The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 478 Prince Gong: Quick, enter the palace and grab Lan'er! (Please subscribe, please vote)
"What? Old Tarzan, what did you say?"

Prince Gong could hardly believe his ears and stared at Gui Liang who was trying hard to pretend to be sad.

"Your Highness, the Emperor may have been captured by the Taiping rebels!" Gui Liang gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few tears. Then, like a magic trick, he took out a few memorials and handed them to Prince Gong. "These are the memorials sent to Beijing overnight by Senggelinqin, Shengbao, Zeng Guofan, and Yuan Jiasan. Please take a look!"

"This..." Prince Gong's hands were shaking, and it was unclear whether he was surprised or happy. Maybe it was both!

He quickly took out the memorial handed to him by his confidant Shengbao from a pile of memorials, unfolded it, and read it word by word. The more he read, the tighter his brows knitted, and soon there was a "Chuan" character on his forehead.

There were two reasons why he frowned. One was that the Battle of Baoying was a tragic loss. The army of 100,000 was defeated in an instant, and the number of casualties was incalculable. The army that followed Senggelinqin, Shengbao, Zeng Guofan, and Yuan Jiasan to the north of the Huai River was estimated to be only 30,000 to 40,000. Almost all the big items such as artillery, food, tents, and vehicles were lost! Even the weapons that could be carried, such as muskets, spears, and swords, were not much left. At least half of the troops who ran across the Huai River were empty-handed!

In addition, the organization of the army was in complete chaos. The soldiers could not find their generals, and the generals could not find their soldiers. The military discipline was in a mess. The troops fled all the way, harming the people, burning, killing, looting, and doing all kinds of evil. They also clashed with the militia forces in Huai'an and Xuzhou prefectures!

The second thing that troubled Prince Gong was that Shengbao only heard rumors that Emperor Xianfeng had been captured, but there was no real evidence. Shengbao only heard that someone on the battlefield was asking someone to "capture Emperor Xianfeng", but he did not see with his own eyes that Emperor Xianfeng was tied up and taken away. Also, after he ran back to the north of the Huai River, he searched for Emperor Xianfeng for a long time but could not find him, so he submitted this memorial to Prince Gong.

After putting down Shengbao's memorial, Prince Gong picked up Senggelinqin's memorial and started reading it.

Senggelinqin's report of losses was similar to Shengbao's, with 60,000 to 70,000 of the 100,000-man army being killed, and the rest being temporarily disabled, completely losing their combat effectiveness. As for the capture of Emperor Xianfeng, his version seems more reliable. Several Mongolian cavalrymen under his command saw a group of "yellow jackets" protecting a "black jacket" rushing out of the camp and running eastward, and were bitten by a group of yellow-clad cavalrymen of the Taiping Army.
Prince Gong's frown relaxed a little. Needless to say, those wearing yellow jackets were the guards protecting the emperor! The yellow jacket was an honor for others, but it was just a work uniform for the guards protecting the emperor. As for the "black jacket" protected by the yellow jacket, it was most likely Emperor Xianfeng.

The emperors of the Qing Dynasty did not always wear dragon robes. Such dazzling clothes were usually only worn when they attended court or ceremonies. They usually wore casual clothes and often wore a dark-colored jacket when they went out for a walk.

According to Senggelinqin, Xianfeng was going to follow in the footsteps of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty and be captured by the Taiping rebels and thrown into prison!

Prince Gong put down Senggelinqin's memorial, and then read the memorials of Zeng Guofan and Yuan Jiasan. They also heard that the emperor was captured. In addition to this, they also said that Hong Xiuquan's sedan chair was hit, and it seemed that Hong Xiuquan was beaten to death! But a while later, Hong Xiuquan flew back from the sky in a hot air balloon, and the long-haired man suddenly went crazy as if he had been injected with chicken blood, and the Qing army was so scared that they collapsed. Alas, it is still superstition that kills people!

After reading these four memorials, Prince Gong fell into deep thought, his brows tightly furrowed, tapping his fingers lightly on his desk like beating drums, and he was also making calculations in his mind.

“Your Highness.” Seeing that Prince Gong remained silent, Gui Liang quickly stepped forward and whispered like a thief, “The country cannot be without a ruler for a day!”

Prince Gong raised his eyes to look at Gui Liang, who took a deep breath and continued, "Your Highness, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"Good opportunity?" Prince Gong frowned, "Old Taishan, what are you planning to do?"

"Your Highness," Gui Liang said, "You are now the governor of the capital, and you are also the Minister of Beiyang, and you control the Beiyang New Army in Tianjin. I am the Minister of War, and I am also the Governor of the Nine Gates and the Commander of the Infantry. The troops in the capital are all in our hands!"

"But." Prince Gong narrowed his eyes, "The Emperor still has the eldest prince!"

Gui Liang shook his head: "The eldest prince is still a little kid. The country is in trouble now, and it needs the eldest prince to hold it together!"

Prince Gong shuddered and looked at Gui Liang: "Do you want me to do something so treasonous?"

"It's not treason," Gui Liang shook his head and said, "This is all for our Qing Dynasty! Your Majesty, now is not the time to hesitate. You quickly order the Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and several Ministers of the Imperial Guard to come to the palace. I will immediately dispatch the infantry of the patrol camp to stand guard at the palace. As for Tianjin, let Wenxiang go there and promise to give Li Hongzhang a Beiyang Minister and ask him to bring 3,000 Beiyang troops to Beijing to protect the emperor!"

"no!"

Prince Gong shook his head firmly, then stood up in a flash: "Too slow, this matter must be handled quickly. If it is too slow, who knows what kind of trouble may arise! Old Taishan, you must dispatch a patrol battalion to me immediately. I will take them and the palace guards and set out immediately to capture Concubine Yi and the eldest prince!"

As he spoke, he clenched his fists hard, as if to say that he would get angry with anyone who dared to stand in his way.

Concubine Yi was the "God's Mandate of the Qing Dynasty"! If he didn't get her right away, Prince Gong would not feel at ease. Seeing his son-in-law do things so efficiently, Gui Liang was immediately overjoyed, and the wrinkles on his face almost turned into a chrysanthemum. He immediately bowed, shouted "Zha" at the top of his voice, and then ran to mobilize troops, as fast as a gust of wind.

Forbidden City, Chuxiu Palace.

This is the residence of Consort Yi, Nara Lan'er, in the Forbidden City. She was not only the favorite concubine of Emperor Xianfeng, but also the mother of Emperor Xianfeng's eldest son, Zaichun. Of course, this Zaichun is not the same Zaichun, but they both have the character Chun, which means "simple and honest". Maybe Emperor Xianfeng felt that he had too many bad habits, so he hoped that his son could be simple and honest and be a good person?
According to the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty, Zaichun could not live with Concubine Yi, but had to live in the South Three Houses, where the princes should live, and there would be a special nanny to take care of them. Concubine Yi could only see her own son when Zaichun's nanny brought Zaichun to pay respects.

Zaichun's wet nurse was not just one person but a team. They were usually women from the upper three banners of the Imperial Household Department who had just given birth to a girl. A wet nurse who gave birth to a son could only breastfeed the princess, and if she wanted to breastfeed the prince, she had to give birth to a daughter.

The foreman of Zaichun's "wet nurse class" was Zhang Jia, whose name was Rong'er, also known as "Rong Mama". She was about 30 years old, with an average appearance but a very good figure. Otherwise, how could she not be selected as a wet nurse? Every day, it was Rong Mama who carried Zaichun to pay respects to Concubine Yi.

Today is of course no exception. Concubine Yi is sitting in the Chuxiu Palace, happily waiting to see her son!

Her son, who might have been born because of "swallowing the fairy mooncake", has been in good health since childhood, is especially good at drinking milk, and has grown strong. He is only one year old, but he walks with a swagger, which is very majestic.

When she thought of her son, Concubine Yi couldn't help laughing. Just as she was feeling happy, she suddenly heard a commotion outside.

"Madame Rong, why are you here alone? Where's the eldest prince?"

"Big brother, don't mention it, something big has happened! I want to see Concubine Yi!"

What? Imperial Concubine Yi was panicking. Something bad happened to the eldest prince? What bad thing? Could he be ill?
She couldn't sit still any longer, so she stood up quickly, stepped on her "high heels" and staggered out. When she reached the door, she saw Rong Ma Ma crawling in and throwing herself in front of Concubine Yi: "Master Yi, it's bad, something big has happened, the eldest prince..."

"What's wrong with him?" Concubine Yi was so anxious that she was about to cry.

But the answer given by Nanny Rong made her cry no more: "He was caught by Prince Gong!"

"Ah?" Concubine Yi was stunned on the spot.

What's going on? Why did Prince Gong arrest a child? What right did he have to arrest him?
After all, Concubine Yi was the future Empress Dowager Cixi. As a woman who was naturally adept at political tactics, she immediately understood.

Prince Gong rebelled!

He actually took advantage of the fact that the emperor was away with his troops, launched a rebellion, and stormed into the Forbidden City!
The Qing Dynasty is about to end!
"Don't cry, big brother. We will be able to see your mother soon."

Just as she figured out what was going on, Prince Gong, along with a few guards and trusted eunuchs from Prince Gong's mansion, entered the Chuxiu Palace holding the eldest prince Zaichun, coaxing the child as he walked without recognizing any of his relatives.

Seeing Imperial Concubine Yi standing at the entrance of the Chuxiu Palace, Prince Gong did not greet her, but just sighed and said, "Sister-in-law, I just received a report from my subordinates that the emperor was defeated in Baoying and has been captured by the Taiping rebels. Now there is no emperor in my Qing Dynasty!"

When Concubine Yi heard this, her legs went weak and she almost fell to the ground.

She originally just thought that Prince Gong was blinded by greed and wanted to take advantage of Emperor Xianfeng's absence to launch a coup to seize the throne, but she didn't expect the situation to be worse than this. The emperor was captured, and it was not right that the Qing Dynasty was without an emperor. The Qing Dynasty had an emperor, and Prince Gong was the emperor now!
Concubine Yi thought for a moment and immediately understood what Prince Gong wanted to do, and also knew the situation of her eldest prince.

Thinking of this, she just sighed and said with tears in her eyes: "Sixth Master, the country cannot be without a monarch for a day. Now the Qing Dynasty is in turmoil again. It can only be supported by the eldest monarch. The eldest prince is still a child and can't handle it at all. Only you can take on the heavy responsibility. The emperor, you should come. I only ask you to consider our brotherhood and make my son a prince, so that he can eat, drink and have fun all his life."

(End of this chapter)