1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 299 California's Dilemma

December 1852, 12, coincided with Christmas in the West.

Although Liang Yao is very strict in running the army, he is not an unkind person.

On Christmas Day, Liang Yao gave all the officers and soldiers of the Arizona Infantry Regiment and the artillery company of the California Infantry Regiment a day off, allowing them not to train today, allowing them to celebrate Christmas to their heart's content.

In addition to the vacation, Liang Yao also gave all the officers and soldiers who participated in the war, including the crew of the global shipping company, a $5 bonus as a reward.

Five dollars in the mid-19th century was not a small amount of money, even in California, where per capita income was much higher than other regions, five dollars was a lot of money.

Ordinary workers in factories in the eastern United States work 30 days a month and earn only $10 a month.

Liang Yao originally wanted to give a $10 bonus directly, but thinking that the Spring Festival of 1853 would be more than a month away, he planned to give the Chinese soldiers a day off on the Spring Festival, and give all the soldiers a $5 bonus.

At present, the various ethnic groups in California have not been well integrated. After all, ethnic integration is a long-term matter, and it does not mean that if they can be integrated, they will be integrated immediately.

Liang Yao's soldiers are relatively complex, including Chinese and white.

If you want soldiers of different races to fight for him in the same trench, in addition to giving enough money, it is also important to level the bowl of water so that there is no gap between soldiers of different ethnic groups.

More than [-] years later, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is a lesson for others.

The officers, soldiers and crew who received the bonus were very happy, they all praised Liang Yao for his generosity, and shouted Long Live Your Excellency Colonel!
For these soldiers whose overall level of education is not very high, it is far more realistic to send them heavy dollars than false Christmas wishes.

Liang Yao noticed that after receiving the bonus, a small number of officers and soldiers couldn't hide their homesickness even though they were happy.

Needless to say, these officers and soldiers must have already married in California and want to go home.

Liang Yao pinched his fingers and made the calculations. It has been more than half a year since he went to war, and it is time to return to the United States.

Liang Yao went to the Liang family compound to bid farewell to Liang Weiming. Liang Weiming hoped that Liang Yao would spend the New Year in Xiangshan before leaving, but Liang Yao declined.

These days, he has received letters from Robinson, Strauss, Deng Wenyu and others.

From the letter, Liang Yao learned that California's current financial situation has been in deficit, and the situation is getting worse and worse.

The state legislature has been arguing for more than two months on how to solve the financial problems of the California government without a result. They hope that Liang Yao can return to California as soon as possible, and Liang Yao will make the final decision to help California through the crisis.

Of course, this also meant that Liang Yao was to blame. Liang Yao formulated many policies in California, and a large part of California's fiscal revenue was spent on these policies.For example, financial subsidies for compulsory education, subsidies for skilled immigrants, wages for the California militia, and so on.

Those politicians in California, Liang Yao, still understand.It's not so much that they can't argue about a result in the state legislature and can't think of a solution to the fiscal deficit problem, it's better to say that none of the members of the state legislature are willing to bear the consequences of making decisions.

In addition to California's financial problems, whether to start the construction of the Pacific Central Railway also needs to be decided after Liang Yao returns.

The construction of the Pacific Railway is a super project at the national level. Although Liang Yao is one of the few rich men in the United States with strong financial resources, the super project of the Pacific Railway is still beyond Liang Yao's ability and cannot be completed by himself. .

Liang Yao needed to cooperate with other railway tycoons, capitalists, and investors, and more importantly, he needed the strong support of the American state apparatus.

Seeing that Liang Yao had made up his mind to go, Liang Weiming couldn't force Liang Yao to stay.

"You have made up your mind to go, and I can't keep you. It's just that you were overseas when you were twenty years old, and you haven't had the crowning ceremony yet. It's not too late to go after the crowning ceremony." Liang Weiming felt a little bit reluctant. said.

"I forgot about this, so I'll listen to grandpa, and it won't be too late to leave after performing the crown ceremony and picking up the characters." Liang Yao agreed.

"Third brother, take me with you when you go to the United States this time. I also want to go to California with you."

As soon as Liang Yaogang and Liang Weiming finished talking about the ceremony, Liang Yi came up and asked Liang Yao to take him to California.

Liang Yi is the son of Liang Shaocong, the second uncle of Liang Yao, and he is the sixth eldest among the grandchildren of the Liang family.

Although Liang Yi is the sixth eldest, the age gap between the grandchildren of the Liang family is not that big, and they were basically born in those few years.Liang Yi is only four years younger than Liang Yao.

Among the grandchildren of the Liang family, Liang Yi is considered outstanding.

Among the grandchildren of the Liang family, there are only two famous people, one is Liang Yao, and the other is Liang Yi.

"California is not as comfortable as Xiangshan, and your third brother and I don't support idlers." Liang Yao reminded Liang Yi.

"I'm not idle. I heard that San Ge'er has to deal with foreigners for a lot of business, so I learned English from the master of Tongfu, hoping to be a helper beside San Ge'er." Liang Yi said hurriedly, afraid that Liang Yao refused to take him.

"Whether you want to go to California or stay in Xiangshan, I don't care, it depends on what grandpa wants." Liang Yao handed over the decision to Liang Weiming.

After his fifth uncle Liang Weiming joined the team training, Liang Yi was the only one left in the Liang family's imperial examinations.

"Grandpa, just let me go." Liang Yi begged Liang Weiming.

Although Liang Weiming was reluctant to give up, facing Liang Yi's begging, after hesitating for a moment, Liang Weiming said helplessly: "Even if I let you stay, you don't want to study and take the scientific examination, and reading is the most taboo to be distracted."

Liang Weiming, the patriarch of the feudal family, thought about it for a while. Instead of forcing Liang Yi, who had no intention of taking the imperial examination, to continue reading the Four Books and Five Classics and end up with nothing, it would be better to let Liang Yi and Liang Yao go out for a break.

After all, Liang Yao has proved to him with practical actions that the imperial examination is not the only way to go.

"Thank you, Grandpa." Liang Yao winked at Liang Yi.

"Thank you, grandpa!" Liang Yi happily thanked Liang Weiming.

"You young people go out if you want to go out, grandpa can't stop you, as long as you don't forget this old bone of grandpa in your spare time, just come back and see grandpa." Liang Weiming squeezed out a bitter smile.

Three days later, Liang Weiming held a crowning ceremony for Liang Yao, and Liang Yao, who was about to turn [-], finally had his name: Zhaoming.

After the coronation ceremony, Liang Yao sailed across the Pacific Ocean and returned to California.

Liang Yao's original plan was to take the Indian Ocean route directly, cross the Cape of Good Hope like Perry, and finally drop anchor directly in Baltimore, Maryland, and go to Washington to report to President Fillmore on the expedition to Japan.

It's just that the plan can't keep up with the changes. The situation in California is urgent now. Liang Yao decided to go directly across the Pacific Ocean and return to California as quickly as possible. After solving the matters in California, he went to Washington.

(End of this chapter)