The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 451 The Crusaders must help the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom! (Please subscribe and vote)
"Mr. Lei, look, is that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's fleet over there?"

On a steamship that was sailing northward along the Qianshan Waterway, Robert Hart, the embassy secretary who had just reported to the British Embassy in China, raised his hand and pointed to the nearby Macau Inner Harbor Pier as if he had discovered a new continent. He saw a row of majestic steam gunboats anchored there, and he asked Li Taiguo in a hoarse voice.

Li Taiguo looked in the direction of Hurd's finger, and immediately saw the Dingyuan cruiser, which was as big as a "giant". He immediately shouted at the top of his voice: "Yes, yes, that's it! Oh no, it's not right!"

This made Heard confused. He turned his head and looked at Li Taiguo and asked, "Mr. Lei, is that true?"

Li Taiguo's face suddenly turned pale, and he stammered, "Well, I didn't make a mistake about the Dingyuan. The ships following it were indeed gunboats of the Nanyang Fleet, but the flags they were flying were not from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom at all!"

Only then did Hart take a closer look and see that the Dingyuan and the nine small gunboats following behind were flying a red flag with a white cross. As an outstanding British diplomat in the 19th century, how could Hart not recognize this flag?

"Red, a cardinal flag?" Hart's jaw dropped in shock. "What's going on? Why are the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's warships flying a cardinal flag?" As he was talking, he suddenly saw a bishop's flag with a red background and a white cross slowly rising on the Sanba Fort in the distance. He hurriedly shouted, "Mr. Lei, look at the Sanba Fort, there is also a cardinal flag rising there! Oh my God, what happened here?"

Li Taiguo glanced around and saw that a cardinal's flag with a white cross on a red background was flying on the big castle near the Sam Po Fort!

That is the official residence of the Portuguese Governor of Macau!

Why did the Portuguese flag on the Governor's Residence change to the Cardinal's flag? Li Taiguo was stunned and kept wondering: Could it be that the Pope of Rome sent a cardinal with the Crusaders or the Knights Templar to occupy Macau? This plot only happened in the Middle Ages, right? Now it is the civilized and advanced 19th century, how can such an outrageous thing still happen? Could it be that Archbishop Paul de Doria was seduced by the "devil" King Wu of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and let King Wu's army occupy Macau under the banner of the Crusades?
Thinking of this, Li Taiguo's face turned red with anger. He turned his head and lowered his voice to say to Hurd beside him: "Robert, it seems that the 'devil' succeeded, but we have to bite the bullet and go ashore to see what's going on!"

"Devil?" Hurd shuddered with fear. "Why did a devil appear?"

He originally thought he was "dreaming back to the Middle Ages", but now he was dreaming of a devil? There were no devils in the Middle Ages!
Li Taiguo turned around and glanced at Hurd: "Why, you haven't heard of the Book of Prophets in Europe?"

"The Book of the Prophets?" Hurd was stunned, his face changed instantly, "You mean..."

"The 'devil' who wrote the Book of Prophets is most likely the Prime Minister of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, King Wu Luo Yaoguo!" Li Taiguo said through gritted teeth, "And he is also Luo Xueyan, the Shanghai Governor of the Qing Dynasty!"

"What? Luo Xueyan and Luo Yaoguo are the same person, no, the same demon?" Hurd's face was full of disbelief.

"He is probably in Macau now!" Li Taiguo clenched his fists, his expression was as ugly as it could be.

After that, Li Taiguo and Hart remained silent for a long time, until the steamer they were on docked at the pier of Macau's Inner Harbor.

At this time, the dock of Macau Inner Harbor was under martial law, and a team of "Crusaders" wearing white robes with red crosses and red round hoods had already set up defenses on the dock. Seeing Li Taiguo and Hurd disembarking, a young Crusader officer and two of his men immediately came up to greet them.

The young officer first gave the two foreigners a very formal Roman salute, and then said in Chinese with an Anhui accent: "Gentlemen, I am Ding Xianda, the captain of the Crusaders, and I have been ordered to perform a guard duty at the eighth pier of the Inner Harbor of Macau! Macau is under martial law now, and you cannot get off the ship for the time being."

Well, this is Anhui Crusaders
"Captain of the Crusaders?" Li Taiguo looked at the short, thin, and high-cheekboned Chinese youth in front of him, and felt that he was unreal. But he still patiently asked, "Then what are you Crusaders doing in Macau?"

Ding Xianda answered seriously: "We, the Crusaders, are here to help the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom beat the Qing demons!" "What?" Li Taiguo didn't know how to respond, "The Crusaders help the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom? Mr. Ding, do you know who the Crusaders are loyal to?"

Ding Xianda's eyes widened: "Of course I know! The Crusaders are loyal to the Pope! Our Pope is a faithful servant of God, and the King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is the Son of God! If the servants of God don't fight for the Son of God, how can they help the Qing demons?"

Hey, it sounds like there is nothing wrong with this. But how could the Vatican admit that Hong Xiuquan was the second son of God? This is too ridiculous!

Thinking of this, Li Taiguo no longer had the heart to argue with this Chinese Crusader named Ding Xianda. He directly revealed his identity and proposed to meet with Archbishop Doria and King Wu of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Ding Xianda did not refuse, but asked them to go back to the boat and wait. He would summon them after they were done with their work.

As for the people above, Luo Yaoguo and Paul de Doria, it didn't take long for them to control Macau.

After all, they not only have the righteous status to control Macau, but also have great appeal to the native-born and mixed-race Portuguese people in Macau, and they really have brought a "teacher belonging to the Pope"!
Wow, there are 8,000 people there, all of them are equipped with foreign rifles and bayonets. How can the native Portuguese and mixed-race Portuguese in Macau withstand them?

On the first night after they completely controlled Macau, Li Taiguo and Hart were led to the big castle next to the Sam Po Fortress.

"Isn't this Mr. Li? We meet again. What a fate!" Luo Yaoguo, who was dressed like a "Crusader Taiping Army" soldier, greeted Li Taiguo with a warm smile, and then turned his eyes to the person who came with him, "Who is..."

"His name is Robert Hurd," Li Taiguo introduced hastily, "the secretary of the British Embassy."

Oh, here comes Hart, who helps the Qing Dynasty collect debts! Luo Yaoguo kept wondering in his heart: "This is a powerful character, I wonder if we can poach him?"

"Mr. Hurd, nice to meet you." Luo Yaoguo smiled at Hurd.

But Heard was so scared that cold sweat broke out on his back - it felt like the devil was smiling at him! And he was saying "Nice to meet you"... This was too creepy!
Just then, Archbishop Doria asked with a smile why Li Taiguo was here.

Li Taiguo thought for a moment and realized that since Lord Burling's letter could not be delivered at this moment, he could only talk about something else. So, he immediately put away his smile and said seriously: "Your Highness, Lord Wu, Your Highness, Minister Burling heard that something happened in Macau, so he sent me and Mr. Hart to find out the situation... In addition, I hope that Your Highness, Lord Wu, understands that the Kingdom of Portugal is a traditional ally of our Britain, and Britain is responsible for the safety of Macau, a colony of the Kingdom of Portugal!"

When Luo Yaoguo heard this, his face darkened. However, he did not retort immediately, but just winked at Paul de Doria.

Paul de Doria immediately took over the conversation, his tone serious and solemn: "First of all, I have to correct a mistake of yours. Macau is not a Portuguese colony at all! No treaty mentioned this. Secondly, Macau is now a concession of the Holy See... On behalf of the Holy See, I signed a 20-year land lease agreement with the Prime Minister of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Macau is now directly under the jurisdiction of the Nanjing Province of the Catholic Church! I don't think Britain would attack the territory of the Holy See, right?"

Li Taiguo had no idea whether Britain would attack the Vatican's territory. But he knew very well that the British ambassador to China, John Bowring, did not have the guts to start a war with the Vatican... If a war broke out, it would be a religious war between the Anglican Church and the Catholic Church!
How could a mere minister like him have such great abilities?
Besides, at this moment Britain is fighting against the Russians together with France and Sardinia. These two countries are both Catholics. If Britain fights the Vatican, who will the French Emperor and the King of Sardinia help?

Also, the Pope is now in Macau and he acts like he has a real master!
Bao Ling, the commander-in-chief of the Hong Kong Army, can't even muster a regiment under his command, so he has no chance of winning!
As he was thinking, Li Taiguo fell silent. At this time, Luo Yaoguo next to him spoke again: "Secretary Li, please tell Mr. Bao Ling that we and the Vatican do not want to confront the British. We just want to deal with those Qing demons in Guangzhou. As long as Mr. Bao Ling can remain neutral, I promise that after Guangzhou is recovered, merchants and friends from Britain, France, the United States, and all over the world will be able to travel freely in Guangzhou!"

(End of this chapter)