The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 265: Luo Yaoguo, leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Westernization Movement
It was not that Hong Xiuquan wanted to chase people away, but that he could no longer hold back his laughter. Not only him, but Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai in the hall could no longer hold back their laughter. Only Yang Xiuqing and Chen Chengyong were so cunning that they could still be serious.

If we don't kick him out, what will happen if everyone laughs? We are dealing with foreign affairs, this is a serious matter, we can't laugh.

After hearing what Hong Xiuquan said, Chen Chengrong, who was kneeling in the hall, realized that if he didn't take Wade away, he might be exposed, so he quickly stood up, took the British vice-consul who was almost deceived and walked out, fleeing from the hall where Hong Xiuquan was holding court.

They had not walked far when joyful laughter was heard in the lobby.

Yang Xiuqing was more careful and quickly ordered a group of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom officials outside the hall who were feeling puzzled to disperse first, leaving only Hu Yihuang and Qin Riguang to go up to the hall to talk.

Seeing that all the officials outside had left, Yang Xiuqing said to Hong Xiuquan: "Heavenly King, it seems that the foreigners in Shanghai have been deceived by my eighth brother. With my eighth brother here, there is no need to worry about the Eastern Wu."

Shi Dakai said with a smile: "Eighth brother is really good at dealing with foreigners. It would be even better if he could get more guns and cannons from them."

Wei Changhui echoed, "Yes, yes, foreign guns and cannons are still more useful. If we can really have a million foreign guns and a thousand foreign cannons, peace and unification will be just around the corner!"

Hong Xiuquan nodded and said with a smile: "Qing bai, Zheng bai, Da bai, you are right, the Chinese people do have a way to deal with foreigners. Why not let him take full responsibility for negotiating with foreigners!"

Yang Xiuqing laughed and said, "It seems that the British in Shanghai want to play between Luo Xueyan and the Eighth Brother to gain benefits, but how could they have imagined that Luo Xueyan is the Eighth Brother and the Eighth Brother is Luo Xueyan?"

Thinking of this, Hong Xiuquan laughed again: "In this case, when my eighth brother comes to Tianjing, I will talk to him and let him take the responsibility of negotiating with the foreigners. And find a way to buy more foreign guns and cannons. I really want to see how my eighth brother and his clone will play this scene!"

"The Heavenly King is holy and wise!"

Yang Xiuqing, Shi Dakai, Wei Changhui, Qin Rigang and Hu Yihuang all flattered Hong Xiuquan while trying to hold back their laughter.

Hong Xiuquan stroked his beard and felt very good: "So where should my Heavenly Kingdom army march to after the capital establishment ceremony?"

Yang Xiuqing replied: "According to Brother Tian's instructions, the Northern Expedition should be diverted after the Yellow River bursts its banks, which will be at least two years later. However, we cannot be idle in these two years. We should take Anhui and Jiangxi and connect the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's eastern and western territories into one large area!"

Hong Xiuquan nodded and asked, "How should we take it specifically?"

Yang Xiuqing glanced at Shi Dakai.

After Feng Yunshan, Xiao Chaogui and Luo Yaoguo all became capable of commanding troops, the only two princes who could leave Tianjing to lead the army outside were Shi Dakai and Wei Changhui. Compared with Shi Dakai, Wei Changhui's ability to command troops was still not very good.

So Yang Xiuqing has been discussing with Shi Dakai how to deploy troops these days.

Shi Dakai immediately clasped his hands and said, "Heavenly King, Eastern King, I think the key to taking Anhui and Jiangxi is to control both sides of the Yangtze River, so as to completely cut off the connection between the Qing demons in Anhui and Jiangxi. And to control both sides of the Yangtze River, we must take over the entire Taiping Prefecture, Hezhou, Chizhou, the southern part of Luzhou Prefecture, Anqing and Jiujiang. Among them, Anqing and Jiujiang are the most critical.

Once Anqing and Jiujiang are in our hands, Jiangxi will be almost isolated. At that time, our army will enter Poyang Lake from Jiujiang and advance along the Ganjiang River, Jinjiang River, Changjiang River and other rivers in Jiangxi. Within half a year, Jiangxi will be the heartland of our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

After Jiangxi is captured, I will unite with the Western King and the Southern King, and send troops from Hubei, Jiangxi, and Tianjing to sweep Huainan. It should be pacified in half a year at most.”

Hong Xiuquan glanced at Yang Xiuqing, and Yang Dongwang nodded: "Two and a half years plus a half year of rest and preparation, we can capture the entire Jiangxi province and the entire Anhui province except Huaibei in one and a half years!

After another half year of rest, we can launch the Northern Expedition! Three years later, the great cause of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom should be accomplished!"

"Three years." Hong Xiuquan nodded heavily and said with a smile: "Three years later, I will live in the Old Summer Palace and sleep with the beautiful women in the harem!"

Tianjing, Xiaguan Wharf, Hermes.

"Thomas, how did the talk go? Did the King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom agree that we could read the Book of the Prophets?"

Seeing Wade getting on board with a wry smile on his face, the British Minister to the Kingdom, Sir John Bowring, hurriedly pulled Wade aside and asked him.

He is no longer concerned about selling opium to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which is suspected of having a "prophet of mass destruction"! If this matter is not clarified, can imperialism sell opium to China with peace of mind?

Wade shook his head repeatedly: "Minister, we may have encountered a madman!"

"Mad?" Wenxian looked at Wade with a puzzled look: "Who is crazy?"

"The King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom may be a madman!" said Wade.

"What do you mean? What happened to him?" Wen Xian asked.

"He, he said Her Majesty the Queen is his sister!"

"Ah?" Wen Xian looked confused. "What does he mean? Does he have the bloodline of the Hanoverian dynasty?"

"No," Wade shook his head. "He is an out-and-out Chinese. He said that our Queen is just like him, a child of God, who came down to earth together. He was reincarnated in China and became the Heavenly King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, while the Queen was reincarnated in England and became the Queen of England."

“This” left Wen Xian speechless.

Such a magical thing actually happened in the field of diplomacy.
"Then how did you respond to him?" Wen Xian thought for a moment and asked again.

"I didn't respond to this religious issue. I am a diplomat!" Wade emphasized his identity. "These people from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are completely unreasonable. We should leave Tianjing and return to Shanghai immediately!"

Bonham immediately glared at Wade and said, "What about the Book of the Prophets? Do you think it's a hoax?"

Wade shook his head, not knowing what to say.

Logically speaking, the Book of the Prophets should be a hoax, but the problem is that it really came true!
Wen Xian then instructed: "Since the Book of the Prophet may be true, negotiations must continue. We have to talk to the angel!"

Wade looked embarrassed: "But those people from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom don't want to talk properly!"

"No," Wen Xian shook his head, "They want to talk. If they didn't, they wouldn't have shown us the thirty-six books of the Prophet! We wait two more days, and they will definitely send someone to continue the negotiations with us."

Wenxian's analysis was correct. In fact, he did not wait for two days. The next morning, Chen Chengyong boarded the Hermes again and brought him and Wade-Giles good news that excited him and Wade-Giles. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's King Wu, Luo Yaoguo, had arrived in Tianjing and was now meeting the Heavenly King in the Heavenly King's Palace. The Heavenly King and the Eastern King intended to let King Wu be responsible for the negotiations with Britain.

Inside the Heavenly King's Mansion.

Luo Yaoguo, who was now sitting in the main hall and talking with Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing, and Hong Xuanjiao who had arrived just before him, looked a lot younger and thinner than when he was in Shanghai - he was so tired during those days in Kunshan that he lost weight!

He stayed in Kunshan for a total of ten days. Every day was very fulfilling. During the day, he trained the army with Su Sanniang and formulated a reorganization plan for the previous army. At night, he educated Zhou Xiuying with Su Sanniang to make her fully aware of the seriousness of the crime of "murdering her husband".
In addition, Luo Yaoguo shaved off the big beard he had grown for a year in Kunshan. He looked several years younger and became a handsome young man, which made his good sister Hong Xuanjiao smile when she saw him today.

However, Luo Yaoguo had no intention of provoking the Queen of the West at the moment. He was busy discussing the matter of "running foreign affairs" with Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing and others!
"Your Majesty, Fourth Brother, I think I do have some ideas about foreign affairs. If Your Majesty and Fourth Brother trust me, I will take on the responsibility of foreign affairs and I guarantee that nothing serious will happen. However, we should always do things in a legitimate way. I am now a Holy Angel, King of Wu, Commander of the Upper Army, and Chief Lecturer. These positions have nothing to do with foreign affairs. So it is still a little inconvenient for me to handle foreign affairs!"

Just as he finished speaking, Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing were still considering, and Hong Xuanjiao interrupted with a chattering voice: "That's easy, just set up a government office to specialize in foreign affairs. Second brother, why don't you make your eighth brother an angel of foreign affairs!"

Her words immediately caused Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing to roll their eyes. Although she came to Tianjing on behalf of Xiao Chaogui to attend the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's capital ceremony, he was not Xiao Chaogui after all, and she had no right to speak here. She just had to listen.

Luo Yaoguo knew that his sixth sister was not a good person and had been spanked by Yang Xiuqing in history! So he quickly took over the topic and said to Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing with a smile: "My Lord, Fourth Brother, my sixth sister is joking. There is no such thing as an angel of Westernization. I might as well be a minister of Westernization."

"Minister sounds too low," Hong Xiuquan shook his head and said with a smile, "We in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom all have high positions, with a lot of prime ministers and ministers, so what's a minister? Qingbo, what do you think we should call our compatriots?"

Yang Xiuqing thought for a moment and said, "In my Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, all officials respect the military advisor, and the chief general is second. My eighth brother has long been a chief general, but he has never been appointed as a military advisor. Why not appoint him as a military advisor for Westernization?"

Hong Xiuquan nodded and said, "Okay, fellow countryman, from now on you will be the military advisor of the Westernization Movement, the Holy Angel, the commander of the upper army, the chief lecturer, and the King of Wu!"

Luo Yaoguo quickly stood up and bowed to Hong Xiuquan: "I will not fail in your mission and will do a good job in foreign affairs for my Heavenly Kingdom!"

Hong Xiuquan smiled and nodded, then took out a copy of the True Testament and asked a female official to pass it to Luo Yaoguo: "My compatriot, this is the True Testament that I adapted from the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is the true Bible. Since you are a military advisor for Westernization, you must find ways to spread the True Testament to foreigners. In addition, Queen Victoria of England may also be the daughter of God incarnate!"

(End of this chapter)