Chapter 168: Fire Two Shots

"Why is the state House election this year?" Sheffield asked this question when he met Harvey again.

"It's a coincidence. It was exactly 48 years ago that the United States officially established California. The population here is sparse, and no one pays attention to it before each election. It has always been like this." Harvey smiled. "We are nominally within the territory of the United States, but we have been ignored for a long time. There are not many die-hard supporters of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The reason why the Chinese Exclusion Act came into being was that the California Workers Party won the election and forced the bill through the state legislature."

After Sheffield calculated the time, he no longer paid attention to it. After all, there was a grandfather as an unknown factor. It was completely understandable that there were some things he didn't understand. The general trend had not changed anyway.

I have to say that Sheffield is a complete idiot in this regard. This year is really the time for state elections. He doesn't even know the election time, but he is here talking about election issues with Harvey.

This makes Harvey feel like he has entrusted his trust to the wrong person. If nothing works out, should he just put his hope on the next election?

As if to make up for his idiocy, or to prove something, Sheffield pulled out today's Los Angeles Times, threw it to the city councilman, and asked, "Do you think this story is well written?"

"This?" Harvey opened the newspaper. In addition to the usual concerns about illegal immigrants crossing the border from Mexico and reports on several murders near the border, there was also a page reserved for himself.

The above fictionalizes an experience of Harvey in Texas a few years ago when he became a Democrat and made some local friends. He was deeply impressed by the prosperous agriculture and animal husbandry in Texas, and some wealthy people became very interested in developing California.

"Once the land is approved, more details can be announced." Sheffield forced a smile and said, "California's economy will be very good in the next few years because a large amount of capital and personnel will come here. This credit goes to Congressman Harvey, who can make no secret of his contribution to California."

The inflow of hot money will definitely bring a certain degree of prosperity. This is true for any industry. Although you will only know who is running naked when the tide recedes, a period of prosperity like this is enough.

There is no doubt that Sheffield and his partners want to test the quality of the United States election. The Great West, which is still in a marginal position, is more suitable. Considering the technology of this era, it seems that it is not impossible to influence the election. If they specifically select a state to operate, they should have a better chance of success.

"I want to build a railway that goes straight to the border. It may require a certain number of workers. Now, for the sake of efficiency and speed, I am going to use some Chinese workers, but this project is not urgent. I have a new idea." Sheffield told Harvey about his idea. There is a railway running from Texas to California, which is almost built along our side of the border with Mexico.

But unfortunately, they just missed the piece of land that Sheffield had taken a fancy to, which seemed to have hidden oil resources. This made transportation to the farms on the border inconvenient. Even if they were not in a hurry now, they would still have to transport the oil after it was developed, so it was better to start now.

Now that Sheffield has decided to do something about the election, it might as well do it all at once.

Harvey felt that this was related to his political career, so he quickly asked, "What do you mean by new ideas?"

"I believe that even in California there are strong Republican voters. I'm going to do some engineering work, so I can spare some time to attract voters influenced by the Republican Party. One month before and after the election, my friends and I will recruit workers in these Republican strongholds to prevent them from voting during the election."

Sheffield fiddled with his fingers to express his thoughts, then tilted his head and asked, "I wonder if Councillor Harvey thinks this is feasible?"

This tactic should be effective if the number of Democratic voters and Republican voters is almost the same. However, Sheffield is afraid that the Democratic Party is far less popular than the Republican Party in California, which would be the end of him.

However, Harvey still dispelled Sheffield's doubts, saying that the Democratic and Republican parties do not have many iron vote bases, and most of them are voters who are influenced by public opinion. Of course, it is better to use it as a last layer of insurance.

In fact, if you want to show off your skills, you can set up a third party to copy the performance of the California Workers Party and force the amendment of the law. However, this is not safe. Sheffield is a person who seeks stability and values ​​the final result.

Sheffield's advice to Harvey was to use xenophobia to rally the people, just like the California Workers Party. The economic depression had just ended, and xenophobia was bound to have a market. The newspaper media would help him in this regard, and would definitely let his speech reach as many people as possible.

Considering that California is still dominated by agriculture, animal husbandry, industry and mining, Sheffield told Harvey about the practice of mechanized farms and said that he would open an agricultural machinery factory in California as soon as possible. Harvey could make a promise without any worries. He should be as firm as possible when making a speech.

Harvey said that once he becomes the majority leader of the state legislature, he will give adequate reports to repay the benefactors on his political path, and he can even use the law to protect the rights of investors.

Finally, Sheffield also mentioned that he had film-related patents that could attract other film pioneers to California and help California get rid of the image of the desolate West.

This greatly surprised Harvey. No one wants to be at the bottom of the contempt chain, and the western states have long given people such an impression. It can be said that once these cultural people move in, the attraction to California citizens will be huge.

"I will propose a bill in the state House of Representatives to support the cultural industry," Harvey stated firmly.

Although this guarantee was somewhat official, it was enough for Gale and others who were listening to the discussion to understand its meaning. The large amount of hot money coming to California will definitely get the due return.

At the end of the first half of the year, Sheffield finally got the land he wanted, and the price he paid was surprisingly small compared to what was hidden underneath. Soon, a large number of partners, including Gail and McHale, divided up all the land near the border.

The process of building a farm requires a large number of laborers. Everyone knows that this is an inevitable process, so they are not stingy when it comes to spending money. It can be said that a large amount of hot money they brought has already poured into California. From this time on, one side of an invisible border line has been in full swing.

From the beginning, farmers including Sheffield had been instilling in voters, who deliberately recruited workers from areas with greater Republican influence, how sinful this invisible border was and how many people had crossed it no one knew.

Rumors about conflicts between border residents and Mexicans who tried to stop them from crossing the border also circulated among the workers heading south. These rumors certainly had prototypes, but most of them were fabricated.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

Many years ago, slave owners instilled in the black community that we are one family, and factory life is extremely hard and is not suitable for you. Now the descendants of slave owners change the wording, or say that we are one family, and the Mexicans on the other side of the border have evil intentions and want to occupy our land and refuse to leave.

However, only one person said this, and the workers who were recruited might not believe it, but the word of mouth is strong. Every farmer who hired them said this. After hearing it many times, it naturally left a shadow in their hearts.

On this day, a few gunshots broke the peace of a farm area belonging to a shareholder. The workers who were recruited were quickly organized and formed teams to search for injured illegal immigrants. As the news spread, more and more workers were called together to form a joint action to hunt down non-existent enemies and protect the land belonging to the United States.

After a whole day of searching, the cunning illegal immigrants still escaped the patriotic citizens' hunt. Every worker who participated in the hunt returned to the dormitory to rest, cursing, as if dissatisfied with having no reward for their day's hard work.

In the eyes of many farmers, this scene gave them a strong sense of déjà vu, just like when the Yankees in the north organized the underground railroad to steal black people, and they organized people to search for them.

"Yes, we just need to fire a few shots. These workers have worked so hard for nothing, so naturally they will be dissatisfied with the illegal immigrants. As for whether the matter is true or not, it is not important. What is important is their anger because they are driven. And they will not be dissatisfied with us because they have to be patriotic." Sheffield laughed at his partners. This matter itself was just him crying thief and looking for an opportunity to watch a show.

Participating in specific actions in person is much more real than reading about them in newspapers. I believe that after a few times, they will have a favorable impression of politicians who advocate taking measures against illegal Mexican immigrants. This person has now appeared.

"In fact, we will encounter this problem once we build the farm. How do we deal with those who cross the border?" McHale shook his head in embarrassment.

"You have been away from the United States for a long time. Of course, we have to shoot you according to the law. Do you think the law of no retreat is a joke? If you dare to break into our private farm, we will shoot you on the spot. This is our right."

Just a few days after this incident, the Los Angeles Times reported on the recent problem of Mexicans crossing the border. Harvey, a political star who has been rising like a rocket in recent times, had already prepared a plan in advance. In front of his supporters, he expressed his tough attitude towards this matter, which once again made headlines in major newspapers.

(End of this chapter)