North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 209 Fleet Departure
"Ellen, who is this person you're talking about?"

When asked about Azu's question, Edgar Allan Poe answered directly: "John Forbes!"

“John Forbes?” Azu pondered. “The one who built the Chicago-Burlington-Quincy Railroad? The one the Wu family invested in?”

"Yes!"

Edgar Allan Poe nodded and said, "It's the boss, the one you know, John Forbes!"

"This Mr. Forbes, with the investment support of the Wu family, has built many railway projects in North America."

"However, in recent years, the decline of the Wu family has also seriously affected Mr. Forbes. As far as I know, his railroad company is now on the verge of bankruptcy and urgently needs new projects and new capital injections."

"Otherwise, it's only a matter of time before his railway company goes bankrupt!"

Of course, Ah Zu knows this Forbes!
In later generations, this descendant of John Forbes founded the globally renowned Forbes magazine, which ranks the world's richest people every year.

Although the Forbes family itself is not considered a top-tier wealthy family, Forbes' fame is no less than that of those top families, and may even be greater.

Azu turned to Wu Qingfeng and said, "This Mr. Forbes was promoted by your Wu family. Qingfeng, do you know what kind of person he is?"

Wu Qingfeng organized his thoughts before answering, "This Mr. Forbes came to China, to Guangzhou, when he was sixteen years old."

"At first, he was just a small tea merchant, but by chance, he gained my father's appreciation and support."

"Mr. Forbes spent eight years in Guangzhou. When he was twenty-four years old, in 1837, he returned to America with the 500,000 Mexican dollars that his father had invested in him, and began to invest in the construction of railroads."

"After the opening of five treaty ports, our Wu family began to decline, and Mr. Forbes' business also suffered greatly."

“I was young back then and didn’t know Mr. Forbes well.” Wu Qingfeng paused for a moment before saying, “According to my father, this Mr. Forbes was smart, bold, meticulous, adventurous, and grateful.”

“In previous years, when our Wu family was in dire need of a large sum of money, Mr. Forbes did not hesitate to drain most of the railway company’s cash flow to repay my father’s investment several times over.”

"It is precisely for this reason that Mr. Forbes' railroad company has fallen into its current predicament."

Edgar Allan Poe replied, "Boss, several years ago, when I was a newspaper reporter, I interviewed John Forbes. We then became friends."

"Wu Qingfeng's statement is basically accurate. John Forbes was a bold, meticulous, and adventurous man. Under his personal supervision, his railroad company built several railroads, all of which were quite successful."

"Boss, his railway company is in trouble now. Perhaps we can acquire it directly and transform it into our Huamei Engineering Company...!"

After thinking for a moment, Azu decided it was a good idea: "I think it's a good idea!"

"Allen, Qingfeng, you two hurry up and write to John Forbes to express our intention to acquire his railroad company."

"If he is willing to sell the railroad company, he will still personally run it after it is moved to California."

"In the letter, we can appropriately reveal California's willingness to promote the construction of various major projects."

"This includes a railway running from south to north through the entire state of California, new port projects including San Francisco, and inland waterway projects on the Sacramento River, among others."

"We can even appropriately reveal to him the transcontinental railroad project that California will promote in the future, which will run across the entire United States."

"But do not mention the Panama Canal in the letter for now."

"Otherwise, our intention to push for a declaration of war against the New Grenada Republic would be all too obvious."

"As for the price of acquiring the railway company, I'm not sure of its value right now. You can discuss it and make sure you can acquire it."

Edgar Allan Poe and Wu Qingfeng nodded simultaneously: "Understood, boss!"

Ah Zu then changed the subject, saying, "Qingfeng, you have a great responsibility on this trip. It's not just about opening up a series of supply ports on the Pacific shipping route, nor is it just about setting up a representative office in Hong Kong."

"Offices should also be set up in Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Ningbo and Shanghai, the five treaty ports, with the main purpose of promoting immigration affairs."

"Given the ongoing war and the dire situation in the country, we can appropriately relax the original immigration requirements."

"As long as they are under forty years old, physically healthy without disabilities, and without serious illnesses or infectious diseases, regardless of gender, age, or social status, we will accept them."

“Okay, I understand, boss!” Wu Qingfeng replied again.

Azu then changed the subject again, saying, "Now that California has hundreds of thousands of people, it's time to establish a university of our own!"

"Ellen and Mr. Parker, you should select a good piece of land near San Francisco that is suitable for building a university and has a beautiful environment, and start construction as soon as possible."

Azu continued, "Our university must be built to be the best! Whether it's the facilities or the teaching standards, we must reach first-class standards in the shortest possible time."

"Through our Standard and the newspaper group comprised of twenty other newspapers in the East, we will publicly advertise for high-caliber university professors across the United States and the world."

"We can offer the highest salaries in the world to any high-caliber professors who are willing to come to the University of California."

"And the construction of our primary and secondary schools must also get back on track!"

"Now, more than ten primary schools and one Huamei Middle School have been built in our company headquarters and model village."

But that's far from enough!

"We need to pass legislation as soon as possible to implement universal education throughout California."

"My suggestion is to initially implement a six-year free primary education system, with all children over the age of six required to enroll in school."

"Whether they are Chinese children, white children, or Native American children, they should all go to primary school to receive free education."

"Although it is still difficult to achieve compulsory schooling for Native American children, I believe that once Native Americans see the benefits of going to school, more and more Native American children will be willing to receive education in our schools."

Edgar Allan Poe frowned slightly and couldn't help but say, "Boss, the idea of ​​comprehensive education is a good one."

"But this will undoubtedly increase California's financial burden significantly!"

"Whether it's teachers' salaries and benefits, the construction and maintenance of classrooms, or textbook costs, all of these require substantial expenditures."

Azu said, "California's finances are currently unable to bear such a heavy burden. Am I right, Qingfeng?"

Wu Qingfeng, who is currently in charge of the California tax system, nodded again and replied, "Yes, boss!"

"Last year, in 1850, the total fiscal revenue of the entire state of California, including customs and various taxes, was only $840,000."

"The year isn't over yet, but the fiscal revenue for the first eleven months reached $1.5 million. The full year should at least double that of last year."

"But even if fiscal revenue doubles, it will not be enough to support California's huge expenditures in all aspects."

"Currently, the California National Guard and Coast Guard are basically all built with investment from our Huamei Company, with annual military expenditures exceeding ten million US dollars."

"Even without including military spending, other expenditures have almost completely depleted fiscal revenue."

"If we continue to invest heavily in education, our finances will suffer a significant deficit...!"

"A deficit is a deficit!" Ah Zu laughed. "Whatever amount is needed, we'll consider it a loan from Huamei Industrial to the California government for now!"

"When Huamei Company lends money to the California government, it must be reasonable and legal, and interest must be calculated."

"If the California government has the money in the future, this money will have to be returned to Huamei Company sooner or later."

"If the California government continues to be unable to pay, then this problem will be left to the next California government, and the one after that... and the one after that."

Unwittingly, Azu dug a huge pit for his potential successor.

“Elementary and secondary schools must be considered California public schools, and the blame should fall on the California government.” “However, the university is a private university invested in by our Huamei Company, and the blame should not fall on the California government.”

"Primary education is free for all, but secondary and university education is fee-based... well, except for our existing Hua Mei High School."

Azu continued, "Ellen, your House of Representatives and Senate should follow this line of thinking and pass the education bill as soon as possible."

“No problem, Boss!” Edgar Allan Poe agreed.

Ah Zu felt that he had already addressed all the questions he could think of.

So he asked, “Gentlemen, what other issues do California and Huamei Company have? Let’s take this opportunity to bring them up and discuss them.”

During the six months that Azu was away, Parker Parker, who was in charge of the entire Huamei Company, pondered for a moment and then said, "Li, our Huamei Company is facing a huge bottleneck. I have thought about it over and over but have no good solution, so I am bringing it up to ask everyone for their ideas."

Facing his future father-in-law, Azu said, "Mr. Bojia, please feel free to ask any questions you may have!"

Parker Parker said in a deep voice, "Our Huamei Company's various industries seem to be booming and developing at an extremely fast pace."

"However, whether it's shipbuilding, military industry, machinery, metallurgy, or textiles, clothing, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals, they all face a problem that urgently needs to be solved...!"

"That's because there's a shortage of raw materials!"

Parker Parker said, “Shipbuilding, military industry, machinery and metallurgy, etc., require large amounts of coal, steel, copper, lead, zinc, tin, and high-quality timber, etc.”

"The textile, garment, pharmaceutical and chemical industries require large quantities of cotton, hemp, glass and basic chemical raw materials, etc."

"It is well known that California's industrial development is extremely underdeveloped, and it also lacks large-scale mines... except for gold mines."

"We have almost exhausted our existing production capacity for these raw materials in California, and it is now difficult to support our continued expansion."

"If we want to further expand production capacity in the future, we will need to purchase a large amount of these basic raw materials from external sources."

“Especially for commodities like coal, steel, and cotton, sourcing them from outside the country would result in significantly higher costs due to long trade routes.”

Parker Parker continued, "For example, our textile and garment factories, which are low-tech and highly competitive industries, have high costs due to the long-distance transportation of cotton from distant southeastern states."

"Our ready-to-wear garments are no longer competitive in price compared to similar products outside."

“If our ready-made garments have to be shipped to the far east for sale, then the price will be even less competitive.”

"The same applies to coal and steel; long transportation distances can lead to a significant increase in costs."

"Moreover, it is even more likely that our company's lifeline will be cut off by others, which is an absolutely unacceptable situation for our company's development."

Parker Parker's question did indeed fill a gap in Azu's thinking.

Upon hearing these words, not only Ah Zu, but everyone present also showed a serious expression.

Azu pondered for a moment and said, "Mr. Bojia, the question you raised is indeed very important!"

“Our California is actually quite lacking in various industrial raw materials, except for gold.”

"Although California produces a small amount of the most important industrial raw materials such as coal, iron, and cotton, the output and reserves are quite limited and cannot support our further expansion and strengthening!"

Azu said, "Regarding the cotton issue, we have already acquired 150,000 acres of high-quality cotton fields in Georgia, with an annual lint production of over 12 million pounds. In the short term, this should be enough to support our needs."

"But it still comes down to the problem Mr. Parker mentioned: the long transportation distances have caused a huge increase in costs."

"The price of a pound of cotton can double after it is transported from Georgia to California."

"With raw materials so expensive, how can our product prices possibly be competitive?"

Azu continued, "Therefore, opening the Panama Canal becomes even more urgent!"

"If we can open the Panama Canal, our transportation costs can be reduced by more than half."

"Cotton is manageable. If all else fails, we can also grow it in our Central Valley."

"However, coal and iron, the two driving forces and necessities of industry, are not so simple!"

Azu pondered, “The main coal and iron producing areas in the United States are concentrated in Wyoming and the northeastern region near the Great Lakes, which are also far from California.”

“Wyoming is not too far from California, separated only by Nevada and Utah. If a railroad is built, transporting Wyoming’s coal to California will not be too difficult, and the transportation costs will be acceptable.”

"But as for iron ore, the world's two main iron ore producing countries are Brazil and Australia."

"Australia is too far from California, so Brazil is a more reasonable choice."

"And copper mines are equally important! The world's largest copper mines are located in Chile...!"

Azu pondered, "Most of these mineral resources are still in the undiscovered or undeveloped stage!"

Everyone wondered, "If it hasn't been discovered or developed, how did you know, boss?"
But considering his boss's well-known reputation as a person favored by the gods, it all makes sense!
Azu continued, "Therefore, we need to acquire as many Wyoming coal mines, Brazilian iron mines, and Chilean copper mines as quickly and as much as possible."

"If that's the case, then we should set up a dedicated mining company and go buy mines all over the world...!"

"The name of this mining company, um... it's called Jinshan Mining...!"

At this point, Ah Zu felt that he didn't have enough people at his disposal. After thinking it over, he realized that no one was suitable to be the general manager of the mining company.

"I will be personally in charge of this mining company for the time being!"

"I will send several groups of people to Wyoming, Brazil and Chile as soon as possible to buy land and mines."

"Once the Panama Canal and the railway directly to Wyoming are opened, minerals from all over the world will be shipped to California in an endless stream, becoming the capital and nourishment for our continued growth."
-
After the meeting, many people took on different responsibilities.

Meanwhile, the newspaper "The Standard" published the major news, on its front page, at lightning speed: the army of the Republic of New Grenada had shamelessly ambushed the governor of California.

The newspaper *The Standard* devoted several pages to publishing all the evidence, along with numerous on-site photographs. With irrefutable evidence, it vehemently condemned the shameless actions of the New Grenada Republic.

An army of one country openly ambushed a high-ranking official of a friendly nation!
This is practically an act of war without being declared!
Immediately, a huge wave of anger swept across California.

Countless California citizens, filled with anger, have openly declared war on the Republic of New Grenada!
More than ten days later, more than twenty newspapers in the east also published articles about the shameless behavior of the New Grenada Republic.

Similarly, this irrefutable evidence and photographs ignited the anger of the entire American people.

In a short period of time, declaring war on the Republic of New Grenada became a huge wave and a consensus among most American citizens.

Driven by this powerful wave, President Abraham Lincoln personally read the declaration of war against the Republic of New Grenada in the Senate on Capitol Hill.

This declaration of war, unsurprisingly, was passed by a large majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Following the Mexican-American War of 1848, the American war machine roared into action once again!

Just a few days later, the U.S. Navy’s home fleet, dozens of powerful warships, and even more transport ships carrying four divisions of the army, continued to advance toward New Grenada and the Isthmus of Panama!

Almost simultaneously, in San Francisco, California, at Clarke Quay.

The Zhiyuan and Dingyuan, which had just rounded Cape Horn and returned to San Francisco, joined the Zhenyuan and Jingyuan, as well as the Guangzhou, a fast steam cruiser that had just been launched and joined the California Coast Guard, along with several other frigates and patrol ships, forming a powerful fleet.

This fleet protected dozens of transport ships carrying two brigades of the National Guard, plus an independent artillery regiment, a powerful force of 15,000 men.

"Feng Zicai, Shi Dakai, Old Martinez, Vic...!"

(End of this chapter)