White House, President's residence, Washington, D.C., United States of America, October 26, 1862.

It was already one o'clock in the evening, but the lights were still on at the presidential residence of the United States of America, indicating that their supreme commander, Mr. President of the United States of America, had not yet slept.

At this moment, in the presidential residence, which is commonly known as the office in the White House, President Lincoln is walking around with his hands behind his back with a stern face, and around him is standing a middle-aged man with sharp eyes. Douglas.

Stephen. Douglas is the leader of the Democratic Party of the United States of America, and is also an excellent politician, nicknamed "Little Giant".

At the time of the 1860 presidential election, Stephen . Douglas once fought against Lincoln and had the upper hand for a time, but because Lincoln's Republican Party had more public opinion, it was ultimately defeated.

In addition to being Lincoln's political rival, Stephen. Douglas and Lincoln were still rivals in love, because he once pursued President Lincoln's wife madly, but in the end, just like the defeat of the government, the woman finally chose Linke instead of him.

When the Civil War broke out, he stood on Lincoln's side without hesitation, fully supported Lincoln's policies, and resolutely opposed the Democratic Party's nest in the South and opposed secession.

It is thanks to Stephen. Douglas's efforts, after the outbreak of the Civil War, the political atmosphere in the United States of America became very united, there was no internal friction, and Lincoln's authority could be implemented smoothly. Douglas has been dragging his feet, and President Lincoln's life will certainly not be so comfortable.

And because of that. So Lincoln trusted this former rival so much that in March 1862, he appointed him vice president, which can be said to be a hardcore confidant of President Lincoln.

In particular, according to the history of another time and space, this guy should have died of typhoid fever as early as 1861, but in this time and space, he did not die of illness due to taking a special medicine from China, which is the so-called sulfonamide. is still alive and kicking, which can be regarded as one of the butterfly effects.

"Can't hesitate!" Stephen at this time. Douglas looked at Lincoln still walking around with his hands behind his back, and hurriedly advised, "The situation is very unfavorable to us now, Robert. Li's troops are about to attack here, and if they don't leave at this time, it will be too late! ”

"No way!" Lincoln paused abruptly and looked at Stephen deadly. Douglas, "I am the President of the United States of America. This is the capital of the United States of America, and if I leave, it will really be over, and then it will really be finished again! So. I can't go, I can't go! ”

"Why are you so stubborn!" Stephen. Douglas roared, "Can't you see the shape clearly? McClellan's troops suffered heavy losses, and the Potomac corps was finished. We don't have enough troops to stop Robert's troops from entering Washington, D.C., what if you get caught? You are the president and our hope. If you're captured by the Southerners, you're all done! ”

That's right, Stephen. The issue that President Douglas and President Lincoln are discussing now is actually the question of moving the capital, or whether to run away, and in the final analysis, we have to talk about the previous battle, that is, the Battle of Maryland!

After the Battle of Seven Pines on June 1, 1862, Joseph. Johnston because of an injury, Robert. Lee became the commander of the Northern Virginia Regiment and quickly launched a series of active attacks against the Northern Army of the United States.

Later, Robert. Lee led the strongest Northern Virginia Army in the alliance to launch the Battle of the Peninsula and the Battle of Northern Virginia in succession, winning consecutive battles and defeating the attacking Northern Army in one fell swoop. Li simply led his troops to launch an active attack, invaded Maryland, and began the Battle of Maryland.

Because the Southern Army, especially the Northern Virginia Legion, was equipped with a large number of Sharps rifles imported from China and the Hua-1 field guns, the actual combat effectiveness of the Northern Virginia Legion exceeded that of another time and space. Lee's mobile command reached a climax at the Battle of Maryland, crushing the unresponsive McClellan.

Especially in the just-concluded Battle of Antitam, McClellan obviously knew the plan of the Southern Army in advance, but he was still defeated.

In the Battle of Antitam, the Northern Army gathered a total of more than 110,000 troops, besieging the Northern Virginia Army of only 45,000 men, and in just one day's effort, the besieging Northern Army suffered heavy losses, of which more than 15,000 were killed and 30,000 were wounded.

Because of the heavy losses, the Battle of Antitam was also called a bloody day, but it was mainly against the Northern Army.

Relatively speaking, although the stubborn Southern Army also suffered a lot of losses, because it was defensive and its weapons were more advanced than the other side, the losses were only more than 2,000 people, and it can be said that the main force still existed.

And after the disastrous failure of the offensive of the Northern Army, Robert . . . In the early morning of the next day, Li resolutely concentrated his main forces to launch a counteroffensive in the direction of the Potomac River, and this counteroffensive is also known as the Battle of Potomac.

The results of this counterattack were quite remarkable, the entire Northern Army completely collapsed, more than 50,000 people were captured, more than 3,000 were killed in battle, and it can be said that the Potomac Army has completely collapsed.

If it weren't for Robert. General Li stopped the continuous pursuit because of his own losses and the need to clean up the battlefield, and if he pursued it in one go, I am afraid that the Potomac Army would be completely wiped out, and he would not be able to escape at all.

However, while Robert. Lee temporarily stopped the pursuit, but the great victory in the Battle of Maryland greatly boosted the morale of the Southern Army, and during this period, China and Britain declared war on the United States of America and publicly recognized the Confederate States, so the whole atmosphere was changing to the Southern Army.

After a half-month break, especially after some supplements, Robert . Lee led the Northern Virginia Legion, with a total strength of 60,000, to advance again on Washington, the capital of the United States of the Northern States. Lee's offense.

Now, Robert. Lee's forces had arrived at Gettysburg to confront the remnants of the Potomac Corps. And the original commander McClellan has been removed from his post and replaced by Ambrose. Everett. Burnside served as the new commander.

However, even the commander Burnside was not optimistic about this defensive battle, because the Potomac Legion had less than 30,000 troops, and its morale was low and its equipment was backward, while the other side had a full 60,000 men and was much higher than the Potomac Legion.

Therefore, by this time, most people thought that Washington could no longer hold on. Many wealthy people have begun to leave Washington for refuge, and there are strong calls from the government to move the capital.

"No, never!" Lincoln waved his hand, his eyes were red, and said, "I know what the situation is, no one knows better than me, but it is because I know the current situation too well that I can't retreat!" ”

With that, Lincoln took two more steps back and forth. Only then did he look out the window and said faintly: "Do you think we still have a lot of places to retreat?" No, you're wrong, we have no way back. Yes. From the time when the Chinese declared war on us with the British, we had no way back! We have to resist here, we have to stop the attack of the Southerners here! Only in this way can we win a glimmer of hope! ”

"You. Why are you so stubborn! "Stephen. Douglas said loudly again, "You are our backbone, if something happens to you." What are we going to do? Don't say it, I'm the vice president, so I'll stay and resist, and it's your responsibility to continue to give us confidence and support in the rear! ”

"Don't say it, I've already decided." Lincoln turned around and said lightly, "It's impossible for me to leave, I will never leave at this time." ”

"But ......"

"Don't." Lincoln shook his hand, then walked over to his desk and picked up the text on the desk, "Look at this, see how I wrote this." ”

Stephen. After Douglas took the text handed over by Lincoln, he saw the title at a glance: "Emancipation Proclamation"!

"This ......" Stephen. Douglas was stunned.

"That's right, I'm going to make it official early tomorrow morning." Lincoln said, "Originally, I wanted to make it better before announcing it, but now it seems that we can't wait for the shape to improve, so we must announce this thing now." We must forcibly abolish slaves, and then let blacks take up arms to defend our United States of America. There are so many blacks in our country, and once they take up arms as well, it will be a huge force. ”

"There are a lot of blacks, but they have no talent at all, and they have no combat effectiveness at all!" Stephen. Douglas shook his head, "And many of us are disgusted with the emancipation of black slaves, and if you do this, it will be a big problem." ”

"Something went wrong? What could go wrong? Even if something goes wrong, can it be worse than it is now? At this point, Lincoln rubbed his forehead and continued, "Moreover, I intend to amend the conscription bill to make it mandatory for both men and women of appropriate age to serve in the military. Then, I will first forcibly conscript a million volunteers to deal with the current situation. ”

"A million people?" Stephen. Douglas frowned again, "Where did we get so much money?" And where are there so many weapons to arm them? ”

"I've thought about it." Lincoln sat down slowly, his hands crossed, "Weapons are not a big problem, we have a lot of factories, let them turn to ordnance, and then work overtime, it can be solved." What's more, we Americans already have a lot of guns, and we can ask them to prepare guns and ammunition on their own, just like the militia, and we can only pay for it.

As for money, this is a big problem, but I already plan to issue a government bond, and then revise the currency law and issue new banknotes, which should be able to cope with the past. ”

"National debt? Folding money? Douglas shook his head, slowly walked to his desk, and put the paper down, "In this case, the people will not be happy to buy our national debt. As for paper money, it's even worse, unless you force it. ”

"Then it's mandatory." Lincoln said expressionlessly, "It should be okay to use the government as a guarantee, force the issuance of paper money, and then use paper money to buy supplies, and force all walks of life to settle with paper money." ”

"What?" Douglas frowned, "What if everyone doesn't agree?" ”

"Then use a bayonet to force them to agree." Lincoln took a deep breath, "I thought about it, the most important thing now is to win the war, and for this you can use a qiē means. I'm going to take all the bankers and force the banknotes to be issued on the market. As long as our government recognizes it, as long as officials and soldiers can buy supplies with paper money. As long as the big bankers are forced to compromise with bayonets and agree to their free exchange of huàn coins and banknotes, it will not be a problem. ”

"Can be ...... at this time"

"All right, my friend." Lincoln waved his hand, "The more decisive it is to act, and the more it is at this time, the easier it is for these bills to pass."

I ask you to come here in the hope that you will continue to support me and get Congress to pass a new conscription bill and a currency bill. And, of course, the Emancipation Acts.

Believe me, as long as these three bills are passed, we will win the support of the people, and with the support of the people, we will surely win this war. ”

Seeing Lincoln like this, Stephen. Douglas knew that there was no way to persuade him, so he could only nod his head in agreement.

Early the next morning, President Lincoln, who still had some dark circles, delivered a speech in front of the White House. In his speech, in his formal capacity and authority as Commander-in-Chief of the United States Navy and Army, he promulgated the Emancipation Proclamation, announcing that with immediate effect. Slavery was abolished in the United States, and all black slaves in the United States became freedmen.

Immediately after the proclamation, all black slaves were immediately dissolved from their coercive slave vassalage with their former slave owners, and were free to live as free citizens on the lands of the United States. and as freemen, they worked, joined the army, and enjoyed the corresponding powers.

As soon as the news came out, everyone was in an uproar. Leaving aside the content of the Emancipation Proclamation itself, Lincoln's position on the issuance of this proclamation bypassed Congress and was issued directly in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the United States Navy and Army, which was a dictatorial act that violated the Constitution.

However, this was not the end of the story, and later he went to Congress to give a speech, demanding that Congress pass a new military service bill and a currency bill.

In the new military service bill, he demanded that all persons over the age of 16 should unconditionally respond to the government's call to take up arms and join the army if required by the government of the United States, and that all those who refused to serve in the military should be deemed to be against the law. In addition, in the new military service law, blacks were allowed to serve in the military, and blacks could also participate in the military of the United States and represent the United States in war.

In this military service bill, President Lincoln highlighted the word mandatory, because in the old days, the military of the United States of America was a volunteer army, or to put it bluntly, mercenaries, or conscripts.

In other words, the previous military service law emphasized autonomy and was not compulsory conscription, which meant that the government could use various means, such as raising salaries and encouraging propaganda, to attract people to sign up for the army, but it could not force citizens to serve in the military and serve the United States.

In the beginning, due to the government's propaganda and agitation, the enthusiasm of the people in the north to join the army was not bad, because there were a large number of abolitionists and immigrants in the north, and they were dissatisfied with the slave owners in the south, so they were quite willing to serve as soldiers.

However, as the war progressed, as the campaign became more and more brutal, fewer and fewer people were willing to serve as soldiers, but the demand for soldiers on the front line was getting bigger and bigger, and it was no longer possible to meet the war gap.

If he had the upper hand, or could hold on to the Southern rebels, Lincoln could continue to use a moderate method and continue to maintain the conscription system, but now that the shape is sinister, it is no longer appropriate to continue to use the mild conscription system and let everyone sign up for the army by themselves.

Therefore, Lincoln called for compulsory military service, requiring men and women of appropriate age under the rule of the United States to be compulsorily enlisted in the military when the country needed it, and not to serve in the military was a violation of the law and punishable.

To put it bluntly, it is to use the nature of the law to force the people to serve in the army, to defend the United States of America, and to change the military service system from a conscription system to a system that combines conscription and compulsory conscription.

In addition, the "Emancipation Proclamation" was essentially to expand the number of soldiers, and to get blacks to actively sign up for the army.

The reason is simple, although the proclamation announced the abolition of black slavery, these black people have nothing but one freedom, and they are still the lowest level of the people without any means of production.

Moreover, during the slave period, they can still survive under the protection of the slave owner, but once the slave vassal relationship is dissolved, the original slave owner can no longer use them like slaves, but has to hire them in the way of ordinary hired labor, and if they are paid, then in order to save money, the original slave owner will abandon them nine times out of ten.

That is, once free, at least for the short term. The lives of those black slaves may not have been as good as they used to be.

In addition, although the declaration said that blacks were allowed to work and join the military in the United States as free people, the general environment in the United States was racism, and who would be willing to hire blacks for work?

In the past, blacks were slaves because they were cheap, and once they were freed, according to the law, blacks had to enjoy the treatment of freemen. I'm afraid not many people are happy to do that.

Therefore, at least for the time being, blacks really have no better means of survival than to serve as soldiers, or to continue to work willingly with lower salaries.

Also, the Emancipation Proclamation was not only valid for the North, but also for the Allies, or the rebels in the South. Once this manifesto is transmitted to the South in large numbers, it will inevitably cause unrest in the South, cause black people in the South to riot, and hit the economy and production capacity of the South.

But. In such a large-scale counter-insurgency war, it is not enough to have people, but also to have money to arm them, so it is necessary to improve the government's financial ability to pay as much as possible. The so-called Monetary Reform Act, or Paper Money Act, came into being.

In the past. The United States of America is still a country with a high degree of freedom, it does not have its own central bank, taxes are quite low, and most of the practices are free trade, which is a model of small government and big society, so the country's fiscal revenue has not been high, and the national finance is not high, whether it is officials or the army, it is naturally not large.

This model of free trade, although very conducive to the development of commerce, but not conducive to the development of industry, but the rise of industry in the north of the United States, and the free trade of low tariffs conflicted, so in order to protect the industrial bourgeoisie, the Republican Party, which tends to be conservative and raise taxes, came into being, Lincoln is the representative and leader of the Republican Party, so that for a long time, the Republican Party was called Lincoln's party.

Although in 1860, Lincoln became president of the United States and the Republican Party came to power, due to the opposition of the Democratic Party, the fiscal reform was not obvious, at most it was a little tax increase in some inconsequential places, but the magnitude was not large.

If it had been normal, the tax hike might have taken its time, but soon the Civil War broke out, and as a result, fiscal reform had to give way to the war, so things like tax hikes were put aside for the time being, in other words, the tax policy of the United States of America was still not much different from the past.

In this era, the world's mainstream currencies are the gold standard or silver standard, in other words, the currency is gold or silver coins and other metal currency, and the total amount of gold and silver is certain, the issuance can not be infinite, so in peacetime fortunately, once faced with war, when a large amount of wealth needs to be provided in a short period of time, the disadvantages of this metal currency are undoubtedly revealed.

In the past, Lincoln tried to issue Treasury bonds, but the results were not good, after all, there were not many rich people in the United States, and the rich people were not willing to buy Treasury bonds, and the common people had no money, and they were not willing to buy any Treasury bonds.

As a last resort, Lincoln also tried to form a national bank, but this matter touched the interests of too many people, not to mention the Democratic Party, and many big capitalists in the Republican Party were not happy, so in the end it always failed.

The inability to move taxes, the formation of a national bank, and the issuance of public bonds were not ideal, so that after the start of the war, the financial problems of the United States became more and more serious.

In the days before, why was Lincoln so impatient and kept ordering troops to attack? In addition to the so-called counter-rebellion, the main thing was that Lincoln wanted a quick solution to end the war as soon as possible in order to save the country's finances that were about to go bankrupt.

In the past, although the war was always lost at the beginning, Lincoln was not worried, after all, in his thoughts, the North far surpassed the Southern Rebellion in terms of population, industrial and agricultural level, and wealth.

But now it seems that the combat effectiveness of the southern rebels is not ordinarily high, of course, that's it, that's it, Lincoln is still full of confidence in the future, after all, the overall strength of the north is still far greater than that of the south, but the recent 926 incident made the battlefield war full of variables for the first time.

Yes, after the 926 incident, the Chinese and the British declared war on the United States, which radically changed the whole situation.

According to Lincoln's knowledge, California has fallen into the hands of the Chinese, and it is said that the Chinese have also learned to issue a homestead law, saying that for 10 Chinese dollars, any Chinese can get 30 acres of land in the California area for free, as long as they cultivate it for five consecutive years, it belongs to their own land!

That's it, the key is also to hear that the Chinese have sent a large force to the east to attack Arizona, which is very similar to opening up the land transportation between Arizona and New Mexico, and connecting with Texas, which has been subjugated by the rebels.

Of course, this is still a small matter, after all, the war of the Chinese is far in the west, but the movements of the British cannot help but worry him.

According to intelligence, the British fleet in Cuba was ready to go, and the British army in Canada was on increased alert.

If the United States had maintained its superiority, Britain might still have only declared war and not taken action, but now that it has been beaten so badly, it is difficult to ensure that the British will not take advantage of the fire to rob.

What is even more frightening is that there are indications that the French have also been on the verge lately, and that they will probably join in declaring war on the United States, and that if they do, the whole thing will change.

Lincoln could have imagined that there was no need for anything else, as long as Britain and France provided the navy and continued to transfuse blood to the South, then with the combat effectiveness that the Southern Army was now showing, it was likely that it would really succeed independently and force itself to recognize the status of the Union Power.

Once they recognize the independent status of the Union Powers, then the United States will really be divided, and it will be easy to separate them, but it will be difficult to take them back, and once they are allowed to become independent, it will be even more difficult to become one again in the future.

Therefore, in the final analysis, it is still the Southern Army that is aggressive, or other countries such as China, Britain, and France are too good at taking advantage of the fire to rob, and the current shape of the United States is too sinister, and Lincoln has no way to force it, so these tactics are too authoritarian bills.

Because in Lincoln's view, the so-called freedom must give way to the unity of the country, and if the country is divided, then what else can be done freely. (To be continued......)