So, the newly arrived acting senior California official, John von Siner, decided to fight poison with poison.

"Mr. Lincoln and you both have very bright political futures, and you don't want to be a state legislator for the rest of your life, do you? I have $10,000 here, which I believe is enough to save your face. ”

$10,000 was a lot of money in 1842, and an American cowboy's salary was only thirty or forty dollars a year.

It's not uncommon in pubs to fight for a few dozen dollars, or a few cents of beer. A family farmer usually earns only a few hundred dollars, and even the honorable governor earns only $1,000.

$10,000 is undoubtedly a lot of money for James Shields, and to be honest, he was tempted, but the three biggest local gangsters pressed $100,000 on him.

Of course, this was Franz's doing, after all, he couldn't send the Austrians to protect Lincoln, so he set up a gamble.

One is naturally an open bet, while the other is a private bet with simple winner-takes-all rules, but requires an adequate entry fee.

Franz bought $100,000 Lincoln to win, which was enough to drive people crazy at the time, but not many people could come up with $100,000 at that time.

So the people sent by Franz thought of a "good way" for several local gangster families and joined forces! That's right, in the end, the three largest gangs in the area came together to come up with $100,000, and the Witnesses were the local militia commander and the governor.

Of course, the gangsters think it is their own face, but they don't know that this is the face given by US President John Taylor himself.

John Taylor didn't dare not give the face of "Franz", and he didn't know if the other party was really mentally ill, but his strange behavior was not once or twice, I heard that he also sailed to the North Pole to look for penguins, and finally returned to the Austrian Empire with a boatload of seals.

God knows, such a partner will one day tell him about helping him and Harris Sr. to get to the top.

Of course, John Taylor is also more convinced of the decay and incompetence of European royal families, and it is simply nonsense to let these "freaks" and "neurotics" decide national affairs.

Straight to the point.

"I'm sorry, I have my honor."

James Shields resisted the temptation and turned down $10,000, as there were at least twenty gunmen in and out of his home.

If he refuses to duel with Lincoln at this time, causing the heads of these big families to lose money, his fate can be imagined.

Lincoln's aides never expected this to happen, they thought that they could scare each other with a few more people, but they really couldn't have a $10,000 settlement money, and ordinary people couldn't resist such a temptation.

But they never expected that they had already been on the chessboard of the big guys, and all their actions were involuntary.

"Think again, you have a bright future ahead of you. Mr. Lincoln was a man of interest to the party leaders."

One of the aides excitedly grabbed James Shields' arm, and he also wanted to make a last-ditch effort to suppress the other party leader with the party leader.

But before James Shields could react, the surrounding gangster bodyguards couldn't stand it.

"You watch your hand, and if you don't want it, I can cut it off for you." A strong man is not good.

Lincoln's aides were immediately annoyed that they had never been so disrespected.

"Take care of your foul mouth! Careful"

But before he finished speaking, he was picked up like a chicken by a sturdy bodyguard.

"Come on, over here. Let's talk about it. ”

The clerk's assistant tried to struggle, but soon three or four more strong men surrounded him, and when they arrived in the courtyard, there was a "cordial exchange".

The remaining two assistants had to look at each other, in fact, James Shields was also very embarrassed, although this was his home, but the scene was not something he could control, and the three of them could only drink tea silently.

By the end of the "exchange", the clerk's assistant had broken glasses, his clothes and face were covered in mud, and one arm seemed to be broken.

Seeing this, the companions did not say much, but said goodbye to their master and hurried away.

When Lincoln saw the plight of his assistants and heard about the cause and effect, he could only sigh and decide to fight.

Since Franz invited a lot of journalists, the bridge that was the venue of the duel was full of people before the duel began.

Some of them were reporters, some were civilians watching the excitement, and more were gamblers who placed bets, and relatives and friends from both sides also rushed to the scene.

Some began to cry out for fear of losing their loved ones, or for fear of death, but they were soon insulted by the crowd of onlookers, who came to see the bloodshed.

James Shields was a soldier, 1.81 meters tall, and the waist knife he carried was a weapon that accompanied him for many years, and once hacked two Indians and one outlaw to death.

James Shields paced back and forth on the bridge because Lincoln hadn't arrived yet, and although he had already fought in two duels, that didn't mean he wasn't nervous, and the gamble behind him kept him up all night.

However, James Shields was a little fortunate at this time, because if Lincoln himself had voluntarily given up the duel, then he could win without a fight, and he did not have to worry about his political future after killing Lincoln.

Finally, three minutes before the duel, Lincoln arrived in a carriage. He took off his shirt to reveal the white undershirt, and the 1.93-meter-tall Lincoln was undoubtedly much stronger than James Shields had imagined.

But fortunately, the two sides chose to compete with waist knives, and if it was wrestling, boxing and other events, I am afraid James Shields really has little chance of winning.

The notary of the duel, a church priest, examined the weapons of both sides and read a bunch of rules for the duel, and the duel began in earnest.

To be honest, the duel between the two sides was very ugly, and although James Shields claimed to be a master of swordsmanship, he only took a few fencing lessons in school, and cut two people who couldn't move when he was in the border army.

Although Lincoln has not learned swordsmanship, he is tall and has long arms and great strength, so he has an advantage when he goes up and chops hard.

The battle between the two sides is like a fight in a Hollywood blockbuster in later generations, there is no skill or tactic at all, and it is basically a random chopping and chopping of strength.

In the end, it was James Shields who was more experienced, sneaking up on the opportunity and slamming a knee into Lincoln's lower body.

The latter immediately fell in pain, and the former seized the opportunity to step forward and attack, and finally picked up the sword in the opponent's hand.

"You've lost! You damn idiot, if you could keep your mouth shut, you wouldn't be where you are today. ”

Just as James Shields was making his victory declaration, Lincoln suddenly burst out and threw him in the chest.

James Shields' waist knife only scratched the opponent's face and arm, and he was accidentally pushed off the bridge.

After that, the two sides began to rush to save their own people, Lincoln suffered three minor injuries, but his life was not in danger, and James Shields, who had the advantage, drowned.

Even the notaries were dumbfounded by this kind of duel, but in the end, Lincoln, who was sentenced to the end, won the victory and preserved his honor.

Originally, the gangsters were planning to pay off their gambling debts, but the next day the U.S. Mounted Police and militia arrived at their home.

As a result, Franz made $100,000 in tears, and from then on, the Illinois gangsters remembered Lincoln and vowed to pay for his blood debt.

It seems that there is a providence in the dark.

(End of chapter)