The world of film and television begins with the God of Medicine.

Chapter 1658 You're still pretending

Having learned his lesson once again, Lord Jiang became obedient again, writing another letter to Wang Yan with flattering words. He's incredibly flexible, truly a master of compromise and cunning.

Lord Jiang lamented that he was powerless to control his own destiny, and he was not the only one who felt this way; many people did as well.

Even someone as ruthless and powerful as Wang Yan, with mountains of corpses beneath his feet and seas of blood behind him, has to compromise on many issues. Admittedly, he wields the knife, but the knife is for safeguarding the bottom line, protecting stability, and maintaining achievements; he can't use the knife to speak on everything.

Things should be prioritized based on their importance and urgency; many problems can be gradually resolved through the system. Clearly, time is on Wang Yan's side, making him, in this respect, the kindest person. Because for him, many things can be dealt with gradually…

While Wang Yan enjoyed a peaceful life, the Manchu Qing dynasty continued its death throes, but the Heavenly Kingdom was far from tranquil.

Because of Yang Xiuqing's consolidation of power, the internal struggle within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom reached a fever pitch, ultimately resorting to the simplest and most direct method: the Heavenly King secretly ordered the Northern King, Wei Changhui, to return to Tianjing (Nanjing), whereupon he killed Yang Xiuqing's entire family and continued to escalate the crackdown on Yang Xiuqing's followers, carrying out widespread executions. They even attempted to kill the Wing King, Shi Dakai, who then fled to Anqing, gathered forces to purge the court of corrupt officials, and subsequently, Wei Changhui was killed.

Immediately afterwards, Shi Dakai assisted the Heavenly King in managing military and political affairs. Less than a year later, the Heavenly King became suspicious of Shi Dakai, and Shi Dakai led his troops away.

This is the famous Tianjing Incident, the turning point in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's decline from its peak...

“I remember you said before that they couldn’t share wealth and prosperity. I never thought that in just a few years, such a great situation would turn out like this.”

Su Zixuan sighed with regret, "Now Shi Dakai has broken through Hunan and Hubei and is attacking Sichuan and Chongqing. The foreigners have also increased their support for the Qing Dynasty and seized the opportunity to attack the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. At present, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is in disarray and is losing territory frequently. It seems that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can still hold on, but in reality, it is already exhausted and its decline is obvious."

At this point, she shook her head and looked at Wang Yan, "The balance you've been maintaining has been broken, and now it seems like everyone is targeting you."

"You came here to ask for things on behalf of Heaven, why do you have to scare me?"

Su Zixuan's face was still flushed and covered with fine beads of sweat, making it very shiny. She laughed when she heard this.

"What I said is true. The Prince of Yi is rampaging through Sichuan and Chongqing. Both the Manchus and the foreigners are trying their best to provide him with weapons and provisions. Meanwhile, the Jiang and Chen families are fighting the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to the death. They have captured Wuchang and Hefei. You may not know this, but the foreigners have been trying to reconcile the Manchus and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, hoping that the two sides will temporarily cease hostilities and turn their attention to you."

The chaos in Nanjing has affected the Heavenly Kingdom. The Heavenly King is now in a state of utter distress, and the foreigners continue to offer their advice. It's truly uncertain how much longer the Heavenly King can hold out. Sir, you must reconsider!

Wang Yan was cutting the ends of cigars with a knife and lighting them over a fire. These were brought by Su Zixuan. Nowadays, many foreign goods are rampant in wealthy areas, and Su Zixuan even got Wang Yan a few pocket watches.

He took a drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaled, "Do you think the Heavenly King would agree?"

"You big shots are all so deep and calculating. Who knows what the Heavenly King is thinking?" Su Zixuan casually played with her hair, twirling it between her fingers.

"Will not."

Wang Yan gave a negative answer: "Even if the Heavenly King dies, he would never agree to cooperate with the Manchus to fight me."

"why?"

"Why did the Heavenly King establish the God Worshipping Society? Why did he set up the Heavenly Kingdom? What did he tell his men as they fought their way from Guangxi to Nanjing? What were those poor brothers who were fighting and dying for? Moreover, because of Yang Xiuqing's chaos, people were in a state of panic and the morale of the army was unstable. At such a time, if the Heavenly King was wise enough, he would never have joined forces with the Manchus. Do you think the Heavenly King was a smart man?"

This was a major event that fundamentally changed course. The Heavenly King's uprising meant that he could not compromise with the Manchus. Otherwise, even without the Manchus fighting them, they would become disaffected and disintegrate from within.

The Tianjing Incident was an internal power struggle within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's top leadership, but changing course would mean a complete overhaul from top to bottom, causing the banner to fall and the power to dissipate. It could even have resulted in the Heavenly King being beheaded by his own disillusioned soldiers.

“If the Heavenly King isn’t smart, then nobody is.” Su Zixuan curled her lips. “When we came here, the Heavenly King said that you would definitely not stand by and watch the Heavenly Kingdom be destroyed by the Manchus and foreigners. He also said that based on his understanding of your style of doing things, you might have already prepared weapons and ammunition, waiting to send them to the Heavenly Kingdom.”

“The Heavenly King is an exceptionally intelligent man.” Wang Yan nodded with a smile. “I have already ordered the mobilization of supplies, and I have also sent people to negotiate with Shi Dakai. However, the distance is too great, and we haven’t received any news yet about the outcome.”

"And what about you? Are you still the same as before, watching the world descend into chaos without taking any action?"

Wang Yan exhaled a puff of smoke: "I've been quite active, otherwise how did I take over Sichuan and Guanzhong? I've even started infiltrating Gansu recently. It doesn't have to be an open war to count as an action. I've told you this more than once, but you keep urging me to start a full-scale war."

"I'll be able to chop off your head then," Su Zixuan said matter-of-factly.

"The Heavenly Kingdom is already showing signs of decline, and there's not much I can do to help it. The Heavenly King no longer has the ability to conquer the world; maintaining the status quo is already quite good."

"why?"

"The Heavenly King is intolerant of others! He has also lost control over his subordinates."

Wang Yan waved his hand to interrupt Su Zixuan's attempt to exonerate the Heavenly King, "You know it, but do the brothers fighting to the death below know? Do those low-ranking officers below know? Yang Xiuqing seized power, Wei Changhui was killed, and then Shi Dakai joined forces with other princes to purge the court of corrupt officials. Wei Changhui wanted to kill the Heavenly King, so the Heavenly King killed Wei Changhui and appointed Shi Dakai to assist in military and political affairs."

However, at the same time, the Heavenly King exonerated Wei Changhui, held the Eastern King's Ascension Festival, and bestowed titles upon his own people, thus hindering Shi Dakai. This series of events dealt a significant blow to the Heavenly King's prestige.

The Kingdom of Heaven is a theocratic state, controlled by religion. The omnipotent Son of the Father, the brother of Jesus, has become what it is today, as the soldiers and civilians below have all seen.

History has repeatedly shown us that these are the people who determine the rise and fall of dynasties, while so-called powerful clans are merely guides. They possess knowledge, they have accumulated it over generations, and they manipulate the soldiers and civilians below them. But this can never erase the great power of the people in their struggle against heaven and earth.

"It's just a centipede that dies but doesn't fall down."

"And the foreigners! You're my boss, I'm not lying to you, the foreigners are really trying to broker a deal! Even if the deal falls through, they absolutely won't just watch the Heavenly Kingdom fight the Qing Dynasty alongside you. Don't forget, while the Heavenly Kingdom can't join forces with the Qing to fight you, it can choose not to send troops! Let the Qing fight you, and the Heavenly Kingdom, just like before, will sit back and watch the tigers fight, recuperating and rebuilding!" Wang Yan smiled and nodded: "You're right this time. So tell me, what will the Heavenly King do?"

"...Sit on the sidelines and watch the tigers fight?" Su Zixuan was no longer sure.

“If I give him weapons and ammunition, he will sit back and watch the tigers fight.”

"Then you'll still give it to me?"

"Even if we are just observing the battle, we still have to station troops to defend against the Qing, and the Qing will have to station troops to deal with it in the same way. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has taken over half of the fertile lands, and even if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has not managed them well, the Qing has indeed suffered losses. In addition, there are Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. My beloved Qing Dynasty is not having an easy time now."

"So you're finally going to make a move?"

"At this point, inaction is no longer an option. Moreover, we are not fighting the Qing Dynasty now, but the foreigners. You should also know that the support the foreigners gave to the Qing Dynasty was far greater than that given to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. They didn't even ask for reparations, and they sent ship after ship of goods here."

I, quietly and unassuming, pose a greater and more detestable threat than the Heavenly Kingdom, especially since I've banned opium, developed industry, and have absolutely no need for foreign goods. I'm doing everything myself, and doing it very quickly. The foreigners don't want to see me grow stronger; they've been accumulating strength to attack me. The assassination attempt is just a small dessert for them; the main course hasn't even been served yet.”

"Oh, you even know about Western desserts?" Su Zixuan teased with a smile.

“I also have foreigners doing business here. Since we are competitors, we must know ourselves and our enemy.”

"So when will you start the war?"

Wang Yan glanced at her, then shook his head: "The war has never stopped."

Language alone cannot pave safe routes across the land, nor can it provide a clear understanding of local conditions, preventing a security escort agency from growing large. Language alone can never persuade those who disagree, nor can it ever truly explain the principles.

Reasoning, in particular, is truly the most difficult thing in the world.

The elderly, relying on their age and seniority, can resist the law with great force and become unreasonable. Children, taking advantage of their young age, can also resist the law just as fiercely, and parents, indulging them with the excuse that the child is still young, can become unreasonable. Normal adults can also become unreasonable by acting foolishly, lowering their standards, and pretending to be stupid. People with power and money can become unreasonable. People who use stupidity, ignorance, laziness, and vulgarity as capital can also become unreasonable.

As a person with a certain level of cultural knowledge and moral character, one cannot reason with others, because no one will listen to the reasoning they give.

In recent years, besides the Battle of Huoshan, there have been countless other small-scale battles. Some involved a thousand or two thousand men, others only a few hundred…

Meanwhile, he was constantly preparing various supplies. He even hid supplies in advance in some pre-planned battlefields. While his men were starving, he managed to scrape together a considerable amount of reserve food for the war.

The food problem has always been a prominent issue, mainly because people flock to his territory, and he couldn't just stand by and watch people in other places starve or resort to cannibalism. He also had to allocate some grain to stabilize high grain prices. In addition, foreigners continuously transported grain from other places by sea, which ensured a certain level of food supply.

In a way, Wang Yan's rise saved the Qing Dynasty. Otherwise, the foreign devils would have already started the Second Opium War. At that time, they could not weaken the Qing Dynasty's power and let the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Wang Yan succeed. On the contrary, the Qing Dynasty actively sold out the country. Not only could they not get money from the Qing court, but they also had to throw money into it.

Otherwise, whether it's the Heavenly King or Wang Yan, whoever rules China, the foreign devils will get nowhere here. After all, one is a blasphemer, and the other is someone who openly kills and provokes foreigners. Their only hope lies with the Qing Dynasty…

It's already winter, with overcast skies, light snow, and a bone-chilling cold.

Wang Yan provided weapons to the Heavenly Kingdom; to put it nicely, it was "supporting the Heavenly Kingdom"; to put it bluntly, it was "paying a favor to a good friend." It's like how both the Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty had to do business with him and tolerate him, preventing him from favoring either side. Now it's the Heavenly Kingdom's turn to watch from the sidelines; he can fight or not. This is, of course, infuriating.

However, the Heavenly King has lost his ambition, content with a corner of the land. The Heavenly Kingdom has also suffered significant damage and needs to recuperate. It is capable of action, but absolutely unwilling to act rashly. At this time, no one needs peace more than the Heavenly Kingdom.

Fortunately, Wang Yan drew the fire, giving the Heavenly Kingdom a choice; otherwise, it would have been slowly devoured by the Manchus in the coming days…

Having accepted the "friendship fee," the Heavenly Kingdom acted swiftly. Li Cheng led his troops to retreat to Anqing, relinquishing Hefei, Lu'an, Shucheng, and other places that they had been unable to conquer.

At almost the same time, several armies of several thousand men set out from Sichuan, Guanzhong and Huoshan. The troops marched at almost full speed, and the people welcomed them wholeheartedly wherever they went. The scene of vibrant life and thriving life was truly before our eyes.

In just five days, they seized control of the entire Yangtze River region from the north bank of Wuchang to Anqing, and simultaneously opened up a supply line from Wuchang upstream to Sichuan. In addition, several other supply lines were drawn from Sichuan and Guanzhong, connecting with Huoshan. Using this supply line as a center, they expanded their territory, transforming a linear route into a broader area.

After Wang Yan completely blockaded the Yangtze River, the most affected were none other than the three Grand Councilors of the Qing Dynasty in charge of the war in Hunan, Hubei, and Anhui: Lord Di, Lord Jiang, and Lord Chen. Lord Chen fared relatively well, but Lord Di and Lord Jiang were directly imprisoned in Jiangnan by Wang Yan.

Wang Yan's decisive and swift actions exceeded everyone's expectations.

They knew that over the years, Wang Yan couldn't possibly have truly remained isolated in Huoshan County, putting his own safety in danger. There must be some other arrangement, hidden nearby.

However, when that day finally arrived, Wang Yan began to demonstrate his strength. No one expected him to be so fierce and so fast. In a short period of time, he turned Huoshan into a bridgehead, directly cutting off the retreat route of Di and Jiang, as well as more than 100,000 troops...

"It's really kind of Lord Chen to condescend to see us two pathetic turtles in a jar." Upon seeing Lord Chen, Lord Jiang spoke sarcastically, "What, here to act as Wang Yan's envoy? I must remind you, Lord Chen, don't forget that our whole family is in the capital."

"My entire family is gone..." Lord Chen said with his hands behind his back, his tone desolate. "I've done all the dirty and hard work for the Qing Dynasty my whole life, and now at this age... it's truly all just a dream..."

Di, Jiang...

You even put on an act...

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