The United Kingdom and the United States' potential rival in South America colluding with Han is the last thing the United States wants to see.

Because the beginning of 1889 was a transitional period for the replacement of the old and new presidents in the United States, Harrison, who had not yet formally taken over the presidency, could only gather political allies within the Republican Party and members of the new government in his private capacity to discuss coping strategies.

"To counter the British Empire's unwarranted interference in the affairs of the Americas, but also to restrict the entry of foreign industrial goods into the domestic market and to protect the national interests of the eastern states of the homeland.

I propose that on 6 March, as soon as the officials of the new government ministries take office, convene a meeting of the government to urge Congress to pass the Restriction of Foreign Goods Act, which would impose import duties of 50 percent on goods from Britain and France, and that the United States Government should also impose equal import tariffs on certain goods in the event that other countries impose high import duties on American goods. ”

Harrison, as president of the new administration, was the first to propose.

"Raising tariffs on imported goods will cause countermeasures from European countries, which is not conducive to the external development of the capital of the Republic, and I oppose the use of economic sanctions to counter the unfair interference of the British in the affairs of the Americas."

One Republican party leader disagreed with Harrison's lose-lose approach, objecting: "The British have always liked to dictate in American affairs, which is not an unusual thing for the United States, and I don't think there is a need for the British to drastically change the foreign policy of the Cleveland administration." ”

"So what do you think is the most important thing for the new government at the moment?"

Harrison, nicknamed the political iceman, asked rhetorically with his usual cold attitude.

"The real enemy of the American Republic has never been outside countries such as Great Britain and France, but inside the United States.

Indiana, California and other places, including retired soldiers during the Civil War, millions of low-level whites are very dissatisfied with the phenomenon of the former government allowing trust enterprises to monopolize the supply of goods and arbitrarily raise the price of goods. It diverted some of the discontent of the white people at the bottom, but did not finally solve the problem.

Therefore, I believe that after the establishment of the new government, the most important thing is to introduce a bill to restrict the monopoly of the market by trust enterprises, raise the minimum living allowance standard for the people at the bottom, and alleviate the social contradictions caused by the free development of the local economy. ”

Alleviating social contradictions and promoting the rapid and healthy development of the local economy are issues that every US president has to face.

Harrison came from a political family. His grandfather, William Henry Harrison, was the ninth president of the United States. Harrison was a high-minded, fastidious man during his time in politics. Although he was dignified as an official, he was a second-rate politician when it came to the governance of the economy and the country.

And in the 1888 presidential election, he was elected president by defeating President Grover Cleveland through Republican ruse and vote-buying with the support of party tycoons and a group of industrialists and bankers.

Therefore, in domestic policy, he preferred to maintain the interests of the big industrialists, bankers, and other groups, while consciously ignoring the growing discontent among the peasants and workers.

The opposing views of the other side not only represent the interests of most of the low-level white people, but also reflect the political views of some bigwigs within the Republican Party, so Harrison cannot pretend not to hear it and ignore it.

"The policy of commercial freedom is the foundation of ensuring the economic prosperity of the United States, and blindly restricting the development of large enterprises is not in line with the founding philosophy of the United States.

Of course, the predicament faced by the white people at the bottom is also a real problem, so in order to solve the temporary social problems that arise in the process of economic development, the new government can make a certain degree of guidance for the development of large enterprises, for example, it can propose such a bill, requiring that no contract, any merger of enterprises shall not appear in trusts or other similar forms of organization, and if there is any plan to restrict trade or the flow of goods between states, it is illegal.

At the same time, in order to alleviate the social contradictions caused by the low subsidy policy implemented by the first Cleveland administration and to appease the feelings of veterans of the Civil War in the homeland, the new government can apply for the implementation of the "Minimum Standard Pension Act", which will increase the cost of pensions from $88 million in 1888 by $129 million to solve the living problems of disabled and retired soldiers. ”

Dealing with the difficulties of dissidents within the party, Harrison once again turned the conversation to South American affairs, but learned from the lesson he had just learned, and this time he did not directly state his views, but signaled to his political ally, the new secretary of state, James Gillespie Bryan, to say what he wanted to say.

James Gillespie Bryan was a famous politician and diplomat in American history, and is revered as the "founder of Pan-Americanism" in the United States. He has served twice as Secretary of State and four Republican presidential nominees.

In 1881, during his first tenure as secretary of state, he put forward policies and proposals to challenge Britain's global economic supremacy, especially to seize the markets of the Western Hemisphere.

At the same time, he proposed to Harrison such proposals as the promotion of the modern Pan-American Movement and the convening of the International Conference of the Americas.

James Gillespie Bryan intended to completely change the isolationist policy of the United States in foreign affairs and implement a more radical expansionist policy, so in the face of the solicitation of the new government President Harrison, he did not hesitate too much, and decisively agreed.

"The core interests of the Republic are in the Americas, and Britain's intervention in the affairs of the Americas is a serious infringement on the national interests of the Republic, and it must be clearly and favorably counterattacked!"

After ignoring Harrison's intentions, James Gillespie Bryan tapped his fingers on the table and said in an impassioned tone: "I agree with His Excellency the President that the promulgation of the Foreign Goods Restriction Act to limit the erosion of European goods on the domestic economic market is a very necessary means and the first countermeasure to counter British maritime hegemony!"

As an overall strategic policy to counter Britain's maritime hegemony and safeguard and expand the republic's overseas interests, we also need to strengthen our control over Central America and the Caribbean, and only by first establishing and consolidating the republic's dominant position in Central America and the Caribbean and completely expelling the influence of Britain, France, and other European countries from the two regions can the republic's sphere of influence advance to the Isthmus of Panama, South America, the North Pacific, and the Central Pacific. ”

"Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Spain control many islands in the Caribbean, according to Your Excellency's thinking, does the Republic need to send a navy to take down all the islands occupied by the four countries?"

"If the republic has the strength to deal with the joint operations of Britain, France, Spain and the Netherlands, occupying all the colonies of the European countries in the Caribbean and even North America is the most direct solution, but the current republic does not have the strength to be hostile to most European countries."

James Gillespie Bryan spared the trap set by the other party and stated his point of view in an orderly manner.

"At present, when European countries still maintain colonies in North America and the Caribbean, the only effective way to deal with the situation is to develop their navies and seize sea supremacy in the Caribbean with the navy of the Republic.

Maritime supremacy was the most important for the Republic to expand its overseas power, and the main shipping routes of the seas brought a great deal of commercial benefits, so it was necessary to have a strong fleet to ensure supremacy of the sea, as well as sufficient merchant ships and ports to take advantage of this benefit.

Puerto Rico in the Caribbean, the Panama Canal being dug by the French, and the Hawaiian Islands in the Central Pacific are all vital maritime hubs for the Republic.

Therefore, in order to achieve the above goals, it is necessary to intensify the development of the navy. ”

Winning control of Central America and the Caribbean from the British, and then pushing the sphere of influence of American capital to Venezuela and Colombia in northern South America, is Harrison's most concerned strategy, but it is not easy to vigorously develop the navy and get the members of Congress who are the spokesmen of big entrepreneurs and big bankers in China to promise to divert government funds to the navy.

After the Civil War, the United States, whose population surpassed that of Britain and France and whose land area was nearly 20 times that of France, drastically reduced the number of its army and navy and maintained only a regular army of tens of thousands on its huge land had a great deal to do with the position of the big capitalists in China.

Since the beginning of the 19th century, the US Government's economic expansion in the Americas, as well as the reduction of military spending and the reduction of the number of armed forces, have been the most direct manifestations of the stalemate and struggle between the two forces.

Harrison was not confident of convincing members of Congress to agree to a proposal to build a strong navy, and could only express limited support for James Gillespie Bryan's proposal to build a large navy and seize sea supremacy.

Accompanied by quarrels and debates, it took two days for the bigwigs of the new US administration to finally reach a compromise on some aspects.

In terms of domestic affairs, the interests and needs of the big capitalists have basically been satisfied, and the interests of the people at the bottom have also been taken care of to a certain extent, while the navy, because the strength of the military industrial enterprises is far from being able to compete with the big entrepreneurs and big bankers, has only received a few benefits from the government to expand the amount of subsidies for ocean routes and increase the number of white Hawaiian immigrants.