The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 763: The King of the East’s Kindness, Fighting against Xian and Aiding the United States

Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury of the Northern Federal Government of the United States, clenched his fists tightly, not to beat anyone, but to vent his anger so that the smile on his face would look more natural. There was drizzling rain on Fifth Avenue outside the window, as if crying for America's first "unequal treaty".

As a signatory to this "unequal treaty" - he represented the beneficiaries of the unequal treaty and was trying hard to suppress his excitement. He couldn't let a group of reporters who didn't know that the "Pacific Railway Franchise Grant Contract" officially signed today was actually an "unequal treaty" disguised as a contract see any clues.

According to the contract, the Pacific Railway Company, jointly invested by the California Bank Group, will have the exclusive right to build roads in the Rocky Mountains in the United States for 30 years. It will also have the security management and franchise rights of the six major passes in the Rocky Mountains for a period of 30 years.

That is to say, for the next 30 years, the California Bank (actually the True Covenant Archdiocese of the United States) can prevent the railway from connecting the east and west coasts of the United States through the Rocky Mountains.

Without the railway crossing the Rocky Mountains, the three states on the west coast of the United States would have become a de facto independent kingdom - a country within a country belonging to the Chinese!

"bang bang bang"

When the spotlights exploded, reporters from the New York Herald and the Wall Street Journal saw Huang Shiren, the general manager of California True Promise Bank, sign the contract with a brush and then stamp it with a bright red "True Promise Bank" seal. Next to his signature and seal was the cursive handwriting of U.S. Treasury Secretary Chase signed with a quill pen, and of course the seal of the U.S. Treasury Department.

"God bless the United States!"

People watching the ceremony in the East Hall of the Presidential Palace applauded and cheered - this contract would certainly not be given to the California Bank Consortium for nothing. The California Bank Consortium would need to pay up to 2500 million pounds or equivalent in gold and silver to purchase the 30-year "Gold Bond" issued by the US Treasury.

Zheng Yongning, the military attaché of the Kingdom of Korea, was also invited to watch the ceremony. He turned his head and said to Hong Rengan in Chinese: "Is Lincoln selling out the three states on the west coast this time?"

Hong Rengan whispered, "They are gambling."

"they are"

"King Luo Wu and Lincoln!" Hong Rengan said, "King Luo Wu bet that Lincoln would win, and also bet that the post-war United States would give the three states on the west coast thirty years. And Lincoln bet that the United States could be reborn from the ashes after this civil war and become the world's industrial leader!"

At this moment, the sound of Lincoln's leather heels hitting the marble floor interrupted the whispers. The president held a telegram in his hand and raised it high: "Gentlemen, just three hours ago, the Pittsburgh Armory produced the 20,000th Spencer breech-loading rifle." Applause exploded like fried beans.

"In addition, our 500th Sharps breech-loading rifle will also be delivered to the army next month." Lincoln tapped the podium with his index finger knuckles. "Last month, our workers cast Parrott cannons, and the Gatling plant in Philadelphia just shipped out the th machine gun yesterday. At the Brooklyn Navy Yard," he suddenly pointed out the window, and the sound of the harbor whistle happened to come, "the fifth Liberty-class ironclad ship is on trial."

Hong Rengan frowned slightly. These "good news" announced by Lincoln were all very valuable!

Both the Spencer breech-loader and the Sharps breech-loader are breech-loading rifles, and the Parrott cannon is also a breech-loading cannon. Looking around the world, these weapons are extremely advanced, and the Gatling machine gun is unique in the world.

The production of these advanced weapons is not low. The number just revealed by Lincoln is enough to arm 10 Union infantry divisions.
Lincoln's good news continued: "We have trained 100 million soldiers, and this number will become 120 million by next month. While the slave owners in the South are still counting cotton bales, the machine tools in the North are producing freedom!"

When Hong Rengan heard the figure of 1200 million rounds of bullets per month, he couldn't help but mutter to himself: "It's time for the King of the East to increase his investment in Lincoln."

Pennsylvania Railroad terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Yamamoto Gonbei was standing on the platform sketching when his pencil suddenly stopped moving - the armored train turret was too difficult to draw. "Look at that turntable," Nanyun Shichiroemon whispered in Japanese, "it holds a 12-pound Dahlgren breech-loading gun and can rotate 360 ​​degrees. It would be nice if we could take it apart and take a look."

The sound of military songs came from far away. The two hurriedly put away their sketchbooks and hid behind a stone pillar. They saw a group of soldiers singing "March on Georgia" coming towards them. The red-necked soldier holding a Gatling gun whistled at the passing girl, and the brand new 3-inch breech-loading gun on the tractor looked majestic. "It is ten times stronger than the weapons in the Seoul Arsenal." Yamamoto opened the sketchbook and looked at a Gatling machine gun drawn on it. "Did you see their shells and bombs?" Nanyun suddenly put his hand on his companion's shoulder. Next to a freight car twenty steps away, dozens of workers were moving boxes of ammunition into the car, "They are all copper shells, right? I heard that they can produce hundreds of thousands of rounds a month."

"It's time to send a telegram to His Royal Highness the Eastern King." Yamamoto said, looking at the American train, "The Americans are producing guns and ammunition faster than the Koreans are making kimchi. The winner of this war must be the North." As the steam from the troop carrier blurred their vision, the two Japanese heard the red-necked soldiers humming "John Brown's Song". Nanyun put the pencil behind his ear and whispered, "Perhaps I should suggest that His Royal Highness come to America in person to share a piece of the pie."

Yamamoto looked at the armored train gradually disappearing at the end of the platform, and suddenly thought of his real homeland, Japan - this country will soon share a pair of monarchs with North Korea.
Yang Xiuqing's fingers tapped out the rhythm of "A Man Should Be Self-reliant" on the car window. The 15-year-old prince Yang Chengtian pointed to the scattered slopes outside the window and said, "Look, father, those ridges are bent like earthworms crawling."

Although the Kingdom of Korea had divided the land between the two classes and embarked on the road of industrialization, its foundation was weak.

"Chengtian, you said that North Korea's way out lies overseas?" King Dong suddenly spoke. He had white hair on his temples and looked much older than his actual age.

The young man nodded: "Daozi said that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom now has hundreds of thousands of immigrants every year, which is nothing compared to their hundreds of millions of people, but they can bring a lot of remittances to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and they can also continue to buy Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's goods and sell a lot of food to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The tens of millions of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom overseas are too important to them! And North Korea and Japan also have a large population and a small land area!"

When the train stopped at Seoul Station, the guards of the East Palace brought three pages of urgent telegrams that had just been translated by the Seoul Telegraph Bureau. The translated text made Yang Xiuqing frown: "Hong Rengan said that American Lincoln had sold the railway rights to Chinese merchants in California, and the California banking group controlled by King Luo Wu bought 2500 million pounds of American bonds. Yamamoto and Nanyun reported that New York produces ten times more guns and cannons than us." When he read "It is recommended to send elite troops to the United States to help suppress the rebellion", the boy suddenly looked up: "Father, I want to go to America and meet Zhao Si!"

In the VIP waiting room of Frankfort Station in Kentucky, Xianfeng used a dagger to pick open the secret letter sent by Lingli from New Orleans and read in a low voice: "The California Bank Group purchased 2500 million pounds of gold bonds, and the New York Federal Government granted the California Consortium the right to build the Rocky Mountain Railway."

Bell, who was waiting beside Zhao Si, raised her eyebrows, because she saw a deep worry on Xianfeng's thin, pockmarked face. Although Xianfeng's army was rampant in Tennessee and Kentucky during this period, Grant's Northern Army did not dare to fight them, but the situation was much worse than before west of the Mississippi River - Xianfeng's "black army" was more like bandits! They wandered around the "black slave dense areas" in Tennessee and Kentucky, liberating black slaves and burning plantations wherever they went. But the whites also learned their lesson, and they often left with valuables, weapons and ammunition before Xianfeng's army arrived, and sometimes burned food.

After the arrival of Xianfeng's army, they would launch guerrilla warfare, using the complex terrain of Kentucky to attack the isolated black army. Grant adopted the tactics of blocking transportation lines, defending major cities and controlling major rivers, and launched a stranglehold on the black army.
Xianfeng held the secret letter close to the kerosene lamp and burned it to ashes, muttering to himself in Chinese: "Does King Luo Wu have such low hopes for my black army? Isn't it better to divide the country into three parts than to split the west?"

At this time, Heidehai opened the curtain and came in, bringing news that made Xianfeng frown even more: "General McMullen has arrived, and he has brought the order from Commander-in-Chief Robert Lee!"

When McMullen walked in through the curtain, the kerosene lamp cast his shadow on the mottled wall of the waiting room. The Confederate major general pulled out a wax-sealed parchment from his cowhide briefcase, and the brass buttons were still stained with mud from the Tennessee River.

"Zhao Si, my old friend, General Robert hopes that your black army can raid Memphis." He took off his cavalry gloves, revealing his right hand with two broken knuckles - that was cut off by his son when fighting the Northern Army a few months ago. "In addition, the Northern Army is gathering heavy troops in the Mississippi River Basin. We are going to have a big fight in the Mississippi River."

"A big fight?" Xianfeng was stunned. "Now? Why?"

McMullen sighed softly: "The Navy did something stupid. Their three 'Glorious' class ships collided with the Union's five 'Oriental' class ships at the mouth of the Sahaquesna River."

"Lost the battle?" Xianfeng asked.

"We won," McMullen said. "Three of our ships were damaged, and two of the enemy were sunk."

“Isn’t that great?”

McMullen shook his head. "You can't calculate it that way. The Union Army now has two ironclad ships commissioned every month, and it will take us half a year to repair those three ships! General Lee believes that in a few months, our maritime trade will be cut off, and the situation will be very difficult. So he decided to launch a decisive battle in the Mississippi River Basin in 2! What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)