Chapter 525: Utah Mormons

The warm winter sun shines on the wide grasslands by the Utah Lake. Provo, the junction of the Pacific Railway, is located on this scenic grassland in the United States.

Thanks to the construction of the Pacific Railway, many merchants and immigrants with a keen sense of smell, as well as some railway workers, have chosen to settle in Provo City in advance.

In early 1856, there were only about 1,200 settled residents in Provo City. Just one year later, the settled population of Provo City exceeded 3,500, making it the largest city in Utah.

Previously, the title of the largest city in Utah belonged to Brigham City, which has a settled population of more than 2,000. This is due to the fact that Brigham City is one of the holy places for Mormons.

Brigham Young, one of the pioneers of Mormonism and the second bishop, settled here for a long time to preach, and the city was named after him.

Brigham Young also has a more familiar translation name for Chinese people, that is Brigham Young. He is the current bishop of Mormonism.

Mormonism has a great influence in Utah and has become a label for Utah.

Mormonism (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is an alternative among Christian sects. It was founded in the United States in the 1820s.

Its founding process is also very outrageous. Joseph Smith claimed that he had a vision in his dream and received revelation from God. God gave him a golden leaf scripture with the "Book of Mormon" engraved on it. Joseph told everyone that this was a record of the history and doctrines of ancient Americans and a lost part of the Bible. He used this to deceive a group of believers.

In theory, this is not a big deal. After all, the 19th century was an era of civilization and ignorance, technology and superstition.

But Mormonism is not ordinary. Mormonism is very different from mainstream Christianity.

The most important point that the Mormon Church is not tolerated by mainstream society and all over the world is that Mormonism is obviously different from other Christian sects in terms of organization and social structure.

Mormonism has a clear concept of "leader", and this leader is a specific and living person.

Leaders are believed to be guided by God and are messengers sent by God to preach and guide the lost in the world. This is quite similar to the God Worshipping Society on the other side of the strait.

As a result, Mormonism was excluded by the mainstream secular society in the East and was persecuted and expelled by the authorities.

Mormon leaders from all over the country then led believers to launch the "Mormon March" movement to the settlements established in the western inland areas, and the Utah area was the core area of ​​their activities.

In 1857, the total population of Utah exceeded 60,000, which was already a densely populated area in the western frontier of the United States. Not only did it barely reach the threshold of statehood, but there were also seven large settlements with a population of more than 1,000 (Provo, Salt Lake City, Brigham, Ogden, Logan, St. George, and Titica).

Among these 60,000 Utahns, more than half were Mormons.

This is why the population of Utah has reached the threshold of statehood, but the federal government has not yet planned to establish a state in Utah. It can be seen that the federal government authorities are still wary of Mormonism.

However, in order to maintain control over the Utah region, the federal government appointed Brigham Young, the second leader of the Mormon Church, as the governor of the Utah region, and granted Brigham Young the rank of colonel, responsible for the political and military affairs of the Utah region.

Brigham Young has become the local emperor of the Utah region, enjoying the tributes of the believers, and has more than 30 wives. His life is much more comfortable than that of the president.

"I guess you are the most distinguished guest in Provo today, Mr. Liang Yao. Brigham Young, the governor of the Utah Territory, welcomes you on behalf of the Mormons."

A man with weak steps, thin face, sunken eye sockets, and pretending to be mysterious came to Liang Yao, followed by dozens of young men with guns and fiery eyes.

This is not to welcome Liang Yao, but to show off his power to Liang Yao and declare the sovereignty of the Utah region to Liang Yao.

"Are you Brigham Young?" Liang Yao glanced at Brigham Young with disdain.

"That's right." Brigham Young replied with full energy.

"Kruger! Military discipline!" Liang Yao said to Kruger.

Brigham Young's behavior also made Kruger feel very uncomfortable. Kruger went up and gave Brigham Young two loud slaps without saying anything.

Seeing Brigham Young being beaten, dozens of armed believers behind Brigham Young wanted to take off their long guns from their shoulders.

Pinkerton, who was responsible for security, was well prepared. It was just a color. The agents of the California Bureau of Investigation had already taken out the Colt revolvers from their waists and pointed them at the foreheads of these armed believers.

"Why did you hit me, sir?" Brigham Young covered his stinging cheek.

"Hit you? Hitting you is still light. Brigham Young! Tell me your identity!" Liang Yao shouted in a deep voice.

"Governor of Utah"

Seeing that his believers had been taken away from the gun, Brigham Young could only suppress his anger and answered aggrievedly.

"Kruger!" Liang Yao called Kruger's name.

Kruger understood and went up and gave him two big slaps.

"Colonel of the Utah Territory."

This time Brigham Young finally answered correctly.

"What about my identity?" Liang Yao asked in an intriguing tone.

"Not the Brigadier General of the Army, Commander-in-Chief of the West." Brigham Young secretly looked at the changes in Liang Yao's expression and asked anxiously.

"Sir, did I answer correctly this time?"

"Yes!" Liang Yao nodded and shouted again.

"Kruger!"

As expected, Brigham Young received two more scratches on his left and right cheeks.

"Your Excellency, General! Why did you hit me when I answered correctly?!" Brigham Young asked with a cry in his voice as he was hurt by the beating.

"Since you know that I am a brigadier general and your immediate superior, why don't you salute me when you see me?!" Liang Yao scolded sternly.

"gram"

"No need to bother, I'll do it myself."

This time, before Kruger's name could be called out, Brigham Young wisely slapped himself twice. Immediately, he endured the pain and gave Liang Yao a feeble and non-standard military salute.

Since the opening ceremony was about to begin, Liang Yao was too lazy to waste time arguing with Brigham Young. There would be plenty of opportunities to train this boy in the military and let him know who was the God of the West.

At the venue where the opening ceremony was held, flags of various colors fluttered in the wind.

Provo, a small city with a settled population of only 3,500 people, gathered tens of thousands of people on this day.

The people who came to attend the opening ceremony covered all walks of life. In addition to the invited domestic and foreign media, dignitaries and celebrities from the east and west, railway company executives, engineers, workers and even local ordinary people participated in the celebration.

The sound of firecrackers sounded, and people's emotions gradually rose with the crackling sound of firecrackers, and thunderous cheers and applause sounded.

Amid the enthusiastic cheers and applause of the people, Liang Yao, Vanderbilt, Lincoln, and Fillmore stepped onto the wooden stage one after another and delivered inspiring speeches amidst harsh applause and dazzling flashlights.

On a special wooden platform, a nail with dazzling golden light in the sun is quietly waiting for its historical mission. It will become a witness to the completion of the connection between the east and west sections of the Pacific Railway.

According to tradition, after the railway is completed, the last spike needs to be laid to declare the project successfully completed.

This last nail is usually struck by the sensible president of the oil and railway company or an invited VIP.

Under the spotlight, Liang Yao removed the last spike, known as the golden nail, from the wooden platform.

They are said to be golden nails, but they are actually steel spikes with a layer of gold coating on the surface.

Liang Yao showed the golden spikes to everyone, walked to the railway track with steady steps, and solemnly placed the spikes on the rails.

The presidents of the New York Central Railroad and the Atlantic Railroad came up holding silver hammers specially prepared for the ceremony, which were, of course, silver-plated.

The two presidents handed the silver hammer to their respective chairman.

"Mr. Lincoln, please drive the last spike into the railroad track."

Liang Yao has been in the limelight enough today. He plans to leave the last ceremony to Lincoln and sell him a favor.

The Republican Party has now emerged as the largest opposition party. What Lincoln needs most at this time is exposure in front of the people.

"This is not good." Lincoln declined. "It would be more appropriate for you to complete this ceremony yourself, or it would be more appropriate for Mr. Fillmore to complete this ceremony. No merit, no reward, and I have nothing to do with the construction of this railroad. contribute."

Smashing the last spike is the last and most important part of the railway opening ceremony.

The picture of Lincoln smashing the final spike will probably appear on the front pages of every major newspaper tomorrow.

"Mr. Lincoln, then you and Mr. Fillmore will smash it together." Vanderbilt quickly handed the silver hammer in Fillmore's hand and said.

"I have participated in countless railway opening ceremonies and I feel bored by this ceremony."

Upon seeing this, Lincoln thanked Liang Yao, and in front of hundreds of cameras, he picked up the hammer and smashed the last golden spike into the railroad track.

The crisp knocking sound echoed in the air.

"This big gentleman is so powerful!"

"If he wasn't wearing a black dress, I would believe him if you told me he was a railway worker!"

"Look at the swing of this hammer, how beautiful it is!"

Both Lincoln and Fillmore were born into the poor, and both had done farm work since childhood. Lincoln, in particular, often helped the fellow villagers chop firewood in order to get closer to them when he gave speeches in the countryside.

Smashing road spikes with a hammer is certainly not a problem for them.

After successfully smashing the spike into the railroad track, Lincoln excitedly put his left hand on Liang Yao's shoulder and held up the silver hammer with his right hand for a group photo.