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

Chapter 1663 The Tiger's Might Remains
The terror felt by the Qing masters continued to fester. Even the benevolent foreign powers, the masters' "fathers," could only watch helplessly, without any effective means to stop it.

Wang Yan's two fronts, north and south, advanced slowly and steadily. The southern front was gradually pushing towards Guangzhou, while the northern front was naturally advancing towards the capital.

The pressure was immense. Lord Jiang, Lord Di, Senggelinqin, and others were all renowned for their fighting prowess, the mainstays of the resistance against the Heavenly Kingdom. However, what the world witnessed was that, faced with Wang Yan's offensive, they could only struggle to resist, constantly retreating.

Indeed, their guns were no different from Wang Yan's. But don't forget, Wang Yan also had artillery—howitzers and mortars were no joke.

Even if they had the same cannons, they still wouldn't be a match for Wang Yan. Wang Yan also had some understanding of the philosophy of warfare based on firearms.

Now, with the advantage of artillery and ample firepower cover, fighting is simple. The battle begins with artillery bombardment, followed by a slow advance of infantry, until the enemy can no longer withstand the losses and is forced to retreat desperately, thus ending the main battle.

Following closely behind, second-line troops arrived and cleared out the remaining enemy forces and restored order within a radius of several miles. Then, relocated people were given houses and land to build factories, and a police force composed of veterans was formed to maintain order, continue clearing out the remaining enemy forces, and ensure production.

This series of attacks completely secured the area. Once order was largely restored, the main force advanced, and the artillery continued its bombardment.

No amount of intrigue or deception, no amount of beautiful disguises, could stop the powerful cannonballs fired from the thick, long cannon barrel.

The cost of cannons is certainly not low, and neither are the shells. However, thanks to Wang Yan's years of hard work, including prospecting for minerals, steelmaking, and researching machine tools, a complete industrial chain for the military industry has been built.

The cost wasn't a problem for him, because ultimately, under the plan, these aspects could be priceless or valuable, expensive or cheap.

He sets the prices for labor at every stage, as well as the costs of all materials. His job is simply to ensure the workers have enough to eat; if he has higher expectations, he can make sure the skilled workers have a better life.

The comparison for this "good" is, of course, with other people around, not with those men. And what exactly constitutes "good" is also defined by him.

He gives money to people in the military industry, which allows them to go out and spend money, and also boosts the prosperity of all industries.

At the same time, the wars resulted in the occupation of territory, and external resources were also brought in. The territory was used for further development, expanding the production capacity of various industries, revitalizing the internal economy, and enhancing strength.

So those were expensive shells being fired? They were practically the hope for a better life for the people under Wang Yan's command. The more shells fired, the better everyone's lives would be.

Today, cannons were to the Qing Dynasty what foreign firearms and warships were to the Qing Dynasty in the past. This overwhelming advantage rendered all conspiracies and tricks a joke.

"Brother, I've already taken Shijiazhuang. The next step is to take the capital. Do you have any instructions?" Jiang Wuyang asked, munching on fruit and teasing the child in his arms.

This is Liao Xuan's son, Wang Yan's eldest son.

Liao Xuan sat to one side watching, with Su Zixuan, who was several months pregnant, holding her belly.

Before Wang Yan could speak, Su Zixuan interjected, "They definitely can't capture the Manchu royal family. Besides them, what other instructions do they need?"

Jiang Wuyang responded with an "Oh," and then asked, "What news is there from your sister-in-law?"

As Liao Xuan sneered, Su Zixuan said with a smile, "Recently, there have been many more people heading out of the capital to the area beyond the Great Wall, including many Manchus from the capital. There are countless carts and carriages. They first settled in Shengjing, but they didn't stop there. In the end, they retreated all the way to Jilin. They're going back to their hometown. You're fighting too slowly. By the time you get there, you won't have gotten anything. All the good stuff will have already been transported away."

"Brother, the Manchu royal family must have a lot of treasures. Why don't we send troops to launch a surprise attack and block Shanhaiguan Pass?" Jiang Wuyang suggested, his eyes gleaming with greed.

Wang Yan shook his head with amusement: "Is sealing off Shanhaiguan enough? There's still Yanshan, and the grasslands. Even if we could seal it all off, there are still foreign ships. It would be good if they retreated outside the pass; they went overseas with the foreigners, and we wouldn't be able to find them."

"It's alright, we're already building warships, aren't we? We can't build them now, but we definitely will in the future. Even if those Manchu royalty fled overseas, we'll be able to fight them down sooner or later. Wait a minute!"

Jiang Wuyang suddenly stopped, then his eyes widened. "Big brother, you said that if we go out from the border and head west, we can reach the homeland of those foreign devils. After we unify the world, we can send an expeditionary force. Damn it, we can't cross the sea without ships, and on land, don't we have legs?"

"More than 20,000 li is too far, the supply line is too long, and the difficulty is too great. Moreover, we are currently fighting well because of our artillery. Once we unify China and settle down for two years to build up our resources, the foreigners will probably have developed artillery that is not much different from ours. It will be much more difficult to fight the foreigners like we are now."

"Then let's build even more powerful cannons."

Jiang Wuyang's words were truly insightful.

"We'll talk about this later," Wang Yan said. "You need to be careful later. Even a cornered dog will jump over the wall, let alone someone whose country is about to perish. They're definitely not going to give up."

Lately, I've been overwhelmed with assassination attempts. Just yesterday, two groups of people came to kill me and ran into each other. They started fighting without distinguishing friend from foe. You can imagine how insane these people must be.

The fact that the two groups engaged in a fight during the assassination attempt indicates a lack of communication between them, with each group mistaking the other for Wang Yan's subordinates. This poorly planned assassination attempt demonstrates the enemy's desperation and near-madness, suggesting that assassinating Wang Yan has become a routine matter.

Of course, Wang Yan is also largely to blame. If he had stayed quietly in his residence, spending his days playing with the children and handling military and political affairs, it would have been difficult for others to assassinate him. After surviving numerous and varied assassination attempts, the people around him were extremely reliable, having been carefully selected.

But he wouldn't stay put; he would often go out for a stroll to see how much the cities under his jurisdiction had recovered, to understand the production in the factories, the training of the soldiers, whether the living standards of the people had improved, and whether the local officials were clean and honest, and so on.

This gave others the opportunity to ambush him. His city was not under martial law, and although he was fighting the Manchus and guarding against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the flow of various goods continued. At the same time, refugees who received the news were rushing home, which could easily have included those with ulterior motives.

So almost every time Wang Yan went out for a stroll, someone would try to kill him. Even though they all knew the outcome wouldn't be good, Wang Yan even set up a labor force of assassins outside Wuchang City to do heavy work as a spectacle for future assassins.

Wang Yan didn't even mind these assassins exchanging information with others; it was as if they had "Come and kill me" written on their foreheads—they were incredibly arrogant...

Jiang Wuyang said, "Brother, if you ask me, you're just too kind-hearted. If they try to assassinate us, we should assassinate them too." "That's right, sir, you can't just stand by and watch them run off to the border, continue to enjoy their wealth, and then give you trouble with money." Su Zixuan nodded repeatedly.

"Killing one of them won't stop others from enjoying their wealth, will it? It's all the same." Wang Yan glanced at her. "Besides, I'm different from them. They've been running their business for over two hundred years, they have heirs, and they have many ministers. Killing a few people is just a matter of time; others will naturally take their place. It's not a big deal."

We're different. I only have one son, still breastfeeding, too young to be of much use. As for the ministers under my command, the second and third seem capable of managing people, but they're far from it. Without me here to keep things under control, you two won't be able to keep those people in check. As for Lord Chen, needless to say, he's an old bureaucrat, very cunning. And Shi Dakai, that's the Wing King, five thousand years old, even he's not someone I can control.

"We've only been in operation for a short time, we have few capable people, and everyone under us has their own agenda. If I die, our operation will instantly fall apart, and we'll be utterly vulnerable. Therefore, assassinating me is an effective method, it's just that they haven't succeeded yet."

Liao Xuan chimed in, "Then don't keep provoking them. Haven't you heard? Everyone makes mistakes, and even the best horse can stumble. A wise person avoids dangerous situations. We still need to be careful. If you really... how are we, a widow and her orphan, supposed to survive?"

"As it turns out, I am the victor who survived. And haven't you noticed that assassinations have become quite unoriginal by now? The methods and approaches are starting to repeat themselves. Our normal defense and inspection procedures are already able to stop a significant number of assassinations and catch the assassins."

Wang Yan couldn't help but shake his head repeatedly as he spoke, exclaiming, "Innovation! Innovation!"
He continued, "Third brother, don't be careless, always be careful."

"Don't worry, brother. They know I'm useless. They're just following your plan. Killing me won't help."

Jiang Wuyang spoke with a clear mind, but his good elder brother smiled and shook his head: "Third brother, what I mean is that you need to calm down. You can't let your mind become impetuous just because you are about to capture the capital and crush the Qing Dynasty. You might make decisions that you would never have made before. It's a small matter if it affects the war situation, but it would be too much of a waste if our brothers who fought so hard lost their lives."

Uh……

Jiang Wuyang felt a little wronged, but he didn't say anything. He realized that he was indeed getting a little cocky, which was why his good older brother criticized him.

Wang Yan turned to Su Zixuan: "Also, you should remind the Heavenly King to be careful of his subordinates rebelling. Once the capital is captured, the Qing Dynasty will basically have no way out. This is their last chance. If we can get the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to send troops at this time, and add the foreigners to the mix, then the Qing Dynasty can indeed breathe a sigh of relief and might even be able to delay the inevitable for a few more years."

Su Zixuan nodded: "I'll write a letter in a bit and tell him to be careful. I hope he can get through this and truly become a peaceful and happy prince."

……

The Heavenly King put down the letter, recalling the concern in it, as well as the subtle doubts hidden within, and couldn't help but smile.

He was in his forties and had fought many battles. Although he began to indulge in extravagance and debauchery after establishing his capital in Tianjing, the Tianjing Incident dealt him a heavy blow. Coupled with the rapid changes in his environment, he now had half-white hair and a weathered face.

But the doubts conveyed in Su Zixuan's letter, as if he had completely lost control of his subordinates and was now a figurehead waiting to die, still made this half-resigned person feel very resentful.

He was a great king of his generation, a heretic who founded the God Worshipping Society, developed followers, and then simply raised the flag of rebellion. He fought in countless battles, narrowly escaped death several times, and his territory was the largest, occupying almost half of China. He was truly a heroic figure.

However, he was plagued by bad luck and misfortune, making it difficult to achieve his great ambitions. He believed it was fate, that his God Father was not looking out for him, not that he was incapable...

But even an old tiger retains its might; he's no real waste. Now, he's being subtly mocked by a young girl—no, Su Zixuan is conveying Wang Yan's will; he's being underestimated by Wang Yan!
"Have you all been identified as having had contact with foreigners and Qing spies lately?"

"Your Majesty, they can't cause any trouble. With just one order from you, these disloyal traitors can be wiped out completely."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's do it. Let them know that I'm not so easy to kill, and that the Kingdom of Heaven is not so easy to betray. Let them pay the price in blood to cleanse their sins."

"Yes, Your Majesty," the person beside him replied.

Tianjing, as the capital and political and economic center of the Heavenly Kingdom, was quite prosperous when there was no war. People lived in peace and contentment, leading relatively stable lives.

It was early spring, and a light rain was falling from the sky, moistening the earth, but people felt cold, stuffy, and unbearable.

That very evening, the city gates, which had been closed for a short time, reopened, and troops marched into the city in organized formations, soldiers carrying rifles and swaggering about. At the officers' commands, they dispersed to various parts of the city.

Not long after, gunshots rang out throughout the city. Some cursed, some cried, and some screamed; chaos reigned. The people in the city were trembling with fear, their doors and windows tightly shut, wondering what had happened to cause such a commotion.

The gunfire continued until late at night before gradually subsiding, with only a few occasional shots remaining...

"Your Majesty, all the traitors have been captured. Only a few escaped, but they are insignificant and will not affect the overall situation."

"Well done. You've been busy for a long time. Go now and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, conduct a thorough interrogation, especially of those foreigners. Once you've figured them out, chop them all up to vent your anger."

"Your Majesty, about killing foreigners...is that...?"

"What is it? It's just killing some foreigners, what's the big deal? Are we afraid of those foreigners?"

The Heavenly King looked displeased and immediately dismissed his subordinates.

I sat alone by the door, wrapped in a coat, watching the drizzle gradually turn into a downpour, and didn't go to sleep until dawn...

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　　(End of this chapter)