Although the attempt to win over Jim failed, Jerry did not lose heart, and continued to connect with other comrades, using this method of word of mouth and acquaintances to attract acquaintances, to instigate more people to join their resistance groups, and increase the bargaining chips for the upcoming resistance demonstrations.

Not everyone is as calm as Jim, many people are actually like Jerry, they are full of fear of the future, and full of hope, feeling that now that there is a truce, as long as they ask for more people to know about their situation, there will always be a way to properly accommodate them, even if not everyone is released, it is good to be released for the most part.

Among them, although most of the people who carried out tandem operations were low-level soldiers, they were more cannon fodder, and those who really cared, or felt that there was hope for an early escape from captivity, were actually middle- and high-level officers.

The reason is very simple, the middle and high-ranking officers of the US military, such as those with the rank of second lieutenant and above, are mostly middle-class whites, and they have basically read a lot of books, have more knowledge, and know more about the exchange of prisoners of war in this era than ordinary soldiers.

In the sixties of the nineteenth century, there was no international consensus on such things as the Geneva Conventions, and the treatment of prisoners of war was basically a private agreement between belligerents.

In other words, the key to the good or bad treatment of the captives during this period depends on the strength of their original countries.

If the country of origin of the captured officers and soldiers is strong enough and has sufficient deterrent power, then the warring countries that have taken the prisoners will not usually be too aggressive with the prisoners, but if the country where the captured officers and soldiers are located is weak. The country that gets the captives doesn't have so many scruples, and the quality of the captives depends entirely on their own moods.

Therefore. Throughout the sixties of the nineteenth century, there was no international benchmark international norm on the treatment of prisoners of war, nor was there any international condemnation.

In other words, in this period. If one of the warring parties gets a prisoner, that's your business.

At this time, if you treat the captives well, it means that you have a good heart. People will not do you any good except praise you verbally, and you may even feel weak and deceitful.

And if you mistreat the captives too much, the other party will be angry. But at most, it's a verbal reprimand. When negotiating, it is not usual to make big concessions for the sake of the captive issue.

In other words, in the middle of the 19th century, when colonialism was spreading all over the world and power was overpowering human rights, neither backward countries nor self-proclaimed advanced powers attached much importance to the issue of captives, and they valued more than practical interests.

This is also why Pu Anchen asked Li Yongji to talk about the armistice agreement before. Although the question of releasing the prisoners was raised, once the Chinese insisted. I won't talk much about it, and continue to fight for the territory and the ransom issue.

Of course, the reason why Pu Anchen gave up the issue of prisoner release so quickly was that in this war, the United States lost so completely that it did not capture any Chinese prisoners at all, and as the defeated side, he did not have more favorable chips, so compared with the more painful land reparations for the United States, the prisoner problem is a small problem, and it can not even be a problem.

But then again, although there is no international norm for the treatment of prisoners of war in this era, there is a universal principle, that is, you can redeem yourself.

To put it simply, if you are unfortunate enough to be taken prisoner, it is actually equivalent to that you have paid the obligation for your original country, and then, if the country does not save you, you can pay for yourself.

Generally speaking, the captive party will also take the initiative to set a ransom price, which is not only an act of profit, but also an act of respecting universal principles, which will make everyone more reassured.

Why is it more secure? The reason is very simple, that is, in this era, the massacre of prisoners is still common, but most of them occur in backward countries, and countries that consider themselves civilized generally do not slaughter prisoners without principle.

Therefore, as long as you are willing not to kill the captives, and take the initiative to set a ransom for the captives, you will usually be more recognized by everyone, and the captives will feel more at ease.

If, on the other hand, you get a captive and don't announce the ransom for the captive, you will be afraid that you will be slaughtered or sold into slavery.

Although the Chinese Empire has risen at an impressive pace in the past few years and has become a dazzling power, in the minds of most Westerners, China is more like a lucky Ottoman Empire, although it is afraid of China's military power and envies China's wealth, but it does not consider China a civilized country.

Therefore, many Westerners are afraid of China, especially those captives, who believe that China is a slave country, and once they become captives, they are likely to be sold into slavery in China, so it will be extremely difficult to return to their hometowns.

In this era, not only Chinese are attached to their homeland, but most Westerners do not like to be at home, or prefer to stay in their hometown, so if you think that you may be sold thousands of miles away, you may not be able to return home for the rest of your life, and you may even die in a foreign land, the fear in your heart is also quite large.

In this regard, after Li Yongji obtained the prisoners, he took the initiative to announce the price list of the prisoners' ransom to the outside world, which also played a role in stabilizing people's hearts, and the reason why so many US military prisoners have not had major problems and are safe and obedient is that in addition to the threat of force from the Chinese, there are also reasons in this regard.

Of course, that is only the reason at the beginning, the fundamental reason for the prisoners' peace of mind, or because the Chinese prisoners are treated relatively well, at least they can be fed and clothed, and there is a place to live, plus the work they are required to do is not completely unacceptable, and the threat of force by the Chinese is even more real, which is the fundamental reason why so many prisoners have not had major problems.

Unfortunately, the price of redemption for prisoners given by the Chinese at the beginning was too expensive, not to mention that ordinary soldiers could not pay the ransom, and even those middle and high-ranking officers, except for a very small number of people, basically could not pay the ransom money.

Up to now. Of the more than 470,000 US prisoners, only 631 were allowed to pay enough ransom to their families and then returned to their hometowns free. The others were unable to be freed because they did not have enough money to scrape together and could only continue to be prisoners under the Chinese.

To say that in the past, that is, when China and the United States were still at war, those US military prisoners could more or less understand the high ransom price of the Chinese, and felt that the Chinese were justified in doing so.

After all, in their minds, everyone is now at war. If the conditions for releasing the captives are too low, and most people can redeem themselves, they are financing the enemy. After all, the captives are going back to their hometowns after they are released, and if they continue to be drafted as soldiers and continue to oppose themselves, it will be more than worth the loss.

So. During the war. Formulating a high ransom for prisoners is not only not a bad thing, but a good deed, after all, normally speaking, many countries do not even set a ransom during the war, because they will not release the prisoners during the war, and will only release the prisoners conditionally after the war.

Therefore, most Americans at that time were eager for the war to end as soon as possible. Because in their minds, as long as the war is over. If there is a truce between China and the United States, then the Chinese will definitely lower the standard of redemption, and may even release them unconditionally in order to show their generosity.

In this way, they can return to their hometowns as soon as possible, reunite with their families as soon as possible, and never have to live such a life of displacement again.

From this point of view, the signing of the Treaty of Smithland was good news for most of the American prisoners, because although they were also saddened by the fact that the United States of America ceded land and paid reparations and lost their rights and humiliated the country, but more importantly, there was an additional hope to return home.

At that time, most of them thought that they would go home soon, because the war was over, and the prisoners would naturally be useless, and it was natural for them to be released.

But unfortunately, everything that followed disappointed their hopes, because it was clear that the Chinese did not unconditionally release them, nor did they lower the standard of redemption, and the price list of the ransom money was still the original one, and the United States of America did not seem to make more demands specifically for these prisoners.

In other words, these prisoners who fought hard for the United States seem to have been forgotten by the United States, and the Chinese obviously have no mercy.

Fear, which was born at this time, soon began to spread everywhere, especially among mid- and high-ranking officers.

Because for the real low-level US military prisoners, being a prisoner under the Chinese is not very unacceptable, anyway, they go back to live a poor life, especially for those white soldiers who are from the bottom of the peasantry, even if they return to their hometown, they have to herd sheep and farm the land, earn a meager salary to live, may not be able to take a bath once a year, and the standard of living is not as good as being a prisoner.

You know, being a prisoner under the Chinese is not a chore, because the Chinese treat these captives quite well.

For these US prisoners, the Chinese not only provided bright and spacious housing, fed and fed, distributed clothes, and worked according to the specific conditions of the work, providing salaries at different prices.

That's right, these captives work, they are paid, and they are given hard currency Huayuan!

Jokes aside, nowadays, both the United States of the North and the Confederate States of the South have begun to print their own paper money for the sake of war, and have made it mandatory to settle with paper money.

In other words, both the dollar in the North and the dollar in the South have shrunk in value. The north is a little better, now in the black market, 1 Chinese dollar can only be exchanged for about 520 US dollars, and the south is a little worse, 1 Chinese dollar can be exchanged for alliance dollars in the black market, which has exceeded 1 to 3000, that is, 1 Chinese dollar can be exchanged for at least 3000 alliance and!

The reason for this situation, in addition to the difference in financial policies between the north and the south, is also related to the efficiency of each other's governance and the size of their own heritage, but in any case, with the sharp depreciation of the paper money of the two countries, most of the people hate the paper money, unless forced to do so, otherwise basically do not use this kind of paper money to trade, are the original Mexican silver dollar or gold coins!

Among them, the Chinese dollar is also a pretty good currency in the north and the south because of its strong value, except for some places in the north that refuse to use the Chinese dollar because of their disgust with the Chinese, most places are still quite fond of the Chinese dollar, the most critical point of which is that the price of the Chinese dollar to the Mexican silver coin is getting higher and higher.

Past. One Chinese dollar can be exchanged for two Mexican silver dollars, and now, with the north and the south of the silver tight. The supply of materials is in short supply, and the exchange rate of the Chinese dollar against the Mexican silver dollar has reached a situation of 1 to 5.

In other words, in today's world, 1 Chinese dollar can be exchanged for 5 Mexican silver dollars, which is more than the value of the silver content itself.

To know. A Mexican silver dollar, also known as the Mexican Eagle, generally weighs 27 grams. The silver content is usually 95 percent, and if you count sterling silver, a Mexican eagle contains 25.65 grams of silver.

A silver coin contains 92.5 percent silver. And a Chinese dollar weighs 40 grams. That is to say, one Chinese dollar contains 37 grams of silver, and the weight of silver is exactly one or two of the new weights and measures of the empire.

Therefore, in the past, one Chinese dollar could be exchanged for two Mexican silver dollars, which was relatively normal, comparing 1 Chinese dollar with 37 grams of silver, and 2 Mexican silver dollars with 51 grams of silver. If you simply compare the silver content, there is not much difference between everyone. However, because the craftsmanship level of the Chinese silver dollar is higher, other countries cannot imitate it for the time being, and it is more valuable to retain its value, so it is quite normal to exchange 1 Chinese dollar for 2 eagles.

But now, 1 Chinese dollar can be exchanged for 5 eagle oceans, which is somewhat more than the exchange value of the silver itself, after all, 5 eagle oceans contain more than 128 grams of silver, compared to only 37 grams of silver silver coins, that is greatly exceeded, not to mention, in many cases, the Chinese dollars that Eagle Ocean can exchange for are only paper money, and few are exchanged for silver coins.

The reason for this situation is that goods made in China have begun to sell well all over the world, and many of them are single products that are in short supply.

For example, Chinese medicine, Chinese jewelry, Chinese steel, these things are enduring bestsellers, and soon, high-quality and cheap Chinese cloth, Chinese silk and other textiles have also begun to impact the world, these things are the same as the previous Chinese bestsellers, the price is not too high, but the technical gold content is very high, as long as you have used Chinese textiles, the same price will never like other similar products.

Although the current export volume of trade goods of the Chinese Empire is less than a fraction of the export volume of China in modern society, considering that this is the nineteenth century, the overall demand of the world cannot be compared with that of modern society, so although the growth of the production capacity of the Chinese Empire is actually not a perversion.

However, because the added value of the Chinese Empire's export trade goods is higher and the international competitiveness is stronger, it occupies an increasingly high position and weight in the process of world trade.

Although China's total export trade goods are not comparable to the old British Empire for the time being, after all, they occupy too many colonies, but they are already the second in the world, and if you do not count the number of trade goods, only the trade volume, that is, the currency price of trade goods, China is already the first in the world.

In other words, the total number of Chinese products is the second in the world, but the value of Chinese products has occupied the first place in international trade, and the resulting phenomenon is that the value of China's currency has also risen.

This is similar to the petrodollar in later generations, the reason why the dollar in another time and space is so strong has always been the mainstream settlement currency unit in world trade, in addition to the world's largest military strength of the United States, the key is that the oil in bulk trade goods is settled in US dollars, so it is equivalent to tying up the status of the US dollar.

The same is true of Huayuan today, although there is no indispensable bulk hard trade product such as oil in the world, there are still bulk hard pass transactions in this era.

What are the big hard trades in this era? The answer is food, medicine, steel, cloth!

Why did the British Empire never set? The reason is that Britain occupies the mainstream steel and cloth business, and British cloth and steel are sold all over the world, injecting a steady stream of wealth into Britain, which allows Britain to supply an invincible fleet and a powerful army.

Without great wealth, there would have been no strong navy and army, and Britain would not have been able to become the so-called empire on which the sun never sets, and become the first power in the nineteenth century.

At present, although China's military strength is not yet able to plant the flag in the world like Britain, it has far surpassed the British army in terms of control over local areas, and this absolute force has guaranteed the marketing rights of Chinese manufactured products in the world.

Subsequently, Chinese products have won the favor of the whole world with unparalleled quality and low price, so the wealth obtained has also snowballed in growth, and a direct consequence of this is the continuous appreciation of the value of Huayuan.

Therefore, Huayuan is now quite valuable, if you change to Mexico Eagle Ocean, 1 to 5 is still the market price, if it is a black market, it can even reach 1 to 10!

Then, working under the hands of Chinese, although the salary is not high, but because the settlement currency is the Chinese dollar, considering the exchange rate, it is far better than working in the United States.

Therefore, for most ordinary soldiers from the bottom of the United States, working under the Chinese is not only not a chore, but a rare opportunity to make a fortune, and soldiers like Jerry who always want to go home are just special circumstances.

However, for those mid- and high-ranking officers who came from above the middle class, the situation is completely different!

In this era, or before the war, the middle class in the United States of America generally consisted of intellectuals such as lawyers, doctors, teachers, judges, and career military officers, who were not so hungry for wealth and more about status and honor.

Therefore, the identity of prisoners is a stain on those officers from middle-class families, and what makes them even more unbearable is that they must also work hard for the Chinese like ordinary soldiers!

They are officers, they are high-ranking command talents, how can they be like cannon fodder, dirty all day long, and what decency is there to speak of?

In other words, in China's prisoner camps, it doesn't matter about officers and soldiers, just look at your work performance, if you work well, your income will be high, and if you work poorly, you will be punished.

If you think about it, you will know that the officers who have never done hard work in the past are completely incomparable to the low-level soldiers in this regard, so naturally life in the prisoner camp is quite difficult.

In the past, they still longed to go home as soon as possible after the end of the war, but now that their dreams have been shattered, they are naturally unwilling to continue to live this kind of life, so their thoughts of resistance have become heavier and heavier, and they have quickly connected with each other, ready to use the methods they used to use in the past to fight for their so-called legitimate rights and interests!

Of course, these middle-class guys are also very smart, they know that they can't charge ahead, they must instigate fools and cannon fodder to make trouble in front, they only hide behind, this is the safest way, after all, no one can be sure what method the Chinese will use to deal with this kind of protest.

If you agree smoothly, it's fine, but if you don't agree, or even brutally suppress by force, it's not good, so you must not get ahead, and it is a good trick to let those young and strong young people come forward.

"We must endure!"

Ensign Bob, one of the tandem and Jerry's liaison, said in a deep voice to the people around him at a secret meeting: "The Chinese are on the rise, and we are all concentrated in a few prisoner ships, there is no place to protest, so now is not a good time to protest."

We have to find a good time, a good time for the world to see, and then there will be mass protests to get the best results, and for now, what we need is to attract more like-minded people. ”

"So when is the best time to do it?" Jerry asked, "If you go on like this, do you have to be sent to New Orleans all the time, or even sent to California to be a slave and protest?" ”

"It's coming, it's coming." Bob narrowed his eyes, "You have to believe in the organization, believe me, the opportunity will come soon." (To be continued......)