The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 290 Selling out China, saving the Qing Dynasty! (Please vote, please subscribe)

"How could there really be a demon here?"

On the west gate tower of Liuhe County, a dignified sixth-rank civil servant with a white face and long beard stared in panic at the huge red ball that suddenly appeared in the gray sky. He was so shocked that he could not speak clearly.

This sixth-rank civil official was Wen Shaoyuan, the magistrate of Liuhe County. He was also a capable official who could organize militia. As early as the second year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, when the Taiping Army conquered Wuchang, he knew that things were not going well in Jiangning, and he immediately mobilized the gentry and landlords of Liuhe County to organize militia, repair city walls, prepare defense equipment, and store grain. He also combined the militias of the four townships into one and practiced non-stop.

By the time Yang Xiuqing personally led an army of 30,000 across the river, Liuhe had already been transformed into an absolutely fortified city under Wen Shaoyuan's management, and there were more than 10,000 trained soldiers in the city ready for battle.

In the original history, Wen Shaoyuan became famous because he relied on this strong city and tens of thousands of brave soldiers to defeat the Northern Expedition reinforcements led by Zhu Xikun, Huang Yiyu, Lin Shaozhang and others sent by Yang Xiuqing.

In the combat strategy formulated by Qishan, Zeng Guofan and others for Prince Gong, Liuhe County is the gateway to Yangzhou!
Wen Shaoyuan had to rely on the strong city of Liuhe and tens of thousands of militiamen to hold out for at least ten days, waiting for the reinforcements from Zeng Guofan and Huang Shijie's army.

But he never imagined that Yang Xiuqing's army was equipped with three or four thousand foreign rifles, twelve 12-pound foreign cannons, and a hot air balloon that could produce terrifying "pressure"!
The "rumors" about the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom "having demons in the sky" and "demons descending from the sky" had spread all over Liuhe County a few months ago. However, these "rumors" happened to meet Wen Shaoyuan, a "good official" who did not believe in evil and was loyal to the Qing Dynasty. He immediately posted a notice to refute the rumors and even beheaded more than a dozen Tiandihui rebels and Taimao spies who spread the rumors.

They even erected tablets of "Heavenly Father Emperor", "Heavenly Brother Ji Du" and "Angel Bull Demon King" outside the Liuhe County Government Office and set them on fire for everyone to see!
After he burned these three tablets, he was safe and sound for six days in a row. No God, Ji Du, or angel Bull Demon King came to trouble him at all. Today is the seventh day!

On the seventh day, "God" sent the "Angel Bull Demon King" on a flying ball to attack!
Now even Wen Shaoyuan’s own beliefs were shaken!
According to the “rumor”, didn’t the “Angel Bull King” descend from the sky on a purple thunder ball?
This time I changed to a "red ball". No matter what, I saw it with my own eyes!

seeing is believing!

Not only Wen Shaoyuan saw it with his own eyes, but all the gentry and tens of thousands of militiamen in Liuhe County also saw it with their own eyes!
How can we defend this city?
"Boom boom boom"

A series of earth-shaking noises suddenly interrupted Wen Shaoyuan's thoughts. He suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet shaking. He lost his balance and fell to the ground.

"Is this... a demon casting a spell?"

Just as this absurd thought emerged in Wen Shaoyuan's mind, he heard someone shouting at the top of his lungs: "Red Cannon."

"Boom boom boom boom."

There was another roar, and at the same time the city wall of Liuhe County shook violently.

“It was shelling.”

Wen Shaoyuan crawled to the battlement, stuck his head out and looked down at the city. What he saw was a scene that made him despair to the point of suffocation.

Just look at the red sea of ​​people covering the wilderness outside the city, and twelve red cannons have been lined up in a row, constantly spewing out smoke and flames!
What made him even more desperate was that among the people operating the guns, there were quite a few foreigners in Western clothes!
In addition, behind these twelve cannons were the Taiping Army's foreign rifle team, all carrying foreign rifles with bayonets! A large forest of bayonets, gleaming coldly.

How can we defeat this?
There are demons in the sky, foreign guns, foreign cannons and foreigners underground. There are also a vast number of "red-headed soldiers", as many as 30 to 40,000!

The English soldiers who came during the Opium War didn’t have this kind of scene!

There weren't that many English soldiers, and there wasn't any "Angel Bull King" to help.
"Boom boom boom"

There was another round of bombardment, and twelve 12-pound projectiles hit the thin city wall of Liuhe hard, which woke Wen Shaoyuan up.

At this time, the city walls of Liuhe County were in chaos! Everywhere were soldiers screaming and running, with all kinds of muskets, swords, spears, and shields scattered all over the ground. Shouts of "The demons are coming" and "God is coming" rang out.

After a burst of artillery fire, there was a "crashing" sound that made one's scalp tingle - the brick and stone wall of the city wall was penetrated, and the rammed earth inside was broken up and fell down!
This city can't hold out much longer!
Yangzhou, Geyuan.

"My Lord, let's go, we can't hold on any longer!"

"Your Majesty, the Taipings are powerful! There are demons in the sky, red-coated cannons on the ground, and a hundred thousand troops, including no less than ten thousand foreign riflemen!"

"Your Majesty, Zeng Disheng and Huang Ziying who went to support Liuhe were defeated as soon as they reached Yizheng. Now they are fighting and retreating, and will soon retreat to Yangzhou City!"

"Prince, Zuo Jigao's troops have already crossed the river and cannot return to Jiangbei. Yangzhou City cannot rely on them."

"Your Majesty! If you don't leave now, then..."

In Yiyu Hall, a group of staff members from the Fuyuan General's Mansion, as well as the Imperial Envoy and the Military Assistant of the Jiangbei Camp, all surrounded Prince Gong and persuaded him to run away! These people were so anxious that their heads and faces were covered with sweat!
If Prince Gong didn't run away, who would dare to run away? If they lost the prince and ran for their lives, would they still be able to be officials?

Prince Gong was going to run away, and they followed him, so of course they would be innocent. The prince was the emperor's biological brother, and the emperor couldn't just kill the prince for the sake of justice, right? As long as the prince didn't die, they, his subordinates, would be fine.

But Prince Gong's face turned pale, his lips trembled, and he muttered to himself: "How could it be so fast? Didn't they say that Liuhe had tens of thousands of brave soldiers? How could it be lost in just two days?

Didn't Zeng Disheng and Huang Ziying have 35 battalions of training troops? How could they just say they couldn't hold on?"

Qishan, the Imperial Envoy of the Jiangbei Camp, shook his head and said, "Your Highness, who would have thought that the Taiping rebels not only had real demons, but also had so many foreign guns and cannons and foreigners helping them? And there were so many soldiers."

Shengbao quickly took over Qishan's words and persuaded him, "Your Highness, if you have green mountains, you will not be afraid of running out of firewood. It doesn't matter if Yangzhou is lost. We can still retreat to Huai'an and Xuzhou! Since ancient times, when the north and the south fought, the gains and losses of Yangzhou were irrelevant. Huai'an and Xuzhou were the key.

As long as Huai'an is in the Northern Dynasty, the Southern Dynasty can only be beaten! Even if Huai'an is lost, the Northern Dynasty can still protect itself by just holding Xuzhou. Only when Xuzhou is taken by the Southern Dynasty will the Northern Dynasty fall into a passive position! "

Prince Gong Yixin still had a bitter face and said nothing. Of course he wanted to run away! But if he ran away, he would lose his current position as the "third person in the Qing Dynasty". Not to mention that the General Fuyuan would be removed, even his Prince Gong might be gone. In the future, let alone the "Uncle Regent", he couldn't even keep his position as an idle prince.

This is such a loss!
Prince Gong's eyes, filled with fear and reluctance, swept across the helpless faces, and suddenly he caught sight of a dark face without any worry in it. It was the face of the "expert" Hong Daquan.

Hong Daquan is now dressed in Taoist attire and holding a whisk, looking like Zhang Fei, a Taoist practitioner.

"Master!" Prince Gong frowned, "Can you tell me whether I should retreat to Huai'an?"

"Your Highness," Hong Daquan shook his head and said, "Don't even bother with this matter. Your Highness shouldn't have run north!"

"Not running north?" Yi Xin frowned, "Should I defend Yangzhou to the death?"

"No." Hong Daquan shook his head, "Your Majesty should go south!"

"Go south?" Yi Xin was stunned. "Where to?"

Hong Daquan said: "Go to Shanghai!"

"What are we going to Shanghai for?" Prince Gong Yixin muttered.

"What a brilliant idea!"

Before Hong Daquan could answer, Qishan, the imperial envoy of the Jiangbei camp, suddenly clapped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, what Taoist Hong said is right. You should not retreat north, but advance south! Go to Shanghai and ask the foreigners for help!
The reason why Chang Mao was so powerful was that, except for the flying ball, whose origin was unknown, all the other things were obtained from foreigners!
The reason why the foreigners gave the Taiping so many good things was nothing more than greed for profit. What the Taiping can give, you can give, Your Majesty! What the Taiping can't give, Your Majesty, you can also give with a little grit. As long as the foreigners stand on the side of our Qing Dynasty, we don't have to worry about the Taiping!"

After hearing this, Prince Gong Yixin, also known as "Ghost Six", understood Qishan's meaning.

He narrowed his eyes, remained silent for a while, and then sighed: "You... you want me to sell out the Qing Dynasty!"

Qishan shook his head: "Your Highness is wrong. We are not selling out the Qing Dynasty, but selling out China...Sell out China and save the Qing Dynasty!"

"Selling out China...saving the Qing Dynasty?" Prince Gong looked at the old minister who negotiated the Treaty of Nanjing for the Qing Dynasty and took the blame for Emperor Daoguang.

Qi Shan sighed and said, "Your Highness, I have negotiated with foreigners before, and I have suffered from them... I also know best how sinister the foreigners' minds are!
But what can we do? Who made the foundation of our Qing Dynasty to control the majority with the minority and the majority with the few?

No matter how vicious the foreigners are, they only want silver, but the so-called Taiping Heavenly Kingdom... that is deadly!

Your Majesty, the money the foreigners want... is not ours, but the lives the Taiping rebels want are ours!

Aren't you afraid that the Eight Bannermen in Beijing will suffer the same fate as the Eight Bannermen in Jiangning?"

Prince Gong was silent for a long while, and only uttered one word: "Afraid!"

(End of this chapter)