The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 884 Nicholas Zhao Si: I actually love America!

The wheels of the gilded carriage rolled over the gravel of Pennsylvania Avenue, and the hooves of the horses of the twelve Colorado "Black Knights" made a neat sound. Nicholas Zhao Si, the Colorado state senator who made the white gentlemen on Capitol Hill in Washington grit their teeth, was stroking the state emblem embroidered in gold thread on his sleeves, while squinting his triangular eyes and scanning the parade outside the car window holding signs that read "Yellow Peril Get Out of America." The protesters' spit splashed on the glass, and they were forced back three steps by the cold barrels of the knights' guns.

"A-choo!" Zhao Si suddenly rubbed his nose and muttered, "It must be some white man cursing me to hell."

His personal guard captain, a six-foot-tall black veteran who had fought for the Confederate Army in the Civil War, asked in a low voice: "Sir, do you want to take a detour? The group of white ghosts ahead don't look very friendly."

Zhao Si sneered, "Why go around? I'm a federal senator. If they dare to touch me, tomorrow all the newspapers in Washington will publish 'Mob attacks Congressman'!" He paused, and added, "Besides, if a fight really breaks out, our twelve black knights can send all these losers to the hospital."

The carriage continued to move forward, and Zhao Si's eyes fell on the sign of a newly opened "Pacific Trading Company" on the corner of the street. It was one of his businesses, specializing in importing silk, tea and porcelain from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and then selling them to the wealthy people on the East Coast at high prices. The corners of his mouth rose slightly - it was ironic that these white masters were scrambling to buy his goods while cursing the "yellow peril". In addition to making a lot of money from his own business, Zhao Si now had power that ranked among the top in the United States.

He became the governor of Colorado after the Civil War and served two terms. After leaving office last year, he ran for the Colorado U.S. Senate. It was called "running", but it was just a formality. All the "black masters" in Colorado were brought up by him. Who else could they run for if not him? So when he announced that he would run for the Colorado U.S. Senate on behalf of the Republican Party, the Democratic Party simply gave up and did not even put forward a candidate.

The reason why he wanted to be a federal senator from Colorado was because he knew that in the United States, the senators and congressmen who could firmly control a constituency were "gods"! The ministers of the Qing Dynasty and the military ministers could not compare with the American congressmen. After all, there was an emperor above the ministers of the political affairs and military ministers. If a minister was too greedy, he might be sanctioned, and some even lost their lives.

In the United States, it has been 100 years since the founding of the country, and there has not been a single federal senator or federal representative who has been imprisoned. Not even one! In another 100 years, it is highly likely that no federal senator or federal representative will be imprisoned. As for beheading, forget it.

In Zhao Si's opinion, these federal senators and federal congressmen in the United States actually possess the imperial power! Of course, not all the imperial power, but part of it. They are actually the "little emperors" of America!
This "little emperor" can make whatever money he wants, as long as he can control the constituencies, basically there will be no problem.

Because according to the "royal law" of the United States, the president of the federation cannot remove senators and representatives from their positions. In theory, to remove a member of the House of Representatives, one must go through the impeachment procedure or internal expulsion procedure.

The procedure for impeaching a member of Congress is similar to that for impeaching the president, requiring a simple majority in the House of Representatives and a two-thirds majority in the Senate. The procedure for internal expulsion is a separate vote in the House where the member of Congress is located, which must be passed by a two-thirds majority.

It is worth mentioning that the impeachment process can be accompanied by a "disqualification vote", which means a ban on holding any federal office - only at the federal level, and state-level public office can still be elected (historically there was a "Fourteenth Amendment" that could prohibit holding all public offices, but this amendment does not exist in this time and space). In other words, even if Zhao Si was impeached and returned to Colorado, he could still be elected as governor, state high court justice, and other public offices.

Of course, from the founding of the United States to this day, no federal senator or federal representative has ever been successfully impeached. There has only been one "precedent" of a failed impeachment, the "William Brown Case" in 1797. This guy was accused of treason in 1797. The House of Representatives passed the impeachment, but the Senate rejected it on the grounds that "members of Congress are not impeachable civilian officials" and instead initiated an internal expulsion procedure. In the United States, which practices case law, the Senate's congressional masters in 1797 closed the door to the impeachment of members of Congress.

Internal expulsion cannot be accompanied by "disqualification from voting". If you expel someone today, and he returns to his constituency tomorrow and votes again, then the expulsion will be in vain. This has actually happened. Before the Civil War, a Southern senator who seriously injured someone on Capitol Hill was expelled, but he came back again. It was so lawless, more arrogant than Oboi!
In addition to the "deportation procedure", the Americans can theoretically arrest a federal senator or congressman through judicial procedures - only in theory! Because in the more than 100 years since the founding of the United States, no incumbent federal senator or federal congressman has been arrested. Even William Brown, who was accused of treason, did not go to jail. It is so difficult to arrest a Capitol Hill master like Zhao Si according to theoretical judicial procedures that it is almost impossible.

Because as long as he commits those corrupt acts in Colorado, only the Colorado court and the Colorado federal court can try him - this is called judicial jurisdiction! And the judges and prosecutors of the former are all elected by the state of Colorado, they are all its own people!

Although the latter's judges and prosecutors are nominated by the president and approved by a simple majority of the Senate, federal judges and prosecutors in the United States must be "locally appointed" and have local judicial records. And the trial must also be held locally!

In other words, to try Zhao Si, the local boss in Colorado, the federal prosecutor in Colorado had to bring charges, and the federal judge in Colorado had to issue a subpoena to summon him back to Denver for trial. Moreover, criminal charges are tried by a jury, usually 12 people, who are also from Colorado. And the jury must be unanimous to convict the defendant.

It is impossible to convict a senator or congressman with a strong voting district!
Therefore, those "gods" on Capitol Hill are not subject to human laws at all! And Zhao Si is now one of the gods. If the white gentlemen in Washington want to punish him, there is only one way - find someone to kill him!

But the question is, which master dares to set such a precedent? Do the Yoshinori faction really have assassins? When they were conquering California, they did a lot of dirty work! Although these people usually shout and kill on Capitol Hill, since the end of the Civil War, no congressman from the twelve western states has been killed in Washington - if you really want to kill a congressman from the twelve western states, you have to fight to the death. If you fight to the death, how can you make money?

Therefore, all Zhao Si has to do now is to guard against those rednecks who are shouting anti-Chinese slogans and trying to assassinate him, and everything will be fine. Even though he is the most hated congressman of color on Capitol Hill, no one dares to touch him.

In addition, he now has many ways to pass on the political resources he has now. Although he cannot directly inherit the throne, he can arrange it! His son can go to a prestigious university with his recommendation letter. Stanford, Caltech, UC Berkeley, San Francisco University, and Washington University all recognize his recommendation letter. When his son graduates from college, he can also arrange for his son to run for public office in Colorado. He can start as a state legislator and "repeatedly" get the governor, senator, congressman, and justice (state high court)!

Just because of these systems, Zhao Si now agrees with the United States from the bottom of his heart. It's just that the masters of Capitol Hill elected by the eastern states of the United States drool at the gold, silver, brass, oil and rich land of the twelve western states of the United States, and they are led by public opinion to call for war and killing!

These American "little emperors" are really a cause for concern!
When the wooden door of the Oval Office opened, the smell of tobacco and anxiety hit me. President Hayes, who was ill, had his back to the door, his gray hair gilded by the setting sun outside the window, and in his hand, a silver-handled magnifying glass was pressing down on the draft of the "Shipbuilding Act of 1877" spread out on the table. Under the gilded congressional eagle on the cover of the bill, pencil annotations were densely packed like a spider web - the names of the Pennsylvania Steel Trust, the Rhode Island Shipbuilding Association, and the New York Banking Union were attached to the edges of the clauses like blood-sucking leeches.

"Oh, the Colorado Eagle is here?" Hayes turned around, his mouth barely curled up, "Please sit down, Senator. Try some Virginia apple brandy. At least this stuff hasn't been monopolized by Californians."

Zhao Si sank into the leather sofa. "Save the politeness, Mr. President, my friend. The day you sign the bill, the shipyards on the East Coast will blow their horns to celebrate, and west of the Rocky Mountains—" He leaned forward suddenly, pointing his finger at the words "fifteen Constitution-class battleships" on the bill. "They will see this as preparation for war in the East China Sea case. The second civil war is approaching! And this civil war will be even more terrifying than the first one!"

Hayes slammed his glass down beside Washington's bust. "Come on, Nicholas. You, Davis's yellow-skinned strategist, are now a patriot of America? But there are some things we can't stop!" He suddenly coughed violently, and blood splashed on his handkerchief. "Don't think that I, a sickly and lame president, can exercise my veto power again!" His trembling fingers opened the bottom drawer - inside lay a Colt revolver loaded with bullets. "After vetoing the New Chinese Exclusion Act, this thing has been with me all the time. Compared with the New Chinese Exclusion Act, the Shipbuilding Act of 1877 is more deadly. No one can stop its passage!" He suddenly looked at Zhao Si and sneered. "I think that the Supreme Governor of California, Hong Tiangui, is also looking forward to its passage, right?"

(End of this chapter)