1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 179 Texas
"You two disgusting things should be sent to the gallows and hanged."

Nathan only felt that this scene was a bit dirty to his eyes. The West in this era is far less tolerant of homosexuality than later generations.

"It's quite lively."

Harvey noticed movement in the grass behind the two black slaves, pointed his rifle at the grass, and shouted.

"Don't hide, I know there are still people in the grass, if you don't come out, I will shoot!"

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

Another black figure emerged from the grass and shouted loudly.

"I am a servant of the Firestone family."

Harvey put away his gun and frowned at the disheveled female black slave: "It is your indiscreet behavior that makes many newborn black slaves not know who their father is."

"move."

Zoe's wheat-colored face turned red, urging Harvey and Nathan.

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The fleet of Liang Yao and Vanderbilt arrived in Port La Porte, Texas, under the escort of the American Navy.

Port La Porte is the closest port to Houston, twenty miles southeast of Houston.

Governor Bell of Texas warmly welcomed Liang Yao in Port La Porte, and took Liang Yao to Houston, 20 miles away.

It is inconceivable that a slave state would welcome a representative of a free state with such grandeur against the backdrop of bitterness between the North and the South.

On both sides of the road to Houston, there are endless cotton fields, and among these cotton fields, there are tobacco plantations and sugar cane plantations.

Cotton, tobacco, and sugar cane are the economic pillars of Texas, as well as the economic pillars of the entire South of the United States.

Especially cotton, it is no exaggeration to say that cotton is the lifeblood of the economy of the southern states of the United States.

The black slaves were bent over and working in these plantations under the scorching sun. Liang Yao noticed that some black slaves were wearing shackles on their feet, which were put on by the plantation owners to prevent their private property from escaping.

Although the 1850 Compromise has been in place for a year, the compromise bill has in some ways recognized the legality of slavery in the South.

However, the restless factory owners and freedom fighters in the north still did not give up on "rescuing" the black slaves in dire straits from the hands of the plantation owners in the south. The problem of escaped slaves has not been alleviated, but has become more and more serious. serious.

Several Texas Rangers came from the north and passed Liang Yao. They held the rope tightly in their hands, but the rope in their hands was not the bridle of the mount, but the flax rope that bound the fugitive slave. .

"Almost every day there are restless black slaves trying to escape to the north."

Bell glanced at these runaway slaves with drooping heads and dejected heads, and said with a frown.

"There were also a few black slaves on my plantation who tried to escape, but they were all caught and repaired severely by me.

Those crooked Yankees are the most insidious and cunning, one thing on the outside and another behind the back.

On the surface, we admit that black slaves are our legal property, but we still secretly send people to the south to persuade the black slaves in the south to flee to the north. This is not only true in Texas, but also in states such as Georgia and South Carolina. Restless Northerners operate in these states. "

Although Bell is the governor of a state in Texas, from the perspective of his appearance, Bell is not a talkative person. His appearance is more fierce, and he belongs to the kind that doesn't look like a good person.

Bell suddenly remembered that Vanderbilt was also a northerner, so he said apologetically, "Mr. Vanderbilt, I don't intend to offend you. Although you are also a northerner, you are a very peaceful northerner. You are from Texas. The door is always open for you."

"Mr. Bell, I'm afraid you want to open the door to investment in Texas for me, and I have to think about it." Vanderbilt complained to Bell.

"The cotton market is getting more and more sluggish. Last year, the two cotton gins I opened in Texas have not been profitable. The price of workers in Texas is more expensive than workers in New York."

Last year, Vanderbilt's investment in Texas failed very badly. His investment in Texas was not so much an investment as an attempt to maintain friendship with Texas dignitaries.

Because his shipping empire needs a long-term and reliable harbor in Texas.

"Cotton is white gold."

Liang Yao looked at the endless cotton fields. In addition to the black slaves working in the cotton fields, there were also many white people working in the cotton fields, which showed the shortage of labor force in Texas.

Black slaves are very expensive. It's not that Liang Yao specifically inquired about it, but at the slave market in Laporte, Wu Yuanhua and others wanted to buy some black slaves to take care of the home, and asked the slave trader about the price of black slaves.

The price of $1800 for an adult male black slave made these wealthy businessmen discouraged.

This is only the price of ordinary adult male black slaves. As for those strong perennial male black slaves, the price will only be more expensive.

Fortunately, Wu Yuanhua and the others didn't buy black slaves but just asked. If they bought them and brought them back to California, they might face prison.

California is a free state, and the laws of California have already prohibited the private keeping of black slaves, and private black slaves will face prison.

In the middle of the 19th century, the monthly salary of ordinary workers in northern America was between 6 and 9 US dollars. The price of 1800 US dollars for an adult male black slave was indeed astronomical.

Only large plantation owners can afford black slaves. As for those small plantation owners, it would be good if they can have one or two black slaves. Many jobs on the plantation should be done by themselves.

The industry in Texas is indeed very backward. Except for some sporadic cotton gins, sugar factories, and cigarette factories, there are no other factories. Many industrial products in Texas need to be imported from outside.

The industrial products in Texas mainly come from the United Kingdom, France, followed by the manufactured products from the United States.

American-made industrial products are not popular in Texas.

Except that the Texans brought their hatred of the Yankees to their products, compared with the industrial products of Britain and France, the industrial products of the north are indeed industrial garbage, and there is nothing compared with the high-quality and cheap industrial products of Britain and France. attraction.

Although Congress and the federal government raised tariffs and raised the prices of industrial products imported from Europe, the prices of American industrial products were not much lower.But in terms of quality, compared with the industrial products of Britain and France, it is not a little bit worse.

Therefore, Texans are still willing to pay a little more to buy imported industrial products from Britain and France.

Not only in Texas and the southern states, but also in the North, where the Yankees didn't like the industrial products they produced.

"It may have been white gold in the past, but it is no longer the case. Although the cotton in Texas and even the entire United States is of good quality, it is not at all competitive with cotton in India."

Mentioning cotton, Bell put on a scowl.

"India has endless cheap labor, and Texas only has expensive black slaves, and these black slaves are becoming more and more restless, and there is also the issue of tariffs. In the face of high tariffs, it is becoming more and more difficult for Texas cotton to export."

Growing cotton requires a lot of labor, and the population of the United States is mainly concentrated in the north, or more accurately, the free states in the northeast.

Although the population density of the southern slave-holding states is higher than that of the western wilderness, as far as the entire south is concerned, even if the black slaves are counted, the population and labor force of the southern slave-holding states cannot be said to be abundant.

When the Civil War broke out, the population of the South accounted for only 39% of the population of the United States, and the number was only 900 million. However, the South squeezed out 900 million troops with a population base of 110 million.

This is still the population of the South ten years later, and the population of the South at this time will only be smaller.

As for the tariff issue, since the founding of the United States, it has been the focus of conflict between the North and the South.

The domestic industrial production capacity and market in the United States cannot digest the huge amount of cotton in the south. In fact, the cotton in the south of the United States is not grown for the United States itself.

Cotton in the southern part of the United States is mainly exported as raw materials to European countries, mainly the United Kingdom. The lower the tariff, the better for the south.

It is Congress that enacts U.S. tariffs. In recent years, the influence of the South in Congress has become smaller and smaller. On the important issue of tariff formulation, the South has far less say than the North.

In addition, in the middle of the 19th century, Britain's rule over the British Indian colony was quite stable, and it was able to obtain a large amount of cheap raw materials from India, including cotton.

Cotton from the American South was no longer as attractive to Britain as it had been before.

"Simply exporting cotton as a raw material is of course not profitable. If the cotton in Texas is spun into cloth or even made into clothes, I think the profit must be very high." Liang Yao said.

As soon as Liang Yao's words came out, Bell couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in Liang Yao.

In his impression, the speaker of the state assembly in California is not an ordinary person, how could he say such unrealistic words?
Texas doesn't even have enough manpower to grow cotton, and there is not enough labor to spin cotton into cotton spindles and cotton cloth. As for making ready-made clothes, it's a joke. Everyone's body is different, and pre-made ready-made clothes are hard to sell.Who wants to pay for clothes that don't fit?

Making clothes not only requires a large number of skilled tailors, but also takes time and effort to sew clothes. A skilled tailor can't make a few sets of clothes every month.

Xia Chong is beyond words, Bell is still a big planter after all, and his vision and vision are limited after all.

It can also be said that Liang Yao's ideas were too far ahead. Before the emergence of mature and efficient sewing machines, no matter in the East or the West, sewing clothes was done by inefficient handwork, and tailors were also craftsmen.

"Your idea is bold, but unrealistic."

Bell shook his head in disappointment.

"California will buy cotton, sugar, and tobacco from Texas in the next five years. Is the idea realistic enough?" Liang Yao said slowly.

Importing cotton, sugar, and tobacco from Texas had been discussed in the state legislature before he set off.

The arable land in California will be prioritized for the cultivation of food crops such as rice and wheat.

The population of California is growing very fast, and more and more immigrants are flocking to California. The food problem will plague California for a long time.

But California's demand for cash crops continued unabated. Textile mills needed cotton, people needed sugar to adjust food, and tobacco was a necessity for the majority of miners.

In order to solve this problem, it is undoubtedly a good choice to import cash crops from Texas.

California and Texas can not only get what they need, but also deepen the connection and friendship between the two states.

The more trade there is between the two states, the more support there will be for a railroad proposal between California and Texas, at least in Texas there will be little opposition.

"California buys cotton, sugar, and tobacco from Texas?"

Bell's eyes lit up, and he rubbed his hands excitedly.

"California doesn't have to pay tariffs to buy goods from Texas. As long as you can provide high-quality and low-cost goods, why not?" Liang Yao said.

"Thank you so much, you are really the savior of Texas." Bell said gratefully, "I don't know how much cotton California imports from Texas every year?"

"Let's talk about it when we get to Houston." Liang Yao said lightly, "I prefer to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Texas on horseback, rather than talking about these trivial matters."

"That's natural, you have traveled all the way to Texas, I think you must be exhausted, please go to my manor to have a good rest tonight, I will entertain you well.

Tomorrow I will take you to my plantation to see my cotton, those white and big beautiful cotton!My cotton growing skills are the best in Texas. "

Bell said enthusiastically.

The 20-mile road is neither long nor short, and it was already evening when Liang Yao arrived at the largest city in Texas.

Although Houston is the largest city in Texas, in the eyes of Liang Yao and others, this largest city in Texas is not very prosperous.

Houston's population is about the same as San Francisco's, and that's when blacks are counted as people, and Houston's population probably isn't as large as San Francisco's if blacks aren't included.

The streets are potholed, as uneven as the surface of the moon that has been devastated by meteorite impacts.

The construction of the urban area is also chaotic, allowing all kinds of buildings to grow wildly on the land of this city, without order at all.

The most unbearable thing is a wastewater collection pond not far from the Houston City Hall, which is a pond that emits a foul smell.

Surrounding the waste water collection pond are slaughterhouses and tanneries in Houston. Wastewater from slaughterhouses and tanneries without any treatment measures mixed with animal blood and discarded animal viscera is directly discharged into the pond.

What's worse is that it's summer now, and this pond doesn't communicate with the outside water system, which means it's a stagnant pool
"The state legislature in Texas is discussing landfilling this pond, but the slaughterhouses and tanneries on the edge of the pond are opposed to this landfill. This involves their livelihood issues, and it is generally a headache."

When passing by this stinky pool full of maggots and flying mosquitoes, Bell speeded up and said to Liang Yao.

Not a few steps away from the stinky pool is Houston's City Hall.

From the front view, Houston's city hall is quite impressive, and the front of the municipal building has the same marble decoration as the big cities such as New York, Philadelphia and Boston.

But it was also limited to the front. The back of the municipal building was bare and ugly without any decoration.

This may be due to the financial constraints of the Houston city government.

(End of this chapter)