1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 241 Oil
It was mid-January 1852 when Liang Yao returned to San Francisco.

The route was the same as the route to the eastern part of the United States. When returning, Liang Yao still took the Nicaragua route.

In addition to the necessary materials such as necessary factory machines, machine tools, and books, the bulk of the cargo and ships accompanying the fleet still had to go around Cape Horn in South America to reach California.

Of course, the accompanying personnel, whether it was the talents and skilled workers that Liang Yao recruited in the east, or the Arizona infantry regiment, and other soldiers followed Liang Yao back to California by taking the Nicaragua route.

"Second nephew, a letter from home."

Back in Tingtao Garden, Liang Shaoyu handed Liang Yao a letter from the Liang family.

Liang Yao opened the letter, it was a letter from his grandfather Liang Weiming.

Liang Weiming promised to send his mother to Jinshan, that is, St. Francis. In the letter, Liang Weiming also expressed his miss for him, and hoped that Liang Yao could return to Xiangshan to visit his old man when he had time.

When he was on an expedition to Japan, he would stop by to go back to Guangdong, but he would not go back specifically for Mr. Liang. He had no interest in participating in the messy affairs of the Liangjiahe Qing Dynasty, unless he could make money.

"Third brother, the population of Jinshan has already exceeded [-], and Saskatchewan is now a big city with a population of nearly [-]. As for my lump in Los Angeles, the population has not exceeded [-] so far. Should you consider adding more to Los Angeles? Immigration?" Deng Wenshun complained to Liang Yao.

"Next month, the railway from Jinshan to Los Angeles will be opened to traffic. At that time, you still worry that Los Angeles will not be able to attract people?" Liang Yao laughed.

It has been nearly a year since the construction of the railway between San Francisco and Los Angeles started. Since the two directions of San Francisco and Los Angeles were started at the same time, and finally converged in the Central Valley for docking, the progress of the project was relatively fast and the construction period was shortened a lot.

The coastal area of ​​California is the coastal mountains, and the terrain is relatively complicated. Before the railway was built, Liang Yao did not consider this railway, but chose to go directly to the Central Valley.

Liang Yao's goal is to turn the Central Valley into a granary for California and even the entire West Coast. There is a railway line that runs directly across the Central Valley, and the subsequent construction of the Central Valley can also benefit from it.

The California high-speed rail that connects San Francisco to Los Angeles in later generations also took this route. The difference is that the project of the later California high-speed rail was approved in 2008, construction began in 2015, and it took a full 2019 years to complete the construction in 11. .

And in the end, the construction mileage of the California high-speed rail was shortened from 826.8 kilometers to 191 kilometers.

This is the advantage of not needing to expropriate land and centralize power, and it is highly efficient.

In 1851, most of the land in California was unclaimed land. Liang Yao didn't have to worry about land acquisition when he built the railway, as long as the route was determined, he could start construction.

As for the state legislature, it only needs to hold a meeting and go through the motions. No one dares to create trouble with him.

Of course, another advantage of not having to acquire land is that the cost of building the railway is also much lower. The average cost per kilometer of the 840-kilometer railway from San Francisco to Los Angeles is 21000 U.S. dollars, including the construction along the railway line. The cost of laying telegraph lines.

The construction cost of a railway of the same specification in the eastern region is at least [-] U.S. dollars per kilometer.

This is why Vanderbilt and Liang Yao stepped in to disrupt the situation, forcing the original railway company to abandon the use of old-fashioned rails, which would cause the railway industry to cry.

However, the cost of the California railway still made Liang Yao feel a little pain. It cost 1764 million US dollars before the cost of the locomotive. The railway is really a gold-swallowing behemoth.

But fortunately, the California Railway Company is currently wholly owned by him, and as long as he sells [-]% to [-]% of the shares, he can get his blood back.

The Umbrella Company’s gold rush in Australia went smoothly, and some gold can be recovered later, and the gold mining situation in Nevada is also very optimistic.

He doesn't have to worry about cash flow for the time being, and he can still do it without his shoulders.

"There is no gold in Los Angeles. Who wants to come to Los Angeles?" Deng Wenshun muttered, "Just open up wasteland and farm land. There are a lot of vacant land around Jinshan Bay and the Central Valley. Who wants to come to Los Angeles where birds don't shit?"

Deng Wenshun's complaint is not unreasonable. The most fundamental reason why the population of Los Angeles has been unable to increase is that Los Angeles has no local advantageous industries and cannot attract enough people.

"Even if you don't give people, let the American Group set up a few more factories in Los Angeles. Several coal mines have been discovered near Los Angeles. It is also close to transporting iron ore from Mexico to Los Angeles. It is very suitable for opening steel factories. This year, I and Los Angeles The local gentry pooled some money to open a small steel factory, and they could earn some pocket money." Deng Wenshun added.

"You have a lot of brain power. I know that I have raised funds to set up a factory. If I need money, I can find a bank loan. If I want to set up a factory, it is easy to get some money from the Bank of America with your reputation." Liang Yao sat down. Then leisurely said.

"No one's factory can't be big." Deng Wenshun complained.

"This kid is short-sighted, isn't he? He asked me to ask someone in a different way. I spent more than 1700 million US dollars to build the railway from Jinshan to Los Angeles. If I don't like Los Angeles, I will be willing to spend money to repair the railway. To Los Angeles? Do I seem to be someone who can do business at a loss?" Liang Yao gave Deng Wenshun a white look.

"No, you are better than those ghosts who do business." Deng Wenshun admitted this truthfully.

"That's the end of it. The oil I asked you to find in Los Angeles is black, sticky, and smells weird. Did you find it?" Liang Yao asked.

There is no gold mine in Los Angeles, but there is oil, and oil is the foundation for the future development of Los Angeles.

"I found it." Deng Wenshun waved his hand, signaling his followers to bring up a wooden wine barrel, and then said.

"When I was digging a well in the backyard of my house, the well water didn't reach, and this black oily water sprayed out. It has been sprayed for several days. This thing is good for lighting fires. Now whale oil is getting harder and harder. Buy, the lights on the streets of Los Angeles are lit with this thing.

It's just that this thing burns with a lot of smoke and a strong smell, and it's not clean after burning. I often have to take off the street lamp to wash it. "

"Can you use crude oil to light the lamp and smoke it?" Liang Yao stepped forward curiously and asked someone to open the wine barrel.

It is not that oil cannot be used to light lamps, but kerosene must be purified to make lamps work well.

Crude oil not only smells bad when it burns, but also leaves a lot of impurities after burning. Naturally, it is not so easy to use crude oil to light a lamp.

After the barrel was opened, the wooden barrel was full of a dark brown oily sticky substance, and a pungent smell penetrated into Liang Yao's mouth and nose, and it was this thing.

Liang Yao's eyes were fixed on the oil in the wine barrel. The surface of the oil was like the surface of water, reflecting Liang Yao's silly smile.

"Third brother, what are you laughing at? Isn't it just oil that can light a lamp? I have never seen you so happy when you discovered gold." Deng Wenshun didn't know why.

"This stuff is liquid gold, but big baby, as long as you have it, the population of Los Angeles will catch up with Saskatchewan in less than three to five years, comparable to Jinshan." Liang Yao said with a smile, "This stuff Not only can L.A. grow, but you can be remembered in history."

The significance of oil is extraordinary. The first oil well with modern significance for mankind: the Drake Well was drilled by an American Drake in Pennsylvania in 1859, which opened a chapter in the oil industry.

Now history will be rewritten, and the first oil well in the modern sense of mankind appeared in the United States 8 years in advance.

There is no internal combustion engine yet, and petroleum cannot be used as a power fuel, but it can be purified into kerosene for lighting or as an ordinary fuel.

Whales have burned for two or three hundred years for human night lighting, and it is time for whales to retire.

Before the appearance of oil, the lighting fuel for humans, especially in the West, mainly came from whale oil, so the whaling industry in the West was very developed.

Whales are full of treasures, not only for food, but also for extracting whale oil for lighting at night, refining lubricating oil for lubrication between mechanical parts, making soap and so on.

Whale bones could be seen as an alternative to plastic before plastic was invented.

This is also the reason why American sailors went to the coast of Japan to hunt whales. Before the development of the chemical industry, whales were too important for Western societies that had just entered industrial civilization with one foot.

The whaling industry is also very profitable. The emergence of oil and the development of the chemical industry, to a certain extent, can be regarded as saving whales from extinction.

"Just relying on these dark oils?"

Deng Wenshun still couldn't believe that this dark thing was so useful.

"Yes, just rely on it." Liang Yao said with great certainty, "Refill this oil and send it to Nobel. He likes this weird liquid very much. This thing will definitely make a lot of money in his hands. Come to the Hall of Fame."

(End of this chapter)