Chapter 83: An Unexpected Surprise

"But these lands were also promised to us by Congress. We, the early American immigrants, made great contributions to the United States during the war. Without the intelligence we provided, the American army would not have defeated the Mexican army so easily."

Jim said angrily, not forgetting to pull open his shirt to reveal the scar on his shoulder.

"This is proof that I shed blood for America!"

"Now that Congress is taking back our land, it is burning bridges!" Sutter also agreed. "Texas, New Mexico, and Utah also have land grants from the Mexican government. If we want to take back the land grants from the Mexican government, there is no way. Reasons to only take back California land.”

The old immigrants were very angry about this. Some of them not only provided intelligence to the American army, but some even directly took up arms and participated in the battle.

"Congress makes laws, and Congress has the power to change them. There is gold buried under the soil of California. This reason alone is enough for Congress to change the law. These are John's exact words, gentlemen."

Liang Yao imitated John's tone and attitude when he spoke.

"Mr. Liang, do you have any suggestions? We want to hear your opinions."

Deputy Sheriff Cai Mingsheng said.

Among the Chinese representatives attending the meeting, only a few early immigrants had mastered English proficiently.

Most of the remaining Chinese representatives have extremely limited English proficiency and only know some daily expressions and simple words. Their hearing level is not enough to fully understand the content of the meeting.

They mostly guess what they probably said through the spokesperson's demeanor, expression, and body language.

But this is not important to them. No matter what the outcome of this meeting is, they will stand unconditionally on Liang Yao's side.

Liang Yao is their bread and butter in California and their backbone. They also believe that Liang Yao's choice is right.

"You have two choices." Liang Yao said slowly.

"The first option is to surrender. It is undeniable that the consortium in the east has the backing of Congress. They are very powerful. They hand over their land and gold and depend on them to survive.

If you are lucky, you can find a gold mining job with them to support your family, but the gold panned from the land has nothing to do with us, it will all flow into their pockets. "

"What the hell are you talking about! We discovered this gold first!"

"California boys never give in!"

"I will fight whoever wants to steal my gold!"

The deputies on the committee were in a state of great emotion, and no one was willing to accept this option, either out of dignity or profit.

And this is exactly the result Liang Yao wants to see.

Liang Yao stood up and suddenly raised his voice.

"The second option is to fight to the end for our gold and bright future! Let the Congress thousands of miles away hear our voice!

Of course, this is a difficult road, and together we will face pressure from all sides, as well as unexpected difficulties and even threats from the military.

But I'm ready for the fight!

Mr. Vanderbilt will lobby Texas farmers and planters to support us.

I have also sent people to Utah, Nevada and New Mexico to tell them the news.

Congress dares to take back California's legal lands today and their Mexican government land grants tomorrow.

The Eastern Consortium is a group of greedy ghosts with insatiable desires.

In short, we are not alone! "

"Choose to defend our land and our gold, of course! California is California for Californians."

Sartre, who was an artilleryman, had a fiery temper and spoke bluntly.

"If the army dares to step into my territory and illegally occupy my private property, I will shoot them to pieces! Until they get out of my territory!"

"I've got your back! My old man! I'll kill these bastards like I killed the Mexicans!" Jim echoed.

“I don’t think things will get to this point, but if Congress blatantly violates the constitution, invades our private property, and tramples on our dignity, I will not sit still and wait for death. All employees of the Boston Company will also take up arms and fight to the end. ”

Compared to Sutter, Robinson's stance is relatively mild, but their goals are the same.

The views of other gold mining companies were similar to Robinson's, but not as radical as those early immigrants represented by Sutter.

Chinese representatives also expressed their support for Liang Yao.

"Very good, I will fight with everyone, and I will send more guards to the Sacramento area to protect our gold and land. Whether John or other people from the Eastern Consortium set foot in the gold-producing areas of the Sacramento area, I will not be polite. ”

Liang Yao made his final statement.

After the meeting, Sartre came to Liang Yao privately.

"I want to tell you that my land and the land I sold to you are not only land grants from the Mexican government, but also land recognized by the American government." Sartre said to Liang Yao.

"And land recognized by the American government?"

This was an unexpected surprise for Liang Yao.

“The place where gold was first discovered is 64 kilometers away from my territory, which is an unclaimed land on the edge of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

At that time, the United States and Mexico were still at war, so I wrote to Colonel Mason, the commander of California, hoping that he would recognize the ownership of the land. "

Said Sutter, he took out a letter from his pocket, which was a reply from Colonel Mason to Sutter.

The content of the reply was also very simple: Mr. Sutter, since there is no one living within the 64-kilometer radius, you will not be accused of illegally invading other people's land. I personally acknowledge your ownership of this land.

The signature is Colonel Mason, the commander of California, and the rest of the letter is Mason's personal doubts about whether there is a huge amount of gold buried in California.

"This letter alone can't explain much."

After reading the letter, Liang Yao felt a little disappointed.

"I thought so at the time. After all, there is gold buried under these lands, and I am not at ease, so I personally visited Colonel Mason and gave Colonel Mason some natural gold nuggets. The largest gold nugget is as big as a fist! "

"Pick the key points, Mr. Sutter. "Liang Yao said.

"Don't worry, the next point is, Colonel Mason is a celebrity in Ohio and Kentucky, he is a very good friend of the local congressman, so some of my land has the legal procedures of the United States, and even has the seal of Congress!" Sutter said with some pride, "Fortunately, I kept a hand at that time."

"Congress actually recognized your ownership of these lands so hastily?"

Liang Yao was very surprised. If it is true as Sutter said, some of the land in California has the legal procedures of the United States.

If Congress wants to take back the land in California, the situation is not just as simple as taking back the land donated by the Mexican government.

"At that time, except for Colonel Mason, no one believed that there would be so much gold in California, and even Colonel Mason's friends thought he was a complete lunatic." Sutter said.

"If it weren't for that guy Brannan who spread the news that there was gold in California, there would be no such gold diggers in California now."

"Sutter, thank you very much, I think this is very useful information. "

Liang Yao returned to his study and found his land deeds, most of which were written in Spanish.

After searching for a while, he finally found a few land deeds and procedures written in English, which indeed had the seal of Congress on them.

Liang Yao carefully selected a few copies, stuffed them into an envelope, and sent a messenger to send this special envelope to Fremont and Gwen in Washington, hoping that it would be helpful to them.