1850 American Gold Tycoon.

The warm winter sun shines on the broad prairie beside Lake Utah. Provo, the meeting point of the Pacific Railway, is located on this beautiful prairie in the United States.

Thanks to the construction of the Pacific Railway, many businessmen and immigrants with a keen sense of smell, as well as some railway workers, have chosen to settle in Provo City in advance.

At the beginning of 1856, Provo had only about 1200 settled residents. Just one year later, Provo's settled population exceeded 3500, making it the largest city in Utah.

The previous crown as the largest city in Utah belonged to Brigham City, which has a settled population of more than 2000.This is due to the fact that Brigham City is one of the holy places for Mormons.

Brigham Young, one of the pioneers of Mormonism and the second bishop, settled and preached here for a long time, and the city is named after him.

Brigham Young also has a translation name that is more familiar to Chinese people, and that is Brigham Young.He is the current bishop of the Mormon Church.

Mormonism is very influential in the Utah area and has become a label in the Utah area.

Mormonism (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is an alternative Christian denomination that was founded in America in the 19s.

The process of its founding was also very outrageous. Joseph Smith claimed that he encountered a vision in a dream and was inspired by God. God gave a golden leaf book with the "Book of Mormon" engraved on it.Joseph told everyone that this is a record of the history and teachings of ancient Americans, and it is a lost part of the Bible.And with this, a group of believers were bewitched.

It stands to reason that this is not a big deal, after all, the 19th century was an era in which civilization and ignorance, technology and superstition coexisted.

However, Mormonism does not take an unusual path. Mormonism is very different from mainstream Christianity.

The most important point that the Mormon Church is not tolerated by the mainstream society and everywhere is that the organization and social structure of the Mormon Church are obviously different from other Christian denominations.

Mormonism has a clear concept of “leader”, and this leader is a concrete and living person.

Leaders are considered to accept the guidance of God, and they are messengers sent by God to the world to preach and guide the lost.This is quite similar to the God-worshiping meeting on the other side.

As a result, Mormonism was rejected by the mainstream secular society in the east and was persecuted and expelled by the authorities.

Leaders from all over the Mormon Church then led the believers to launch the "Mormon March" movement to the settlements established in the western inland area, and the Utah area was the core area of ​​their activities.

In 1857, the total population of the Utah area exceeded 6, which is considered a very populous area in the western frontier of the United States.Not to mention barely touching the threshold of statehood, there are seven large settlements with a population of more than 1000 (Provo, Salt Lake City, Brigham, Ogden, Logan, St. George, Titica).

Of the [-] Utahs, more than half are Mormons.

This is why the population of Utah has reached the threshold for statehood, but the federal government has not yet planned to establish a state in Utah.It can be seen that the federal government is still jealous of the Mormons.

However, in order to maintain control over the Utah region, the federal government appointed Brigham Young, the second leader of the Mormon Church, as the governor of the Utah region, and awarded Brigham Young the rank of Colonel, responsible for the government and military affairs of the Utah region.

Brigham Young seems to have become the emperor of the Utah area, enjoying the tribute of the believers, sitting on more than 30 wives, and living a much more comfortable life than the president.

"You must be the most distinguished guest in Provo today, Mr. Liang Yao. Governor of Utah Territory Brigham Young welcomes you on behalf of the Mormons."

A man with weak footsteps, thin face, sunken eye sockets, pretending to be mysterious came to Liang Yao, followed by dozens of young men with guns on their backs and blazing eyes.

This is not here to greet Liang Yao, it is clearly here to show Liang Yao off his horse, and to declare to Liang Yao the sovereignty of the Utah region.

"You are Brigham Yang?" Liang Yao glanced at Brigham Yang disdainfully.

"Exactly." Brigham Young replied angrily.

"Kruger! Military discipline!" Liang Yao said to Kruger.

Brigham Young's behavior also made Kruger feel very uncomfortable. Kruger couldn't help but go up and give Brigham Young two loud slaps on the ear.

Seeing Brigham Yang being beaten, dozens of armed believers behind Brigham Yang wanted to unload their spears from their shoulders.

Pinkerton, who was in charge of the security work, had already prepared, but it was just a color. The agents of the California Bureau of Investigation had already pulled out the Colt revolvers in their waists and put them on the foreheads of these armed believers.

"Why did your Excellency hit me?" Brigham Young covered his stinging cheek.

"Hitting you? Hitting you is still light. Brigham Young! Tell me your identity!" Liang Yao shouted in a deep voice.

"Governor of Utah"

Seeing that his followers had been shot, Brigham Yang could only suppress the anger in his heart, and replied aggrievedly.

"Kruger!" Liang Yao called Kruger's name.

Kruger understood, and went up with two big slaps.

"Utah Territory. Colonel. Colonel."

This time Brigham Young finally answered correctly.

"Then what about my identity?" Liang Yao asked in an intriguing tone.

"Aren't you Brigadier General, Commander-in-Chief of the West?" Brigham Yang secretly watched the change of expression on Liang Yao's face, and asked anxiously.

"Your Excellency, did I answer correctly this time?"

"The answer is correct!" Liang Yao nodded, and then shouted again.

"Kruger!"

Unsurprisingly, Brigham Young received two scratches on the left and right cheeks.

"Your Excellency, General! Why did you beat me when I got the answer right?!" Brigham Yang was hurt by the beating, and asked in a crying voice.

"Since you know that I am a Brigadier General and your immediate superior, why don't you salute me when you see me?!" Liang Yao snapped.

"gram"

"Don't bother me, I'll do it myself."

This time, before Kruger's name was called out, Brigham Young knowingly slapped himself twice.Immediately enduring the pain, he saluted Liang Yao with a feeble and non-standard military salute.

Since the opening ceremony was about to begin, Liang Yao didn't bother to waste time arguing with Brigham Yang. In the future, he would have the opportunity to train this kid in the military and let him know who is the God of the West.

At the venue where the opening ceremony was held, flags of various colors fluttered in the wind.

Provo, a small city with a settled population of only 3500 people, gathered tens of thousands of people on this day.

People who came to participate in the opening ceremony covered all social strata. In addition to the domestic and foreign media who were invited to participate, dignitaries and celebrities from the east and west, railway company executives, engineers, workers and even local ordinary people participated in the celebration.

The sound of firecrackers sounded, and people's emotions gradually rose with the crackling sound of firecrackers, and thunderous cheers and applause sounded.

Amid the enthusiastic cheers and applause of the people, Liang Yao, Vanderbilt, Lincoln, and Fillmore stepped onto the wooden stage one after another and delivered inspiring speeches amidst harsh applause and dazzling flashlights.

On a special wooden platform, a nail shining golden light in the sun is quietly waiting for its historical mission. It will become a witness of the completion of the connection between the east and west sections of the Pacific Railway.

According to the usual practice, after the completion of the railway, the last spike needs to be laid to announce the successful completion of the project.

This last nail is usually driven by the sensible president of the Petroleum Railway Company or invited VIPs.

Under the gaze of all the people, Liang Yao took down the last road nail, which was called the golden nail, from the wooden platform.

It is said to be a golden nail, but it is actually a steel spike with a layer of gold plated on the surface.

Liang Yao showed everyone the golden spikes, walked to the rail with steady steps, and solemnly put the spikes on the rails.

The president of the New York Central Railway Company and the Atlantic Railway Company came up holding silver hammers specially prepared for this ceremony, and of course, they were also silver-plated.

The two presidents handed the silver hammer to their respective chairman.

"Mr. Lincoln, please also drive the last spike into the rail."

Liang Yao has had enough limelight today, and he plans to hand over the last ceremony to Lincoln, and sell Lincoln a favor by the way.

The Republican Party has now risen to become the largest opposition party, and what Lincoln needs most at this time is exposure to the public.

"That's not good." Lincoln declined. "It's more appropriate for you to complete this ceremony yourself, or Mr. Fillmore to complete this ceremony. You don't get rewarded for nothing, and I have nothing to do with the construction of this railway." contribute."

Smashing the last spike is the last and most important part of the railway opening ceremony.

Lincoln knew that the picture of dropping the last spike would be on the headlines of the major newspapers tomorrow and probably.

"Mr. Lincoln, then you and Mr. Fillmore will hit it together." Vanderbilt quickly handed the silver hammer to Fillmore and said.

"I've been to countless railway opening ceremonies and this one is boring."

Upon seeing this, Lincoln thanked Liang Yao, and in front of hundreds of cameras, he picked up the hammer and smashed the last golden spike into the railroad track.

The crisp knocking sound echoed in the air.

"This big gentleman is so powerful!"

"If he wasn't wearing a black uniform, I would believe you even if you told me he was a railway worker!"

"Look at the swing of this hammer, how beautiful it is!"

Both Lincoln and Fillmore were born into the poor, and both had done farm work since childhood. Lincoln, in particular, often helped the fellow villagers chop firewood in order to get closer to them when he went to the countryside to give speeches.

Of course, things like smashing road studs with a hammer will not trouble them.

After successfully smashing the spikes into the rails, Lincoln excitedly put his left hand on Liang Yao's shoulder, and held up the silver hammer with his right hand for a group photo.