Chapter 78: Take Care of Yourself

"I'm here today to warn you, give up the gold producing area of ​​Sacramento immediately! The water for gold is too deep, and you, a Chinese boy, can't hold it!"

The arrogant John said in a voice that was almost growling.

“Don’t think that just because you have a land deed from the Mexican government, you can use chicken feathers as arrows!

Please remember that California is now a territory of the United States, not Mexico. Congress will not recognize the land deeds in your hands, so those land deeds in your hands are just a pile of waste paper! "

John has learned from Adal that almost all of California's largest gold-producing areas are concentrated around Sacramento. He coveted the huge gold production in the Sacramento area.

John has regarded the gold in the Sacramento area as his own, and he firmly believes that with the backing of his family, these western hillbillies in California do not have the courage to say no to him.

As long as he takes over the gold-producing area of ​​Sacramento, with the machines he brought from New York, gold production can be doubled several times.

At that time, the Astor family can directly use the gold mined in California to directly purchase land and real estate in major cities.

His father, Little Astor, will also be impressed by him. The reason why John is willing to leave the colorful world of New York and come to California, a remote and savage place. He simply wanted to make some achievements to show his father.

To prove that among the three brothers, he, John, was the best.

John's father, Astor Jr., was the only son of Astor Sr. and the sole heir of the Astor family. Astor had no worries about inheriting the family property.

But John's generation is different. John has three brothers. Who will become the main heir of the family in the future is bound to be a big problem.

John came up with an unreasonable and arrogant attitude, making it clear that he was not here to discuss the problem with Liang Yao, but to tell Liang Yao the results, indicating that he had secured the gold-producing area of ​​Sacramento.

Since John was unreasonable and broke Liang Yao's bottom line as soon as he opened his mouth, Liang Yao naturally had no need to look good on John.

"Regardless of whether Congress recognizes the legality of the land grant from the Mexican government, even if according to American law, the terra nullius in the west adheres to the principle of who occupies it and who owns it. It is not your turn to dictate the land in Sacramento, Mr. John ." Liang Yao said coldly.

Liang Yao's tough attitude was beyond John's expectation.

After a brief moment of surprise, John gave his response.

"Mr. Liang, I have to remind you that laws are made by Congress, and Congress has the power to amend laws. There is gold buried under the soil in Sacramento. This alone is enough for Congress to amend the law."

John moved out of Congress again, as if Congress was owned by his family.

John's confidence comes from the Astor family, and the Astor family's confidence lies in the connections that Astor has accumulated in Congress over decades.

Almost all the respected old congressmen maintained close friendships with the old Astor, as well as ulterior interests.

Otherwise, Old Astor would not have repeatedly won land bids in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and even New Orleans.

"Congress has the power to amend the law, but I don't think this process will be simple, and Congress must also bear the consequences of amending the law."

Liang Yao responded. As far as he knew, the members of the American Congress at this time were not monolithic.

In addition to the conflicts between the North and the South, a group of young congressmen representing the interests of northern factory owners also had their own interests and demands, such as William Henry Seward of New York State.

He was deeply dissatisfied with the fact that the veteran legislators had spent more than half a year wrangling in parliament and had not been able to come up with a satisfactory plan on the issue of statehood in the territorial areas.

The rapidly rising western states and territorial states also have their own demands in Congress. For example, Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois and Associate Senator Fremont of California also have their own demands for those who occupy the toilet and do nothing. The old congressman was dissatisfied.

"I'm not here to discuss with you today, but to give you an ultimatum! Give up the land in Sacramento and withdraw from the gold industry in California, otherwise you will be going against the Astor family and the New York consortium!"

After saying that, John stood up gracefully and prepared to leave, leaving behind the last words.

"I hope you can take care of yourself!"

But Liang Yao had no intention of letting John go. Since John had brought his words to this point, there was no need for him to be polite to John.

Liang Yao winked at the guard at the door. The guard at the door understood and blocked John's way.

"What are you going to do? You barbaric Chinese!"

John turned around and scolded.

"The 230,000 Spanish silver dollars you owe my friend have not been repaid. Before you scold the Chinese, please remember that without the generous help of the Chinese, your Astor family would not be where it is today. Don't forget your Astor family. How did the first pot of gold come from! ”

With that said, Liang Yao stretched out his hand towards Wu Yuanhua.

"Brother Wu, bring all the IOUs from the Astor family. It won't make sense to reason with these ungrateful guys."

Wu Yuanhua hurriedly handed over the IOU signed by Old Astor.

The descendants of the Astor family are really scoundrels. Wu Yuanhua had already given up the debt, but he didn't expect that Liang Yao would be willing to help.

Liang Yao slapped the IOU on the table: "Mr. John, if you don't repay this 1827 debt today, I don't think you can get out of this door."

"Robbers! Robbers! You Chinese are shameless robbers! You have no right to restrict my personal freedom!"

When John heard that he had to pay back the money, his face turned pale and he pointed at Liang Yao and Wu Yuanhua and cursed.

Liang Yao hated people pointing at his nose the most. He stretched out his hand to clamp John's wrist, and then heard John's pig-killing scream.

"Only robbers can deal with scoundrels, right?"

"I didn't bring any money to California." John was still stubborn and refused to pay back the money of the Wu family.

This set of rhetoric was obviously a lie. John came to California to open a mine. The only bank in California was Liang Yao's Bank of America. How could John come without cash? How to recruit workers without cash?

"If you don't have money, take the machine as collateral!" Liang Yao said coldly.

Looking at the group of ferocious Chinese around him, John's bald forehead was covered with beads of sweat the size of soybeans. For the sake of his own safety, John struggled for a long time and decided to pay back the money and leave this hellhole first.

As long as we leave this hellhole, there will be plenty of opportunities to settle accounts with these Chinese guys in the future.

"The Astor family is extremely vengeful. John suffered a loss here today, and they will not let you go." Nigel did not forget to remind Liang Yao.

"They are coming for the gold in the Sacramento area. Just let them go. As long as the gold producing area in Sacramento is in my hands, they will not let me go."

Liang Yao saw it clearly. Anyway, there was no room for maneuver between him and the Astor family. It would be better to take back Wu Yuanhua's debt and get a favor.

"Yes, although the gold in California is tempting, it is inevitable to offend people if you want to get it." Nigel sighed.