1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 161 Hope and the Water Race

The route of the water racing competition is a waterway less than 8 miles from the San Francisco Pier to the small town of Berkeley.

Since 1850, several villages have formed around Jinshan Bay, and Berkeley is one of them.

Berkeley is a small village located northeast of San Francisco, across the bay from San Francisco.

Today, the small pier in the village of Berkeley will be the finish line for the Water Race.

The Sacramento was at the helm of Vanderbilt himself, while the Hope was at the helm of World Line's Sven.

Sven was very excited to be able to have a fast and furious contest with the famous "commodore".

Major Elvis of the California Infantry Regiment on the port of San Francisco saw that everyone had boarded the ship, pulled out the revolver on his waist and fired a shot into the sky.

This is the signal to start the game.

For the sake of fairness, the two steamships participating in the race were only equipped with three firemen. After the sound of gunfire, the firemen skillfully shoveled coal from the coal pile and fed it into the furnace.

With piercing whistles, the two steamships slowly accelerated and headed towards the village of Berkeley in the east.

Nozomi is 30 meters long and 8 meters wide.

The bow is relatively low, and above the low bow is a thin layer of sunshade, and the wheelhouse is just below the sunshade.

In the middle of the ship, there are a pair of Minglun wings tightly covered by an arched wooden box. Above the wooden box is a clanging walking beam, which transmits power from the piston.

The middle part is the most critical part of the ship. The chimney, copper boiler, red-hot boiler furnace firebox, and piles of coal are all located amidships.

The stern is the cabin, kitchen, dining room and rest.

Of course, this is the passenger ship version of Nozomi Nozomi. If it is the Nozomi Nozomi cargo ship version, the cabin at the stern will become a cargo hold.

The method of turning a passenger ship into a cargo ship is also very simple, just remove all the seats and beds in the cabin.

At the beginning of the design, Liang Yao took into account the versatility of Hope, so that it can be easily converted between passenger ships and cargo ships.

After all, if the shipyard wants to operate in the long run, it must launch products that are popular in the market and make profits as soon as possible.

Always relying on mining companies for blood transfusions is not a long-term solution.

In the future, many villages, small towns, and even cities like Berkeley will form around Jinshan Bay, and the population will also be distributed along Jinshan Bay. Shipping will become one of the main modes of transportation to communicate with the settlements around Jinshan Bay.

A small, fast paddle steamer like the Hope would be useful.

Liang Yaoduan sat in the cab of Hope, watching the gentle hands holding the steering wheel tightly.

Although Sven is a good sailor in global shipping, but today's opponent is the famous Commodore, he dare not slack off at all.

"More coal! Damn it! The Sacramento is going to overtake us!"

Sven urged the stoker.

The Sacramento turned on its full horsepower and rushed forward vigorously. The paddle wings on both sides of the ship beat the water surface, splashing waves of spray, and the chimney in the middle of the ship kept billowing thick smoke.

Those old buddies from Vanderbilt, Theodore and Jeremiah, and others yelled provocatively at the people on the Hope from the stern of the Sacramento.

Sacramento passed Hope for the lead.

Liang Yao could be sure that it was the first time for Vanderbilt to walk this waterway, but he seemed to be more familiar with this waterway than Sven, who had been through it several times.

This is nothing unusual, the old captain has personally explored many valuable commercial routes by sailing.

The inland waterway in Nicaragua was explored by himself when he personally drove an inland waterway ship through the smoky tropical rainforest.

Immigrants who made it to California alive from the eastern United States owe Vanderbilt a debt of gratitude.

Vanderbilt almost single-handedly shortened the voyage from the eastern United States to California from the original seven or eight months to the current two or three months.

If there is no Nicaragua route, there are only two routes for immigrants from the east to reach California, either across the entire North American continent, or take a boat around Cape Horn in South America, which takes seven or eight months. Time sails to San Francisco.

Vanderbilt provided a more efficient and faster route for these immigrants.

The pioneering spirit and strong enterprising spirit of the first generation of American industrialists in the 19th century laid a solid foundation for the rise of the United States in the 20th century.

They monopolized wealth, causing a huge gap between the rich and the poor in the United States, but they also created wealth, created new industries and jobs, and turned the United States from a backward agricultural country into a powerful industrial country.

For this alone, these first-generation industrialists in the United States are much stronger than some rich people who even want to grab the business of small stalls and hawkers.

Although they are all capitalists, the pattern of capitalists is also divided into high and low.

"Today Hope is the protagonist of this game, don't add coal to the furnace."

Vanderbilt looked at the looming small pier in Berkeley Village not far away and the sparse farmhouses scattered in the Jinshan Bay area, and ordered the fireman to stop adding coal to the fire chamber of the boiler furnace.

He's had enough of sailing.

He is not an unreasonable person, only in front of people he hates, he seems to be haggard and refuses to give in.

And Liang Yao was not the kind of person he hated.

Vanderbilt also understood the significance of the Hope to Californians, and he didn't need to pour cold water on the Californians who were getting excited.

"Your decision is very wise." Theodore said, looking at the crowd waiting at the terminal. "Sometimes winning or losing is very important, sometimes not so important."

Jeremiah, a shipbuilding expert, poked his head out of the cockpit window, looked at the Hope that was tightly stuck behind the Sacramento, and said with emotion.

"It is already very remarkable that a steamship with such superior performance can be built in less than a year."

Theodore also deeply agrees that the Sacramento uses the most advanced technology five years ago, and it is very rare for the San Francisco Shipyard, which started from scratch, to have such a performance in racing competitions.

Due to Vanderbilt's release of water, the Hope finally surpassed the Sacramento in the last half mile of the voyage, arrived at the finish line, and "nearly defeated" the Sacramento.

Sven, who won the water race, was not happy. He was a little angry and felt insulted.

As an old sailor, Sven knew very well that Vanderbilt deliberately let him win.

Liang Yao stepped off the Hope amidst the cheers of the crowd.

He was very satisfied with the performance of the Nozomi, and with a big wave of his hand, he gave a bonus of US$5000 to the shipbuilding experts, engineers and shipbuilders who participated in the design, development and manufacture of the Nozomi.

Even if they lose this water racing competition, Liang Yao will still give the bonus, which is what they deserve.

Whether he wins or loses, Hope has met his psychological expectations.

(End of this chapter)