During dinner, Li Mu was invited to have dinner with Grant at the Presidential Palace restaurant.

To be honest, all the chefs Li Mu met in the United States were as good as Lao Yan, and Yan's mother could not compare. Li Mu had to focus on Grant in order to remove his attention from the food in front of him.

Perhaps because he noticed Li Mu's absent-mindedness, Grant was still concerned: "What? It's not about your appetite - Oh, I remembered that you have a chef from the Qing Empire's palace."

It seems that Grant has a deep understanding of Li Mu, which makes Li Mu secretly alert.

"The food is fine, I'm just a little nervous-" Li Mu showed weakness, acting like a normal teenager.

You should be nervous. This is in the Presidential Palace, and you are facing the US president. If Li Mu feels as free as his own kang, it would be a bit evil.

"Haha, don't be nervous. In the descriptions of Burnside and Eble, you are not a person who is easily nervous-" Grant did not doubt that he was, and he was still trapped.

"This question depends on who you are facing. Of course I am not nervous when facing Burnside and Eble, but I am facing the US president now, a federal hero. In Springfield, I have heard a lot of stories about Mr. President-" Li Mu deliberately pulled the corners of his mouth when he said this, looking like he wanted to smile, but it was more like making faces.

Li Mu's coping strategy was studied with Ebul. Li Mu is now playing a boy who finally meets his idol. Even if it is a bit exaggerated, it is acceptable.

"Is that true - what are they? Let's talk about it-" Grant was very excited. It seemed that Grant was still paying attention to the reputation.

"Most of it was during the Civil War. Well, Will was a soldier during the Civil War, so there were more things to do in this regard-" Li Mu deliberately guided the topic to the Civil War, which was the most glorious period in Grant's life.

Sure enough, Li Mu was the most itchy place deep in Grant's heart, which made Grant look more and more attentive to Li Mu. He even loved the house and the U: "Will, that's a good soldier, he is also a national hero of the United States--"

This is too false, and it is a national hero. Why didn’t you give Will a one-ton medal?

"What do you think about the Republic of Cuba?" Grant put down the knife and fork in his hand and picked up the wine glass, and finally began to talk about the serious matters.

Yes, Li Mu is the "spokesperson" selected by the US government. For the sake of reason, Grant should have more understanding of Li Mu. Perhaps this is the real reason why Grant invited Li Mu to dinner.

Li Mu is a good baby in front of Grant, so Li Mu doesn't drink alcohol, and Li Mu drinks boiled water.

Taking advantage of drinking water to sort out his thoughts, Li Mu slowly spoke: "America should be the Americas of Americans. For the United States, Cuba's geographical location is too important, so even if the star-striped flag cannot fly over Cuba, the Spanish cannot allow Cuba to be controlled by the Spanish. In my opinion, the entire Latin America, including Cuba, should be the sphere of influence of the United States. At least we cannot allow Europeans to control where it is not in line with the overall interests of the United States."

When Li Mu spoke, Grant listened very attentively. After Li Mu finished speaking slowly, Grant slowly lowered the cup in his hand: "So - do you support Monroeism?"

Monroe refers to James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States. In 1823, US President Monroe submitted a speech to Congress, declaring: "In the future, no European powers shall regard the country that has been independent and free on the American continent as the object of future colonization." At the same time, Monroe also said that the United States does not interfere in the internal affairs of European powers, nor does it allow European powers to interfere in the affairs of the American affairs. This consultation is the "Monroe Declaration" in the usual sense, and the principles it contains are what is commonly called "Monroeism".

When the "Monroeism" first appeared, it caused great controversy in the United States. The reason why Li Mu dared to mention "Monroeism" in front of Grant was because Li Mu knew from Ebel that Grant himself was a fanatical "Monroeist".

About two years ago, Grant further elaborated on "Monroeism", claiming that the United States of America could not tolerate European countries' transfer of their colonies in the Americas.

Look, this is a typical example of people in the court who are easy to be officials.

At this time, we must not hesitate, so Li Mu answered quickly: "Yes, I support Monroeism. As of now, our United States is not strong enough, so we cannot compete for colonies in Asia, Africa and Europe, but we must at least ensure a relatively pure Latin America so that we can retain the qualification to compete with the Europeans."

In fact, the United States' strength during this period was really not very good, and its economic development was pretty good, but its military was much worse. Perhaps it was because of the lack of natural enemies on the American continent, and the Americans did not attach much importance to military equipment. The United States did not even have a regular army, and the navy was not good enough, so it did not even have a battleship.

This objectively created the illusion of "peace-loving" for the United States, so when the Qing government chose the direction to send overseas students, it fell in love with the United States at a glance.

The United States' "peace-loving" is just an illusion. In fact, the ambitions of Americans have never been calmed. Just twenty years ago, when the United States had just been independent and its national strength was still weak, some people in the United States proposed to expel the Spaniards from Cuba based on "Monroeism".

The reason why the Americans did not take action is, on the one hand, because the United States is not strong enough, and on the other hand, because domestic conflicts are sharp, the US government dare not act too hasty.

The situation is different now. The United States is becoming stronger and stronger. After the Civil War, the United States has eased sharply. Therefore, as soon as Cespedes established the "Republic of Cuba", the United States couldn't wait to admit it. Now it has found Li Mu and asked Li Mu to act as the "spokesperson" to support Cespedes to drive away the Spaniards.

It is obvious that Grant was very satisfied with Li Mu's answer, so Grant put down his cup and started to make a long speech: "You are right. America is the America of the Americans. From the standpoint of the United States, we will never tolerate European countries' transfer of their colonies in the Americas, nor will European countries' interference in American affairs, nor will Europeans' enslavement of the Americans. Therefore, we must support the Cubans to drive away the Spaniards. This will be the first battle of the rise of the United States. The United States should also have equal international power with European countries--"

Look, this is Grant’s true heart, and it can also be said to be the voice of many Americans. More than 20 years later, it was with this idea that the Americans defeated the Spaniards through the Spanish-American War and began their journey of hegemony.

Just as Grant was talking endlessly, Li Mu kept listening attentively, and the expression on his face was just right to admire and fanaticism, which further aroused Grant's desire to speak.

After talking for nearly half an hour, Grant stopped and breathed a sigh of relief: "I can be sure now that you are the best person to contact the Republic of Cuba. Tell me what you ask. I heard from Burnside that you have some trouble there?"

It was finally time to give sweet dates. Li Mu endured the verbal bombing for half a night, just for this moment: "I don't have any trouble. As a member of the United States, it is my responsibility to serve America--"

Before Li Mu finished speaking, he was interrupted by Grant: "That's right, responsibility! Many people don't realize this and always fantasize about pies falling from the sky. Their wishes are destined to fail. Without efforts, there will be no gains-"

It seems that Grant is having a lot of talk tonight and talks endlessly.

Li Mu still kept listening, but this time he echoed "That's right!" from time to time, "That's it!", "That's it!", "It's true"-

After another ten minutes, Grant stopped talking: "I heard that you have a lot of business in Springfield. How about it? If you let you leave your business behind and go to Cuba, would you like to go?"

Going to Cuba?

No, no, Li Mu never thought that there was a war in Cuba, and Li Mu didn't want to be cannon fodder.

However, since Grant asked, Li Mu could not pretend to be timid at this time: "Of course I'd like to! We'd better draw some experienced officers to Cuba to help the Cuban Republic train the army and help them formulate combat plans. Otherwise, I'm very worried that based on the Cubans' tactical qualities, they are afraid that they will not be able to confront the Spanish. Although Spain is weak, it is a lean camel bigger than a horse. And the weaker the Spanish are, the less they can't be careless, because they will definitely do their best to protect the few colonies left in the end."

To be honest, Li Mu was also worried that his investment would be wasted. Without external forces, Li Mu was really not optimistic about the Cuban Republic to defeat the Spaniards.

In fact, in the original history, the Cuban Republic of Cespedes did not exist for long. After Ville Nikolaou led the Spanish regular army to Cuba, the Cuban Republic was defeated on the front battlefield, and there was also a problem with Cespedes' control over the Cuban Republic. In 1873, this year, Cespedes was deposed by the Republic's court. In February 1874, the new Cuban government insisted not to let Cespedes go into exile and deprived Cespedes of the Guard. Subsequently, Cespedes was killed by Spanish soldiers in the province of Orient when she took refuge in the mountains.

Look, everything is a routine. First, it removes Cespedes from the presidency and then deprives of Cespedes's guards. Then Cespedes was killed by Spanish soldiers. No matter how you look at this process, it has a strong sense of conspiracy.

If Li Mu only does business with the Republic of Cuba, then Li Mu will not care about Cespedes's life or death. But if Li Mu is the funder of the Republic of Cuba, he would not say that for his own investment income, Li Mu would have to fight with those anti-bone boys in the Republic of Cuba.
Chapter completed!