November 6, 1860.

Columbia, the state capital of South Carolina.

As one of the first cities to be built in the United States, it was now detached from the appearance of a small town. The Saluda River and the Broder River in South Carolina meet here to form a wide and gentle alluvial plain of the Congley River, and the land is fertile, so Colombia is surrounded by vast farms, growing endless cotton and other crops, which is an important cotton production area of the American Federation in the South, and it is also a shipping port of the Congley River, which leads directly to the Port of Charleston by the sea, with convenient transportation, and the status of the capital of South Carolina, it has been quite large-scale at this time, and the urban population has reached the scale of more than 30,000 people. For the United States at this time, it was already a fairly prosperous big city.

At this time, it has entered late autumn, and the weather is slowly getting cooler, but it is the best time for cotton harvest.

On the banks of the Congley River in the western suburbs of Colombia, Lu Ziyue and his younger brother Lu Zimin looked at the people who were leisurely picking cotton in the distance on the riverbank.

Lu Ziyue sighed: "These people who don't know anything don't know that a terrible war is about to break out!" However, for them, it is better not to know that the disaster can live! ”

Lu Zimin replied, "Why did my brother suddenly become sentimental? Whether it is white or black, for us, they are all aliens, and we don't have to care too much about their life or death. It is the most important thing to complete the tasks assigned by His Majesty, Lord Wu, and Director Fan! ”

Lu Ziyue smiled bitterly and shook his head: "This is natural!" However, people are not plants and trees, who can be ruthless. After staying here for a long time, it is naturally not good to treat these civilians around me as if they were animals, and I hope they can be safe and sound in this disaster. But then again, after staying in the South for a long time, I realized how false the propagations of the factory owners and capitalists in the North were, and that everything was only for their own interests! You see, those who pick cotton, although most of them are blacks, that is, black slaves in their mouths, and there are many white people, not all of them say that black slaves are working, and white people just stand and watch. ”

"That's what my brother said. In fact, these slave owners in the South are not for their own interests, including these Democrats, Republicans and remnants of the Whigs, but they are all working hard for the interest groups behind them! Lu Zimin also looked at the group of black slaves who were still humming unintelligible songs in the distance, and said: "But those American northerners who say things like saving black slaves can still deceive many people who don't know the truth." If we had not spent some time in Colombia, who would have thought that the black slaves we had thought of before would live a decent life, far better off without worries than the poor so-called freedmen workers of the North. In contrast to the poor hired laborers of the Northern states, who worked day and night, these black slaves in South Carolina lived in what they called paradise: starvation every day, and even meat every few days. Especially in this season of picking cotton, in order to ensure that they do not cheat, these cotton growers even sent people to the fields to send snacks and home-brewed fruit wine to those black slaves to enjoy, if they did not see it with their own eyes, it is difficult to believe that where are these slaves, it is simply a carefully invited uncle. ”

Lu Ziyue smiled: "It's not as exaggerated as you said, the slave owners let these black slaves eat well, not really to be good to them, but to protect their own property!" To these slave owners, these black slaves were no different from the horses they raised, and their horses, of course, had to be fed better to do their jobs, and the same was true of black slaves. Besides, we don't already know that these black slaves are expensive, and that a healthy adult slave costs nearly a thousand dollars, and if a skilled craftsman is better than a thousand dollars, which is a huge amount of money. For such expensive property, those plantation owners naturally have to take good care of it. It's not surprising to think about it. ”

"Yes! It's just that these black slaves in the south have lived on the plantations all their lives, and they don't know how miserable the so-called free people in the north are, and the so-called free people in the north don't know the leisurely and comfortable life of the slaves in the south. Lu Zimin said: "Relatively speaking, except for the freedom to suffer and be poor, the black slaves in the south live far better than the hired laborers in the north who run around all day long. ”

Lu Ziyue stood up and changed the subject: "Let's not talk about these black slaves." Today is the day when the states of the United States of America vote for the president, and although the Shengjing side has made several plans for us, I am still worried that something will happen. Second brother, you have always been shrewd, tell me, what if the Republican Lincoln is not elected president? ”

Lu Zimin smiled: "Brother, why do you think like this? Originally, two years ago, the will of Shengjing had already informed us that Lincoln, a Republican, would run for president and that he would most likely succeed. Subsequently, this person did participate in the election campaign, and the demand was very high. Some time ago, there was an order from the Secret Service Department that we should secretly support the Republican Seward as president, after all, this Seward was more resolute in his opposition to slavery than Lincoln, and once he was elected, wars would inevitably break out in the northern and southern states of the United States over the slave issue. It is a pity that this person disappeared after making a statement abandoning the presidential campaign and calling on the Republican Party to support Lincoln, and according to his brother's judgment, it must have been this Lincoln or the forces behind him who forced Seward to do so. Therefore, some agents were sent to search around, but their whereabouts were not found. Although the mission to support Sewards failed, Shengjing's original intention was to cause civil strife in the United States, break out into civil war, and create opportunities for our Chinese empire. In this way, if Lincoln is elected, we can still achieve Shengjing's intention with a little push! As for my brother, how is it possible if Lincoln is not elected president? Brother is worried! Your Majesty is like a god, and he has never missed anything. ”

Lu Ziyue also shook his head self-deprecatingly: "Yes, Your Majesty has never looked away." Without that Seward, this Lincoln would have been elected. And his election, though not as straightforward as Seward's declaration of the abolition of slavery, would have led to war between the North and the South, but with some of our arrangements in South Carolina for the past two months, and the cooperation of the remnants of the Southern Whigs like Marshali, that should be fine. ”

"Don't worry, brother! The spies I have recruited among the foreigners have heard some secret information that the largest arsenal in South Carolina is hurrying to produce and stockpile weapons and ammunition, and they have made the best preparations for the election of the Republican Lincoln as president! Lu Zimin said his plan by the way: "Brother, at this time, the president's vote should have ended, and the results will be announced before noon tomorrow." When the time comes, brother, you stay here to witness South Carolina's secession from the American Union, and as soon as the matter is over, my brother will rush to Texas in the south to prepare for Lord Peng Yulin Peng and their New Mexico garrison to enter Texas. And my little brother, I will leave for Richmond tomorrow to prepare for an all-out war between the North and the South. ”

The two chatted for a while, and the sun slowly began to set, and seeing that it was not too early, the two brothers began to prepare to return to the city.

The black slaves in the cotton fields by the river, driven by the white hills of cotton ox carts, began to return to the farms one after another.

"Hey, Mr. Lu, are you going back to the city? We are about to transport the freshly picked cotton back to our master's warehouse in the city, do we need to give you a ride? On the dirt road by the river, a large group of black people drove ox carts to here, led by a tall and sturdy middle-aged black man, who greeted Lu Ziyue from a long distance and shouted in a loud voice.

Lu Zimin lowered his head and looked at Lu Ziyue suspiciously, and Lu Ziyue explained in a low voice: "Second brother, don't be surprised, this black man's name is Sam David, one of the black slave leaders of John Harlan's cotton plantation, the largest slave owner in the city, and he is very popular with his master. ”

After speaking, the middle-aged black slave named Sam David had already approached, Lu Ziyue nodded at him, and said with a smile: "David, the harvest is very good!" Then please give us a ride. ”

Sam Davy, a black slave, walked over with a respectful face, and cautiously helped the two brothers to get into a relatively spacious ox cart, and personally drove the oxen to the city.

Lu Zimin was a little curious about the black slaves, so he asked, "Hello Mr. David, can you come and talk to us?" ”

Sam David hurriedly said: "Honorable Oriental gentleman, I can't afford to be called Mr. in your mouth, if you can afford me, call me David." After speaking, he called a teenage black boy to drive the car in his place, and he moved over, looking ready to be questioned by Lu Zimin.

"David, you seem to be very happy, and I would like to ask, don't you feel miserable as a slave to John Harlan, a slave owner?" Lu Zimin asked straight to the point, without any taboo John Harlan, and added: "By the way, I am not afraid of offending your master John Harlan, as you know, he has great respect for my brother." So just say it, don't be afraid that I'll tell your master, I won't do that. ”

Sam David was visibly stunned. He didn't expect that this aristocratic gentleman from the East would speak so bluntly, and he really didn't know how to answer for a while. After thinking for a while, he spoke: "Dear sir, I never feel that I have a miserable life, I am very happy!" Really happy! You see, I am 35 years old, I am still very healthy, I have a beautiful and virtuous wife, two sons and a daughter, our family has enough food to eat every day, we have clothes to wear, as long as we work hard, the master will not beat us, and the family is doing well. All these things have been given to me by my master, and I am content. ”

Speaking of this, Sam David showed a satisfied smile, and a bright look flashed on his honest face, so that Lu Zimin couldn't ask any more questions when he came to his lips.

Lu Zimin shook his head to express disbelief, and said temptingly: "David, you really don't have to be afraid that your master will know to punish you. Answer me according to your own heart. Want to leave your master? We are willing to help you and your family and make you feel free to live elsewhere. ”

"No kidding, sir. The master gave us food, gave us clothes, invited a doctor to treat us when we were sick, and married a wife to my son next month, which is a great favor to my family, and we will not leave the master. Sam David saluted Lu Ziyue and said, "Mr. Lu, David will go to the front and drive for you!" ”

After saying that, Sam David seemed to be a little angry, ignored Lu Zimin, and went directly back to the ox cart frame in front of him to continue to drive up the cart in person.

Seeing this scene, Lu Zimin looked at his brother and sighed in the language of his hometown: "It seems that the black slaves are really having a good time." ”

Lu Ziyue said with a smile: "This is not right, we help the south, and it can be regarded as helping these blacks not to be deceived and oppressed by the factory owners in the north, which is also reasonable from the conscience and morality." It would be a good thing to get them to take a step back and break off their dependency on slavery. Of course, the important thing is to complete the tasks assigned by the Shengjing side! ”