Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 496 Sit firmly on the Diaoyutai

Huang Weiqi chuckled and continued.

"is it?"

"What a coincidence! The arsenal in Datang also needs to ship goods according to the order sequence."

When Orton Coolidge heard this, the corner of his mouth twitched noticeably.

Huang Weiqi's response was clearly a perfunctory one to him and a perfunctory one to the Confederate Congress.

But since he was in the wrong, he couldn't do anything to Huang Weiqi in front of him!
Seeing that Orton Coolidge had nothing to say, Huang Weiqi continued with a smile.

"In the Tang Dynasty, credibility is the most important thing when doing things."

"At the same time, I also hope that my allies can keep their promises..."

The profound meaning of Huang Weiqi's words is very clear.

If the Confederate States of America goes back on its word regarding the concession ports, then the Tang Dynasty will no longer want you as an ally.

Given the current situation of the Allied Powers, if they lose the Tang Dynasty as an ally, the situation they will face will only become more critical.

Although he was threatening, there was no trace of anger on Huang Weiqi's face or in his words.

The powerful national strength of the Tang Dynasty enabled him to remain calm when facing people from the allied countries.

To put it bluntly, if the Allied Powers did not have the Tang Dynasty as an ally, the country would be destroyed.

But the Tang Dynasty had no allies, which meant that it could not intervene in the situation in America for the time being.

The Tang Dynasty’s deployment in Alaska is a preparation for future geopolitical games!

Those who are sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai will naturally not panic.

The corner of Orton Coolidge's mouth twitched, but he still spoke cautiously and in a slightly flattering tone.

"Ambassador Huang, rest assured. I will urge Congress to pass the resolution as soon as possible!"

Huang Weiqi still had a smiling face.

"I hope your country will not keep me and the Tang Dynasty waiting for too long!"

Alton Coolidge took a deep breath.

"Of course, of course!"

Just then, cheers and noise were heard outside the theater.

Huang Weiqi frowned subconsciously, turned around and instructed the servant beside him.

"Go see what's going on outside!"

Upon hearing this, the attendant turned around and left. After a while, he came back and leaned over to whisper something in Huang Weiqi's ear.

Listening to the attendant's report, Huang Weiqi was stunned at first, and then his expression returned to smiling again as he looked at Orton Coolidge, who had a conflicted and hesitant expression opposite him.

"Minister Orton, congratulations on your country's victory in the Battle of Manassas and defeating the Union Army's vanguard heading south!"

“This is really exciting news!”

"With this victory, the Allied Powers will be able to take the initiative in the next war..."

Huang Weiqi said this quite sincerely.

Because he understood that even though the Southern Army won the Battle of Manassas, this one victory was not enough to change the gap in national strength between the North and the South.

The South still needs support from the Tang Dynasty!

When Orton Coolidge heard this, he was stunned at first, but at this moment, a servant ran in from outside, came to his side and leaned over to report something.

When Orton Coolidge heard this, he immediately understood what had happened and a look of joy appeared on his face.

"Haha, thank you Ambassador Huang for your kind words!"

The two looked at each other and continued talking about leasing the port.

Huang Weiqi said calmly.

"In my opinion, the Alliance may be able to lease the Port of New Orleans to the Tang Dynasty."

"Based on the throughput of the Port of New Orleans, if Tang and the Allied Powers work together, it could even surpass New York and become the largest port in North America."

"And this is undoubtedly a very important matter for the Allied Powers."

Orton Coolidge shook his head.

"Ambassador Huang, it's impossible in New Orleans."

"The options now offered by Congress are Mobile, Charleston, or Savannah..."

These ports have one thing in common, that is, they are all small ports.

The throughput cannot be compared with that of strategically-level ports like the Port of New Orleans.

Huang Weiqi shook his head.

“These ports are too small!”

"It's not enough to meet the cargo throughput between the Tang Dynasty and the Allied Countries. It's not a good thing for both you and me."

The two argued for a long time but could not reach a consensus.

Seeing this, Huang Weiqi stopped arguing with Orton Coolidge and said.

"Since the two sides cannot reach a consensus, let's postpone the discussion."

"Next, I think we should hold a banquet and party together to celebrate the victory of the Battle of Manassas..."

Although Huang Weiqi said this, he had actually figured it out in his mind. It seemed like it was time for the Tang Dynasty to block the Confederate States of America in the arms trade.

Otherwise, they really don’t know who the hell is the boss!

Upon hearing this, the tense expression on Orton Coolidge's face visibly relaxed.

"Okay, I think the President should send an invitation to Ambassador Huang soon..."

……

Just as the Confederacy was celebrating its victory at the Battle of Manassas.

In downtown Washington, the atmosphere was heavy and depressing.

On the street, pedestrians are walking hurriedly.

Many wealthy businessmen and capitalists, with their families, set out to leave Washington, preparing to flee this capital on the front line.

On the roads outside Washington, there were a constant stream of cars and pedestrians, and the noise was filled with the anxiety and fear of fleeing.

"Oh, damn it! How did the carriage break down on the road?"

"Push the carriage aside quickly, push it to the side of the road, don't block my way!"

"Everyone, hurry up and leave. I heard that the rebels are about to reach the outskirts of Washington. If you don't leave now, you will be captured by the rebels."

"..."

Panic spread among the crowd.

At the same time, in the Capitol, inside the meeting room.

President Lincoln sat on a sofa with a cigar in his mouth.

He has long cheeks and a full beard, and doesn't look very good.

His face, which was already quite bitter, became even more visibly bitter after receiving the bad news from Manassas.

"The Battle of Manassas was lost, and the Union Army was put on the defensive on the battlefield."

"This can't continue like this!"

Lincoln took a deep drag on his cigar and finally spoke.

As soon as he said this, everyone in the conference room looked solemn.

"May I ask what the President is going to do?"

Secretary of War George McClellan asked.

Lincoln took a deep breath and then spoke.

"First, I will urge Congress to pass a new conscription bill as soon as possible to expand the federal army."

"Second, urge Congress to allocate funds to invest in arsenals and purchase munitions from factories in the Great Lakes industrial region to replenish the losses of the federal army."

"Third, I think it's time for us to have a talk with the British and the Tang people..."

Compared with the historical Battle of Manassas, since both the North and the South have now completed the innovation of their weapons, breech-loading weapons have a much higher killing efficiency than muzzle-loading weapons.

As a result, the Northern Army's losses in the Battle of Manassas were even more severe than in previous history.

You know, in the historical Battle of Manassas, the Northern Army suffered only 3,000 casualties.

But this time, the Northern Army was annihilated by the Southern Army with nearly 10,000 manpower in one go, and countless types of ordnance and weapons were left on the battlefield.

Even though most of the nearly 10,000 active forces were temporarily recruited militiamen, this was still a heartbreaking defeat for the United States, which had a standing military force of only more than 10,000 and less than 20,000 before the war.

Under such circumstances, the Northern Army must continue to increase its investment in the military in order to stabilize the situation.

As for talks with Britain and the Tang Dynasty, Lincoln was prepared to exert diplomatic efforts to cut off as much help as possible from the South and prepare for suppressing the rebellion.

Having said this, Lincoln continued.

"Then, I hope that the Secretary of the Army can select as many officers as possible from the West Point Military Academy to train the troops."

“To fill the gap in professional quality of the temporarily recruited militia.”

"The second thing is to build a defense line south of Washington as soon as possible to protect Washington and prevent the Confederate Army from continuing to move north..."

George McClellan heard this and nodded to show that he understood.

"Don't worry, Mr. President. I understand!"

"However, if America takes the initiative to send people to contact Britain and Tang, I'm afraid they will ask for a huge amount of money..."

Lincoln shook his head.

"These are not important!"

"As long as we can successfully suppress the rebellion, everything else will be a minor problem..."

There was one thing Lincoln didn't say in his mind, which was that Tang and Britain would not necessarily stand on the side of the North just because of a diplomatic negotiation.

Are you afraid that someone will ask for too much?
Maybe they are too lazy to even give you the chance to ask for a high price!
This kind of thing made Lincoln feel a little depressed.

In the past, the United States was accustomed to being domineering on the American continent, and its neighbors such as Mexico and Canada almost had to rely on the United States to survive.

Today, when facing a real world power, even if the other side does not really take action, the United States still feels tremendous pressure.

At this moment, Navy Secretary Dean Wells spoke up.

"Mr. President, our federal army was indeed defeated by the rebels."

"But only the army was defeated. The navy of our Federation is still intact."

"Compared to the rebel navy, we have an absolute advantage."

"So, I have an idea. Perhaps we can use the Federation's superior navy to blockade the southern coastline and cut off trade between the South and other countries."

"In this way, the South will lose its most important source of finance and arms."

"Over time, even if our Federation cannot wipe out the Southern rebels in one go, we can certainly weaken them..."

Historically, the North has done the same.

After the defeat in the Battle of Manassas, the first thing he did was to dispatch the navy to blockade the southern coastal ports, and then send troops to the Port of New Orleans to capture this most strategically important port in the South.

Turned the defeat on the battlefield of Manassas around!

This marked the beginning of a larger-scale battle to come.

……

Tang Dynasty, capital!
After the beginning of autumn, the climate in the capital has become noticeably cooler.

Every autumn rain brings a chill. Now, at the coldest time of the day in the capital, the temperature is almost below zero.

In a bedroom that was warmed by the heating, Li Yi was holding the second son born to Concubine Yun and teasing him.

The little guy has grown up after a hundred days. His skin is fair and his eyes are bright. His facial features inherited from Concubine Yun are very superior...

When she smiles, she is very cute.

"Your Majesty, Xiao Guo'er has passed the hundredth day. It's time to give him a name."

"I wonder what your Majesty thinks?"

Concubine Yun blinked and asked Li Yi.

Upon hearing this, Li Yi stroked his chin and thought for a while, then spoke.

"Xiao Guo'er's name..."

"Well, how about just taking the word Huai?"

"Take the intention of caring about the people of the world!"

Upon hearing this, Concubine Yun said with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for giving Xiao Guoer a name!"

"Huai'er, Li Huai, this name sounds nice..."

Li Yi smiled and continued to tease the child in her arms.

Just at this moment, a chaotic sound of footsteps was heard outside.

Zhang Zhidong came in from outside again.

"Your Majesty, I have something important to report. The latest news has come back from America..."

Upon hearing this, Li Yi returned the child to Concubine Yun, and then said to Zhang Zhidong.

"Let's go, let's talk outside."

Zhang Zhidong heard this and nodded in agreement.

Li Yi took him to the corridor outside.

A gust of cold air mixed with a chilly wind blew in his face. Li Yi tightened his bearskin coat and no longer felt cold.

"Tell me, what happened in America?"

Li Yi asked.

Zhang Zhidong took out a memorial from his arms, handed it to Li Yi, and then said.

"Your Majesty, this is the report sent back by Huang Weiqi, the Tang Dynasty's ambassador to the United States!"

"It says three things in total."

"The first is that a large-scale battle broke out between the Confederate Army and the Union Army in Manassas. The Confederate Army was defeated at first but then won a great victory over the Union Army and pushed the front line forward."

"second……"

Speaking of this, Zhang Zhidong's expression was somewhat conflicted.

Li Yi raised his eyebrows and asked.

"Say!"

Zhang Zhidong took a deep breath and had to continue speaking.

"The second is that after the Confederate States won the Battle of Manassas, their attitude towards our Tang Dynasty changed."

"They started to shirk responsibility regarding the concession port."

Li Yi was not angry when he heard this.

Foreigners are like this, they forget their roots when they are successful!

He has long been accustomed to seeing only interests and nothing else.

He smacked his lips with an ambiguous expression and continued.

"Haha, the Americans are really a little bit arrogant!"

"What about third?"

Zhang Zhidong glanced at Li Yi's expression cautiously, and seeing nothing unusual, he continued.

"In reply to your Majesty, the third is the news sent back from the United States Federation."

"President Lincoln sent someone to contact the Tang Dynasty, hoping that the Tang Dynasty would stop intervening in the American Civil War..."

Li Yi thought for a while and then said.

"Send a message to the arsenal, and have them block the south when delivering the munitions."

"Besides that, send someone to contact the envoys from the north and spread some news..."

Although because the northern United States is an industrial country, the Tang Dynasty will not stand on the side of the North and support an industrial country as its opponent.

But this does not prevent the Tang Dynasty from contacting the North and controlling the South...

That's how international negotiations work.

Profits always come first.

……

PS: I’m stuck with a writer’s block, and I haven’t finished coding the extra chapter for the 1200 monthly tickets.

The extra chapters you owe will be paid next month.

(End of this chapter)