The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 281 Prince Gong reads "Anti-Scripture" (seeking votes and subscription)
The sound of boat horns rang out one after another, loud and long. The long poles pushed several colorful official boats winding southward, stirring up white waves on the canal waterway from Huai'an to Yangzhou. The large banner of General Fuyuan fluttered in the midsummer breeze.

The green fields on both sides of the canal are picturesque.

After Prince Gong was awarded the Baihong Sword and the seal of General Fuyuan, he did not stay in Beijing for long, nor did he mobilize many elite troops from the capital. He just found Senggelinqin who was training troops in the suburbs of Beijing, borrowed a team of Mongolian cavalry from him, and then, together with Gui Liang, Shengbao, Wenxiang, Jin Aduo, Hong Daquan, and hundreds of guards and servants from Prince Gong's mansion, hurriedly set off and headed straight for Yangzhou, where the Jiangbei camp was located.

Reinforcements are needed like fire. In Shanghai, there is still a demon who wants to compete with him for Wanzhen and needs to be eliminated!
At this time, Prince Gong was sitting in his official cabin, flipping through a thread-bound book spread out on the table, while waiting for his personal master Hong Daquan to tell his fortune by counting on his fingers.

Speaking of this expert Hong Daquan, after he voted for Prince Gong, he really tried to deceive people in order to repay the kindness of knowing him and saving his life. He had been helping Prince Gong to tell fortunes along the way, but the more he told fortunes, the more confused he became. It was obvious that his magic power was insufficient!

At this moment, he was calculating while muttering in a low voice: "With the good fortune of the Emperor granting a marriage to the Concubine's younger sister, he should be able to go to Yangzhou! With the Hunan Army led by Lord Zeng and Lord Zuo, he should be unable to escape even with a few hundred guards! But why can't I calculate the date of Luo Xueyan's death?"

Prince Gong's brows knitted together after hearing what Hong Daquan said: "Daquan, we are almost in Yangzhou, and you still can't figure out how Luo will die? Could it be that this demon is too powerful and the holy bomb invented by Tu Lama can't kill him?"

The Imperial Household Department’s business of making holy bombs did not end with the southward movement of the Demon-Slaying Camp - in order to blow up the demon Luo Yaoguo, Emperor Xianfeng allocated a large sum of money to the Imperial Household Department and even set up a special bomb department to make holy bombs!
So this time when Prince Gong went south to subdue the demons, he brought two thousand holy bombs with him. It was a pity that the foreign lama Tupolev went back to Luosha to ask for help from the powerful. If he had arranged it himself, the chances of winning would have been greater.

Hong Daquan looked gloomy, and after a long while he said, "Your Highness, the problem is probably not how powerful the demon is. If I am right, the demon can no longer perform any magic tricks to fly into the sky and hide in the ground. The only thing he can do is to predict the future and confuse people. First, I am worried that your plan will be known to him. If I don't come to Yangzhou, it will be difficult to eradicate him. Second, I am worried..."

He looked left and right.

Inside the cabin, besides him and Prince Gong, there were Gui Liang, Sheng Bao and Wen Xiang, all of whom were Prince Gong's confidants.

Seeing that there were no outsiders, Hong Daquan lowered his voice and said, "Secondly, I am worried that Lord Zeng and Lord Zuo may not be willing to eliminate Luo Xueyan!"

"What are you talking about?" Gui Liang glared at Hong Daquan, "Master Zeng Jia is a descendant of my Eight Banners. Although Master Zuo did not raise the banner, he is also loyal to the court!"

Prince Gong raised his eyes and looked at Shengbao, only to find that the latter had a frown on his face, as if he was thinking about something.

"Kezai, what do you think?"

"Neither Zeng Disheng nor Zuo Jigao can be considered loyal ministers. Zuo Jigao had dealings with Luo Yaoguo during the Battle of Changsha. Although Luo Xueyan's recommendation was made in the name of Luo Ruzhai, it was actually handled by Zuo Jigao!
As for Zeng Disheng, the fake Zeng Disheng that I and Sushun met in Changsha City is very likely his half-sister. Zeng Disheng's hometown was once destroyed by the long-haired Xiao Chaogui! Maybe one of his brothers fell into the hands of thieves at that time! "

Shengbao clearly remembered that he had seen a "Zeng Guofan" in "Confucius's clothes" in Changsha, and heard that person read "An Edict to Suppress the Enemies and Revive Confucianism". Later, Senggelinqin resolutely suppressed this matter, but Shengbao and Sushun discussed it privately. In the end, the two of them agreed that the "Zeng Guofan" should not be real, but it was very likely that he was a brother of Zeng Guofan.

Most of them surrendered after being captured when the Taiping rebels attacked Zeng Guofan’s hometown!

But this matter was too big, Shengbao and Sushun did not dare to report it to their superiors, fearing that it would backfire and force Zeng Guofan to rebel. In addition, Zeng Guofan later asked to raise the banner and sent his father Zeng Linshu to Beijing, which was considered to be a show of loyalty, so Shengbao and Sushun did not report it to their superiors.

However, today, after listening to the advice of the great master Hong Daquan, Shengbao could not help but mention this matter to Prince Gong.

When Prince Gong heard Shengbao mention this, he narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled:
"Nowadays, what's the difference between loyalty and disloyalty? When they are in that position, they have no choice. As soon as they open their eyes, twenty or thirty battalions of brothers want food, drink, military pay, land, and a future. Whoever can give them military pay, land, and official positions is their master! Fortunately, the emperor listened to my words and offered thousands of miles of fertile land outside the Great Wall as a reward to whet the appetite of those militia leaders. He also gave away official certificates as if they were free, and allowed them to burn, kill, rob, and capture people everywhere in Hunan and Hubei to be slaves outside the Great Wall. Can the Changmao give such benefits? Can Luo Yaoguo give it? Not to mention that the man in Changsha may not be Zeng Disheng's brother, even if he is Zeng Disheng's brother, what can he do?" He smiled coldly, his voice faint: "If Luo Xueyan is not Luo Yaoguo's, just based on the benefits given to him by the emperor, even if he has joined the Tiandihui and been a Changmao, he will be lured to the Qing side! Because the benefits that the Qing can give him, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom that distributes land and fields can never give this. This is not what I said, but what Luo Yaoguo said in the "Anti-Scripture" written by himself!"

After saying that, he closed the thread-bound book on the table, which turned out to be Volume One of "Anti-Scripture", The Rebellion of the Common People!
Prince Gong smiled slightly and pointed at the Anti-Scripture in front of him: "Anti-Scripture is really a wonderful book! It explains the path of rebellion very clearly, and also analyzes the end of the world very clearly! However, these three volumes of Anti-Scripture are mutually contradictory. Volume 1 of Anti-Scripture is contradictory to Volume 2 and Volume 3 of Anti-Scripture. Volume 1 is about the common people who are suffering from hunger and cold at the bottom wanting to rebel, while Volume 2 and Volume 3 are about the middle and upper class gentry and officials who want to raise troops and gain power in order to maximize their own interests after the common people rebel!

The common people at the bottom of society would starve to death if they did not rebel, while the purpose of the gentry and officials in the middle and upper classes to maintain their power was not to distribute their land and wealth, but to grab more land and wealth. Although everyone wanted to rebel, their goals were different. The Qing Dynasty and the Taiping Rebellion could only choose one goal, not both. This was impossible.

Since Changmao chose the path of Volume 1 of the Anti-Scripture, they and Zeng Disheng, Zuo Jigao and others who chose Volume 2 and Volume 3 of the Anti-Scripture can only be enemies! Even if Zeng and Zuo are unwilling to be enemies of Changmao, their subordinates will force them to be enemies of Changmao. This is for the sake of interests!

In short, there are too many people in the world, and the land is too small. The land is exhausted, and this is the origin of the end of the world now!"

The sky was bright, the morning glow was rising in the horizon, and the rolling hills were full of vitality. Along a government road heading north, countless men and women tied with ropes were being escorted north by Hunan brave men carrying spears and muskets on their shoulders. On their dirty and thin faces, there was only an expression of numbness and bitterness.

A man with triangular eyes, drooping eyebrows, high cheekbones, a thin figure, wearing a black official jacket and a second-rank hat, was riding a horse and standing at a crossroads, looking at the team heading north with a cold look.

A short and fat official next to him, who was wearing a third-rank hat and a formal jacket, had a look of pity on his face.

The second-rank official glanced at the faces of the people around him, smiled slightly, and pointed to the team heading north: "Ji Gao, they at least have a chance to survive, thanks to the kindness of the emperor, who has granted us a large piece of wasteland outside the Great Wall!"

"Ugh"

Zuo Zongtang sighed: "How long can we survive if we go to the bitter cold land outside the Great Wall to open up wasteland?"

Zeng Guofan smiled and said, "Ji Gao, have you read all three volumes of the Anti-Scripture these days?"

Zuo Zongtang nodded: "I have read it a long time ago."

"How?" Zeng Guofan asked softly.

Zuo Zongtang was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "There are too many people in the world and too little land. The land is not enough to support the people, so the world is in chaos. This is the end of the world."

Zeng Guofan glanced at Zuo Zongtang and said with a wry smile: "Since you already know everything, what is there to hesitate about? Come with me to the east. A real man should kill people in troubled times!"

After saying this, he turned his horse around and galloped eastward.

And on the official road heading east, large groups of Hunan warriors were marching in a mighty force!
(End of this chapter)