Inside the largest church in Mexico City,

Tom knelt on one knee before Massimiliano I with the standard courtesy of an investiture.

Surrounded by a group of religious clergy chanting Latin chants that Tom couldn't understand.

Massimiliano I first bestowed Tom's knight's head dumplings, and then gently touched Tom's neck and shoulders with the back of his sword.

"I swear allegiance to Massimiliano I in the name of St. Joseph, St. Cromain, St. Genevière, St. Jacob, and I will defend the glory of the House of Habsburg."

"Uh~ get up, Mr. Tom Smith."

Tom swore allegiance in the name of the fourfold patron saints of the Catholic patron, the auroper of Austria, the patron saint of France, and the patron saint of Spain.

The officiant, Henri René de Talleyrand, was also a sigh of relief, for the first time he had heard of an oath in the name of the four patron saints.

But the professionalism made René quickly calm down and proceed to the next award ceremony.

Tom Xin said: Don't talk about the fourfold saint buff, the forty-fold saint buff doesn't matter, just ask God to really give himself a divine punishment or something.

The ceremony ended in such an orderly manner, and under normal circumstances, after the solemn ceremony, the lord (Massimiliano I) also had to give the knight something to reward, or hold a banquet to celebrate the "right-hand man" he had obtained.

These tedious links were politely rejected by Tom, who chose to go directly back to the city and embark on the road home.

"I didn't think that my Tom was also a knight, I really dreamed back to the Middle Ages."

"Is it really profitable to buy a knight for just half a million dollars?"

"John, you say, should I just call a duke with a lion opening his mouth?"

"Forget it, it doesn't matter, there is no difference between a knight and a pope."

"If the Pope can make more money than the capitalists, I will create my own Holy See tomorrow."

It's called the Houston Holy See. ”

"The Holy See can't do it, the ancestors are a garbage Rome, and they use the Mediterranean Sea as an inland sea."

"I'll just say that my Houston Holy See used to use the Atlantic Ocean as an inland sea, a super-unified empire, but the text has been lost."

"The Milky Way can be an inland river, religion, just blow it."

"Use a little more force."

On the paddle steamer on the way back, Tom enjoys a massage while he and John blow up their religious plans.

Tom's HERO company, the French Empire, represented by Minister Henri René de Talleyrand, and the Second Mexican Empire, represented by Emperor Massimiliano I, reached an agreement of interest with Habsburg de jurisprudence.

Tom stated that if I became a knight, I would be able to lead a "small" number of knightly squires under his command into the war between the United Mexican States and the Second Mexican Empire.

As a knight, Tom is not very demanding, as long as he gets all the land occupied by himself and his squire, as Tom's personal knightly territory.

That's what Tom is trying to do these days.

For the Second French Empire, they didn't think that an American could turn the tide of war in the first place.

Henri René de Talleyrand believes that Tom's confidence in joining the battlefield must be that Tom's HERO company must have some "secret weapon".

Probably, similar to the products of the HERO company, which has recently become a big hit in Europe, the HERO company also has unique arms in the military industry.

Taking 10,000 steps back, even if Tom joins to change the tide of the battle, the French side thinks that the French volunteers under their command are the main force on the battlefield.

At that time, it will definitely be more territory occupied by France.

Tom could only silently say that he was just an imitator in the military industry, and there was no epoch-making munitions yet.

I am a chemical engineering student, not a firearms design major.

And Massimiliano I's side has been elevated for too long, and when he sees money, he talks as well as he sees his father.

February 1, 1867,

After a month of preparation, HERO was ready for all-out war with the United Mexican States.

Before leaving, Tom stood on a high platform outside the harbor and gave his last speech before the war.

"Today, we stand here! Stand on the land of Texans! Stand in Houston, the land that our ancestors watered with blood and dignity! ”

"Behind me, is a statue of Robert Edward Lee! He was recognized worldwide as a fighter for slave owners! He is the light of the whole world! ”

"In front of me, standing is a people, a people groaning in humiliation!"

"After the end of the Civil War, the pride of our nation is gone!"

"Those victors rode on our necks to make a fortune, and they trampled on our dignity, the dignity of the noblest people on the American continent!"

"Tell me, do you choose to be a slave owner's fighter like Jefferson Hamilton Davis, or a commoner?!"

"You may say: Mr. Smith, I need a job, a loaf of bread."

"Yes, you're right, life is so important. But I want to tell you, there is one thing in this world that is more important than life, and that is status! That's dignity! ”

"As long as the flag of the United States is flying over Washington and Austin for a day, our dignity will not exist!"

"As long as those Yankews and black slaves are tyrannical on our land, our dignity will not exist!"

"As long as everyone is equal and free of slaves in this great state called Texas on the map of the Americas, our dignity will not exist!"

"As long as people from other countries laugh contemptuously when they say the word 'Texas' in a conversation, our dignity does not exist! ”

"What we need, not a loaf of bread! It's a living space! A living space for a nation! This living space is not achieved by begging and protesting, but by "iron" and "blood"! ”

"There are two things that unite people: a common ideal and a common slave."

"We have the great ideals engraved on the Texas flag, and we will shed our last drop of blood for them! In Houston today, nothing can save our Texas but this ideal! ”

"The Emancipation Proclamation is a great shame! We have the determination and the reason to refuse to carry it out! ”

"Do what you want! Just as Robert Edward Lee picked up a gun, just as he led his compatriots to fight bravely under the banner of slavery! ”

"If you want to fight, go and fight! Then I'll be able to see if you're seven million civilians or seven million unyielding Texans! ”