America 1881: They Call Me Legend

Chapter 275 After the Fire in the 19th Century
Albuquerque, residential area.

From last night until early this morning, there was a fire here.

The cause was that a German living in the house forgot to turn off the stove before going to bed, and then the fire from the stove lit the curtains, which directly caused his house to be burned to charcoal.

And next to it happened to be a few apartments, where some workers and civilians lived.

The fire engulfed a dozen surrounding buildings including this apartment, making these people who were not considered wealthy even worse.

Those who hadn't been burned to death stood blankly at the street corner, looking at the ruins in front of them.

They are now homeless.

There are several horse-drawn fire trucks parked beside the ruins.

Volunteers from several fire brigades were shuttling through the ruins, checking for hidden fires that had not been discovered, and they wanted to make sure that there would be no resurgence of ashes.

In addition to them, a group of people appeared on the scene.

A gentleman wearing a top hat is talking to the homeless people one by one.

And standing next to him was a reporter from the Albuquerque Morning Post.

The gentleman took off his hat, tucked it between his elbows, and held the hand of an old white man with a dark face and a blank expression:

"I am truly sorry for what happened to you."

The old man looked up at him and said nothing.

"You should know me. My name is Davis. I am a Republican Albuquerque city councilor. I hope I can help you."

Seeing that the old man ignored him, the gentleman started looking for something to say, "Um, do you still have a place to live now?"

When the old man heard this, he looked at the ruins behind him again, and he lost all anger.

His hand just hung in Davis's hand, looking hopeless.

The topic stopped abruptly, and the atmosphere became even more awkward.

Davis was a little helpless, and looked at an old man standing not far away as if asking for help.

"What a waste, what are you looking at me for?" Scott muttered in a low voice with a displeased face, the voice was so small that only Chen Jianqiu beside him could hear him.

"This is the next mayor you plan to train?" Chen Jianqiu suddenly wanted to laugh.

He just arrived in Albuquerque early this morning.

First to find out about his kerosene sales, and second to see how the railroad from Albuquerque to Roswell is doing.

As a result, as soon as he entered the city, he bumped into Mr. Scott, who was full of dust and didn't even have his hair done, and Mr. Davis, the councilor whom he had high hopes for.

As soon as they heard the news of the fire, they rushed to the scene immediately.

Are these people philanthropists?No, obviously not.

These "urban politicians" are watching fires in their constituencies almost as closely as firefighters.

In their experience, fires are a great time to win votes.

Therefore, whenever there is a fire, these people will come over like flies smelling blood.

But it seems that this young city councilor named Davis is not as familiar with such operations as his predecessor Scott.

Scott was a little gasped, and he waved at a follower not far behind him.

The entourage ran up at a trot and stuck to the representative's side.

"Go and tell Almons to let him vacate the hotel room and let these people move in." Scott whispered in the ear of his entourage.

The entourage ran towards the street behind him like flying.

"Where's the bread? Where's the water?" Scott shouted at his back, "Let Almons get some bread and water first!"

After a while, a man with the appearance of a businessman drove over with a carriage, which contained several large boxes of bread and several buckets of water.

Congressman Davis finally reacted. He took out the bread from the cart, scooped up water with a cup, and began to distribute it to the affected residents.

Chen Jianqiu also followed behind to join in the fun.

Scott, who was walking in front of Chen Jianqiu, took the bread from his entourage and handed it to those waiting by the ruins.

"Are you comfortable being robbed by the Indians in Roswell?" He held the bread in his hand, and said suddenly.

Only then did Chen Jianqiu realize that Scott was talking to him, and immediately looked bitter: "Before I came, I was robbed of two truckloads of goods."

Of course Scott knew, because there was a truckload in it that was said to be for him,

The congressman straightened up, smiled and waved at a child receiving bread in the distance, but spoke in a blunt tone:
"Why are you acting like this bunch of trash now? Are you just letting those Indians rob you?"

Chen Jianqiu bent down to scoop up a glass of water, put it in front of a victim, and said, "What else can I do? Those Indians are haunting, what can I do?"

"I'm a Chinese. It's not easy to earn some money. If I get more armed, can I survive? Can those congressmen let me go?" Chen Jianqiu sighed.

"You look like this, I'm very disappointed." Scott picked up another piece of bread and handed it to a woman whose face and hands were black and gray.

"Thank you! Mr. Congressman!" The woman got excited and grabbed Scott's hand.

The MP's hands also turned black all of a sudden.

Scott pulled his hand out with a smile on his face, turned his head and gave Chen Jianqiu a look, motioning him to follow, and then walked out of the team.

He brought Chen Jianqiu to the corner of a street.

Scott turned his back, took out a handkerchief, and began to wipe the black ash on his hands. While wiping, he said to Chen Jianqiu:
"I've discussed it with the governor. Later, the governor will sign the governor's order and give you a certain establishment." Scott glanced at Chen Jianqiu, "You organize some militias in Roswell and organize them into the state National Guard."

"Will the state treasury allocate funds?" Chen Jianqiu asked earnestly.

"There is no money in the state, you can find a way by yourself." Scott frowned and looked at Chen Jianqiu, "Why don't you understand what I mean?"

"You Chinese, you pay attention to making money with harmony, but this is not applicable in the United States, especially in the west!" Scott taught earnestly, "If you are not armed, your money is not yours, understand?"

In his view, Chen Jianqiu's ability to keep the money bag is to keep the money bag for Scott himself.

Chen Jianqiu had a look of "sudden realization".

"Also! Let your militia patrol the border. If the small towns on the border are harassed by Indians, our votes will be gone!"

Scott managed to wipe his hands clean, dropping the dark handkerchief straight to the floor.

"I've chosen the militia captain for you too." Scott said, "Just Abiot, he does things more simply!"

"Can I change it?" Chen Jianqiu seemed very dissatisfied with this candidate.

"No!" Scott stared at Chen Jianqiu with a cold gaze.

The two returned to the scene of the fire again.

Bread and water have been distributed almost.

There was also news from the hotel that the rooms were almost fully vacated, and arrangements could be made to take the victims there.

The young Davis city councilor, who had put on his polite hat again, smiled and waved to the victims who were about to leave.

"Tell the reporter to write more vividly, mainly describing the plot of Davis providing free board and lodging to the victims." Scott called his entourage aside and ordered,
"Mr. Congressman, can my hotel in Santa Fe reopen?" the businessman Almons walked up to Scott and asked cautiously.

He had a hotel in Santa Fe, and because he provoked people who shouldn't be provoked, Scott suggested that the Santa Fe Police Department closed it down on the grounds of poor sanitation.

Almons didn't say a word about the board and lodging expenses of those people just now and in the future.

"Come find me when you get back to Santa Fe." Scott put on his gloves.

　One more, two more later
　　
　
(End of this chapter)