The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 31 Your Majesty, it's not that I don't work hard, but that there are demons in the long hair! (Please vote for the monthly ticket and read on)

"To be honest with you, Master Sai, my brother Xiuquan does have a father in heaven. He calls him Heavenly Father, the Emperor God. But once when we were drinking, he told me the truth. His Heavenly Father is not the Emperor God, but another god!"

The storyteller at the imperial commissioner's headquarters in Guilin was none other than Jiao Liang, who called himself Hong Daquan, the King of Tiande of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Those who were serious, dressed in robes and jackets, sitting in the hall and listening to his story were the Imperial Envoy Sai Shang'a, the Guangxi Governor Zou Minghe, the reformed official Xiang Rong who had made meritorious contributions, and the general Qin Dingsan who acted as the military officer after Wulantai was killed and Xiang Rong was dismissed. They were all high-ranking officials who were deeply favored by the emperor and shouldered the important task of suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Of course, they did a lot of things like concealing defeat and claiming credit, killing innocent people and deceiving the emperor.

Now, seeing that the Taiping Army was being suppressed more and more after their "victory", and that each time they were "defeated", they became stronger and stronger, and there was a sign that they would break out of Guangxi, invade Hunan, and rush towards the Yangtze River. These people were all extremely anxious - Emperor Xianfeng was already a little angry, and was about to send Xiang Rong, this old man, to Xinjiang. Among all the people present, no one had killed more Taiping rebels than Xiang Rong, and no one had done less things to deceive the emperor than Xiang Rong!
If you can't find a decent excuse, there will be more than one Xiang Rong who should go to Xinjiang to serve.
Just when these people were racking their brains to come up with no good excuse, this unexpected excuse actually came to them!

The Heavenly Father and Supreme God mentioned by that long-haired thief actually exists!
Moreover, when the Heavenly Father in the sky saw that Changmao was about to be destroyed by the Qing Heavenly Soldiers, he actually broke the "Heavenly Rules" and directly sent down a Bull Demon King from the sky. This time it was not that everyone was not trying hard, but that the Bull Demon King was not easy to defeat!
But the question is whether this matter is reliable or not?

Can the emperor trust him?

In order to unify the "confessions", Sai Shang'a invited all the senior officials in Guilin who were qualified to submit secret memorials to Emperor Xianfeng to his office. They first studied the mooncake gift boxes together, then listened to Yuan Bao's story about the Bull Demon King descending from the sky, and finally listened to Hong Daquan's storytelling.

"Hong Daquan, tell me honestly, who is the father of your brother Hong Xiuquan in heaven?" Sai Shang'a suddenly interrupted Hong Daquan and asked with a stronger tone.

This question was not asked in vain, but was to remind Hong Daquan not to speak nonsense - Hong Xiuquan's Heavenly Father could not be Haotian God!

Haotian God is also known as Huangtian God. This title first appeared in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. At that time, he was the greatest supreme god and represented heaven or was equivalent to heaven!
Since the Tang Dynasty, emperors have worshipped the God of Heaven when they offered sacrifices to heaven!

If Hong Xiuquan's father in heaven is the Lord of Heaven, then wouldn't the Qing Dynasty be doomed?

So when Yuan Bao came to report to Sai Shang'a last night, Sai Zhongtang immediately pointed out this problem and asked Yuan Bao to ask Hong Daquan to correct it immediately!
I wonder if Hong Daquan has really changed?

"It's Hao." Hong Daquan almost said the wrong thing, but was glared at by Yuan Bao who was watching him. He stopped talking abruptly and reorganized his words, "It's Master Tongtian!"

Tongtian Jiaozhu? Sai Shang'a glanced at Yuan Bao and thought: Did you ask him to modify it according to "The Investiture of the Gods"? Well, "Investiture of the Gods" is "Investiture of the Gods"!

Hong Daquan saw Sai Shang'a nodded, so he continued: "My brother also said that Tongtian Sect Master now has twelve angels under his command. No, they are demons! This Bull Demon is one of them. What Lord Yuan saw at Suoyi Ferry was actually the original form of the Bull Demon. He can also transform into a human form on weekdays."

"Then what kind of magic power does this Bull Demon have?" Xiang Rong, who was about to send troops to slay demons for the Qing Dynasty, asked nervously.

Hong Daquan said: "This Bull Demon is the leader of the twelve angels under the command of Master Tongtian. Of course he has magical powers! But that is in heaven. If he breaks the heavenly rules and comes down to earth, he won't be able to use his magical powers. At most, there will be a tiny bit left. Otherwise, Master Yuan would not be able to fight him for three rounds!"

Xiang Rong glanced at Yuan Bao and saw that the boy was puffing out his chest and bulging belly, as if he was quite proud of it!
However, there are two points that should be certain. First, a demon really descended from the sky - not only is the mooncake box attesting to this, but Xiang Rong also has spies in the Hechun army. He received a report early this morning.

Secondly, the demon's combat power is limited. Although it broke through He Chun's artillery formation, it is just a general who can defeat ten thousand men, and it doesn't seem that it has demonstrated any particularly powerful spells.

It seems that what Hong Daquan said is more reliable.

Xiang Rong asked again: "Hong Daquan, do you know why this demon came to the mortal world?"

"It should be that Master Tongtian felt that my brother was in danger, so he sent a bull demon to protect him."

Hong Daquan just said it casually, but Xiang Rong took it to heart.

Since the Bull Demon King came to protect Hong Xiuquan, it would be easy. Next, he just needed to stay away from Hong Xiuquan and he should be able to avoid the Bull Demon King.

Sai Shang'a picked up the picture of "Bull Demon King Riding a Bicycle" on the table in front of him and showed it to Hong Daquan: "Hong Daquan, take a look, is the original form of the Bull Demon like this?"

"Almost," Hong Daquan said, "It's still missing three pairs of wings. My brother said that the demon was in human form, had horns and six wings."

Sai Shang'a nodded: "Human form, ox horns, six wings. Master Kong!" "The student is here."

A tall Shaoxing lawyer with a pale face and a slightly unkempt gray beard immediately responded.

The legal advisor’s surname is Kong and his given name is Xianglin. He is Sai Shang’a’s chief legal advisor.

"You are an expert in fine brushwork, so paint another picture of the flying Bull Demon King riding a bicycle with six wings!"

"Yes." Master Kong responded, took a piece of rice paper, picked up a small brush, and began to outline.

Sai Shang'a looked at the people present again and said with a wry smile, "It turns out that it's not that we didn't work hard enough, but that the Changmao really had the help of demons. Of course, my Great Qing Dynasty is blessed by God. Even if the Changmao thieves have a few demons in the sky, how can they be the opponent of my Great Qing Dynasty? However, it is not appropriate to publicize the fact that the Changmao have the help of demons, so as not to panic people. So don't mention this matter in the memorial, just submit your own memorials!"

A "tiben" is a public memorial to the emperor, not "encrypted", while a "zhezi" refers to memorials, including secret memorials.

It would be better to write a secret letter to report to the higher-ups about the fact that Hong Xiuquan has a father in heaven and that there is a bull demon sent from heaven!

"Yuan Bao!" Sai Shang'a said again, "You have fought three rounds with that demon, and got this box of mooncakes. You might as well work harder, take my memorial, and escort Hong Xiuquan's brother Hong Daquan to Beijing to meet the emperor!"

"Yes!" When Yuan Bao heard that he had the opportunity to go to Beijing to meet the emperor, he was overjoyed and bowed to Sai Shang'a immediately.

Beijing, Forbidden City, outside Qianqing Gate.

Four high-ranking officials with flower feathers on their heads were following a young eunuch as they hurried from the Military Affairs Office's duty room outside Longzong Gate to Qianqing Gate. The young eunuch walked very fast, as if something very important had happened.

The one walking in front of the four Qing officials was a young man under 20 years old. He was not tall, had a dark face, small eyes, and looked quite sturdy. Of course, his legs and feet were agile enough, but there were several elderly men following behind him! They were all pillars of the Qing Dynasty. What if he sprained his ankle while walking so fast?
Thinking of this, the young official asked the young eunuch who was leading the way, "Little Anzi, why are you walking so fast? What's the emergency? Master Qi, Master Peng, and Master Mu are all old!"

The eunuch called "Xiao Anzi" was not very old, only in his teens. His name was An Dehai, and he was a trusted eunuch of Emperor Xianfeng. However, he was still very respectful to the young man behind him, and replied with a smile on his face: "Sixth Prince, you are right. I left too hastily, but I saw that the emperor was furious and was afraid that he would get sick, so I thought of asking the Sixth Prince and a few military officials to go and persuade the emperor as soon as possible."

This "Sixth Prince" was none other than Emperor Xianfeng's younger brother, Prince Gong Yi. He had not yet worked in the Grand Council, but had a job as an inner court official. He was on duty in the palace today. Following the order of Emperor Xianfeng, An Dehai first went to find Yi, then went to the outside of Longzong Gate to call three grand councilors, and then went to the Qianqing Palace together.

Hearing Xianfeng's rage, the three elderly military ministers were a little surprised.

"Eunuch An, what happened?"

"That's right, there have been frequent reports of success in Guangxi these past two days!"

"That's right. We just recovered Xing'an and Quanzhou, and we won a great victory at Suoyifalu, killing 5,000 bandits!"

Prince Gong Yixin also asked, "Yes, what happened? Why did they come to me, a palace attendant?"

An Dehai smiled bitterly and said, "My Lord, I don't know much about this, I just know that the Emperor is angry because of the demons."

"Demon?" The leading military officer Qi Junzao was shocked when he heard this.

Peng Yunzhang, who had just been promoted to the position of Grand Councilor last year, was also confused. "Demons are also under the jurisdiction of the Grand Council?"

"In charge, the Grand Council is in charge of everything!" Tuoheluo Muyin, who became the Grand Councilor at about the same time as Peng Da, is an old Manchu and indeed knows more.

Prince Gong Yixin muttered in a low voice: "What kind of demon is this? Could it be that the Forbidden City is haunted?"

(End of this chapter)