New Group!

With Henry Clay's concessions, the power of the Southern slaveholders increased significantly, and some of them, in their disappointment, even withdrew from Congress.

Chen Mo was particularly interested in one of them. So, shortly after Zachary Taylor was elected president, at the repeated invitation of Henry Clay, Chen Mo eventually joined the Whig Party as a banker. With his wealth and generosity, he funded many Whig Party members who were ostracized for opposing slavery, and his reputation within the party rose rapidly.

Henry Clay wasn't too concerned about the party's debate on slavery. His compromises with the Southern slave owners were merely to gain their support and votes, thereby achieving his goal of establishing a private central bank. Therefore, it wasn't surprising that Chen Mo, a big capitalist, opposed slavery.

As for Chen Mo's lavish financial support for the Whig Party, that was exactly what he wanted.

Only Whig Party are strong can he control even greater power, and Chen Mo's rising prestige has not made Henry Clay feel threatened.

Because the Whig Party who opposed slavery, whom Chen Mo supported, actually only made up a small portion of the party, and most of them were young members with little background or strength. The true core of the Whig Party, the elite members who had great prestige and influence in Congress and various states, were still closely around him and followed his lead.

Although a significant portion of them also opposed slavery, due to their own strength and influence, they did not suffer the same exclusion as the young Whig Party without a background. In addition, Henry Clay's deliberate efforts to win them over and appease them meant that they did not become alienated from him because of his compromise on the issue of slavery.

Therefore, the entire Whig Party was still firmly in the hands of Henry Clay. In his view, Chen Mo's actions were merely support and assistance to his fellow party members who shared the same political views. He did not have much overlap in interests with those core members of the party, and therefore did not threaten his position in the Whig Party or his control over the entire party in the slightest.

Therefore, Henry Clay was pleased with Chen Mo's practice of funding lower-level young members of the party.

Those young members who had suffered from exclusion, lost faith in the Whig Party, and left Congress received strong support from Chen Mo. Chen Mo funded their return to their respective states, where they either continued their political activities and resisted the expansion of slavery, or lay low for a while and waited for an opportunity.

Among them, one person temporarily withdrew from Congress, returned to his old profession, and with Chen Mo's financial support, went back to his hometown to open a law firm and became a lawyer again.

However, like most others who left, although he temporarily went into seclusion, he did not give up promoting his political ideas and continued to devote himself to public affairs, and his personal reputation continued to be consolidated and improved.

These young political elites, who had left Congress and were far removed from the center of United States power, had little contact with other members of the Whig Party, especially its leader Henry Clay. However, they maintained contact with Chen Mo, sharing common beliefs and ideals, and receiving funding, support, and encouragement from Chen Mo.

Under Chen Mo's influence, they firmly believed that the abolition of slavery was inevitable, that World War I between the North and the South was inevitable, and that their current temporary dormancy was only for a future explosion at a crucial moment. Their goal would eventually be achieved!

This group of young revolutionaries, who were not valued by Henry Clay and who even watched helplessly as they were marginalized in order to win the support of the Southern slave owners, had now formed a new clique with Chen Mo. At the center of this clique was the great capitalist Chen Mo, who provided them with economic and ideological support and pointed out the path to the future for them!

Not only the young political elites who left Congress, but also an increasing number of Whig Party members who opposed slavery and were marginalized due to the growing power of Southern slave owners, joined this small circle and quietly lay low with Chen Mo's support and reassurance.

All of them, including Chen Mo who was supporting them from behind, were waiting for the right moment to arrive.

By 1852, during the fourteenth presidential election, the division between Whig Party supported and opposed slavery had become fully apparent.

Miller Fillmore, the former vice president who succeeded Zachary Taylor as president after his "death," had aroused dissatisfaction among many anti-slavery factions within the Whig Party due to his consistent compromises on the North-South issue. These people were powerful enough to directly disqualify him from the party's nomination.

Ultimately, in light of his victories in the previous two elections, Henry Clay attempted to repeat his success by nominating another war hero, General Winfield Scott, as his presidential candidate.

However, there is an old saying in the mysterious China country, "Once is enough, twice is not enough, but a third time is not enough." This time, the Whig Party suffered a complete and enormous defeat. In the thirty-one states of the United States at that time, it only won the votes in four states, suffering a crushing defeat by an absolute disadvantage. People in the party lamented that the Whig Party was finished.

During the election campaign, a major event occurred: Henry Clay, the founder and leader of the Whig Party, passed away, leaving his supporters, who were still closely following him, without their leader.

Without Henry Clay's mediation, all sorts of problems and conflicts emerged.

The problems with the central bank and slavery deepened the contradictions within the Whig Party, which quickly fell apart, with each faction acting independently, rendering the Whig Party a mere shell of its former self.

Meanwhile, the group of young political elites who rallied around Chen Mo became a united and powerful force, though they were still very weak compared to the original Whig Party and Democratic Party.

However, as the Whig Party gradually declined, the small group centered around Chen Mo gradually grew stronger, with more and more Whig Party who opposed slavery joining them, including even former core Whig Party members who had some influence in Congress.

After all, politics is a collective game. Without the powerful Whig Party as their backing, their days in Congress were not easy. The combined attacks and suppression from both within and outside the party that supported slavery made them eager to find a new group to fight against the enemy together.

At this time, the Chen Mo Group, which had long been united and helped each other, and which now held an absolute advantage within the disintegrating Whig Party and had always adhered to the same ideals, became their best choice.