Chapter 56: Everyone Has Their Own Agenda

After the banquet, Liang Yao asked the servant to take Vanderbilt and his party to the cleaned guest room to rest.

Vanderbilt did not say anything else except asking Liang Yao to send someone to bring Connie back from the brothel.

Strauss found a US dollar bill and an IOU from the box. The bill was a $60,000 bill from Citibank with Connie's signature on it, and the IOU was also a $60,000 IOU with Connie's signature on it. The date of the bill and the IOU were both February 8, 1849.

"Mr. Connie owed the casino $60,000"

Liang Yao interrupted Strauss before he finished speaking.

"These things are useless to Mr. Vanderbilt. After you find Connie, you can go to rest. Tomorrow we will accompany Mr. Vanderbilt to visit the mine in Sacramento."

Strauss put the bill and IOU on Liang Yao's desk with great insight, walked out of the study and gently closed the door.

Liang Yao took out his pipe and smoked it.

Now that Vanderbilt is here, will other financial groups be far behind?

Gwen and Fremont, two ambitious politicians, have gone to the East to lobby for the establishment of the state of Funia. As for the situation, it will take two or three months or even longer to get news.

After all, there is no wireless telegraph yet, and he can only communicate with Gwen and Fremont through letters.

Liang Yao did not intend to pin all his hopes on Gwen and Fremont.

Gwen was born in a small family and did not have much power. Fremont's family is quite prominent, but he is a political novice with limited influence.

In this case, whether Vanderbilt can be pulled on board is particularly critical.

Vanderbilt's financial resources and influence are far beyond the reach of Gwen and Fremont.

I don't know whether Vanderbilt intentionally or unintentionally, at the banquet, he only boasted to his old friends and praised him a few words, and other than that, he didn't mention anything else.

Under the seemingly unruly appearance of this commodore, he actually hides a meticulous heart, which makes people difficult to understand.

Liang Yao opened the drawer and took out a book from it. He opened the book and found that it was full of newspaper clippings.

This book contains all the information he has collected about Vanderbilt, including some gossip and gossip.

"Due to a shortage of funds, the construction of Mr. Vanderbilt's proud North Star is slow and is expected to be delayed by 5 months."

"Mr. Vanderbilt said that he would suspend the construction of the Cleveland train station, which means that Cleveland will lose 800 valuable jobs"

"Mr. Vanderbilt sold the Burlington steamship for $176,510"

"Mr. Vanderbilt, president of the Stonington Railroad, reduced his stake in the company by 7%"

"Mr. Vanderbilt pinched the buttocks of Congressman Cyrus's maid again"

"Mr. Vanderbilt touched Ms. Alice's breasts"

"Mr. Vanderbilt and Mr. Livingston had a big fight at the banquet. Obviously, in terms of fighting, the gentleman Livingston is no match for the old sailor"

Putting aside the gossip, other information shows that Vanderbilt is now short of funds.

This may be an opportunity. California lacks everything, but not gold.

In a sense, he and Vanderbilt both need each other. They are both good partners for each other.

But Vanderbilt is not Sartre, so he is not so easy to fool.

Liang Yao is not sure how big the appetite of this shipping king is, and how big the bait is needed to hook him.

His bait is Xiangshan Gold Mining Company, and the bottom line is that he maintains the controlling stake in Xiangshan Mining Company.

The guest room of Tingtao Garden.

Vanderbilt also did not fall asleep. He has a good alcohol tolerance, and that little bit of wine can't make him drunk.

"My old friend, according to your observation, is this Mr. Liang worth cooperating with?"

His fellow countryman Fan Daze has the same good alcohol tolerance as him.

In addition to rebuilding the California Shipping Company, the purpose of their trip is also a strong interest in gold. No one can resist the temptation of gold. Especially these capitalists who fall into the eyes of money.

When in Nicaragua, Vanderbilt had two options, that is, to choose a more suitable partner between Brannan and Liang Yao.

Plans can't keep up with changes, and now Vanderbilt only has Liang Yao as an option.

"Liang Yao is too young. He may just be lucky to be able to temporarily control the gold mining area in Sacramento." Clark interjected.

"We are not the only ones eyeing the tempting cheese of gold. Other families will not let go of this tempting cheese. They have more influence than us in Congress. If we can get less gold, we don't need to take risks for it."

"Youth may represent inexperience and lack of experience, but it can never represent the ability of a young person. According to my observation, Liang Yao has a lot of experience, which makes me feel very strange."

Vanderbilt thought of himself when he was 19 years old, and felt a little ashamed. He paused and continued.

"Liang Yao is ambitious and shrewd. He knows the purpose of our trip, but he never mentions his bottom line."

"He doesn't show his cards easily. He is a qualified businessman."

Fan Daze affirmed this. According to his own observation, Liang Yao's performance is indeed very mature and he looks like a reliable partner.

“As for whether it’s worth cooperating, we have to go and see the situation in the Sacramento mining area tomorrow before making a judgment.

The old aristocrats of New York already have California gold in their pocket, so why can’t we get a piece of it? I wouldn't mind if Liang Yao could be used to disgust them. But I still don’t know if the gold in Liang Yao’s hands can disgust them. "

Vanderbilt was also very interested in California's gold. Opening a shipping company meant making money, while digging gold mines meant making money directly. No matter how profitable a business is, there is no way to make money as quickly as directly picking up money.

If he could obtain a considerable amount of gold in California, he could defeat his opponents on the route from New York to California relatively easily.

He already felt threatened by the Pacific Mail Line supported by Washington. He needed to eliminate this threat to secure his monopoly on American shipping.

He also intends to enter the railway transportation industry to connect towns in the west.

The development of the east has encountered a bottleneck. The stock market has fallen so much that people want to jump off the building. If you want to continue to make big money, you can only enter the west. The west is the hope of the future of the United States!

On land, tracks are routes and trains are ships. He wants to monopolize the railway transportation industry just like he monopolizes the shipping industry!

That's why he purchased the Stonington Railroad Company and engineered his own behind-the-scenes plan to become president of the company.

To complete this grand undertaking requires U.S. dollars, astronomical amounts of U.S. dollars are needed. And he only has more than seven million dollars lying in the bank that he can use.

Obviously, this mere US$7 million cannot support his grand ambitions.