The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 397 The Republic is Good, the Constitution is Wonderful, and the Angel Falls in Love with Maria (Please Vote, Please Subscribe)
"Tell me, what should we do now? The Taiping rebels have changed their god. It's obvious that they want to recruit scholars and officials. How should the Qing Dynasty respond?"

Xianfeng was really anxious now. Although he was not a wise ruler, he knew what his Qing Dynasty relied on to resist the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom! The Qing Dynasty did not rely on the military force of the Eight Banners, nor on the Green Camp soldiers who were considered brave only when they fled when they saw the thieves. If they really relied on those people, the Qing Dynasty would have been finished long ago!
The reason why the Qing Dynasty has been able to survive until now and has been able to fight and fight again and again without collapsing is due to the support of the Han literati. The Han literati supported the Qing Dynasty for two reasons:

One is the God of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the God of the Han scholar-officials. He is not one God.

In other words, the Taiping Rebellion actually had the nature of a religious war!

Second, the land policy currently implemented by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom harmed the interests of the literati.

However, the land policy does not have to be the same across the country, and this is an issue that can be discussed. According to the reports in the "Compilation of Bandit Situations" submitted by Zeng Guofan, Luo Bingzhang, Zhang Liangji, Zuo Zongtang and others, the land policy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was a "wide and tight belt", wide in some places, tight in others, and even not implemented in some places.

For example, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom first started to distribute land in southern Hunan, the policy was very strict. After they reached the south and north of the Yangtze River and expanded their base, the land policy began to relax, allowing landlords to keep more land and no longer distribute floating wealth.

According to the news conveyed to Prince Gong by the foreign embassy, ​​Luo Yaoguo, the King of Wu of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, has published an edict in various newspapers in Shanghai, announcing that there will be no land distribution in the area under the jurisdiction of the former Shanghai Governor's Office!
Obviously, this matter is negotiable!
And now, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has replaced the foreign God with a local God, and has put on an attitude of sincerely welcoming heroes from all over the world to discuss state affairs. It has also sent a hero invitation to the Yanshenggong Mansion. This is clearly an attempt to snatch the plate of Han scholars and officials from the Qing Dynasty.

Everyone knows that the bones of Han scholars are relatively soft. They were slaughtered again and again by the Mongols and Manchus, but in the end, they also knelt down and licked their asses. Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also slaughtered a lot in the past two years, compared with the Mongols and Manchus back then, that was nothing.

Now that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has relaxed the issue of land distribution a little, and given the forces that voluntarily surrendered to it the preferential treatment of "no land distribution", and then changed to a local god to worship, then the literati and officials in the world would not dare to surrender to it, but if half or one third of them surrendered, the Qing Dynasty would be finished!

The Qing Dynasty was getting closer and closer to its end. How could Xianfeng not be anxious?

But the princes and ministers below said nothing. They all lay on the ground with their buttocks sticking up, without raising their heads.

The atmosphere in the Qinzheng Qinxian Hall was getting lower and lower, and Emperor Xianfeng's face was getting uglier and uglier. It was unknown how long it had been before Prince Gong Yixin said, "Your Majesty, I have heard from foreigners a method that can fight against the Republic. I don't know if I should tell you about it."

"Go ahead!" Xianfeng shouted, "Sixth Brother, you said that foreigners have ways to fight against the republic. Then are there people in their country who are fighting for the republic?"

"Of course there are!" Prince Gong said, "England, France and America, the three major foreign countries, have all established republics. But at present, the only one that still maintains the republican flag is America."

Prince Gong paused, then asked Xianfeng again: "Your Majesty, do you know what a republic is?"

Xianfeng was stunned: "Isn't it just that there is no father and no king?"

Prince Gong said: "Xu Jiyu, the former governor of Fujian who organized the militia here, introduced the American Republic in his recently published "A Brief Account of the World". I read this book not long ago, and I still remember what the book said about General Washington, the father of the American Republic: Washington is an extraordinary man. He was braver than Sheng Guang in starting an uprising, and more powerful than Cao and Liu in establishing his own regime. After he raised a three-foot sword and expanded the territory for thousands of miles, he did not usurp the throne, nor did he pass it on to his descendants. Instead, he created a method of election, almost making the world public."

At this point, Prince Gong Yixin took out a copy of A Brief Account of the Western Ocean, which still smelled of ink, and held it up high: "Your Majesty, this is A Brief Account of the Western Ocean, written by Xu Jiyu. Please have a look."

"Rebellion! Rebellion!" Emperor Xianfeng took the "A Brief Account of the Western Ocean" from An Dehai and flipped through it. He soon found the content dictated by Prince Gong - Prince Gong had already folded the corners, so it was easy to find. After just a few minutes of reading, he was already angry and afraid.

How does this republic have anything to do with the world for all?
Moreover, Xu Jiyu was a senior official of the Qing Dynasty who had served as a governor! He was one of the leaders of the Shanxi scholar-officials, and even he wrote books in support of the republic.

Wouldn’t the Qing Dynasty be in danger?
At this time, Prince Gong finally said the way to fight against the republic: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, the foreigners have long had a way to fight against the republic, called constitutional monarchy! Of the three foreign countries that I just mentioned that have established republics, two of them have already been overthrown by constitutional monarchy, and only the American Republic still exists. The reason why the American Republic can exist is that the country was originally an overseas colony of England and had no emperor. As stated in "A Brief Account of the Western Oceans", Washington was the founding father of the United States. If he himself did not become an emperor, the United States would not have an imperial inheritance, and there would be no monarch to establish a constitutional monarchy, so the republic could survive.

It can be seen from this that constitutional monarchy is the nemesis of the republic. As long as the Qing Dynasty implements constitutional monarchy, it will surely defeat the long-haired republic! "Xianfeng's brows relaxed a little: "Sixth Brother, tell me again, what is constitutional monarchy?"

"Your Majesty," Prince Gong said, "In fact, this constitutional monarchy is an expanded version of the Council of Princes and Ministers that existed in our early Qing Dynasty for decades. In other words, it is to let the literati and officials in the world elect representatives to participate in the Council of Princes and Ministers, and let them act as a 'walking council' to show that our Qing Dynasty shares the world with the literati and officials.

This Council of Ministers is the ancestral system of our Qing Dynasty, and it was not completely abolished until the reign of Emperor Qianlong."

It must be said that Prince Gong and Li Hongzhang were much better at establishing a constitutional monarchy than Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao in history! They immediately brought out the Council of Ministers, which was the ancestral system created by Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty, Huang Taiji!
Doesn’t the restoration of the Council of Ministers embody the principle that “the laws of our ancestors cannot be changed”?

Xianfeng frowned again: "Let the leaders of the literati from all over the country serve in the Council of State. Will these people take the opportunity to discuss state affairs?"

"Your Majesty, don't worry about this," said Prince Gong. "Above the Council of State, there are two levels: the Minister of State and the Prince of State. The Council of State is only the third level. It is firmly suppressed by the two levels above it, and it can't make any big waves."

It seemed to make sense, but Xianfeng still refused to give in. Prince Gong understood his brother's intentions and made another memorial: "Your Majesty, we can try to hold a meeting of ministers and gentry to offset the Taimao National Assembly. As for whether to continue the meeting, isn't it your opinion?"

Xianfeng nodded slightly and looked at the ministers kneeling below: "If you have no objection, how about we try to hold a meeting of the ministers and gentry?"

The people below said in unison: "Your Majesty is wise!"

"Maria respectfully greets His Holiness the Archangel."

Suzhou, Prince Wu's Palace, Maria de Clementina Doria finally left the torture room, took a bath, changed into a clean nun's robe, put on makeup, and once again knelt at Luo Yaoguo's feet, kissed his boots respectfully, and then held Luo Yaoguo's right hand and kissed it.

Although he looked a little haggard, he did not show any resentment at all. Instead, he had a sincere smile on his face.

She had been tortured for several days, not only suffering physical pain, but also being subjected to fatigue tactics. It was not until last night that Luo Yaoguo finally believed that Maria, the Pope's spy, had no ill will towards him, and that her faith was extremely firm and she was willing to sacrifice herself to serve the angels or prophets.

The kind that has been brainwashed by religion.
Luo Yaoguo looked at this "silly white beauty" and asked apologetically, "Does it still hurt?"

"It doesn't matter," Maria smiled, "a little pain in my body helps cleanse my sinful soul. That is your love for me."

This is probably the theory of the Flagellants - a Christian sect that was quite popular in the Middle Ages, but no one believed it after the 17th century.

"Then. Give me a reason to keep you here." Luo Yaoguo asked expressionlessly.

In his heart, he really wanted to keep Maria, or to possess her!
But Maria is the Pope's spy after all, and she came with a mission. If her mission will affect Luo Yaoguo's career, Luo Yaoguo cannot keep her no matter what.

Maria held Luo Yaoguo's right hand, looked at him with an affectionate look that Luo Yaoguo could hardly refuse, and said softly: "First of all, I know that you love me, and everything you do for me is out of love, so I am willing to stay by your side forever.

Secondly, there are many people in Europe who want to know what will happen in the future. They are willing to pay a high price. As an Austrian countess, the Pope's envoy, the cardinal's niece, and a woman from the famous Doria family of Genoa, I can help you make connections. Please believe in my ability. I can get the best benefits for you. I don't want anything, I just want to stay with His Majesty the Angel! "

(End of this chapter)