Chapter 497: Northward and Eastward Expansion

Oregon's southern region has already been established as a state. Next, the most suitable place in the western region for statehood, in addition to northern Oregon, is Arizona. Scale

California's next strategy is to move northward, reach the US-Canada border, expand eastward, and seize the power vacuum in the western territories.

However, the natural and economic conditions in northern Oregon and Arizona are not as good as those in southern Oregon (Oregon), which has already been established as a state.

According to rough estimates, the current population of northern Oregon is 30,000, and the population of Arizona is less than 5,000.

Although Liang Yao's Western Brigade also has the Arizona Regiment, it is just a name.

The Arizona Regiment of the Western Brigade only symbolically recruited some Arizonans, and the main source of soldiers for the regiment still came from Chinese residents in California.

It is unrealistic for the two states to reach the threshold of 60,000 population for statehood by simply relying on the natural population growth rate.

This goal can only be achieved by relying on external forces. Scale

This external force is California's transfer immigrants. Oregon is a precedent that relies on California's transfer immigrants to grow rapidly and reach the standard for statehood.

Northern Oregon, which is the Washington State area in later generations, is in a much better situation than the Arizona Territory.

Northern Oregon is close to the sea and has a port. In later generations, it also developed a metropolis like Seattle. Its economic strength is comparable to that of Oregon, and each has its own strengths.

In terms of natural resources, Northern Oregon is densely covered with spruce, pine and fir trees, with a high forest coverage rate and abundant forest resource reserves. The coastal areas are rich in fishery resources, and salmon, shrimp and crabs can be easily caught.

In terms of mineral resources, Northern Oregon has rich coal, iron, copper, and a small amount of gold, silver and other minerals.

In terms of agriculture, the region has a precedent for successfully growing agricultural crops such as apples, cherries, wheat, potatoes and avocados.

Compared with the Southern Oregon region, which has already established a state, the only disadvantage of the Northern Oregon region is that it is far away from California, the economic center of the West Coast. Scale

With such favorable natural conditions, the Northern Oregon region has many options. Whether it chooses to develop agriculture, fisheries or mining in a limited way, it can quickly find its way out.

As long as the Democratic Party's stubborn forces in Northern Oregon are cleared, it will not be a big problem to increase the population of Northern Oregon from 30,000 to 60,000 within a year.

Liang Yao's biggest headache is the Arizona region.

Arizona was incorporated into the United States in 1848 after the end of the First Mexican-American War, but the state was established in 1912. The then US President William Howard Taft signed a bill to officially upgrade Arizona to the 48th state of the United States.

In other words, Arizona became a territory of the United States during the Daoguang period, and the Qing Dynasty had already perished when the state was established.

This shows how bad the natural conditions in the region are.

If there had not been large-scale immigration by Chinese, historically, the Arizona Territory, which covers an area of ​​50,000 square kilometers, had a population of only two or three thousand people (excluding Indians), which is an absolute sparsely populated area. Scale

Fortunately, although the terrain of the Arizona Territory is mostly desert and plateau, and the climate is relatively dry, the mineral resources in the region are still rich, with coal, copper, molybdenum, limestone, silica, gypsum, oil and other mineral resources.

The climate in the area is also suitable for growing crops such as cotton, wheat, corn, citrus fruits, grapes, and soybeans.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to build the Garde Railway, the railway will be built from Los Angeles to the Arizona Territory, improving local transportation conditions. A settlement will be built in a more livable area along the railway. There is still hope that the population of the Arizona Territory will exceed 60,000 within three to five years, reaching the threshold for statehood.

Of course, if it cannot be achieved, it is not a big problem. There are always more solutions than difficulties.

Liang Yao has another choice. The former Mexican state of Sonora and Arizona are adjacent. Merging the two places will definitely meet the standards for statehood.

However, this operation will test the operational skills of California politicians. Can the Arizona Territory be established as a state alone or try to make the Arizona Territory establish a state alone.

"Are you thinking about Northern Oregon and Arizona?"

Fremont, who was smoking a cigar, saw that Liang Yao's eyes were always wandering between Northern Oregon and Arizona, and saw Liang Yao's thoughts.

"No, I'm thinking about four Senate seats." Liang Yao smiled.

"Four Senate seats are tempting, but Oregon has just become a state, and now you are eyeing these two places. Aren't you afraid of being overwhelmed?" Fremont teased.

After teasing, Fremont also seriously thought about the feasibility of establishing states in the two places. He extinguished his cigar, put away the remaining half of the cigar, and said: "Northern Oregon can meet the standards for statehood in the short term. After all, the conditions in Northern Oregon are not bad.

Arizona is probably uncertain. The environment and transportation conditions there are too bad. In addition to the Mexicans who originally settled there, perhaps only the Hakka people are willing to go to such a place."

Ordinary white politicians can't even tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese after the Chinese cut off their braids, but Fremont, who has lived in California for five or six years, can not only distinguish between Chinese and Japanese by appearance.

He can even distinguish Cantonese, Chaoshan, Minnan, Mindong, Zhejiang, Hakka, and other immigrants from war-torn areas and disaster areas in North China from their accents, and he can even use a few common dialects when canvassing for votes. Scale

In addition to distinguishing different Chinese ethnic groups, Fremont also has a certain understanding of different Chinese ethnic groups. He knows that Cantonese, Fujian, and Zhejiang people prefer to do business and live by the sea, while people from other ethnic groups prefer to be more stable farmers or skilled workers.

In the whole of America, there is no politician who knows Chinese better than Fremont.

"What if I spend money?" Liang Yao said, "Los Angeles was a barren place before the discovery of oil. Who knows what good things are buried under the ground in Arizona."

Liang Yao is more optimistic about the prospects of immigration to Arizona, at least more optimistic than Fremont.

Moreover, with two Senate seats and two House seats as a base, he doesn't have to pay for immigration.

Wu Yuanhua, Pan Zhengwei and others are willing to spend money to get themselves a congressman or governor in the Oregon area, and there are also many wealthy Chinese who are willing to spend money to buy an official position.

"Spending money is another matter." Fremont said with a smile. Scale

He is also happy to see the Civic Party control more states. The Whig Party is now a dead body, and the Democrats are demoralized. If small parties want to rise, now is the best time.

Due to the geographical disadvantages and political disadvantages, the Civic Party cannot dig into the corners of the Whig Party and the Democratic Party like the Republican Party did, and go to the East to compete with these new and old parties for constituencies.

But it is a shortcut to strengthen its political influence by establishing new states and implement the party's political proposition of developing the West.

If the Civic Party can develop rapidly, it is not impossible to fill the power vacuum, expand its influence to the whole country, and even elect a Civic Party president.

After instructing the servants to arrange a guest room for Fremont to rest, Liang Yao came to the bedroom on the second floor.

But Liang Yao was in a dilemma about which bedroom to enter.

Should I sleep with Elizabeth tonight? Or sleep with Zoe? Scale

This is really a difficult problem to decide.

After thinking about it, Liang Yao finally decided to let God help him solve this problem.

Liang Yao didn't drink much tonight, but the aftereffects of the red dregs wine were still quite fierce. When Liang Yao freed his hands to fumble for coins in his pocket, he almost fell down.

Fortunately, he finally leaned on the door panel and didn't fall.

Liang Yao took out a five-dollar gold coin from his wallet and threw it into the air. After a crisp sound of metal falling to the ground, Liang Yao squatted down to look for the gold coin he had just thrown.

However, due to the dim light at night and his head was a little swollen and numb, Liang Yao couldn't find the gold coin for a while.

After searching for the coin in vain, Liang Yao took out another gold coin and prepared to throw it again. Scale

"What are you doing tossing coins at the door in the middle of the night?"

Liang Yao heard Zoe's voice. Zoe was wearing a thin white one-piece nightgown and holding the gold coin Liang Yao had just thrown in her hand.

No wonder I couldn't find the gold coin after searching for so long. It turned out that it rolled into Zoe's room.

"I"

Liang Yao was about to speak, but Zoe made a shushing gesture and pulled Liang Yao into the room without hesitation.

"Keep your voice down. Sister Elizabeth just came back from an inspection in Los Angeles and is resting. Don't disturb her. You can sleep here tonight."

Zoe pushed Liang Yao to the bed and