The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 201 Your Majesty, please ask the foreigners for help!
"Of course it should be!" Sushun breathed a sigh of relief and said, "If Zeng Guofan was promoted to the rank of emperor, then his father Zeng Linshu should also be promoted to the rank of emperor and serve the emperor as a slave. The registered permanent residences of the slaves of the upper three rank banners are all in Beijing, so Zeng Linshu should naturally come to Beijing to live."

Sushun’s words are actually a bit far-fetched. It’s fine if the son takes after the father, but it doesn’t make sense if the father takes after the son.

However, Xianfeng was not a picky person. As long as Zeng Linshu could come to Beijing as a hostage, what would it matter if he could send one more person to the upper three banners to be a slave?
"Okay!" Xianfeng said with a smile, "I will also promote Zeng Linshu to the upper three flags and give them father and son a yellow flag Han army!"

"I thank the emperor on behalf of Zeng Guofan," Sushun said, "so Zeng Guofan will be the emperor's servant from now on, and a member of our Eight Banners."

Xianfeng thought about it and felt that this was the truth, so he asked again: "Then how about I also raise Zuo Zongtang and Jiang Zhongyuan to the Eight Banners?"

When Sushun and Du Han heard what Xianfeng said, they were both a little amused and helpless.

It would definitely be a good thing to have more Zuo Zongtang and more Jiang Zhongyuan in the Eight Banners, but those two themselves did not propose to raise the banner!

Zeng Guofan might have volunteered to raise the flag to show his feelings because his brothers were captured by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and became traitors.

As for the two of them, they had no brothers who were captured and became traitors, so they did not need to express their feelings by raising the flag. Moreover, their fathers had died long ago and it was impossible for them to be sent to Beijing to be slaves.

If the emperor ordered them to join the banner and they refused in the end, how embarrassing would it be?

Moreover, it is very likely that the two of them would refuse to join the Eight Banners as slaves, especially Zuo Zongtang!

Sushun thought to himself, "Zuo Zongtang had a very pleasant conversation with Luo Yaoguo, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, in Chaozongmen! Later, the court redeemed the more than 500 Eight Banner soldiers through him and Luo Yaoguo. At that time, he was still a commoner in Xiangyin, not an official of the Qing Dynasty at all. Maybe he has secretly accepted the official position of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and now he may be a loyal minister of both countries. The emperor ordered him to join the banner, didn't he force him to choose between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty? But can I tell the emperor all these things?"

When Sushun was in a dilemma, Du Han said, "Your Majesty, I have something to say about Zuo Zongtang and Jiang Zhongyuan raising the banner."

"Go ahead." Xianfeng said.

"Your Majesty, I think this door should not be opened wide." Du Han explained, "If this door is opened wide, the leaders of the militias who lead troops to suppress bandits will probably have to raise their flags. If the war against rebellion lasts for a long time, how many bannermen with troops will be added to the Eight Banners? How will Your Majesty arrange them then? If the new and old Eight Banners are treated equally, will the current Eight Banners children agree? If they are not treated equally, will it be possible?"

"That makes sense!" Xianfeng still listened to the advice and nodded immediately, "This door cannot be opened wide, but if Zuo Zongtang and Jiang Zhongyuan are not allowed to be slaves, will they be willing to work for the court?"

Du Han said: "Hasn't the emperor decided to distribute the fertile land outside the Great Wall to those militia leaders and warriors? That's real benefit!"

"Your Majesty, Du Han just said."

As soon as Sushun arrived in Beijing, he went to the garden to worship God, so he did not know that Xianfeng had already decided to distribute the land outside the Great Wall.

So Xianfeng asked Du Han to talk to Su Shun about this matter first, and then asked Su Shun: "Su Shun, do you think the subordinates of Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Jiang Zhongyuan can fight for the fertile land outside the Great Wall?"

"Of course!" Sushun nodded heavily. "A big reward will always bring courage! The reason why the Taiping Rebellion was able to grow so strong in Hunan was because it incited the poor and ignorant people by distributing land. If the emperor gave more, why worry that they would not work hard? But..."

"Don't be hesitant, just say what you want to say!" said Xianfeng.

Sushun sighed and said, "Your Majesty, the power of the Taiping rebels has been established, with no less than 100,000 combat-ready soldiers under their command, while the militia training in various provinces has just started and will take a long time to train."

The joy that had just appeared on Xianfeng's face disappeared in an instant, and he just frowned and looked at Sushun: "What should I do?"

"Your Majesty, I have thought of a quick solution."

"Go ahead!" Xianfeng frowned, "What time is it? Is there anything you can't say?"

"Your Majesty, my quick solution is to ask foreigners for help!" "Ask foreigners?" Xianfeng asked, "Are you talking about foreign lamas like Tu Lama? By the way, was the demon injured by Tu Lama's holy bomb?"

Sushun replied: "Your Majesty, the demon was indeed injured! I also discovered the demon's true form."

He then reiterated all the information he had collected in Changsha City about "Bull Demon King being bombed" and "Bull Demon King disappearing".

After saying this, Sushun turned the topic back to asking foreigners for help: "Your Majesty, I think we should ask for foreign lamas who can subdue demons and monsters. But now the Taiping rebels have become so powerful that they are difficult to deal with even without the Bull Demon King! So I, the monk king, Shengbao, and Yuanbao all think that we must buy more foreign guns and cannons to deal with the Taiping rebels. Moreover, the foreigners' method of training soldiers is also quite desirable. Perhaps we can hire some more foreign generals to help our Qing Dynasty train soldiers."

Xianfeng asked: "Ask the Rakshasa for help?"

Su Shun said: "Of course we should invite the Russians, but the Russians are far away. If the Taiping invade Jiangdong and Guangdong, I think we should also ask the English and French in Shanghai and Hong Kong for help!"

"Ask the English and French for help?" Xianfeng was startled and immediately became alert. "Will they be willing? What reason do we have to ask for help?"

Sushun said, "Your Majesty, I have asked Tu Lama."

"How did he say?"

Sushun replied: "He said that as long as they can be sure that there is a demon Satan on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom side, including England, France, and Russia, all Western countries that worship God will definitely be enemies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

"Really?" Xianfeng frowned, "Don't they all worship God?"

Sushun explained: "But the long-haired fake king claims to be the second son of God, the fake southern king claims to be the third son of God, and the fake eastern king claims to be the fourth son of God."

"This God is the greatest god there, and he only has one son named Jesus, who is the second god in the West. Westerners have worshipped these two gods for more than a thousand years. The Taiping rebels have created so many sons of God. Can the emperors, kings, and queens in the West recognize them? Moreover, these self-proclaimed sons of God are related to demons, which is the most taboo for Westerners. How can the Western countries of England and France ignore it?"

Xianfeng pondered for a while and murmured in a low voice: "It seems to make sense. If we can really ask the English and French for help, no matter whether they are long-haired or demons, they will definitely not be the opponent of our Qing Dynasty. Come here, Xuantu Lama!"

Andehai, who was standing guard outside, immediately responded, "Yes."

Yangtze.

Countless sand ships are sailing on the wide river west of Wuchang City, with masts and sails standing in rows, riding the wind and waves, and drifting downstream. They are already approaching the two cities across the Yangtze River - Hanyang City and Wuchang City!

The front deck of every sailboat coming with the wind was filled with Taiping soldiers with red scarves wrapped around their heads. Military flags fluttered in the wind, and from a distance they looked like pieces of fiery clouds floating on the river, with no end in sight.

On both sides of the Yangtze River, there was a Taiping Army marching along the river. They also wore the iconic red scarves and sang as they walked, singing the passionate "A Man Should Be Self-reliant". Although they were a little out of tune, the song still floated along the Yangtze River all the way to the Chuwangtai in Wuchang City.

On the Chuwang Terrace, the dismissed Governor-General of Huguang Cheng Yancai, the acting Governor of Hubei Chang Dachun, the dismissed Admiral of Hubei Bole Gongwu, the dismissed Admiral of Hubei Shuangfu and others were all shocked when they saw this scene.

Cheng Yancai, who had fled all the way from Hunan and was already a "deposed governor", was already in tears. While crying, he was still shouting Zhang Liangji's name: "Shi Qing, Shi Qing, why haven't you reached Wuchang City yet? How far is it from Lizhou to Wuchang? You should have crawled here!"

"Come on, come on!" A second-rank civil servant with high cheekbones and a big face started to curse, "Your subordinate Cheng Zhijun was transferred to the post of governor of Shanxi in early September. It's already December, and the successor hasn't arrived yet!"

“Isn’t the successor here?” Admiral Shuangfu, who had fled back to Wuchang with Cheng Yancai, was dismissed from his post and was not allowed to return to Beijing, stamped his feet and pointed at the Taiping Army’s naval and land forces outside the city. “There are at least 200,000 or 300,000 of them, and they are here to take over!”

An old general who looked to be in his seventies and eighties, wearing a military uniform and a top hat, shook his head repeatedly: "How is it possible? How is it possible that there are three hundred thousand? Three hundred thousand! There are only three thousand defenders in Wuchang! If I had known earlier, I should have gone to Hunan to take over earlier."

(End of this chapter)