Chapter 1625 - 1531: The Restless Expansionist Heart of the United States

Chapter 1625: Chapter 1531: The Restless Expansionist Heart of the United States

The four old horses trudged along, dragging the "New Leaf" slowly across the river, while Martha kept her gaze fixed on the distant horizon where Saint Louis City had long since disappeared, uncertain of what fate awaited her, her mind filled with apprehension.

Just then, the middle-aged gold seeker, who had been chatting casually with Harper, glanced around the deck and suddenly asked, "Hey, have you noticed? There’s not a single French speaker among those heading for the West Coast."

Harper thought for a moment and nodded, "That seems to be the case. Perhaps the French people eager to strike gold have long been in California."

Little did they know that the French version of the story about gold seeker Miles had two extra paragraphs compared to the English version.

One paragraph was at the beginning. Miles wasn’t traveling to California alone; he was accompanied by over 90 compatriots. In the end, fewer than 60 survived to reach the destination. The story detailed various terrifying encounters along the way, with even Miles himself narrowly escaping death from cholera.

The other paragraph was at the end. Miles returned to his old home in Maryland, lamenting his good fortune, as among those who left, he was the only one who truly made money. The others were still struggling bitterly on the West Coast or in Purgatory.

There were even four compatriots whom he personally killed—discovering the same rich gold belt in a river valley, the group drew guns and fought to monopolize the wealth. It was he who narrowly escaped Death.

And just four months after Miles returned home, he died from severe mercury poisoning at the new estate he had purchased.

Additionally, the Louisiana authorities were extremely strict in approving residents from the colony to go to California, essentially only allowing investors to go.

This was a pit meant to fool Americans; naturally, they couldn’t let their own people jump in.

As for American speakers of French hearing the full version of the story?

Every colonial official had a duty to tell them it was just a lie concocted by some Indians to prevent Americans from going to the West Coast to make a fortune.

This fully matched the stereotype Americans had of Indians as "cunning and malicious," and hardly anyone disbelieved it.

As the "New Leaf" continued to advance, the temperature near the Missouri River dropped by the day, soon forcing everyone onboard to wear heavy clothing, yet still shivering with cold.

The colonial officials escorting them promptly and thoughtfully took winter clothing from the cargo hold, distributing it to those impoverished gold seekers. Of course, it was purchased with money from the loan agreement, to be repaid later at cost.

In reality, once the gold seekers arrived in California, they’d find they also needed to buy a full set of gold mining tools, a simple dwelling, living utensils, and at least two sets of "tough guy clothing"—cowboy attire invented by Joseph.

All supplies considered, they’d have to pay about 2700 Reales, which equals approximately 470 francs.

Yes, nowadays tough guy clothing was a hot commodity in California, with prices soaring, each set costing over 50 francs, and requiring reservations to buy.

Other items weren’t cheap either—shovels, iron pots, mercury cans, all cost over a hundred francs and needed replacing after only three months.

An egg costs 5 Reales, a piece of cured meat 7 Reales...

Meaning, as soon as the gold seekers reached the West Coast, they’d have to start working to repay the hefty loans.

A gold seeker’s annual income ranged from 1500 to 3000 francs—assuming they didn’t die from exhaustion or illness, and were very diligent.

After paying the annual "gold mining permit" fees and deducting expenses for purchasing tools, food, and clothing, they’d be left with about 300 to 1800 francs.

The vast majority lingered near the lower limit.

Currently, the Spanish Government solely from banking business in California, earns over 260 million Escudo gold coins annually.

France has banks there too, but regulations demand their interest rates exceed those of the Spanish banks, so they only earn "scraps" of around 2 million francs annually.

However, by monopolizing the gold mining tools and "tough guy clothing" business in California, and conducting restaurant, hotel, and entertainment businesses, France accrues over 20 million francs in annual revenues.

Of which the French Government receives 15 million.

Well, outwardly claiming only 5 million... after all, not wanting to overly distress their Spanish brothers.

...

Fortress on the West side of Mississippi State, Vicksburg.

General Commander of the US Army, James Wilkinson, flipped through the documents on the table, not raising his head as he spoke to his staff officer, "Noan has finally made a move, more than a month later than I expected."

Just now, the staff officer reported to him that the Portuguese expeditionary force had boarded ships heading for New Granada, advancing westward along the Negro River.

The news was from more than half a month ago; it’s estimated the Portuguese Army is now near the Cassiqueiare Canal.

Spain and Portugal had always been in a state of war—the two nations fought from the Iberian Peninsula all the way to South America—so the declaration phase was saved.

"What about over in Florida?" he asked the staff officer.

"Quasi-General Hampton is still scouting the Spanish army’s deployment..."

"This fool." Wilkinson snorted coldly, "Does he really have to wait for the French Army to arrive in Saint Augustine before he starts his attack? Send someone to urge him to speed up!"

Wade Hampton was his biggest rival in the army, tasked with the main offensive against Florida.

In Wilkinson’s view, that ought to be the simplest of campaigns.

Spanish forces were tied down in South America, and all of Florida had only about 800 soldiers, with some needed to guard West Florida.

While Hampton had nearly 3,000 militiamen and assistance from many Americans residing in East Florida. With the launch of an attack, Saint Augustine could be seized within days.

Wilkinson glanced at the clock; it was time for the operational meeting, so he rose and walked towards the meeting room on the east side.

He was well aware, once fighting broke out in Florida, Spain would definitely seek aid from Louisiana—actually, the French people should have already prepared to join the battle.

Thus, the East Bank of the Mississippi River was likely to face attacks from the French Army.

He studied Wayne’s previous campaigns seriously, knowing Napoleon wasn’t someone easy to handle, so he arranged defenses between Mississippi and Tennessee with extreme care.

However, although he valued his opponent, he also held ample confidence.

President Jefferson, recently inaugurated, was very supportive of this war, granting the army full recruiting authority.

He alone had brought 8,000 soldiers from the East.

The American Army had begun secretly expanding a year ago. Moreover, the militia recruited from the Central and Western states totaled over 13,000 soldiers, sufficient to handle Louisiana’s military intervention.

Yes, the United States outwardly accepted the suggestion from the French people to jointly send troops to Canada, but covertly had been conspiring with the British to occupy Florida.

According to analyses by American high-level figures like Adams, and intelligence from the British, Spain didn’t pay much attention to Florida.

Given the tense situation in South America, they were likely to accept the outcome of the United States occupying Florida.

At most, when Spain and Portugal reached a ceasefire, the United States might decide—based on the victory or defeat condition of both sides—whether to remain firm or offer money to "buy" Florida.

As for France, it’s unlikely they’d fight the United States to death over a Spanish colony.