The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 479: Your Highness, King Wu, the King of Heaven invites you! (Please subscribe, please vote)

The tenth day of the twelfth month of the fourth year of the Xianfeng reign.

Beijing.

Inside the Grand Council outside Longzong Gate, several ministers wearing top hats and peacock feathers were gasping for air as if they had seen a ghost, their faces as pale as paper, and they looked at each other like a group of eggplants hit by frost.

Qi Junzao, the leading minister of the Grand Council, sat at the table on the kang, holding the memorial handed to him by Zeng Guofan. His eyes were as big as bells and his whole body was petrified. He didn't move at all, as if he was under a spell.

The few military officials who stayed in Beijing to assist Prince Gong in governing the country were all dumbfounded, just like Mr. Qi. Why? The emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Xianfeng, was gone! Some said that he was captured by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and might have been chopped into pieces now; others said that he might have to learn from Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty and become a "gate-knocking emperor". This is really "unprecedented"!
The country cannot be without a ruler for a day, and these people standing at the top of the pyramid of the Qing Dynasty officialdom cannot be without a master for a day. So the problem they are facing now is as simple as a free point question, but as difficult as climbing to the sky, that is: who can be their new master!

There were only two options before them. One was Prince Gong Yixin, who was the sixth son of the late Emperor Daoguang. Since Daoguang's fifth son was adopted, according to the Ming Dynasty custom of "brother captured" and the younger brother succeeded, it seemed that he should sit on the throne. The other was the eldest prince Zaichun, who was the biological son of the current emperor and the only son.

If you get this question wrong, you will lose your life and property, and you may even be tortured to death. Yu Qian of the Ming Dynasty did not do this question well, and he died miserably. What a bloody lesson!

The gentlemen in the Grand Council did not have the ruthlessness of Yu Qian, who was willing to sacrifice his life to support the prince to become the emperor. But they did not dare to choose the eldest prince Zaichun. According to the rules of the Qing Dynasty, if Zaichun came to power, Prince Gong would be the regent Dorgon, and Concubine Yi would be Empress Xiaozhuang. If they supported Zaichun, wouldn't Prince Gong regard them as thorns in his eyes and flesh, and want to remove them every day?

This incident caused such a mess that no one could figure out whether this was a Ming Dynasty drama or a current dynasty script. It became a complete mess.

The military ministers in the room were in a dilemma, like ants on hot pan, when they suddenly heard a commotion outside.

"Who are you? Do you know where this is? The Grand Council, this is inside the Forbidden City... How did you Green Camp soldiers get in?" A junior officer from the Grand Council shouted at the top of his voice.

“Fuck you, do you know who I am? I’ll scare you to death if I tell you! I’m Master Bo Yongbo, the captain of the left patrol at Caishikou, the Southern Camp of the Patrol!” The man was none other than the Beijing-drifting boy named Bo Yong, who “had a house, a job, and a Beijing girl.” He shouted at the top of his voice, “In compliance with the order of the prince, I, the captain, am leading my soldiers to protect the gentlemen of the Grand Council… Hehe, let me make it clear to you, the entire Forbidden City is now under the control of the fifth patrol battalion under the command of the prince!”

When several ministers in the duty room of the Grand Council heard this, they were so frightened that they almost jumped up. If this wasn’t a palace coup, what could it be?

"Prince? Which...which prince?" Old man Weng Xincun, who had just been appointed as a walking official in the Grand Council, had a look of astonishment on his face, and was pretending to be confused even though he knew the truth.

"Who else could it be?" Qi Junzao glared at the old fox, "Isn't it your good student, Prince Gong?"

Weng Xincun had been the teacher of Prince Gong in his early years, although he only served for a few days. But now that Prince Gong is going to be the emperor, he has become the imperial tutor!

"Prince Gong, he..." Military Minister Mu Yin was about to accuse Prince Gong of breaking the rules when he saw a Green Camp officer with a sword slung over his waist swaggering in. He immediately clasped his fists in the air and said seriously, "Why is he still a prince? He should be called the regent!"

"Yes, yes, yes," Kuang Yuan, who was transferred to the Military Affairs Council together with Weng Xincun, nodded repeatedly, "It's time to change his title to Regent..." He glanced at Boyong and sighed sincerely, "The Regent is still wise!"

Prince Gong's move was a masterful one. Although it was not a good look, the main point was not to embarrass outsiders. He first led people to "capture" Zaichun, then "snatched" Lan'er, and asked his father-in-law Gui Liang to mobilize five battalions of patrol soldiers into the inner city to control important government offices and the Forbidden City. Although he also sent people to Tianjin to transfer Li Hongzhang to lead 3,000 Beiyang troops to Beijing, it was just in case, and by the way, he rewarded Li Hongzhang for his support and facilitated his promotion. He did not expect to rely on Li Hongzhang's 3,000 Beiyang troops to seize the throne.

He has done such a good job, so what the people below should do is as obvious as lice on a bald man's head!
The military officer in charge, Qi Junzao, cleared his throat and said, "It's good this way... Prince Gong did a great job in this matter. He cut the Gordian knot and saved the Qing Dynasty from having a so-called emperor!"

What he said was true. Now Xianfeng was most likely captured. If the Qing Dynasty did not quickly remove Xianfeng's throne and re-establish an emperor, and Xianfeng really became the emperor, wouldn't the local officials who defended the territory just kneel down? The territory of the Qing Dynasty would immediately shrink a lot.

He looked around and said, "Everyone, why don't we write a joint letter to persuade the prince to take the throne as soon as possible to calm people's hearts!" "Okay, that's what we should do."

"Sir Weng, your article is good, please draft it."

"Okay, then I'll show my shame."

Qi Junzao, the leading military councilor, made the final decision. Mu Yin, Kuang Yuan and Weng Xincun also strongly agreed with the decision and were about to prepare to persuade Prince Gong to ascend the throne.

On the other side, Prince Gong had moved to the Qianqing Palace accompanied by Concubine Yi and Zaichun. Empress Niuhulu, the Empress of Emperor Xianfeng, was also helped to the Qianqing Palace and was sitting aside wiping her tears!
Imperial Concubine Yi was still crying as she acted like a lobbyist to help Prince Gong coax Nianhulu: "Sister, Sixth Master has said that when he ascends the throne, he will make the eldest prince the Prince of Blessing, and make sure he will have a life of luxury and wealth! The palace where Sixth Master lives now will be given directly to the eldest prince as his residence. Sister, why don't you just move in and live with me and the eldest prince? It will be so lively!"

When Prince Gong saw that Niuhulu was still crying and refusing to give a straight answer, he was disgusted and rolled his eyes. But when he looked at his good sister-in-law, Concubine Yi, he immediately put on a friendly face and said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, don't worry! From now on, I will give Zaichun 100,000 taels of silver as salary every year, which is equivalent to ten princes' salaries! I will also allocate 100,000 mu of farmland outside the Great Wall and ten pawnshops in the capital, to ensure that Zaichun will never have to worry about money in his life and can eat, drink and have fun every day!"

After hearing the conditions proposed by Prince Gong, Niuhulu could only sigh helplessly, thinking to herself: "What else can I say in this situation?" She could only nod and said weakly: "This is the only way."

Before she finished her words, a palace guard rushed in like a gust of wind, and when he arrived in front of Prince Gong, he bowed and shouted at the top of his voice, "Your Highness, the military ministers Qi Junzao, Mu Yin, Kuang Yuan, and Weng Xincun have come together to persuade Your Highness to ascend the throne!"

"Good, good, good!" Upon hearing this, Prince Gong's face was filled with smiles, like a blooming peony. "It seems that there are still many loyal ministers in the Qing Dynasty, and they are all looking forward to my ascending the throne!" As he spoke, his expression suddenly became solemn again: "From now on, I will have to clean up the mess of the Qing Dynasty for my fourth brother!"

Shanghai, Yu Garden, this place usually looks quaint and peaceful, but who would have thought that a thrilling "life and death test" is quietly taking place.

Nan Ben Inako, who was ready to die, followed Xu Yuegui and strode into Luo Yaoguo's residence in Shanghai. Her steps looked firm, but she was extremely nervous. It turned out that her new master, Yang Xiuqing, had assigned her a "life-threatening mission" - to trick Luo Yaoguo about Hong Xiuquan's life and death. This difficulty was simply hellish.

Luo Yaoguo is an angel, an angel who can use the Tongtian mirror to communicate with the Father and Ji Du! If Hong Xiuquan is really dead and his soul returns to heaven, Luo Yaoguo may be able to directly "connect with Hong Xiuquan's soul" by using the Tongtian mirror. So logically, it is harder to hide Hong Xiuquan's life and death than to ascend to heaven.

But Yang Xiuqing was determined not to give up and had to test Luo Yaoguo and find out what was going on in heaven. He had a plan: if Luo Yaoguo already knew that Hong Xiuquan had passed away, and Daozi falsely passed on Hong Xiuquan's imperial edict, Luo Yaoguo would definitely arrest Daozi immediately, and maybe even torture her to force her to identify Yang Xiuqing, and then "crack", after all, falsely passing on the imperial edict was a capital crime in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, no room for negotiation!

But if Luo Yaoguo didn't know that Hong Xiuquan was no longer alive and didn't capture Daozi and kill him, then it means that the heaven was hiding something from Luo Yaoguo. Why was it hiding something from him? Maybe Hong Xiuquan won the fight with Ji Du and injured, beat Ji Du away, or locked him up, so he naturally couldn't contact Luo Yaoguo.

No matter what, Yang Xiuqing had to find out the situation clearly before he could make the next plan with peace of mind. Poor Daozi, she just became his "tool" for testing. But only Daozi was willing to do this, she was determined to reunite with Hong Xiuquan after death. But she couldn't commit suicide, after all, people who worship God would go to hell if they committed suicide, so she gritted her teeth and decided to use her life to test Luo Yaoguo.

Inside Dianchun Hall.

When Luo Yaoguo heard Daozi say that Hong Xiuquan was injured, he asked with concern: "The Heavenly King was injured? Is it serious?"

Daozi knelt on the ground, trying to calm himself, but his voice couldn't help but tremble a little: "It's a bit serious. My leg is broken and I can't move. Now the king is recuperating in Huai'an City. He wants to invite His Royal Highness the King of Wu to meet in the north to discuss the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains..."

Luo Yaoguo said "Oh" softly, and then asked with concern: "Daozi, how is the king recovering? Has he taken amoxicillindane?"

(End of this chapter)