"Well, it's normal that you haven't heard of this place, and honestly, the vast majority of Americans won't know where Alaska is." "Because it's a wilderness right now." This is a land that belongs to Russia, well, you wait, I'll go get a map and show you. Scrooge let go of Dorothea in his arms, walked over to his desk, and pulled open the drawer to find it.

Dorothea was still struggling a little when she was being held by Scrooge, but now that Scrooge suddenly let go of her, she didn't feel a little lost. Dorothea walked towards Scrooge as well.

"Ah, I found it." Scrooge said, pulling out a folded map of the world from a drawer and spreading it out on the table.

"Dorothea, you come and find out first, see where the United States is?" Scrooge said with a smile.

"Hmph, this doesn't bother me." Dorothea confidently said that, unlike the average Southerner, old Mr. Odd was a man who liked to travel, so Dorothea had learned to read a map even with her.

Dorothea walked over to the map and bent down slightly, "This is Mississippi, and our manor is here—I really don't know what it will look like to rebuild it." Well, this is Cleveland, this is New York, Duck Castle should be in this location, and here we are. - Am I right? ”

This statement was really a bit out of Scrooge's expectations. Generally speaking, a woman's sense of orientation is always poor, including reading a map, and it is not easy for Dorothea to be so skilled in finding these locations.

"Can you find out where Russia is?" Scrooge asked.

"Do you still need to find this?" Dorothea glanced at Scrooge, "Here, this boss's piece is all Russia!" ”

"Look over here, by the way, it's over Canada, it's Alaska." Scrooge said.

"So big? There are probably a lot of Mississippi. The federal government wants to buy the land? How much does it cost? Dorothea asked.

"The whole area is 1.52 million square kilometers, and if you add these attached islands, it is 1.7 million square kilometers, which is about the size of fourteen Mississippi. If earlier years, say 1859, only $5oo dollars, the Russians agreed to sell it to the federal government. However, because the war dragged on for a few years, it is now estimated that it will be more than six million. ”

"Did the Russians get kicked in the head by a donkey? Such a large piece was sold for more than 6 million? How is this possible? Dorothea asked, surprised.

"You don't look at the dimensions of that place." "It's almost in the Arctic Circle, and it's a very cold climate, and most of the land is frozen for a month or two a year, and you can't grow any crops," Scrooge explained. The land is vast and sparsely populated, and apart from the coastal Eskimos, who hunt seals for a living, there are basically no human beings. In the eyes of the Russians, such a piece of land is basically useless except for the purchase of some seal skins or something. That's why there may be such a price. ”

"Oh," said Dorothea, who stared at the vast expanse of land for a moment, "but I still think it's too cheap. Because it's land after all. Dad said that only the land is eternal, and it is worth fighting and sacrificing for it. And how can such a large piece of land be useless? Scrooge, such a large piece of land, there will always be a use. Not to mention anything else, there are always some minerals underground, maybe there is a mine, and the direct value can exceed several times this price. Well, Scrooge, how much money do we have to spare, or we should buy this place ourselves. Dorothea stared at Scrooge, her eyes sparkling.

"Well, our family's total assets, used to buy the whole of Alaska, must be no problem. Why, Dorothea, do you want to build an Ice King Palace in Alaska and be crowned the Ice Queen of the North? Scrooge smiled, "But you know, we're on the threshold of an industrial revolution, and we'll soon be able to break through key technologies." Dorothea, you know, how big a deal there is, think about it, in every city in the United States, there is a power plant belonging to the MacDonald family, and every factory relies on the MacDonald family to provide them with electricity, and their production line is full of MacDonald electric motors. What a beautiful picture, isn't it? But, in order to get there, we have to- well, Dorothea, do you think we might have so much money to spare now? ”

"What a pity!" Dorothea said, "Then we should also get involved and take the most valuable lands." ”

"Oh, but Dorothea, how do you know which land is valuable?" "Can you still see where there are minerals by looking at a map of Guò?" ”

"You're such a stupid guy! I can't even figure out such a simple question. "The opportunity to make fun of Scrooge, who seemed to be omnipotent, obviously made Dorothea very proud." You haven't heard the story of the ferryman in the Gold Rush era, have you? ”

"Nope." Scrooge guessed that Dorothea must be telling the story of the boatman who made more money than most of the gold diggers by ferrying them on the river. However, in order to make Dorothea happy, he simply pretended not to know.

"Stupid! Well, Miss Ben is in a good mood today, so I'll tell you this story. Dorothea, who had been told stories by Scrooge, had the opportunity to tell Scrooge a story, and immediately smiled.

Dorothea's story was exactly what Scrooge had in mind. In the end, though, Dorothea's proposed measures were pretty good.

"There are many gold diggers, there is only one ferry, and if you control this ferry, any gold digger who passes by has to give him money, so he earns more than the gold diggers. Again, we don't know where in Alaska there is gold or whatever, but it's easy to figure out where Alaska could be an important port. We're going to get a share of these places that can be important ports, and whoever they are, no matter where they are in Alaska, we'll get a share. You're right? Dorothea said triumphantly.

Scrooge looked at Dorothea in surprise, as if he had just known her. Scrooge knew that Dorothea had improved, but he didn't expect her to improve so much.

"Dorothea, you are such a good businessman! I didn't expect you to come up with such a great idea. Well, it won't be long before you'll be on your own. Scrooge said.

"How? Send someone to investigate first, right? Dorothea said.

"Several groups of people have already been sent out to investigate." "The scope of the examination includes climate, minerals, fisheries, transportation, etc., and of course the port is also included. Don't be disappointed, Dorothea, you must know that this project began in 186o, in which hundreds of experts were consulted, more than ten meetings were held, and more than ten missions were sent. Tens of thousands of dollars were spent. It would be unscientific to ignore such an important goal as a port. You've just learned about this project, and in such a short period of time, well, even those consultants, there are few who can compare to you. ”

"Really?" Dorothea asked?

"Of course. Our little Dorothea is the most capable! Come on, hug! Scrooge smiled wickedly and made a gesture of hug.

"Bad guys! Why don't you die! Dorothea laughed and cursed as she ran away.

……

Because the Central Pacific Railroad turmoil had been resolved, the rest of the time was suddenly free. Anyway, the new Central Pacific Railroad, Scrooge didn't have much room to get involved. And the new Central Pacific Railroad Company will no longer be able to use Chinese laborers on a large scale and use their bones to pile up blood and tears on the railway. Scrooge didn't bother to talk to them. As for the Chinese who have arrived in the United States, Scrooge heard that some of them seem to have a record of serving in the army, well, then send it to Blackwater first to see if there is a future for cultivation, if not, considering the five scum tables of the squadron ** team of that era, Scrooge does not have much hope for them. Those who don't have much future in cultivation, give a hundred dollars each, and send them to Chinatown to fend for themselves. If there was anyone who was willing to go back, Scrooge was also very kind enough to give him a third-class ticket from San Francisco to Guangzhou, and let them go back. For example, Lin Shenhe, who could write, took a ticket and a hundred dollars, got on another boat, and went back to China.

Since there was nothing to do, Scrooge took advantage of this time to take Dorothea around the mountains and rivers, which can be regarded as relaxed. But there is always an end to this kind of good life. Soon after, Scrooge received a telegram from Carroll, saying that a series of problems had arisen in the study of electric motors and motors. The researchers debated, and Carroll, who didn't know much about it, didn't know what to do about it. Therefore, such a thing can only make Scrooge hurry back.

"Alright, Dorothea, our vacation is over." Scrooge handed the telegram to Dorothea and said helplessly.

Dorothea looked at it, and although she felt very disappointed, Dorothea was still very general. She said, "Then let's go back as much as you can." This kind of thing really can only be handled by you. Let someone book tomorrow's train right away, and we'll go back together. ”

"Dorothea, you have a couple of great strengths, you know?" Scrooge said with a smile.

"What's the plus?" Dorothea looked up triumphantly, looking "Come and praise me".

"Smart, hardworking, and knowledgeable. It's really worthy of the 'Three Good Girls Dorothea'! Scrooge said,

"What! You're looking for death! ”

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