Chapter 388: Umbrella Corporation Returns

On Christmas Eve in 1853, Martin, the vice president of Umbrella, who had been away from California for three years, finally returned to San Francisco after a long absence.

A large armed merchant ship named Seiran sailed into the port of San Francisco with a red and white umbrella-shaped flag.

Seiran was escorted by the Chaoyong light cruiser transferred from Nagasaki.

The workers and people at the port speculated that the armed merchant ship flying the umbrella-shaped flag must be loaded with gold that the Umbrella Company had found in Australia.

After all, apart from gold, there was no cargo that could make a cruiser escort it.

There were many small ships with a displacement of about 500 tons, such as the Loach-class patrol boats, in California, but there were only four large ships of more than 1,000 tons, including the Bold, which had just been launched.

In fact, the speculation of these port workers and people was correct. The armed merchant ship Seiran carried part of the gold that Umbrella Company had found in Australia in the past three years.

Although it was only a part of it, the value of this gold reached 11 million US dollars.

In addition to the gold, there were two guests who came to San Francisco on the ship.

They were Wang Jia and Liu Shanbang, the leaders of Dagang Company.

"Boss, the gold you wanted has been successfully transported to San Francisco. The journey was very smooth. The gold on the ship was safe and sound, and not a single bit was lost."

Martin took off his hat and saluted Liang Yao, and then reported to Liang Yao about the situation of Umbrella in Australia.

Because Umbrella was born out of Xiangshan Gold Mining Company, it mastered the advanced gold mining technology of Xiangshan Gold Mining Company at that time, had the most advanced gold mining equipment, the most skilled gold mining workers, and the support of California Mercury Mine.

After Umbrella arrived in Australia, it was a dimensionality reduction attack on the local small gold mining teams that still used traditional methods to mine gold in Australia.

Therefore, Umbrella is now the largest gold mining company in Australia.

Although out of consideration for human relations, Umbrella Company had to share their gold mining results with the Governor Augustus of New South Wales, Australia, and other local snakes in order to obtain the right to continue gold mining in Australia, Umbrella Company was still able to grab a large amount of gold from Australia.

"Well done, Martin." Liang Yao encouraged.

"Thank you for your praise, this is the Christmas blessing from the Governor of New South Wales, Augustus, to you." Martin took out a letter from his briefcase and handed it to Liang Yao.

"Boss, if there is nothing else, I will go back and spend Christmas with my family."

Martin came to California to pan for gold with the Boston Company in 1849. He was one of the 49-year-old miners. When he served as the vice president of Umbrella Company and went to Australia to pan for gold, his family had not yet been taken to San Francisco by Liang Yao.

In total, Martin had not seen his wife and children for four years. Now Martin just wants to hand over his work as soon as possible and go home to reunite with his family.

"I haven't seen my family for four years. Are you going back empty-handed to spend Christmas with them?" Liang Yao asked.

"There's nothing good to bring from Australia, a remote place. I came back in a hurry and didn't care about such trivial matters. I'm going to the street to buy some things to take home. Thank you for reminding me, boss."

After Liang Yao reminded him, Martin scratched his head and said embarrassedly.

"It's Christmas Eve tonight. You can't buy many good things on the street now. Christmas is a legal holiday in California. Many stores are closed now."

Liang Yao waved to the back, and Carnegie drove up with a carriage full of gifts.

"The gifts are all prepared for you. I'll give you a month off so that you can spend time with your family."

"Thank you, boss. I didn't expect you to be so thoughtful."

Martin's nose was sour. He didn't expect Liang Yao to consider these trivial details for him.

"Also, Captain Weber has come to San Francisco. He will probably work with you in the future. Take some time to meet Captain Weber and Dr. Robinson. I think they will forgive you." Liang Yao patted Martin on the shoulder and said to Martin.

Martin was once a member of the Boston Company, which was full of talents. In the early days of the California Gold Rush, the Boston Company's gold rush was not smooth.

Martin and Fuller stole the remaining gold of the Boston Company and ran away at the instigation of Hawke. Later, after Hawke joined the Brandon gang, Martin and Fuller parted ways with Hawke and went to Nevada, where gold was rumored to be everywhere, to pan for gold.

Fuller then committed suicide due to a mental breakdown. When Martin buried Fuller's body, he accidentally discovered the largest piece of gold in California's history, a piece of gold weighing 151 pounds.

Of course, there is another version of this story, that is, Martin killed Fuller when Fuller was not prepared in order to take the gold for himself, and in order to evade legal sanctions, he made up a lie that he found the gold when burying Fuller's body, and used God's gift to wash away his sins.

Especially his old friends in Boston Company, they believed this statement without a doubt.

The gold rush history in Boston Company was a stain on Martin and a knot in his heart.

"I know. Anyway, thank you." Martin bowed to Liang Yao sadly, put on his hat, and led the horse to the address written countless times on the envelope.

After Martin left, Liang Yao asked Carnegie to give a $10 bonus to each of the crew members on the Qinglan and Chaoyong who were responsible for escorting the gold and the employees of the Umbrella Company for Christmas.

Then he took the leaders of the Dagang Company, Wang Jia and Liu Shanbang, to Tingtao Garden for a discussion.

Compared with Martin, who was well-dressed and proud, Wang Jia and Liu Shanbang looked a little plain. Both of them wore a half-new silk gown and a pair of cloth shoes with holes.

The war that has lasted from 1850 to the present has not only exhausted the Chinese company organizations on the island of Borneo, but also exhausted their financial resources.

As of 1854, some companies chose to surrender and surrender to the Dutch East India Company to get a chance to survive, such as the Lan Fang Company.

Some companies chose to fight to the death with the Dutch East India Company, and those who refused to surrender, such as Wang Jia and Liu Shanbang's Dagang Company.

Wang Jia and Liu Shanbang had contacted Umbrella before, and Umbrella also had many Chinese employees, and Umbrella and Chinese employees did not wear braids.

Therefore, Wang Jia and Liu Shanbang were not surprised to see that Liang Yao, the leader of Umbrella, did not wear braids.

"Mr. Liang is willing to lend a hand to the Dagang Company and the comrades on the island of Borneo at the time of life and death. I am very grateful."

Before sitting down, Wang Jia expressed his gratitude to Liang Yao.

Before Liang Yao lent a hand, Dagang Company and Lanfang Company, which was still in the Anti-Dutch United Front at the time, had jointly written to the Qing court with other local Chinese companies, hoping that the Qing court would lend them a hand, even if it was just to express its attitude to the Dutch in diplomatic occasions.

Unfortunately, the Qing Dynasty did not care about the life and death of these overseas abandoned people, nor was it interested.

Just when they were desperate, Liang Yao's letter gave them hope again.

However, Wang Jia and Liu Shanbang had no idea how much help Liang Yao could provide them, and how much the Dagang Company and other Chinese companies that were still resisting would have to pay to get help from Liang Yao.

They even knew that Liang Yao's purpose in helping them was just to open a plantation on the island of Borneo.