Chapter 363 Duel
As a result, John von Sina, the newly arrived acting high-ranking official in California, decided to fight fire with fire.
"Mr. Lincoln and you both have very bright political futures. You don't want to just be a state legislator for the rest of your life, right? I have ten thousand dollars here, which I believe is enough to save you from the loss of face."
Ten thousand US dollars was a huge amount of money in 1842, and the annual salary of an American cowboy was only thirty or forty US dollars.
Fighting to death for tens of dollars or a few cents of beer is common in pubs. A family farmer's income is usually only a few hundred dollars, and even the distinguished governor only earns $1,000.
Ten thousand dollars was undoubtedly a huge amount of money for James Shields. To be honest, he was tempted, but three of the biggest local gangsters pressed him for a hundred thousand dollars.
Of course this was Franz's fault. After all, it was impossible for him to send Austrians to protect Lincoln, so he set up a bet.
One is naturally a public gambling game, while the other is a private gambling game. The rules are simple, winner takes all, but a sufficient entrance fee is required.
Franz bought Lincoln to win for $100,000. This amount of money was enough to drive people crazy at the time, but not many people could afford to bet $100,000 at the time.
So the people sent by Franz came up with a "good idea" for several local gang families to join forces! Yes, in the end, the three largest local gangsters pooled together $100,000, and the witnesses were the local militia commander and the governor.
Of course, the gangsters thought it was their own face, but they didn't know that it was the face given by US President John Tyler himself.
John Taylor didn't dare not give "Franz" face, and he didn't know if he really had a mental illness, but he behaved strangely more than once or twice. He heard that he even sailed to the North Pole. Searching for penguins, and finally returned to the Austrian Empire with a boatload of seals.
God knows whether such a partner will one day tell him about how he helped himself and old Harris rise to power.
Of course, John Taylor also confirmed the corruption and incompetence of the European royal family. It is simply nonsense to let these "freaks" and "madmen" decide national affairs.
Back to business.
"Sorry, I have my honor."
James Shields finally resisted the temptation and refused ten thousand dollars. After all, there were at least twenty gunmen inside and outside his home.
If he refuses to duel with Lincoln at this time and makes the heads of these big families lose money, you can imagine his fate.
Lincoln's aides never expected that this would happen. They thought that bringing a few more people would be able to scare the other party. But if that didn't work, there would be a settlement of $10,000. Most people simply couldn't resist such a temptation.
But they never expected that they were already on the big shot's chessboard, and all actions were out of their control.
"Please think again, you still have a bright future. Mr. Lincoln is the person favored by the party leader."
An aide grabbed the arm of James Shields excitedly, and he wanted to make a last-ditch effort to use the party leader to suppress the opponent.
But before James Shields could react, the gang bodyguards around him couldn't stand it anymore.
"Pay attention to your hands. If you don't want it, I can cut it off for you." A strong man said in a bad tone.
Lincoln's aides immediately became angry. When had they ever been so disrespected?
"Watch your foul mouth! Be careful."
But before he could finish his words, he was picked up like a chicken by a sturdy bodyguard.
"Come here. Let's talk."
The assistant in charge of paperwork still wanted to struggle, but soon three or four more strong men surrounded him, and "cordial exchanges" could be heard when the few people arrived in the yard.
The remaining two assistants could only look at each other in confusion. In fact, James Shields was also very embarrassed. Although this was his home, the situation was beyond his control. The three of them could only drink tea in silence.
By the time the "exchange" ended, the assistant in charge of paperwork had broken glasses, his clothes and face were covered with mud, and one arm seemed to be broken.
The companions didn't say much when they saw this scene. They just said goodbye to the master and left in a hurry.
When Lincoln saw the miserable situation of his aides and heard about the cause and effect, he could only sigh and decided to fight.
Because Franz invited many reporters, the bridge where the duel was held was already full of people before the duel even started.
Some of them were reporters, some were civilians watching the excitement, and most were gamblers who placed bets. Relatives and friends of both parties also rushed to the scene.
Some people began to cry bitterly out of fear of losing their loved ones, or fear of seeing death, but they were soon insulted by the onlookers, who came to see the blood.
James Shields was a soldier. He was 1.81 meters tall. The sword he carried was a weapon that had accompanied him in battles for many years. He had killed two Indians and an outlaw.
James Shields paced back and forth on the bridge because Lincoln had not yet arrived. Although he had participated in two duels, it did not mean that he would not be nervous, and the gamble behind it kept him awake all night.
However, James Shields was a little lucky at this time, because if Lincoln voluntarily gave up the duel, he could win without a fight and would not have to worry about his political future after killing Lincoln.
Finally, three minutes before the duel, Lincoln arrived in a carriage. He took off his shirt to reveal the white undershirt underneath. Lincoln, who was 1.93 meters tall, was undoubtedly much stronger than James Shields imagined.
But fortunately, the two sides chose to compete with swords. If it were wrestling, boxing, etc., James Shields really didn't have much chance of winning.
The notary of the duel was a church priest. After checking the weapons of both sides, he read a bunch of duel rules, and the duel officially began.
To be honest, the duel between the two sides was very ugly. Although James Shields was known as a master of swordsmanship, he only took a few fencing lessons when he was in school and slashed two immobile men when he was a frontier soldier.
Although Lincoln had never learned swordsmanship, he was tall, long-armed and very strong. He could chop him violently when he got up, which gave him an advantage.
The battle between the two sides was just like the fight scenes in later Hollywood blockbusters. There was no skill or tactics at all. It was basically just hacking and chopping to compare strength.
In the end, it was James Shields who was more experienced and used a sneak attack, seizing the opportunity to knee Lincoln's lower body.
The latter fell down in pain immediately, and the former seized the opportunity to attack fiercely, and finally knocked away the sword from the opponent's hand.
"You lose! You damn fool, if you could have kept your mouth shut, you wouldn't have ended up like this."
Just as James Shields was declaring victory, Lincoln suddenly got up and pushed the former in the chest.
James Shields only scratched the opponent's face and arms by swinging the knife in his hand, but he was accidentally pushed off the bridge.
After that, both sides began to rush to save their own people. Although Lincoln suffered three minor injuries, his life was not serious, but James Shields, who had the advantage, drowned.
This kind of duel even dumbfounded the notary, but in the end, Lincoln, the man who survived to the end, won and preserved his honor.
Originally, the gangsters planned to pay off their gambling debts, but the next day U.S. federal troopers and militiamen arrived at their homes.
As a result, Franz made a hundred thousand dollars in tears. From then on, the gangsters in Illinois remembered Lincoln and vowed to make him pay for his blood debt.
It seems that there is God's will in the dark.