Although he was trapped in the quagmire of war, the economy in the north was getting better day by day.

Even the homeless people who could only sit on empty wine bottles every day and stare at the sun in a daze have jobs.

Although many young people were forced to go to the front line because they could not afford to pay the money. However, Abraham Lincoln was the president with the highest approval rating in thirty years.

His approval rating has even exceeded 60%. This is already a very terrifying number.

You should know that the approval ratings of previous presidents were only hovering around 45%.

Lincoln's approval rating is so high, of course it's not because of his face that can scare the child.

It is because he has improved the difficult economy and allowed most people to have enough food.

Of course, at the same time, facing the South with the same hatred of the enemy is one of the reasons why the North supports the federal government more and is more cohesive.

Almost all the civilians in the north began to work hard, trying to defeat the evil and enslaved southern villains while having a richer material life.

However, in such an exciting environment, there are still people who are inevitably sad.

Conneils Vanderbilt, now looking at the coast outside the window in a daze.

Although the salty and wet sea breeze was blocked by the glass windows, whenever the waves hit the shore, he always felt that the bitter taste in his mouth was heavier.

Just like when I was still wandering, I filled my mouth with sea water.

He is sixty-six years old this year and was born on Stanton Island, New York.

His father owns a farm on the island, and standing on the high point of the farm, he can overlook the entire New York Bay.

His father is an ordinary person, and he has no ambitions and wants to make the family live a happy life.

When Vanderbilt was young, it was not his father who had the greatest influence on him, but his mother.

Since his birth, he has been different from his father, lively, active and full of fighting spirit.

When he was six years old, he once competed with a child slave from the next house who was two years older than him, and almost killed himself.

Although his father sent him to school, he hated the abstract knowledge that required rote memorization.

Therefore, although he had learned the passing years in school, he still could not master the complicated "noble" English grammar and word spelling.

Even when he succeeds in the future, he still criticizes this educational model severely.

School time is very boring.

When he was sixteen, he looked down at New York Harbor again and began to yearn for his own career.

He was in Richmond Harbor, and was following his father to sell sail barges, he suddenly saw an opportunity.

Before the steam engines appeared, this Dutch-made sail barge was the main means of transportation in New York Harbor.

They shuttle between the port and the ocean-going freighter. They have a flat bottom and a shallower draft. They are eighteen meters long and seven meters wide, and are used to carry cargo, which is like a magical tool.

Vanderbilt suddenly felt that if he owned such a ship, he could make money!

So he borrowed a hundred dollars from his mother and bought a barge like this.

In the nineteenth century, one hundred dollars was definitely not a small number.

Although his mother trusted this son, she was still very harsh.

She told him, "If you can clean up the uncultivated 3.2 hectares of land before your birthday, and plow the ground and plant crops, I will give you the money."

At that time, it was less than a month before Vanderbilt's birthday, and only four weeks had it been.

But Vanderbilt showed his talent.

He brought all the children around him together and let them help him complete the task.

On his birthday, he received a hundred dollars and couldn't wait to buy a sail barge.

When he first stepped on his own sail barge, raised his sail and placed his hands on the rudder, it gave birth to a strong satisfaction.

Because, only at this time did he feel that his destiny was finally controlled by him.

However, in the first two years, Vanderbilt did not make much money.

Because, although one hundred dollars is more, there are many rich people in New York Harbor.

Sail barges cover the sky and the sun, and finding work is not easy.

However, he was lucky.

After two years of war, it changed his situation and made his career successful.

The military needs a supplier they can fully trust and rely on to deliver supplies to the fortress defending the New York Harbor.

At that time, Vanderbilt's offer was not the lowest.

However, with the support of Vanderbilt's increasingly mature interpersonal operations, he obtained the contract.

And this is also the first freight contract he got.

Because in the past, the transportation of goods at the Port of New York was not based on contracts, but on the speed of rushing shipments.

An ocean-going ship is anchored in the distance where it will not be stranded. The unlimited sail barge rushed over like a spirit (harmony) son, and only the first one can get the opportunity.

Vanderbilt, who was able to rely on strong physical strength to obtain transportation opportunities in the past, now has a stable order, which is a huge addition to the tiger.

After that, five years have passed. He has accumulated more than nine thousand dollars in cash, and in addition, he has the largest sailing team in New York Harbor.

At this time, he was not satisfied with the title of King of Sail Barge.

He soon discovered a new business opportunity, which was the steamboat.

Steamboats are different from sail barges. They no longer rely entirely on wind or manpower, but on the power of steam.

It is faster and smaller in size, but it ships larger in volume.

The most important thing is that it is not only active in New York Harbor.

Some mid-way shipping can also be carried out.

In this way, Vanderbilt connected the three ports of New York, New Brunswick and New Jersey through steamboats.

However, the steamship franchise at that time was in the hands of another person.

Vanderbilt fought wits and courage with that man, and finally waited for the court to rule that monopolizing the steamship was an illegal act.

By 1840, he had become the largest ship owner in the United States.

And good luck comes again.

In 1849, a gold mine was discovered in California.

The entire United States and Europe have set off a frenzy of gold rush in the western region.

Almost everyone is crazy about the gold rush.

Vanderbilt immediately opened a route from the East Coast to California on the West Coast.

This route, in its first year of operation, brought him more than one million dollars in profits.

And, the benefits are still continuing.

The Business Daily, the highest-selling newspaper at that time, called him the "captain", so others also called it the same.

However, not long after that, he felt that the gold rush was about to end.

He saw the vast prospects of the onshore transportation industry.

A river connects the Great Lakes, and it can support such a huge wealth if it is released from New York Harbor.

If all the land routes are linked by railways, what kind of wealth is it?

Therefore, he sold all his steamships and began to invest in railways with all his gambles.

At this time, he, who was already a middle-aged and elderly person, began to focus on cultivating his eldest son who looked very much like him.

But it is precisely because this son looks very much like him that an accident will inevitably happen.

His son, contrary to his orders, joined the army privately and went to the front line in the south.

What's even more tragic is that this son, who has condensed all his efforts, died on the front line.

Sixty-six years old is definitely not a young age in this era.

All his efforts in the past twenty years have been destroyed, and the blow to him was extremely great.

But, no matter what, he needs to stick with it.

He began to support his youngest son.

However, his younger son has very different personalities than him and his older son.

He is very timid and weak.

Even if I talk to others, I dare not look in the eyes.

In the past, Vanderbilt didn't even want to see this young son.

But now he has no choice.

Because, his eldest son has passed away.
To be continued...