The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 337: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the people are living in misery! (Please subscribe, please vote)
Weng Tonghe and Ronglu, with their sleeves rolled up, squeezed among the crowd outside Hanshan Temple with a distracted look on their faces.

Before the New Year, the ancient city of Gusu is always the busiest in the year. The prosperity of Gusu City has long been beyond the confinement of dozens of miles of high walls. The market around the Hanshan Ancient Temple, located outside Gusu City and on the bank of the canal, is even more prosperous than that inside Gusu City.

The passenger boat that Weng Tonghe and Ronglu were riding on was now parked at a berth at Jiangcun Wharf next to Hanshan Temple. According to the sailing plan, the fleet would stay in Gusu for half a day, during which time they would also load and unload cargo and pick up a large number of passengers going to Shanghai.

The captain of the passenger boat told Weng and Rong that Suzhou was under the jurisdiction of Wu Wang Luo Yaoguo, and was the richest, most stable, most reasonable, and also the place with the best public security in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Weng Tonghe and Ronglu, two northern merchants with pigtails, could go shopping in Suzhou without worrying about wearing hoods or paying pigtail taxes.
Weng Tonghe was from Suzhou Prefecture, and his family even had businesses in the city!

When he heard the captain say that Suzhou was a good place to live, he couldn't help but want to "go home and have a look", so he pulled Ronglu off the boat and strolled around the prosperous Hanshan Temple.

The market in Suzhou is certainly very different from that in Zhenjiang, but it is also quite different from that in Yangzhou under the rule of Yang Xiuqing.

There were almost no men or women walking around in the streets of Suzhou wearing the yellow or red uniforms of the Taiping Army. There were only teams of Taiping soldiers on duty, walking in formation with flintlock rifles on their backs.

However, the biggest difference between Suzhou and Yangzhou is that Suzhou does not seem to be dominated by Christianity, because Weng Tonghe and Ronglu saw the Hanshan Temple was full of incense as soon as they walked out of Jiangcun Wharf. When they walked into the gate of Hanshan Temple, they saw that it was full of believers burning incense and kowtowing. Monks who collected donations carried yellow money boxes in and out, and they all smiled like Maitreya Buddha.

What surprised Weng Tonghe and Ronglu even more was that they saw several men in Taiping military uniforms, bringing women who seemed to be their wives, to Hanshan Temple to burn incense together!

The Taiping Army in Suzhou stopped worshipping God and started burning incense instead?
Oh, not entirely, God also needs to be worshipped.

Weng Tonghe and Ronglu also saw a "God Worshipping Church" under construction next to the Hanshan Temple. A tablet of "Heavenly Father Haotian Huangshang God" had been erected in the completed hall. There were also several God Worshipping Society lecturers standing outside the hall distributing "The True Testament", "On Heaven", "Anti-Scripture" and "The Land System of the Celestial Kingdom" for free.

Weng Tonghe and Ronglu found that there were many people who looked like scholars queuing up to get books.

Weng Tonghe thought it was a bit strange, so he went to ask. He was also from Changshu County, Suzhou Prefecture, and he could get along well with the pale-faced scholars in the queue with just one word.

"This brother has come here to receive the book, I guess he is also interested in taking the imperial examination, right?"

"To take the exam to gain a good reputation? To take the exam to learn the teachings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?"

"Study the True Testament, On Heaven, Anti-Scripture, and Celestial Land System. These are the 'Four Books' of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It is said that there will be five more classics in the future, which are 'Mathematics', 'Chemistry', 'Physics', 'Geography', and 'Biology'."

"Oh, I see? Is it difficult to take the test?"

"I don't know. I haven't taken the exam before. The first imperial examination will be held next autumn."

At this time, Weng Tonghe suddenly saw several women in small jackets and long skirts lining up and was surprised: "Hey, why are there women lining up to get books?"

"Women can also take the imperial examination next autumn. However, women with bound feet are not allowed to take the exam. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom forbids women from binding their feet."

Weng Tonghe looked at the feet of the women and found that they all had natural feet, which was rare in the scholar-official families of Suzhou.
After receiving the "Four Books" from a lecturer with a Hunan accent, Weng Tonghe and Ronglu strolled around the streets around Hanshan Temple for a while. They then went to an old noodle shop and had a bowl of steaming braised pork noodles each. They felt warm all over after eating and went back satisfied.

When they reached Jiangcun Wharf, they suddenly discovered that there were many farmers wearing dirty, coarse clothes and with dark complexions, waiting in line to board the boat under the supervision of several men in short silk jackets.

There were also a few people from the God Worshipping Church in black robes distributing the True Covenant to these men. While distributing the "scripture", they said to the dark-faced farmers in a Hunan accent: "Worship God for safety, worship Ji Du for wealth! As long as you join the True Covenant sect, crossing the ocean is a piece of cake!"

Which song is this sung from?

Weng Tonghe and Ronglu were confused, but they found that the young Taiping soldier named Ding was also watching the fun with his arms folded, so Weng Tonghe went up to him to ask.

"Brother Ding, what are they doing?" Weng Tonghe pointed at the people in line and asked. "Alas," the Taiping Army soldier surnamed Ding sighed, "They are all poor people who can't make a living and want to sell their pigs overseas."

"Ah?" Weng Tonghe was stunned. "Can't survive?"

Ronglu's eyes lit up: "Can't you survive in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?"

"Why can't we survive in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?" The Taiping soldier surnamed Ding smiled bitterly, "There is only a tiny bit of land, no matter how we divide it, it is not enough. Oh, it may be enough for food, but it is not enough to marry a wife and live a good life."

"So I can only sell myself overseas?" Weng Tonghe asked with a frown, "The King of Wu doesn't care?"

The Taiping Army soldier surnamed Ding shook his head: "Yes, I am in charge!" He raised his hand and pointed, "Isn't that controlling?"

Weng Tonghe looked in the direction of his finger and saw a man in black handing out "True Covenant".

"This is."

The Taiping Army soldier surnamed Ding said: "We gave them the True Covenant for free and also recruited them to join the True Covenant Sect. That is the God Worshipping Society. After the God Worshipping Society went abroad, it was called the True Covenant Sect. If they read the True Covenant Sutra and joined the True Covenant Sect, the Heavenly Father Haotianhuang God would bless them to cross the ocean safely and make a fortune overseas!"

"Ah? That's it?"

“Is this also called a tube?”

The Taiping Army soldier surnamed Ding nodded seriously: "Yes, isn't this what we are doing? What else can we do?"

Weng Tonghe and Ronglu both shook their heads.

What should I do?
We should implement benevolent policies and let the people live and work in peace and contentment, instead of running out to work as coolies!
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom didn't seem to be that great. The territories under its rule were all fertile lands, but the people were still living in misery!
It seems that the Qing Dynasty was still the best!

Thinking of this, Weng Tonghe and Ronglu looked at each other, and both saw the "light" in each other's eyes.
Some people saw hope, while others could only feel helpless. For example, Chen Ji was the former biggest coolie in Shanghai and the leader of the Cao Gang who controlled the coolie business at several foreign docks on the Bund.

He was no longer a coolie because he helped the foreigners to destroy Hong Xiuquan's place in the "Shanghai Incident", and ended up on the blacklist of the Red Gang leader Xu Yuegui. Not only was his own gang destroyed, but several of his subordinates were hunted down and could not survive in Shanghai. Fortunately, he still had a few good brothers who helped him escape from Shanghai and hide in Suzhou.

But he is a man who is used to eating and spending, not only is he a spendthrift, he is also a gambler!

The little savings on hand were soon gone!

So he wanted to go back to his old business and open a temple in Suzhou to mix with the society!
But before he could make a comeback, he found out that Sister Yuegui's Sanxin Company had already gone to Suzhou to develop business first, and that Sanxin Company had a very close relationship with the Taiping Army in Suzhou! I don't know how Sister Yuegui could be so well-connected?

So he didn't dare to stay in Suzhou anymore, but he had nowhere else to go, so he made up his mind, gritted his teeth, and "sold the pigs" with his three sworn brothers, and went abroad to try his luck in that remote America!
Today is the day when he and his three brothers board the ship to bid farewell to Suzhou City. Well, in a few days, he will bid farewell to China and board a big ship called Jinshan Mansion to the United States!

I don’t know if there is gold in Jinshan?
"Brother, take the True Covenant and join our True Covenant sect. It will be easy for you to take care of me when you get to the other side of the ocean."

At this time, a thread-bound copy of "True Covenant" was stuffed into Chen Ji's hands. Chen Ji was literate, so he took the book that brought him bad luck and took a look. He sighed, then looked at the young man who stuffed the book into his hands and said, "Little brother, I want to convert to the True Covenant sect. Can God and Ji Du really bless me?"

"Of course!" The True Covenant pastor nodded with a smile. "You may not know this, but True Covenant is not only believed by Chinese people, but also by many foreigners. When you go abroad, our foreign brothers will protect you."

"Okay! Then I believe it, I will believe it right away!" Chen Ji shouted: "Father God, bless me!"

(End of this chapter)