The Energy of the Universe (2)
Breckinridge is about to strike a spectacular blow to the back of the Republican Party and the North, shifting his course toward Southern Supremacy!
This grand conspiracy theory had been, at least until now, nothing more than a theory.
He had claimed he was different from Buchanan and was doing his best for the unity of the Union, and he had faithfully kept his promises—so far.
But the person who brought this conspiracy theory to the table was none other than Lincoln.
He was a heavyweight who had emerged as the North's supernova by criticizing the Democratic Party's ugly pro-slavery line during the Boston debates.
As the man currently serving as the Republican Party's election policy chairman, the secret intelligence he brought forced the party's leadership to gather in one place ahead of the election.
Although the next presidential election was still years away, if you were to name the most likely candidates for the next Republican nomination, most would mention these four names.
New York Senator William Seward.
Ohio Governor Salmon P. Chase.
Pennsylvania Senator Simon Cameron.
And, Abraham Lincoln.
"Are you certain that President Buchanan leaked word to the Democratic senators that he was only pretending to favor the North for the sake of this election?"
"Of course. It is information I received from a reliable source."
"James Sett? Isn't he the most notorious planter in the South? You say that man is reliable? Chairman Lincoln, you have been favorable toward him for a long time, but..."
William Seward, the most prominent Republican presidential candidate and a man more critical of slavery than anyone else, frowned.
As a New York senator, he was one of the people who held very complex feelings toward James Sett.
While the New York Democratic Party had suffered the humiliation of being disgraced due to the previous baseball incident, Sett's hospital had been a massive success, and New York politicians had benefited from it as well.
But that didn't mean they could just blindly trust such critical information.
"If Chairman Lincoln is right, James Sett is practically a spy. Is there no possibility that he is a double agent?"
"I don't believe so."
Seward and Cameron were closer to not trusting James Sett, but unexpectedly, Ohio Governor Chase took Sett's side.
In fact, Chase was an extreme pragmatist who often cooperated with the Democratic Party for his own political goals, so his stance wasn't entirely surprising.
"Governor, surely you haven't been dealing with a Mississippi planter?"
"To tell you the truth, I have. My daughter, who manages my household, has been exchanging letters with Sett. I had hoped their relationship would progress further, but she was beaten to the punch by a young noblewoman from England."
"Then does this mean you have been giving him our information?"
"Rest assured, I have not handed over any Republican secrets. I have merely provided him with factual trends from the North and received news of the South's movements in return. In any case, James Sett can be trusted. Not a single word of his has ever proven to be a lie."
Lincoln, who was hearing for the first time that James had also been building a relationship with Chase, was inwardly stunned.
This guy is truly full of plans to abandon the South.
"Doesn't the fact that he was connected to both me and the Governor give you a hint of James Sett's inclinations? He is a planter, but he is a man who desires the abolition of slavery. Long ago, when I first met him, he even said that anyone with a sound mind would never defend slavery."
With the testimonies pouring in one after another, confusion grew in the eyes of Seward and Cameron.
Seward, in particular, who had many indirect ties to James, felt dizzy from the flood of information.
"No, wait... let's summarize. You're saying James Sett has been planning to screw over the South since he first met Chairman Lincoln? A Mississippi slaveholder born and raised as the Cotton King, who inherited hundreds of slaves?"
"I found it hard to believe at first, but it is true. However, James asked us to keep it strictly secret, as his position would be jeopardized if this fact became known in the South. James said that the moment anyone other than us here learns of this, he will consider it a betrayal and do his utmost for the South's victory."
"Since there are only four of us, it shouldn't be difficult to keep the secret. But why did he specifically point out the four of us?"
"I will quote James's words exactly: 'That is because one of those four will become the next President of the United States.'"
Seward, Cameron, and Chase tried not to show it, but they smiled faintly and lifted their glasses to cover their mouths.
Seeing the warm smiles spreading, as if to say, 'This kid knows his stuff,' Lincoln slowly continued.
"If Breckinridge truly changes his attitude, we will lose nothing by preparing accordingly. If James Sett's information is wrong, we can just ignore him from now on."
"That seems like a reasonable direction."
"Let's do that."
In truth, there were many things Lincoln hadn't told them.
The line he had just recited was merely lip service that James had asked him to deliver.
In reality, he had added this:
'Since you will be the next President, let's keep today's deal a secret between the two of us.'
Therefore, Lincoln did not tell the three of them the real content of the deal he had made with James.
To tell them would inevitably require explaining why James had made such an offer only to Lincoln.
The reason he had called those three to this place was solely to secure the cooperation of the three men with the most influence in the Republican Party to prepare for what was to come.
It was nothing more, and nothing less.
However, by doing this, a minor problem arose unintentionally.
That was...
"But about James Sett. Honestly, I have no choice but to admit it. I feel so sorry for having misunderstood him until now. Chairman Lincoln, if you meet him later, please tell him I misunderstood him... no, I want to apologize to him myself."
"Senator Seward, you feel the same? I do as well. Everyone called him a 'Slave Master,' so I thought he was a cold-blooded man without blood or tears. I thought his hospital was just a smoke screen to hide that nature. But it was the opposite. To think he was acting as a cruel slaveholder while secretly working for the abolition of slavery..."
It was that Seward and Cameron had begun to misunderstand something about James Sett.
Of course, Lincoln didn't think James was a hypocrite or a dark-hearted person either.
Rather, he acknowledged that his actions, despite being born as the heir to a Southern plantation, were worthy of praise and a model of humanity.
However, even so, James Sett was naturally moving for his own benefit, and for this, he had made several secret agreements with Lincoln.
Even considering all this, James Sett was clearly showing actions worthy of being called a great man, but how would James appear to those who didn't even know about these secret agreements?
A figure prepared to throw away all his status and position solely for human rights, mercy, and Christian values.
A saint to whom even a politician whose bones were soaked in the habit of thorough cost-benefit analysis had no choice but to pay tribute.
He appeared as a saint, the likes of which this era would never see again, someone who truly deserved to be called Saint James.
Moreover, when they thought about it, there were too many grounds to support James's actions.
"Come to think of it, he must have released the oral rehydration solution formula for free because he possessed such humanity."
"The hospital construction as well... no, now that I think about it, wasn't baseball also a project to improve the perception of Black people?"
"How can a young man be so deep in his thinking... I am so ashamed of my prejudice in assuming he was just a vicious slaveholder."
By nature, when people see a nobility they themselves could never dare to emulate, they instinctively pay tribute.
To the Republican presidential candidates other than Lincoln, James Sett had suddenly become a human rights activist struggling for Black liberation, prepared to throw away everything he had.
'Don't tell me that guy aimed for this when he asked to cooperate with those three?'
There was no need to worry from the start about what would happen if Seward or Cameron leaked the information.
Lincoln watched this absurd farce in silence for a moment, then shook his head.
If they came out cooperatively, it wouldn't be bad for him, so there was no need to correct their misunderstanding.
Even if James was a bit of a calculating person, it was true that he was continuing his heroic path.
It wasn't as if he had told them a lie, either.
"Then... shall we have a toast? To the hero of the South and the victory of the Republican Party."
"To our victory!"
With a clear clinking sound, the Republican heavyweights bumped their glasses together.
New heroes were always welcome, and they could be certain that the energy of the entire universe was gathering toward the Republican Party.
* * *
And that premonition was not wrong.
In November 1858, the results of the midterm elections finally held ended in a landslide victory for the Republican Party.
Out of 238 total seats, the Republicans took 119 and the Democrats 101. With the third party taking 18 seats, the Republicans achieved the feat of reaching exactly a majority—no more, no less.
Since the election was held amidst the unprecedented situation of a president resigning during his term, it could be said that the result was natural.
"Hahaha! Did you see that? This is the will of the people!"
"Yeah, the Democrats got wrecked, right? Out with the Slavery-Loving Party!"
Republican supporters poured into the streets to hold a festival.
It was an expected result, but the emotion doubled when they confirmed it with numbers.
However, there is always a loser where there is a winner, so not everyone could raise a toast.
"Damn it... I thought we'd at least get close to a majority."
"Considering the president even resigned, isn't this a decent defense?"
"Decent defense, my foot! We gave up the House!"
The atmosphere at the Democratic Party office, which had lost 39 seats and been relegated to the second party, was icy.
The Northern Democratic lawmakers, in particular, had dark expressions.
"Still, we kept the Senate. With 27 Republican seats to our 36, it's still worth a try."
"Keeping the Senate isn't the point! The problem is that now all sorts of obstructionism will come from the House!"
"President Breckinridge will do well. Didn't he say he was different from Buchanan?"
Amidst the worst possible adversity of a presidential resignation, the evaluation that they had 'defended decently' emerged cautiously, given that they had kept the Senate and lost fewer House seats than expected.
Naturally, all the credit went to the newly inaugurated President Breckinridge.
This was because the dominant analysis was that they could achieve even this result because he had quickly taken economic stabilization measures and tried to calm public sentiment.
Even Republican supporters exchanged sentiments that Breckinridge seemed better than Buchanan, so what more was there to say?
However, as soon as the election ended, Breckinridge began to stealthily shift the direction of his 'efforts.'
In the branch manager's office of a bank in New Orleans.
"Hehehe, I don't know how long it's been since I've seen such a generous deposit."
"That's for sure. They say the Federal Treasury has significantly increased deposits under the name of national balanced distribution."
"Balanced distribution... that was something we couldn't even dream of in the Buchanan era."
Similar conversations were exchanged at the ports of Mobile and Savannah.
Federal government deposits, which had been concentrated in Northern banks just a few months ago, began to be redistributed to banks in major Southern port cities under the name of 'balance.'
It wasn't a large, noticeable amount, but like rain in a drought, it gave breathing room to the liquidity of Southern banks.
At the same time, new internal guidelines began to circulate in the Treasury Department.
"They want us to expand the scope of recognition for cotton warehouse receipts as collateral for tariff guarantees?"
"They say it's for international standardization. They say we need to widely recognize export collateral to stay competitive."
"Hmm... it's not an unreasonable statement. Procedures are simplified, and there's nothing bad about it."
It was still a subtle change.
But it was a fact that required no explanation that the direction toward which that subtle change was heading all pointed to one place.
Barely half a year.
Breckinridge was ready to take off the mask he had been wearing.