February 22nd. Montemary, the capital of the Confederate States of America.

President Jefferson Davis, who had already attended the inauguration, immediately appointed the members of the government's cabinet.

Vice President Alexander Stephens was elected by Congress long ago.

The Secretary of State is Robert Tooms from Georgia;

The Secretary of the Treasury is Christopher Cook of South Carolina;

The Secretary of the Interior is Benjamin Uda from Louisiana;

The Secretary of War is Walker Lero from Alabama;

The Secretary of the Navy is Stephen Mallory from Florida;

The Minister of Posts was John Reagan from Texas.

In addition, Jefferson Davis invited John Taylor, the former 10th President of the Union, to serve as an adviser to the President of the Union States and a member of the Cabinet, and a member of Congress. John Taylor was born into a family of plantation slave owners and has retired to his hometown of Greenville, Virginia, running a huge estate left behind by his father and is a staunch slave owner promoter.

However, even at this time, President Jefferson Davis still did not make up his mind to declare war on the North first. He immediately appointed former West Point principal Pierre Beaurett as the Union's first brigadier general to besiege Fort Sumter in South Carolina and replace the commander of the South Carolina National Guard who blockaded and besieged it.

For Fort Sumter, Jefferson Davis strictly ordered Pierre Beauregarde not to attack first.

First, he could not give the North an excuse to declare war, and Fort Sumter, which had already been surrounded, could not pose much of a threat to the Confederate States, and if the Confederates fired first, it would allow the North to occupy the righteousness of the whole public opinion and morality. Second, the Allied Powers at this time still needed time to prepare for a full-scale operation, and it was not appropriate to open fire immediately. Long before the Union was formed, the independent southern states seized the time to transport weapons and ammunition from the Northern Union in preparation for future war.

Like Pierre Beauregarde, the former principal of the West Point Military Academy, because his hometown is New Orleans in the state of Isiana, after the independence of the state of Isiana, the federal war department immediately dismissed him as the principal, and in desperation, he had no choice but to return to his hometown and join the Confederate States. In the process of returning, Pierre Beauregarde took advantage of his status and convenience as the principal of the West Point Military Academy to promise high positions such as captain and major, and successively persuaded nearly one-fifth of the students of the West Point Military Academy to come to the Union State, not only recalling most of the students whose hometowns were in the southern states, but even some students in the North were also moved. Military personnel like this, as well as weapons and ammunition, are being imported into the Confederate States in a steady stream. Therefore, Jefferson Davis was reluctant to start a war interrupting the process.

Three, Fort Sumter is already meat on the chopping board. According to intelligence, there are less than 70 soldiers in Fort Sumter, and there is not much food in storage, and in about a month at most, there will be a shortage of food.

Of course, the most important thing is to consider the attitude of the slave-holding states in the upper south. In fact, the Confederate States of America in the southern states elected Jefferson Davis as president because he had always been a moderate, and even expressed his opposition to secession from the Union in the early stage, and only recently because of Lincoln's election did he make it clear that he would secede from the Union because he favored slavery, but did not want to go through war. With Jefferson Davis as president, the sentiments of the slave-holding states in the Upper South could be fully taken into account, and the sentiments of the slave-holding states in the Upper South would not be too vehemently opposed to the Union, so that the states of the Upper South could be drawn into the ranks of the Confederates.

Jefferson Davis himself knew this. As early as after he confirmed that he was going to become president, even before he took office, he sent his own envoys to several slave-holding states in the upper south to persuade them to join the Union with their interests and feelings. So far, however, the state secession movement has not been as strong as it was when Lincoln was first elected president.

Davis learned through personal connections that the two states of Missouri and Arkansas were already in the hands of pro-Union lawmakers, and tried to hold a state legislature in March to vote against secession. The Kentucky and Delaware legislatures have refused to hold a vote, and voters in North Carolina and Tennessee have boycotted the conference. The Maryland legislature seems to have a preponderance of secede lawmakers, but its governor is a pro-Federalist who has refused to convene a state legislature to discuss secession, despite pressure. Only the last largest state, Virginia, is in the best situation, and many people have asked to secede from the Union and join the Union, but because the western part of West Virginia is still loyal to the Union, the whole of Virginia has not made a clear statement and waited to see what happens.

Speaking of which, none of the 8 slave-holding states in the upper south responded positively to secede from the Union and join the Union State! It is precisely because of this that Davis is particularly careful not to bear the responsibility of being the first to take the initiative to start a war, but wants to delay as much as possible until the Northern Federation can no longer bear it and provoke disputes, and only in this way can he win the sympathy of these eight slave-owning states in the south. In order to protect the interests of the eight slave states, the constitution of the Confederate State also added a special clause prohibiting the slave trade with foreign countries, all of which was to allow the eight slave states in the upper south to dispel their doubts and join the ranks of the Confederate State.

Davis knew that without the participation of the forces of these 8 slave states, the strength of the Confederate States promoted by the current 8 states would be too far from the Northern Federation. After all, the eight states of the Confederate States today have only 5 percent of the industrial capacity of the entire United States of America, and their population is less than one-fifth of that of the Northern Union.

Just as Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States in the South, was thinking about how to win over the eight slave states in the South, Abraham Lincoln, the new president of the American Federation, and his wife Mary, were still on their way to Washington.

The trip was originally scheduled for half a month, but the train only traveled for five days, and when it arrived in Albany, the capital of New York, the news came that Davis had been inaugurated as president of the Confederate States of America in the South. Mary, the first lady of the American Commonwealth, could no longer deceive herself into enjoying her husband's inaugural journey, and she did not hear the cheers of the people everywhere along the way, some of them were either indifferent or pleading, and everything was so miserable, without the slightest applause and flattery of flowers that she had imagined.

Lincoln was also very anxious, he originally wanted to satisfy his wife's vanity through the 15-day inauguration journey, on the one hand, on the other hand, specially arranged for 10 important northern cities to stay, along the way to give speeches, calling on the people to fight against slavery, oppose the southern slave states to secede from the Union, and support the federal government and him. I didn't expect it to be so miserable along the way. Some opposition Democrats have said in local newspapers that while the Lincolns were enjoying their second honeymoon on a federal train, President Davis, the president of the Confederate countries in the South, traveled to Montmaray in a horse-drawn carriage day and night to take the oath of office.

Therefore, in desperation, Lincoln had no choice but to abandon his original plan, not to Boston and other big cities in the Northeast, and to rush directly from Albany Town to New York, and then through Philadelphia, Baltimore, etc. to Washington, D.C. New York and Philadelphia, the two most important northern cities, Lincoln compressed his itinerary from two days each to one day, and after a hurried speech, he rushed to Washington. But on the 21st, just after leaving Philadelphia, the shocking news came that two white gangsters were preparing to assassinate him in Baltimore in the early hours of the next morning.

Mary was shocked and hurriedly persuaded him to return to Philadelphia and wait for two days, first draw an army from Philadelphia to Baltimore to clear the gangs before leaving. Lincoln naturally refused. He only hoped that he would rush to Washington as soon as possible, meet with the representatives of the states and members of Congress as soon as possible, be ready to take office as president, and settle the situation in the federation as soon as possible.

However, his aides, servants, and the members of Congress who traveled with him on the train to Washington, his old friend, Judge Jed, and the two governors, all persuaded him to get off the train and return to Philadelphia first, and then take the train from Philadelphia directly to Washington, so that the gangs could get out of the way.

But Lincoln refused.

Or did his old friend, Judge Jed, understand him, and use the excuse to break up the crowd and persuade Lincoln alone: "Dear Lincoln, my friend, tell me that you are unwilling to return to Philadelphia to hide from the gang that is preparing to assassinate you, is it for fear of a bad effect on your reputation?" ”

Lincoln was silent.

Judge Jade naturally understood that he had guessed correctly, so he persuaded him: "But have you ever thought that since those gangsters are preparing to assassinate you, and even the news has come out, it means that you must have been preparing for a long time, and there are many people, and if you go like this, it is very likely that you will really suffer misfortune!" In that case, who cares if you're brave or not? It's just that they will laugh at you for being stupid, and send you forward knowing that there is an ambush ahead! Know this, Mr. Lincoln, that now you are not only yourself, but also your wife, your friends and bodyguards, and so many others are going to follow you on your adventures! Moreover, if you are plotted in this way, your ideals, the unity of the American Federation, will not be realized. ”

Lincoln seemed to be moved, and lowered his voice: "But the opposition party will definitely make a big fuss about it." At that time, it will be a fatal blow to my political life, and the good image I established when I ran for president will also plummet. ”

Judge Jed said: "There is an old saying in Far Eastern China, which says, 'Leave the green mountains without worrying about no firewood', Lincoln, my friend, you go to die like this, and indeed no one attacks a cold corpse, but what is the point of this? Everything is empty. Only a living Lincoln is the president, even if those Democrats come to attack you, so what? ”

Lincoln nodded, took his old friend's hand, and said, "Thank you, Jed, my dear friend!" ”

Seeing that Lincoln agreed, everyone was also overjoyed. Judge Jade and a group of guards continued on the train, while Lincoln and the others quickly got off the train and hurried back to Philadelphia. In the middle of the night, accompanied by aides and several escorts, Lincoln boarded the train from Jane to Washington, D.C., while the two governors and his wife, Mary, stayed in Philadelphia and waited for safety before leaving for Washington.

Sure enough, when the train of Judge Jade and others slowed down and taxied before arriving at Baltimore Station, a group of dozens of white gangsters rushed onto the train and searched for Lincoln everywhere but did not find it, so they had to beat Judge Jade and others and get off the train in a huff.

In the early hours of February 23, Lincoln arrived at Washington Railway Station.

But for some reason, someone knew that he would arrive early, only to see that in the square in front of the train station, several large banners were pulled up, and the banners read: "The new president is greedy for life and afraid of death, abandoning his wife and children and running for his life late at night!" ”

"Abandon your companions and let your friends take the blame! We don't need such an unaccountable president! ”

"Afraid of the gangsters, the president, who fled for his life in the middle of the night, where will the Federation go?"

Lincoln was so taken aback that he didn't bother to start the speech that had been prepared long ago, and hurriedly left the train station with his assistants and guards.

At this time, under the hype of the opposition Democratic Party, newspapers in Washington and northern states began to report overwhelmingly: "In order to avoid the gangster assassination, the new Republican President Lincoln got off the train late at night and took another train directly to Washington." Could our newly elected president really be a selfish coward who abandons his wife and children and uses his old friends as substitutes for the dead? ”

"Can the citizens of the Union trust Lincoln, the new president who has even been a good friend for 20 years, and the man who has abandoned his wife for 20 years?"

The Sun, the New York Times, and the Washington Evening News, which have the largest circulations, rushed to report on the news, and although it was clear to the discerning eye that it must have been a political opponent who attacked each other in this way, the details of the new president's trip in Philadelphia and interviews with Philadelphia train station staff all showed that the report was true.

Ordinary people don't care so much, they just know that the newly elected president actually did such a thing. The brave, hard-working, down-to-earth and reliable president they thought was now a selfish, life-hungry coward! For a time, Lincoln could only hide in his host home, and did not even dare to talk to people, meet politicians, or attend public events. He was extremely remorseful, and secretly swore in his heart that he would never be afraid again.

At the same time, another piece of news came that the New York Tribune, while interviewing neighbors in Lincoln's hometown of Springfield, Illinois, was told that there were at least three black slaves, one of whom was only 13 years old, in Lincoln's mansion. The New York Tribune also posted a picture of him, a scrawny black boy, standing at the door of Lincoln's mansion leaning against a door frame. In addition, there are two certificates of trade in black slaves, signed by Mrs. Lincoln Mary two years ago, for a total of $900 to buy two adult black slaves and one young child.

In addition, the New York Daily Tribune and the Washington Evening News revealed that Lincoln's father-in-law, Robert Todd, a big banker in Lexington, Kentucky, owned at least 200 adult black slaves on several farms in Kentucky.

The New York Daily Tribune even talked about Lincoln's career, pointing out that Lincoln was originally just a poor man, and even had no fixed occupation, making a living everywhere, and later although he worked hard to become a lawyer in the small town of Springfield, his reputation was limited, and the lawyer could not make a living at all, so that he had to work part-time as a land surveyor, until he "married" the daughter of one of the most powerful people in the United States, an ugly, short-tempered and vain woman, his life changed radically. He became a member of Congress, a famous lawyer, and now the president of the United States of America. The newspapers bitterly pointed out that Lincoln's fortune depended primarily on his father-in-law, a large banker from Kentucky who controlled several railroad companies in the north-central part of the American Commonwealth, owned several estates and manufacturing plants!

He became a well-known lawyer with an annual income of tens of thousands of dollars, and all the lawsuits he experienced were his father-in-law's accomplices, helping railroad companies use federal law to requisition land cheaply, drive down workers' wages, and beat their opponents. It is foreseeable that after Lincoln became president, he would be eager to announce the construction of the Midwest Railroad, which would make his father-in-law and the other monopoly shareholders of the railroad company make a lot of money.

For a time, the people in Washington, D.C. and the surrounding areas were in an uproar!

Attentive people found that the newspaper of the New York Daily Tribune was published on February 23, that is, on the day Lincoln arrived in Washington, the "history of the president's history" was revealed in the newspaper.

Perhaps because the New York Daily Tribune newspaper was not well known or some distance from Washington, the newspaper did not circulate until Feb. 24 and 25. However, on the evening of Lincoln's arrival in Washington, on 23 February, at the presidential reception dinner hosted by Washington's celebrities, Lincoln made a speech, saying that after he became president, in addition to settling the North-South dispute over the secession of the southern slave states from the Union, he would also plan to develop the west, start the construction of a large transcontinental railroad, and connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by rail, which attracted the applause of the celebrities who were spies in Washington!

This discovery by attentive people makes people believe that the report of the New York Daily Tribune is true. For a time, the people were in an uproar!

More and more people rushed to buy the February 23 issue of the New York Daily Tribune, so much so that the New York Daily Tribune sold out and had to reprint the 23rd edition on February 26 and 27 to satisfy the curiosity of the public.

The "New York Daily Tribune", which was originally not a very well-known newspaper, also became famous throughout the American Federation, and the people suddenly discovered that the newspaper of the "New York Daily Tribune" has a very broad field of vision, not only reporting on the affairs of the American Federation, but also reporting on Europe, India, and even the Far East and other parts of the world, especially the newspaper's remarks, which are very special, and its position has always stood in the perspective of ordinary people, which is refreshing.

As a result, sales of the New York Daily Tribune grew rapidly from less than 20,000 copies to 100,000 copies within a week.

Seeing this opportunity, other newspapers also reprinted the New York Daily Tribune's report that day. Newspapers such as The Sun, Le Monde, The New York Times, and the Washington Evening News broke out on the front pages of the drama.

Even lace newspapers such as the Philadelphia News took the opportunity to report that Lincoln was raised by his stepmother Sally Bush since he was a child, and was greatly favored by his stepmother, and now he has become a barrister and son-in-law of a wealthy family with an annual income of tens of thousands of dollars, but he forgot his poor stepmother who still lives in the country, and has been rich for many years, but has only sent money to his stepmother once, so that stepmother Sally is still living in poverty in rural southwest Indiana.

For a time, public opinion spread throughout the northern states of the Union, and people in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and other Republican support areas took to the streets to protest that the new president was a political liar, a good man and toiling masses in disguise, an agent of bankers and railroad magnates, and even demanded a new election or Lincoln's resignation.

Suddenly, Lincoln and his Republicans were so anxious that they had to make great efforts to extinguish the fires everywhere and eliminate the impact of public opinion pressure and popular demonstrations.

And Mary, who had not enjoyed the taste of the first lady for a few days, suddenly disappeared without a trace, and I don't know whether she was sent back to Springfield City, or rented another house to hide aside to avoid the limelight. However, Lincoln's assistant noticed that there seemed to be some scratches on Lincoln's neck, so that although he was firmly tied with a scarf, he could still detect Lincoln's discomfort when he turned his neck.