1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 165 Stupid Dummies

Depressed, William decided to smoke away his worries.

He took out a Havana cigar from his shirt pocket, fiddled with the Havana cigar in his hands, cut it open with scissors, lit it, and began to puff.

Vanderbilt was very displeased to see William smoking. He smoked himself, but he did not like to see his children smoking.

Seeing this, William's wife, Maria Kisamu, gave William a quick wink and told him to put out the cigar in her hand. She knew that her father-in-law didn't like to see his children smoking in front of him.

As the head of the Vanderbilt family, Vanderbilt has supreme authority, and Maria is afraid of her father-in-law's authority.

Like his attitude towards Coney, Vanderbilt did not have high hopes for William, thinking that William not only lacked the vigor of his youth, but also was not as smart as other children.

Such a person is obviously not qualified as the future heir of the Vanderbilt family.

However, William has given him a lot of surprises in the past two years. In order to train William, Vanderbilt handed over a 70-acre farm on Staten Island to William and his wife.

When handing over the farm to William, Vanderbilt believed that as long as William didn't bankrupt the farm, everything would be fine.

But William's performance far exceeded Vanderbilt's expectations. This 70-acre farm that was about to close down not only came back to life in William's hands, but William also merged 150 acres of surrounding land, expanding the farm's area to 220 acres. .

William originally thought that his achievements would be enough to make his father admire him, but he didn't expect his father's attitude towards him to be still lukewarm.

Vanderbilt has his own considerations. Although William performed very well at Staten Farm, running the Vanderbilt family business is much more difficult than bringing a farm that is on the verge of bankruptcy back to life.

William is not yet qualified to be the heir of the Vanderbilt family.

Vanderbilt decided to give William, a weak-willed fool, a little humiliation, and a little bit of experience, so to speak.

"Billy (William's nickname), you stupid idiot, I hope you can quit smoking, if you can, I will give you $10 as a reward."

Vanderbilt said to William very seriously.

William was overjoyed when he heard that, he hurriedly snuffed out the Havana cigar in his hand and threw it out of the train window.

What he wanted was not $10, but the affirmation and attention from his father.

Seeing his father writing a check, William said to Vanderbilt very honestly: "Father, you don't have to give me money. Your hope for me is enough to be a reason for me to quit smoking."

Honest William didn't expect that in the next second, he would be humiliated by his father.

"Billy, have you forgotten who your father is? Your father is a cunning profiteer. How can you easily believe the words of a cunning profiteer? You are 30 years old this year, but you are still so immature, here , and here's your $10."

As he spoke, Vanderbilt threw a $10 check in front of William.

Although William had a good temper and was honest, he couldn't resist being teased by his father in front of so many people.

He left the train carriage angrily, and ran to the small terrace at the junction of the two carriages to blow some air to relieve his bad mood.

"Kony, go and spend time with your brother."

Liang Yao said to Kony.

Coney nodded, walked to the balcony where William was, and chatted with William, comforting his honest and straight brother.

"My old man, I think you're going too far with Billy. You shouldn't be teasing your own kid in front of so many people."

Vanderbilt's old neighbor and fellow villager Vanderbilt stood up for William.

Van Dazer watched William grow up, understood William's temperament, and believed that Vanderbilt was too harsh on William.

"Brother, Billy is the eldest son, and he will inherit the family business of the Vanderbilt family in the future. I don't even have the mental capacity to bear it. How can I rest assured that I will hand over the tens of millions of the Vanderbilt family business to him in the future? ?”

Vanderbilt said bluntly.

Although the United States does not have the patriarchal system of China, the laws of most states are biased towards the eldest son in terms of heirs.

Under normal circumstances, the eldest son can inherit more than [-]% of the family property.

Van Dazer didn't say much anymore, he knew that his eloquence in debate was not as good as Vanderbilt's, and he didn't want to make fun of himself.

"The Burgundy you serve is very authentic, where did you get it?"

Vanderbilt took a sip of red wine and said.

"A gift from a French seaside nobleman." Liang Yao said truthfully.

"Speaking of the French seaside aristocrats, I think of what my old friend Texas Governor Bell told me." Vanderbilt said with his hands on his forehead, "Governor Bell's ancestors were also French seaside nobles, and he entrusted me to ask you what California owes Texas. When are you going to give the $500 million? He's a hothead."

"Mr. Vanderbilt, you are joking. Although California is a newly established state, it still has its own finance minister. You should ask the California finance minister about this.

Five million is not a small amount. Even in rich states like New York and Massachusetts, it may be difficult to raise $500 million in a short period of time. "Liang Yao laughed.

Vanderbilt gave Liang Yao a blank look. He knew Liang Yao's position in California. Without Liang Yao's nod and acquiescence, who would dare to be the finance minister of California?

"That's true. It's not a small sum. Then when will you be able to collect 500 million US dollars? I'll give this old friend an explanation when I go back." Vanderbilt asked with concern.

"The money has been raised. Although California is poor, $500 million is still available. Governor Bell has helped California a lot. I plan to personally escort the money to Texas. By the way, I will pay a visit and thank the vegetarian in person. A friend I haven't met." Liang Yao said.

He had plans to head east, and he happened to be able to drop by his friend from Texas.

In the matter of Mexico's land grant, only the representative of the state of Texas stood on the side of California from the beginning to the end, and gave California strong support.

He also has a plan to build a railway. Unlike the Pacific Railway, this railway will start from Los Angeles and lead to Houston, the largest city in Texas. Texas has a large amount of cotton, which can provide a large amount of cheap cotton for his cotton mill. raw materials.

The significance of this railway is not limited to economics, but also has far-reaching political and military significance.

The Pacific Railway leads to the North, and this railroad leads to the South.

From a technical point of view, the railroad from Los Angeles to Houston was less difficult to build than the Pacific Railroad.

Of course, the premise is that there is a small problem that needs to be solved. This small problem is that part of the railway needs to pass through the territory of Mexico.

(End of this chapter)