Chapter 622: Different Interests Do Not Make Plans Together

Chapter 615: Different interests, no mutual cooperation

"I know a little about the situation in Virginia. It is understandable that they are unable to make up their minds to secede from the Union. Fremont said, "But Texas and the Eastern Mexico Territory have not made any statement yet, which surprises me. "

Fremont understood the situation in Virginia. In addition to the apparent unity between the east and west of Virginia, many high-level officials in East Virginia also had a complicated relationship with the federal government.

It is indeed difficult for them to make a decision to leave the Confederacy in a short period of time, give up the federal government, and the many seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Many high-level officials in Virginia may still have a little fantasy about the Republican Party and Lincoln at this time.

Of course, one of the reasons that Virginia's high-level officials are most concerned about is that Virginia is too close to Washington and its position in the southern states is too important.

Once a full-scale military conflict breaks out, Virginia will inevitably become the main battlefield between the North and the South.

Whether it is out of consideration to protect the capital Washington or to weaken the war potential of the South, the North will definitely spare no effort to attack Virginia.

By then, the plantations of the slave owners in Virginia will inevitably be affected by the war, or even disappear. This is what the Virginia high-level officials do not want to see.

"Texas is not a completely slave state now, and the interests of Texas are not completely consistent with those of the six deep blue states. Moreover, the situation is not very clear now. Virginia has not yet joined the game. After all, the strength of the six deep blue states is very limited. Texas has no reason to follow them. "Liang Yao analyzed.

The economy of Texas is deeply tied to California. The raw materials of Texas need to be digested by California. Texas is also the outlet of the entire western Atlantic Ocean.

Just by providing raw materials to the West and serving as a trade transit station in the West, all classes in Texas can live a relatively comfortable life.

It is impossible for Texas to make a decision to secede from the Union when the West's attitude towards the federal government is unclear.

If Liang Yao guessed correctly, Texas is now estimated to have sent people to California to contact him and test his attitude towards the federal government.

"Lincoln's attitude towards the South towards slavery is obvious. If Lincoln officially takes office, he will definitely not compromise with the South." Robinson hesitated, "But I don't know what Lincoln's attitude will be towards the West and us."

"If I were Lincoln, I would let the West send troops to the South to quell the rebellion. "Fremont said without hesitation that sending troops from the West to the South to quell the rebellion could consume the forces of the West and the South at the same time, which was a two-pronged approach.

If he were to sit in the position of the future Lincoln, he would choose to let the elite soldiers of the West and the Southern Army fight and consume each other.

"Let me add one more point. The six deep blue states have already expelled the Federal Tariff Bureau. And the cotton export tariffs in the South have always been the bulk of the federal government's fiscal revenue. "Liang Yao looked around at everyone and said, "I think you all know how the federal government will make up for this huge fiscal hole at that time."

The cotton tariffs in the South, the kerosene tariffs in the West and the tariffs on industrial products are the largest sources of revenue for the federal government.

Now the federal government cannot levy cotton tariffs in the South, and it is inevitable that it will catch the West to levy tariffs on chemical products and industrial products in the future.

As for cutting the flesh of the North, if the North really has this awareness, the six deep blue states in the South will not reach the point of being unable to bear it and directly secede from the Federation.

"Damn it! If Lincoln, the big ape, really dares to do this, we might as well not stay in this Federation. "Sutter has a hot temper and a straightforward personality.

"These Yankees in the North have a lot of bad intentions. They only want others to suffer, and they don't want to suffer any losses themselves. Since the time of President Taylor, tariffs have never been low."

Since President Taylor, the tariffs of the United States have remained high, showing a fluctuating upward trend. The current federal government tariff is 74%, while ten years ago, this figure was 24%.

The industrial products of the North are of poor quality and have a very bad reputation in European countries. As a result, the industrial products exported by California to Europe, such as machine tools, motorcycles, sewing machines, bicycles, and even arms authorized by Eastern Arsenals, such as the Colt pistols manufactured by the Sacramento Arsenal, must be specially labeled as made in California to distinguish them.

The industrial products of the North can basically only be consumed within the United States. High tariffs are naturally extremely beneficial to factory owners in the North.

And the ones who suffer, of course, are the South. The plantation owners and western factory owners who exported raw materials to the south were the oilmen. The money the federal government took from the tariffs was originally the profits they could have made.

Therefore, on the issue of the federal government's high tariffs, the West, whose economic structure was very different from that of the South, had a consistent attitude. They were all dissatisfied with the federal government's high tariff policy and hoped that the federal government could lower the tariffs.

Of course, this hope was just a fantasy and could never be realized.

I heard that after Lincoln came to power, he would not only transfer soldiers from the West to the South to fight the South, but also increase tariffs in the West.

This made these western elites in the reception room crazy and indignant.

Damn it! Why should we use western soldiers and western money to clean up the mess you northerners have made!

This effect is exactly what Liang Yao wanted. Liang Yao and Fremont smiled at each other slyly, and tacitly let the western elites in the reception room greet the northern bugs with dirty words until dinner time came before they invited them to eat.

"Should we also follow the example of the deep blue states and completely expel the federal customs officials from our west coast."

After the dinner, Wu Yuanhua, who didn't drink much and was still sober, asked Liang Yao.

"You might as well ask me directly whether we should also leave the federation directly like the deep blue states." Liang Yao saw through Wu Yuanhua's thoughts.

"Oregon's industrial foundation is not as strong as California. Oregon's exports are mostly agricultural and sideline products and fur coats. The profit of agricultural products is not high. The 74% tariff is really too terrible." Wu Yuanhua said.

What Wu Yuanhua said was true. In addition to supplying the western region, the surplus staple food of Oregon was either directly exported to the Qing Dynasty or brewed into wine for export. The surplus fruits, vegetables and livestock meat were made into canned food and exported to the Qing Dynasty and Japan.

The profit margin of agricultural and sideline products was not high to begin with, and 74% really made Oregon a little breathless. Therefore, the representatives of Oregon were eager to leave the federation as soon as possible and regain tariff autonomy.

As for California, due to the large profit margin of industrial products and chemical products exported, it has a stronger tolerance for the high tariffs of the federal government.

"From a legal point of view, our three states on the west coast can naturally hold a special meeting at any time and vote to leave the federation like the deep blue states in the south.

But Lincoln's new government has not come to power after all, and has not violated the constitution and made radical moves. We are different from the South. We are a free state. It is not justified to declare secession from the federation when the federal government has not violated the constitution and committed serious faults." Liang Yao said.

Liang Yao began to prepare for secession from the federation when the North Platte Fortress was built at the end of 1858. Now everything is ready except for the east wind, and this east wind is that the federal government is unconstitutional.

Of course, it is not impossible to secede directly from the federation now, but the consequence of doing so is that it is easy to shift the focus of the federal government from the South to the West. Liang Yao does not want to see such a result.

"What if, I mean what if Lincoln acts according to the constitution?" This is what Wu Yuanhua is most worried about.

"Then he is not Lincoln." Liang Yao said very confidently, "Lincoln came to power by relying on his tough attitude against slavery. If he acts according to the constitution, what will the remaining ten light blue states think? What should he do? How will he explain to the voters in the northern white states?"

"Yes, I worry too much." Wu Yuanhua nodded and said.

"As for the people of the Federal Customs Department, let them continue to collect tariffs, just watch them and don't let them ship the money out. When we take over the Customs Department, these money will also be ours." Liang Yao pointed out.

"You still think it through. As long as the tariffs they collect do not go beyond our territory, we will have the final say at that time." Wu Yuanhua stroked his forehead and said.