The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 409: Chanting sutras or industrialization? (Requesting subscription and votes)
At the intersection at the foot of Capitol Hill.

A large sedan chair carried by sixty-four people has been placed at the intersection. Opposite the sedan chair is a high platform made of several eight-immortal tables. Hundreds of male and female saint soldiers armed with live ammunition stand in a circle with their backs to the sedan chair and the platform.

Outside the circle, there was a large group of "red-headed men" kneeling.

A little further away, Taiping troops armed with Minié guns were deployed on the second floors or roofs of shops and restaurants near the intersections on Zhongbumen Street, Yifengmen Street, and Beizushi'an Street.

Zeng Guofan and his staff Zhang Yuzhao and Guo Songtao, who had ordered a table of dishes but had not eaten much, squeezed into the private room where they were staying. Two female soldiers armed with revolvers and Taiping swords squeezed in. Although they were not there to arrest Zeng Guofan and others, but just to look at the window facing the intersection, they still frightened the governor Zeng so much that he quickly paid the bill and left.

However, the three of them did not go far. Instead, they quietly slipped behind the kneeling "red-headed men", sat cross-legged, and continued to watch the fun.

It's so lively today, it's really the people of the country discussing politics!
The King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and his several fathers were at the foot of Capitol Hill, discussing politics in front of a large group of Chinese people.

To Zeng Guofan, Guo Songtao and Zhang Yuzhao, this matter seemed to exist only in legends.

In addition, Zeng Guofan, Guo Songtao, Zhang Yuzhao and others also wanted to hear what kind of way out the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, whose "fathers are above them", could provide for the country?
People like Zeng Guofan, Guo Songtao, and Zhang Yuzhao have a clear understanding of the root cause of the current chaos in the world.

That’s because there are too many people in the world!
There is only so much land in the world, and it can only feed so many people. This is a fixed number!

Now the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom occupied the densely populated land in the south, and there was no undeveloped fertile land behind them. They took the path of "sharing the land and cultivating it together", which could feed more people at the bottom, but wouldn't the bottom have more children if they had food to eat temporarily? They would not be so cruel as to drown their own flesh and blood. In this way, the population growth rate would not only not slow down, but would accelerate!

The population of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is said to be 200 million, but in reality it is definitely not that high, but it is definitely more than 100 million. If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom takes over all the land south of the Huai River in the future, the population may reach 300 million, not to mention 200 million, and it can grow by several million every year.

With such a large population and a high growth rate, and so little land, in ten or twenty years, there will still be countless people without food. What will we do then? Even within a decade or two, if there is a natural disaster or man-made disaster right now, famine will occur.

In Huai'an, Haizhou, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, Jiningzhou, Caozhou and other places where the Hunan Army under Zeng Guofan was stationed, even in a good year, beggars were everywhere and starving people could be seen everywhere. A strong farmhand in Shandong today could not earn more than ten taels of silver in a year, which could only buy three or four hundred kilograms of rice or flour. Rice and flour were not enough for one person, let alone to support a family, so they could only survive on dried sweet potatoes.

Moreover, since the beginning of this year, the Huaibei area of ​​Anhui and Jiangsu and the two provinces of Shandong and Henan have been spreading the "rumor" that "the Yellow River will collapse and the Qing Dynasty will fall." Oh, these are not rumors! Now the Yellow River has not collapsed, but a large number of people in the north of the Huai River have already died. If it collapses, won't it provoke the Yellow River to rebel?

Faced with such a mess, Zeng Guofan's brain was about to explode, so he also wanted to know what magic tricks the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had to break the impasse?

Luo Yaoguo had already climbed onto the eight-immortals table under the scorching sun at around eight or nine in the morning, stepping on a throne chair. Zeng Jiumei was standing beside him, holding his "magic speaker".

Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King, was still sitting in his "three-room, one-living-room" sedan chair, with Feng Yunshan and Hong Rengan standing on his left and right, and the curtain of the sedan chair was lifted. On the steps of the sedan chair stood a sturdy man with a thick neck and broad shoulders, who should be Hong Xiuquan's "human megaphone".

The six kings, Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Chaogui, Shi Dakai, Wei Changhui, Hu Yihuang and Qin Rigang, had also arrived and sat down in the "circle" surrounded by their subordinates.

Li Wenmao and Gan Xian, the two national representatives invited by Feng Yunshan from Guangdong, stood facing Luo Yaoguo with a swagger.

"Boss Li and Master Gan must know that Guangdong and Guangxi have many mountains and rivers but little flat land, and there are many people but little land. The per capita arable land is very small. Even if all the land is divided equally, the per capita arable land is only two mu at most, and at most only half of it is paddy field."

Luo Yaoguo's voice has been transmitted through the "magic speaker", speaking Mandarin, and Zeng Guofan and others squatting far away can hear it clearly. "According to the method in Volume 1 of the Anti-Scripture, dividing the land can only ensure that the current number of people in Guangdong and Guangxi can survive, but it is far from being enough for everyone to have enough food and clothing, let alone equality everywhere. Boss Li, Master Gan, do you want to make equality for the poor people in Guangdong who are unable to wear clothes and have no food to eat? Do the hundreds of thousands of people in my kingdom of heaven fight so hard, and all they want is clothes to cover their bodies and rice to fill their stomachs?

Therefore, the land distribution proposed in the Anti-Scripture is only a temporary measure that can only ensure peace for 10 to 20 years. In the long run, we must develop industry and explore overseas!"

At this point, Luo Yaoguo clasped his fist towards the sedan chair where Hong Xiuquan was sitting and said, "What do you think of what I said, Heavenly King?"

This posed a difficult problem to Hong Xiuquan, but Hong Xiuquan now did not have the strength to be unreasonable and use a knife!

However, Hong Xiuquan did not mean to be embarrassed. Instead, he stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Ninth brother, the method you mentioned to establish industry and open up overseas is not to learn from the great powers, build strong ships and powerful guns to go overseas to rob? Is this the way to solve the problem of too many people and too little land in heaven? Will Jerusalem in heaven send troops to rob the land of Damascus in heaven? Can the Heavenly Father allow such a thing to happen?
Moreover, with China being so poor and weak today, can the industry you are talking about really be established? Can you really build strong ships and powerful guns to seize the land of other countries? I think it is impossible, angel, you have fallen! "

It’s not that the angel has fallen, it’s that Hong Xiuquan has made progress!

Hong Xiuquan has now opened his eyes to see the world, and he also knows what Luo Yaoguo is up to.

This angel wants to be an imperialist devil!
Hong Xiuquan's words reached Luo Yaoguo's ears through his "human loudspeaker".

Luo Yaoguo frowned slightly and asked, "Heavenly King, what methods do you have to ensure that everyone in the world has land to farm, food to eat, clothes to wear, and money to spend?"

Hong Xiuquan smiled and said, "Of course we believe in Heavenly Father! As long as everyone in the world believes in Heavenly Father and eliminates human desires, they can naturally share the great blessing of Heavenly Father, the Lord and Supreme God!"

"Does believing in the Heavenly Father and destroying the Heavenly King of human desire mean that you think you have gained great blessings by reciting the sutra?"

Luo Yaoguo immediately understood what Hong Xiuquan was saying?

His set of principles is actually the Heavenly Father version of "preserve Heavenly principles and eliminate human desires". Just change Heavenly principles to Heavenly Father - since you can't win or compete with them anyway, you might as well "lie down and chant scriptures" together. As long as you believe that you have preserved "Heavenly principles" or are "blessed by Heavenly Father", you can achieve spiritual happiness.

Of course, since the people below were lying down and chanting sutras, Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King, could exploit them a little more and distribute the money to the Taiping Army that followed him.

The Taiping Army soldiers also knew how to recite scriptures, so they had fewer "human desires" and just needed to eat a little to be full.

Wouldn't this mean peace in the world?

As for how little money Hong Xiuquan and other "kings" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom spent and how many queens they slept with, it was actually no big deal. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom now had only ten kings and one princess. How many could they produce if they were to have eleven people?

it is good!
Before Luo Yaoguo could refute, Zeng Guofan, who was sitting cross-legged below, had already cheered in his heart!
This Hong Xiuquan is such a talented person!
How come such a talented person didn't pass the exam to become a scholar? Zeng Guofan thought to himself, "Who was the governor of Guangdong in those years? Could he read? How did he miss such a talented person? This person should have passed the imperial examination, become a Hanlin, and become the emperor's teacher! If only I had been the governor of Guangdong in those days."

Although Hong Xiuquan's writing was not good, he was indeed a good sage. He immediately said to the "fallen angel" opposite him: "Angel Luo, you are right. Dividing the land is only a temporary measure. But the land in the world is limited, and strong ships and powerful guns are extremely difficult to build. Even if they are built, they may not be better than the strong ships and powerful guns of the foreign brothers. Therefore, it is almost impossible to expand the territory to increase the land in the world. Believing in God and eliminating human desires is the way to peace. What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)