Memorial Service

A few days later, a memorial service for Professor Fafnir was held on the sports field of Harvard University —the very site of the bloody incident a few days earlier. Many United States political figures were present, including Governor Christopher Gore, and two senators and representatives.

It is said that the organizers of the memorial service extended an invitation to President Madison, but Madison declined, citing his "busy schedule." Furthermore, it is said that he not only refused the invitation but also declined the request to write a eulogy for Professor Fafnir.

This is not hard to understand. President Madison was a Virginia, a Southerner, and came from a large plantation family. His family was the largest landowner in Orange County Virginia, owning more than 5,000 acres of plantations and a large number of slaves. According to Professor Fafnir's classification, he himself was a typical member of the "North America slave-owning genocide gang".

Although the United States appears to have won the war, the benefits all went to the France in Louisiana. The United States gains were actually quite limited, while the costs were exceptionally heavy. Therefore, President Madison's approval rating is now highly questionable. The Northern states naturally feel that Madison recklessly provoked the conflict, suffering a loss instead of gain. The Southern states also believe that Madison's poor organization and chaotic military arrangements led to their heavy losses.

Therefore, in the United States today, whether in the South or the North, President Madison's approval rating is highly questionable. If he were to attend this memorial service now, he might gain the understanding of the people in the Northern states. However, given that the Southern states have already been almost completely overwhelmed by public opinion, his further support would not necessarily be appreciated. In short, the benefits would likely be minimal.

Of course, the profits might not be high, but if there were any gains, it wouldn't be a bad idea to make the trip. However, if he actually did make the trip, he would greatly offend the southern states and become a traitor in the eyes of the southerners. Perhaps in the eyes of the northerners, his goodwill might increase a little, but in the south, the loss of goodwill would be far more significant; he would become the most hated traitor in the entire south.

Generally speaking, while enemies are despicable, traitors are a thousand times more despicable.

Therefore, participating in such an event would be entirely detrimental to President Madison; it would be a sign that he was out of his mind to attend.

His idea was that publicly rejecting the invitation would deepen the resentment towards him in the northern states and lower his support, but the northern states were not his base to begin with, and they didn't necessarily like him anyway, so deepening their resentment wasn't a big deal.

Meanwhile, those guys in the South were being thoroughly vilified by the Northern newspapers. When it came to debate, the Southern plantation owners were no match for the Northerners; they were simply no match for them. All they could do right now was repeatedly shout, "This is fake news!"

So, one can imagine the frustration of Southerners at this time. And then, the president's public stance of not attending the memorial service actually changed Southerners' perception of him. Everyone felt that while President Madison might not be particularly capable, he was still one of their own, his heart was with them, he was their brother!

With this assessment, all previous grievances vanished instantly. What? President Madison was militarily incompetent? That's not his fault; it's mainly because his teammates were so incompetent. You have no idea how terrible it is to have teammates like the Yankees! You see, if the Yankees were on the Britain side, we could rout them with just one corps; if they were neutral, we could keep two corps to defend against them; but unfortunately—the Yankees were on our side, so we had to dedicate six or seven corps to protect them! So, it wasn't that President Madison was incompetent; it was just that the Yankees were incredibly incompetent! What, you disagree with me? Look at your shameless face, you're a Yankee, aren't you? You should know shame, you should know shame!

In particular, President Madison claimed to be too busy with official duties to even write a eulogy; on the other hand, well, considering that golf was not a popular sport at the time, President Madison openly went fishing by the river, allowing reporters from Southern newspapers to see it clearly.

Just as Trump's approval rating among rednecks rose after he went golfing, President Madison's support among Southerners grew even stronger after he publicly went fishing by the river during working hours. Although he had already served one term, many Southerners had expressed their support for President Madison to serve another term.

Of course, President Madison did not seek a third term, but his high praise was definitely good news for his fellow Democratic-Republican Party. This was because, in this era, the Southern states had more electoral votes. Even historically, at this time, the Southern states held a clear advantage over the North in both population and economic strength. However, with the continuous arrival of Europe immigrants, the plantation economy of the Southern states could not provide enough employment opportunities, leading to a continuous influx of people into the Northern states, which ultimately resulted in the power imbalance between the North and the South.

In this timeline, due to the existence of French Louisiana became the first choice for Europe immigrants to North America. As a result, the number of immigrants that the northern states could absorb decreased significantly, leading to a greater power disparity between the northern and southern states compared to the original historical context. In this era of United States, it was indeed a case of whoever controlled the South controlled the country.

However, President Madison's actions were ultimately a good thing for the United States, as they exacerbated the divide American South and the North. This widening rift between the South and the North would inevitably weaken their strength as a unified nation.

Although President Madison was unable to attend the memorial service, it was still of a very high caliber. Governor Christopher Gore spoke first, expressing his sincere condolences for Professor Fafnir's death and extending his sympathies to the family. He then highly praised Professor Fafnir's scholarship, character, and his love and contributions to America, stating that people like Professor Fafnir were true "great patriots."

He then condemned attempts to silence the people with guns and violence, predicting they would never succeed.

"In the past, England pirate gangs tried to take our freedom away with guns, and they failed; today, some cultists also want to take our freedom away with guns, and they will never succeed."

Following Governor Christopher Gore, several other legislators also delivered speeches, the content of which was basically the same as the governor's: acknowledging Fafnir's contributions, expressing condolences, and reaffirming their determination to uphold freedom.

Next, Professor Boblon, America a special guest, spoke. Professor Boblon reminisced about his friendship with Professor Fafnir, expressed his sympathy for Professor Fafnir's unfortunate passing, and stated that it was an honor for America to have Professor Fafnir. He said that Professor Fafnir's death was not only a loss for America, but also a loss for peace-loving people all over the world. He also suggested that we should not blindly hate others because of Professor Fafnir's death.

"What we should oppose are the ideologies that promote hatred and incite violence, not the people poisoned by those ideologies. In a sense, they are victims too, perhaps even more tragically. My friend, Professor Fafnir, was murdered, but at least his soul was intact at the time. But what about those poisoned by those terrible ideologies? Their bodies may still be intact, but they are spiritually dead. Bullets can only harm the body, but evil thoughts destroy the soul."

Professor Fafnir discovered this, which is why he tried so hard to save these souls. Unfortunately, he fell on the path of his own efforts, like a warrior falling on the battlefield. But our war against these erroneous, even evil, ideologies is not over. Some of us should pick up the pen left by Professor Fafnir and continue his work.

I've noticed that these past few days, another friend of mine, Professor Gred, has been continuing the work left behind by Professor Fafnir. His courage in doing so is truly admirable. We know that, like Professor Fafnir, Professor Gred is also a target for assassination by certain extremists, so I've been advising him to minimize his public appearances to ensure his safety.

But as everyone saw, Professor Gred still came to the scene because he told me, 'We cannot succumb to fear. Aren't those extremists using such despicable means, using bullets to silence the voice of freedom, precisely to instill fear in us? Isn't it precisely to silence us because of fear? If I were to hide now out of fear, wouldn't that be like surrendering to the enemy on the battlefield? If that were the case, they would truly have won. I cannot watch such erroneous thinking triumph, I cannot watch them drag my beloved America into hell. Therefore, my friend, I have nowhere to retreat; behind me lies America.'"

Just now, as I was leaving, I reminded Professor Gred again to be careful. Professor Gred replied, "My friend, this is my battle, and I cannot escape it. Like St. Peter returning to Rome. I know it's dangerous to be in the public eye now, but I hope that one day I can, like Professor Fafnir, face God and say, 'I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.'"