1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 302
Just as the entire United States was rejoicing at the successful expedition of the American army to Japan, forcing the founding of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the whole country was boiling, Liang Yao's fleet had just arrived in Hawaii.

After arriving in Hawaii, there is only the last [-]-kilometer voyage left from California.

Alexander, the nephew of King Kamehameha III of Hawaii, disembarked at Pearl Harbor and invited Liang Yao to the palace for dinner.

It is said to be a royal palace, but it is actually just a slightly larger manor, not as good as Liang Yao's Tingtao Garden in San Francisco.

The Kingdom of Hawaii originally had a passable palace, but it was set on fire after being looted by the French army who invaded Hawaii in 1850.

Kamehameha III wants to renovate the palace, but now the French have not paid off the indemnity, and the Kingdom of Hawaii is in financial difficulties, so it is impossible to talk about repairing the palace.

Hearing that the United States defeated tens of thousands of shogunate troops in just one day and marched to the city of Edo in Japan, Kamehameha III and Liang Yao spoke in a more respectful tone during the meeting.It can also be said to be fear.

Kamehameha III did not want the US military to land in Hawaii like the French army three years ago, ransack his palace, and snatch his private yacht.

Japan, which is farther away from the mainland of the United States, has a wider territory, and has a larger population and army, has not been able to withstand the advance of the American army, let alone Hawaii, a tiny place.

Liang Yao did not stop too much in Hawaii, and the fleet rushed to San Francisco after replenishing coal at Pearl Harbor.

After more than half a year, Liang Yao finally returned to California, where he had been away for a long time, and set foot on this long-lost land, but the air here is more polluted than when he left.

San Francisco has changed a lot. Many swamps and wastelands near Jinshan Bay have been transformed into small settlements consisting of log houses and even brick houses.

Even the downtown area of ​​San Francisco is undergoing construction, and many emergency wooden houses have been demolished and replaced by more solid brick buildings.

There are obviously more buildings with more than three floors than when Liang Yao left San Francisco.

In the port of San Francisco, the citizens spontaneously flocked to the port to welcome the heroes who returned from the Japanese expedition, the heroes who belonged to California, and the heroes who belonged to them.

Liang Yao stood on the front deck of the Roland, took off his hat and waved to the crowd on the pier.

One after another cheers resounded throughout Jinshan Bay, people waved the California bear flag vigorously, and thousands of bear flags of different sizes fluttered in the wind.

"Long live California!"

"Long live the Colonel!"

"Glory to California!"

Liang Yao stepped off the Roland amid the cheers of the Californian people, and the officers and soldiers of the expeditionary force entered the city with their heads held high and their chests held high, welcomed by the crowd.

After going ashore to show his face, Liang Yao, who was exhausted, did not choose to return to Tingtao Garden to rest, but went directly to the city hall of San Francisco.

The architectural style of San Francisco is the only one among many American cities.

The Western-style buildings and Chinese-style buildings in the city are in harmony with each other. The City Hall in the center of the main city is a model of the combination of Chinese and Western.

The main body of the city hall is a marble-structured gallery-style building, a typical western-style city hall, and right in front of the city hall stands a pair of towering Chinese watches and majestic stone lions.

Even the surface of the columns supporting the arcade is carved with cloud patterns and dragons.

The city hall area is divided into three parts in total, which are the office area of ​​the municipal management agency, the conference hall dedicated to meetings, and the rest area for office staff and citizens to rest.

The rest area used to be an empty wasteland, but now there is a large fountain in the center of the rest area, and there are Chinese-style corridors and gazebos that provide cooling functions on the periphery, and there are even rockeries.

The more Liang Yao looked at the layout of the rest area, the more familiar it became. Soon, Liang Yao realized that the rest area was built according to the layout of his manor.

Passing through the rest area, Liang Yao went straight to the conference hall, where the California dignitaries had already been waiting for Liang Yao.

Before Liang Yao could speak, Minister of Education Pierman poured bitter water on him.

"Mr. Speaker, you can figure it out. The faculty and staff of the state school have been unable to pay for two months. If it continues to drag on, those faculty and staff will not be as simple as coming to my office to overturn the desk. I am afraid they will go on strike. Free of charge The meals provided by the children are almost exhausted."

Minister of Industry Fair was not far behind: "Two of the subsidies to related industrial and mining enterprises have not been cashed in. The business owners either stop in my office every day to ask for an explanation, or squat at my door waiting for me to go home. I dare not go home."

Chen Baoliang, Minister of Agriculture, continued to follow suit: "Subsidies are provided to farmers and farm tools, seeds are provided free of charge, and subsidies for water conservancy facilities have to be temporarily suspended due to funding problems. The opinions of farmers and farmers are also great."

Robinson sighed and reminded Liang Yao: "The salaries of government employees have not been paid for two months."

Everyone poured out their bitterness, and although each department had its own difficulties, all these difficulties boiled down to the same reason: the California government ran out of money.

Liang Yao was quite surprised when he learned that the California government had no money in Xiangshan. In 1851, the California state government’s fiscal revenue was still US$4788752, and the surplus reached an astonishing US$2145015. Unexpectedly, a fiscal deficit appeared a year later, and Things don't look good yet.

"Minister of Finance, where is last year's financial report?" Liang Yao looked at Finance Minister Deng Wenyu.

Deng Wenyu handed in the financial report that had already been prepared.

The noisy quarrel in the conference hall made Liang Yao uneasy. Liang Yao knocked heavily on the table to signal everyone to be quiet, and then he buried himself in the 1852 financial report of California.

After carefully checking the 1852 financial report, Liang Yao quickly found the crux of the problem.

He himself, and all of California's political leaders, are overly optimistic about the state's fiscal situation.

At the beginning of 1852, the Treasury Department projected that revenue for 1852 would be at least $700 million.

As a result, it was discovered at the end of the year that, not to mention reaching 700 million US dollars, even 600 million US dollars had not been reached.

In 1852, California's fiscal revenue was only 513 million U.S. dollars, a very limited increase compared to 1851's 478 million fiscal revenue.

Income has not increased much, but expenditure has increased.

Compulsory education subsidies, industrial and agricultural subsidies, skilled immigration subsidies, government employee salaries, infrastructure construction, and a $500 million land purchase loan in the Nevada region are all expensive expenses.

Some of these expenditures did not exist in 1851, such as compulsory education subsidies, and the loan for the purchase of the Nevada area was also repaid from 1852.

In addition, there were fiscal expenditures already in 1851. By 1852, not only was there no shortage, but the amount of expenditures was even greater.

For example, subsidies for skilled immigrants (industrial workers). In this regard, Liang Yao himself made a mistake in his judgment.

In 1850, the number of skilled immigrants was less than 1851, most of whom were employees of the American Group. In 3500, with the rise of the California Coal and Steel Union and the California Railway Industry, this number soared to [-].

At the beginning of the year, Liang Yao estimated that the number of skilled immigrants would reach about 1852 in 8000, but it has been proved that Liang Yao is still a bit conservative.

The number of skilled immigrants in California reached a staggering 1852 in 15000, nearly double what Liang Yao estimated.

In fact, the skilled immigrants in California are mainly industrial workers. The main source of immigration in California was the northeastern region of the United States.

In 1852, for the first time, the main force of skilled immigrants was not from the eastern part of the United States, but from Europe, mainly British and French immigrants.

There are many reasons for these European immigrants to flock to California. At this time, due to the discovery of California's gold mines and the vigorous development of the railway industry, the United States is gradually getting out of the global economic crisis in the mid-19th century, and the economy has resumed rapid growth.

In contrast, the old Western European powers dominated by Britain and France are still shrouded in the shadow of the economic crisis. Domestic strikes continue and the political situation is turbulent. Napoleon III even proclaimed himself emperor in December last year and restored the French Empire. The world shakes.

Once the global economic crisis spreads, if it is not resolved in time, it will easily lead to a major war.After all, politicians know that war is the most effective medicine to save the economy, but this medicine is a bit costly.

At this time, both Britain and France are already expanding their armies and preparing for war, and are preparing to solve the Crimea issue and prevent the expansion of Tsarist Russia's westward and southward forces.

In 1851, the number of British troops was 20, and the number of French troops was 40. By 1853, the number of British troops reached 236000, and the number of French troops reached 447000.

Of course, Tsarist Russia was even more heavyweight. The number of Russian troops soared from 1851 in 56 to 1853 million in 111.

At the same time, the number of the American army was at most [-] regular troops including the navy, not even a fraction of others.

Many immigrants who fled Europe and poured into California had the idea of ​​avoiding military service and staying away from the war, in addition to the purpose of getting rich.

Every time a war breaks out in Europe, the number of immigrants from the United States will increase sharply. Europeans in this era like to run to the United States when they are not doing well in Europe, and regard the United States as a safe haven.

The increase in European immigrants is also a good thing for Liang Yao, at least it can dilute the influence of some immigrants from the eastern United States in California.

Of course, the premise is that California can successfully digest these immigrants, otherwise these immigration bonuses will become a burden.Only immigrants who can pay taxes can create value for California.

According to the data provided by the Bureau of Statistics, the total population of California has now reached 51. How to accommodate and digest these populations so that California’s economy can continue to maintain rapid growth is a very severe test for the California government.

The prosperity of California is based on the policy of light taxation and low taxation, as well as huge financial subsidies.While enjoying high-speed economic growth, it is inevitable to bear some costs.

Some people's peaceful years are always built on the burden of other people.

At present, it is the finance of the California state government that is carrying the burden for California, and the finance and taxation of California are mainly contributed by gold mine owners and gold prospectors.

It has been five full years since the gold rush that started in 1848. Basically, the rich ores that are easy to find and low-cost mining have almost been mined.

The California gold rush also has periodic bottlenecks.

After the gold in San Francisco was almost exhausted, the gold diggers moved to the banks of the American River near Sacramento. After the gold on both sides of the American River was almost exhausted, people built dams to force the American River to change its course and panned for the bottom of the American River. of gold.

The gold panning in the American River is almost done, and a large gold producing area has been discovered in Nevada. Many gold prospectors have picked up tools, packed their bags and rushed to the Nevada area to pan for gold.

Now, the output of existing gold-producing areas has stabilized, and no new large-scale rich mining areas have been discovered for the time being. California's gold rush industry has once again encountered a bottleneck.

Liang Yao knew that this was not a problem with the gold reserves in California, the gold reserves in California were enough for Californians to mine for more than a century.

The problem lies in the level of gold panning technology and exploration capabilities. With the current level of technology and exploration capabilities, California gold prospectors can only explore gold mining areas that are relatively easy to find and pan for shallow gold on the surface.

This is the disadvantage of a single industrial structure and too much reliance on a single industry to boost the economy.

At present, the gold mining industry is a pillar industry in California, contributing about 80% of the tax revenue of the California government. Once the development of this industry encounters a bottleneck, the blow to California's finances will be catastrophic.

"As of now, the state government of California has a deficit of 370 million US dollars. If we don't try to solve it, the state government of California will go bankrupt this year. If you have any ideas, please share your ideas." Liang Yao closed the financial report and said.

He wanted to hear from these California dignitaries.

"Maybe we can ask the California Customs Department for help? I heard that the Customs Department's income last year was very considerable. If they are willing to lend a helping hand, our life will be much easier." Deng Wenyu thought for a while and said.

"What a bad idea, no way."

This unrealistic idea was quickly rejected by Liang Yao. In California, tariff revenue is the second largest tax after gold mining revenue.

But this is federal government money, how easy is it to get federal government money?

The relatively harmonious relationship between California and the federal government is based on the fact that the federal government can smoothly receive tariffs in the California region.

If you move the federal government's tariffs, the poor ghosts of the federal government will fight you desperately. Maybe they will support a new consortium to enter California and replace them.

Not only did Liang Yao not want this kind of thing to happen, presumably everyone who was doing it was unwilling to see such a result.

Although Liang Yao has some soldiers on hand, his current strength is not strong enough to compete with the federal government.The tariffs that should be taken by the federal government still have to be taken by the federal government.

"To make it harder for gold mine owners and gold diggers, increase the tax rate of gold mining tax?" Minister of Education Pierman proposed.

"California's gold mining tax is already very high! It is absolutely impossible to increase it!" Minister of Industry Fair first jumped out to object. Pillman himself did not engage in the gold mining industry, so he said this obviously because he was standing up and talking without pain in his back. He didn't understand. The current state of the gold mining industry.

"In the past two years, gold mine owners and gold prospectors have been the absolute largest taxpayers in California. They have contributed a lot to California. If taxes continue to increase, it will cause incalculable consequences.

Furthermore, the reason why California's population can grow rapidly is because people firmly believe that they can find gold and get rich in California, and that they can see the hope of changing lives in California.

Every time we raise taxes, we will reduce the hope of gold diggers. This is an act of drinking poison to quench thirst. I firmly oppose raising taxes on gold mines! "

(End of this chapter)