WARNING: this is a typical Chinese novel, featuring a protagonist who displays prejudices towards other ethnicities.
Racist protagonist – Stereotyping – Intolerance – Racial Bias – Discrimination.
You have been warned.
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In a capitalist country, it means I have capital, and you don’t, so this country is mine! Contact the police, suppress them for me. Can Rockefeller do it, and I, Sheffield, can’t?” William Sheffield restrained his smile and said coldly, “Happy America, gunfights every day.” The Gilded Age, 1895.
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The sun shone brightly today, with clear skies as far as the eye could see—a rare and perfect day for an outing or a stroll in the countryside. However, the thick smoke and thunderous roar of the steam train, which accompanied the weather, made such thoughts seem untimely.
With the loud blast of a steam whistle, the train came to a gradual stop, snapping William Sheffield out of his daydreaming, which felt like he was wandering in another realm for who knew how many times. He couldn't help but wonder if he was dreaming.
"Sir, would you like to step off during the brief stop?" asked a burly man sitting across from Sheffield.
"We're almost home. What's the point of getting off now? Just help me buy a newspaper," replied Sheffield. Reading the newspaper had become one of the few entertainment activities in this era, a habit he had developed over the past sixteen years, even though he had no such habit in his previous life.
As the train briefly halted, familiar sounds of the steam whistle returned as the train slowly started moving again. Hidden beneath the noise of the whistle, Sheffield, now holding a newspaper, read the headlines aloud, "Am I dreaming?"
Throughout his not-so-long life, Sheffield had asked himself this question numerous times, and now the headline in the newspaper made him ponder it once more. The front page of the newspaper was concerned with the recent Brazilian Civil War. How could he not remember such an event from his previous life? Especially since it was the year 1895.
Even the United States he currently found himself in had numerous differences from the beacon country he remembered, such as his destination, Arlington. Sheffield knew about the famous Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, in the northern part of the United States, where American soldiers found their final resting place.
However, right beside his family's home, there was also a military cemetery bearing the same name. It buried soldiers of the Confederate Army from the Civil War. He dared to guarantee that such a place as this Texas cemetery did not exist in his previous life.
Texas had not played a significant role in the Civil War in history, let alone the existence of a Texas Legion. Yet, this Legion existed, and its commander was his grandfather in this life, Edward Sheffield.
Even though Sheffield might be slow to grasp things, he had had sixteen years to figure out the root of this seemingly paradoxical history. The root was none other than his so-called grandfather, the man who had once farmed cotton in Louisiana.
Sheffield had never met this time-traveling ancestor in person. The man had been wounded during the Civil War and passed away after the war ended. The current head of the Sheffield family was his grandmother, Annabelle.
Thinking of this woman, who rarely smiled and always dressed in black, Sheffield couldn't help but swallow hard. His grandmother was a formidable character, stubborn to the point of being excessive.
After stepping off the train, Sheffield didn't need any guidance; he found the waiting carriage belonging to the Sheffield family directly. The Sheffield family's carriage was easy to spot, with two rare giant Shire horses leading it. He wasn't sure why such massive horses were used for carriage-pulling, as they seemed more suited for plowing fields.
However, in a place like Texas, where everything was grand, they served a unique purpose and garnered the attention of passing travelers. Shire horses were the largest breed in the world, originally from the British Isles, and they played a vital role in early British agriculture, industry, transportation, and hauling, capable of pulling up to five tons of weight.
As for the carriage William Sheffield was riding in, both of the horses stood at about two meters tall, with massive bodies resembling small hills. Fine horsehair grew around their fetlocks, giving them a stylish appearance that drew the attention of many passersby.
These curious glances also fell upon the carriage driver, a young Black man who appeared to be under twenty. He faced these looks without flinching, displaying an unusual calmness that contrasted with the typical fear that Black people often felt when encountering white individuals.
"Martin, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Sheffield greeted the young Black man with familiarity, though every time he saw this young man, he couldn't help but feel a bit out of place. Before the Civil War, the names of these enslaved Black people brought to America were naturally given by their masters, including the Black ancestor before him. However, his grandfather seemed to have a twisted sense of humor, as this Black man and his ancestors were all named Martin Luther King—quite a darkly humorous choice.
But dark humor was only the tip of the iceberg. This young man's father was a mayor, becoming the first and only Black mayor in the entire United States a century ahead of his time. They searched through cities across America, and there was still no other like him.
After the Civil War ended, this was the most determined decision his grandfather, Edward, had made. Of course, this operation was not isolated; Martin's relatives resided in a country called Liberia. Even before the Civil War, there was a movement in the United States to repatriate free Black individuals, and many were sent back to Liberia. This history was quite clear.
After the Civil War, the Sheffield family quickly took charge of the then-small-scale migration, swiftly replacing the minority population with Black individuals under their control, effectively making the Sheffields the representatives of the United States in Africa. They even modified Liberia's flag, making it resemble the Union's cross flag.
It may sound simple, but accomplishing this in this era must have involved many unknown details and was undoubtedly no easy feat. It also reflected the Sheffield family's power during the Civil War.
Having completed this task, Edward had effectively played his part in continuously hindering the United States, as Sheffield now summed it up, making everything about the human beacon seem bizarre.
In today's United States, Sheffield couldn't determine how different the additional two years of the Civil War were from historical timelines, whether it had grown stronger or weaker, and by how much. He hadn't left Texas, so he couldn't make that judgment. However, as a significant part of the Confederate States of America, the Sheffield family had surprisingly escaped punishment, indicating that the Northern Union likely lacked the resources to pursue them.
But in Texas, things were different, and Sheffield could see that. Apart from implementing a form of racial segregation masked as Black self-governance, his carriage had just passed by a church. While churches were common in Texas due to its conservative nature, this particular church was Eastern Orthodox.
Before the Civil War, Texas had only tens of thousands of residents, and Austin and Houston, the twin stars of the Lone Star Republic, represented the entire population until the arrival of Edward Sheffield from New Orleans, Louisiana. This brings us to the current head of the Sheffield family, Anna Belle, Sheffield's grandmother, who had used the family's resources to buy and sell people from various European countries to support her husband's immigrant work.
This resulted in Texas' current population, with nearly one-third being Eastern Europeans who had never seen Africans and naturally leaned towards the South during the Civil War.
Of course, all of these operations required one fundamental condition: money! Anna Belle's family was involved in the transportation industry, centered in New Orleans, the heart of the South before the Civil War, with a massive fleet shuttling between the Atlantic coasts. The slave trade itself was their core business, just shifted from Africa to Europe.
In no time, the carriage arrived at a square, where two flagpoles stood at the center. Two flags were displayed side by side: the flag of the Republic of Texas and the Confederate Southern Cross flag.