The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 386 Li Hongzhang, how did you become a reformist? (Please subscribe and vote)
Luo Xueyan finally stepped on the land of Shanghai again. Li Hongzhang and several officials from the Shanghai government, as well as the "hidden officials" who were hiding from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Shanghai, straightened their robes and walked forward solemnly. Several officers and soldiers of the Nanyang New Army guarding the passenger boat stood at attention, and then Luo Yaoguo stepped out with a bow, followed by Wang Libin and Zhou Xiuying. When he saw Li Hongzhang and several waiting officials, he immediately ordered them to lower the gangplank quickly.

"Sister Maria, did you see that? The tall man with a bald head and short hair without a braid is the monster!"

Yuan Bao was standing behind a window in the corner of the second floor of the passenger terminal at the Hunan Wharf at this time. He raised his hand and pointed at Luo Yaoguo who was stepping on the gangplank to get off the ship, and said with gritted teeth.

He was supposed to transfer to the "Geely" train that ran from Shanghai to Tianjin with Sushun and head north, but somehow he stayed and walked with Maria, the "exorcist".

Maria smiled and said, "Oh? How did Master Yuan know that he was a demon?"

Yuan Bao was stunned, and turned to look at the beautiful nun beside him: "What? You don't believe me? Then why did you come all the way to Shanghai?"

"Of course I came to China to exorcise demons and find more Prophetic Books!" Maria laughed, "But I'm not sure he is a demon now. I need to do more investigation before deciding whether to take action against him! He is not an ordinary person. If I make a mistake, I will be in big trouble."

"Yes, that's a must." Yuan Bao coughed lightly, "We can't wrongly accuse a good person, nor can we let a bad person go!"

"Bad guy?" Maria said, "I don't care if he is a bad guy or not. I only care if he is a human being or not. As long as he is a human being, I will not deal with him no matter how bad he is."

"What if he is not a human?" Yuan Bao asked.

Maria blinked and said, "If he is not a human being, then I will have to deal with him the same way I deal with the devil."

Yuan Bao asked curiously: "Sister Maria, what exactly is the method you are talking about to deal with the devil?"

"I can't tell you that!" Maria put away her smile and said word by word, "But the Roman Church has been fighting against the devil for more than a thousand years. So far, no devil has escaped the exorcists of the Church. You have been traveling in Europe for so many days. Have you ever heard of devils wreaking havoc there?"

Yuan Bao thought about it seriously and said, "It seems that there really isn't one!"

"Then don't worry!" Maria said coldly, "If he is really a devil, I will definitely drive him away from this world!"

"Okay, then I'm relieved!" Yuan Bao said, "But you have to believe me, he is the devil. I saw him fall from the sky with my own eyes!"

"Miss Wan, please stand on this chair and keep steady. I'll point it out to you. That's the tall guy wearing a blue-grey robe."

In another corner of the second floor of the waiting building, Weng Tonghe was handing a telescope to a petite, pink-skinned girl standing on a bamboo chair. This girl was Concubine Yi's younger sister, Wanzhen.

"Brother Weng, there are two tall guys. Which one are you talking about?" Wanzhen's face was red and she looked shy, but she couldn't help but look. When she looked, she saw two tall guys standing there, bowing to each other.

Weng Tonghe looked carefully and found that it was Luo Yaoguo who met Li Hongzhang!
There aren't many tall people these days, and it's even rarer to find two tall people together.

"The shorter one," Weng Tonghe pointed at the "shorter" of the two taller ones, "Miss Wan, take a closer look at him. Doesn't he have thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a full beard? Doesn't he look energetic?"

As he spoke, he also touched his hairy cheeks and chin - he also had a big beard!
"That's not right!" Wanzhen said, "Why doesn't he have a braid? Is he bald?"

"Baldy?" Weng Tonghe was stunned for a moment, then quickly shook his head, "No, no, he's not bald, he must have cut his braids."

"Cut it? How can that be? The rule of our dynasty is to keep the hair but not the head!" Wanzhen was shocked, with fear all over her face.

"He didn't keep his hair!" Weng Tonghe laughed, "He can keep his hair but not his head. He didn't have to keep his braid! Besides, he now has 30,000 soldiers, all equipped with British weapons and trained by French military advisers. No one dares to cut off his head."

"Isn't this a way of holding your own troops?" Wanzhen stared at Weng Tonghe with her eyes wide open.

"You are right," Weng Tonghe nodded with a smile, "He is a feudal lord who commands his own troops!"

"Isn't that the same as Peaceful West King?"

"It's different!" Weng Tonghe shook his head and said seriously, "The King of Pingxi doesn't have 30,000 foreign rifle troops, nor does he have the Nanyang Navy. The Nanyang Navy's large ships have 64-pound bombardment cannons, and the barrels are old and crude!" Wanzhen was shocked: "Then, if he wants to rebel, what should I do?"

"What else can we do? Miss Wan, this is a time of chaos!" Weng Tonghe spread his hands, "If he rebels, then you will either become the queen or the imperial concubine, enjoying endless wealth and glory!"

"Ah" Wanzhen didn't know whether to cry or laugh for a moment.

She was marrying "Wu Sangui"! And he was a Wu Sangui who had 30,000 foreign riflemen, strong ships and powerful guns!
"Marshal Xue, this trip to the West has broadened Hongzhang's horizons. He has come to know how vast the earth is, how strong the European army is, and how advanced the industrial technology is. What China is experiencing today is a strange change that has not happened in three thousand years! If we are not determined to reform, forge ahead, and learn from the advanced technology of foreigners, we will not be able to survive and become stronger. Reform, forge ahead, and learn from the advanced technology of foreigners are not only about the use of Western learning, but also about the essence of Western learning!

Although the essence of Western learning is not as profound as that of Chinese philosophy, it is applicable to today's world where the strong prey on the weak, and is the basis for the survival, prosperity and decline of powerful countries.

The reason for this is that the Western countries that still exist today were actually all fought out during the turmoil of the Warring States Period in Europe for more than a thousand years.

Today's Western powers, like the seven major powers in the Warring States Period, have long since thoroughly studied the ways to enrich the country and strengthen the military.

If our country cannot choose the applicable ones and learn from them, and only knows how to buy some foreign guns and cannons, it will not be enough to strengthen and survive, and it will not even be able to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Because the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has now used the most fatherless and monarchless republican law among the Western methods!

In Hongzhang's opinion, although this law is not suitable for China, it can achieve the effect of enriching the country and strengthening the military in a very short time. Among Western countries, the only law that can counter the republican law is the constitutional monarchy. Compared with the republican law of no father and no king, the monarchy of the constitutional monarchy is the most suitable for China, with the king and the ministers each doing their own job and the officials and gentry united.

At the Hunan dock, the person who was holding Luo Xueyan's hand and talking with him was none other than Li Hongzhang, who had learned the essence of Western methods in Europe.

On the surface, what he said was addressed to Luo Xueyan, but in fact, it was addressed to everyone present. He was taking advantage of the opportunity of Shanghai's leading figures gathering to welcome Luo Xueyan to promote his theory of constitutional monarchy and reform.

After listening for a while, Luo Xueyan showed a surprised expression - this Li Hongzhang had obviously learned some of the essence of Western methods!

His current understanding of the republic and constitutional monarchy has probably surpassed that of Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao in history. He has seen through the surface and touched the root.

This constitutional monarchy is actually a collaboration between the nobles and the gentry, who undermine the monarch and suppress the poor, thereby achieving the goal of firmly controlling the entire country. The process is often relatively mild and can be considered a reform.

A republic, on the other hand, is not so polite and is usually a more deadly revolution.

After all, a republic does not need a monarch or aristocracy, so the process is naturally more intense, and the interests of the gentry class will also be affected to a considerable extent in this process.

For China's upper and middle classes, they certainly do not like fatal revolutions. Only moderate reforms are acceptable to them.

But the choice of whether to die or to live peacefully is not theirs, and certainly not at the bottom of society. It lies in the contradiction between people and land, and in how many people at the bottom of society really, truly cannot survive.

However, this extremely sharp contradiction between man and land is not seen among the Europeans who colonized half of the world and led the Industrial Revolution.

In today's Europe, countries that can be considered powerful have sufficient resources to keep their poor people away from hunger and cold.

That is to say, among the European powers today, the main problem is distribution.

In China, the main problem now is that the total amount is insufficient, and it is seriously insufficient.

In the case of severe shortage of total amount, it is extremely difficult to pursue the reformist path.

Therefore, in Luo Xueyan's view, Li Hongzhang's reform line, like the original Westernization line, was a dead end.

Moreover, Luo Xueyan would not allow him to get away. Because the Qing Dynasty must die!

(End of this chapter)