Interfering in the dispute between the North and the South of the United States has long been no secret to the bigwigs of the Generalissimo's Office and the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty. The terms of the "Hawaii Secret Treaty", these bigwigs have been able to recite it backwards. As early as the beginning of 1860, the first expeditionary force sailed to the Americas in the name of aiding the Mexican Empire, and by this time had been stationed in the Valley of Mexico for half a year, and was already preparing to send troops to fight. The second batch of expeditionary forces is a mixed Sino-Japanese force, a total of 80,000 people in two armies, and the weapons and equipment are exactly the same as those of the first army of the expeditionary force, which was assembled in June 1860 in the Kanto Plain of Japan and has been trained for more than half a year!

Seriously, the Sino-Japanese relations in this time and space were so good that the Tokugawa shogunate was very attentive in preparing a military prostitute for the Chinese Expeditionary Force! A total of 6,000 young girls have been recruited, some of whom have already arrived in Mexico with the First Army of the Expeditionary Force! If you let people like Aritomo and Hirobumi Ito in Yamaprefecture in another time and space know, they would have to be so angry that they would vomit blood...... However, in this time and space, these two are also Japanese soldiers in the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and they are now practicing their skills to kill the enemy day and night.

As for the issue of weaponry and military spending, proper arrangements have long been made. It's 1861 now! It is the second year of the second five-year plan of the Industrial Promotion Association, and after more than ten years of continuous investment, although the heavy industry of the Ming Dynasty is still not as good as the old imperialist Britain, it has left the United States, France, Prussia and Russia behind! Taking steel and coal as examples, in 1860, Daming's pig iron output had exceeded 1.8 million tons. Steel production reached 800,000 tons. Pig iron production is only 700,000 tonnes less than in the UK. Steel production is even comparable! The coal output of Daming, stimulated by the large demand of the machine industry, exceeded 30 million tons in one fell swoop, close to 50% of the United Kingdom, and firmly occupied the second place in the world. Almost all weapons and equipment have been localized, and the arms industry is very developed, which is enough to meet the needs of a large-scale modernization war.

The operating mileage of the Daming Railway has exceeded 40,000 miles. It is second only to the United States and ranks second in the world. However, the 40,000 miles of railway in Daming is mainly based on steel rails, and the railways in the United States are mainly backward plate rails, although the operating mileage exceeds that of China, but the value is far less than that of China. Moreover, the operation of the 40,000 Huali railway in Daming is good, and the Daming Railway Company has achieved profitability as early as 1855, and by 1860, the net profit has exceeded 10 million silver dollars!

Under such a good economic development, the financial revenue of the Ming Empire also increased significantly, and by 1860. The total financial revenue of the Ming Empire has exceeded 360 million silver dollars, an increase of 20% over 1857! Moreover, it achieved the first fiscal surplus since the restoration of the Ming Dynasty. There was a surplus of 5 million yuan......

However, relying on this 5 million yuan is certainly not enough to support the expenses of intervening in the American Civil War, fortunately, the financing ability of the Ming Empire is very strong, not only successfully issued several public bonds in India, but also raised a large amount of money in the European market. This time, in the name of "participating in the Central American war and supporting Mexico", the equivalent of 100 million silver dollars was successfully raised in the financial markets of London and Paris. Enough to support the first and second expeditionary forces.

And this qiē preparation is for today's arrival. Before going to the temple for a meeting, Zuo Zongtang, Luo Zenan and others had also learned the news of South Carolina's withdrawal from the United States of America, and they naturally knew what it meant. As soon as I arrived at the temple, it didn't take much time to discuss what I was going to do now. The first is to recognize the Southern Federation of the United States at the first time (at this time, the name of the southern part of the United States is not known), and if the North of the United States protests, then decisively break off diplomatic relations! The second is to study in what name to enter the war, whether to declare war on the North of the United States, fight an all-out war or leave it undeclared, and let the Chinese Expeditionary Force enter the South of the United States in the name of the Volunteer Army, depending on the position of France, Mexico, and Britain -- the key is whether Britain will enter the war and whether France is willing to let the "Four-Power Agreement" come to an end. The implication is that once Britain does not intend to enter the war, and France prepares to enter the war, the paper agreement signed by China, Britain, France, and Mexico after the end of the war against Russia will become a piece of waste paper. In its place, it will be the "China, France, Mexico, and the United States (American South) Four-Power Alliance Treaty", which will mean something, even if you think about it, you can understand it.

Zhu Jishi calculated the time in his heart, these Yankees are very unfavorable to fight the civil war, a large number of states have to meet to discuss the issue of taking sides, the southern generals who serve in the federal army still have resignation rolls and leave, and the south also elects the president, formulates the constitution, and organizes the army...... It is estimated that it will not be done in a few months. The same thing should be done in the north. At the moment, the U.S. Federal Army is less than 20,000, and there is no way to fight a war.

In addition, the issue of Mexico's participation in the war was also negotiated. It's hard to say whether the Southern Alliance will agree to Mexico's acquisition of territory in the western United States! Why don't you have to play a few warm-up games first to make the American South feel that things are a bit tricky?

When Zhu Jishi finished the meeting at the Hall of Worship before lunch, the French ambassador Bourblon and the French Marshal of the Ming Army, Jérôme Brown. Duke Peel had already come to ask for an audience. It seems that these two have received instructions from the French emperor to urgently come to Zhu Jishi to consult on interfering in the American Civil War. The French emperor's interest now lies in the Americas, a pro-French American Confederation, a large Mexican Latin Empire belonging to the Bonaparte family, and possibly the Brazilian Empire into the arms of France - a height that even Napoleon I did not reach, a great empire across the Atlantic, holding the hegemony of two worlds (referring to the Americas and Europe, Africa, and West Asia), plus the support of China, the hegemon of the Eastern world, France is the world hegemon! Overlord of the sea and land! Britain or something, not at all an opponent of France, as for Germany...... What if they could be unified? Can it still confront the overlords of the two worlds? Drag them to death!

So now Napoleon III feels good about himself, and Bourblon and Jérôme. Peel also felt just as good as their master, with a smile of excitement on his face. Especially Lao Pier, a veteran left over from the Napoleonic era, has a smile on his face that can't be hidden. The French Empire is finally under the leadership of Napoleon III, the young proprietor, and it is the hegemon of the world!

As soon as he saw Zhu Jishi, the old man who had already changed into a French army uniform stood upright, that is, he raised his hand and saluted, and then said with a smile: "Your Majesty the Emperor, I am here to bid you farewell!" I have been summoned by the Emperor of France to be awarded the rank of General and Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces! I don't think you're going to object to this appointment, are you? ”

Of course, the coalition refers to the "coalition forces of France, the Ming Dynasty, Mexico, and the United States", and it seems that Napoleon III has decided to tear his face and intervene in the American Civil War by force! And the only general who can command the four-nation alliance is of course Jérôme, who has the rank of field marshal of the Ming Dynasty. Peel up. This old guy can be said to be the founder of the Ming Army, Shi Dakai is just his student, how dare he not listen to the command? Moreover, this old man's brain is not outdated, he knows the latest weapons and tactics well, and he can be regarded as one of the inventors of barbed wire squatting pit flow...... If the old man survives the Franco-Prussian War, he will really drink a pot of Moltke, the Prussian god of war! Moreover, the French Army at that time was all veterans of the American Civil War, could Prussian recruits really fight with others?

Thinking of this, Zhu Jishi nodded with a smile, and said to Lao Pier in French: "Jérôme, if you are in command of the coalition army, then I can't rest assured." There is no one in the North who knows how to fight a war better than you, but there is one question I want to know, how much time are you prepared to spend helping the South achieve their desire for independence? (To be continued......)