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

Chapter 1664 General trend
The capital city, the imperial palace, the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

"Master, the Taiping rebels have failed. All the people we've colluded with, including the foreigners, have had their homes ransacked, and even the foreigners have been beheaded."

Upon hearing this terrible news, Emperor Xianfeng closed his eyes in anguish on his bed.

Ever since hearing that the foreign dignitaries had been beaten so badly that they were running for their lives, Emperor Xianfeng had hardly gotten out of bed, because the bad news just kept coming.

The battle lines were retreating one after another, and territory was being lost continuously. People in other places saw that the Qing Dynasty was about to fall, and they were also actively following suit with their own agendas. Taxes could not be collected, the troops were insufficient, the Manchu bannermen were useless, the Green Standard Army had long been abolished, and it was impossible to recruit new soldiers.

Forced conscription meant that these men were just coasting through on the battlefield. They couldn't fire more than a few shots, and if they couldn't win, they wouldn't run away. They considered it a success if they managed to dodge artillery fire, and they were all just waiting to surrender.

However, if they had a choice, they would actually want to go home. But there were oversight teams behind them, and those who retreated would be killed. Their only option was to wait until they had escaped the shelling and then simply surrender—that was the best choice…

In short, the Qing Dynasty was essentially finished. Their weakness exposed the vulnerability of powerful local families. These people were never truly loyal, and now that the regime was failing, they naturally ceased their support, even using this time to intensify their efforts to undermine the Qing's former masters.

On the one hand, they could strengthen themselves, and on the other hand, they could curry favor with Wang Yan. They were confident that Wang Yan would still need them after he came to power.

After all, Wang Yan now has a number of local gentry and landlords participating in grassroots governance. Although Wang Yan is implementing new laws, he has not abandoned the old guard, which makes them feel at ease and prevents them from resisting.

So everyone happily pushed the Qing Dynasty to its death...

The failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's operation, along with its imposition of martial law and suppression of traitors, signified that the Qing Dynasty was utterly powerless to recover. Foreigners, with their advanced weaponry, forced the Qing to sign unequal treaties, and Wang Yan, with even more advanced weaponry, ultimately destroyed the Qing Dynasty.

In later history, when people summarized the reasons for the Qing Dynasty's downfall and its fundamental corruption, one word was very accurate.

Close the country off from the world!

The ruling class of the Qing Dynasty failed to embrace change and develop technology, instead focusing on keeping the people ignorant and weak, which led to their weakness and eventual being swept into the dustbin of history.

Emperor Xianfeng knew that the Qing Dynasty was completely doomed, and he had become the emperor of a fallen nation!

The man beside him was still talking: "Master, that traitor Wang's vanguard has already reached Baoding. Judging from their usual tactics, they'll probably reach the outskirts of the capital in another month or so. Master, we can't delay any longer. It's time to move the capital back to the old capital beyond the Great Wall..."

This is a truly loyal subject, still concerned for his master's safety...

However, Emperor Xianfeng, who was already in despair, felt even worse upon hearing these words. His face turned ashen, then flushed, and he suddenly sat up, hunched over, as if propelled by intense muscle contractions.

Immediately afterward, Emperor Xianfeng vomited a mouthful of blood.

"Master? Master? Someone come quick!"

The already frail Emperor Xianfeng could not withstand the shock and, as if his life force had run out, his life was already as fragile as paper.

With all sorts of misfortunes, coupled with the terrifying words "a king who has lost his country," everyone was afraid, and there was no peace before or after his death...

In fact, we are still pushing the pace too hard because we need to reach each location and maintain order there, so we are basically advancing every few hundred miles.

However, the problem now is that the people's enthusiastic welcome to the vibrant life and flourishing of all things has greatly reduced the difficulty of maintaining order. Basically, as soon as the army arrives, local gentry and officials form groups to entertain the troops, directly accept rule, and implement new policies according to Wang Yan's demands. They also cooperate as much as possible with the officials sent by Wang Yan, even if it means sacrificing some interests.

In the past, the Qing army could cause some destruction during their retreat, but now nobody wanted to do it, not even the retreating soldiers. Because Wang Yanzhen had killed people, surrendering was useless; once exposed, as many as they were, they would die, mostly from doing the dirty work.

They certainly hadn't seen it with their own eyes, but due to persistent propaganda, they all believed it. In fact, it was true; Wang Yan's favorite thing to do was to form such an engineering team.

More importantly, people believed that the Qing Dynasty was doomed and Wang Yan would gain power. Otherwise, given the military discipline at that time, they would have already formed organized groups to wreak havoc on the local areas without needing their superiors to urge them on.

The intimidation had subsided, and they finally behaved. But even so, some audacious individuals still committed bloodshed during the retreat. This was unavoidable.

Overall, the number of places and people affected has been greatly reduced.

It was for these reasons that Wang Yan was able to fight very quickly, even though he was suppressing the offensive.

This battle began last winter, and it's only autumn now...

"Who would have thought that Prince Yi, the Fifth Prince, would fight so quickly? And that Pang Qingyun, who used to be a lowly battalion officer under Lord Chen, has now become quite arrogant, chasing us all the way from Wuchang to Guangzhou. Now we have nowhere to run, or we'll both have to jump into the sea..."

Lord Di, holding a monocular telescope, gazed at the distant camp, where people were living a lively life, showing no hurry to attack Guangzhou. The area behind them was still not stable.

Even so, the fighting in the south was faster than in the north. This was because the Central Plains in the north were entirely Manchu territory, while the south was different. There was the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, as well as Yunnan, Guizhou, and even parts of Guangxi, which Wang Yan had already expanded into. The Qing Dynasty only controlled parts of Hunan, Hubei, and Guangdong, which were still fragmented. Relatively speaking, the Qing forces were insufficient, so the fighting was naturally faster.

At the same time, there was also the reason why Lord Di and Lord Jiang were just fooling around. Ever since the war started and they were badly beaten, and then betrayed the foreigners, after watching Shi Dakai and others kill most of the foreigners without lifting a finger, they haven't fought a proper war and have just given up and become complacent.

Because they were helpless, they couldn't handle the cannons. One shell after another bombarded entire areas, and the barrage was relentless. Even the sturdy city walls were being blasted down by the shells. Under such circumstances, what kind of battle could they possibly fight? Desperate and devoid of any will to resist, yet unable to surrender because of their families in the capital, they could only resort to this charade of retreating step by step.

This also had its advantages for Wang Yan, as the regions he received were largely intact. Although some resources had inevitably been seized, and the people's lives were not good, a stable order was still maintained. This undoubtedly saved him a lot of trouble, but it also posed serious hidden dangers.

Because Wang Yan lacks capable personnel, even when new laws are implemented at the local level, they are not thoroughly enforced. Currently, his rule is not significantly different from before; only some local regulations have been compromised and changed, while the overall structure remains the same. If no further action is taken, it won't be long before the changed regulations revert to their previous state, as if all those people died in vain.

No! Their deaths weren't in vain! With so many people dead, various conflicts eased, and society entered a new era of growth, falling into a new cycle…

Lord Jiang sighed, "Lord Chen sent a letter saying that they have reached Baoding and are about to attack the capital... Although the situation was not good before, we were still able to hold on. But after Wang Yan was forced to mobilize his troops, who could have imagined that in less than a year, the Qing Dynasty would be finished..."

"What, you think it's a good thing not to force Wang Yan to take action?" Lord Di sneered. "You know the old stories of Sichuan and Guanzhong. Even though we've been fighting them for a year, we don't know how many people in the cities along the way, or even in Guangzhou right now, are their people. If we let him develop peacefully, we might just take down the Qing Dynasty without losing a single soldier."

"Of course I know, but I don't believe how many of them are in this city right now. It's only been a few years! They've occupied such a large territory, they can't keep up with the manpower. Look how fast they're fighting now, the Qing Dynasty will be over in less than a year. But the real problem they'll face is after the Qing Dynasty is over. You and I both hold great power in our respective regions, how could we not know about the filth and corruption beneath the surface?"
He has no one to rely on, so his subordinates are only outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant. Even if he had extraordinary abilities, he couldn't control so many people. He can't possibly monitor everyone and everything, can he? So, it's all the same whoever gains power. Lord Di, perhaps we still have a chance to rise again.”

They are all top-notch intelligent people. Lord Jiang has nothing to do now except retreat and stage fake battles. He spends all day studying Wang Yan. He has keenly discovered that the redistribution of interests in Wang Yan's new law, the benefits to the common people, the suppression of landlords and gentry, and the encouragement of factory owners are in great conflict with some existing rules.

He glanced at him and laughed: "Don't forget, this Wang Yan is only in his twenties. I heard he can eat three catties of rice and ten catties of meat in one meal, sleep with several women, draw a five-stone bow, and is very strong. Moreover, he has been assassinated eight hundred times in the past few years. He is both difficult to kill and can survive. As long as he is alive, he can keep the situation under control. With troops in his hands, who would dare to disobey him?"

“That’s true, he’s too young…” Lord Jiang realized, “For him, no one is indispensable. So it seems that things are going to be difficult for the two of us.”

"As long as we don't starve, that's fine. Putting everything else aside, we can still read and write, and we can go back to our hometown to teach."

"You've truly come to terms with things, Lord Di."

Lord Di laughed heartily: "We can't help but let it go. Even those foreigners, who are so powerful, have come to terms with it, so why shouldn't you and I?"

Lord Jiang also burst into laughter, as if it were the biggest joke in the world, and the two of them couldn't stop laughing for a while...

Because Wang Yan's army was unstoppable, all measures failed, and Wang Yan's army had already reached Guangzhou, the foreigners, knowing they would not be let go, naturally had to make preparations in advance.

Long before, after their 20,000-strong army was routed, the foreigners retreated all the way to Guangzhou. While trying every possible means, they had already prepared to escape. Over the course of several months, all the foreigners in Guangzhou had withdrawn. Now that Wang Yan's army had arrived in Guangzhou, the foreigners in Hong Kong and Macau had also fled.

In fact, they had sent people to negotiate with Wang Yan several times before, hoping to retain their current rights, but Wang Yan refused each time.

However, Wang Yan didn't actually intend to drive all the foreigners away. After all, he still needed to engage in trade. Local specialties like tea and silk were quite popular internationally, and he could earn some foreign income. At the same time, he could also purchase foreign goods and other necessary raw materials, so he needed to be deeply involved in international trade.

These foreigners were afraid that Wang Yan would break his promise and find an opportunity to kill them all. Feeling insecure, most of them chose to leave, intending to wait until Wang Yan's side had decided the outcome.

There was nothing they could do; they had exhausted all their resources, but they couldn't stop Wang Yan. Their forces simply couldn't possibly transport hundreds of thousands of troops over such a long distance. Even if they could send hundreds of thousands, it wouldn't be enough to defeat Wang Yan.

After all, there are millions of soldiers here; they could overwhelm them with sheer numbers. The Chinese are not afraid of war; thick history books are essentially history of warfare…

The general trend of the world will be divided for a long time, and will be combined for a long time.

As time passed, most of the Manchu resistance forces in the south were driven to Guangzhou. Shi Dakai was consciously besieging the Guangzhou area, turning it into a graveyard for die-hards. Those who didn't want to die had no choice but to jump into the sea, hoping they were adept swimmers.

In the north, Jiang Wuyang finally led his army to the outskirts of the capital. Not only Jiang Wuyang, but Wang Yan also personally came to the city.

In such a decisive and crucial battle, at the final moment of the downfall of a dynasty, Wang Yan would naturally have to step in.

However, the situation on the scene was not tense at all.

Fifty thousand troops were deployed outside the city, surrounding the capital. Right outside the city were a large group of unarmed soldiers with shaved heads. Barbers were shaving these men right there outside the city, turning them all into bald men.

The city gates of the capital were wide open, and people continued to come and go. There were even many bold commoners, some with shaved heads, watching the spectacle from the sidelines, laughing and pointing, completely oblivious to the impending upheaval.

They even expect it.

Publicity is an important means of operation, and Wang Yan has always attached great importance to its role. Even back in the Shunfeng Escort Agency days, they were already promoting their philosophy and highlighting the important exemplary role of the Huoshan demonstration base.

Once the war started, they began to publicize how good the lives of the people under their rule were—real, tangible realities that could be achieved simply by switching sides…

With such persistent propaganda, coupled with the soldiers' reluctance to disrupt local order, the people pretended not to see the fighting. When they learned that Wang Yan's army was coming, they eagerly shaved their heads.

In fact, recently, along Wang Yan's army's advance, the most sought-after profession has been barbering. Countless barbers in the capital have followed the army from the vicinity of Wuchang, and many have made a fortune…

"Li Wantang greets you, sir. Many years have passed since we last met. You still retain your former charm, and your great achievements are truly commendable!"

Li Wantang, who had already shaved his head, walked over with a big smile and greeted everyone warmly...

　I want to express my sincere gratitude to all the kind readers who have given me generous support through tips, monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and those who have been reading quietly!

　　(End of this chapter)