North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 153 A Heart-Stopping Experience!

The driver's family hadn't had high hopes; they were just giving it a try. To their surprise, things went exceptionally smoothly.

Three days later, the coachman himself drove the carriage, bringing with him Manager Hao, who was a few years younger than him, to the front of that inconspicuous little building.

Unlike a few days ago, a large sign reading "Ohara Cotton Trading Company" has now been hung on the porch of this small building.

"Is this the place?" The young manager, Hao, got out of the car, looked at the cotton trading company's sign, and asked.

“That’s right, this is the place! I was the one who brought it here for them just a few days ago.”

Upon receiving the news, Tony O'Hara, arm in arm with a beautiful woman, appeared on the porch to personally greet the important customer who had come to the door.

"Mr. O'Hara, this is Manager Hao from our Huamei Textile Factory. He's in charge of cotton procurement!"

The driver quickly and solicitously introduced them.

Tony O'Hara smiled broadly and warmly shook hands with Manager Hao: "Welcome, welcome! Mr. Hao, you are the first client we've received since arriving in San Francisco!"

Although Manager Hao is young, he has been in this position for a long time and said calmly, "I came here today to see the quality of the cotton in your cotton trading company and how much supply capacity you have."

"You should know that our suppliers are all quite powerful. We have never cooperated with small businesses or small families."

"Of course, of course! Mr. Hao, rest assured, our O'Hara family is a prominent family in all of Georgia, especially in the cotton business, where we are at least among the top three in Georgia!"

After the group sat down in the living room of the small building, Tony O'Hara took out samples of his family's cotton, as well as a brief introduction of the entire O'Hara family, and various photos and pictures to prove the family's strength and power.

After inspecting the samples and listening to Tony O'Hara's presentation, Supervisor Hao simply nodded slightly without making a comment.

"Mr. Hao, our family's first cotton transport ship should arrive in San Francisco in the next few days. This first batch of high-quality cotton weighs a full 300,000 pounds...!"

"Three hundred thousand pounds of high-quality cotton?" Upon hearing this, Manager Hao finally became interested: "Can your O'Hara family guarantee to provide three hundred thousand pounds of high-quality cotton every month?"

“No problem!” Tony O’Hara nodded. “Georgia is the second largest cotton-producing region in the United States. Our family owns 20,000 acres of cotton fields in Georgia, producing more than four million pounds of lint every year.”

"Of course, we also have other clients. If the cooperation with Huamei Company goes well, we can give them priority in supplying goods!"

Manager Hao nodded and said, "Our Huamei Company always prioritizes reputation and ensures that payment is made on a clean and transparent basis. We never owe our suppliers a single dollar!"

"Then let's talk about the price if you supply Huamei Company with 300,000 pounds of cotton every month...?"

Tony O'Hara was overjoyed and readily agreed, "Mr. Hao, rest assured, we will definitely offer the most favorable price to a major client like Huamei Company."

"In the East, the price of cotton lint is between twelve and fifteen cents per pound."

"But the West is just too far away, and sea transport is not only time-consuming but also carries considerable risks. Therefore, the price of cotton transported to the West and to San Francisco had to rise significantly."

"As far as I know, the price of cotton in San Francisco is currently between thirty and fifty cents, depending on the origin and quality."

Tony O'Hara said excitedly, "If Huamei Company can buy 300,000 pounds of cotton from our O'Hara Trading Company every month, then we can lower the price by at least 15% from the lowest market price of 30 cents!"

"15%?"

Manager Hao raised an eyebrow: "So that's twenty-five and a half cents a pound?"

“Yes! This is the best price we can offer. Huamei Company has a good reputation and buys in large quantities. It's an honor for the O'Hara family to cooperate with Huamei Company!” Tony O'Hara said with a smile.

Manager Hao didn't say much: "Mr. O'Hara, once your first cotton transport ship arrives at the port, our company will organize personnel to inspect the goods on-site."

"If there are no problems with the quality of the cotton, our company will have higher-level personnel discuss the specific supply matters with you."

With that, Manager Hao stood up, shook hands, and prepared to leave.

"Mr. Hao, please wait a moment... *clap clap*"

Tony O'Hara clapped his hands, and immediately an attendant came out carrying a paper bag.

“Our state of Georgia is also known as the ‘Peach State’ because of its world-famous Golden Glow peaches! These two bottles of wine are Golden Glow wines made from the finest Golden Glow peaches by our O’Hara Winery. They have a very unique flavor and are quite well-known!”

"These two bottles of aged Ohara Estate's top-quality Gin Sauvage are for Mr. Hao to try! If he likes them, Mr. Hao can ask anytime."

Manager Hao raised an eyebrow, glanced into the paper bag, and declined, saying, "I'm sorry, our Huamei Company staff cannot accept any gifts! If the company finds out, I will lose my job immediately."

"This...this rule is a bit too unreasonable, isn't it? It's just two bottles of our own wine, it's not worth much money!"

"I'm very sorry, but I really can't accept this wine...!"

Seeing that Manager Hao insisted on not accepting the wine, the beautiful woman beside him smiled and stood up, quite proactively taking his arm, and said with a charming smile, "Mr. Hao, how about this, we'll keep these wines here. You're welcome to come anytime if you want to drink them."

"This lady is...!" Manager Hao was captivated by the faint fragrance emanating from the beautiful woman. As a young man alone in a foreign land, how could he resist the advances of such a curvaceous and beautiful woman?

"Giggle...!" The beautiful woman covered her cherry-like mouth and laughed, "I'm not some lady, I'm Tony's sister, Susan O'Hara!"

"Sigh!" Susan O'Hara sighed softly, her voice filled with resentment. "Her husband passed away years ago...!"

It turns out she's the beautiful young widow from the O'Hara family!

Manager Hao's heart skipped a beat again!
After some back and forth, the relationship between the O'Hara siblings and Manager Hao quickly became closer.

Although Supervisor Hao did not accept the wine when he left, he wandered back alone after work that evening.

After lingering for a while in front of the "Ohara Cotton Trading Company," Manager Hao finally gritted his teeth and pushed open the door of the small building.

……

A few days later, the O'Hara family's cotton transport ship arrived at the port as scheduled.

Accompanied by Supervisor Hao, the purchasing director of Huamei Textile Factory personally led a group of people to the port to inspect the quality of the O'Hara family's cotton.

After a thorough inspection, everyone in the textile factory's purchasing office, including Director Fang, unanimously approved the quality of the O'Hara family's cotton.

The next step is contract negotiation.

The O'Hara siblings of the O'Hara Cotton Merchants were exceptionally open to contract negotiations, not only further reducing the price to twenty-four cents a pound, but also being accommodating to all other demands of the Huamei Company.

Soon, a contract for the purchase of 300,000 pounds of cotton lint per month was reached between Huamei Textile Factory and O'Hara Cotton Trading Company.

With this large influx of cotton, Huamei Company's long-standing tight cotton supply was greatly alleviated, bringing joy to everyone.

Meanwhile, the Ohara Cotton Merchants and the Huamei Company also established a preliminary and stable relationship.

Suppliers like O'Hara, who can reliably provide large quantities of high-quality goods and have a positive attitude towards cooperation without any other conditions, are highly sought after wherever they go.

After a period of consistent and stable supply, and with the O'Hara siblings being exceptionally adept at interpersonal relationships and deliberately cultivating connections, the people they met at Huamei Company became increasingly high-ranking, and their relationships grew closer.

The driver's family also made a considerable windfall!
-
The time came to October 1851, 1.

This is a great day for Aju and a group of newly elected members of parliament to be officially sworn in.

Just like the previous ordination ceremony of Archbishop Evan, the elites of all of California gathered for this rare and grand event.

Most of these powerful figures were already distributors for various products of Huamei Company. Following Huamei Company, many of these individuals had made a fortune in the past few months, their interests unknowingly becoming inextricably linked to Huamei Company and Azu. The swearing-in ceremony was nothing unusual.

But the fact that the only two American generals stationed in California appeared together at this event was particularly eye-catching!

After the swearing-in ceremony, Azu personally greeted the two American generals.

One of them is Brigadier General Thomas, who has only recently taken office.

The other one is Commodore Paparo King.

Accompanying the two generals were each a large military delegation.

"Mr. Lee, on behalf of the United States Army, I would like to congratulate you on your official inauguration as the first governor of California!"

Brigadier General Thomas was an old man with completely white hair and a dignified and solemn expression.

Even this congratulatory remark, coming from his mouth, carried a chilling undertone.

Azu smiled slightly at him: "Congratulations to General Thomas on taking office as commander of the Southwest Command of the Army! I've been too busy lately to personally congratulate the general on his inauguration in Monterey!"

“That’s the right thing to do!” Brigadier General Thomas said sternly. “I’m very busy too. My headquarters simply doesn’t have time to receive such an important figure as the governor!”

Victoria's information was absolutely correct; she really is an unyielding old man!
Brigadier General Thomas continued, "The Governor's Huamei Armory signed a production contract with our Army a few months ago for the new HM50 rifle and three million rounds of ammunition."

"Besides congratulating the governor, I'm here to receive the HM50 rifles and ammunition!"

Azu raised an eyebrow: "General Thomas, according to the contract's deadline, the delivery deadline is April of this year."

Brigadier General Thomas stated bluntly, “The contract date is indeed April, but our Southwest Command only recently moved here from New Mexico, and because of the long distance, we did not bring enough firearms and ammunition.”

"In addition... well, because of my predecessor's serious mistake, the conflict that occurred in Model Village was something that should never have happened, which not only resulted in huge casualties, but also caused great losses of weapons and ammunition."

"Therefore, my Southwest Command urgently needs to replenish its ranks with new recruits, as well as weapons and ammunition!"

"Therefore, we hope that Huamei Company can at least give priority to delivering a portion of the firearms and ammunition to arm my Southwest Command."

After a moment's thought, Azu decided that he should try his best to build a good relationship with the new commander.

It wasn't just Azu who thought this way; Lincoln, far away in Washington, also wrote him a personal letter, stating that Brigadier General Thomas was not only not a Freemason, but also had a deep grudge against the Freemasons, and was also a straightforward and rigid person, suggesting that Azu should try to get along with him.

So Azu said, "If it's just a partial delivery of weapons and ammunition, I think there shouldn't be any problem. General Thomas, give me a number, and I'll arrange the delivery as soon as possible."

Upon hearing the governor's words, Thomas immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Before being appointed commander of the Southwest Command, Thomas had almost never heard of this young Chinese man or Huamei Industrial.

But before he took office, Vice President Lincoln had a special talk with him.

The main topic of the conversation was this young Chinese man and the enormous contributions Huamei Industries has made to the entire state of California.

Brigadier General Thomas was absolutely grateful to Vice President Lincoln for recommending him and elevating him from the obscure position of Reserve Training Director to the important post of Commander of the Southwest Command.

During this conversation, even a conservative figure like Brigadier General Thomas sensed the deep bond between Vice President Lincoln and the young Chinese governor.

Therefore, Brigadier General Thomas came to his post with great goodwill and affection for this young Chinese man.

However, once he actually took office, he realized just how ruthless and difficult this young governor really was.

Putting aside everything else, his predecessor suffered two defeats in succession at Juxiangshan and Mofan Village, with casualties exceeding two thousand people in those two battles.

It should be noted that the total number of army troops in the southwestern states under the command of Brigadier General Thomas was only slightly over ten thousand.

This young Chinese man caused the loss of as many as two thousand people. What a huge loss that was!
If such a great loss had been suffered by a foreign regular army or by Native Americans, the entire United States would have been in uproar and would have been determined to retaliate in blood.

But this young Chinese man got away scot-free and even became California's first governor!
Even more remarkably, his ex completely vanished without a trace on his journey back to Washington, without even making a ripple!

This shows just how terrifying and cunning this guy is, despite his young age!

An old man like myself is probably no match for this young governor.

Therefore, Brigadier General Thomas decided early on to keep to himself and stay as far away from this guy as possible.

If it weren't for this urgently needed batch of weapons, he wouldn't want to have any contact with this terrifying young governor at all.

However, it seems that this exceptionally young governor of California from faraway China is not as scary or terrifying as the legends suggest!

In fact, he even seemed polite and approachable!
“Governor, I need at least five thousand HM50 rifles and one million rounds of ammunition to equip my men as soon as possible.”

“Sure!” Azu readily agreed. “I will arrange for the arms shipment to Monterey soon. However, General Thomas, you cannot delay payment for the goods.”

Brigadier General Thomas laughed and said, "Don't worry, the United States Army doesn't owe you that little bit of money."

“However…!” Brigadier General Thomas changed the subject: “I’ve heard that the US military factories in China and abroad can now produce even more powerful firearms and artillery. I wonder…!”

“Sorry…!” Azu interrupted him with a smile: “We do have more powerful firearms and artillery, but we are not planning to sell them for the time being. At least not to anyone until we have fully equipped our California National Guard.”

“California National Guard?” Brigadier General Thomas’s white eyebrows twitched slightly.

The National Guard is not new to the United States. Decades ago, New York City converted its militia into the National Guard.

Azu replied, "Yes, I will issue a decree today to reorganize the California Militia into the California National Guard!"

This is a matter for California, and it falls under the jurisdiction of the Governor of California. Brigadier General Thomas has no say in this.

"Ahem...!" Chief of Staff Walton, standing behind Brigadier General Thomas, interjected, "Governor, if we're not selling for the time being, would we have the opportunity to observe the advanced firearms and artillery produced by the Huamei Arsenal?"

Walton had been detained at the San Diego Fleet Headquarters by Brigadier General Paparo King for some time, originally intended to be a lead witness in a court-martial against Brigadier General George Phillips.

But after Brigadier General George Phillips completely disappeared, everyone tacitly knew what had happened.

That reckless and foolish guy must have been silenced!
In this way, continuing to keep Colonel Wharton under house arrest would be pointless.

Therefore, Walton had long since returned to Monterey to continue fulfilling his duties as chief of staff.

Compared to the stubborn George Phillips, Brigadier General Thomas may seem old-fashioned, but he is actually more democratic and open-minded, and being new to the job, he relies more on his advisors like Wharton.

"To observe firearms and artillery?"

Azu pondered for a moment, realizing that the secret of his equipment couldn't be kept for much longer.

On the contrary, showing it to them openly might even have a deterrent effect!

“Okay!” Azu agreed. “General Thomas, Chief of Staff Walton, I will arrange for you to stay at my ‘Rosewood Hotel’ first. In the next two days, I will arrange a weapons demonstration, and you are welcome to come and watch.”

After arranging things for the army group, Azu turned his attention to dealing with the navy group.

"General Jin, I wonder what I can do for you since you've come all this way?"

(End of this chapter)