The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 399: Clearing Out the Traitorous Li Datou (Requesting Subscription and Vote)
Beijing, Prince Gong Mansion Garden, Western Gate.

Prince Gong Yixin and Li Hongzhang were standing together in front of the gate, which embodied the fantasy of Prince Gong, a devil, to save the Qing Dynasty by relying on Western tricks and tricks, and talking.

"Shao Quan, I heard that you are doing well in the West and have close relationships with the Queen of England and the Princess of France?"

Prince Gong certainly knew about Li Hongzhang's luck with women in Europe; Sushun had told him privately.

"My relationship with Queen Victoria is just ordinary, but I have a very close relationship with French Princess Mathilde." Li Hongzhang said with a smile, "Your Highness, the reason why the French Emperor is willing to befriend the Qing Dynasty is not because of the relationship between his cousin and me, but because of the war between France, England, Turkey and Sardinia against Russia. The way of war is a major event for a country, a matter of life and death, a matter of survival and destruction! This principle is the same everywhere.

The uncle of Princess Mathilde and the French Emperor was the overlord of the European continent and the emperor of France. He lost his country and was exiled to a deserted island overseas because of the defeat of 600,000 soldiers in the war against Russia more than 40 years ago, and died in depression. Since then, the Russian Empire has been the overlord of Europe on land and is known as the European gendarme until today. "

"What is the gendarmerie?" asked Prince Gong.

Li Hongzhang explained: "The so-called military police are soldiers in the armies of Western countries who are specifically responsible for law and order and preventing revolution. The reason why Russia is called the European military police is that after the fall of Napoleon I, Russia became the big brother of Europe. Whenever there are people who want to revolt or rebel in their own countries, they can ask Russian soldiers to help suppress it."

"Ah, there is such a righteous country?" Prince Gong Yixin looked back at Li Hongzhang, "Why do France, England, Türkiye, and that Sardinia oppose Russia?"

"That's because Russia has been the European gendarme for too long and has become ambitious. It wants to destroy the Ottoman Empire and seize the capital of Turkey, Constantinople. Constantinople was the capital of the Second Rome, and the Russian Empire has some incense relationship with the Second Rome. When the Second Rome was destroyed by Turkey, a princess escaped and was married to the Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Moscow by the Pope of Rome. The Grand Duchy of Moscow is the predecessor of the Russian Empire. It was because Grand Duke Ivan III married a princess of the Second Rome and obtained some Roman legal system that he was qualified to be emperor."

After hearing what Li Hongzhang said, Prince Gong frowned and said, "So, Turkey was the first to fall to the Second Roman Empire, and Russia inherited the Second Roman Empire's legal system. There is nothing wrong with restoring the ancestral foundation, right? By the way, I remember that the God worshipped by Russia is the same as the God of France and England, while the religion believed in by the Turks is different from that of France and England. Why did Britain and France help the pagans fight against their own people? Aren't their emperors afraid of going to hell after death?"

Li Hongzhang smiled and said, "That's because Constantinople is located on the edge of a strait at the junction of the European continent and the Asian continent. This strait is very important. Through this strait, the Russian Empire's fleet can enter the Mediterranean from the Black Sea. At that time, the entire eastern coast of the Mediterranean will be under the control of Russia. In addition, the French have been thinking about digging a Suez Canal in recent years to connect the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Once this river is dug, the Mediterranean fleet will easily enter the Red Sea, and then enter the Indian Ocean from the Red Sea.

If Russia took Constantinople, it would be able to control the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, and then dig the Suez Canal, so that the Russian navy could enter the Indian Ocean, thus threatening Britain's rule in India. That's why Britain was determined to prevent Russia from defeating Türkiye!

Napoleon III of France wanted to avenge his uncle's defeat and loss of his country, compete with Russia for the position of European land hegemony, and also to form an alliance with the maritime hegemon, the British Empire. That's why he had to fight this war together with Britain.

But Napoleon III was worried that he could not defeat Russia, so he recruited people everywhere, even the small European country of Sardinia. And our Qing Dynasty happened to be adjacent to the eastern part of Russia. We have been fighting wars for the past two years, and we have trained some strong soldiers. We have a large population, and we also have the port of Vladivostok to provide supplies for the British and French fleets heading north to attack Russia. That’s why the French emperor wanted to recruit us.”

"Shao Quan," Prince Gong frowned, "We are still fighting the Taiping rebels at home, how can we have the energy to attack Russia? Russia is not weak either. If we fail to attack one of them, won't we be attacked from two sides?"

Li Hongzhang said, "We still have spare capacity. We can use what's available at the port of Vladivostok. It's just a matter of an imperial decree to requisition some coal, flour, pork, fruits and vegetables, and strong laborers from Korea for the foreigners. As for sending troops, that's easy. The foreign guns, cannons, and generals are all from France and have been shipped to Tianjin. We only need to send people! There's no need to use the Eight Banners New Army. I've already written to my mentor, my father, and Mr. Yuan, asking them to help recruit thousands of soldiers in Anhui. I can also try to raise the soldiers' salaries myself. The court only needs to give me a name."

When Prince Gong heard this, he realized something was wrong. This Li Hongzhang was using the power of the foreign devils to train his own soldiers - he was colluding with foreign countries and becoming a traitor!
Li Hongzhang saw that Prince Gong's face was gloomy, but he said calmly: "Your Highness, think about it carefully. If we don't board the British and French ships to help them attack Russia, will Britain and France go to the Taiping Rebellion? Luo Xueyan is a genius in foreign affairs. Although he did not go to Europe in person this time, he sent a portrait to Queen Victoria, which made the queen very happy.

Last time the foreigners sent troops to fight Japan, he personally led the troops to help. My Lord, our Qing Dynasty has not formed an alliance with Britain and France, but Luo Xueyan has been in the same boat with the British. If our Qing Dynasty does not form an alliance with the foreigners, will the Taiping country in the south form an alliance with the foreigners? If the Taiping country becomes an ally of Britain and France, what will we do if Britain and France only sell their foreign guns and cannons to Taiping country and not to the Qing Dynasty? "

"This..." Prince Gong's face suddenly turned ugly.

You can even get involved in foreign affairs here!
Even if the Qing Dynasty did not allow Li Hongzhang to be a "Qing traitor", the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would let Luo Xueyan be a "Tai Ping traitor"!
Li Hongzhang saw that the time was almost right, and he bowed again and said, "Your Majesty, I, as a soldier, was actually trained to help you, Your Majesty!"

Prince Gong looked at Li Hongzhang and said, "Shaoquan, what do you mean?" "Prince, you are the Minister of Beiyang, and Tianjin is the territory of Beiyang. If I serve as an official in the Beiyang Minister's Office, wouldn't I be your subordinate, Your Highness? I will recruit thousands of Anhui soldiers from Anhui, and you can also recruit thousands of Zhili troops in Tianjin. The two armies will be combined into the Beiyang Army, and trained under your nose in Tianjin. Aren't these 10,000 new troops your men? As for the salary of these 10,000 new troops, I will try to raise half, and I will raise a small half of the foreign guns and cannons, and the rest can be solved by the tariffs of Tianjin Customs."

"It's not enough!" Prince Gong shook his head repeatedly. "How much is the tariff? How can it be enough?"

Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "If Your Majesty trusts me, I will be the supervisor of Tianjin Customs and keep it safe!"

"You? What can you do?" asked Prince Gong.

"Increase taxes!" Li Hongzhang spat out two words with a smile.

"The foreigners won't agree to it. Don't you know there are agreed tariffs?" Prince Gong frowned.

Li Hongzhang smiled and patted his chest: "I will go and talk!"

Suzhou, Prince Wu's Palace.

Maria de Clementina Doria and Zhou Xiuying returned to the palace together. As they walked, the two girls were discussing Zhou Xiuying's primary school studies.

Maria has now gained Luo Yaoguo's trust. Not only does she serve as Luo Yaoguo's secretary, she also works part-time as a math and English teacher at Suzhou No. 1 Primary School across the street. English is certainly not a compulsory course for the future Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's primary school education. But most of the students who are studying at Suzhou No. 1 Primary School are going to become scholars or high-ranking officials. Whether they are doing academic research or being high-ranking officials, they can't avoid dealing with foreigners or reading foreign books, newspapers, and documents. Even if they want to go to college, learning English will make it easier to read original textbooks!

So after recruiting Maria, Luo Yaoguo asked her to teach English classes at Suzhou No. 1 Primary School.

In addition, Maria's math, chemistry, and physics skills are all very good - she is a senior exorcist of the Vatican, how could she not know alchemy? Maybe she can even teach in a middle school in the future!

Zhou Xiuying's academic performance is a bit too normal!

When faced with fourth grade math problems, Zhou Xiuying was completely confused and exhausted from memorizing English words. This was of course also related to the fast teaching pace of Suzhou No. 1 Primary School. If it was a normal teaching pace, Zhou Xiuying might still be a good student. But the problem was that almost all of her classmates were "evil spirits"! They could learn a semester's worth of lessons in just one week. What should Zhou Xiuying do? Even with Maria's daily tutoring, she still ranked last in several tests.

There's nothing you can do, she attends the "Jinshi Class" of a super key primary school!
"Maria, the prince wants you to come over."

As soon as Maria and Zhou Xiuying walked into the gate of the palace, a female official guarding there came up to them with a smile, bowed to Zhou Xiuying first, and then invited Maria to meet Luo Yaoguo.

Zhou Xiuying was a little unhappy: "Why does the prince always look for Teacher Maria? I still need extra lessons!"

The female official smiled and said, "Madam Zhou, the prince is looking for Maria today for official business. The British and French envoys have come to Suzhou from Shanghai to negotiate with the prince. The prince wants to ask Maria to be an interpreter and take some notes."

(End of this chapter)