Frustrated that the Union government was not giving enough money, Robert . Lee was going to look for the British to gain support, but what he didn't know was that the Union government was not because of suspicion or other reasons, but it was really, really difficult, really, really out of money.

If it weren't for the fact that there was really no way, President Davis would now be dealing with Robert. Lee's trust level will never withhold the military supplies of his unit.

Actually, Robert. Lee's Northern Virginia Legion is already overtreated in the entire Union Army sequence, and all the other troops do not get as much as this unit, not to mention the Western Legion, which has not been paid half a salary for more than a year, and even the garrison in Richmond cannot be compared with the Northern Virginia Legion in terms of treatment and material supply.

Robert. Li is just a general, all he thinks about is how to destroy the enemy in front of him, how to seize the advantageous fighter opportunity, as for the economic problems behind it, it is not his responsibility, so he doesn't care, he just asks the rear for money when he needs it, and satisfaction is deserved, and if he is not satisfied, he is incompetent.

But for Davis, he has more to think about, not to mention the increasingly serious financial problems, but also demographic problems, law and order problems, diplomatic problems, and so on.

It should be said that Davis's own governance ability is still quite good, but the problem is that Davis's coalition government is loosely structured, and it mainly relies on the support of the big farmers below to come to power.

Thus, the structure of the government of the Union State is almost the same as that of the United States of America, and it is the parliament that really has the final say in national affairs.

In other words, if Davis wants to do things, he must first obtain the consent of others, and if he does not agree, he will only be stillborn, and he cannot be arbitrary like Lincoln who is above the Constitution and Parliament.

As a result, Davis's governance efficiency was far inferior to that of the United States of America. And it's also more difficult for him to do something than the federal government.

Just like the matter of weapons procurement, in fact, at the beginning, Davis opposed to the purchase of a large number of Chinese weapons, thinking that those weapons are advanced and advanced, but they are too expensive, especially the maintenance fee is more difficult to do, and with that money, you can buy more than twice as many ordinary front-loading guns, even if you build your own front-loading Springfield, it is also cost-effective.

However, Davis though is president. But in terms of ordnance procurement, he said that it didn't matter, and he appealed again and again, but it was still difficult to resist the private actions of the people below.

The reason is simple, that is, many high-ranking officers of the Union Army, including Robert Brown. Li himself likes to use Chinese weapons, and if his troops do not use Chinese weapons, he will feel particularly cheap. Therefore, they are scrambling to demand the purchase of Chinese Hua-1 or even Hua-2 weapons, and disdain those honest front-loading guns.

One of the characteristics of the Union Army is that the requirements of senior officers at the front often represent the requirements of the army. And the demands of the military tend to influence the government's actions, which means that if the army needs it, the government must meet it. But on the other hand, a lot of demands from the governments of the Union States. The front-line army may or may not listen.

The situation is a bit like militarism, where the government is kidnapped by the military. But if you look closely, it's a little different.

In the final analysis, it is because the Union State is a loose union, and when the constitution was formulated at the beginning of the founding of the country, it strongly called for the reduction of the powers of the government and advocated the expansion of state powers.

The authority of the President of the Union is also much smaller than that of the President of the Federal Government, and here it is weaker than not only the current Lincoln administration, but also the previous Federal President.

For example, the Union State stipulated from the beginning that the term of office of the President of the Union State was six years, which on the surface seemed to be longer than the term of office of the President of the United States, but the problem was that the President of the Union State could not be re-elected, but could only serve one term, and then he would have to step down.

In addition, if a two-thirds majority in the Congress of the Union States passes, it can veto the president's order, which looks similar to that of the United States.

But the problem is that the current parliament of the United States is already controlled by Lincoln, and he does not dare to make irresponsible remarks about Lincoln's orders. But the Union Legislatures are different, and although they all seem to be split from the Democratic Party, most of these legislators represent the interests of their respective states.

One of the characteristics of the Parliament of the Union States is that every meeting seems to be constantly divided, fighting each other for their own interests, but when faced with a presidential bill, they are always very united, and when there are some bills that are harmful to the locality, they immediately unite and veto them by a two-thirds majority.

Just like the original Chinese arms procurement case, President Davis originally signed a non-approval order, intending to continue to import cheap rifles and artillery from Britain and France.

According to President Davis, although the weapons of Britain and France are not as good as those made in China, they are cheap and suitable for the governments of the Coalition countries, which are not financially well-off.

But the parliamentarians below did not do it, and they strongly demanded the purchase of more advanced, but more expensive, and even imported Chinese weapons on the grounds of respecting the lives of soldiers.

The reason is not complicated, that is, the main body of the army of the Union State is actually the local soldiers of the following states, such as Robert. Lee's Northern Virginia Legion, as the name suggests, was a corps that was drafted in Virginia.

This means that these armies value the interests of their local states most important, and even if they are eventually divided into so-called alliance armies and become so-called national armies, the core remains the same, and they are first and foremost responsible for their own homeland.

From this point of view, these so-called Union armies are not so much national armies as they are coalition armies of different warlords, and the person who really controls those armies is not Davis, but the governors of the states below!

Why does Davis attach so much importance to Robert. Lee's Northern Virginia Legion, give this legion super high treatment? It's not because this unit is the ace of Virginia's lineage, and Davis's power base is in Virginia, so he attaches so much importance to this force.

This situation is somewhat similar to the warlord melee in China, but the difference is that the way of thinking and cultural traditions of the Americans are different from those of the Easterners, which is reflected in politics, that is, they pay more attention to political compromise and prefer to achieve a win-win situation through cooperation, rather than eating alone.

Plus. The states of the Union had a common enemy, and they all belonged to the same party, that is, the Democratic Party, and it was because of their opposition to the immediate abolition of slavery that they united and started the great cause of rebellion and secession.

In other words, everyone came together for a common goal, for a common enemy, and built a new country, after. And because there is not much difference in strength between them, they jointly elected a new president to come to power.

It is conceivable that in this case, even if Davis, who has no soldiers and no money, is elected president, it is self-evident how much power he can actually have.

In another time and space, many outsiders don't understand why Davis doesn't reuse Joseph, who is equally powerful and capable. Johnston. Instead, he promoted Robert. Lee, as well as John. Bel. What about these people in Hood?

Robert. Li is okay, although he is better at talking on paper, he is somewhat talented. Once he is equipped with Jackson, he can still fight.

But John. Bel. A reckless man like Hood would be a complete fool, and that reputation had spread far and wide before Davis's appointment. It didn't come later.

Many people say that if Davis had not fired Joseph in the first place. Johnston's position, the Union Army will not fight so badly. Even if he is not allowed to continue to lead the Northern Virginia Legion, continue to let him go to the western battlefield, and completely delegate power to him, he will not be beaten like that by Grant.

Even many people say that if it were Joseph. Johnston had been completely trusted and reused earlier, and perhaps the Northern Army would have been defeated by the Union Army a long time ago, and it would not have dragged on for so long.

This is the layman looking at the insider, they only look at it from the command ability, but not from the identity of these people.

Joseph. Who is Johnston? He was born into a famous family, and he was a famous family in Prince Edward County, Virginia. When Johnston was born, his family was a real elite in Virginia, a big family that could influence the affairs of Virginia.

When the Northern Virginia Regiment was formed, Joseph . Johnston's family contributed a lot, and his own abilities were obvious to all, so Virginia's funders and military supported him as commander.

Just when the civil war broke out, Joseph. When Johnston became a senior commander of the Northern Virginia Regiment, Robert Brown. Li Cai is just a colonel, and from the point of view of identity, there is no comparison at all.

However, such a person is quite upright, and some do not like Davis, and after Davis became president, he also wanted to consolidate his power and expand his authority, so he began to appoint new people, and began to get rid of the original elite officers little by little. Johnston became Davis's first target.

Because of this, at the time of the Battle of the Seven Pines, Joseph. Johnston suffered only a minor injury, which did not prevent him from continuing to command, but Davis used this as an excuse to remove him from command and willfully promote Robert. Edward. Lee took his place.

At the time, Robert. Lee was still only a colonel, and there were too many people above him who were older than him and had higher ranks, but in the end, it was to make him a little colonel, past so many colonels and brigadier generals, and replace Joseph. Johnston, the post of Major General!

Obviously, Robert. Lee was able to become the acting commander at that time because he had no power and no faction, unlike the others, who were all Joseph. Johnston's cronies, Davis, arranged this mainly out of the need to exclude dissidents.

However, this arrangement, it made Robert . Li soared into the sky and gave full play to his commanding talent, but it was also wrong.

However, in addition to promoting Robert. In addition to Lee, Davis's other promotions are miserable. John. Bel. Don't talk about people like Hood, Brixton. Brigg, a guy with limited ability, was also promoted by him, and he knew that he couldn't do it, but because he was a friend, he didn't dismiss the other party for a long time and continued to let the other party stay in the seat.

For example, at the beginning of the war, it was clear that the Union Army was not superior in terms of troops, and should concentrate on attacking a little more, but he divided his forces into two battlefields, east and west, and confronted the Federation Army at the same time, resulting in his own small forces, becoming even thinner.

In addition, he also intervened in many regimental battles, and almost all the commanders of the troops who obeyed his orders suffered a shameful defeat. Plum. Davis let go of the rare and complete letting go, which made Robert. Li has so many constraints and can win so many battles.

In this time and space, if Li Yongji hadn't led his troops to intervene in time, defeated Grant's Western Theater, and helped Davis stabilize the Western Theater, then today, the Alliance would definitely be in an embattled situation just like in history, and all this. Purely militarily, it was all because Davis made a big mistake in strategy from the beginning.

Of course, having said that, Davis's small actions, his actions of fighting for power and profit, from his original intention, are also for the good of the alliance and the interests of everyone.

Because in Davis's opinion, in times of war. Only by centralizing power can we face the powerful Northern Army more effectively, and if we still go around like this, we will be constrained everywhere. If you overturn his orders at every turn, don't even think about doing anything.

What most irritated him was arms procurement, and he opposed the purchase of large quantities of Chinese arms for the sake of overall interests. It's for the good of the country, but those who oppose it are all for their own little calculations. It's to make the country cheap.

Because the funds for the purchase of arms have to come out of the treasury of the Union countries, and after these weapons are bought, they must be distributed to the troops, but the officers and soldiers of those troops are the private soldiers of the governors or the big farmers!

In other words, the public pays for weapons, but it is the private soldiers below who are armed, no, it is the soldiers of the local state government, which means that the state government below is making the central government cheap.

Who doesn't want to do this kind of good thing of eating public food, even if you don't want to do it in your heart, but as long as you think that others are doing this, I still have to pay taxes to the central government on time and in the right amount, and it will become the same dust in an instant.

Perhaps it should be said that the Union government also collects taxes, and it wants to collect money from the following states, so why should they do this, find a reason to pay less, or even not pay at all?

The problem is that the Union Government is elected by everyone, and the tax payment rules are also made by everyone, and unless everyone overturns them together, it will be quite difficult to overturn a rule that has already been made.

Moreover, most of the people who can hire the state government corps are big farmers, and these people are big landlords and big capitalists according to class, but there are also many small landlords and small capitalists, who have no right to command the army, and they have a lot of money in their hands.

In other words, the main role of the coalition government is to collect taxes from the middle class or the lower classes, exploit the middle and lower classes, and serve the upper classes of big capitalists and big landowners.

In short, in terms of arms procurement, it is clear that the big landlords who control the army and the big capitalists are joining forces to trap the government, and Davis is well aware of this, but he is helpless, after all, according to normal procedures, they did pass a two-thirds vote in parliament and rejected their bill by a majority vote.

Since then, as long as the core interests of these people are not touched, Davis's orders can always be carried out smoothly, especially in the military aspect, because those big capitalists and big landowners do not understand military affairs, so they simply let Davis, who has military experience, take full command, and during Davis's command of the whole army, it seems that the Union Army did not suffer much loss.

However, such a greedy political group can imagine what kind of government can become, and in the end, they did not suffer much loss on the frontal battlefield against the Union Army, but in their hearts, the Union Government was on the verge of financial bankruptcy, and it could not even raise the full supply of the Northern Virginia Legion, which Davis valued the most.

At this time, Davis also knew that the situation was serious, but he did not think of looking for the British and the French, because he stood at a higher height and looked at things from different angles, so he knew very well that in this war, the British and the French came to play soy sauce to reap benefits, which was of little use to defeat the federal government, and in the final analysis, it was up to the Chinese to achieve the final victory.

Because Davis knew very well that if the Chinese had not intervened in time, led troops into the Mississippi River in time, and stabilized the western battlefield, he would have been anxious now, and according to the previous battle situation, the Chinese's combat effectiveness was outrageously strong, and no matter how many people there were, the federal army would have collapsed in front of the Chinese.

Why the combat effectiveness of the Chinese is so high, Davis also figured out, that is, the Chinese's weapons are more advanced, and the advanced is outrageous, and it is not at all the obsolete goods that he bought.

Of course, according to the news from the front, Davis understood that if he played according to the Chinese, it would indeed be easy to win, but that kind of play was clearly to smash people with money.

Okay, it's a rain of bullets at every turn, and every soldier is a repeating gun, so how much does it cost to fight a battle like this? Anyway, the Union government can't afford to play this kind of battle, because human life is relatively cheap compared to those expensive bullets and shells.

In addition, Davis also understood that in order to break the current stalemate and completely defeat the Northern Army, the British and the French should not be counted on, just look at the bear they fight, you know that there is no play, and in the end the Chinese will help.

But the Chinese are not stupid, they actually colluded with the northern government, although on the surface, the other party is also reasonable, after all, the Chinese at the beginning of the banner is to seek justice for the California incident, and the object of the declaration of war is also the United States of America.

In other words, the Chinese declared war on the United States of America alone, ostensibly having nothing to do with their own Civil War, and did not come to help the Confederates.

Now, the United States of America took the initiative to admit it, agreed to the Chinese's conditions, and ceded the entire western territory, and the Chinese were satisfied, and then Mingjin withdrew his troops, which seems to be reasonable and can be said in the past anyway.

"No, you can't let the Chinese get cheap and leave!" Davis vs. Vice President Alexander. Stephens said, "You go in person, no matter what method you use, let the Chinese continue to fight against the Union Army!" It would be better to sign an offensive and defensive alliance with China to support us with some supplies and equipment. ”

"I'm afraid it's going to be hard." Alexander. Stephens shook his head, "The Yankees gave the territory to the west, what good can we give them?" ”

"We can give it too." Davis's expression was grim, "You told them that as long as you are willing to help us defeat the northern government and complete the reunification of the north and the south, then on the day the reunification is completed, I will cede all the territory west of the Mississippi River to China. ”

"It's still hard just now." Alexander. Stephens continued to shake his head, "Unless you sign a contract with them now and agree to these conditions, it will be difficult for the Chinese to be fooled." ”

"Then sign the contract now." Davis said, "You are the vice president, after you go, you can sign on my behalf, as long as you can let the Chinese stay, any conditions can be." ”

"I'm afraid, the Chinese want us to continue to split, and they don't want us to reunite." Alexander. "If it weren't for that, there's no reason for them to be with the Yankees at this time." After all, those so-called western territories, even if the northerners do not agree, can they still snatch them back with the Chinese at this time? Therefore, when the Chinese do this, I think they are looking for a step down, deliberately letting the northern army a horse, so that they can continue to fight against us. ”

"Okay, we have to talk about it." Davis said, "We're already going bankrupt, what else are you talking about at this time?" Oh God, don't care about those things, you just need to immediately find the Chinese, ask about their requirements, and then try to meet their conditions, so it's enough, it's really not good, it's good to ask for a high loan, the interest can be negotiated, whatever they want. ”

"But ......"

"Go for it!" Davis waved his hand, "If you still want to be the next president after I leave office." (To be continued......)