The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 440: Confucius and Mencius will fight against the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother (Please vote and subscribe)

Luo Yaoguo had an informant in Beijing, and he was a particularly reliable "big informant" named Boyong, who used to be the captain of Daozhou City Defense Camp. This guy followed Feng Zicai and Jiao Hong to escort Cheng Yancai's family all the way to Shanghai, and then he started a big plan to lurk in the north.

He came to the capital under the banner of the head of the Goshaha beside the former Huguang Governor Cheng Yancai, carrying the posthumous memorial of Cheng Yancai, the "living loyal hero". Following the instructions of Cheng Yancai's son Cheng Fupei, he found the trick in Yutai Teahouse, spent a lot of money, and hey, he really bought a job as a Beijing official, becoming the left patrol captain of Caishikou under the Southern Camp of the Patrol. Don't underestimate this position, it is a key position, the main task is to protect Caishikou - just outside Xuanwu Gate, the place where people are killed and bought. If the spies sent by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to the capital dare to rob the execution ground, our Lord Boyongbo will have to shout at his brothers to rush up.

However, over the past year or so, although the Qing Dynasty has been in turmoil and leaking like a broken ship, the Caishikou guarded by Lord Bo is as solid as a rock, and there has not been any problem at all. It is very stable!
When he was not on duty, Lord Boyongbo would imitate the behavior of those Bannermen masters, wearing a shiny long gown and jacket, carrying a birdcage with a mynah bird in it, and strolling to Yutai Teahouse in a square step, swaying with every step to drink tea and order some snacks, taking the opportunity to take in the bustling scene on Zhengyangmen Street, and from time to time chatting with those Bannermen uncles who were as well-informed as the wind-hearing ones.

Don't you believe it? The Qing Dynasty court in Beijing is like a broken thatched house with wind blowing in from all sides. If you discuss something inside, it will be blown out of the Forbidden City in a short time. Boyong relied on the connections of the Fifth Battalion of Patrol to ask around, and then went back to Yutai Teahouse to eavesdrop and fill in the gaps. The information was basically 90% certain and could not be escaped.

In addition, he bought a small courtyard in Mishi Hutong, which is close to Caishikou, and married a girl named Yan, who was a poor slave, and even got a household registration in Shuntian Prefecture. Now he has a job in Beijing, a Beijing girl, a Beijing household registration, a Beijing house, and finally, he can even speak fluent Beijing dialect. Now if a stranger talks to him for a long time, he will not know that he is a "Beijing drifter" from other places unless he confesses.

But recently, Boyong rarely meets Beijing bannermen who can chat with him for a long time in Yutai Teahouse. Those uncles rarely come, and even if they occasionally show up, they just eat a few bites and leave, without any desire to sit and drink tea and chat.

But Boyong was still the same, he would order a pot of Gaomo every time and sit there for half a day. If there were no customers to chat with him, he would call the clever waiter named Wang Youli over, and the two of them would chat for a while.

This Wang Youli is a man of sharp eyes and sharp ears. There is nothing he doesn't know about what's happening in and outside the city. He is simply a "walking Beijing know-it-all"!
Boyong picked up the tea bowl, blew on it, took a sip, and then asked Wang Youli who was sitting next to him: "Your Majesty, don't you really want to lead the army in person to fight the Russians in the middle of winter?"

"Of course it's true!" Wang Youli pointed to the fur shop across the street, "All the furs there are sold out. They were bought by the bannermen to wear to keep warm when they go to Heilongjiang. And..." He paused, blinked, and said mysteriously, "Don't you feel that the beggars on the street outside Zhengyangmen are a little different these days than in previous years?"

"I didn't notice anything." Boyong took another sip of tea leisurely and said with a curled lip, "What difference could there be?"

"Hey, are all those young and strong guys gone?" Wang Youli said in a mysterious low voice.

"Oh?" Boyong was stunned for a moment, blinking his eyes, "It seems to be true, where did they go?"

Wang Youli chuckled and raised his eyebrows and said, "Hey, they all ran to the Eight Banners New Army!"

"To the Eight Banners New Army?" Boyong's eyes rolled around, as if he suddenly remembered something. "Oh my, it turns out that those scapegoats were beggars from the outer city!"

Wang Youli laughed and joked, "Haha, it turns out that nothing can be hidden from you, Master Bo. However, they are not all beggars from the outer city, there are also tenants from the bannermen's farms outside the city... Master Bo, think about it, if the emperor was not determined to fight the Russians, how could there be so many bannermen who spent money to find someone to go to the battlefield for them through the back door."

Just when the two were chatting animatedly, there was a knock at the door outside, and a twelve or thirteen-year-old "child soldier" wearing the uniform of the Eight Banners New Army ran in. It was Zhao Sanduo.

It turned out that Jin Aduo did not hire him to be a personal attendant, but to send him into the Eight Banners New Army as cannon fodder, to carry a gun on the battlefield for a sixteen-year-old bannerman.

"Brother Wang, Brother Wang, do you recognize me? I am Xiao Duozi, Zhao Sanduo!" Zhao Sanduo was so excited that he shouted at the top of his voice.

He was wearing a brand new black official jacket and a warm hat on his head. His little face was rosy and a little plump. His complexion was much better than before. It seemed that he had eaten and drunk a lot in Emperor Xianfeng's military camp during this period.

"Haha, you are good, kid. You are doing well and have become a soldier." Wang Youli teased him with a smile, "Tell me, what do you want to do?" Zhao Sanduo smiled and took out a small purse from his arms, carefully held it in front of Wang Youli, and the smile on his face disappeared at once. He said pitifully: "Brother Wang, this is the reward given to us by the emperor when he reviewed the troops at Fengtai Camp yesterday, and the resettlement fee given to me by Master Jin, a total of ten taels of silver. Please do me a favor and ask the merchants going to Shunde Prefecture to take this money to Shaliuzhai, Guan County to give it to my mother... I don’t know many people in Beijing, and you are the best to me, the most powerful and the most powerful!"

Wang Youli felt embarrassed by Zhao Sanduo's praise and was just about to say a few words to comfort the boy when Boyong beside him suddenly interrupted, "Brother Zhao, are you guys going to set off?"

Zhao Sanduo nodded and said seriously, "Yes, the emperor has said that this time the Russians have invaded the birthplace of our Qing Dynasty. Our Eight Banners New Army must go to protect the Qing Dynasty and destroy the foreigners... We will send troops in the next two days, first to Shengjing, and then north to Heilongjiang!"

Boyong thought to himself, "It seems that this is almost certain! I didn't expect Xianfeng to be so manly this time and dare to go to Heilongjiang to fight the Russians. I have to send this news to Mr. Zhao in Tianjin."

Tianjin, Dagu Wharf.

Mr. Zhao, the man Boyong wanted to contact, was now following Li Hongzhang and Feng Guifen with his back bent, while Li Hongzhang and Feng Guifen were walking closely behind his teacher Zeng Guofan and a short, fat, round-faced official in his forties.

Mr. Zhao was the top student who graduated from the first term of the "Changsha Loyal Minister Training Class". After finishing the "Loyal Minister Training Class", Mr. Zhao was redeemed by Zuo Zongtang and soon became a county magistrate. Later, he spent money to get someone's help and was transferred to Jinghai County near Tianjin as a county magistrate. Later, he fawned over Li Hongzhang, a rising star in the Westernization Movement.

"Kun Chen, you are not only the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, but also the Chief Priest of Guangdong. You are the leader of the Guangdong Confucian scholars, and the survival of our Confucianism in Guangdong depends on you. Both the Hong and Feng traitors are from Guangdong, and Guangdong is also the place where the Tiandihui is rampant. You must strictly prevent the God Worshipping Society from colluding with the Tiandihui. You must not be soft-handed. It is better to kill someone by mistake than to let him go by mistake! In addition, when you return to Guangdong, you must rely on the Confucian scholars in Guangdong to promote our Confucius and Mencius's teachings. You must use our teachings to resist the thieves of the God Worshipping Society, and use our Confucius and Mencius to resist the thieves of the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother."

The one who was instigating others to kill more people was Zeng Guofan, the promoter of the Confucian "Taiping Dao" doctrine. He was not only the governor of the grain transport system, but also the chief priest of Shandong Dafang. The one who was listening to his instigation was Ye Mingchen, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, who secretly came to Beijing to meet the emperor on a foreign ship.

This time, Emperor Xianfeng invited Ye Mingchen to the north to encourage him to kill people in Guangdong to attract hatred. In order to make him raise the hatred value to the maximum, Emperor Xianfeng also accepted Zeng Guofan's suggestion and appointed Ye Mingchen as the chief of Guangdong Dafang in the name of the leader of Mingjiao.

Now Ye Mingchen was very powerful. He now had the power to command the Confucian scholars in Guangdong. In theory, all scholars in Guangdong who read Confucian classics had to obey his command.

The only task that Emperor Xianfeng gave Ye Mingchen was to "kill" more members of the Tiandihui and more Taiping Heavenly Kingdom believers!

Ye Mingchen had a bitter face and looked worried, but when he heard Zeng Guofan's bewitching words, he sighed.

"What's the matter? Brother Kunchen, is there any difficulty?" Zeng Guofan asked.

Ye Mingchen clasped his fist towards Zeng Guofan and said, "Brother Disheng, the emperor is going to lead the army north to fight Russia. What if you start a massacre in Guangdong and attract the Taiping army?"

Zeng Guofan smiled and lowered his voice: "Brother Kunchen, don't worry. The emperor wants you to lead the Taiping army into Guangdong. Only in this way can he march north with peace of mind. As for whether Guangdong can be defended, don't worry too much. Guangdong is an enclave. You should try your best to unite the Confucian scholars in Guangdong, rely on the teachings of Confucius and Mencius and the God Worshipping Society to fight. If it doesn't work, you can still..."

He lowered his voice and whispered a few words into Ye Mingchen's ear. The latter was greatly encouraged and nodded heavily, then clasped his fists and bowed to the void: "Brother Disheng, don't worry. I, Ye Mingchen, will never let you down, and I will never let the spirits of Confucius and Mencius down. I will use the teachings of Confucius and Mencius to destroy the God-worshipping religion in Guangdong!"

"Good!" Zeng Guofan stroked his beard and smiled, "Then I wish you success. Confucius and Mencius will definitely bless you, brother Kunchen!"

(End of this chapter)