The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 200 As long as Zeng Guofan’s father comes to Beijing, I will make him a slave!
Inside the Old Summer Palace, there was ice and snow, and the atmosphere was grim and solemn.

Sushun, Yuanbao, Bai Siwen, Jin Aduo, and Tu Lama followed a first-class guard and walked across the frozen lake in the Old Summer Palace. There were eunuchs and palace maids walking silently everywhere. Except for Tu Lama, the other four Manchus all looked worried. The royal atmosphere in the Old Summer Palace made them feel deeply uneasy.

Although they had already discussed on the way to Beijing that in order to save the precarious Qing Dynasty, they must unite this time to implement the twelve-character policy of saving the country: "deceive the emperor, be loyal ministers, use militia, and invite foreigners."

It's not easy!
After all, the Qing Dynasty suffered a miserable defeat in Hunan this time, losing most of the province, and these officials, who were favored by the emperor, adopted the strategy of "false reporting first and settling the accounts later."

Before the three major defeats at Hengshan, Xiangtan and Shanmen City, the total number of enemies killed reported to Emperor Xianfeng by this group of people was enough to kill every Taiping Army soldier two or three times.

The most exaggerated are Luo Bingzhang and Luo Raodian. They knew that the battle of Xiangtan was a big defeat and Changsha was about to fall, but they still reported the victory to Emperor Xianfeng in time. They first reported the victory to cheat the reward, and then used the excuse that Sai Shang'a and Senggelinqin were defeated and abandoned the city, and by the way, they settled the previous "bad debts". Luo Bingzhang is really worthy of being a famous minister who checked the treasury silver for Emperor Daoguang.
As the confidants sent to Hunan by the Emperor, Sushun, Yuanbao, Bai Siwen, and Jin Aduo should have reported the truth and severely implicated Luo Bingzhang and Luo Raodian. But now they have to collude with Luo Bingzhang, Luo Raodian and others to deceive the Emperor!

Because only in this way can they continue to be loyal ministers who love the emperor and save the Qing Dynasty. Only by continuing to be loyal ministers trusted by the emperor can they deceive their superiors and save the Qing Dynasty!

If the Qing Dynasty doesn't deceive or hide anything, and makes everything clear, how can it continue to fool people?

Su Shun strengthened his mind, took a deep breath of the cold air of Old Summer Palace, and walked towards the magnificent Haiyan Hall in the Old Summer Palace with firm steps.

When Sushun, Yuanbao and others arrived at Haiyan Hall, Xianfeng was talking to a tall "filial son" with a handsome face in the study of Haiyan Hall.

The reason why this man is called a "filial son" is because he came "in mourning", wearing mourning clothes over his official robe, which is an attire for regaining power due to emotional reasons.

This person is Du Han, the son of Du Shutian, the mentor of Emperor Xianfeng. He was appointed to the Military Affairs Council under the guise of mourning. Moreover, he just arrived in Beijing yesterday. Before he had time to catch his breath, Emperor Xianfeng sent someone to summon him to the garden. He is definitely very popular!
"To be honest with you, Your Majesty, the common people today are indeed extremely poor. Take my hometown of Shandong as an example. The wages needed to hire a temporary worker are only enough to buy two kilograms of flour per day, and one meal."

The topic of conversation between the emperor and his minister unknowingly turned to "the contradiction between population and land" and "the difficulty of survival of the common people".

Du Han was from Binzhou, Shandong, which is also a populous province. When he heard Xianfeng's advance news, he was also very sad. He also reported the current wages in Shandong to Xianfeng. Because he was afraid that Xianfeng would not understand, he directly converted it into flour.

"Only two kilograms of flour a day?" Xianfeng's heartbeat quickened when he heard this number. "Is it enough?"

If there is not enough food, we will rebel!

Shandong is not far from Beijing. What if it rebels?
"Ugh"

Du Han sighed: "Noodles are definitely not enough, but I can always cook some dried sweet potatoes. Shandong is actually pretty good!"

Xianfeng asked: "Is it still good? Then how can it be considered bad?"

“It’s more difficult in eastern Henan and along the Huai River.”

"Eastern Henan and both sides of the Huai River? Isn't that..." Xianfeng couldn't help but think of a beggar monk at the end of the Yuan Dynasty!

Seeing that Emperor Xianfeng had stopped talking, Du Han thought that the emperor was thinking of the Yellow River and Huai River, which were always flooding. He sighed and continued what Emperor Xianfeng said: "It is the Yellow River and Huai River that are to blame! In the past 20 to 30 years, the Yellow River's course has been unstable and has shown signs of changing its course, causing floods year after year."

"The Huai River is not in good condition either. It has been silted up by the Yellow River for hundreds of years. The riverbed has been raised so high that even the estuary is silted up. It has no choice but to flow southwards to the Yangtze River and into the sea. It has also been flooding for years!"

At this point, Du Han suddenly said to Emperor Xianfeng with a worried look on his face: "Your Majesty, the Yellow River and the Huai River have not been properly managed for many years. The dams have been in disrepair for many years. There have been many breaches every year in the past two years. If they are not repaired, I am worried that one day the Yellow River and the Huai River will flood. That would be..."

"No!"

Before Du Han finished speaking, he was interrupted by Xianfeng, who lowered his voice and said, "Don't say that the stone man has only one eye, he can stir up the Yellow River and cause the whole world to rebel!"

"Your Majesty, but..."

Du Han wanted to say something else, but suddenly An Dehai's voice came from outside the door: "Your Majesty, Sushun, Yuanbao, Bai Siwen, Jin Aduo, and Tu Lama are all here."

"Ask Sushun to come in first, and the others wait."

Xianfeng gave an order, then smiled gently at Du Han who was kneeling on the ground, and said: "Du Han, it's not that I don't want to dredge the Yellow River and the Huai River, but the timing is not right. First, the court really has no money; second, the Guangdong bandits are rebelling and spreading the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom everywhere. If the court sends hundreds of thousands of civilians to carry out the project, I am afraid that we will repeat the mistakes of the late Yuan Dynasty."

"But I have a way to save the situation!" Xianfeng's tone was full of confidence. "I will open up thousands of miles of fertile land outside the Great Wall and distribute the land to the militia leaders and warriors who are willing to help the court to suppress the bandits. In your opinion, are the poor men and powerful people in Shandong, Henan, and on both sides of the Huai River willing to help me fight the Taiping Rebellion?"

"Yes! Definitely!" Du Han nodded heavily. "As far as I know, there are many mobs occupying villages on both sides of the Huai River. They are both bandits and farmers! If the benefits are enough, they are willing to help the emperor fight the Taiping Rebellion!" "Really?" Xianfeng's tone was a little more relaxed.

During this period of time, he has also been thinking about how bad the worst situation could be.
It was certain that the Taiping army would cross the river, and the next step would be either to go down the Yangtze River to the east and then push north along the Grand Canal, or to take Wuchang and then go north along the Han River to Xiangyang and then enter Henan.

In order to stop the Taiping Rebellion, the Qing government had to organize large-scale militia training in Henan, Huainan, and other places.

If there were mobs on both sides of the Huai River willing to help the Qing Dynasty fight the Taiping rebels, he could rest assured.

But then he thought of another question, so he frowned and asked: "But it's bitterly cold outside the Great Wall, can they bear it?"

Du Han said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, they don't have to suffer that hardship themselves."

"Don't you need to go by yourself?"

Xianfeng didn't understand what Du Han said for a moment.

Du Han didn't know how to explain to Emperor Xianfeng. He couldn't say that those unscrupulous militia leaders would kidnap the people of the Qing Dynasty and send them to Liaodong to work as coolies, right?

Just as the emperor and his ministers were sitting in silence, An Dehai's voice came again, and Sushun had been led out of the study.

Xianfeng seemed to be in a good mood at the moment, and greeted him with a smile: "Xuan!"

Sushun was still nervous, but now he was relieved when he heard that Emperor Xianfeng seemed to be in a good mood. He followed An Dehai into the study, knelt down, kowtowed, paid his respects, and apologized.
Inside the study room of Haiyan Hall, Emperor Xianfeng waited for Sushun to finish his confession, then he looked at Sushun who was kneeling on the ground to confess his guilt with a somewhat disappointed tone and said, "Sushun, I thought you were different from them!"

Sushun shuddered when he heard this, and then said in a tearful tone: "Your Majesty, the situation in Hunan has already collapsed! If I don't coax them, they may join the Taiping rebels, so I can only do the same as them!"

"Support the Taiping rebels?" Xianfeng frowned. "Who would support the Taiping rebels? Zeng Guofan, Jiang Zhongyuan or Zuo Zongtang?"

Su Shun said: "As long as the general has soldiers and the land is owned by the commander, anyone can join the Taiping. It's all about profit! If it's profitable to join the Taiping, they will join the Taiping. If it's profitable to join the Qing, they will follow the Qing. But now the Taiping are dividing up the land in Hunan and want to dig up the roots of the gentry and landlords!
"After all, the gentry of Hunan stood behind Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Jiang Zhongyuan. So they still stood on the side of the Qing Dynasty, just like Li Siqi and Zhang Liangbi stood on the side of the Yuan Dynasty. But if our court wants to be serious with them and punish them, then..."

Xianfeng looked at Sushun and said, "What's the matter with the "Exhortation to Suppress the Invasion of ...

Su Shun was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, I didn't know Zeng Guofan wanted to raise the flag. However."

Xianfeng saw that he seemed to be hesitant to speak, and frowned: "But what?"

"But I once sneaked into Changsha, which was occupied by the Taiping rebels, and ran into Zeng Guohua, who was dressed in Han and Tang Dynasty clothes! I also sneaked into the false angel's mansion and heard Zeng Guohua recite the "Exhortation to Suppress the Invaders and Revive Confucianism" with my own ears!"

"What?" Xianfeng stood up suddenly and stared at Sushun. "Sushun, what did you say?"

"Your Majesty!" Sushun shook his head. "Your Majesty, calm down. I thought that was a counter-espionage plot by the Taiping rebels! I also heard that Zeng Guofan's hometown, Heyetang in Xiangxiang County, was conquered by the Taiping rebels' pseudo-Western King Xiao Chaogui. They may have captured Zeng Guohua in Heyetang!"

"What?" Xianfeng widened his eyes.

Su Shun kowtowed repeatedly: "Your Majesty, whether Zeng Guohua was really captured by the Taiping or not, Zeng Guofan must be loyal, and he must be loyal. He asked to be your slave, which is to show his loyalty to you. Your Majesty must give him this opportunity! Now the Eight Banners and the Green Camp are no longer useful, only the militia can still fight, and among the militias in various provinces, only the Hunan Brave has begun to take shape and can be used."

"That's enough!" Xianfeng interrupted Sushun and threw the question to Du Han, "Du Han, what do you think?"

Du Han frowned: "Your Majesty, I heard that Zeng Guofan is a filial son!"

"Filial son?" Xianfeng's eyes lit up. "Is Zeng Guofan's father still alive?"

"He's still alive," Sushun said. "It was his mother who passed away a while ago."

"Okay!" Xianfeng nodded heavily, "As long as Zeng Guofan sends his father to live in Beijing, I will trust him and raise him to be a servant in the upper three banners!"

(End of this chapter)