North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 65 My Struggle
After the "Nanhai" was launched, Azu had four ships capable of operating on coastal and inland waterway routes, which could be considered a small fleet.

One of the ships was a steam paddle steamer, two were second-hand galleons, and one was a newly launched galleon.

These ships were all under the name of Captain Vic's original shipping company, which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Huamei Company.

Captain Vic has recruited captains and sailors for the four ships, and barring unforeseen circumstances, he no longer needs to personally run the ships.

These four ships were named "Nanhai", "Donghai", "Beihai" and "Bohai" by Azu respectively.

After the "Nanhai" was launched, the group returned to the office building and sat together in the study.

Edgar Allan Poe, quite conscientiously, searched for wine in his study. After looking around, he found only a small half-bottle of Macallan whisky left, not even enough for a small glass each.

"Mr. Jason!" Edgar Allan Poe chuckled, shaking a half-empty bottle of wine. "Look, isn't it time to open your wine cellar?"

Jason took the cherry wood pipe from his mouth, exhaled a puff of smoke, and cursed, "Ellen, in the past three months, you've stolen and drunk all the wine in my study? How could you, a great poet, be such a damned drunkard? And you even dared to covet my wine cellar!"

Edgar Allan Poe was a heavy drinker to begin with, and now that he had recovered, his thirst for alcohol was insatiable. Jason had plenty of wine in his study, but that wasn't enough to stop Edgar from sneaking a drink every day.

The Macallan whisky, in particular, was Edgar Allan Poe's favorite, and he would save every day to drink it all.

Azu laughed and said, "Compared to Mr. Allen's contribution, what is this little bit of wine? Old Jason, go open your wine cellar!"

Jason went off to move the liquor while grumbling, and a little while later he actually brought back several cases of Macallan whiskey.

"Ellen, you old drunkard, all the Macallan whisky I have left is here. Drink it sparingly, or it'll be gone!"

Azu wholeheartedly agreed: "Ellen, you love wine, that's true. But you must be moderate if you want to live a few more years."

“Of course!” Edgar Allan Poe smiled awkwardly. “Since I fully recovered, I have realized the preciousness of life! Believe me, I will never drink like I used to, or get drunk every day.”

He developed this drinking problem after learning of the tragic death of his lifelong love, Anne Cameron, who suffered a miscarriage and severe bleeding, resulting in the loss of both her and her unborn child.

Edgar Allan Poe poured half a glass of wine for everyone before truly getting to the point.

Ah Zu spoke first, dropping a bombshell: "During our three-month gold panning trip, we found a total of 177,822 ounces of gold!"

"Oh my God! Grandfather, how much gold do you think we found?"

Vivian covered her mouth and gasped in surprise.

Although there were expectations for the gold rush's haul, the figure still far exceeded everyone's expectations.

Edgar Allan Poe was utterly shocked: "Lee, you...you really found so much gold? And in just three months?"

“Yes!” Azu nodded calmly, “The gold we found is worth a total of three million seven hundred thousand US dollars!”

"Three...three million seven hundred thousand dollars!"

This time, even Vic's entire family gasped in surprise!

Even Vic only knew the weight of the first few batches of gold; he had no idea how much he could find in the last ten days.

"Really three million seven hundred thousand dollars? Does that mean we're about to become millionaires?"

"Hahaha, Li, you're practically a god of wealth who can turn lead into gold!" "Boss, you've only been in America for about four months, right? How could you possibly lead us to make so much money in such a short time?"

Let alone three million seven hundred thousand dollars, even ten thousand dollars was an incredible amount of money in those days!
In an era where the average monthly salary is $30 or $40, it would take most people a lifetime to earn $10,000!

Ah Zu simply smiled calmly, and after everyone's excitement subsided a bit, he continued, "After deducting the commissions and bonuses paid to all the gold miners, as well as all the costs of equipment, materials, and so on, we still have...!"

"There's still about $2.46 million in net profit left!"

Ah Zu offered very high commissions and bonuses to all the gold miners, making everyone who worked for him rich.

The supplies given to the Blackfoot tribe were also worth more than $200,000.

Although a lot of money was spent, the benefits were even greater!
The loyalty of all the gold miners, and the friendship of the Blackfoot people, are priceless.

The remaining $2.46 million in net profit made everyone present, except for Edgar Allan Poe, rich.

Even if Vivian only owns 4% of the shares, she would still receive $100,000 if she were to receive a share, making her a true heiress.

Then Azu said, "Two million dollars sounds like a lot, but this is just the beginning! We're going to use this money to do a lot of things and make even more money!"

Azu counted on his fingers, "First, we need to continue building and buying ships! All three shipyards will start construction immediately. This time, we'll build large clipper ships to run long-distance ocean routes!"

“Building our own ships is far from enough. We can buy any suitable ships, whether they are new or old, ocean-going or coastal, sailing or steamships, as long as they are in good condition.”

"Secondly, we need to build a machine factory. Only with a machine factory can we build steamships. Right now, sailboats are just a transition. In the near future, all the ships we build will be steamships."

"Furthermore, our newspaper needs continued investment to make it the most influential newspaper in all of California, the entire West, and even the entire United States!"

"Also, we need to prepare to build a pharmaceutical factory! I will provide a list of the necessary equipment and materials as soon as possible and place the orders promptly. This pharmaceutical factory may become our most profitable industry in the future."

"Furthermore, we need to buy land. While land prices haven't risen to an unacceptable level, we should buy as much land as possible. With land, we will have the foundation for continued expansion."

"Also, we need to have our own bank...!"

"Furthermore, if there are suitable iron ore mines, coal mines, and other essential and important mines, we must also acquire them."

"Furthermore, we need to continuously recruit a large number of people. Without enough people, nothing can be accomplished."

"Furthermore, we need to stockpile a large amount of supplies. With prices soaring across the entire bay area, we must make a killing from it!"

"Furthermore, we want to establish schools and night schools so that all Chinese laborers and all children can receive free education and training...!"

……

He talked about so many things that needed to be done, leaving everyone present dazzled and trembling with fear!
After finishing speaking, Ah Zu scanned the shocked expressions on everyone's faces before finally saying...

"So, two million dollars may seem like a lot, but it's still far from enough compared to what we need to do!"

"We must take advantage of the current situation and use this capital of over two million dollars to make a fortune!"

(End of this chapter)