The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 362: We only want foreign guns, not foreign affairs (Please subscribe, please vote)
"Shengfu, what you said is very good and correct!"

Woren stroked his beard, looked at Weng Tonghe with burning eyes, and said word by word: "I also have a question, please answer it sincerely."

Weng Tonghe puffed out his chest and said solemnly, "Please ask me anything, sir. I will tell you everything I know."

Weiren nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll ask you, do you think Luo Xueyan's Westernization Movement in Shanghai can save the Qing Dynasty? Tell the truth! No matter what you say, only God knows, the earth knows, your son knows, I know, and your father and brother know."

"This..." Weng Tonghe looked at his father, and Weng Xincun said, "Genfeng is a great scholar of the time. Today, I am discussing the Dao with a junior like you. What do you have to worry about? Just say whatever you know."

"Yes, father." Weng Tonghe turned around and said to Woren, "Master Wo, I think Luo Xueyan's new policy in Shanghai will definitely not save the Qing Dynasty!"

"Why?" Woren looked at Weng Tonghe.

"Because the purpose of implementing the New Deal and carrying out Westernization is not to save the Qing Dynasty at all!" Weng Tonghe said in a serious voice.

"What's that for?" Woren asked again.

"It's a plan to become stronger!"

Weng Tonghe said: "I stayed in Shanghai for two months. During this time, Luo Xueshuai led his new army and navy to invade Japan with the foreigners. We captured several Japanese artillery forts, set fire to their ports and commercial markets, killed thousands of people, and forced them to pay a large sum of gold. Xueshuai's new army and navy were able to show their power in foreign countries. There is no doubt that it was the New Deal and Westernization Movement that made them famous.

In addition, during my stay in Shanghai, I also asked Luo Xueshuai's staff members who were familiar with foreign affairs about the inside story of the Western powers. I learned that the reason why the Western powers were strong was that they had strong ships and powerful guns, strong soldiers and sophisticated weapons. Their tricks were mainly used in war! After they had strong sea and land forces, they took the path of militarism. Not only did they fight each other on the European continent, they also set fire to money and wars overseas, killing people, setting fires and robbing gold and silver. They were really evil.

Luo Xueyan's Westernization and New Deal were just the beginning, but he followed the British, French and American powers to plunder overseas. It is easy to imagine what his Westernization and New Deal were! "

"Well said!" Woren clapped his hands. "Then tell me why Luo Xueyan's militaristic Westernization Movement and New Deal could not save the Qing Dynasty?"

Weng Tonghe sighed softly: "Because the cause of the chaos in the world today is not the lack of silver. When this dynasty was first founded, there was definitely not as much silver in the world as there is now, wouldn't there still be peace in the world?"

"Then why can't the world be at peace now?" Woren asked.

Weng Tonghe said: "In my humble opinion, there are two reasons for the chaos in the world. One is that there are too many people and too little land. The land in the world cannot support the people, so more and more people are lacking in food and clothing, suffering from hunger and cold, and have nowhere to go. Therefore, they are easily deceived and cause chaos.

Second, people’s hearts are corrupted! Correcting people’s hearts is the foundation of governing the world! If people’s hearts are not correct, the rich will not be kind, the poor will not be fair, the superiors will not be kind, and the inferiors will not be at ease.

If there were few people in the world but there was still a lot of land, the world could still be maintained by equalizing the land and suppressing annexation. But once the population grows too large, the few lands in the world will gradually be owned by the rich and powerful. The rich and powerful are unkind and merciless, greedy and tyrannical. The poor and the lower are dissatisfied and uneasy, not knowing that wealth and honor are from heaven, and only hope for chaos to equalize wealth. How can the world not be in chaos? How can such a chaos be quelled by Westernization and the New Deal?
Even if we succeed in our efforts to become stronger, it would be nothing more than plundering some gold, silver and land from the sea. But there are more than 400 million people in the world, and only a few hundred million acres of land. How can we ensure stability by plundering some land and wealth from overseas?

Moreover, the Westernization Movement and the New Deal of the great powers such as Britain, France, the United States, and Russia were better, and their tricks were more powerful. They had already divided up the rich land overseas. If China wanted to compete for it, it would only bring greater disasters, which is really not the best strategy. "

"Well said!" Woren nodded repeatedly, turned to Weng Xincun and said, "Sui'an, I think your young master has great talent!"

Weng Xincun smiled and said, "Brother Genfeng, you are too kind. I am still a novice in Confucianism. Although I know that only by correcting people's hearts can the world be saved, I don't know how to correct people's hearts. What's the use?"

Woren laughed and said, "Since returning from the northwest, I have often exchanged letters with Zeng Disheng to discuss current affairs, and I have gained some insights."

"Oh? I'd like to hear more about it." Weng asked.

Woren stroked his beard and said, "My experience can be summed up in eight words: We only want foreign guns, but not foreign affairs!" "We only want foreign guns, but not foreign affairs?" Weng Xincun frowned slightly, as if he did not fully understand.

Wo Ren said: "Foreign guns can pacify troubled times, but foreign forces must also confuse people's hearts. Now the world is in chaos. Without foreign guns and foreign cannons, my Qing Dynasty is in danger of destruction! However, in order to obtain foreign guns and foreign cannons, we have ignored the corruption of people's hearts and carried out foreign affairs, and even learned from foreigners, abandoning the righteous path of our China and taking the wrong path of foreign affairs. In the long run, China will inevitably become a barbarian.

The strategy of the foreign barbarians to strengthen the country and the army is nothing more than the hegemonic tactics of the Five Hegemons and the Seven Heroes, plus the powerful ships and cannons, and then use them in the five continents and four seas. It is really the collapse of etiquette and music to the extreme! Are we, the great Chinese, a civilized country, going to abandon the righteous people and retreat to use the tactics of the Five Hegemons and the Seven Heroes to compete with the foreign beasts for a small overseas benefit? "

After listening to Woren's theory, the Weng family, father and son, all admired this stubborn old man.

Woren is indeed a master of Neo-Confucianism. He really has a lot of knowledge in his head. He can even come up with such a long list of reasons against Westernization. And when such reasons come out of the mouth of this Neo-Confucian leader, there must be a lot of people who agree with him, and it might even become a trend.

It seems that the one who will have a headache next is not only Senggelinqin, but also Prince Gong Laoliu!

Weng Xincun clasped his fists towards Woren and said, "Listening to Genfeng's speech today is better than reading ten years of books! However, the foreign guns and cannons in the hands of the court should still be in the hands of the Eight Banners!"

"Of course!" Woren stroked his beard and said, "The descendants of the Eight Banners have received the grace of the country for generations, and they should join the army to serve. How can we abandon the Eight Banners and use the Khorchin? I will write a letter to the emperor tomorrow to mention this matter. Sui'an, are you willing to write a letter with me?"

"Of course!" Weng Xincun agreed immediately, "I couldn't ask for more!"

Tianjing, Xiaguan.

The "Yuefa" that departed from Osaka finally docked at the somewhat deserted pier in Tianjing Xiaguan.

Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, is still the largest city in the southeast, surpassing Suzhou and Shanghai!

First of all, the area of ​​this city is not comparable to Suzhou and Shanghai. After all, this is the best place in the world created by Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang for the descendants of the Ming Dynasty! Not to mention the outer city, the area of ​​the inner city alone is much larger than Suzhou, let alone Shanghai.

Secondly, the population of Tianjing was no less than that of Suzhou and Shanghai. Although the Taiping Army slaughtered a group of people when they came in, many of them fled later. However, Hong Xiuquan also brought in many "new Tianjing people". As the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's rule in Jiangnan became increasingly stable, many merchants from all over the world gathered outside the inner city of Tianjing and started business in the prosperous area on the west bank of the Qinhuai River. This made the population of Tianjing once again reach around one million!

"It's so magnificent!"

Daozi, who had just gotten off the "Yuefa", looked at the tall and majestic Yifeng Gate near Xiaguan Wharf and couldn't help but exclaimed in admiration.

Such a majestic city gate cannot be seen in Japan at all. Only the Celestial Empire and the residence of God’s second son are worthy of having it!
Thinking of this, she turned around and looked at the fourteen girls who had followed her all the way from Osaka, nodded heavily, and said loudly: "We have arrived at Tianjing City. Let's go to see His Majesty the Heavenly King now!"

"Haha! The king of heaven for half a year!"

A group of Japanese girls cheered together, which made the Taiping Army guarding the Xiaguan Wharf in Tianjing a little confused.

Where did these women come from? What is "half a year"? The leader seems to be a foreign woman who looks pretty!
The commander of the Taiping Army Yulin Army who was ordered to lead the team to guard the Xiaguan Wharf today was a brigade commander named Chen Decai. He was in his twenties, short and sturdy, with very energetic features. He wore a yellow silk robe, a red scarf on his head, and a sword on his waist. He led several Yulin Army soldiers carrying foreign rifles and strode up to them. He pointed at Daozi, the leader, and asked loudly, "Hey, you foreign woman, where are you from? What are you doing in Tianjing City?"

Daozi immediately bowed to Chen Decai and replied in stiff Chinese: "Sir, my name is Daozi, and I am from Nagasaki, Japan. I am the cousin of the Heavenly King, a disciple of Lord Hong Daquan. I have been ordered to come to Tianjing to serve His Majesty the Heavenly King."

Before she finished her words, Chen Decai shouted, "Shut up! When did the Heavenly King have a cousin like Hong Daquan? You must be a spy! Someone, arrest me!"

(End of this chapter)