Chapter 1145: The Naive Alliance (Second update, please subscribe)
In 1883, because of an unprecedented big prize, the whole world seemed to have forgotten the Ming Empire’s external expansion the previous year.
Under the attention of the whole world, the first "Emperor Shengde Award" has finally been settled.
Li Lun, who discovered "X-rays", won the Physics Prize, Shen Mingdong, who invented "999", won the Chemistry Prize, while Zhu the Great and Pasteur shared the Medicine Prize.
At the award ceremony, Emperor Zhu personally presented awards to the winners. At his own award ceremony, he delivered a speech, a speech calling for peace and equality.
It's as if the war last year was not started by the Ming Empire at all. Well, the Ming Empire had no choice but to start that war.
In fact, why didn’t Emperor Zhu establish a peace prize?
Ultimately, it was because he felt that there was no need to establish a peace prize, because if nothing unexpected happened, the peace prize would most likely go to those who started the war, just like another world.
In itself, the Peace Prize is a joke.
Although there is no peace prize, it did not prevent Emperor Zhu from calling for world peace at the award ceremony. His call was certainly recognized worldwide. Even after the award ceremony, all the winners and candidates jointly issued a peace statement.
This peace statement is of course a call for world peace, and it has naturally been recognized by the scientific community of various countries.
The world changes so fast.
One second it was shrouded in the shadow of war, the next it was peace.
I have to say that human beings' ability to adapt is so fast that it is simply outrageous.
In fact, forgetting is human nature.
This is especially obvious when applied to Americans, where the United States refers to the Confederate States of America.
Although the Confederacy gained independence through a brutal war in 1866, Confederate politicians still believed that "cotton is king" when the Civil War broke out, and therefore they would definitely support the South.
After winning independence through negotiations, Confederate politicians actually fantasized about peace. They even imagined reconciliation with the North. It seemed that the impact of the war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives had really disappeared.
Richmond, capital of the Confederacy.
The city is less than 150 kilometers away from Washington, D.C., where the White House is located. At the army's marching speed, this distance would take about 3-4 days.
But in fact, it was this short 150 kilometers that became the main battlefield for the repeated tug-of-war between the North and the South, which made the Americans bleed - the brutal civil war that lasted for 5 years caused the deaths of more than 1 million soldiers and 500,000 soldiers were injured. The estimated number of casualties in the North and the South may be even higher, and an unknown number of civilians were also affected.
150 km.
It was the center of that brutal war, and if either side could cross the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers, they could immediately surround the other side's capital.
However, even 17 years after the armistice, neither the United States nor the Confederacy had any intention of moving the capital.
February 4th was the Confederate States Day, and the streets of Richmond were crowded with people on that day.
The Confederate "Southern Cross Flag" was flying high in the streets and alleys. Veterans wearing old military uniforms gathered with their families on the streets again, cheering and singing the national anthem.
As usual, this day was destined to be happy, but also sad. After all, every family had someone who died in the war sixteen years ago. Too many families lost their fathers, sons, husbands, and lovers.
Listening to the cheerful music coming from outside the window, Shao Lingyun, who was standing by the window, said in an exclamatory tone.
"The people of Qin had no time to mourn themselves, but later generations mourned them; if later generations mourned them but did not learn from them, they would also cause later generations to mourn later generations."
"What?"
Scarlett O'Hara, who had just woken up in bed, propped up her limp body and looked at the man by the window.
"This is an old Chinese saying, which means that if you fail to learn from past mistakes, you will surely repeat them in the future."
Scarlett O'Hara, sitting against the head of the bed, thought for a moment and said.
"Are you referring to the current relationship between the North and the South?"
Shao Lingyun nodded and said nothing. He came here as a businessman eighteen years ago. During the war, he not only made huge profits for the company, but also accumulated huge wealth for himself.
As the most successful Ming expatriate in the Allied Powers, he always sighs helplessly whenever he sees those short-sighted politicians.
Looking at her silent husband, Scarlett put on the silk pajamas at the head of the bed, walked to his side, hugged him and said.
"You know, they didn't have much choice. After the war, cotton was the least valuable commodity. The war bankrupted many people. Although Texas oil brought new opportunities, the plantations were barely able to maintain operations."
Shao Lingyun nodded at his wife's words. With the end of the American Civil War, the global raw cotton market returned to its normal state before the war. Not only that, the huge profits from cotton planting during the war led to a huge increase in cotton planting area and output, causing the global cotton price to gradually fall, and even plummet, directly leading to the bankruptcy of many southern plantations.
"Indeed,"
Shao Lingyun nodded and continued.
"Now 70% of the South's cotton and 60% of its oil are exported to the North. The South may have won independence through the war, but the country's independence has not changed the South's dependence on the North's economy. In fact, this dependence has increased."
Feeling his wife's warm and delicate body, Shao Lingyun sighed helplessly.
"The commercial dependence made the politicians in Congress unwilling to clash with Washington. Even when the politicians in Washington repeatedly said that unification was inevitable, the politicians in Congress still believed that the peace treaty of that year had confirmed the independence of the Confederacy and determined the status of the two countries. They are really a bunch of naive guys. If you don't have swords and guns, how can you protect yourself from wolves?"
It's so childish and horrible!
Compared with the North, the economic backwardness of the South has made its military strength even less worth mentioning.
"Aren't there still you guys?"
Holding her husband, Scarlett smiled.
"Everyone knows that the Ming Empire will not allow the North to occupy the South, so if a war breaks out, you will definitely intervene."
His wife's answer made Shao Lingyun say helplessly.
"That's just a saying. Besides, the Empire is so far away from here. If you don't protect yourself, how can you maintain your own safety if you only rely on the Empire?"
After saying this, Shao Lingyun looked at the Presidential Palace vaguely visible outside the window and spoke in a sarcastic tone.
"Besides, even if the Alliance needs the Empire, the Alliance has not been very friendly to the Empire over the years!"
This is the most ironic part: on the one hand, they need the Ming Dynasty, but on the other hand, they reject it. What is the root of this complex mentality?
"Mexico."
In the embassy kilometers away, Wu Yunlei sneered.
"If there is any position that Washington and Richmond agree on, it is the Mexican issue. They both oppose our support for the Mexican Empire and even believe that our support for the Mexican Empire threatens their interests."
"Mr. Ambassador, this is inevitable."
Although he had just arrived in Richmond, Hua Yu had done enough homework on the ship. Of course, he knew where the differences between the Empire and the two United States lay.
"After all, everything from Texas to California was plundered from Mexico. A strong Mexico will inevitably have the ambition to recover lost territory. Moreover, the Mexican royal family also hopes to win the recognition of the people. After all, for Mexicans, the failure of the Mexican-American War and the cession of land are their national humiliation. For this reason, both the North and the South are extremely wary of Mexico. And what about the empire? It is an ally of the Mexican Empire."
"Oh, they are more than just allies. Don't forget that the second prince's fiancée, Princess Sofia, is also the crown prince of the Mexican Empire and the only heir to the imperial throne."
In other words, their children are the heirs of the future Mexican Empire, so no matter what, the empire will never give up its support for the Mexican Empire.
Ambassador Wu Yunlei shrugged helplessly and sighed.
"So, in this case, it is normal for them to distrust us, but what? One day, they will regret their choice today. And for the empire, Mexico is the most important."
(End of this chapter)
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