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As he hurried back with Dorothea, Scrooge thought, "It's still far from noon, is the federal tax collector coming?" When did federal officials become so dedicated? ”

However, when they reached the bottom of the mountain, they did not appear as the federal tax collectors, but a large group of southerners, many of them with guns, and now they were gathering together, and the blackwater security guards brought by Scrooge also quietly found cover positions and prepared for contingencies. Only Elizabeth stood there, as if reprimanding the southerners.

"Are you here to rob? No, if they were here to rob, they should have started a fight a long time ago, instead of actually arguing with Elizabeth like now. Thinking so, Scrooge hurriedly said to Dorothea, "If anything is wrong, follow me, don't run around." ”

"All right," said Dorothea, "they're just old friends of Daddy." ”

By this time, they had come closer, and Elizabeth's voice could be faintly heard.

"The men of the South, what a good job. Do you think that if you get together, you will be able to scare the federal government into collecting taxes? Do you have any brains? Don't look at how capable you are! If you really have the ability, you won't let Sherman burn this place like this. Hehehe, at the beginning, the fools who went to shell the Sumter fortress and started the war are of course brainless! So I'm going to trouble you, think about what you have left of your nerve cells, even if you get rid of the tax collector today, what will happen tomorrow? Have you thought about it, fools? Tomorrow, all of you, including Dorothea, will be wanted as traitors, and the manor that Mr. Odd left behind for Miss Dorothea will be confiscated. She didn't even get the auction proceeds. Is that what you're trying to achieve? Hehehehehe, Mr. Odd has such a smart ...... as you."

"Enough, Elizabeth!" Scrooge shouted.

Elizabeth turned her face and saw that it was Scrooge, so she shut her mouth, but she deliberately raised her chin high and let out a contemptuous "Huh!" from the southerners with her nose! Then he turned around and walked towards Scrooge.

"Mr. MacDonald, it's these Southerners who are the first to speak out." Elizabeth explained in a whisper.

In fact, Elizabeth didn't need to explain it at all, Scrooge could figure out what was going on by thinking about it with the ganglion. The southerners were old friends of Mr. Odeh, and like Dorothea, their homes had been burned to the ground, and now they could not afford to help Dorothea, so they got together and came here, wanting to give Dorothea more or less a strong voice, and to be considered an old friend.

When these southerners arrive here, they suddenly encounter such a group of heavily armed northerners, of course, they will have some reactions, and they will definitely not have anything good to say in their mouths. As for Elizabeth, she is a poisonous tongue who doesn't like southerners, and it would be unscientific if she didn't take the opportunity to jump out and despise these southern shabby. And looking at Elizabeth's appearance, and then looking at the gloomy faces of those southern Yankees, it is not difficult to see who took advantage of the tongue just now.

"Everyone, I'm sorry, Elizabeth's words are not very good, I offended you, I apologize to you for her first." Scrooge stepped forward and said to the southerners. There will be so many southerners running to give Dorothea a boost, and it seems that old Mr. Odd's influence is still not small. Scrooge knew that although these people had been hit hard now, in the future, it would be this group of people who really controlled the south.

The Lincoln administration's crackdown on plantations was directed only at the plantation economy. Once the southerners are willing to switch to the path of industry, they can even get a lot of subsidies. Compared to ordinary people, these plantation owners were more educated, had wider social ties, and had land in their hands. So, it's much easier for them to get back up than civilians who have nothing. As a result, a few years later, the economy of the South was still in the hands of these people. It's like being in the history of another time and space, after World War II, Germany and Japan are said to have been completely bombed into ruins. But once the war ended, the two countries quickly rose again, and soon became the richest countries in the world. Some gZJy always like to take them as an example, saying you see, in the 40s, the starting point of the flower grower and the family is the same, decades have passed, people have become a wealthy country, only the flower planter, or a solo exhibition country, which fully shows that people are an excellent nation, in contrast, the flower nation is really a sauce jar...... Baraba Barabha's.

But is the starting point really the same? People were blown up to ruins, but there were some things that couldn't be blown up. Germany and Japan have a per capita education program, and what is more comparable to the 90 percent illiteracy rate of flower growers in Germany and Japan? In a sense, this is a more important foundation than a factory machine.

Since these people will rise again sooner or later, it is not a bad choice to take advantage of the time to win them over and tie them to their own warship.

"I'm Scrooge? MacDonald, who is a friend of Mr. Odd and Roy. Scrooge continued.

Scrooge's name silenced the southerners who were muttering quietly.

"Which Mr. MacDonald is you who came up with the Washington Declaration?" Someone asked.

"I heard you're an arms dealer." Some people said unceremoniously.

"I'm the guy you said I was." Scrooge said frankly, "The signatory of the Washington Declaration, an arms dealer, a Northerner, is also a friend of Mr. Odd and Roy. ”

"The arms you bought killed a lot of southerners." It was said.

"I'm a Northerner, and I'm as loyal to Ohio as you are to the Mississippi." Scrooge continued to answer calmly, with a clear conscience.

The Southerners grunted, and seemed to feel that the question was not a moral enough attack on Scrooge. It was also said: "Mr. Odeh did mention him before, and he emancipated all the slaves, as if he was also influenced by this man." Someone else said, "Stonewall also mentioned him and said that he was a good man." Still, I don't want to trust a Northerner. ”

"So, what are you here for?" Someone asked.

"Worried about my friend, of course." "I read in the newspaper that Sherman did some horrible things here," Scrooge said. So, I'm worried that Mr. Odd's family will be in trouble. So the situation stabilized a little bit, and I rushed here. I hope I can help them, and help all of you. ”

"We don't need the help of the North Yankees!" Someone shouted.

"Bell, Mr. MacDonald is not a bad guy." Someone whispered, "Did you see Mr. MacDonald's recent newspaper attack on the atrocities of the Northerners?" If it weren't for his reputation as a patriot before, some of the North Yankees would have called him a traitor. And he has been calling on the government to foster rather than hinder the reconstruction of the South......"

"But he's still a Northern......" Bell's tone was still hard, but his voice was much lower.

"Look, those Northerners are here!" It was said.

So everyone turned their eyes to the other side, and sure enough, there was a carriage over there, escorted by several horsemen.

Under the hateful gaze of the Southerners, the carriage came to a halt, and the tax collector dismounted from the carriage. When he saw that there were so many people gathered, and some of them were still armed, he immediately shouted nervously:

"What are so many of you doing here? Want to start a rebellion? Want to resist the federal government? ”

And the cavalry that followed him also pulled the bolt of their guns and made a posture ready to suppress.

"Your Excellency Tax Collector, you probably don't have a good memory, right? Martial law against crowd gatherings was lifted two weeks ago. Residents of Mississippi are now citizens of the United States, with the right to associate and gather, to possess weapons for self-defense, and so on, which is enshrined in the Constitution. Scrooge stepped forward.

"Who are you? Dare to obstruct law enforcement? I'll have them tie you up and throw you in jail to feed the rats!" Hearing the sarcasm in Scrooge's words, the tax collector immediately became furious.

"Obstruction of law enforcement? You're just a tax collector, is there anyone here who is anti-tax? Scrooge smiled.

"Then hand over the taxes, a total of 4oo dollars, one cent less, and I'll change your estate to a different surname!" The tax collector roared.

"4oo dollars? It's a little interesting. Elizabeth! Scrooge turned his head and shouted.

Elizabeth stepped forward, counted out $4oo from her satchel, and handed it to the tax collector. The tax collector took the money vigorously, examined it carefully, and then put it away, and threw a tax bill to Elizabeth. Then, as soon as he turned around, he was about to get into the carriage and leave.

"Wait!" Elizabeth drank, "Is this how federal government officials serve taxpayers?" Pick up the tax bill and hand it over to Miss Ben! Otherwise......"

"How else?" The tax officer laughed angrily, "Otherwise, you would dare to resist the tax with arms!" ”

"Hehehehe," Elizabeth laughed a little uncontrollably, "you can just use the federal government to scare and scare those uninformed Southerners, and use it to scare us...... What is your name? ”

"Why do you ask this?" The tax collector had a vague feeling that something was not quite right.

"Nothing." Elizabeth said casually, "Knowing your name, it will be more convenient for us to send you to prison to feed the rats." However, if you don't want to say it, it's just a little more troublesome, and the result is the same anyway. ”

"Who are you?" The tax officer's face was a little pale.

At this time, Scrooge came over, bent down to pick up the tax stamp, and said, "Elizabeth, if people don't want to pick it up, don't force them, it's not good." Just let him go to the prison to pick up soap. ”

Everyone doesn't know what "picking up soap" means, but it's certainly not a good thing to think about.

Scrooge glanced at the tax stamps and suddenly laughed: "Elizabeth, if you want to throw this guy in prison, it seems that there is no need to make up another charge." If you look at this tax stamp, there's one item that has been canceled by the federal government. Well, I guess this guy has cheated a lot of money with this trick, right? ”

After speaking, Scrooge raised his eyes and glanced at the pale and sweaty tax officer. Then he said to the soldiers and the others, "I'm Scrooge?" MacDonald, I now have evidence against this tax collector for bending the law! Now, I would like you to join me in taking him to the nearest courthouse to testify. The United States will not tolerate such moths! ”