1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 643 Our President Has a Bad Stomach

At dusk, under the golden sunset, the waves of the Gulf of Mexico gently lapped the coast of the Port of Veracruz. The black smoke from the chimney of the battleship gradually faded, and the off-white sails were slightly bulged by the sea breeze.

A middle-aged man of medium build, wearing a dark blue military uniform with gold thread and a tall golden embroidered kepi military cap, walked down the bridge slowly with steady steps to the beat of military music, surrounded by two army and navy generals.

Sven quickly recognized that the naval general surrounding the French nobleman was his old friend General Tromeran. He had also received news that Napoleon III might personally lead an expedition to Mexico. It seemed that this stylish French nobleman was undoubtedly the famous Napoleon III.

"Your Majesty!" Sven bowed to Napoleon III in fairly fluent French.

Tromeran introduced Sven to Napoleon III. Napoleon III nodded slightly, glanced at Sven, and asked, "Are the supplies I want ready?"

"The 800 tons of flour, 130 tons of canned meat, 120 tons of pickles, 21 tons of sugar, 900 tons of hay, 520 tons of oats, 2,000 waxed canvas tents, 3,000 barrels of gunpowder, 5.6 million rounds of Walter rifle bullets, and the 3,800 mules and horses you want are all ready for you. All kinds of supplies are stored in the warehouse at the port, and the mules and horses are fostered in the farms of nearby farmers. Here is the list, please take a look." Sven handed over the list and added.

"Our president has instructed that if your army is stationed in the port of Veracruz, clean water and fuel can be provided to your army free of charge."

"Not bad." Napoleon III praised Sven's work, and he was also quite interested in Sven, "Your French is good, are you French?"

"Not having the blessing to become your Majesty's people is one of the most regrettable things in my life." Sven said very frankly, "My mother was a prostitute in the port of Aarhus, I should be considered Danish. When I was very young, I became a chores on the ship for a living, and later became a sailor. I learned a little bit of the languages ​​of various countries through osmosis."

As Sven said, he led Napoleon III to a luxurious manor (Haciendas) that was carefully decorated.

This is a large manor that integrates agriculture, animal husbandry and social life. This manor was built by Carlos Fernanda, a Spanish colonel during the period of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. After Sven led the Atlantic Fleet to the port of Veracruz, the descendants of Colonel Carlos Fernanda sold the manor to Sven for a symbolic price of $1.

The manor is a combination of typical Spanish colonial style, Baroque and neoclassical styles, supplemented by local Mexican cultural elements.

In addition to the main house, the manor not only has a complete central courtyard and church, but also is surrounded by high walls and towers used as watchtowers. Climbing these towers can observe the situation around the manor.

Napoleon III briefly visited the manor. There were large tracts of open space around the manor that could be used as military camps. He was very satisfied with this arrangement.

Of course, as a politician, Napoleon III knew that Liang Yao's hospitality was not just a simple act of hospitality.

"Mexicans are no worse than Europeans in terms of lifestyle and taste." Napoleon III glanced at the exotic plants carefully planted in the sculpture garden and said with some interest.

Since the Mexican independence revolution was very incomplete, many aristocratic families of the colonial period still retained their land, wealth and social status.

The aristocracy of Mexico still occupies an important position in the social structure after independence and continues to maintain contact with Europe. This makes it easy for the Mexican aristocracy to maintain contact with the European upper class both economically and culturally.

The Spanish aristocracy and cultural habits also deeply influenced the social structure and aristocracy of Mexico. Because they share similar values, religious beliefs and lifestyles. This makes it easier for the Mexican aristocracy to be accepted by the European upper class, and there are also many marriages between the Mexican elite and the European royal family and aristocracy.

Mexico's neighbor, the United States, has gradually formed a relatively equal and open society after independence. Although the United States also has an upper class and a wealthy class, its social structure is more inclined to commercial and industrial capitalism rather than the traditional aristocracy.

Therefore, compared with the Mexican elites who prefer to use their wealth for squandering and enjoyment, the American elites pay more attention to accumulating capital and power in their own country, rather than blindly integrating into the European aristocratic network, although they want to integrate very much. In addition, the early American culture also had a strong anti-colonial and anti-aristocratic color, which made the American elites often not as natural and smooth as the Mexican nobles when communicating with European nobles. After all, the values ​​of the two countries are fundamentally conflicting.

The United States and Mexico chose completely different paths at the beginning of their independence, and the spiritual outlook of the elites was even more different, which also led to the different destinies of the two countries in the future, one becoming a hegemonic country and the other becoming a third-rate country.

Mexico did not lose its vast territory and potential to become a regional power in the Mexican-American War in the 1840s, but was destined to lose these lands when it became independent in 1810. A comprador regime that is completely dependent on another country from economy to cultural concepts is doomed to have no future.

Although Sven was only three feet away from Napoleon III and heard what Napoleon III said, Sven was not sure whether Napoleon III's words were a compliment or criticism of the Mexicans, or both.

When Napoleon III had read almost everything, Sven took a scroll from the accompanying adjutant and presented it to Napoleon III with both hands: "This is a gift from our president to you. I hope you like it."

Napoleon III glanced at the exquisite scroll and thought it was a Chinese painting and calligraphy given to him by Liang Yao, so he waved to the two generals beside him to take the scroll and unfold it.

Generals Eli Ferdinand Fore and Tromeran, who were accompanying him, unfolded the scroll slowly on the left and right, and a map of the Mexican army's deployment appeared in front of Napoleon III.

Napoleon III was slightly startled, and he came forward to carefully check the Mexican army deployment around Mexico City. He found that not only the Mexican army numbers and commanders stationed in various places were clear and detailed, but even the actual number of the troops was marked next to the unit numbers.

Before the expedition to Mexico, Napoleon III also spent a lot of manpower and financial resources to collect a lot of intelligence on the Mexican army, but the intelligence he collected was too rough compared to the map provided by Liang Yao.

"Your president is willing to give such a delicious piece of cake?" Napoleon III waved his hand and signaled the two generals to roll up the map.

Liang Yao had a history of leading troops to occupy Mexico, and he had done so much intelligence work on Mexico. Napoleon III would never believe that Liang Yao was not interested in Mexico.

"Our president's stomach is not as good as yours, and he can't eat such a big piece of cake." Sven smiled.

"Your president's gift is so valuable that I don't know what gift to give back to your president." Napoleon III said casually. He knew that Liang Yao had a purpose in asking Sven to provide logistical support for the French army as much as possible and presenting the Mexican garrison map.

"Our president said that your condescending to come from Europe to America is the best gift." Sven said, "Please wait a moment, I will prepare a dinner for you."

After that, Sven saluted Napoleon III and turned away.

"Your Majesty, America has always regarded Mexico as its own backyard. Could this Mexican garrison map be fake?" General Forey questioned the authenticity of this Mexican garrison map.

"Liang Yao doesn't have the guts to fool me with a fake Mexican garrison map." Napoleon III analyzed, "It's true that he regards Mexico as his own backyard, but as Sven said, Liang Yao doesn't have such a good stomach to swallow Mexico now. Moreover, the current external environment of the American Republic is very bad. He wants to gain our recognition and even support. I think this is why he is willing to give up Mexico."

"Your Majesty is wise." General Forey asked, "The current fission of America is a great opportunity for us to intervene in American affairs. Your Majesty, which of the four parties of North, South and West Germany do you think is most worthy of our investment?"

Forey is the highest-ranking army general of the French expeditionary force. After the war, it is a foregone conclusion that he will be stationed in Mexico as the spokesperson for the interests of the French Empire.

Forey wants to know Napoleon III's attitude towards other forces in North America so that he can better carry out work in Mexico in the future.

"It's called four forces, but in fact, it's just three forces. Texas is weak and can only rely on one of the south or the west. It's hard to exist as a completely independent political entity." Napoleon III said thoughtfully, "I heard that the American Republic is also preparing for war. They can actually provide us with a large amount of supplies. This surprised me. It seems that they have abundant supplies."

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At the same time, Jose Manuel Hidalgo, the ambassador of the Mexican Embassy in San Francisco, was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot after receiving an urgent telegram from Mexican President Benito Juarez in Mexico City. He hurriedly took a train to the Presidential Palace in Sacramento to meet Liang Yao.

Liang Yao had already learned that the British, French and Spanish coalition forces had arrived at the port of Veracruz, and naturally knew Hidalgo's intention. He just wanted to borrow money again.

As expected, the situation in Mexico was extremely critical. At this time, Hidalgo had no time to think about it, and directly asked Liang Yao to provide another loan to Mexico.

The allied forces of Britain, France and Spain have already arrived in Mexico. At this time, Mexico has no time to borrow money from other European countries. Looking around, the only one who can help Mexico solve its urgent problems is this good neighbor in the north.