The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 100: My Qing Dynasty must trust traitors and rely on slaves!

"Guan, outside the Guan?" Xianfeng's face changed drastically when he heard it. "Sixth Brother! Have you forgotten the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty's wicker wall? Outside the Guan is where our ancestors founded the kingdom. It is the important place for the rise of the Qing Dynasty. How can we let the Han people fill it up?"

Prince Gong Yixin gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, there is not only a demon among the rebellious Guangdong bandits, but they are also using the land distribution to deceive the landless and land-poor people. If we don't curb them, once they are allowed to grow bigger, they may even sweep us all over the place. We will be scared then."

Prince Gong only said half of what he said, and the other half was unsaid, that is, "Anti-Scripture" broke through the thin layer of "master's grace and slave's loyalty" between the Manchu emperors, dignitaries and traitorous officials and slaves, and clearly pointed out the bright road of organizing militia, commanding a strong army, dominating a prefecture and becoming a lord.

Moreover, he also presented facts and reason, repeatedly proving that the Qing Dynasty was about to end, and now was the end of the second Yuan Dynasty.
Prince Gong wanted to use the fertile land outside the Great Wall to ease social conflicts and prolong the life of the Qing Dynasty. It was feasible in theory, but would the Manchu masters who had read the "Anti-Classic" agree to it?

These people were thinking that if the 400 million Han people inside the Great Wall rebelled, they could still run outside the Great Wall to recuperate!

Although these people can neither farm nor endure the bitter cold outside the Great Wall, their ideology has remained unchanged for the past two hundred years.
"Snapped!"

Xianfeng had already slammed the table, his face darkening, "What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that the Taiping rebels will use the land distribution to deceive the ignorant people, or are you afraid that the civil officials and generals of the Qing Dynasty and the gentry of the world will be deceived by the Anti-Classics?"

Prince Gong Yixin gritted his teeth and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty is wise!"

"I am wise and sage!" Xianfeng glared, "So I know that every law set by our ancestors is reasonable and far-sighted. We, as descendants, just need to abide by it!"

In fact, Xianfeng didn't quite understand why his ancestors had the foresight to enclose their homeland in Manchuria. But he finally got a chance to criticize Guizi Liu, so of course he had to do it well.

If this devil Liu behaves well, it will be fine, otherwise he will be accused of violating the ancestral family law.
In order to prove how correct his claim was, he also presented facts and reasoned: "If the land outside the Great Wall can be occupied by Han people, then why didn't our great-grandfather Gaozong allow Han people to go out of the Great Wall to occupy it? If I remember correctly, the population of the Qing Dynasty was more than 300 million at that time. The disaster of the White Lotus Sect in Sichuan and Hubei may not be caused by the large population and small land area.

But how did our great-grandfather and great-grandfather do it? Lao Liu, don’t you have a good memory? Tell me!”

"Your Majesty," Prince Gong was caught by his brother and scolded, but he dared not talk back, so he had to say honestly, "Grandfather allowed local gentry and powerful people to start militias, and cooperated with the Eight Banners and Green Camp elite troops to suppress the White Lotus rebels, but..."

"But what?" Xianfeng sneered, "Sixth Brother, you didn't read the Anti-Scriptures that the traitors used to deceive people and think that the Han officials and gentry of the Qing Dynasty are not of the same mind as the imperial court, right?"

"Of course I believe in the Han officials and gentry." Guiziliu said hurriedly.

Prince Gong Yixin certainly did not trust the Han people, and he also knew that Emperor Xianfeng did not believe them. It was the national policy of the Qing Dynasty to guard against the Han people rather than the foreigners!

But it is not convenient for him to say this publicly, as if he said it it would really affect unity.

Such "anti-Han" words are usually said by Manchu members of lower status, or they can also be said by the Han members themselves - they say that they are unreliable, and you, my master, have to be on guard!

At this moment, in the Qinzheng Qinxian Hall, there were two Han officials, Qi Junzao and Peng Yunzhang. They should be the ones to speak about defending against the Han.

But the problem is that if they say this now, it seems like they are siding with Prince Gong.

If I don't say it, it would be difficult to be suspected of being dissatisfied with the master's strategy of defending against the Han Dynasty!

Well, think about it carefully, if there were a few loyal Han officials like Li Chahan and Wang Baobao in charge of local affairs, their life in the court might be better.
Qi Junzao and Peng Yunzhang remained silent, and the scene in the Qinzheng Qinxian Hall became a bit awkward.

"Your Majesty," Mu Yin, the youngest Manchu official in the Grand Council, finally spoke up to smooth things over, "I think the Guangdong bandits are rebelling and distributing the Anti-Scriptures everywhere in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan. Their purpose is to alienate the Manchus and the Han people and create a rift between the court and the gentry. If the Manchus and the Han people, and the officials and gentry are all alienated, then the Guangdong bandits will have the opportunity to rebel and become more powerful!"

As soon as he spoke, Qi Junzao and Peng Yunzhang had something to say.

Qi Junzao quickly took over the conversation and said, "Your Majesty, in fact, the Guangdong bandits and the Han officials and gentry in the world are the ones who are truly irreconcilable! Because the Guangdong bandits and the rebels are currently dividing up the land and making wealth equal in several counties in Yongzhou Prefecture and Guiyang Prefecture in Hunan! Those gentry and powerful people in these counties who were unable to escape have all lost their families!

Even if they left in time, their land and property would be divided up by the Guangdong bandits, which would be like killing their parents. Moreover, the Guangdong bandits not only robbed the gentry of their land, but also killed their parents!

Peng Yunzhang took over Qi Junzao's words and continued, "Your Majesty, although Li Chahan and Wang Baobao are arrogant, they are loyal to the Yuan Dynasty. If the court can obtain the loyalty of Li and Wang's followers and prevent them from raising troops and becoming powerful, it would be perfect."
This is certainly the best!
But the question is how to do it?
Emperor Xianfeng looked at Peng Yunzhang.

Peng Yunzhang said: "Your Majesty, now the Guangdong bandits are rebelling and seem to have the intention of turning into a bandit at the junction of Hunan, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, and the territory they occupy is mainly in Hunan Province, so I suggest that we should give priority to the trial of militia training in Hunan. Even if there are people like Li Chahan and Wang Baobao, as long as we can stop the Guangdong bandits in Hunan, there will be no big problem.

In addition, to prevent the militia in Hunan from becoming too large, the court could appoint a Hunanese official of both talent and virtue to serve as the Minister of Militia to oversee the militia in the entire province of Hunan."

"It is indeed a mature strategy for statecraft!"

Xianfeng nodded and said, "Who can be appointed as the Minister of Hunan?"

It is not convenient for Qi Junzao and Peng Yunzhang to answer this question, since they are Han Chinese after all.
"Your Majesty," Mu Yin spoke, "Zeng Guofan, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel who presided over the Jiangxi provincial examination, submitted his examination papers a few days ago. His mother passed away not long ago, so he has to return to his hometown to mourn. He should have returned to his hometown in Xiangxiang by now."

"Zeng Guofan" Xianfeng couldn't help but frowning when he mentioned this name. This Zeng Guofan was a disciple of Mu Zhang'a, whom Xianfeng hated very much. Moreover, not long after Xianfeng ascended the throne, Zeng Guofan submitted a memorial titled "Three Ways to Prevent Malpractices from the Emperor's Virtues" which directly pointed out Xianfeng's mistakes - it really spoiled the mood!

However, it would be better to let this guy organize the Hunan militia to avoid him coming back to make direct criticism after he has finished his mourning period!

"Okay!" Xianfeng nodded, "Then draft an edict to order Zeng Guofan to reinstate his father and to organize militia in the province together with Zhang Liangji, the governor of Hunan."

After giving the order, Xianfeng said to Prince Gong: "Sixth Brother, we have to hurry up and deal with the demons!"

"Your Majesty, rest assured. I will urge Lama Natu to test-produce the holy bomb as soon as possible. If it is powerful enough to slay demons, Shengbao, Yuanbao, Wenxiang and others can immediately lead a thousand Beijing flag troops to the south!"

"Good!" Xianfeng said with a smile, "We have Zeng Guofan and Zhang Liangji organizing the Hunan militia, and a thousand Beijing Banner troops guarding Changsha to suppress the rebels. Even if there are demons to help, what does it matter? As long as the Manchu and Han ministers of the Qing Dynasty are united, we are not afraid of anything!"

He thought for a moment and said, "We need to give Shengbao a title and a job as the assistant to the Imperial Military Minister, and let him help Sai Shang'a to supervise the army and suppress the bandits."

"One, two, three!"

"twitter!"

"Rumble"

Outside the city of Beijing, outside a manor belonging to Prince Gong's palace, a huge fireball suddenly rose up, which scared Shengbao, Yuanbao and Ronglu who were hiding and watching from afar.

Although the "hand grenade" has existed as early as the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Shengbao, Yuanbao and Ronglu have never seen it!

There were no grenadiers in the Eight Banners Army or the Green Camp. Even if there were, the quality of gunpowder in the Qing Dynasty was such that it would be impossible to create such a large fireball.

And the grenade that just exploded was a "holy bomb"!
It was made personally by Tupolev, the Grand Lama of the Rakshasa State, using the best saltpeter and sulfur provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who also purified it himself. Then he mixed the saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal together in standard proportions, wetted, kneaded, dried, and ground them into granular gunpowder, which he then loaded into a carefully crafted hollow cast iron ball with cross symbols engraved on the surface.

Perhaps it was because of God's blessing, but this iron bomb with cross symbols engraved on its surface was extremely powerful when used against Turkish Muslims. It produced many fragments that were evenly distributed, and one bomb could blow down a large area.

So in Lama Tupolev's view, this "holy bomb" must also be used to blow up the devil Satan!

"Hahahaha." Tu Lama strode forward, looked at the traces of the explosion, and then laughed. He said to Yuan Bao and Bai Siwen who followed closely, "You two, how powerful is this holy bomb? If the Bull Demon Satan encounters it, how many can he withstand?"

"Ten!" Yuan Bao said, "Ten at most!"

Tu Lama smiled and said, "To be safe, let's make 1000 of them! Then we can build a few catapults and bombard him intensively. We will definitely be able to defeat the demon!"

(End of this chapter)