1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 178 Zoe
"This is my friend, Captain Pablo, the commander of the San Carlos Fortress."

Vanderbilt signaled everyone not to be nervous. After speaking, he approached and chatted enthusiastically with Captain Pablo, like two old friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time.

"Mr. Vanderbilt, I just heard from the nearby villagers that you have come to San Carlos. I came here specially to thank you. Thank you for sending me and my soldiers precious food when our fortress needed it the most. , or I and my soldiers will starve."

Captain Pablo thanked Vanderbilt.

"Where is it, I would also like to thank you for your concern and care for my route, because of you, those criminals dare not harass my fleet." Vanderbilt asked with concern, "There is enough food in the fortress. Do you want to eat? If it’s not enough, I’ll ask someone to bring you some more.”

"Enough to last until next year." Pablo laughed.

"Pablo, go back to your fortress!" Chamorro sternly reprimanded the army captain who left the military fortress rashly.

"Yes, sir!"

The little captain who was reprimanded by Chamorro led his troops back to the San Carlos Fortress after talking with Vanderbilt.

After the gold was loaded, boarded the boat prepared by Vanderbilt, and the group set off again.

Vanderbilt personally piloted and acted as the helmsman of the pilot ship, leading the fleet across Lake Nicaragua, passing through the San Juan River System, and successfully arrived at the destination: the Atlantic port of Nicaragua, Greytown Port.

The journey went very smoothly without any unpleasant incidents.

The enthusiasm of the local officials in Nicaragua was beyond Liang Yao's expectations.

Liang Yao also understood why Vanderbilt's words in these Central American countries were more effective than those of the White House.

Local officials have a good relationship with Vanderbilt not just because Vanderbilt has deep pockets, and investments in Nicaragua provide tax revenue and employment for the authorities.

It is also because of Vanderbilt's unique personality charm.

Going up to the officials and politicians of various factions in the capital of Nicaragua, down to the village chiefs and small military officers in the villages passing by the route, Vanderbilt was not only able to accurately call their names, but also clearly remembered the difficulties of these little people, and tried his best to help them They help as much as they can.

He also doesn't have any airs and sense of superiority of a wealthy businessman from a big country, and the locals get along very happily with Vanderbilt.

As soon as the ship sailed out of the port of Greytown, Liang Yao saw the American Navy warship flying the Stars and Stripes.

The American naval warships are waiting for them in the port of Greytown.

There are a total of twelve warships in this fleet, seven of which are steam warships, and the rest are traditional sail warships.

The displacement of warships ranges from small frigates of seven or eight hundred tons to cruisers of about two thousand tons.

Such a big battle shows that Fillmore attaches great importance to this batch of gold.

Vanderbilt prepared four large steamships in the port of Greytown, all with a displacement of more than 1500 tons.

The ships they originally took were used for navigating in shallow inland rivers and were not suitable for long-distance voyages across the ocean. Therefore, they unloaded the gold from the small boats again at the port of Greytown and moved them to the big ships.

Not only gold, but all personnel and materials transported from the eastern United States to California also have to go through several transfers, which is very troublesome.

But this is already the fastest way of transportation between the east and west of the United States at this time, and it is also the reason why the United States, which is a little farsighted, advocates building a Pacific Railway across the North American continent.

The traffic between the east and west of the United States has to pass through other countries, which is really inconvenient.

After the gold was reloaded and the ship sailed into the Atlantic Ocean, the rest of the voyage was to sail north directly along the coastline to Houston to deliver $500 million worth of gold to the Texas government.

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It was a fine afternoon in late June, 1851.

The Texas sun is as hot as ever.

Delicate ladies will not choose to travel outdoors in this kind of weather. They would rather go out on a rainy day than on a sunny day.

Because the scorching sun in Texas will not only burn their delicate skin, but also darken their fair skin.

Therefore, whether it is on the streets of Houston or the plantations in the suburbs, it is difficult to see white ladies.

Even if there is an urgent matter and you have to travel on a sunny day, the noble ladies and ladies in Texas can only wear hats, veils, sleeves, gloves, and wrap themselves in long skirts if they take adequate sun protection measures. The legs are completely covered, making sure that no part of the village is willing to reluctantly step out into the sun after being exposed to the sun.

The white ladies and noble ladies couldn't see it, but they could see many female black slaves working in the plantation and female black servants who went out to purchase supplies for their masters.

Because they are already dark enough, there is no need to worry about the harsh sunlight making them darker.

These black slaves were more afraid of the whips and clubs in the hands of their masters than the harsh sunshine of Texas.

This is something more poisonous than the poisonous sunshine.

I heard that the laws of the northern free states do not allow black slaves to be owned privately. These northern free states treat blacks well. As long as blacks arrive in the northern free states, they can obtain the status of free citizens and work in factories freely.

This is very attractive to many black slaves in the south. Under the bewitching of the Yankees, many black slaves are full of fantasies about the north and want to go to the north and work in northern factories to make money.

After the introduction of the Compromise Act in 1850, there were far fewer white factory owners and whites from the north to the south than before, which also disappointed the blacks in the south.

However, there were still many black people who took the risk and tried to escape to the north in vain. However, these fugitive slaves were basically captured and only a few lucky ones managed to escape to the north.

As for the life of these black guys who fled to the north, they don't know, because the black slaves in the south can't hear from them.

But I heard from the white people in the north that those blacks who went to the north became free citizens, and their life was as good as that of the white people.

Even the black slaves felt that this news was exaggerated after hearing it, but they were willing to believe it was true.

The fugitive slaves who fail to escape and are captured will not die, because black slaves are becoming more and more expensive now, and they are the expensive private property of their masters. The masters will not be willing to beat them to death, but they will definitely not escape after a severe beating .

Governor Bell's daughter, Miss Zoe, is a well-known strange beauty in all places in Texas. This Miss Zoe is different from other ladies and ladies.

Not only did she go out in the hot sun in the scorching early summer, but she didn't even wear sun protection items such as hats, veils, and sleeves to protect her skin. Therefore, her skin had already been tanned by the sun and was no longer fair.

The noble ladies and ladies circle in Texas often ridiculed Zoe's tanned skin in private, saying that if she continued to tan like this, Miss Zoe would soon become as dark as a black man.

Of course, these noble ladies and noble ladies only dared to talk about their mouth addiction in private, and absolutely did not dare to break their mouths in front of Miss Zoe and her father.

Because the tempers of the father and daughter are notoriously hot in Texas, if the father and daughter find out, they will come to greet them with rifles.

It's not so much that the noble ladies and ladies from Texas laughed at Zoe's skin color, but rather that Zoe didn't fit in with these noble ladies and ladies.

Compared with gatherings among Texas nobles, Miss Zoe prefers to hunt around with the nobles in Texas carrying rifles, which also caused Mr. Bell a headache.

He often lamented how great it would be if Zoe were a boy. If Zoe were a boy, he could send Zoe to the military academy and join the army after graduating from the military academy.

Although Zoe is a strange woman in the circle of Texas aristocratic women, this does not affect Zoe's charm at all.

Harvey and Nathan, the sons-in-law of the two California senators, were deeply fascinated by Zoe, they surrounded Zoe all day long, and they didn't even bother to study in college.

After hearing the news that Liang Yao was about to arrive in Houston, Bell rushed from Austin to Houston, preparing to receive $500 million worth of gold from California.

Like California, the capital of Texas is not Houston, the largest city on the coast, but Austin in the inland area. During the Lone Star Republic, Austin was the capital of the Lone Star Republic.

After Texas joined the big family of the United States, the lone star became a star on the Stars and Stripes, but Austin's status in Texas has not changed at all, and the capital of Texas is still in Austin.

It just changed from the capital of a country to the capital of a state.

Bell is a well-known large plantation owner in the Texas area. He started working hard in Texas during the Mexican government period and accumulated a large family business.

Not only does he have plantations and private estates in Austin, he also owns large tracts of land in Houston and even Antonio.

Bell is going to Houston, and Zooey is clamoring to go to Houston with Bell. One is because she has stayed in Austin for a long time and feels a little boring, but because she heard that the guy who wiped out half of Colonel Mason's regiment Colonel California also came to Texas.

She has seen a lot of news about this California colonel in the newspapers, including politics, business, and military leadership. There are all kinds of news about this colonel. This colonel is almost omnipotent. Let Zuo Yiqin was very envious.

More importantly, unlike other colonels in the United States who are in their 20s and [-]s and who are about the same age as his father, this California colonel is only in his early [-]s this year. This is the youngest colonel in the history of the United States.

"Zoe, what are you thinking? Why are you absent-minded all the way?"

Nathan rode close to Zooey and said with concern.

"We finally had the opportunity to travel to Houston this time. This is something to be happy about. We should be happier."

"Zoe, look, there are prey in the grass!"

Nathan noticed movement in the grass not far away, and there were rustling sounds from the grass that was half the height of a person.

"The movement is not small, it must be the big prey!"

With that said, Nathan picked up the rifle on the horse and fired a shot into the grass.

Immediately after the gunshot, two black figures jumped up from the grass.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot! It's us, it's us! We are the servants of Mr. Dale's family!"

"Come out! What are you two black [ghosts] doing sneaking around there?"

Seeing that the one in the grass was not a prey, Nathan felt very disappointed in not being able to show his masculinity well in front of Zoe, and cursed the two black slaves.

"Nathan, your marksmanship is really stinky. It seems that you didn't hit anything with this shot!" Harvey laughed at Nathan, "If it was me that shot just now, I would definitely be able to hit it!"

Two black male slaves came out from the grass naked, with two dejected black mambas drooping under their bodies, one of which was spitting unfinished white saliva on the ground.

　I am not good at mathematics. The question of the weight of gold in Chapter 173 is indeed my calculation. Thank you for correcting me. It has been corrected.

　　Let me mention the issue of currency and exchange rate. During this period, the gold content of 1 US dollar is 1.50643g, the gold content of 1 British pound is 7.32227g, and the gold content of 1 franc is 0.29032g. The gold here refers to pure gold. It is pure gold.

　　The exchange rate between currencies is calculated according to the gold content. In fact, the exchange rate was calculated in this way at that time. Of course, this refers to precious metal coins, the credit currency of the 19th century.
　　Then there is the exchange rate of the silver standard countries (Qing Dynasty, Japan, Spain). From 1850 to 1872, the gold-silver ratio was between 15 and 16. Silver became less and less valuable. Subsequent silver transactions also follow this gold standard. Silver is priced.

　　最后提一下盎司的问题，盎司分金衡盎司（1金衡盎司=31.1034807克）和常衡盎司（1常衡盎司=28.350克），文中的黄金按金衡盎司，也就是1盎司=31.1034807算。

　　In addition to these ounces, there are pharmaceutical ounces (the same weight as troy ounces) and fluid ounces for drugs. The measurement of fluid ounces in the British system and the US system is also different, and there are some discrepancies.

　　thanks for your support!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)