February 1, 1861. The city of Montemary, Republic of Alabama.

On the banks of the beautiful Alabama River, a three-story Scottish building stands in the still chilly breeze. In the distance, on the other side of the Alabama River, there is a vast cotton field, scattered black slaves, led by white slave owners, are working in the fields, and from time to time the songs of some rough Scottish or unknown African tribes are heard, everything is so quiet.

Outside the Scottish-style building, which is the newly established Assembly of the Republic of Alabama, hundreds of members of the National Guard of the Republic of Alabama armed with bayonets and muskets have cordoned off the building and the adjacent Alabama River.

Today is an important day for the Republic of Alabama!

Governors, state legislators, and commanders of the National Guard Forces from the seven southern states of the former Union, including South Carolina, Texas, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana, gathered in the former state capitol on the banks of the Alabama River to discuss the establishment of a new nation.

Andrew Moore, President of the Republic of Alabama and former Governor, stood in the center of the hall and said to the governors, "Ladies and gentlemen, after many days of preparation and joint efforts, we are here in Montmary today for a common goal. Once again, are you willing to completely dissociate yourself from the federal government in the north and dissolve all relations? ”

Everyone said in unison: "Naturally, I am willing!" ”

Andrew Moore nodded with satisfaction and said: "In this case, without further ado, in order to establish a new great country, an independent republic, we believe that in the future, all of you here will become the founders of this great republic, just like the founders of Washington, Fullin, and Jefferson of the Union back then!" In the name of God, are you willing to represent your respective republics and fight for this new great republic? ”

"In God's name, we will!"

"That's great!" Andrew Moore completed his host assignment and handed over the task of hosting to the eager President of the Republic of South Carolina, William Gist.

William Gist ended the topic and said directly and simply: "Since everyone is here, let's just talk about it, the country united by our seven republics, the name is determined, called the United States of America?" ”

"In my opinion, this name is similar to that of the Northern Confederacy, and it is in the same vein as the Confederation composed of 13 colonies that became independent from the British Empire." The Mississippi State Speaker chimed in.

"Not bad! Let's take the name of this country! However, for the sake of distinction, it is usually better to call it the Confederate States of America! The governor of Louisiana agreed.

Over the next two days, the leaders of the republics carefully discussed and adopted the constitution of the newly formed Confederate States of America, which was naturally very close to the constitution of the United States of America in the North, except that the new constitution placed greater emphasis on the rights of the member states and provided that there would be no laws prohibiting slavery.

When the new President of the United States of America was elected, many wanted to become President. After a fierce battle, everyone finally reached a consensus to elect Major General Jefferson Davis, the former federal senator of Mississippi and the current commander of the Mississippi National Self-Defense Forces, as the interim president of the United States of America, and Alexander Stephens, the former congressman of Georgia and the current governor of Georgia, as the interim vice president.

As the newly elected president, Jefferson Davis remained in Mississippi and did not come to Montemany.

Vice President Stephens, as the supreme leader of the Union States present, made a speech: "What a great day! We will single-handedly build a great new country! The new constitution forever ruled out riots caused by slavery, which is why we left the Union. The new government is based on the great truth that blacks and whites are not equal. The North refused to acknowledge this great truth, and we had to go our separate ways! However, although blacks can only be slaves of whites, our constitution protects them equally, and we whites should protect them even more, because they are our precious property. ”

"In fact, the world is not meant to be fair! Even God thinks so! Stephens continued: "The newly elected Republican president of the North, Abraham Lincoln, was actually friends with me for many years. He also never thought that blacks should be equal to us hundreds, first of all their skin was destined to be black, and it could not be as white as us! And he was also very reasonable in favor of slavery, but now he had to oppose slavery against his will for the sake of the big northern factory owners who supported him behind him! This is a tragedy in itself! ”

As soon as Stephens's words fell, there was a burst of applause. At this time, the interim president of the Republic of Texas, Shima Houston, led a small but sturdy Chinese man to Stephens and said loudly: "Mr. Vice President's speech is very wonderful!" Excuse me, but I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm going to introduce you to a man, Mr. Shi from the Southern New Mexico Autonomous Province of the Chinese Empire, who, as the plenipotentiary of the Kansas region, is willing to represent Kansas in our Union State! ”

Now, everyone is in a sensation! Less than two days after the formation of the new Confederate States of America, a new state was added, and it was Kansas, which had already planned to join the Union of the North. This is undoubtedly the most beneficial blow to the Northern Federation!

Vice President Stephens reacted immediately, and hurriedly stepped forward to hold the Chinese man's hand: "Mr. Shi, welcome to Kansas joining!" So that we, the Confederate States of America, will be stronger! ”

The Chinese surnamed Shi said in somewhat broken English: "Shi Zhenji, who was originally the deputy commander of the New Mexico Provincial Garrison of the Chinese Empire, was invited by the Indian Roki tribe to serve as the commander of the National Guard of the Republic of Kansas and the plenipotentiary representative of the Republic. ”

"Alliance cooperation?" Stephens deserves to be a figure who has been mixed in the political arena for decades, and he grasped the point at once, and he said with a puzzled face: "New Mexico Province of the Chinese Empire? What do you have to do with us? Could it be that you are also joining the Alliance? ”

Shi Zhenji smiled: "Your Excellency is joking, of course not!" To be precise, it is our Chinese Empire that cooperates with your country! Mr. Stephens, as you may have guessed, the American Commonwealth in the North will not tolerate the safe establishment of your Confederate States, and will soon be attacked by force. We, the Chinese Empire, have always agreed with the ideas of your Democratic Party, and we have many trading partners and friends in your country, so we believe that there is huge room for cooperation with your country. To put it simply, we have a lot of business and interests in your country, and we do not want to be destroyed by the Northern Federation, and we are willing to help you resist the Northern Federation, and of course, your country will have to pay a little price! ”

Stephens immediately shook his head and refused: "I'm sorry! Although our Confederate States of America broke away from the northern Union, this is not a rebellion, this is originally a brotherhood, and there will be no war. So we don't need the cooperative assistance that you mentioned and so on. Of course, we still welcome cooperation in trade! ”

Seeing that he was rejected by Stephens, Shi Zhenji was not angry, he originally just came to show his face and show the attitude of the Chinese Empire, and Stephens is not a person who can call the shots, and he is not, plus now that there is no war between the North and the South, the other party is naturally full of vigilance against the Chinese Empire that has just occupied New Mexico, everything has just begun, and there is no hurry.

...........

February 11th.

Outside the Thorn Plains Manor in Warren County, Mississippi, the owner of the estate, Jefferson Davis, stands in front of the gate of the estate, preparing to rush to Montmaary to take office as President of the Confederate States of America.

Looking at the nearly 100 black slaves and several 100 stewards on the estate, as well as the plantation owners and some people around Warren County who had rushed to hear the news, Jefferson Davis, who had been elected president of the newly formed Confederate States of America, stood in the carriage and waved goodbye to his hometown and his slaves!

The black steward and his wife, who stood at the gate of the manor, looked into the distance of their master, shouting something, while several black children they were holding with them watched the carriage with their eyes and kept wiping tears from their eyes. The same is true of the other black slaves, who look reluctant to leave with their backers.

Davis stood in the carriage and waved at his black slaves, stopping the crowd from crying. Turning his head, he said to his planter-owner neighbors with some ostentation and some exhortation: "See, black slaves are not just talking tools, they are also human beings, although they are of low status, but they also know how to repay Entu. You can obviously see that they are attached to me and reluctant to give up, they hate and embrace me, and they are willing to give everything for me! Why? ”

Davis pointed at the black slaves and said loudly, "Look, I will give them enough to eat, and I will not hurt them for no reason!" As long as they take care of the manor for me, I will protect them from freezing and starvation, although the food and clothing are not as good as those of us white people, but there is no need to worry. Therefore, they are very grateful to me and repay me for their hard work. That's what I want to tell you, black slaves, though only our slaves, are at the same time our most precious treasure! We should cherish them as much as we cherish our own beautiful pocket watches. They live better than the workers in the factories of the Northern Federation, and I believe that they will not betray us! ”

With that, Davis motioned for his coachman to start his journey.

A Warren County wheat plantation owner stepped forward and asked, "Mr. Davis, you will be the president of our Confederate from now on, do you think those Northerners will attack Mississippi, destroy our estates, and force us to free all our slaves?" ”

Davis replied, "My neighbors and friends, this is a difficult question to answer, anything is possible!" All I can say is that I don't want a civil war with the Northern Federation, but I'm not afraid of it either. Our split from the Union is complete, the time of compromise is over, and if they are not sure of compromise, then only by force can we preserve our rights, and they will smell the gunpowder of our southern guns, and they will feel the chill of our southerners' swords, just as the weather is now. The contradictions and disputes between the North and the South are not only the issue of slaves, but also a series of contradictions such as the economy and wealth, and tariff policy. Slavery as a reason for war has never been a lame excuse for the Yankees! ”

With that, Davis's carriage began to slowly move towards Alabama in the east!

And it was the same day, almost at the same time, at the Springfield City Train Station in Illinois.

In the cold morning, the crowd at the train station kicked the soles of their feet from time to time, stretched out their hands to keep warm.

Lincoln stood at the door of the train car, holding Mary, who had little luggage, and had been picked up in the car by the new presidential secretary, who had followed Lincoln all the way to Washington on her inaugural trip. She had been excited since the day before yesterday, packed her luggage early, and sent her servants to the train station yesterday. Lincoln had to satisfy her—she had been looking forward to it for so many years, and it was also her wish to be president, and she had always wanted to be the center of attention, to be the president's wife and not to follow her to office, or that no one would know about it, and it would be very uncomfortable for her to walk at night like a brocade dress.

However, Lincoln looked at the citizens of Springfield on the platform of the station, familiar old friends, Lincoln's eyes were a little moist, he was about to leave the city where he had lived for many years, this time, he did not know what would happen to him, he thought of the thorny presidency that was about to be, and the fate of the uncertain future of the Union, and for a while he was full of thoughts.

Leaving his hometown, he knew what he should say, and looking at the familiar faces on the platform, the quiet people living in the town, he said with emotion: "Dear friends. No one can imagine the sadness in my heart when I parted, and all my achievements are due here. I have lived here for a quarter of a century, growing from youth to old age. Here are my children, one of whom has been buried here. Now I'm leaving, I don't know when I'll be back, or even if I'll be back. The task ahead of me is daunting, perhaps more than that of any president since Washington. Washington cannot succeed without God's help! And my future success or failure is in God's hands! Fellow relatives in our hometown, let us believe in God, believe that God is with me, with you, and with goodness! Let's hope everything goes well, and hopefully one day I'll be back here and talk to everyone. Once again, I wish you all a happy life! ”

The train started, and the gloomy sky was filled with snowflakes at some point, making the weather even colder.