The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 697: Send troops to Washington if you lose the election? Such a familiar script!
June in Tianjing was as hot as a steamer. The carved windows of the Wuwang Mansion were wide open, but no breeze could get in. Only the moisture from the Qinhuai River stuck to the skin, making people feel uncomfortable. Luo Yaoguo unbuttoned his collar and spread the secret telegram from Emperor Xianfeng on the table. Maria fanned herself with a sandalwood fan, while Feng Yunshan squinted his eyes and slowly ran his fingers over the telegram, while whispering:

"Your Highness, Zhao Si, respectfully reports: I have observed that the American states have seen a great development in industry and commerce since the division of the North and the South. In 1856, the Besmer process for steelmaking was invented, and by 1859, the country's steel production exceeded tons, a twenty-fold increase over three years earlier. Pennsylvania is densely populated with coal mines, producing more than million tons a year; New England has more than textile factories, and its annual output of cotton cloth could circle the earth three times. The Great Lakes are crowded with iron ships, and twelve boats are docked every month, all with a load capacity of more than tons.

Chicago is a place where railroad tracks meet. In 1858, the railway line exceeded miles, and this year the Central Railway Hub was built. The steel mills in the west of the city are burning day and night, with smoke and fog covering the sky, and more than workers. New York City has many shops, a population of more than million, and an annual port throughput of million US dollars. These are all signs of the great development of industry.

In this year's presidential election, Republican Lincoln used "moderate abolition" as his banner. Although he said he would not abolish the old slavery system in the South, he insisted on banning slavery in new states. He also advocated increasing the tariff to 37 cents, claiming to protect domestic products and promote industry. His party convention has already decided that Lincoln will be the leader, and he will soon issue a political platform and give a speech to canvass votes.

However, looking at Douglas of the Democratic Party, his party has always advocated "state rights and self-determination" and "light taxes and levies". Although he has won the hearts of the people, he may not have enough electoral votes. If he loses the election, he will use the excuse of unfair vote counting to protest. I heard that the southern slave states are already plotting that if Lincoln wins the throne, they will immediately send troops to Washington to force Douglas to take the throne. In addition, I found that the Republican Party has also decided on a "mild anti-Chinese" policy, which actually blocks our compatriots from the west of the Rocky Mountains, so we must be especially vigilant.

I humbly implore Your Highness to formulate a strategy as soon as possible, either by sending steamships to cruise the Pacific Ocean, or by transporting fast guns and powerful cannons to Jinshan to prepare for any unexpected eventuality.

Your humble servant Zhao Si bows his head and bows again. April 25, the tenth year of the Tianli calendar (Sealed with wax: Charleston Bishop's Palace)."

"Send troops to Washington if you lose the election?" Luo Yaoguo sneered, "I'm very familiar with this script."

Feng Yunshan looked up at Luo Yaoguo and said, "Ninth brother, could it be that someone in heaven has done this before?"

"It's true!" Luo Yaoguo nodded with a smile.

Maria snapped her fan shut and asked, "Did the person who did that in heaven succeed?"

"It didn't work," Luo Yaoguo said with a smile, "The one in the sky was a little ambitious but incompetent, and he didn't have any capable helpers below, so he couldn't organize it when the time came."

"Can the Southerners succeed this time?" Maria's blue eyes flashed with a cunning look, "Would you like to give them a hand?"

Feng Yunshan frowned and said, "We don't need to get too involved in American affairs, right? Besides, Lincoln's mild anti-Chinese sentiment is also beneficial to our people's yellowing of the West Coast. Why don't we just let him do what he wants?"

Luo Yaoguo looked back at Maria: "Maria, what do you think?"

Maria chuckled: "I think we should try to trip up the Americans. Otherwise, after Lincoln has dealt with the slave owners in the South, he will have to deal with the Chinese on the West Coast!"

"Sister Maria, do you think Lincoln would still deal with the slave owners in the South?" Feng Yunshan was stunned. "Didn't he want to abolish slavery in a gentle way?"

Luo Yaoguo snorted, "But he wants to raise the tariff to 37%! The Americans will raise tariffs, but Britain, France, Prussia, and Austria won't? If these Europeans also impose a 37% tariff on American cotton, who will the southern slaves sell their cotton to? If the cotton can't be sold, the slave owners themselves will go bankrupt, so why keep slaves? How can this be called moderate abolition? It's clearly cutting off the source of the trouble, and forcing the southern slave owners to death!"

"But why did he do this?" Feng Yunshan was puzzled. "Is it to save the black slaves?"

"No!" Luo Yaoguo snorted and laughed. "Lincoln raised tariffs to further develop American industry, to attract European factory owners to open factories in the United States, and to attract European engineers, skilled workers and ordinary labor immigrants to the United States."

"Are Europeans willing to go?" Feng Yunshan turned his gaze to Maria when asking.

"Yes!" Maria nodded. "Salaries in the United States are high and prices are low. American workers' wages are twice as high as those in the UK! And prices, especially food and housing prices, are much lower than in the UK. If British factory owners move their factories to the United States, engineers and workers will definitely be willing to follow them."

The United States in the mid-19th century, especially after the Civil War, was truly a dreamlike country chosen by God!

Wages were twice as high as those of the top imperialist powers like Britain! They were seven or eight times higher than those of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (even higher if gold was mined in the West), but prices were still low - the agricultural endowment of the United States was too good! In other words, the transportation on the West Coast was inconvenient, and it was too easy to make money by digging for gold, which led to high food prices. In the East Coast of the United States, food was very cheap, otherwise the black slaves would not have so much meat to eat!

Moreover, the industry of the United States had actually risen during this era. It ranked second in the world in steel, second in shipbuilding, second in coal, second in textiles, and first in oil—of course, these firsts and seconds were all based on production, and they were very “done”!
In addition, there are still a large number of gold mines, silver mines, and copper mines in the United States today. These days, the currencies of various countries are linked to precious metals, so whatever is dug out is money!
In addition, the infrastructure of the United States was quite good during this period. The railway was the best in the world! And it was leading by a cliff, reaching 1858 miles in 3! Many canals were dug in the eastern United States, and inland water transportation was very cheap.

Finally, although the United States today advocates white supremacy and racial discrimination, it welcomes European immigrants. No matter whether the immigrants are rich, educated, or skilled, they are all Americans! They can obtain citizenship after settling in the United States for 5 years.

So today, the United States has money, resources, industrial infrastructure, low cost of living, high wages, and welcomes immigrants (white people). Under such circumstances, it is absolutely the right way to impose high tariffs and attract European capitalists and workers to develop. Therefore, after the Civil War, the United States spent 30 years imposing high tariffs to make its industry the world's number one. This rival should not be underestimated!
Luo Yaoguo pondered for a moment: "Third brother, Maria, what I mean is, if the United States really rises up, it will definitely compete with us for the Pacific Ocean and drive our people out of the West Coast. So we must do something shady to them!"

Feng Yunshan frowned and asked, "Ninth brother, how do you do this?"

"We have to give those southerners some good advice and send them some arms." Luo Yaoguo tried hard to recall the past events in "heaven" - I wonder if the "commander-in-chief" was elected later?

He pondered for a while and sneered, "The US presidential election is not based on the popular vote, but on the electoral vote, and the electoral vote sometimes cannot reflect the true public opinion. If Douglas wins the popular vote but loses the electoral vote, the Southerners will definitely not accept it. Let's teach them - if you don't have enough votes, then use your feet to make up for it!"

Maria raised an eyebrow: "How?"

Luo Yaoguo dipped his finger in tea and drew a rough map of Washington on the table: "Let the southern states organize a 'popularity delegation' and march into Washington under the banner of 'give me election fairness'. They will protest outside the Capitol with guns and force those electors to 'follow public opinion'."

Feng Yunshan frowned: "But what if the elector refuses to change?"

"That depends on whether Breckinridge is willing to take the risk," Luo Yaoguo said. "The person in charge of counting the electoral votes is Vice President Breckinridge, who is also the Senate President. As long as he is willing to follow public opinion and announce that Douglas has been elected, Douglas can become president!"

Maria clapped her hands and chuckled: "If he and the Democrats were to do this, the Republicans would definitely not accept it."

Luo Yaoguo said, "If you don't accept it, then start a civil war!" He laughed and said, "The United States is originally a situation where the South is weak and the North is strong. If the North takes over the Union, the South will have no chance to fight. If the South can take over the Union in this way, then this war may be a good one."

Feng Yunshan nodded and said, "If you really want to do this, it's best to create public opinion first and break up Lincoln's conspiracy to use high tariffs to force the southern plantation owners to death, crush them, and make them clear."

Luo Yaoguo laughed: "Yes! First create public opinion, then rush to Capitol Hill, and at the same time prepare to go to war to protect the law, three-pronged approach!"

He turned to Maria and said, "Maria, record it!"

Maria immediately took out her notebook and pen and began to record the secret message dictated by Luo Yaoguo.

"To Paris Rinko: Go to Charleston immediately and present this to Zhao Si. The plan is: organize southern righteous people to come to Beijing and use public opinion to pressure the electorate. If this fails, incite them to revolt. Also, contact southern congressmen and secretly store munitions in Virginia in case of an emergency."

After Maria finished recording, Luo Yaoguo added: "One more sentence - 'You can tell Prince Napoleon: If this plan succeeds, the North and South of America will be split, and then France's plot in Mexico will succeed.'"

After Maria left, Feng Yunshan suddenly asked, "If the southerners really make trouble and Douglas comes to power, what good will it do us?"

Luo Yaoguo sneered: "How can it be so easy? After all, there are only more than 500 million white people in the South, and more than 2000 million white people in the North, and they also have a strong industry!"

Feng Yunshan said: "I hope our people can make good use of the years when the Yankees are fighting each other and really manage the three states on the west coast."

Luo Yaoguo's eyes turned cold: "No matter whether our people can take root on the West Coast or not, we must make America chaotic, the more chaotic the better!"

As he was speaking, there was suddenly a rumble of thunder outside the window, and the long-brewing heavy rain finally poured down. The raindrops hit the bluestone slabs with a crackling sound, and the steaming summer heat dissipated slightly.

Feng Yunshan looked at the rain and said quietly, "I'm afraid this rain will fall to the other side of the Pacific Ocean."

Luo Yaoguo stood with his hands behind his back, his lips slightly raised: "The heavier the rain, the better."

(End of this chapter)