North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 87 The Car Speeds Up! (4000 words, please subscribe)
Although Monica, this alluring and provocative red-haired woman, is indeed exceptionally attractive.

However, in the end, Azu restrained himself and sent Monica, who was completely aroused, hot and flushed, and whose crotch was already soaking wet, back home.

For no other reason than that Ah Zu was unwilling to ruin his relationships with others because of a momentary impulse.

Even if I'm going to steal a bite, I'll have to eat Vivian first!

That evening, when organizing training for the workers, Ah Zu, along with Victoria, selected twenty of the best marksmen, the bravest, and the most clever and reliable among the hundreds of people.

Of the twenty people, fourteen were Chinese laborers and six were white.

These twenty men were no longer considered workers and militiamen. Azu gave them a $30 raise, which he then used to train Victoria.

After the final training, at least half of them will be eliminated.

No matter how good a marksman is, how brave they are, or how clever and reliable they are, not all of them are qualified to be assassins or spies.

Even if they are eliminated, they are still elites among the militia, and they can at least become squad or platoon leaders.

Having finally settled things with Victoria, Ah Zu, who had been busy all day, was about to hug Vivian and go to sleep when there was a knock on the door.

"Bang bang bang!" The sound of knocking on the door was followed by Captain Vic's voice: "BOSS, you want to sleep so early? Get up, I have something to discuss with you."

Ah Zu got up and opened the door, saying irritably, "Captain, what time is it? Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"Sleep my ass!" Captain Vic, no, he's about to become Mayor Vic!
"I'm busy with election matters and managing such a large shipping company, how can I have time to sleep!"

Indeed, Vic has been extremely busy these days and is very irritable!
After a series of large-scale acquisitions, Huamei Industrial's shipping company now owns more than 20 large ocean-going clipper sailboats and more than 60 coastal merchant ships, including more than 10 armed coastal merchant ships.

In addition to the ships, the shipping company now has dozens of captains, seven or eight hundred sailors, and more than one hundred people responsible for management, operations, and logistics.

The team suddenly grew to nearly a thousand people, all of whom depended on Huamei Company and Azu for their salaries and food!

Vic was so worried that he couldn't eat or sleep!
Now, with such a large operation, it's all up to Vic to keep it running, so he's incredibly busy, especially since he also has to deal with the election.

"Slap!" Vic, sporting huge dark circles and bags under his eyes, slammed a thick stack of ledgers down in front of Azu: "BOSS, look, this is a list of all the ships, captains and sailors that our shipping company has compiled, as well as a list of goods in the warehouse and a general ledger of funds."

“We now have more than 90 ships and nearly a thousand employees. We spend tens of thousands of dollars on salaries alone every month! Not to mention ship maintenance, dock fees, taxes, and so on!”

"Right now, many ships are docked at Clarke Pier, doing nothing! If this continues, no matter how much money we have, we'll just be sitting around doing nothing!"

"Boss, you need to come up with a plan quickly to get the shipping company up and running and making money as soon as possible!"

Vic was in a hurry, but Azu was calm and collected, picking up the ledger and slowly flipping through it.

After flipping through the documents for a long time, Ah Zu finally looked up and said, "I see that many ships are not fully staffed! Have they all switched ships to pan for gold?"

"Yes! In total, we are still short 30% of our captains and at least half of our sailors. With so many people missing, most of our ships simply cannot leave the port."

“I see there are still seventeen ocean-going clipper ships docked at the pier, unable to move.” Azu thought for a moment, “Hmm, let’s gather the captains and sailors of the ocean-going ships first, and send them out to sail the Eastern Pacific route!”

"Assembling a captain and crew isn't a problem," Vic said, spreading his hands helplessly. "But we don't have enough cargo to fill an ocean-going vessel! Even the jeans and prefabricated houses we produce, I don't think the Chinese need them!"

Azu replied, "Then we'll buy the foot-operated sewing machines from the three authorized manufacturers, as well as the steel we've stockpiled, as much as we can. These things will definitely fetch a high price in my hometown."

Actually, the most profitable weapons!
The United States has no shortage of guns and ammunition!
However, Ah Zu is not planning to get involved in this business yet.

"Sewing machines and steel? No problem, but that's not enough to fill seventeen large clipper ships! My boss, you need to understand, seventeen large clipper ships are enough to carry tens of thousands of tons of cargo!"

Azu calmly replied, "It's fine if the ships aren't fully loaded on the way there; I just want to recoup some of the costs. The important thing is the return journey of these ships!"

"Return trip?"

"Yes, on the return journey! When our seventeen clipper ships return, we must load as much tea and Chinese laborers as possible in Guangzhou. In Yokohama, Japan, we must also load as much rice as possible."

"Especially Chinese laborers, the more the better!"

"As long as we have enough manpower, there are plenty of ways for us to make money. I never expected to make much money from shipping companies!"

Vic understood a bit: "Boss, you have a broader perspective! Indeed, as long as we have people, we're bound to make a lot of money!"

Ah Zu added, "However, it is imperative to strictly enforce the rule that all Chinese laborers must be treated kindly at sea! I do not wish to see any of my compatriots die at sea!"

“This…!” Vic said with difficulty, “Boss, you know that it’s impossible for people not to die after drifting in the Pacific Ocean for several months!”

"Minimize the number of deaths! As far as I know, the mortality rate of Chinese laborers on ships is over 30%, which is highly abnormal."

Ah Zu's tone was unusually stern: "If more than 10% of the Chinese laborers on any of my ships die, that's a crime! I will throw the captain and all the sailors of that ship into the sea to feed the sharks!"

“I understand!” Vic nodded quickly. “I will arrange everything and make sure that all captains and sailors treat every Chinese laborer as kindly as possible!”

“Treat them well, but that’s not enough!” Azu added. “We need to invite doctors from the church hospital to train all the captains and sailors so they can learn basic medical and hygiene knowledge. All ships should be equipped with sufficient medicine and food.”

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away!"

Ah Zu added, "In my opinion, even a 10% mortality rate is too high! In the future, we must gradually reduce this mortality rate to the lowest possible level."

"The Pacific route takes two to three months one way, which is far too long and is the main reason for the high mortality rate!"

"In the future, we must at least reduce this time by half!"

"Oh my God!" Vic's eyes widened again: "My boss, how is this possible?"

In response to the surprised captain, Azu replied, "By replacing clipper sailing ships with steamships, we can reduce the travel time on the Eastern Route to less than a month!"

“But…!” Vic said, “Paddle steamships are not as fast as clipper ships, and they also need to be refueled with coal, and there are not many refueling ports in the Pacific.”

Azu replied, "If it's a paddle steamship, it's true that its speed isn't fast, even slower than a clipper ship. However, I naturally have ways to increase the speed of a steamship."

"As for the coal supply problem, that's easy to solve. First, we can build steamships that are big enough to carry enough coal. Second, as for the supply port, we can figure out how to build one, right?"

At this time, the first propeller-driven steamship, the "Archimedes," had been under construction for a full decade. Currently, both Britain and France were building propeller-driven, iron-hulled steam warships.

With sufficient horsepower, the speed of a propeller-driven steamship was already comparable to that of later merchant ships. Reducing the travel time from San Francisco to Guangzhou to approximately 20-30 days was entirely feasible.

With Azu's mechanical skills, once the machinery factory is built, there will be no problem in directly starting to build propeller-driven iron-hulled steamships.

At this point, Azu pondered for a moment, then said, "This time, our own ships will be sailing the Eastern route to bring back the ashes of the three Chinese laborers who sacrificed their lives during the gold rush, along with the gold they deserved, to their families." Vic nodded, "Okay, I'll arrange this personally."

"Remember to find two absolutely reliable people. If you weren't so busy, I would have preferred that you, Captain, make the trip yourself."

Vic replied with great confidence, "Don't worry, the person I found will definitely be able to deliver the ashes and gold to their family."

“And another thing!” Azu continued, “When our ship arrived in China, the condition for recruiting Chinese laborers was that the ship tickets would be waived.”

"Free ferry tickets?" Vic was surprised again!
Ah Zu calmly replied, "Yes, free of charge! Once the Chinese laborers arrive in San Francisco, they will not only be provided with food and lodging, but they will also only need to work for us for two years before regaining their freedom to leave or stay as they see fit."

Vic swallowed hard: "We pay Chinese workers such high salaries, who would want to leave after working for a year or two?"

“That’s exactly right!” Azu replied with a smile. “We want to attract a large number of Chinese laborers with the most favorable conditions. Only we Chinese can completely solve the problem of labor shortage on this continent.”

"Okay, I understand. Boss, is there anything else you need to tell me?"

Azu thought for a moment and said, "No rush, wait for me a while. I'll write a few letters and send our ships to the East together."

Ah Zu went to the study, carefully recalled the addresses of the recipients, and then picked up his pen to start writing.

The address for the first letter was Zuojiaduan, Xiangyin County, Hunan Province.

The address for the second letter was Nabang Village, Guixian County, Guangxi.

The address for the third letter was Nanchang, Jiangxi Province.

The fourth letter was addressed to Commodore Matthew Perry, commander of the U.S. East India Squadron.

In his letter to Brigadier General Perry, Azu, in his capacity as the owner of Huamei Industrial Company, fondly recalled his time fighting alongside Lieutenant Klein Perry and expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Brigadier General for his escorting of commercial routes and merchant ships in the Far East.

After writing the four letters, Azu handed them to Vic.

Ah Zu said solemnly, "Captain, these four letters are of great importance. You must entrust a reliable Chinese merchant to deliver them to the recipients."

"I understand!" Hearing Azu's serious tone, Vic carefully put the letter away.

Azu continued, "Send the letter to Brigadier General Perry to Lieutenant Klein Perry of the Naval Fortress Garrison to see first."

"Just tell them that our merchant ship is about to head east, and ask Lieutenant Klein if he needs a letter from home to take home as well."

“Okay… but what’s the point of doing this?” Vic asked, puzzled.

Azu smiled and said, "First, we can do Lieutenant Klein a favor; second, we can prove to the Brigadier General that we have a good relationship with his son; and third, if anything happens in the Far East in the future, the Brigadier General might be able to help us."

“Understood!” Vic exclaimed. “Boss, you really don’t miss any opportunity, no matter how small.”

After seeing Vic off, it was already past 2 a.m., and I could finally hold my little foreign girl and go to sleep.

"Knock knock knock!" Just as I fell asleep, someone knocked on the door again.

"Who is it?" Azu asked again, sounding annoyed.

"I, Edgar Allan Poe! Boss, something big has happened again!"

"What's so important in the middle of the night?"

"I just received news that Major Daniel Cameron has been assassinated!"

"What……?"

Azu opened the door and looked at Edgar Allan Poe in astonishment: "When did this happen? Who did it? Are they dead or not?"

"The night before last, in the Northern California Rangers' camp, Daniel Cameron was assassinated by Quentin the Ripper and other gangsters from the Skinners!"

"Daniel Cameron was shot three times and is seriously injured. It is currently unknown whether he will survive."

"This Quentin is a ruthless character! He even dared to assassinate our Major Daniel in the military camp!"

"Is the information reliable?" Azu asked to confirm.

"It should be reliable! I had our reporter keep an eye on the Ranger camp, and he personally heard the gunshots and the bodies being carried out."

Ah Zu pondered for a moment, then couldn't help but sigh, "I never expected that this leader of the Skinning Gang would do us such a big favor at such a crucial moment."

"Help us?" Edgar Allan Poe stared at Azu with a strange look. "Boss, isn't this a trap you set up all along?"

"Back then, we wore Ranger uniforms just to sow discord between Major Daniel and the gang!" Azu spread his hands: "Who would have thought that the big boss we let go would be so ruthless, actually taking down Major Daniel right here in the military camp!"

"How's Quentin? Is he dead?"

“Of course they’re dead!” Edgar Allan Poe nodded. “All the bandits who tried to assassinate Major Daniel were riddled with bullets by the Rangers.”

Azu added, "Major Daniel is seriously injured, which gives us ample time to completely take control of the entire San Francisco."

"However, we must also be on guard!"

Edgar Allan Poe asked curiously, "What are you guarding against?"

Instead of answering, Ah Zu changed the subject: "Speaking of which, how's the election going? Are there any unexpected events?"

“No problem!” Edgar Allan Poe replied. “There’s only one problem.”

"what is the problem?"

Edgar Allan Poe continued: “There is a veteran councilor, Mr. de Sandis, who is Spanish, who is now vying with us for the mayoral position.”

"Is this Mr. De Sandis very prestigious and well-known?"

“De Sandis is an old stubborn man who almost never gets involved in the power struggles within his family. Instead, he frequently does charity work, speaks up for ordinary people in parliament, and is highly regarded among the poor.”

Edgar Allan Poe replied, “Now, high society is almost dead, and this De Sandis has become the most prestigious political figure.”

“Although we have been making a show of force through newspapers and churches, our foundation is too shallow. If we don’t come up with a solution, something unexpected might happen.”

(End of this chapter)