Chapter 511: Pass the Flower

Without any extra words, Liang Yao took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself to open the second envelope.

"This is not an urgent message. This is a message that Zeiss asked me to deliver to you when I was passing by the telegraph room."

Although Si Wen had not opened and read the urgent letter he sent, judging from Liang Yao's expression, he had already roughly guessed the content of the urgent letter.

Since June, the British East India Company has repeatedly provoked Umbrella's merchant ships in Southeast Asia and the South China Sea. This is nothing new.

"Where's Zeiss? Why didn't he send it in person?" Liang Yao nodded lightly.

"I asked the same question. He said the call was urgent, the message was lengthy, and many of the contents were too obscure. You may not be satisfied with the contents translated by the operators," Sven replied.

The content of the second letter surprised Liang Yao. On November 11, 1856, the day before yesterday, news spread like wildfire that the president of the Michigan Central Railroad Company, Richard Field, had resigned.

When the market opened yesterday, Michigan Central Railroad's stock price plummeted. Today, Michigan Central Railroad quickly declared bankruptcy and requested government takeover.

This was the first major railroad company in the United States to declare bankruptcy since the Land Grant Act of 1850.

Litchfield's departure and the bankruptcy of Michigan Central Railroad became the straw that broke the market's expectations for a boom in the railroad industry.

In the past two days, the Wall Street stock market has been devastated, and the stock prices of all railway companies have fallen sharply. Even the Atlantic Railway Company, the New York Central Railway Company, and the Illinois Railway Company, which were in good operating conditions, were not spared.

It’s just that the declines of these three railway companies were much smaller than those of other railway companies.

"The game of beating the drum and passing the flowers around has finally become unplayable."

After reading it, Liang Yao handed the telegram to Vanderbilt, and at the same time turned his head and said to Sven.

"Sven, please go sit in the living room first, and we'll talk about it later."

"Yes." Sven agreed and retreated.

"Fortunately, this bunch of flowers did not reach us. We are not the unlucky ones. I think I will receive a similar message soon." Vanderbilt said with some jealousy.

"Your people are much more efficient than mine."

Even though he had been ups and downs in the business world for decades, Vanderbilt could not help but feel frightened after seeing the contents of this message.

Vanderbilt was very fortunate that he had made a decisive judgment and had sold off the funds invested in the railway industry in advance, withdrawing US$16 million.

Otherwise, it’s unclear whether the remaining $6 million of the $16 million will be available.

Thinking of this, Vanderbilt felt a little bit like he was surviving a disaster.

Liang Yao fell into deep thought. He had long been mentally prepared for the arrival of the railway crisis and the subsequent economic crisis.

It's just that the time for the crisis to come was not a little early.

Historically, this incident should have occurred in late August 1857, but now the crisis broke out nine months earlier.

The sudden crisis still disturbed Liang Yao's mind and made him feel in a hurry.

Could it be that the flapping wings of his own butterfly caused a tornado in the American financial market in advance?

"what are you thinking about?"

Seeing Liang Yao in a daze, Vanderbilt couldn't help but speak.

"Isn't this what you expected? I should really thank you, otherwise all the hard work over the past few years would have been cheap to the damn Europeans."

"It's expected, but not completely expected." Liang Yao said, holding his hands.

The economic crisis broke out as he expected, but the time it broke out was not what Liang Yao expected.

"I have lived for more than half of my life and have experienced economic crises not once or twice. The economic crisis is like God's curse on the United States and lingers on." Vanderbilt sighed.

"This time, European hot money has withdrawn from the American market faster than the female ticket holders who have finished their business. This is the first time in history. I always feel that"

As a capitalist with a keen sense of smell, he certainly knows better than anyone else what an economic crisis means.

"It's not that European hot money has been withdrawn quickly, but that the United States has absorbed too much European hot money in the past few years." Liang Yao said very calmly.

"The situation in Europe has been turbulent in the past few years, the British economy is in a slump, the political situation in France is unstable, strike movements are in full swing in Germany, and there is also the powder keg of Crimea. Therefore, although the credit of the United States is very bad in Europe, there are still many European capitalists who are willing to Come and invest in the United States and give it a try. Capital is always looking for profit.”

Vanderbilt thought for a moment and nodded in approval.

After the Crimean War, the situation in major European countries has stabilized. In contrast, the United States is now more like a powder keg, and the return of capital to the European continent is the general trend.

If he were a European capitalist, he would also choose to withdraw his investment in the United States.

"I just don't know how many years it will take for this crisis to pass? Three years? Five years?" Vanderbilt thought seriously and then asked.

"In this election, California gave all its votes to the Democratic Party."

"You want to ask me whether the new President Buchanan can turn around the economic situation within one term?" Liang Yao saw Vanderbilt's thoughts.

"Smart man, tell me." Vanderbilt chuckled.

"Who can predict the future?" Liang Yao shook his head, "But I think Mr. Buchanan's chances of re-election are slim."

"Ah." Vanderbilt sighed.

"This economic crisis is a crisis for the East, but it is an opportunity for California and even the West Coast."

"Want to hear a story?" Liang Yao asked.

"I want to hear it, but the story should be simpler. I really can't stand you Chinese people, you always speak in a roundabout way, trying to show that you are very cultured." Vanderbilt said after taking a sip of wine.

Vanderbilt is a New York tycoon. In recent years, he has often dealt with Chinese businessmen. The Chinese allusions he heard from Chinese businessmen can be published in a book.

"Can you see that there are still intact eggs under a rebuilt nest? There will be no intact eggs under an overturned bird's nest. The economic crisis in the East is beneficial to California in the short term, but if it continues like this for a long time, it will be difficult for California to remain immune." Liang Yao said.

"Perhaps you think that when the economic crisis breaks out, a lot of capital from the East will flow into the West Coast for risk aversion. In fact, this is not entirely true. The prosperous and developed European continent is more attractive to them. Moreover, the French emperor has spent a lot of money to attract investment this time."

In recent years, California's industrialization has indeed made considerable achievements, but with California's current strength, it still cannot survive independently from the United States.

Liang Yao is still aware of this.

To be fair, he hopes that Buchanan can ease the domestic situation, so that he can buy more time.

The early outbreak of the economic crisis also sounded the alarm for him.

Since the economic crisis can break out in advance, it means that his appearance has more or less had some impact on the course of history. If the economic crisis can break out in advance, it is hard to guarantee that other things will also break out in advance. There is not much time left for him, so he must be prepared.

"I saw that you didn't look very good when you read the first letter just now. Did you encounter any trouble?" Vanderbilt thought of Liang Yao's frozen expression when he saw the urgent letter handed over by Sven.

He rarely saw this expression on Liang Yao's face, thinking that Liang Yao had encountered something difficult.

"It's just the matter of Umbrella Corporation, which is indeed a bit difficult, but that's all." Liang Yao said.

"Indeed, Umbrella Corporation is just the tip of the iceberg of your industry." Vanderbilt said.