The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 267 The Devil's Temptation, Do You Want to Become a Billionaire? (Please vote, please subscribe)

A two-wheeled carriage, escorted by a team of Taiping troops, entered Tianjing City from the Yifeng Gate, passed through most of the city, and finally stopped outside the old gate of the Prince of Wu's Palace.

Wenxian and Wade came out of the carriage one after another. It was still Chen Chengrong who was guarding outside the carriage. It was he who personally ran to the Xiaguan Wharf outside Yifeng Gate to invite the two of them off the Hermes, and then led them all the way to the outside of Prince Wu's Palace.

"Mr. Wen, Mr. Wei, we meet again."

It was Wang Yan who stood outside the Prince of Wu's palace to welcome Wenxian and Wade.

"Sir," Wade-Giles bowed, "Is His Royal Highness the King of Wu in the palace?"

"Yes." Wang Yan replied, "I just arrived in Tianjing yesterday to attend the capital establishment ceremony."

Chen Chengyong asked: "Minister Wang, is the King of Wu free now?"

Wang Yan said, "The King of Wu is meeting guests, and the Sixth Princess has just arrived."

Chen Chengrong frowned slightly: "Sixth Princess. Wouldn't that make the English guests wait for a long time?"

"That won't happen," Wang Yan said with a smile, "King Wu can meet the English guests with the Sixth Princess. The Sixth Princess is also quite interested in English affairs."

Chen Chengrong smiled and clasped his fists: "Then I'll have to trouble Minister Wang to report this."

Wang Yan made a gesture to ward off the guests and said to Wenxian and Wade, "Please follow me."

"Thanks."

Wade thanked him, waved to Wenxian, and followed Wang Yan and Chen Chengrong into the Prince of Wu's palace.

While walking through the pavilions and corridors in the Prince of Wu's Palace, Wade and Chen Chengrong asked about the "Sixth Princess".

"This Sixth Princess is quite powerful," Chen Chengrong frowned, "She is the chief of the female army of our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, while His Royal Highness Prince Wu's wife, Princess Su, is only the deputy chief of the female army!"

Wade was surprised: "She's a female general!"

"Not only that," Chen Chengrong said with admiration, "she is also the sixth daughter of the Heavenly Father. In her early years, she helped the Heavenly King to preach together with the Southern King. Now her status is comparable to that of the Wu King and the Yi King! She has a bad temper, so you and Lord Wen should not talk nonsense later."

"Got it," Wade nodded, and then said to Bonham in English, "Mr. Minister, today we can not only see the angel of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but also Hong Xiuquan's sister. She is the highest-ranking woman in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and may also be an archbishop of the God Worshipping Society."

"Really?" Wen Xian raised his eyebrows and muttered, "I didn't expect that there would be such a person in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

As they were talking, Wenxian and Wade had been led by Wang Yan to a poorly lit lobby. In the dimness of the lobby, Wenxian and Wade saw a young man wearing a dragon robe, a dragon crown, no beard, and dark skin sitting behind a table. This young man was obviously not the same person as the "Luo Yaoguo" Wade had met in Shanghai. What was the relationship between the "Shanghai Luo Yaoguo" and this "Nanjing Luo Yaoguo"?

There was also a plump woman wearing a black robe inlaid with a "Pearl Cross" who was pacing in the lobby and speaking Hakka in a fast pace, seemingly talking to the young man inside.

The guards at the gate of Prince Wu's Palace immediately announced, followed by a statement in Hakka that sounded very dignified.

"The King of Wu wants you to come in!" The woman in black robe greeted them again in Mandarin with a slight accent.

Wade nodded to Bonham, then extended his hand as a gesture for him to come in, and followed the British minister into the lobby.

After entering the lobby, the first thing that Wenxian and Wade saw was the woman in black robe. She stood in the middle of the lobby, close to the door, and the lighting was better. Wenxian and Wade found that the woman in black robe was not very old, only about 26 or 27 years old, with a very graceful figure, high breasts, and some seductive facial features, but she was also quite majestic when she was stern.

"Quickly pay respect to King Wu and the Sixth Princess!"

Chen Chengrong's slightly panicked voice suddenly sounded behind the two foreigners.

Wenxian and Wade-Giles quickly bowed to Hong Xuanjiao and Luo Yaoguo respectively, and then stood in a position in the lobby a little far away from Luo Yaoguo - because Hong Xuanjiao was standing in the middle of the lobby, they had to keep a certain distance from Hong Xuanjiao.

So now they could only see Archangel Luo sitting in the shadows.

Not only was this angel unable to see clearly, but he was also a Hakka angel, and his speech was incomprehensible. When he saw that Bonham and Wade were standing in place, he spoke a passage in Hakka in a very majestic tone.

Wenxian looked back at Wade, the "China expert", but unfortunately he didn't understand either, and of course he couldn't translate it. Fortunately, Hong Xiujiao repeated Luo Tianshi's words in the official language that Wade could understand: "King Wu said that he had just been appointed as the Westernization Army Advisor of our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. All matters related to Westernization must be handled by King Wu first, and then reported to the Heavenly King and the Eastern King. King Wu will be stationed in Kunshan County of Suzhou Prefecture in the future, which is not far from Shanghai. If you have anything you want to negotiate, you can go to Kunshan to find the Westernization Army Advisor's Office." Wade translated Hong Xiujiao's words into English again. After listening, Wenxian thought for a while before saying to Wade: "Let's negotiate first. Ask this Westernization Angel about his position on the Treaty of Nanjing."

"Yes, sir."

Wade organized his words and then raised Wenxian's question in standard Chinese Mandarin.

"My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will not recognize the Treaty of Nanjing signed between Britain and the Qing Dynasty!"

Luo Tianshi seemed to understand Mandarin, but he still spoke Hakka when he answered, and spoke quickly and softly. Wade couldn't hear it clearly, and of course he couldn't tell that the voice was actually the same as Shanghai Marshal Luo.

But Hong Xuanjiao listened to every word and then translated it all into Mandarin.

"Your Highness, Prince Wu, this is not in accordance with international law!" Wade immediately protested, "This will make it difficult for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to gain recognition from the great powers, and may even shake the great powers' neutral position in China's civil war!"

"You may support the Qing demons, but you will bear all the consequences. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom reserves the right to take all means of revenge!"

Of course Luo Yaoguo would not give in!
Because Article 4 of the Treaty of Nanjing stipulated that six million silver dollars should be used as compensation for the opium burned by Lin Zexu in Guangzhou - this was equivalent to recognizing the legality of drug trafficking in the British Empire! Article 10 stipulated that China and Britain would implement an agreed tariff, and also stipulated that the upper limit of the tax for British goods in China was one cent of the price of one tael of silver, that is, one thousandth.

If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom recognized the Treaty of Nanjing, British merchants could use this as an excuse to sell drugs to the Heavenly Kingdom's territory. Moreover, the British would only have to pay customs duties once in Shanghai, and then they could be sold to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's territory almost tax-free.

Moreover, the Qing Dynasty also granted "unilateral most-favored-nation treatment" to all the powers, that is, the privileges that the Qing Dynasty gave to Britain were enjoyed by all the powers. For example, the United States and France, which were not strong enough to use force to protect their drug trade in the 1840s, could still ship opium to China based on the "unilateral most-favored-nation treatment".

And this is the most fundamental contradiction between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Britain, France and the United States!
As for the fact that Hong Xiuquan did not understand the situation in the world, his arrogant attitude when receiving Wenxian, and claiming to be the second son of God, it is not important at all.

If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wanted to obtain official support from Britain, France and the United States, it had to give more than the Qing Dynasty!

However, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was unwilling and unable to give it, which meant that the official position of the great powers was to support the Qing Dynasty.

However, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom today has a "prophet of mass destruction" who makes both Bonham and Wade feel fearful. Now this prophet says that he will "reserve the right to take all means of retaliation", so they'd better think it over carefully.

Of course, the Book of the Prophets is not a nuclear bomb after all, and it is impossible to cause an immediate devastating blow to the British Empire. The deterrent effect is not that strong - if a nuclear bomb explodes in London, the gentlemen who vote in Parliament may be gone! However, some "prophecies" that can shake the foundations of the British Empire will not pose an immediate threat to the lives and wealth of these gentlemen.

However, prophecies play a much greater role in distributing wealth than destroying it, so as long as he can maintain communication and get the God Worshipping Society out, Luo Yaoguo still has the confidence to use the Book of Prophets or the Great Book of Prophecies to gain sufficient benefits.

In addition, in Luo Yaoguo's view, the fundamental reason for the outbreak of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement was the sharp contradiction between people and land that could not be resolved. After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom took over a large area of ​​land from the Qing Dynasty, it also took over the sharp contradiction between people and land.

Today, China’s population-land contradiction cannot be completely resolved through internal reform or even industrialization. After all, we are still in the first industrial revolution and the labor force required for industrialization is limited.

Going out and carrying out reverse colonization of colonies under the rule of great powers such as the British Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands is the only way to immediately resolve the contradiction between population and land in China.

So he has no intention of completely breaking off relations with the British Empire now.

Luo Yaoguo paused, and his tone softened: "Although my Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will not recognize the Treaty of Nanjing, we are willing to maintain mutually beneficial exchanges with the British Empire. We can sign an equal treaty that is beneficial to both sides!

I know that the British Empire has no permanent treaties, only permanent interests! The Book of Prophecy may not destroy a world empire, but it can definitely give birth to many millionaires, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of dollars. And as far as I know, getting rich by predicting the future does not violate any British law!

I know a place, near the Straits Settlements that you are most familiar with, called Perak in Chinese, where a staggering amount of tin will be found in four years. If you send British experts to look for it right away, you may get something in advance.

His words were passed on twice by Hong Xiujiao and Wade-Giles before being passed on to Wenxian.

Wenxian's face turned pale when he heard this. It was a huge tin mine that was discovered four years later. It was also near the Straits Settlements, which he was very familiar with. He could go and verify it and should get the results soon.

If this “prophecy” is true, then this angel may be able to provide more prophecies related to getting rich!

After a long pause, he raised his eyebrows and smiled gently: "King Wu, if the new treaty we sign can allow the British Empire to gain more, or at least equal, benefits, then it is not impossible to abolish the treaty and renegotiate it."

Hearing Wen Xian's words, Luo Yaoguo's mouth corners slightly curled up.

(End of this chapter)