1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 516 President What's wrong with you today?

This was the first time that eastern Americans felt that the West Coast, two to three thousand miles away, would have such a big impact on their daily lives.

The strikes and strikes of Chinese businessmen organized by the Huaxia Chamber of Commerce set off waves of waves.

The media from all over the world played up this incident overwhelmingly, exaggerating the atrocities against the Chinese in various places.

Cities with a large Chinese population, such as New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore, armed and blocked the streets where they live together to ensure their own safety.

Near the streets blocked by armed forces, there is a strong and pungent smell of gunpowder and the stench of corpses.

In order to prevent the situation from expanding, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Maryland have sent local fire brigades and national guards into the city to maintain order.

The Atlantic Railroad Company has announced the suspension of operations. The suspension of the large railroad company that owns Baltimore to Philadelphia and Philadelphia to New York has caused great inconvenience to residents of these three major cities.

In other words, before the railway crisis broke out, which company would dare to go on strike and suspend operations? Within a quarter, a new railway company would build a new line next to the suspended line to replace it.

Unfortunately, during the current economic crisis, major railway companies are struggling to protect themselves, let alone lay and develop new lines.

The railroad tycoons who were once ambitious and claimed to build railways to any corner of the United States are either declaring bankruptcy at this time, or are on the way to declaring bankruptcy.

More than a month after the Huaxia Chamber of Commerce announced the strike, many non-Chinese-funded small and medium-sized railway companies also announced the suspension of operations, and published a statement in the newspaper. rights and interests.

They even sent a special call to California to report the incident, for fear that California would not know about their outage.

Liang Yao soon learned about this. He knew that it was not because of the kindness of these small and medium-sized railway companies, but because these railway companies used the locomotives, carriages and accompanying maintenance services provided by the California Railway Company.

In the short term, it will be difficult for these railway companies to find alternative locomotive suppliers.

Even if found, the other party may not be willing to supply.

The California Railroad licensed the New York Central Railroad and the Illinois Railroad to produce the Pioneer and some of its improved locomotives.

However, Liang Yao has already sent a letter to the president of the Illinois State Railway Company in advance. If the Illinois Railway Company violates the contract and privately sells the Pioneer and its modified locomotives to third parties without the permission of the California Railway Company, and provides maintenance services, the California Railway The company will terminate all cooperative projects with the Illinois Railroad.

Some clever railway companies thought of buying locomotives from the British and related emergency services.

When the American Railroad Association unified the railway gauge, it used the same railway gauge as the United Kingdom.

It's just that they were soon disappointed, because the American railway tracks, except for the gauge and British railways, have different track forms and track structures.

In other words, even if they bought locomotives from the British, they could not put them into use directly.

What's more, British businessmen prefer icing on the cake rather than giving it away.

The British are well aware of the current economic situation in the United States, especially the poor economic situation of the American Railroad Company.They were not willing to take the risk of providing locomotives for the American Railroad Company.

The upsurge of building railways has made most cities in the United States basically have railways in the past few years, and people have developed the habit of traveling by rail, especially cheap rail travel.

The suspension of more and more railway companies has brought a lot of inconvenience to the lives of residents along the line.

They now desperately hope that the government can reach a reconciliation with the Chinese businessmen and the west, and restore normal economic order as soon as possible.

In addition to travel, the commodity that the strike of the Huaxia Chamber of Commerce had the greatest impact on the lives of Americans in the east was high-quality and cheap vaseline and kerosene.

Since Vaseline has no smell of animal fat, it has a comfortable greasy feeling when in contact with the skin, and the price is undeniable.

Vaseline has already replaced traditional animal oil and some expensive vegetable oil cosmetics and skin care products.

It quickly became the new favorite of American women.

It is absolutely unacceptable for these ladies and wives who are used to smearing Vaseline petrolatum to switch to animal fat that has a peculiar smell and is not cheap.

In addition to these ladies and wives, the workers in the east also suffered in the days when Vaseline was not available.

Workers in the east also have the habit of buying cheap Vaseline antifreeze cream to smear on their hands and faces to prevent frostbite. They are full of praise for this cheap and practical antifreeze.

However, this kind of antifreeze is no longer available on store shelves. Some people are reselling California-made antifreeze on the black market, but the price is comparable to high-end cosmetics, which is not affordable for ordinary workers like them.

The situation of kerosene, which is a necessity of life, is even more serious. The street lights of major cities, including New York, the largest city in the United States, are no longer lit at night, and the night of the city has become dim again.

When kerosene was plentiful, New York was literally the city that never sleeps.The economic crisis and the cut off of kerosene brought the bustling New York back to its prototype overnight.

Not everyone suffers from crises and conflicts, and a few benefit from them.

Vendors who sell animal fats such as whale oil made a fortune from the strike of Chinese merchants.

However, the production of animal fat is still very limited after all, completely unable to fill the gap of kerosene, and its high price is also doomed that animal fat cannot replace kerosene.

From frugality to luxury is easy, from luxury to frugality.

Kerosene has become a necessity for Americans, and Americans have developed the habit of using kerosene for lighting.

The first thing many children do after school is to queue up for kerosene at a store that sells kerosene with bottles and cans.

After hitting the kerosene, I secretly poured a little into a small bottle, and then exchanged some snacks with second-hand dealers who specialize in buying kerosene.

The 18-year-old Rockefeller is one of them. Over the years, Rockefeller not only paid off the high tuition fees by reselling oil, but also saved a considerable fortune.

At the beginning of the economic crisis, Rockefeller noticed that there were also unfriendly behaviors towards Chinese on the streets of Cleveland, although there were not many Chinese in Cleveland.

After learning that this had become a common phenomenon in eastern America, Rockefeller realized his opportunity had come.

The self-made Liang Yao was Rockefeller's idol. Although Rockefeller had no chance to meet Liang Yao, he carefully studied and analyzed how Liang Yao succeeded and read all of Liang Yao's published articles.

Based on his understanding of this idol, Rockefeller believed that Liang Yao, as the leader of the western region and the leader of the Chinese community, would not let it go.

Rockefeller thought his opportunity had come.

He resigned from his accountant job at Witt-Tart.

Although this decent and stable job earning 70 cents a day is the envy of many people, Rockefeller only regarded this job as a part-time job.

"I really don't know what your brain is pretending to be. If you don't work as an accountant, do you want to sell panacea with me?"

Knowing that Rockefeller had resigned from his job as an accountant, Rockefeller's father, the old doctor Rockefeller, was not surprised at all. Instead, he was a little pleased. He knew his son's nature, and he would not be satisfied with being an accountant.

Old Doctor Rockefeller was just a nickname given to him by his neighbors, and Old Rockefeller was not a professional doctor.

Old Rockefeller, with his three-inch tongue, peddled a purported cure for all ailments that didn't really do anything: balm of elixir led to a more comfortable life than all the doctors in Cleveland.

Although doctors in Cleveland despise the old Rockefeller's means of earning a living.

But who knows that there are always more ignorant people than smart people in this world? Old Rockefeller, relying on his eloquent teeth, has no worries about not being able to sell his panacea.

"Father, this is my first job and it will also be my last job. From now on, I will not work for other people." Rockefeller said very resolutely.

If other children said such things to their father, they would inevitably be educated in love, but the old Rockefeller was not an ordinary father, he patted Rockefeller on the shoulder and said in relief.

"This is like my Rockefeller child. Tell me, what do you want to do?"

"I want to stockpile a batch of kerosene, father, are you interested in partnering in this business?" Rockefeller expressed his thoughts.

"But I only have $1565 on me right now. If I had more starting capital, I could earn more. Father, I want to borrow some money from you, and I can pay the interest."

Rockefeller has earned a fortune as a kerosene dealer over the years: a full $1200 (historically, Rockefeller had accumulated $19 in savings when he was 800 years old).

Including the $365 borrowed from colleagues and friends, Rockefeller scraped together $1565.

But he was not satisfied with this, he wanted to gather more start-up funds, and he knew that his father had a considerable amount of savings.

"As far as I know, the price of kerosene is stable and falling. Although your behavior is very risky, but child, I support you."

The old Rockefeller was also very happy. After asking Rockefeller to write a loan of $1500 with 15% interest, he happily handed over the $1500 to Rockefeller.

Rockefeller hoarded kerosene with $3000, and the remaining $65 was used to maintain daily life and buy newspaper information. He was particularly concerned about the recent whereabouts of California politicians.

Soon, as Rockefeller expected, his venture succeeded.

Large and small Chinese Chambers of Commerce in the eastern states responded to the call of the Huaxia Chamber of Commerce and announced a strike to protest.

The price of kerosene gradually increased.

By January 1857, Rockefeller was one of the few people in Cleveland and even in Ohio who still had a lot of kerosene in his hands.

There was an endless stream of businessmen coming to buy kerosene from him, and some were even willing to pay $6500 for the kerosene that Rockefeller had purchased for $3000.

Rockefeller remained indifferent, just quietly reading the newspaper.

By mid-January, word reached Ohio that California Senator Patrick Poon was about to arrive in Washington.

This time, even the old Rockefeller couldn't sit still, thinking that the time to sell was ripe.

Once Pan Zhengwei reached an agreement on behalf of California and Washington, and California resumed the supply of kerosene to the eastern region, the price of kerosene in Rockefeller's hands would quickly fall back to normal levels.

Rockefeller just replied lightly: Mr. Pan is not enough, and the best time to sell has not yet come.Still no plans to sell kerosene.

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The White House in Washington at this time.

Buchanan, entering his second year in office, was distraught.

The conflict between the North and the South has not extinguished, and the dispute between the East and the West has arisen again.Racial issues, economic crisis issues, financial issues, domestic capital outflow issues, tariff issues, and many other issues, even if past presidents encountered one of these issues, it was enough to drink a pot.

However, these problems happened to Buchanan, the lucky guy, almost at the same time.

Sometimes, Buchanan even felt that he was not sitting on the presidential throne, but sitting on a powder keg full of fuses.

Buchanan hated the inaction of the previous president, and left all the mess to him, the poor guy.

Thinking of Fillmore, Buchanan thought of the opening ceremony of the Pacific Railway. Liang Yao and Vanderbilt did not invite themselves to participate, but chose to invite the former president and cabinet members.

Buchanan grew more and more angry.

The good guys were all made by Fillmore, and the mess was cleaned up by him, Buchanan. TMD, these people are really hateful.

Buchanan originally wanted to use the opening ceremony of the Pacific Railway to show his face and improve his image. At the same time, he hoped that the super project of the Pacific Railway would stimulate the American railway industry and boost people's confidence in the railway industry.

For this reason, Buchanan even prepared an impassioned speech, but he did not expect Liang Yao and Vanderbilt to come up with such a speech.

It seems that the idea, at least of trying to improve its image through the opening of the Pacific Railroad, fell through the cracks.

Buchanan is not an uncultivated, low-quality president. He grew up in a small prominent family in Pennsylvania and received a good education.

It's just that anyone who encounters these bad things will inevitably feel unbalanced.

"Your Excellency, New York State Senator Edward would like to have an interview with you on the issue of tariff rates."

"roll!"

"Your Excellency, Governor Robinson of the State of Casas wants to report to you personally on the January 1 clash between slaveholders and anti-slavery in Topeka Township."

"roll!"

"Your Excellency, the president of the Tokmak Railway Company has been waiting outside the White House for two days."

"roll!"

"Your Excellency, the British Minister is seeking to see you. The British Minister has expressed concern about the recent discussions in Congress on tariff rates and hopes to have a talk with you."

"Wait a minute. The British Minister cannot let him go. Tell him that I have been feeling unwell for the past few days and it is inconvenient to receive the Minister."

"Yes, Your Excellency, what's wrong with you today?"

"Think of one yourself!" Buchanan became increasingly irritable.

Not long after, his assistant returned.

"Your Excellency, California Senator Pan Zhengwei would like to see you."

"Wait a minute? Senator from California?"

"Yes, Your Excellency."

"Bring him to me quietly."

(End of this chapter)