"Forget it! Anyway, I'm going to develop coal mines in Pittsburgh, William, you and your fellow workers can all come work for me there.
Let them dig coal for me, and the wages will be the same as before.
You all go back and get ready, I'll send people to take you to Pittsburgh in a few days." Charles waved his hand.
Although the situation was a bit different from what Biddle had described, he wasn't going to delve deeper.
Given the simple nature of steam engine technology at the moment, since this worker could repair steam engines, he would certainly be capable of guiding the manufacturing of some parts.
So, he would first let him go to Pittsburgh or Scarlet Manor to start preparing parts and attempting assembly.
As for coal miners, he had originally planned to recruit some workers from Philadelphia to move to Pittsburgh to prospect for and mine coal on his hundred thousand acres of wasteland, and this was where the largest number of people were needed.
The reason he hadn't mentioned this requirement to Charles before was because he didn't have enough money, but now that he had some gold coins, he naturally no longer worried.
Since there were skilled miners available, that was naturally for the best.
This would greatly accelerate the progress of his coal and iron development.
However, this also meant that the supporting work of transporting coal had to be accelerated.
It seemed he must quickly propose to the Pennsylvania Assembly to prepare for the construction of a canal from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia.
Whether it was for developing Pittsburgh or connecting the two cities, this canal was a plan Charles had to push forward.
The current coal and iron mines were crude and simple; once work began, production could start quickly.
But a canal couldn't be built in just a few months, so this work could only be started in advance.
Even later, when steam engines were improved and steam locomotives could be built, railways would still need to be constructed, which would take even more time.
Fortunately, railways first required the production of rails before they could be laid, and since the ironworks had not yet resumed, it was naturally still a bit early.
However, only by completing these step-by-step supporting works could the excavated coal and produced steel be continuously transported out of Pittsburgh and sold for good prices.
The focus of the supporting work was naturally on the canal.
From Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, Biddle and his group didn't just walk for nothing; what would normally take six or seven days by fast horse took nearly ten days because they also surveyed potential canal construction sites.
Charles had already estimated that between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, there were several rivers and valleys of varying sizes, and the terrain was quite undulating.
Traveling by carriage would require several ferry crossings or fording, which was very inconvenient.
However, by building dozens of small dams to raise and lower water levels or impound rivers, and without even needing to dig many new channels, the rivers of Pittsburgh could be connected to the rivers of Philadelphia.
At that time, one could travel all the way to Philadelphia by boat, and even through the Delaware River, directly to the Atlantic Ocean.
However, one point needs to be clarified here: the truly famous canal in this region was the Erie Canal, which directly connected the Great Lakes and New Biddle, and fortunately found the Mohawk Valley to pass through the difficult Appalachian Mountains.
The canal in Charles' impression was actually the Erie Canal; he had confused the Pennsylvania Canal with it.
The Pennsylvania Canal from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, although relatively simple to build, was only an inter-city canal, and its channel was more difficult than the Erie Canal.
Therefore, shortly after its completion, its prominence was completely overshadowed by the newly built Erie Canal, and Philadelphia's position as North America's largest city was replaced by New Biddle.
Even Charles' Pittsburgh was drawn into the Erie Canal economic zone.
If the Pennsylvania Assembly dared to use the power of the state government for construction, it might even be completed in just half a year.
Even if built by private individuals, it could be successful in about a year or so.
"Honorable councilor, what are you thinking about?" Biddle, standing nearby, saw Charles lost in thought and mistakenly thought he was concerned that he hadn't found a true steam engine worker, and his heart immediately became a little uneasy.
"Oh, hahaha! Biddle, I just thought of a very good way to make money, I wonder if you are interested." Charles asked Biddle with a smile.
"What way to make money?" Biddle was indeed interested.
His purpose in befriending Charles was originally a family responsibility, hoping to gain protection and earn more money by training a good relationship with this new councilor.
Now that Charles directly proposed a money-making idea, he was naturally interested.
"You surely know that Pittsburgh is rich in coal, right?" Charles said meaningfully.
"Of course, I know that Pittsburgh has a lot of coal, and the quality of the coal there is also very good.
Charles, you come from such a resource-rich and infinitely potential place, your future political prospects will certainly be very good." Biddle smiled.
In fact, many farsighted people at the time had noticed the resources in the West, believing that the future development focus of the Colonies would be in what was then the West, which is the central United States in the 21st century.
Unfortunately, the British policy restricting westward expansion prevented them from developing it, harming the interests of the colonists and simultaneously leading to the underdevelopment of the West.
This was another major contradiction between the Thirteen Colonies and Britain.
Charles didn't pay attention to Biddle's compliment; instead, he changed the subject and said:
"For an industrial and commercial city like Philadelphia, with hundreds of thousands of people (accounting for one-eighth of all of North America), I wonder how much money and how much wood is consumed each day for heating and daily life."
Biddle was very quick-witted and immediately realized what Charles really wanted to say.
"Are you thinking of transporting coal from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia?"
Then a look of regret appeared on his face:
"Many common households in Philadelphia now, in such cold weather, often don't light their fireplaces because they can't afford firewood and charcoal.
If there could be much cheaper coal, it would not only be a huge money-making business but also win the support of these common people.
Unfortunately, even if coal from Pittsburgh were transported here, it would still be more expensive than firewood, so I'm afraid no one would buy it."
"Haha! If using horse-drawn carriages, it would, of course, be too expensive; the money spent on one horse each year alone would be enough to buy one or two cartloads of coal.
However, if there were rivers connecting Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and transportation by boat were possible, I wonder how low the price would be then." Charles looked at Biddle meaningfully.
"By boat? But there are no common rivers between the two places, you wouldn't be..." Charles was about to say, 'You wouldn't be so crazy as to think of making money by going around the Atlantic Ocean and shipping it in, would you?'
He certainly knew the benefits of using boats; the cost of building an ordinary boat was not higher than buying a few horses.
But the carrying capacity was much greater than what a few horses could pull, and most importantly, horses incurred extra daily expenses, while boats didn't need to eat or drink, and with a little repair, could be used for many years.
Unfortunately, that would require a sea, or at least a river.
As for rivers from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, he hadn't even considered it.
Water transportation, before the advent of the railway era in the 19th century, was almost the only viable route for economic expansion.
Early North American colonists had a keen awareness of this.
After establishing Colonies on the East Coast, they had tirelessly sought navigable waterways to the interior.
However, the Appalachian Mountains created a long 'fall line' in the East; all rivers leading to the interior, without exception, encountered a turbulent and rocky waterfall section here.
Unless canals were dug and locks built to bypass this waterfall section, the grand development of the interior would remain an unattainable dream.
"If there are no rivers, can't we build them? Between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, there are already several small rivers.
By building just a few short sections of dams, they can be connected.
Once completed, it would only require very little maintenance cost and could be used for hundreds of years.
And what we need to do is contact several wealthy individuals in Philadelphia to form a canal company, responsible for the initial investment.
Not only can Pittsburgh's coal be transported out in the future, bringing us immense political achievements, but those who build the canal can also collect large amounts of tolls annually." Charles stated his final answer.
The key to a canal's operation was actually power.
Ancient canals played a very significant role, but they couldn't compare to the role played in modern society because the annual transportation costs at that time were very high.
Aside from wind power, in many cases, it relied mainly on human labor.
Building canals now wouldn't fully maximize their effectiveness, but since steam engines already existed in this era, according to Charles' idea, putting steam engines on boats to build paddle steamers would just be a matter of repeated experimentation.
The technical difficulties were no greater than building the canal itself.
With paddle steamers and Pittsburgh's abundant coal, transportation would be much more convenient.
He had originally planned to have the Pennsylvania Assembly responsible for building this canal, but considering the bureaucratic problems that might arise, and the unlikelihood of the Pennsylvania Assembly being able to come up with such a large sum of money all at once, he ultimately decided to hand over the construction rights to the wealthy individuals of Philadelphia.
This would not only allow him to befriend the wealthy and influential people of Philadelphia, paving the way for his future actions in Philadelphia, but also significantly increase efficiency.
"Build a canal?" Biddle hesitated.
After all, he was just a young man.
Although he was already the manager of this hotel, it was entirely due to his family's influence.
He was sent by his family to befriend Charles mainly because of his youth, which allowed him to have common ground with Charles.
His personal knowledge and ability were not sufficient to make decisions on such a big matter.
It was only because this Philadelphia canal was overly simple that its construction was now even a possibility.
If it were a conventional canal, none of the Thirteen Colonies in North America at that time would have the strength to build it.
Shortly after North America's independence, a canal called the Potomac Canal was built, which was the old canal in Washington City.
According to an unverified legend, this river was also a major reason for Washington's decision to establish the capital there.
It took a full sixteen years to build, with the Thirteen States arguing amongst themselves, and involved huge investments, personally overseen by Washington, Hamilton, and others.
Unfortunately, it had to declare bankruptcy more than twenty years after its opening.
Furthermore, Charles proposed that it be built with privately raised funds.
Not to mention whether it could even be built, the mere fact that tolls would be collected by private entities made Charles, as a scion of a prominent family, immediately hesitant to respond, not even daring to say whether it was a good idea.
"Biddle, this matter is of great scale and influence. You don't need to make a decision. It's better to discuss it with the other members of your family first. If possible, we can then talk about the details." Charles patted Biddle on the shoulder.
"Oh, okay. I, I'll go discuss it with my father first." Biddle responded absently.
It was only after this conversation with Charles that he truly came to admire Charles' abilities. Although he had previously followed his family's orders to befriend Charles, he had always secretly felt that Charles was just lucky to have accidentally become a Continental Congress Representative and didn't actually have much talent.
In fact, because Charles came from a desolate and backward countryside like Pittsburgh, he harbored a slight disdain for Charles, thinking many of his behaviors were like those of a country bumpkin.
However, Charles was also a very talented and tolerant person. After hearing Charles' plan for building a canal, he truly admired Charles.
Regardless of the potential success of this plan, just conceiving and proposing such a plan was not something an ordinary person could do.
Although he couldn't express his stance on the spot, his rationality told him that this was an extraordinary idea, and if successful, not only would Charles' future be limitless, but other participants in the contract would also receive huge returns.
When Biddle rushed home excitedly and told his father, old Biddle, about Charles' plan, the experienced old Biddle didn't hesitate at all.
Without even grabbing his hat, he immediately rode his horse in a hurry to the hotel where Charles was staying.
After an overnight discussion, both parties quickly reached an agreement on the construction of the canal and the subsequent development plan.
As part of the agreement, and the most important part, was the alliance between Charles and the Biddle family. Whether in politics or economics, both sides would advance and retreat together, never betraying each other.
With the support of the Biddle family, Charles truly established himself in the upper echelons of Philadelphia.
Considering Biddle's actual situation, Charles' contribution was to concede the right to build the canal in exchange for the Biddle family's guarantee to borrow fifty thousand pounds as a temporary loan from the bank.
The Biddle family was about to face investment. Their family industry was finance. Even though they hadn't established a bank yet, the family's personal accounts, deposits, and interest were still very substantial, more than enough to meet their own investment needs.
However, for the sake of profit, they didn't actively agree to lend the money. Instead, they preferred to guarantee Charles and arrange a temporary bank loan for him.
The main reason was that this development plan always carried some risks, and old Biddle would never put all his eggs in one basket.
The guarantee against betrayal of the alliance was mutual participation in each other's industry shares.
The cooperation agreement was drafted entirely by the new secretary, James, in consultation with the two of them, and finally formally signed by both parties.
Once it was submitted to the Assembly and a notary for notarization, it would become a legally binding document.
After the agreement was formally signed, James further explained some details he had insisted on adding, making Biddle realize the young man's extraordinary capabilities.
Those contents actually filled many loopholes in the original agreement.
When doing business with a prominent family like Biddle, some things must be paid attention to. Although this did not bring him additional income, it avoided many potential losses and even the possibility of disputes.
Knowing that he needed professional talent in this area, Biddle immediately had James draft a new contract to prepare for the upcoming major project.
The next morning, at the tavern downstairs from the Biddle family's hotel, all the guests who had come for a drink were asked to leave, making way for other major Philadelphia magnates specially invited by old Biddle.
As one of Philadelphia's most prominent family heads, old Biddle informed the other magnates about Charles' plan to build a canal.
These wealthy individuals were all closely related to either the Biddle family or Charles, and their numbers were not large.
Old Biddle invited six, among whom was a familiar face Charles knew: Robert Morris, a Pennsylvania Representative in the Continental Congress, just like Biddle.
As the founder of the Bank of North America, North America's first bank, he was undoubtedly one of Philadelphia's wealthiest individuals.
Biddle himself invited two, Eunice and Leicherton. These were all individuals both parties were confident would not easily reveal secrets even if the cooperative agreement fell through.
At this point, upon hearing Charles' canal plan, they fell silent for only a moment before immediately beginning to inquire about the detailed plan.
Old Biddle also, as per Charles' arrangement, unveiled the canal construction plan one by one.
These individuals had never considered building this canal before. Firstly, there was no large-scale canal construction experience in European and American history at that time.
Secondly, Pittsburgh had not been developed earlier, so they didn't know about its rich coal resources. Soon after coal mines were discovered, conflicts with Britain arose.
Now, suddenly hearing Charles' canal construction plan, especially such a large-scale private construction plan, and thinking of the potential huge profits, how could they remain calm?
Although all these people estimated the immense wealth that would flow in if the canal was successfully built according to Charles' method, some quickly spotted problems:
"Esteemed Councilor Godfrey, to my knowledge, there are several rivers from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. While connecting them directly is easy, they all have significant elevation differences. How will this be managed?"
"Also, with boats traveling back and forth, the canal's water flow direction is not fixed. There will certainly be times when it's against the current. How can sailboats navigate smoothly in the canal then?"
These excited magnates then calmed down a bit, realizing that such problems indeed existed.
"You can rest assured about this. For smaller elevation differences, we can, of course, build dams directly to compensate. For larger ones, we can use locks (non-mechanical). As for boats traveling back and forth against the current, do you gentlemen think other rivers don't have this problem? Aren't boats still navigating them?"
"Ha ha ha..." A few chuckled softly.
"To my knowledge, the canal will primarily rely on water from the Delaware River to fill its channels. The water in these other rivers is not very swift to begin with, and once the canal is built, their flow will become even gentler. Manpower with poles will be sufficient to propel boats carrying coal.
In fact, when there's a tailwind, it goes without saying. When there's no tailwind, even using manual oars is enough to push it forward. For the swiftest sections, using trackers will also allow them to pull it upstream.
In any case, for such a short distance, the increased cost won't be too much," Charles said indifferently.
The canal navigation he envisioned would use steamships.
If the canal was handed over to these magnates for construction, it would take over a year at the fastest. He estimated that by the time the canal was completed, his steamship should also be almost ready, and then there would naturally be no need for trackers.
At this moment, upon hearing Charles' arrangements, those magnates, although feeling they would have to spend an extra sum of money, calculated that they could still make a large profit and continued to inquire.
Several of them were even already selecting which section of the dam to build and from where to start collecting fees.
For a time, they even forgot about Biddle and old Biddle, the two conveners.
"Gentlemen! As long as Councilor Godfrey proposes and passes the canal construction in the Pennsylvania Assembly, wealth will surely pour in.
And since we've gained such a great source of wealth from Councilor Godfrey, we should properly thank him."
One should not forget the well-digger when drinking water. old Biddle, seeing that those people had forgotten Charles, the drafter of this plan, after hearing his arrangements, immediately reminded the others with a hint of displeasure.
Their family was already Charles' ally, and in some aspects, they had to consider Charles' interests.
Among those present today, apart from Morris, no matter how wealthy these other magnates were, they could not unilaterally build a canal from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.
They would certainly still need the approval of the Pennsylvania Assembly. And Charles, as a member of the Assembly and a highly influential Continental Congress Representative, if he didn't cooperate from above, a slight obstruction could definitely delay this bill for several years or even decades.
"Indeed, Charles has given us a large sum of money for free, and we should certainly thank him properly!" Robert Morris was the first to express his stance.
He still felt a bit regretful. In fact, his Bank of North America could have handled this canal project alone, but unfortunately, his family lacked talent, and after joining the Continental Congress, he no longer had the energy to manage the project.
This current cooperative investment, jointly establishing a canal company for development and management, was also the most suitable approach.
Because he had no ambition to lead the project, he was very grateful to Charles for providing this path to wealth, believing that he was not only an economic partner but also potentially a political ally.
The rest of the magnates were also truly influential figures in Philadelphia. Since Charles was a rising political star in Philadelphia, although they had heard some of his deeds, they mostly, like the Biddle family, thought it was enough to send a junior to befriend him and hadn't habitually taken him seriously.
Just now, they were busy vying for benefits. Now, reminded by the great magnate, they realized they had forgotten the benefactor who brought them wealth.
They immediately approached Charles enthusiastically to apologize, expressing their intentions to thank him in various ways.
Charles, having come from humble beginnings, didn't mind being occasionally overlooked, but he couldn't help but smile at the fawning expressions of the wealthy magnates.
"Gentlemen, the path to wealth I'm preparing for you is not just collecting fees from the canal. Although this revenue is substantial in total, it requires a one-time investment and will take a long time to collect all the profits."
His Pittsburgh development plan was a complete project, far from being as simple as just building a canal.
A few of the magnates thought Charles was angry because they hadn't been enthusiastic earlier. They immediately and generously stated that a longer time didn't matter, the key was the substantial profit.
They even directly proposed that as long as Charles was willing to support their participation in the project, they could give Charles a certain share for free.
Robert Morris, being a more sensitive politician after all, understood that Charles' words implied there was more to come, and he tentatively asked:
"Do you, Charles, have an even better way to get rich?"