Chapter 390 The Spread of the Epidemic (Part 1)

Bobby Stark was very glad that he could sell the cursed potatoes, otherwise he would have to worry about debt default like his neighbors.

Because the bankers who lent money would not care about the impact of natural disasters and man-made disasters. If you can't pay the penalty, the house and land used as collateral will no longer belong to you.

In the current America, it is not uncommon to borrow money to grow crops. Many farmers are in debt. After all, the price of land in the United States is relatively cheap at this time, but the cost of development is shockingly expensive.

As Steven said, in just a few months, potato late blight spread throughout Ohio.

All potatoes, whether harvested or in the fields, all appeared in front of them as lumps of soap-like sticky solids, and the stench filled the air and drifted to the surrounding farmland.

At first, there were only some irregular spots on their leaves, but it didn't take long for the spots to expand rapidly, making the entire diseased plant water-soaked, and then white or brown mold appeared.

Once the rainy season arrives, the disease will spread faster, and even a large area of ​​land can be destroyed in one or two days.

The fields are full of farmers who are hoping to find uninfected potatoes. But this is undoubtedly futile, as the natural disaster came so suddenly and violently.

The crying farmers did not attract the mercy of God, but only the ridicule of farmers who planted other crops around them and the contempt of bankers for losers.

After all, if the potato harvest fails, other crops can be sold at a better price. In the eyes of bankers, those farmers who suffered a sudden blow are just numbers of unsuccessful investments.

These timid guys actually did not have the courage to bear failure, and they were really a bunch of useless waste.

The tragedy in Ohio did not attract the attention of Washington. The mainstream economic thought at the time was free trade, and the government should reduce intervention.

The local government report also dealt with it with an extremely understated description: "A large number of farmers failed to invest, resulting in a large area of ​​land waste and so on."

John Tyler was a leader who emphasized efficiency, and he could not accept the farmers' waste of American land.

So the US government not only did not introduce a relief policy, but instead fined the farms that were hit by the disaster because they wasted the precious resources given by God to America and cultivated some worthless commodities on the land that should have been used to grow crops.

Another thing is that the output of potatoes in the United States has further declined, and at the same time it has changed the structure of its crop planting; the potato planting area is less than half of France, less than one-third of Austria, and only a little more than one-quarter of Germany.

For the United States, these bankrupt farmers are not completely useless. They can enter factories or go to the Great West to develop new land.

For example, Oregon, where Britain and the United States are competing fiercely at this time, although Britain is strong, America has an advantage that the other party does not have - manpower.

Since the Oregon Trail became the main road into the region in 1842, tens of thousands of Americans will migrate to the region from then on.

In contrast, the British could not even gather enough colonists to effectively control the region, so they could only be in a state of strategic contraction.

But even so, they could not get rid of the American encroachment, and John Tyler's plan was very successful.

However, it was not all smooth sailing, such as the Abinon Massacre; 13 white men accidentally broke into the Indian territory and cut down their sacred trees, which led to a serious conflict between the two sides.

In the end, these thirteen "warriors" were unfortunately all killed in the colony. After learning the news, John Tyler immediately gave a eulogy for them in the White House and vowed to retaliate against the barbaric Indians.

Between 1840 and 1860, about 360 immigrants died in Oregon at the hands of Native Americans. And the number of local Indians in Oregon decreased by 100,000 between 1830 and 1840 alone.

Of course, the Americans have not given up on infiltrating the California region, but they were resolved in the most primitive and bloody way by the newly appointed Austrian governor in the region.

So far, the number of Americans killed in California has exceeded 3,000, but on the surface, both sides do not admit this fact.

In fact, Franz does not agree with this approach, but it is undoubtedly very effective and cheap. But this kind of reward method can be used by the Austrian side, the American side, and even the Mexicans.

Once this door to hell is opened, it will be difficult to close it.

Of course, introducing American immigrants to jointly develop California can also be considered. After all, turning enemies into friends is the most sensible method in theory, and what California lacks most at this time is labor.

But the bloody historical experience and lessons tell us that this behavior is tantamount to inviting wolves into the house, and it is not worth taking this risk.

Although there are four forces in North America at this time, the focus of the British has shifted to Asia, and they are not interested in this, so the situation is still divided into three parts.

In theory, the French are the strongest, and they are not comparable to the other two countries in terms of military quality or national strength. But it is a European country after all, and it is constrained by Britain and other European powers everywhere, and cannot exert its full strength.

Although the United States has a large population and a vast territory, its organizational efficiency is low, and John Tyler alone cannot save the situation. However, even so, it is still the most promising and threatening country in North America.

After all, in history, America slowly accumulated to become a world hegemon after opening up the two oceans, but it is not so easy in this life.

Mexico has been thriving under the special care of Franz, but as the saying goes.

"One incompetent general will kill the whole army."

Neither Tasan Anna nor the top leaders of Mexico City are ambitious people. They started to enjoy shamelessly just a few days after settling down.

Collective treason of the elite class is nothing new in Mexico.

These people can be bribed by Austria, France, and the United States and Britain can also follow suit.

It's just that the Tasan Anna faction in power now is on good terms with the Austrian side, but this can't stop some warlords from coveting the California region.

So there are always some people who overestimate their own abilities and think they are the real owners of gold.

Although the Austrian Empire had only more than 10,000 troops in California, they were still not comparable to the ragtag Mexican army.

The battle was bloody and cruel, but also absurd and boring.

The Mexican army under the banner of the US Army in the plains was attacked fiercely as never before. Those panicked soldiers surrendered habitually, but they were not treated as Mexicans, but as invaders.

The prisoners were sent to mines and wastelands to do the most dangerous and arduous work.

Consul John Sina felt that he was one step closer to the goal set by Archduke Franz.