The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 315 Your Majesty, I am here to teach you how to sell out your country! (Please subscribe and vote)
"What? Open Tianjin? That's the country's frontier! And you want to completely open up foreign cigarettes to you. Aren't you afraid that all the Qing Dynasty's silver will be exchanged for foreign cigarettes by foreigners?"

When Xianfeng heard the advice from his good brother, he became a little angry.

It was easy to talk about jointly managing customs and agreeing on tariffs, but he was absolutely unwilling to open the Tianjin port and completely liberalize the import of foreign cigarettes.

"Your Majesty." Prince Gong paused for a moment, as if he had made a major decision. "Allowing the import of foreign tobacco will not allow foreigners to take all our money, because, because we can also grow opium ourselves!"

"Grow it yourself?" Xianfeng was stunned.

It’s not that no one has ever suggested growing one’s own opium, but that’s completely bad!
You can grow opium yourself, but you have to bear the consequences of the addiction yourself!

Moreover, opium, a harmful substance, obviously harmed the bannermen more than the Han people. After all, the bannermen had money and leisure time, and when they were bored, they could spend a little money to smoke opium to satisfy their addiction. If they spent the money this month, they would receive a salary next month.

Most of the Han people were too poor. The money they earned from hard work was not enough to eat. How could they buy opium? Did they really want to starve themselves to death? Who would like to be with the Han people who followed the Taiping rebels? On the contrary, many of the Green Camp soldiers who had fixed food and wages were addicted to opium.

If the silver is gone, there will be no silver to pay, but if all the eight banners are involved,
Prince Gong said in a low voice at this time: "Your Majesty, I know the harm of opium! But the Eight Banners are useless. It doesn't matter whether they smoke foreign cigarettes or not. No one can fight. Even the Green Camp soldiers are decadent and can't be relied on. Instead of expecting the Eight Banners to revive and the Green Camp to work hard, it is better to introduce foreign guns, foreign cannons and foreign generals to run a good new army.

This time, I was defeated in Yangzhou, not only because I was frightened by the Taiping with hot air balloons, but also because Taiping also got help from Westerners, bought foreign guns and cannons, hired foreign soldiers and generals, and trained a new Western-style army! "

"Wait a minute," Xianfeng interrupted his brother, "Aren't the foreigners at odds with the Taiping rebels? Why are they still selling them foreign guns and cannons? Why are there still foreign generals and soldiers working for the Taiping rebels?"

"Your Majesty, do you know why the long-haired Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is fighting with the foreign Catholics and the London Missionary Society?"

Xianfeng shook his head: "Why?"

Prince Gong smiled bitterly and said, "It's because the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has quietly developed many foreign believers in Shanghai!"

"Ah? Foreigners also believe in Taimao's teachings?" Xianfeng found it unbelievable.

Prince Gong sighed, "I personally witnessed foreign pastors and bishops openly debating with Taimao bishops in Shanghai. In the end, the foreign pastors and bishops were defeated by Taimao and had to bring up religious cases. However, they were unable to defeat Taimao's followers and lost both face and dignity."

"Wait, Luo Xueyan doesn't care about it?" Xianfeng had already discovered something was wrong. "How could he allow the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to enter Shanghai?"

Prince Gong smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, Luo Xueyan is now a servant of two masters!"

Actually there are three queens. And there is also Queen Victoria of England!

However, Prince Gong didn't know about it yet, so he couldn't report it to Emperor Xianfeng.

"The second master?" Xianfeng's face turned pale. "Did he submit to the Taiping rebels?"

Prince Gong nodded and said, "The rebel Hong of the Taiping Rebellion appointed him as the governor of Shanghai and gave him Shanghai County, Baoshan County, Jiading County, Chongming County, Nanhui County, Fengxian County and Chuansha County. He is a vassal who only obeys orders but not decrees from Taiping Rebellion!"

"He actually sighed."

Xianfeng sighed and fell silent.

Luo Xueyan was also a warlord who followed orders but not decrees from the Qing Dynasty. Now his six counties and one hall had been turned into enclaves by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. What was the big deal if he became a vassal of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom? He had a foot in both camps. No matter who was in power in the future, he would not lose his title of nobility.

Aren’t all small warlords like this in troubled times?

"Your Majesty, this is the memorial that Luo Xueyan asked me to send to you. Would you like to read it?" After Prince Gong finished talking about Luo Xueyan's serving two masters, he took out the box containing the secret memorial that Luo Xueyan gave him. The seal on the box was still intact.

"Take a look!" Xianfeng sighed and beckoned to An Dehai who was standing behind him. An Dehai took two steps forward, took the box, looked at it carefully, then tore open the seal, took out the letter inside, and handed it to Xianfeng with both hands.

Xianfeng took the memorial and opened it to read. After reading it for a while, he started to laugh and said several times: "Good! Good! What a great Luo Xueyan!"

Prince Gong was a little confused by Emperor Xianfeng's reaction, and he raised his neck to look at his fourth brother.

Xianfeng had already closed the memorial and looked at his sixth brother who was looking up at him: "Sixth brother, guess what Luo Xueyan's memorial said?"

What's the matter? You're not going to marry Wanzhen, are you?
Prince Gong thought.

Seeing his brother's bewildered face, Xianfeng did not keep him in suspense and said calmly, "He taught me how to sell out the country in his memorial!"

"what?"

Prince Gong was stunned.

Xianfeng smiled bitterly and said, "Not bad, Lao Liu. Aren't you interested in Western affairs? See for yourself. Your Western affairs are far worse than his!"

As he said this, he handed the memorial to An Dehai and asked him to show it to Prince Gong.

Prince Gong took the memorial and started reading it. He first scanned it at a glance, then read it carefully again. After reading it, he was surprised and said, "I didn't expect that this country could be sold in this way."

Xianfeng looked at his brother and said, "Sixth Brother, do you think this will work?"

Prince Gong sighed and said, "Your Majesty, I think Luo Xueyan's method is worth a try, regardless of whether it works or not. It is nothing more than harming our neighbors and diverting the disaster to the north and east, so that the British will know that the Qing Dynasty is useful to them in maintaining their so-called world hegemony."

Xianfeng nodded, and finally smiled a little on his face. "This is called using barbarians to control barbarians! Luo Xueyan's memorial said that the British are about to go to war with Russia, and it will be a big war, at least hundreds of thousands of casualties, the kind that no one can afford to lose. At this time, we open Vladivostok to the British, let them station troops and stop ships, replenish food and coal, so that they can fight the Russian soldiers in the north and disperse the Russians' strength. Then we can make friends with the British and let them regard our Qing Dynasty as an ally against Russia!

In addition to selling Luocha to the British, we can now sell Korea and Japan. Korea is a vassal of the Qing Dynasty, and vassals have no diplomacy! The Qing Dynasty decided to open Korea, and Korea must open a country. The Busan mentioned by Luo Xueyan is in Donglaifu, Korea, next to Japan, and in the middle of our sea route from Shandong and Liaodong to Vladivostok, which is just a port for supply transit.

Once it is developed, both we and the British can benefit. The British can enter Korea from Busan and infiltrate Japan from Busan. We can use Busan to obtain materials from Korea and Japan to develop Ningguta.

In addition, Ryukyu is also a vassal of the Qing Dynasty, but it is secretly controlled by Japan. On the surface, it still pays tribute to us, but Japan secretly takes all the benefits and stationed troops in Ryukyu. This time, Japan is oppressed by the United States, and warships are knocking on the gates, and they are required to open the country within a time limit. Just like us back then, they are in a state of panic! Luo Xueyan suggested that we take advantage of the situation and open the ports on behalf of Ryukyu, let the British enter to set up concessions, build consulates, and go north from Ryukyu to pressure Japan to open the country! "

Xianfeng paused and said, "Sixth Brother, you still have to learn about foreign affairs from Luo Xueyan! Don't worry about other things in the future, just focus on foreign affairs! I won't give up on your princehood. The decree that made you the Prince Gong was written by our emperor himself and is placed in the box behind the plaque of "Zhengda Guangming". It is of great significance! But don't worry about the affairs of the Military Affairs Office, just go to Tianjin to handle foreign affairs!
Now Shanghai has a Minister of Trade for Five Ports. In the future, Tianjin can also have one. Well, two Ministers of Trade for Five Ports are easy to confuse. How about this, Luo Xueyan will be the Minister of Trade for Nanyang in the future, and you, Lao Liu, will be the Minister of Trade for Beiyang! The Huai River is divided into north and south. The trade affairs of the ports north of the Huai River belong to the Minister of Beiyang, and the trade affairs of the ports south of the Huai River belong to the Minister of Nanyang. As for the Beiyang ports, there is one in Tianjin, one in Vladivostok, and one in Busan. You can negotiate with the foreigners for the rest! For the Nanyang port, we will open another Ryukyu and let Luo Xueyan negotiate."

"Your Majesty," Prince Gong suggested, "For diplomatic affairs, there must be a government office that is responsible for the overall affairs, right? Otherwise, if Nanyang and Beiyang each talk about their own affairs, who will be the boss in the end?"

"That's true," Xianfeng glanced at his brother, and of course understood his thoughts, "How about this, I will issue an edict, and let the Beiyang minister be in charge of the negotiations with various countries. From now on, the things that are agreed upon in Nanyang must be approved by Beiyang!"

"I will never let the emperor down!"

Xianfeng nodded and said to himself, "We have to win over Luo Xueyan as well. Otherwise, why not send Wanzhen to Shanghai for him?"

"Ah!" Prince Gong exclaimed.

Xianfeng looked at his brother: "What? Do you think it's wrong?"

(End of this chapter)