I, Zhu Houzhao, join the US imperialist chat group

Chapter 289 Johnson: Good news! Taizu appeared! Bad news: Taizu was invited by Lincoln!

Washington.

"incredible……"

"Washington would turn out like this eighty years later."

"Is this still the Washington I know?"

Washington is very close to Richmond, when Zhu Houzhao and his friends stayed overnight in Philadelphia.

Washington and Napoleon had already arrived in Washington from Richmond.

Today's Washington, of course, is different from the mere 10,000 people in Washington's time. It just happened to exceed 100,000 in the 1960s.

There are more buildings, and some of them are brightly lit even at night.

It is no less than Philadelphia during Washington's time.

Therefore, when Washington and Napoleon arrived at the outskirts of Washington, Washington felt that he did not recognize the brand new Washington.

"President Washington, I have already found out... your presidential residence is now heavily guarded. President Lincoln's cabinet members have already returned... so there are about 10,000 troops stationed in Washington now! Should we start fighting right away or wait a little longer?"

As Washington and the thousand soldiers he brought marveled at the change in Washington.

Napoleon returned from downtown Washington after gathering information.

"Napoleon, what do you think?"

Washington was a little hesitant, because he had finally seen Washington become so prosperous, and he couldn't bear to see it being baptized by war.

"My suggestion is to fight! Our soldiers and I have already found out that although there are 10,000 troops stationed there, their military discipline is lax. Some of them have even gone home or started drinking in the taverns in the town. Their barracks are now empty."

"We may be able to make them surrender directly at the lowest cost!"

Napoleon naturally had a strategic vision, and he did not have the inexplicable emotions of Washington. Now that he finally had the opportunity to lead the troops independently and have the advantage of overwhelming weapons, how could he miss it?

"Napoleon, I can't bring myself to do it..."

Facing the young Napoleon, Washington said bluntly: "I feel that I cannot do anything to Washington who is so beautiful now. I feel that it would be a blasphemy to Washington to start a war here."

"Okay! President Washington, take a break! I'll..."

Napoleon obviously got it wrong.

"No, no, no! Napoleon...what I'm thinking is...Oh, this is the place I built with my own hands, do you know how it feels? I don't want to destroy my hometown!" Washington quickly corrected Napoleon's thoughts.

"But President Washington, didn't they say that your hometown is in Virginia?" Napoleon hesitated.

“This is my second hometown!”

Washington looked at Washington in confusion.

"But... President Washington, your hometown is occupied by the enemy... If we don't fight now, what if Uncle Grant or Uncle Jackson attacks us... and, this is a state of war... If we capture the enemy's headquarters, it will be an unprecedented victory." Napoleon obviously has his own principles.

"Maybe I can try to negotiate with them!"

"Get them out of Washington!"

"Use a more peaceful method!"

Washington preferred not to take action, after all, he knew the power of the weapons they possessed.

"Okay, President Washington, I'll listen to you... But if your way doesn't work, use mine. I don't want our French soldiers to be put in danger... I promised His Majesty the King that I would bring them back intact."

Napoleon could only listen to Washington, after all, he was only a sixteen-year-old boy.

"Of course... Next, I will only bring a few guards, and the others will be under your command. If they disagree, you can start a war."

Washington told of his plan to go to the meeting alone...

Presidential residence.

At this moment, Andrew Johnson and others did not know that Washington and others were already on their way to the outside.

Although it was night, the entire mansion was still brightly lit.

"President...urgent call from New York!"

"President, Congress is calling urgently... asking what happened?"

"President, urgent message from Boston..."

"President, the French Ambassador has sent an urgent telegram..."

The President's office was in a state of chaos and bustle, with urgent messages coming in one after another on the telegraph.

To make matters worse, Johnson and others, who had already been hit hard, had no time to rest before they had to face inquiries and questioning from all over the United States.

"Turn off the damn telegram! We want to have a good night's rest, can't we just have one night?"

The irritated Johnson finally threw away the thick telegram and yelled at the office clerk: "Get out! Even if the sky falls, don't come in to disturb us!"

The clerks left the meeting room trembling, leaving Johnson and other bigwigs smoking in the meeting room.

Everyone was just smoking like crazy, no one was talking.

The truth is that they are under a lot of pressure now, and the attention and focus of representatives from all parties across the country are on them.

Some even suspected that they had forced Lincoln to defect to the South, and they demanded an explanation.

Even though they have explained it several times, some people still don't believe it.

In addition, the favorable situation in the North suddenly collapsed... They were defeated by Lincoln's army and turned against the North collectively.

Now... they have no idea what to do, and even want to escape and let others take over this mess.

"President Johnson... I think you should call Congress to a meeting and clarify your authority first. Congress doesn't believe in you, so call all of them over and see what the current situation is like!"

The silence was broken by Secretary of War Stanton. He was always a soldier and knew what was most important at the moment.

It was to let everyone know that they had no conspiracy to force Lincoln to surrender.

At the same time, they also need to really re-determine the president who will continue to lead the federation.

Because... the current situation is very strange. Only a few of them witnessed the entire process of Lincoln's surrender, which led to... more people suspecting that it was a coup organized by them. Johnson, the vice president, was promoted to the president, and the presidential order he signed was even somewhat unjustified, and many people did not recognize it.

Lincoln's political reputation was so great that even Lincoln led his troops to fight them with real guns and swords.

There are still many soldiers in the army who don't believe it at all.

"I agree... We are also victims! And... double victims! Lincoln betrayed us, and the Federation also suspected us... I have never suffered such injustice in my life!"

Secretary of State Seward almost shed tears as he spoke.

He swore that these few days were the most aggrieved time in his life.

They are just like Zhu Bajie looking in the mirror, neither human inside nor outside.

"Damn Lincoln! Damn Congress!"

His aggrieved speech once again aroused everyone's hatred and they cursed in unison again.

"John! Where is Lincoln's family! He has made us suffer so much persecution... I really can't swallow this! Since he dared to betray us, let us make him suffer even greater pain!" Johnson suddenly raised his head and looked at Secretary of the Interior John Usher with vicious eyes. He wanted revenge and vent, otherwise he would really go crazy.

"The President...Lincoln had already taken his wife, his son, and even his cat...to the Confederacy. Now there is nothing in his residence! Obviously, he had planned his current actions a long time ago! He had long wanted to betray the Union." John gritted his teeth as he said this.

"Damn it!"

"This despicable person!"

As expected, there was another round of vicious curses, and then everyone fell into an even more solemn silence. It seemed as if a huge rock that was slowly growing was pressing on everyone's heart, and this rock was really getting heavier and heavier, and it was no longer possible for them to remove it.

Wow!

Then, when the meeting room was so quiet that only the sound of each other's breathing could be heard, there was a sudden commotion outside.

When the voice came, Johnson and everyone present frowned and wanted to get angry.

With a bang, the door of the conference room was pushed open.

"President! Come out...come out to see God!"

"Washington! President Washington...He, he's coming!"

As soon as the office clerk came in, he reported the news breathlessly.

To see God? President Washington?

Johnson and others felt inexplicably depressed.

……

"This presidential residence actually has this kind of layout... To be honest, I didn't have the chance to live in it back then. When I saw it, it was still a half-finished product..."

"Is this the scene where I voluntarily resigned from my official position after the War of Independence?"

"The one above doesn't look like me at all..."

Five minutes later, Johnson and others watched Washington strolling leisurely along the corridor of the presidential residence.

At this moment... Washington just walked to his portrait, and his face directly overlapped with the face in the portrait.

In the entire presidential residence, hundreds of officials... silently watched Washington, each of them looking like they had seen a ghost or God.

In short, although there were a lot of people at the scene, there was no other sound at all, and the scene was very weird for a while.

"I am so lucky... I really didn't expect that future presidents would be so lucky to be able to handle national affairs in such a beautiful and clean place."

"Look, Lewis... they put the letter you wrote to persuade me to become king here."

Washington was not afraid of embarrassment. He and his subordinate Lewis watched all this with curiosity. He even saw the letter Lewis wrote to persuade him to take the throne.

"General...it's true!" Lewis also took a look and immediately made a surprised sound.

"President Washington..."

"You...are you a human or a ghost?"

Secretary of War Stanton finally couldn't help but ask a question, breaking the silence on their side.

Because, if they didn't ask any more questions, Washington would be right in front of them.

"Haha...you should be the president of our America now, right?" Washington was waiting for this moment and immediately gave the Secretary of the Army a kind smile.

"No, no... President Washington, I'm not! I'm just President Lincoln... No, I'm just President Johnson's Secretary of War!" The Secretary of the Army's answer was also incoherent, but fortunately he reacted quickly and pushed Johnson forward.

"President Washington, this is the current President of our Union, Johnson!"

"Mr. President Washington... hello..." Johnson spoke woodenly and extended his hand stiffly.

"Haha, President Johnson? I heard that your situation has not been good recently. Do you need any help from me?" Washington generously extended his hand.

Johnson shook it woodenly and found that Washington's hand was warm.

"President Washington...I...we are suffering!"

At this moment, Johnson seemed like a child who had been wronged by his parents. The emotions and grievances accumulated over the past few days suddenly burst out. His eyes turned red and he hugged Washington directly.

"President Washington! We are so wronged! You don't know that there is a big traitor in our federation!"

"Lincoln! That damned villain Lincoln! He betrayed our Union!"

"Let us suffer all kinds of injustice!"

Men don't shed tears easily, but only when they are sad.

Johnson and others, who were misunderstood by the whole world, seemed to have encountered the light, found a home, and found a way out when they appeared in Washington. They really started wiping away tears as soon as they spoke.

"Yes! President Washington, it's great that you showed up! We are suffering so much!"

"Now we have suffered the greatest betrayal since the founding of our country! Lincoln betrayed us..."

Once Johnson's emotional dam collapsed, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Postmaster General and other cabinet leaders, even though they were in their forties, could not help but wipe away their tears and began to cry and complain to Washington with tears and bitterness.

This emotion naturally infected hundreds of officials. They all had tears in their eyes, but at the same time they also felt the inexplicable pressure on them relieved. With Washington here, they had a clear sky.

In short, they are now at their most vulnerable moment. Although Washington's origins are unknown, he is ultimately the totem symbol of America and the patriarch of America. With his arrival, America will have support and everyone will feel reassured.

"Okay... kids, don't cry..."

"What kind of injustice have you suffered? Come on, tell me one sentence at a time."

"God sent me here because he heard your prayers. We Americans are always blessed by God."

Washington obviously had the potential to be a charlatan. Although this scene was beyond his expectations, he was also able to adapt to the situation and cooperated immediately. At this time, Washington was glad that when Lincoln announced his vote for the South, he did not appear on the podium like Jackson and others.

"Is such that……"

"Mr. President Washington..."

"..."

Johnson and his colleagues also found a way to solemnly invite Washington to the conference room, and began to tell Washington everything in detail, hoping to get justice from Washington.

Although... some people felt something was wrong and wanted to ask if Washington was the reinforcements Lincoln invited, but in this atmosphere, no one said it in the end.

However... a few minutes later, Johnson and his team realized that instead of a savior, they were hit by a bolt from the blue.

"Children, you are wrong! Lincoln wants to unify the whole America, so let him unify the whole America!"

"Southerners and Northerners, aren't we all Americans? Why do you have to make such clear distinctions?"

It seemed that there was no need to send troops, and Washington tried to convince them in this more metaphysical way.

After these words were spoken, Johnson and his group were collectively dumbfounded again.

"President Washington...you...you weren't summoned by President Lincoln?"

Secretary of War Stanton's heart skipped a beat. The truth was revealed. He thought, maybe Washington was also a reinforcement invited by Lincoln? What's the point of that?

(End of this chapter)