line in a factory.

However, it is not so easy to get the full amount of $7.50. The Marble Palace Mall has a set of mature rules and regulations for deducting employees' wages. Being late, leaving early, taking too long to eat, taking too long to go to the toilet, and giving the wrong change may all be reasons for Stewart to deduct wages.

The base salary given to the grassroots employees of the Crystal Palace Mall is $10, and there are two days of rest every month. This treatment is undoubtedly very attractive to the employees of the Marble Palace Mall.

In the mid-19th century, rest was a luxury for workers. Working more than 16 hours a day and not having a rest day was the norm. Compared with the work intensity of workers in the 19th century, Chinese workers in the 21st century are living in heaven.

The rest day system, the 8-hour work system, and holidays were won by workers from various countries in the 19th century after countless struggles with capitalists with their blood and lives.

The reason why Stewart dared to do this is also very simple. As the largest city in the United States, New York is not short of labor. It is not easy to find a job in New York. Even if old employees leave, there are always new New Yorkers to inject fresh blood into his mall.