The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 147: The First Period of the Qing Dynasty Loyalty Training Class (asking for monthly tickets)
Chaozongmenwai Pier, Changsha, Hunan.

Open boats loaded with grain were moored in all directions on the Xiangjiang River outside Chaozongmen Wharf, and they approached the pier one by one. Every time a boat approached, a strong man with bare chests stepped on the gangplank barefoot and disembarked carrying bags of fragrant new rice.

Outside the wharf, on Chaozongmenwai Street, shopkeepers from various rice shops in the city had long been waiting there with their employees, carts, and lots of silver. When they saw the rice being shipped out of the wharf, they lined up to buy rice from Master Zhu Jiu's "royal merchant" Wu Si, the fat man.

Although the wholesale price of rice is three times more expensive than in previous years, the retail price has also increased, so there is no need to worry about not being able to sell it. Who can still give up rice? Because of the fire in Chaozongmen Rice Market and the war in Changsha City, the residents of the city began to rush to buy rice, regardless of whether it was old rice or new rice, and they did not dislike it even if it was infested with rice weevils.

The owners of rice shops in the city all have some inventory, and the value of their inventory has increased threefold. They have really made a fortune!

These rice shops only made small fortunes. The real "big sharks" were standing at the gate of Chaozong Gate, watching the grain transactions below with satisfaction. After watching for a while, he turned back to look at the group of blue-clothed men with small hats and panicked expressions around him, and asked with a smile: "Have you calculated everything?"

"Hello, angel."

A man in his thirties who looked a bit plump started to speak stutteringly. Before he could finish his words, Luo Yaoguo interrupted him: "Why call me angel? It sounds so strange. You should call me teacher! I am your teacher!"

Luo Yaoguo likes to teach others. In his previous life, the job he really wanted to do was not to deliver food, but to be a people's teacher, from university to elementary school. Now that he has traveled through time, he can finally do this favorite job, but unfortunately he can't do it full-time, only part-time. After all, he has more important work to do, such as rebellion!

"Yes, Master, I have already calculated it!" said the wealthy man. "Today, Mr. Zuo from Xiangyin has sent 23 ships of rice, totaling 4,617 dan. You can earn a net profit of 9 qian of silver per dan, a total of 4,155 taels and 3 qian of silver."

I earned more than four thousand one hundred taels of silver in one day!
All this money can be put into the Angel Palace's small treasury. It feels so good to do good deeds and earn a lot of money at the same time.

Luo Yaoguo smiled and said to the man, "Okay, okay, not a penny less! Nianzhi, then you can calculate how much Xiangyin Zuo Jigao earned today?"

"He, he," the man counted on his fingers, "at least 4,617 taels. He must have made a profit from the rice he sold to you based on the market price in previous years, but I don't know the exact amount."

"It must be a lot!" Luo Yaoguo said as he looked at the dozens of men in green clothes and small hats at the city gate, smiling, "Otherwise, where would he get 150,000 taels of silver to lend to you to redeem your bodies?"

It turns out that these men in blue clothes and small hats were all the loyal officials of the Qing Dynasty who were captured in the Battle of Changsha. The "class" they are attending now is not a lecturer training class, but a Qing Dynasty loyal official training class!
Let Luo Yaoguo, the rebel leader, teach them how to be loyal to Emperor Xianfeng!

The man in his thirties who was very good at accounting was named Zhao Si, with the courtesy name Nianzhi. He was from Shaoxing and was a Jinshi in the 24th year of Daoguang. However, because he did not rank high in the imperial examination, did not do well in the imperial examination, and did not curry favor with any powerful people, he had been waiting for the appointment and being a substitute after passing the examination. It has been eight years, and he has not got a real vacancy yet!
Han officials in the Qing Dynasty did not receive a salary when there was no real vacancy. Only when they got a real vacancy did they receive a salary. That is to say, Mr. Zhao did not receive a single tael of silver in his eight years as an official! However, his expenses were not small. When he was waiting for the imperial examination in Beijing, he had to deal with various social interactions. When he was waiting for the appointment in the Hunan Governor's Office, he had to put on the pomp of a county magistrate. What was worse was that Luo Bingzhang saw that he was quite capable and assigned him many tasks, but did not pay him wages, not even travel expenses. As a result, he had to pay for working for the Hunan Governor!

As a result, after serving as an official for eight years, he did not receive any salary and was left with a huge debt!
Of course, although he owed a lot of debts, his situation was much better than that of the previous Wang Kuiyi. Wang Kuiyi borrowed high-interest loans from Prince Dun's palace and bought his position with a full belly, while this one's way was to "endure it hard" - that is, not to give money, not to buy a position, but to wait. Although he owed a debt, it was not much, the interest was not high, and it was not the kind of debt that would be in trouble if he could not pay it back.

After all, he was a member of the two lists, so the Ministry of Personnel and the Hunan Governor's Office could not let him wait forever, and they had to make arrangements. If Luo Yaoguo had not entered Changsha, he would have been able to get a real position as a county magistrate soon.

If he had been a little more greedy than normal, nothing unexpected would have happened if he had served as a county magistrate. Not only would he have been able to pay off his debts, but he might have even had a few thousand to ten thousand taels left. He wouldn't have to go to the capital to wait for an imperial examination. He could have just claimed to be sick and returned home to retire.

A few thousand to ten thousand taels of silver could buy a lot of land, and he was an official, and came from a legitimate family. When he arrived at the local area, he was a leader of the literati. He could lie flat until his death, and his life would be carefree. But as the saying goes, if nothing unexpected happens, then this unexpected thing will happen!
One accident followed another, making him begin to doubt his life.

He was working the night shift for free in the governor's office, then a group of rebels rushed in with axes, shoulder poles, and swords and captured him. The one who broke in with this group of rebels was a criminal official who had been locked up and brought to Beijing!

Then, just when he thought he was about to be killed by the thieves, another accident happened. He could redeem himself! Not only could he redeem his life, but he could also erase the experience of being captured and continue to serve as an official in the Qing court. It only cost three thousand taels of silver.

If you don’t have the three thousand taels, you can still apply for a loan!
The person who provided this loan was Zuo Zongtang, the advisor of Luo Bingzhang, who was acting as the governor of Hunan!

What is even more surprising is that the person who handled the communication between Zuo Zongtang and Luo Yaoguo was actually Wang Kuiyi, who led people to attack the Hunan Governor's Office!

Before he rebelled, he was locked up and taken to Beijing. He looked like the kind of person who was stabbed in the vegetable market! After he really rebelled, he became an official of the Qing court again, and he came to do his job in official uniform. It is said that Luo Bingzhang, Luo Raodian, and Shengbao wrote a letter to protect him.

And he doesn't have braids yet.
What is going on?

And now, Zhao Si witnessed an even more subversive scene at the Chao Zongmen city gate.

Zuo Zongtang first burned the grain reserves in Changsha, then sold grain to Changsha residents at high prices, and cooperated with the angels of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to make money. He then lent the money at high interest rates to redeem the captured Qing officials in Changsha.
Were Luo Bingzhang, Luo Raodian, Shengbao, and Zuo Zongtang colluding with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom? Could they also be part of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?

"Okay! It's almost time. I'm going to assign homework!" Luo Yaoguo's smile deepened. He paused and said, "The topic of today's composition is "What I Saw at Chao Zongmen Wharf". Through the rice and grain transactions between me, Zuo Jigao, Luo Ruweng, Luo Suwen, and Sheng Kezhai, I will highlight the darkness of the Qing Dynasty's politics and the corruption of officials and people's hearts, and prove that the Qing Dynasty will inevitably fall!
Go ahead and write, don't forget to sign your name! Those who write well can redeem it first. Those who rank in the top three in both civil and military subjects can go back with Wang Bowen today. Luo Ruweng and Zuo Jigao will arrange actual positions for you. Civil officials will go to Changde Prefecture, Yongshun Prefecture, Lizhou Prefecture, and Chenzhou Prefecture to serve as county officials. Military officials can serve as sentry officers and team officers in the Hunan training army.

"Remember to be a good official, don't rush to pay your debts, just hand in the signed IOU. The IOU is in triplicate, one for you, one for Zuo Jigao, and one for the guarantor Wang Bowen."

We still have to keep some evidence. Three evidences at that, one for Zuo Zongtang, one for Wang Kuiyi, and one for Luo Tianshi!
And the most deadly one is in Luo Tianshi’s hands!
What "Observations at Chaozongmen Wharf" wants to prove is that the Qing Dynasty is bound to perish!
This masterpiece was not only handwritten, but also signed. If it appeared on the desk of Emperor Xianfeng, it would not be beheading with a blunt knife, but death by slow slicing and the execution of all the relatives!
Thinking of this, the fifty or so "loyal officials of the Qing Dynasty" at the Chaozong Gate all looked as pale as death.

Luo Yaoguo's face also darkened: "What? Are you scared? Don't dare to write? Are you afraid of leaving a handle? Don't you believe that the Qing Dynasty is going to end?"

He smiled coldly: "If people like you can go back to be officials of the Qing Dynasty, how can the Qing Dynasty be good? Think about it carefully!
If you can't figure it out, just jump off the Chaozong Gate! Zuo Jigao, Luo Ruweng, Luo Suweng, Sheng Kezhai and others will charge you with treason! The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will also publicly assign an official position to you who jump off. I guarantee that your family members will not end up like this!

And those who think it through, write good articles and sign the IOUs, will still be loyal to the Qing Dynasty!"

After saying this, Luo Yaoguo left under the protection of a group of angel guards, leaving behind the students of the "Qing Dynasty Loyalty Training Class" who were surrounded by hundreds of Taiping troops on the Chaozong Gate Tower.

The old man Zhao Si, who was very good at calculating just now, smiled bitterly and clasped his fists to the students around him: "Dear students, Zhao still wants to be a loyal and good official of the Qing Dynasty, so Zhao is going to write an article!"

After saying this, he lifted his robe and walked into the gatehouse of Chaozong Gate. There were more than fifty sets of tables and chairs set up inside, with the four treasures of the study placed on each table. There were also several Taiping Army soldiers supervising the exam.
(End of this chapter)