1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 615: People with different interests do not seek each other’s benefit

"I know a little bit about the situation in Virginia, and it makes sense that they can't make up their mind to secede from the Union." Fremont said, "However, Texas and the Eastern Mexican Territory have not made any statement so far, which makes it frustrating. I'm surprised."

Fremont understands the situation in Virginia. In addition to the seemingly incoherent relationship between East and West Virginia, many senior officials in Eastern Virginia also have an ongoing and chaotic relationship with the federal government.

It is indeed difficult for them to make the decision to secede from the Confederacy and give up many seats in the federal government and the House and Senate in a short period of time. Many senior officials in Virginia may still have some illusions about the Republican Party and Lincoln at this time.

Of course, one of the biggest concerns for Virginia's top leaders was that Virginia was too close to Washington and its status among southern states was too important.

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

Whether it was to defend the capital Washington or to weaken the South's war potential, the North would 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 reduced to nothing. This is something Virginia's top officials don't want to see.

"Texas is not a completely slave state, and the interests of Texas are not completely consistent with the six deep blue states. Moreover, the situation is not very clear yet. Virginia has not yet entered the game. After all, the strength of the six deep blue states is very high. Limited, Texas has no reason to follow their path," Liang Yao analyzed.

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

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

It was impossible for Texas to make the decision to secede from the Union when the attitude of the West toward the federal government was unclear.

If Liang Yao's guess is correct, Texas has probably sent people to California to contact him and test his attitude towards the federal government.

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

"If I were Lincoln, I would send troops from the west to the south to counter the rebellion." Fremont said without hesitation. By sending troops from the west to the south to counter the rebellion, the troops of the west and the south could be consumed at the same time. This was a double win.

If he sat in the future Lincoln's position, he would choose to let the elite soldiers of the West fight against the Southern Army.

"I would like to add that the six deep-blue states have expelled the federal customs administration. And the southern cotton export tariffs have always accounted for the bulk of the federal government's fiscal revenue." Liang Yao looked around the crowd and said, "This huge fiscal hole will by then I think you all know how the federal government will make up for it.”

Tariffs on cotton in the South, kerosene tariffs in the West, and tariffs on manufactured goods were the federal government's largest sources of finance.

Now the federal government cannot impose tariffs on cotton from the South. In the future, it will be inevitable to impose tariffs on chemical products and industrial products in the West.

As for cutting the North's own flesh with a knife, if the North really had this consciousness, the six deep-blue states in the South would not have reached the point where they could no longer tolerate it and would directly secede from the Union.

"Damn it! If the great ape Lincoln really dares to do this, we won't be waiting for him in this federation." Sartre has a hot temper and a straightforward temper.

"The Yankees in the North have a lot of bad things going on in their bellies. They can only make others suffer, but they are unwilling to suffer any losses themselves. Since the time of President Taylor, tariffs have not been lower."

Since President Taylor, U.S. tariffs have remained high and have shown a trend of rising volatility. The federal government's tariff is now 36.74%, compared with 24% ten years ago.

The quality of northern industrial products is of low quality and has a bad reputation in continental countries. As a result, California exports to continental industrial products such as machine tools, motorcycles, sewing machines, bicycles, and even arms produced under license from eastern arsenals, such as those manufactured by the Sacramento Arsenal. All Colt pistols are specially labeled as Made in California to distinguish them.

Northern industrial products can basically only be digested within the United States. High tariffs are naturally extremely beneficial to northern factory owners.

The losers were, of course, the plantation owners in the South who exported raw materials and the oil guys who owned factories in the West. What the federal government collects from tariffs is originally the profit they can obtain. Therefore, on the issue of high tariffs imposed by the federal government, the West, whose economic structure is completely different from that of the South, has the same attitude. They are all dissatisfied with the federal government's high tariff policy and hope that the federal government can lower tariffs.

Of course, this hope is nothing more than a fantasy, and it is impossible to realize it.

I heard that after Lincoln came to power, he would not only send troops from the west to fight in the south and south, but he would also impose additional tariffs on the west.

This made the western elites in the living room crazy and angry.

Damn it! Why should you use Western soldiers and Western money to wipe the mess that you have created in the North?

This effect was exactly what Liang Yao wanted. Liang Yao and Fremont looked at each other with a sly smile, and in a tacit understanding, they allowed the western elites in the living room to greet the northern bugs with dirty words until dinner time. When they arrived, they were invited to have a meal.

"Should we follow the example of the deep blue states and completely expel the people from the Federal Customs Service from our West Coast?"

After the dinner, Wu Yuanhua, who had not drank much wine and was still sober, asked Liang Yaodao.

"You might as well ask me directly if we, like the Deep Blue State, will secede directly from the federation." Liang Yao saw through Wu Yuanhua's thoughts.

"Oregon's industrial foundation is not as strong as California's. Most of the products exported by Oregon are agricultural and sideline products and furs. The profits of agricultural products are not high to begin with. The 36.74% tariff is really terrible," Wu Yuanhua said.

What Wu Yuanhua said is true. In addition to mainly supplying the western region, Oregon's agricultural products are either exported directly to the Qing Dynasty or brewed into wine and then exported. The excess fruits, vegetables and livestock are made into canned food and exported. to the Qing Dynasty and Japan.

The profit margin of agricultural and sideline products is not high to begin with, and at 36.74%, it is really overwhelming for Oregon. Therefore, Oregon representatives eagerly hoped to secede from the Union and regain their tariff autonomy.

As for California, due to the relatively large profit margins for exporting industrial manufactured goods and chemical products, it is more tolerant of high tariffs by the federal government.

“Legal speaking, our three West Coast states can naturally hold a special session at any time and vote to secede from the Union, just like the deep blue states in the South.

But after all, Lincoln's new government has not yet come to power, and has not yet taken any drastic action that violates the constitution. We are different from the South. We are a free state. It is unfair to declare secession from the Union when the federal government has not violated the constitution or committed any major negligence. Liang Yao said.

Starting from the construction of the North Platte fortress complex at the end of 1858, Liang Yao began to prepare for secession from the Union. Now that everything is in place, all we need is an east wind, and this east wind is the unconstitutional federal government.

Of course, it is not impossible to secede directly from the Union now, but the consequence of doing so is that it will easily shift the focus of the federal government from the South to the West. Liang Yao didn't want to see such a result.

"What if, I mean what if Lincoln acts in accordance with the Constitution?" This is what Wu Yuanhua is most worried about.

"Then he is not Lincoln." Liang Yao said with great confidence. "Lincoln came to power with his strong stance against slavery. If he acted in accordance with the Constitution, what would the remaining ten light blue states think? ? What should he say to the voters in the northern Baizhou?"

"That's right, I'm worrying too much." Wu Yuanhua nodded and said.

"As for the people at the Federal Customs Administration, we can let them continue to collect the tariffs. Just watch them and don't let them transport the money out. When the time comes to take over the Customs Administration, the money will also be ours." Liang Yao warned.

"It's better if you think carefully. As long as the tariffs they charge don't go beyond our borders, it won't be up to us at that time." Wu Yuanhua said, stroking his forehead.

(End of this chapter)