The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 805: The Fall of Capitol Hill

At four o'clock in the morning on July 1866, 7, the sky over Washington was still shrouded in endless darkness. Xianfeng stood in front of the window of the Willard Hotel, gently fiddling with the tassels of the curtains. Through the glass, he could see the unfinished dome of the Capitol Hill, glowing palely under the illumination of the gas lamp.

"Prince Consort Nanyi, everything is ready." Han Yulin appeared quietly at the door, holding a neatly ironed black tuxedo in his hands, "President Davis' carriage has been waiting downstairs for half an hour."

Xianfeng did not look back, but stared at the figures swaying on the steps of the Capitol in the distance. Those rednecks were holding torches and placards that read "Get Out of Yellow Peril" and protesting there - protesting the upcoming passage of the seven state constitutions of "Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma"!
"Old Han," he suddenly said, with a hint of joking in his voice, "Do you think that our group of 'yellow monkeys' can walk out of Capitol Hill alive today?"

Han Yulin hung his tuxedo on a gilded hanger and pulled out a silver-plated revolver from his waist. "Don't worry, Prince Consort. President Davis has already made arrangements. Today, the Russian mercenaries of Tupolev are in charge of Washington's security. The congressmen on Capitol Hill have also reached an agreement, with at least a majority of the votes." He paused, "That's right. I'm afraid those rednecks won't be able to swallow this, and they'll cause trouble in the future."

Xianfeng finally turned around, a cold light flashed in his triangular eyes: "I want what they can't swallow!" He grabbed the copper case pocket watch on the table and took a look, "Let's go, it's time to meet our American 'compatriots'."

When Xianfeng, along with Black Tom, Black Zengke, Black Dehai, Black Louis (also a black general under Xianfeng), Amur Foye, Black Bear Khan, Red Cloud Khan and Han Yulin, stepped onto the cherry wood floor of the House of Representatives, the entire venue seemed to have been dropped by a bomb. Georgia Congressman Robert Toombs was so angry that he flipped over the table in front of him.

"Oh my God! This is a blasphemy against white civilization!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, the veins on his neck bulging like earthworms. Behind him, a dozen southern congressmen had already pulled out the Colt revolvers they carried with them.

Heidehai immediately put his hand on the holster at his waist, but was stopped by Xianfeng's eyes. The commander of the Second Black Division of Colorado specially changed into a brand new blue woolen uniform today, and the brass buttons on the chest were polished to a shine.

"Silence! Silence!" Speaker Thomas Bocock banged his gavel desperately, his voice drowned out by the curses. Someone threw a Bible at Amur Buddha, who was spinning a prayer wheel. The "archbishop" leaned sideways, and the heavy Bible "banged" on the forehead of a Mississippi federal congressman.

Xianfeng took seven gold-stamped state constitutions from his briefcase slowly and laid them out in a row on the speaker's chair under President Davis' gloomy gaze. The sun shone through the stained glass windows onto the documents, and each of the "sacred" constitutions, which symbolized the supremacy of state power, shone with a solemn golden glow.

"According to Article 1787, Section of the Constitution of ," he said in a thick American Southern accent, "the constitutions of these states have been approved by referendum. Now all that is left is for Congress to approve them."

"A referendum?" A Mississippi congressman sneered. "Letting niggers and redskins vote counts as a referendum?"

Black Tom suddenly pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the white man from Mississippi. The commander of the Black Knight Brigade, who represented New Mexico, showed his white teeth and said, "Sir, if you in Mississippi don't have the support of us blacks and redskins, you will be crushed by the Yankee tanks in less than a month!"

The venue suddenly became so quiet that one could hear the ticking of pocket watches.

Today, the gentlemen sitting in the House of Representatives' chamber on Capitol Hill have witnessed the "anti-tank gymnastics" of the Black Legion, and have also learned about the power of the "Medin Denver" anti-tank grenade.
Therefore, even if they are unwilling, they have to hold their noses and vote to pass the "Seven State Constitution" today. Otherwise, they will be defeated soon, and the Southern Confederacy and the supremacy of states' rights will all be empty talk.

"boom--"

Lincoln slammed his fist on the oak conference table, making the coffee cups clink. "Seven states! Seven states!" his voice was terribly hoarse. "Davis is going to turn the west of the Mississippi into the second Haiti!"

Secretary of State William Seward carefully handed over a telegram: "Mr. President, Huang Shiren of the True Bank sent a letter of commitment. He said that if we pass the state constitutions of Utah and Nevada today, the California Banking Group is willing to subscribe to another 50 million pounds of war bonds."

Secretary of War Edwin Stanton immediately added: "With this money, we can stabilize the greenback currency so that we can build more steam tanks, 3-inch cannons, Gatling machine guns and Spencer repeating rifles. General Grant said that with these advanced weapons, Vicksburg and the entire Mississippi can be taken within three months."

Lincoln's eyes swept across the huge battle map on the wall. The blue arrows representing the Northern Army were densely pointing to the south, but in the vast territory of the West, the "black, red and yellow" areas representing the power of people of color were expanding rapidly. "Mormons are at least white," he suddenly said, as if to convince himself, "Brigham Young's disciples just have different beliefs from us." His fingers ran across the map of Nevada, "As for the Chinese miners here, Grand Duchess Natalia's silver mine does need labor. The largest silver mine there belongs to this Russian Grand Duchess of noble descent, and her skin is whiter than all of us!"

Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells suddenly interjected: "But the white supremacists in Congress won't agree to that."

"Then tell them!" Lincoln said earnestly, "Tell Sumner and Stevens that every day of delay will kill a thousand more northern boys. They are all white!" His shadow was stretched long by the sunlight and cast on the wall like a skeleton. "I want to see the voting results before sunset."

The scorching sun at noon scorched the white dome of the Capitol Hill in Washington. Xianfeng stood in the shadow of the corridor, watching President Davis sweating profusely in the speaker's seat. The southern congressmen had been arguing for three hours, and some even pulled out dueling pistols.

"Mr. President," Xianfeng leaned close to Davis' ear, his voice so soft that only the two of them could hear it, "the defenders of Vicksburg are still waiting for this batch of anti-tank grenades." He deliberately patted the briefcase, and a sound of metal colliding came from inside.

Davis' pupils suddenly contracted. Just yesterday, an urgent report came from the front: the Northern Army's steam tank cluster had arrived outside Vicksburg, and General Lee's troops were in urgent need of new weapons.

"Gentlemen!" Davis suddenly shouted, his voice so loud that even he was startled, "In the name of the President of the United States, I demand an immediate vote on the motion for the seven states to join the federation!"

The meeting was in an uproar again. The Florida delegate jumped onto the stage, waving a copy of the Charleston Courier: "Look at this! The Colorado Constitution states that blacks, reds, yellows, and whites are created equal! This is a blatant provocation to white supremacy!"

Xianfeng winked at Heidehai. The black division commander immediately stood up, his 1.80-meter-tall body standing like an iron tower in the center of the meeting room: "In Colorado, we call this 'democracy', and states' supremacy!" His voice was as deep as thunder, "Or do you prefer the Yankee's federal supremacy and abolitionism?"

The words were like a bucket of gasoline poured on a fire. Alabama congressmen pulled out their pistols and fired into the air, and plaster fragments from the ceiling fell. Amur Buddha's prayer wheel suddenly accelerated, making an eerie buzzing sound.

"Vote!" Davis shouted at the top of his lungs. "Vote now!"

At 6:45 in the evening, when the last ray of sunlight left the dome of Capitol Hill, the exhausted clerk finally sang the last "yes". The bill for the seven states to join the Union was passed by a narrow margin, at the cost of President Davis's promise to support the southern states to secede from the Union and form the Confederate States of America when necessary.

Xianfeng stood on the steps, watching the southern congressmen leave the meeting angrily one by one. Some of them spat at him and staggered back in fear of Black Tom's pistol.

"Prince Consort, we won." Han Yulin said in a low voice.

Xianfeng shook his head and put on his hat. "We've only won half the battle." He lowered his voice and said to Han Yulin in Chinese, "It looks like the American Civil War will have to go on for another two or three years. But the South's weakness cannot be changed. Our state constitution has only been approved by the Southern Congress, and the Northern Congress doesn't recognize us yet!"

Han Yulin smiled and said, "With your ability, this shouldn't be that difficult, right? When Lincoln knows that his steam tanks are no match for your black and red soldiers, you will do whatever it takes to win! The American Civil War has been fought to this point, and we have already won for the sake of winning. No one can afford to lose!"

Meanwhile, on the roof of the Federal Building in New York, Lincoln was staring at a bloody moon. Stanton hurried over and handed over a telegram: "Mr. President, General Grant called, secret intelligence shows that the first batch of anti-tank weapons of the Confederate Army has arrived in Vicksburg."

Lincoln did not turn around, but asked softly: "Stanton, do you think we have opened a Pandora's box?"

The night wind howled, but no one answered. But Lincoln already had the answer in his heart. The cost of this civil war was too heavy, which was beyond everyone's imagination before the war started, and now it seemed that it would take another two or three years.
(End of this chapter)