It was only two weeks before he returned to Washington.

The reason why it took so much more time and took almost twice as long as when he came back was mainly because when he came back, it was in the snowmelt period, and the ice and snow on the road kept melting, mixing with the dirt road to form mud, and the road was muddy and difficult to walk, and Pu Anchen was riding in a horse-drawn carriage, so the muddy road was a drag on his actions.

After arriving in Washington, Pu Anchen quickly took a shower, changed his clothes, and then went to meet President Lincoln immediately without having time to eat a bite of food, and reported the results of his trip.

In particular, although the content of the Smithland Treaty is almost universally known in China, in the United States, which is much closer, most people do not know about the treaty, including President Lincoln, who also does not know the specific content of the treaty.

China was able to obtain information about this treaty so quickly because Li Yongji immediately had people call China and read out the specific contents of this treaty in full.

Immediately afterwards, the domestic government adhered to Li Yongji's will, used the few radio broadcasting lines it had to quickly send the news internally, and even had people work overtime to print newspapers and publish the news in the newspapers, which caused a lot of uproar.

However, even if this is the case, the only people in China who can really know the news in time are Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing, Suzhou, and Shanghai, which have set up radio stations and have the ability to distribute newspapers.

Of course, the news here refers to the civilian population, and the situation in the army is completely different, after all, almost every department above the regimental level in the army is equipped with a radio station. They were able to listen to the central government's broadcasts, and even some high-ranking officers could talk directly to the central authorities on the phone, so the military was the first to get the news.

However, because Li Yongji implemented the policy of separating the military from the beginning of the government, except for the militia, all regular armies are self-contained and independent of civil affairs, so even if the army obtains some internal information in a timely manner, it is not allowed to share it with the outside world. You can't just give out the news.

Only the governors of the autonomous regions, such as Zeng Guofan, can obtain information in this regard through the central commissioner, or the liaison person sent by the central government to the autonomous region.

In a word. Although for various reasons, the Chinese Empire did not have universal access to radio, at least in the core departments, radios were deployed. Only then can we quickly get the news from the other side of the ocean, and know that the "Smithland Treaty" was another great victory for China.

In the United States, on the contrary, the situation is completely different.

In the past, the United States also attached great importance to science and technology, and the laying of cable telegraphs was relatively good. However, the cable telegraph in the United States is mainly laid in the east, and the development of the cable telegraph in the direction of Smithland is relatively lagging behind.

Although when General Grant led his troops westward. Wherever it used to go, the telegraph line was pulled, but it was a temporary one-way line after all, and with the fall of Grant at the Battle of Vicksburg, and with the continuous defeat of the American army in the western theater, this telegraph line connecting east and west was actually abandoned long ago.

However, to the east of Smithland, both Evansville at the front line and Louisville, the core city of Louisville, had telegraph lines and had been working well, so if Anson had the heart, he could still send a message to the White House there.

But how to put it, it is impossible for Pu Anchen to send a report to the rear at will about such a thing, he must personally meet with the president and explain the matter in person, so China has known the news for a long time, and even foreigners in China have known the news, but the United States on the other side of the ocean, at least until now, does not know about this treaty at all.

Just as the ugly daughter-in-law wants to see her in-laws after all, the moment Anson Pu and Lincoln met, it was destined that the news could not be hidden, in fact, Anchen did not have the slightest intention to hide, he just didn't want to use a telegraph, but to say it to President Lincoln in person.

There is no doubt that the Treaty of Smithland was a strict and unequal treaty for the United States, and its content was so harsh that it had never been seen since the founding of the United States.

But fortunately, Lincoln had expected this, after all, China had not hidden their appetite at the beginning, so after hearing Pu Anchen's description of the content of the signing, it was rare that he did not get angry and angry, but only sighed deeply.

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency." Seeing Lincoln sigh and not blame himself, Pu Anchen himself couldn't stand it, only to see him bow his head deeply, "I have failed your hopes, and instead of bringing good news to the United States, I have brought deep shame." I have nothing to say about this and am willing to accept any form of punishment. ”

"It's not your fault, or rather, it's not something you can control." Lincoln shook his head, "At least in this matter, I know you've done your best, but unfortunately you can't leave anything to chance." ”

"I'm sorry." Pu Anchen could only continue to bow his head.

"Needless to say, I'm sorry, I don't blame you." Lincoln smiled mildly.

"I know you won't blame me." Pu Anchen smiled bitterly, "But I am already destined to become a traitor and a dishonorable person." So, for the sake of the dignity of the United States, for the sake of your prestige, you must condemn me guilty, this is to give you an account, but also to let you have a punching bag, so as not to endanger your reputation! ”

"No, I won't convict you, no!" Lincoln shook his head, "Those who say you are guilty are ignorant villains, so I will not compromise for this kind of person, let alone wronged you for my prestige." So, you can rest assured, no one will do anything to you, at least while I'm still alive, no one will! ”

Hearing him say this, Pu Anchen bowed slightly: "Thank you for your trust, but I ......"

"Needless to say, it's decided!" Lincoln waved his hand, interrupted Pu Anchen's words, and continued, "In fact, you can sign an armistice agreement with the Chinese." Stopping the Chinese army has already won us a respite, not to mention that you also negotiated a lumber for prisoners agreement with the Chinese, oh, and arms sales, which is already quite good, it can be said that it is beyond my original estimates, and it is too late for me to thank you.

As for the land that was lost...... Hey, even if we don't sign this covenant, will we still be able to keep it? With the current military capabilities and immigration capabilities of the Chinese. Sooner or later they will take those lands themselves.

Since we are unable to hold it, it is better to sign a contract with dignity than to be forcibly plundered, at least we can also say to others that we temporarily give up those marginal lands for the sake of the overall situation and in order to defeat the enemy individually, in exchange for the offensive footsteps of the Chinese, and we will take it back later. ”

"We ...... Can I get it back? Pu Anchen suddenly raised his head. Staring at the haggard Lincoln, "Can we really get the lost land back?" ”

"I don't know." Lincoln folded his hands behind his back and slowly turned around to take in the scenery outside the window. "In the short term, I am afraid that we will not be able to get back those lands, and if we want to recover those lands, I am afraid that our future generations will need to work hard."

"It's all useless for us. and it will be a burden to future generations. Pu Anchen also sighed, "I don't know what they will say about us when they see the history books." I'm sure I'm going to scold it. ”

"If our children are smart enough, they will understand us." Lincoln slowly turned around and looked at Pu Anchen again, "You know, our current situation is unprecedentedly grim, if we don't lose those lands, if we don't make peace with the Chinese temporarily, and if we don't organize the continuous attack of the Chinese army, we can't even hold the land under our feet, and we will really go to the road of national destruction." Therefore, it is cost-effective to lose a piece of territory that has not yet been established in exchange for a respite.

Therefore, in this negotiation, you are not only right, but meritorious, because it is your efforts that make the Chinese give up the best opportunity to attack, and give up greater profits for a piece of fat that seems good.

From this point of view, the Chinese are no more than that, perhaps their army is difficult to defeat because of advanced weapons, but their commanders are short-sighted, greedy and lazy, if they continue to be like this, when we rise again, it will not be impossible to regain control of the western land in the future. ”

Hearing Lincoln say this, Pu Anchen instinctively wanted to refute, wanting to say that the Chinese commander was not short-sighted, but had a bigger plan, but when the words came to his mouth, he just nodded: "You are right, Your Excellency President." ”

"The Chinese just relied on their superiority in weapons to gain the upper hand for a while." Lincoln pouted, "But they won't always be lucky, and they have such a big appetite, others will be jealous of him, not to mention anything else, Britain and France will definitely worry that they, an ally, will clash with China sooner or later." Not to mention, there is also a Russia.

Although Russia lost to the Chinese at sea, their behemoth is most proud of the army, and one day, Russia will become a fetter for the Chinese, and once the Chinese and the Russians start a full-scale war, it will be the time for us to regain the lost territory and wash away the shame.

Of course, that requires patience, before that, we must first defeat the southern Yankees and the Anglo-French coalition army, reunify the north and the south, and then work hard to develop, especially pay attention to the development of military technology, only in this way can we defeat the Chinese in the future, regain the land in the west, and win the real future of the United States! ”

“…… You're right, Your Excellency. Anson could only repeat it, because he could see that Lincoln was very talkative now, and there was no need to interrupt his YY.

"Now that the Chinese have ceased war with us, this is good, and next, our enemies will only be left with the southern Yankees and the Anglo-French coalition army." Lincoln waved his right hand, "On the surface, these two enemies are outnumbered, and there are even signs that they are planning a large-scale attack, and they seem to be in the limelight, but in my opinion, their threat is not as good as the Chinese."

For example, although the British and French forces occupied Boston by sneak attacks, and even occupied a lot of land north of Boston, they had a shaky foothold, and we have been operating in that land for hundreds of years, and the local people are all interested in us, and they will not cooperate with the British and French bandits.

Therefore, it is wishful thinking for the Anglo-French army to occupy New England in peace, and our people have guns, and we can defeat them with the militia at the beginning, and we can do the same now.

Of course, the commander of the Anglo-French forces was also smart. Knowing that dividing troops is a big taboo, so the main force is almost all cowering in Boston, and we can't regain the lost ground safely, but they can't break through our defenses, and they can't continue to expand the results.

In addition, after all, the Anglo-French alliance is the army of two countries, and the British and French have different demands, and they fight across the ocean, and it is okay to have a short time, but a long time. The contradictions between them will inevitably erupt, and then we can take advantage of the contradictions between Britain and France to break them down.

So you see, the Anglo-French alliance seems to be strong, but in fact it is the weakest, and we don't have to worry about them at all, don't you say? ”

"Yes, you're right, Your Excellency." Anchen nodded again.

"Finally, it's the Southerners." Speaking of which. Lincoln frowned, "If it had been before, I wouldn't have taken the Southerners seriously at all, even though they had won a lot of victories in the early stages. But in the final analysis, they cannot compare with us in terms of population, troops, or food and equipment. Drag them to death.

But the problem is that because of the continuous blood transfusions of China, Britain and France, the current alliance army is extraordinary. Moreover, they had not experienced heavy setbacks before, their morale was still strong, and they did not attack much, but they just stayed there steadily, but they were the most troublesome enemy.

Fortunately, the Chinese have decided to withdraw from the war and unilaterally cease war with us, if they can defeat the Anglo-French coalition, then the remaining southern rebels will be alone, and sooner or later they will not be able to escape the road to destruction, it is just a little longer.

Therefore, our next strategy is to continue to hold in the south on the one hand, prevent the southern rebels from moving north, and curb the offensive momentum of the southern army, and on the other hand, concentrate the main force to break the British and French forces in the north first!

The Anglo-French coalition is an aggressor, unpopular, they are more following the Chinese to pick up cheap, now that the Chinese have retreated, the British and the French have nothing to fear, and when these intervening invaders have failed, the southern rebels have no support, and the day of defeat is not far away.

Therefore, as long as we implement the strategy of defending the south and attacking the north, the victory will be ours! ”

"Your Excellency." Pu Anchen frowned, "You seem to be too optimistic, in fact, the situation may not be so smooth, you must know that we have fought so far, and our strength has also been greatly damaged, we should first hold the current front steadily, and take it slow with them......"

"No, you don't understand!" Lincoln waved his hand and interrupted Pu Anchen's words, "Although the British and French coalition forces and the rebels in the south, although they are outnumbered, their weapons are not much different from ours, and in terms of troops, we have the advantage, and we are stronger in terms of morale, after all, we are defending our homeland and country, fighting for freedom and honor, and those invaders and rebels who split the country are different."

As you said, we are also suffering from the war, so we can't continue to fight them, we must concentrate our efforts and fight quickly!

Only by ending this war can we rest and recuperate as soon as possible, otherwise, in the future, if the Chinese and the Russians or the British have another dispute, even if we have the heart to regain the lost territory, we will be powerless.

I'm not afraid to tell you, for this attack, I have ordered another 500,000 troops to be forcibly recruited and a new army to be formed, plus the James River Army in the east, and the Shenandoah River Army in the north, the total strength will exceed one million!

I'm going to launch a massive offensive with a million men to completely defeat the Anglo-French forces and retake Boston, after which the army will turn around and head south, with the Potomac Corps, and the Robert. Lee's troops have a decisive battle!

Believe me, in less than a year, we will end this damned war, after which the newborn America will be even stronger, and we will finally wash away the shame and regain the one we lost! ”

At the end of the day, Lincoln waved his lower arm vigorously, and his face began to redden, and it was obvious that he was excited, as if a bright future was at hand.

However, seeing his appearance, coupled with what he said before, Pu Anchen was dumbfounded, because he could never have imagined that Lincoln would say such a thing.

Of course, there is nothing logical about Lincoln's remarks in themselves, but the problem is that Lincoln's remarks are completely self-righteous and self-talking, without any consideration of variables.

In other words, if what Lincoln said at the beginning was somewhat reliable and a little optimistic, then the later words have begun to detach themselves from reality, at least in the eyes of Anchen Puanchen, some of them are taken for granted and some are overly optimistic.

Lincoln is the president, not a soldier below, and he does not need these words to deceive, but needs a more calm and objective mind, and what he needs is more prudent decision-making.

Therefore, a statement like the one just now, which is full of certainty but great variables, should not come from the mouth of a president, but more like an orator fooling people.

In addition, Lincoln's mental state was also suspicious, a little too excited, and with his thin figure and bloodshot eyes, he looked a little crazy.

Therefore, although there were too many doubts in his heart, seeing Lincoln's crazy and intoxicated appearance, Pu Anchen still did not express his doubts, but lowered his head again and replied softly: "You are right, Your Excellency. (To be continued......)