Chapter 499: Multi-Core Strategy

The Port of Duwamish is the predecessor of the city of Seattle in later generations.

In 1851, Arthur Denny and a group of explorers who loved scalping discovered a place called Duwamish in the Indian population.

When they first arrived in the area, there were Indian tribes of Duwamish, Suquamish, Swanepoel and other tribes in the Puget Sound area.

After discovering that this was an excellent natural deep-water port, they chose to establish a settlement here and expelled the local Indians.

But the good times did not last long. Later, the pro-China Indians received assistance from Liang Yao, and the first batch of white explorers who arrived in the Duwamish area basically died or left.

Duwamish returned to the hands of the Indians.

It was not until the remnants of the Democratic Party in Portland moved north to the vicinity of Puget Sound and received assistance from the British that the whites regained their foothold in Duwamish.

The Governor's Office of Stevens, the Governor of the Northern Oregon Territory, is located in Duwamish, but now Stevens has left here and moved inland with his white immigrants to find a new settlement.

As soon as Stevens left, Duwamish fell into depression again. It is said to be a port town, but now there are only more than a thousand residents left in this town.

Due to the sharp decline in population, most of the shops in the city are closed, and all industries are depressed. Only a small grocery store next to the square is still open.

"The land is flat, there are rivers and shipping routes, and the natural resources nearby are also abundant. The development prospects here are very broad. Maybe it can become the next Jinshan Bay Metropolitan Area." Liang Yao made a conclusion after a brief investigation near Duwamish.

The Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, the San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Area, the Seattle Metropolitan Area, the San Diego Metropolitan Area, and the Portland Metropolitan Area are all large metropolitan areas on the west coast of the United States in later generations, concentrating most of the population on the west coast of the United States.

North America has very good geographical conditions, rich resources, and few bad lands. It can be said that God has given them food. It was such a good hand that the Indians played it badly.

It is not easy to develop the economy of the West Coast. Even if it is a copy of the homework of later generations, it can achieve quite good results.

Liang Yao's idea is to build several metropolitan areas in the West Coast as the core and basic base. As long as the West Coast is stabilized, there will be more options in the future.

After the end of the Second Mexican-American War, it is only a matter of time before San Diego and the former Mexican border city of Tijuana are integrated to become the third largest metropolitan area in California.

The Portland metropolitan area has been put on the agenda. A few months ago, the first batch of Chinese immigrants crossed the Columbia River and arrived at the north bank of the Columbia River.

The last thing left is the Seattle metropolitan area under his feet in the future.

The Puget Sound area has great potential. If it can be done, it can become the third largest metropolitan area in the West Coast after the San Francisco Bay metropolitan area and the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

"You may be curious about why I, the mayor of San Francisco, suddenly resigned when I was doing a good job. I will tell you now that I developed the Puget Sound area on behalf of the American Group at the request of our boss."

Levis Strauss, the former mayor of San Francisco, stood up and said.

As the first mayor of San Francisco, Strauss gave the citizens of San Francisco a satisfactory answer.

The Jinshan Bay Metropolitan Area was planned by Strauss under the instruction of Liang Yao.

In terms of attracting investment and developing industry, Strauss also did a very good job. The San Francisco Industrial Zone can gather almost all industrial categories except the chemical industry. Strauss has made an indelible contribution.

Due to his achievements during his tenure, Strauss himself is also well-known among the upper class in California for his ability to develop the economy.

Liang Yao asked Strauss to preside over the development of the Puget Sound area, which also sent a positive signal to other people in the California consortium, indicating that he attaches great importance to the development of the Puget Sound area and attracts more investment.

Of course, Liang Yao mobilized a large army to come here this time to solve the border problem and clear the last development obstacle for the development of Puget Sound.

"But I heard that the Indians here are very fierce." Fair said.

"Bernat at the beginning and Stevens now want to scalp them for US dollars every day. How can they not be fierce to you?" Liang Yao said.

"We don't scalp the Indians. I invited the chiefs of the local Indian tribes to participate in our party. Hearing is false and seeing is true. Whether the Indians are fierce or not, you will know it when you contact them in person."

"That's right."

Fair felt that he was a little worried. The Indian tribes in the West Coast area regarded Liang Yao as the chief. Liang Yao had a high prestige in the minds of the Indians. The development of the Puget Sound metropolitan area was promoted by Liang Yao.

The Indians did not give Stevens face, but it did not mean that they would not give Liang Yao face.

Liang Yao and Stevens had completely different attitudes and policies towards the Indians. One was to kill them all, and the other was to assimilate.

"The biggest problem is transportation. This place is good, but it's still too far from California. Should we raise money to build a railway first? The California Railway is building the Pacific Railway, and the Atlantic Railway Company has already built the Gard Railway. Do you have the spare capacity to build another railway?"

Sart looked around, and what caught his eye were either the dilapidated and monotonous wooden houses in the city of Duwamish or the vast, green primeval forest outside the city.

"I really don't have the spare energy to build another railway, but Mr. Fremont has just established a Pacific Railway Company, and he himself is also interested in undertaking the construction of the railway project from Portland to Duwamish." Liang Yao replied.

"If that's the case, what else can we say? Just like when we developed Oregon, we can raise money and set up a development foundation to develop Puget Sound. Mr. Liang can't cheat us. Without Mr. Liang, we wouldn't be where we are today." Wu Yuanhua took the lead in expressing his opinion.

"I'm waiting for you to say this." Liang Yao smiled.

"I'll take the lead. On behalf of the American Group, I'll invest $1 million. Next month, the American Group will open a branch in Duwamish. I'll ask the Coal and Steel Alliance to open a steel plant here to support the construction of Puget Sound and produce the steel needed for the construction of Puget Sound."

Everyone contributed generously, and finally raised $4.6 million, which exceeded Liang Yao's expectations. Liang Yao's expected goal was to raise $3 million.

With the successful precedent of Oregon, this time it was much easier to pay than the last time.

"If a state is established in the future, won't this place have the same name as Oregon?"

After writing a huge check for $180,000, Zeng Jinsong proposed.

"Mr. Liang proposed to invest in the development of this place, and made a huge contribution to it. Besides, the name Duwamish is too difficult to pronounce. Why not name it after Mr. Liang and rename it Liangyao City? If it is established as a state in the future, how about renaming it Liangzhou?

Stevens has lived in this place, and renaming it can also get rid of his bad luck."

Stevens is a well-known racist who discriminates against and hates Chinese people in the West Coast region. Naturally, the Chinese present are also very disgusted with this person.

It is difficult to go against the will of the crowd, so Liang Yao nodded and agreed to their request to change the name.

This place was called Washington State in later generations, named after the founding president of the United States, Washington. Unexpectedly, this place still could not escape the fate of being named after a person in this life.

After the crowd dispersed, Liang Yao handed the check to Strauss.

"I have collected the money for you. This place is a territorial area, and there are not as many taxes as California. If it still cannot develop, you will disappoint me." Liang Yao said to Strauss.

"As you said, the conditions here are very good. As long as you give me 30,000 to 50,000 immigrants every year, I am sure I can settle them all.

In five years, let this place surpass Oregon in the south, develop this place into the second most economically developed state on the West Coast, and make the Puget Sound metropolitan area the third largest metropolitan area on the West Coast after Jinshan Bay and Los Angeles."

Strauss took the check handed over by Liang Yao and issued a military order to Liang Yao.

"Set up a temporary resettlement site for immigrants, and I will give you at least 10,000 immigrants every month." Liang Yao said.

"Not transferred from San Francisco, but directly transported here."

"10,000 per month?" Strauss' eyes lit up, and then he said confidently, "Then it will only take three years to surpass Oregon here."

With 4.6 million US dollars in hand and 10,000 immigrants per month, Strauss has never fought such a rich economic battle.

Two days later, the Indian tribal chiefs near Puget Sound were invited to the newly renamed Liangyao City.

Just a few months ago, this place once called Duwamish was still the base camp of white people and the forbidden land of Indians.

Stevens, the former governor of the Northern Oregon Territory, had made a bold statement: No Indian could enter Duwamish with his scalp intact.

But now, more than 900 Indians with thick hair jumped and laughed into this once absolutely forbidden place.

Of course, these Indians were not all Indian chiefs, but elite Indian riders selected by Liang Yao for each tribe.

The terrain near Puget Sound is flat, and a large part of the area is vast wilderness, so there are many Indian tribes here who are good at raising and riding horses.

Horses in North America became extinct in prehistoric times. In the 16th century, with the arrival of the Spaniards.

The horse species entered the American continent again and spread rapidly.

By the 19th century, horses had become an indispensable part of Indian life, and many Indian tribes began to raise and use horses to help them hunt, fight and move.

Liang Yao wanted to set up a complete cavalry regiment a long time ago, but he was troubled by the lack of suitable and high-quality soldiers.

Chinese are a good source of infantry soldiers, but most of the Chinese immigrants who come to California are from the south. It is rare for these immigrants to have excellent riding skills.

Younger Chinese immigrants who can ride horses are included in the cavalry battalion as high-quality cavalry soldiers by Liang Yao.

Because cavalry soldiers are hard to find, the cavalry battalion is the only unit in the Western Brigade that has not yet implemented a retirement system. Liang Yao has even replaced a batch of people in the artillery battalion.

Of course, if Liang Yao wants to quench his thirst with poison, he can still form a cavalry regiment. After a few years, there are many farmers in California who can ride horses.

If these farmers are forced to serve, a cavalry regiment with good soldier quality can be formed, but now it is a peaceful time, and doing so will delay California's agricultural production.

Therefore, Liang Yao set his sights on the Indians, hoping to recruit riders who are good at riding horses from Indian tribes to form a cavalry regiment.

Liang Yao originally thought that it would be difficult to recruit soldiers from the Indians, but he did not expect that his prestige among the Indians was so high. When he heard that he was going to recruit soldiers from the Indian tribes, the Indian chiefs of each tribe were very cooperative, providing him with soldiers and horses.

They only asked Liang Yao to provide them with weapons and some materials that they could not produce, such as ironware, tools, saddles, high-quality salt and the like.

"Great Chief, these are all excellent riders from our Swaneem tribe, as well as the Duwamish, Suquamish and other tribes."

The young Swaneem leader Seattle came to a grassland outside Liangyao City and invited Liang Yao to review the 850 excellent Indian riders they brought.