Paris, France. Inside the Palais Sainte-Cloud of the Second French Empire.

Emperor Louis Napoleon Bonaparte held a newspaper from the Reuters news agency in his hand, read it inside and out, sighed, and then slowly raised his head and looked at the few people standing respectfully on the side, without saying a word, just handed the newspaper in his hand to everyone to read.

The people next to him, Hao Ran, are all the leading figures of the French Empire.

The leader was none other than Alexander Valewski, the Minister of State of the French Empire who had just returned to China, next to him was Sir Molney, Minister of the Exchequer, Duke Persiny, Minister of War, and next to him was Baron Haussmann, the new Foreign Secretary, who had just stepped down from his post to succeed Valewski, and a man and a woman, but the Harriet brothers and sisters specially invited by Louis.

These people, except for Valewski, who is Louis's cousin, the other three ministers are all Louis's confidants, who have contributed to Louis's coup d'état ten years ago. The Harriet siblings are also close to Louis, and the younger sister Harriet Howard, Louis's mistress, was able to succeed in the coup d'état, and it was precisely because this woman came forward to borrow millions of francs from his brother Harriet Maupa as funds to buy cronies and the army, which made the coup successful.

"You've seen it. The capital of the American Union was captured by rebels from the South, and President Lincoln was assassinated! This news is really exciting, very amazing! Emperor Louis spoke, and the first thing he looked at was Alexander Wallewski, the minister of state who had just returned from the Americas: "Alexander, you have just returned from the United States, you are familiar with the situation there, tell me, how will the war between the North and the South in the United States develop next?" ”

Before Walewski could come out of the shock of the news he had just seen, he made up his mind and said: "Your Majesty the Emperor, although the North still has economic and demographic advantages, and its power is stronger than that of the South, the occupation of the capital and the assassination of the President are really too amazing, and I think that even if the South cannot occupy New York, it will have succeeded in occupying the entire territory of the United States." They were destined to become an independent state. Your Majesty, I have met with President Davis of the Union in Montmery, the capital of the Union State, together with General Peng Yulin, the Governor of New Mexico of the Chinese Empire, and the three parties have agreed on a trade cooperation agreement, and, on behalf of the French Empire, I promise President Davis that at the appropriate time our French Empire will recognize their independence and solidarity with them internationally! Now, I think it's time for that! ”

Louis nodded and said, "Not bad! Alexander, you think exactly the same as mine! By the way, the Chinese Empire should also agree with us. Sir Osman, on the British side, what do you think you think? ”

Baron Osman, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said: "Your Majesty, Britain is a little anxious now, and I am afraid that some of them will not have time to take care of the civil war in the United States, although they will not give up this great opportunity to suppress the United States." I seem to see that our opportunity for France to become a world power has come! As long as we make good use of the opportunity of this arbitration between the north and the south of the United States, unite the Chinese Empire and other European countries such as Spain, and put aside the British, who are not strong, maybe it will be an opportunity for us to rise to become the number one power! As for their attitude, they must also recognize the independence of the Federal States of the South. ”

Louie's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he immediately became interested: "Dear Osman, tell me, how can we seize this opportunity?" ”

"Your Majesty, our French Army is the first in the world, and although the navy is not as good as that of the United Kingdom, it is also the second most powerful country in the world. Our country is stable, the people and nobles of the French Empire are extremely supportive of Your Majesty, and the government is very stable, unlike the United Kingdom, not only the colonies of India and Ireland rebelled privately, but even the territory of Great Britain itself was a mob rebellion, and it was a mess. Hearing that their army was outnumbered, Queen Victoria and the Cabinet issued a war mobilization order, urgently calling up soldiers to suppress the rebellion. Therefore, their British army is already seriously lacking, and the navy has just suffered a crushing defeat of hundreds of warships in the expeditionary force to China, and it is also powerless, so the entire British army has no extra troops to send.

In this way, this is our chance for the French Empire! We could send a medium-sized naval fleet of 10,000 troops to North America, and perhaps restore some of the 200-year-old colonies of New France. Even if it can't, at least it can fight for more trade benefits than Britain, which has not sent any troops. What's more, under the guise of increasing our troops in Mexico, we can also increase some troops to Central America, and integrate and unify all those Central American countries that are sandwiched between Mexico and Panama. This is a great opportunity, neither Britain nor the United States has the extra forces and ability to take care of the affairs of Central America, and it just so happens that our French Empire can easily intervene! ”

Baron Haussmann was a surprise to Louis.

And Harriet Mopa, who was next to her, also said respectfully: "Your Majesty! If the French Empire sends troops, we, the financial circles in Paris, are willing to provide the cost of sending troops to share the worries of His Majesty. ”

Louis was even more pleasantly surprised: "Yes, that's great!" My army will provide armed protection for your credit in the Americas. After speaking, Louis said to the Foreign Minister Baron Haussmann: "Inform the Chinese Empire as soon as possible, and inform us that we will announce the recognition of the Confederate States of America." At the same time, the envoy of the American Union was asked to present his credentials as soon as possible, and France formally established diplomatic relations with it. ”

.........

At the same time, a small newspaper called Reuters published a news item in the streets of major European cities, which detonated the whole of Europe: the United States of America suffered a heavy defeat, the capital Washington was captured by Southern troops, and President Lincoln was stabbed to death on the way to the temporary capital Philadelphia!

The whole of Europe was in an uproar by the news, and not only did more people hear about it and wanted to buy a newspaper, but there were also people who wanted to collect it. For a time, the Reuters newspaper sold out in just an hour or two, and the news agency called Reuters also became famous, and several major newspapers began to inquire about preparing to buy it.

Soon after, other major European newspapers also reacted quickly, receiving news from the Americas, and began to publish the astonishing news and comment on it in a big way.

Austria's "Neue Vienna Zeitung" boldly speculated that the United States of America would be defeated by the forces of the Confederate Union within six months, and that the Confederate would unify the whole of the United States.

However, the Dutch "Amsterdam Zeitung" speculated that although the Confederate countries had the advantage, they would attack the Harrisburg line in Philadelphia at most, and then it would reach a stalemate, and then the "Amsterdam Zeitung" commented that Britain and France would intervene in the war mediation between the North and the South of the United States and redraw the border between the two countries, and from then on, the United States would become two independent countries.

Prussia's "Kingdom of Prussia" called on the international community to mediate the war as soon as possible, and also reminded Prussian immigrants in the United States not to participate in the war between the two sides, and welcomed German immigrants in North America to return to Europe and return to Prussia! However, another Prussian newspaper, the General Newspaper, revealed that the Chinese Empire in the East would also participate in the mediation of the Civil War, and revealed that the American Civil War would not be so simple, not only the North-South dispute, but even the European and Eastern forces behind it, but more information, it will no longer disclose.

The Times, the world's largest newspaper in circulation and influence, directly reprinted the Reuters report for the first time, and at the same time wrote a comment: "........ We have already guessed the outcome of the war, and that is that the American South will be allowed to break away from the Union and form an independent state called the American Union. This is a great thing for Europe in general, and for Great Britain in particular, the largest trading nation! Therefore, Great Britain will mediate the war and lead the peace talks between the North and the South and the formulation of the post-war order! ......... However, for the American Northern Union, I am afraid that it is not a good thing. Because the South will establish free trade, and North American merchants will value the low tariffs or free trade policies of the South, then a large number of foreign trade will be transferred from the northern ports to the southern ports. Trade in the North is bound to shrink to half of what it is today, and trade and commerce are ...... The south will usher in great economic development, and the financiers who invest in the south, especially the southern ports, will get rich returns........."

Finally, The Times also expressed concern about Reuters, one of the most profitable newspapers in the news event, and publicly stated that the Times would be ready to raise funds to buy Reuters.

France's "La Presse" only published a few comments at first, which was nothing more than that although the southern allies had the advantage for the time being, their strength was still superior to the north, and under the current situation, neither side could completely defeat the opponent in a short period of time, and Britain and France, the two largest European powers, had expressed their intention to mediate the war in the Americas, which meant that the war was about to come to an end. Both the North and the South would be rebuilt as two separate states, and the United States would then be divided.

However, less than a day later, the "News", which represents the mouthpiece of the French Empire, suddenly issued a bombshell news: At the request of a special envoy from President Davis of the Confederate States of America, the French Emperor Napoleon III agreed to establish formal diplomatic relations with the other side, not only formally recognizing the independent status of the Confederate States of America, but also formally deciding to establish diplomatic relations with the Confederate States of America on the same day. In addition, the French Empire also revealed that Guo Songtao, the plenipotentiary envoy of the Eastern Empire of China, said that the Chinese Empire also formally recognized the independence of the Southern Alliance and established formal diplomatic and trade relations with the French Empire, just like the French Empire.

For a time, the whole of Europe was in an uproar. The envoy of the American Federation to Europe immediately publicized this decision against France through the newspapers, claiming: "This is an invasion and a declaration of war against the American Federation!" It was the connivance of the southern slave owners, the biggest blow to the bullied black slaves, and became an accomplice in the persecution of slaves! ”

Immediately afterwards, the envoy of the American Federation to Europe hurriedly sent someone to inform the successor President Hannibal Hamlin and Secretary of State William Henry Seward in Philadelphia, and at the same time hurriedly rushed from London to Paris, ready to ask to see the French Emperor, lodge a solemn protest, and see if France could change its decision.

And some European parliamentarians have also expressed their opposition. But these forces are too weak to help. Their voices were immediately drowned out by the voices of the state apparatus and the European financiers. Many European newspapers welcomed France's decision, arguing that the divided Americas would be more beneficial to Europe's economy, trade and employment.

Bankers and factory owners from London said that if the South were completely annexed by the American Federation in the North and the Customs Protection Policy of the North was implemented, more than half of the textile workers in Europe would be unemployed, more than 60 percent of the cotton supply from the American South would be gradually reduced and cut off, and the industrial goods of the American North would develop rapidly and compete for European products.

Many European newspapers began to hype up the policies of the Confederate States and even boasted about the advanced nature of their southern plantation economy, not to mention the fact that some statistics found by the newspapers really reflected that the centralized management of serfs on the southern plantations was more efficient than the labor efficiency of the northern farms or the private farms in Europe. They said that the tariffs of the Confederate States are extremely low, especially many industrial goods in Europe, where they can have good sales and profits. Moreover, the cotton, furs, and grain provided by the Confederate countries are cheaper than those in Europe, even if the freight is included. The implication is that everyone should support the independence of the Confederate States and enjoy the fruits of the labor and tariff preferences of the cheap slaves of the Confederate States.

The French side also began to exert force, and some French textile workers at the bottom were interviewed by reporters, claiming that once the southern region of the United States became independent, more cheap cotton would be provided, and the capitalists would make more profits while increasing the wages of workers, and Europeans would be able to wear cheaper clothes. Needless to say, such statements must have been instigated by the French government.

Either way, Europe as a whole tended to support the independence of the Southern Confederate States of America. In this atmosphere, the next day, Queen Victoria of Great Britain officially announced that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom of India recognized the independent status of the Confederate States of America and expressed their willingness to help the Confederate States integrate into the international community and carry out trade cooperation with each other. But at the same time, the queen did not forget the northern confederation of the United States, saying that Britain would strictly abide by the position of neutrality, and would come forward to mediate the war between the north and the south so that the two countries could coexist peacefully, and the North American colonies of the Kingdom of Great Britain were willing to work with the two countries to jointly ensure the stability and development of North America.

Of course, it is obvious to many European countries that Britain, which has always been powerful, seems to be a bit bluffing this time. They also knew that Great Britain was now plagued by rebellions. Of course, these European countries are actually a little gloating, after all, they have been dominated by the Kingdom of Great Britain for so many years, and not everyone has no complaints.

In the days that followed, several other European powers, such as Tsarist Russia, Austria, Prussia, Spain, the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and even the Duchy of Luxembourg, expressed their recognition of the international status of the Confederate States of America. With the exception of Russia, most of the other Western European countries have expressed the same neutral stance as France and the United Kingdom, but Spain, the Netherlands, and other countries clearly sympathize with the Federal Republic of the South.

Only Tsarist Russia seems to have revealed its support for the Commonwealth of America, expressing its willingness to work with the Commonwealth of America to resist the frenzied invasion of some evil force in the East. Russia's envoy to Britain told The Times that the civil war in the American Commonwealth was being fueled by a powerful force from the East, with the aim of annexing the western part of North America and building a powerful empire across the Pacific.

Although there is no clear evidence, the words of the Russian envoy, through the report of the "Times", still made the whole of Western Europe and even the world exclaim: Is the Chinese empire in the east really like this?

......... ps: Recommend two new history books: "The Strongest Chongzhen in History" and "Ming Wu Tianxia"