The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 494: Daquan goes to seek Buddhist scriptures, Xianfeng begs for food, Xiuquan goes to the Northern Expedition! (Please subscribe, please vote)

Haizhou was the headquarters of Wu King Luo Yaoguo.

Half a month later, Daozi knelt in front of Luo Yaoguo again. But this time, it was not in the gloomy torture chamber, but in the flower hall in the back garden of the headquarters. Zeng Jiumei was quite considerate and prepared a cushion for her. This time, hey, it was much more comfortable than before.

When Luo Yaoguo met Daozi, he also brought Daozi's ex-boyfriend, Hong Daquan, the archbishop of the Japanese diocese. Hong Daquan came to Haizhou for two main purposes. One was to plot against Yang Xiuqing with Luo Yaoguo. The two of them were old enemies. They had fought in Yong'an Prefecture and were almost "broken" by Hong Daquan. This feud was established. In addition, Daozi's biological daughter Gaozi was now Hong Daquan's adopted daughter. Hong Xiuquan didn't know about this, and Yang Xiuqing was also kept in the dark.

His second purpose was to "obtain scriptures from the West". The scriptures have three volumes in total, which can be called the three true scriptures. One volume is "True Testament", which has long been spread in Japan. The second volume is "The Book of Prophets (Japan Volume 1855-1857)". Just by listening to the name, you can tell that it is full of major events that will happen in Japan in 1855, 1856, and 1857. The most important of them was the Ansei Edo Earthquake on November 1855, 11. This was a magnitude 11 earthquake on the Richter scale. It would be an understatement to say that there were not a few thousand people affected, and the epicenter was in Edo, so the impact was huge. If the True Testament sect could predict this earthquake in advance, believers would come in droves.

The third volume of the True Scripture is "Anti-Scripture (Rebellion of the Emperor)". This volume is very powerful, specifically inciting the Japanese emperor and the True Prophet faction to rebel together. When the Ansei Edo Earthquake prediction came true, Hong Daquan used this "Anti-Scripture (Rebellion of the Emperor)" to deceive the Japanese Emperor Tōnin. Just thinking about it is exciting.

"The Heavenly King appeared in a dream? Is it true?" After hearing Daozi say that the Heavenly King appeared in a dream to Yang Xiuqing, asking him to lead the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains under the banner of the Heavenly King, Luo Yaoguo did not believe a word of it in his heart. However, he still wanted to get the truth out of Daozi. This was also a test for Daozi.

"It should be true, right?" Daozi said devoutly, "When the King of the East said it in public, he was so sincere and tearful, it didn't look fake!"

Oh, this woman still has two hearts!

Luo Yaoguo knew what was going on, but he remained calm and asked, "What route does the Eastern King plan to take to march north?"

Daozi replied, "Reporting to King Wu, the King of the East wants to join forces with the King of the West. First, go west to take Xiangyang, cut off the escape route of the Qing army in Huguang, and then take Nanyang and Luoyang to draw out the Qing army in Guanzhong, and then fight a decisive battle in western Henan. If you win, you can attack Guanzhong, recuperate for a few months, and then cross the Yellow River from Fenglingdu to Shanxi in the first month of next year, and then attack Zhili from Shanxi!"

First Xiangyang, then Luoyang, then Guanzhong... Luo Yaoguo kept muttering in his heart: Does Yang Xiuqing want to be Yang Zicheng? All right, he can fight as he pleases, as long as he stays far away. Without him making trouble, Wei Changhui, Shi Dakai, Hu Yihuang, and Qin Rigang, the four of them, can be completely won over by giving them a frontier official position and at most a little more salary. As for Xiao Chaogui and Feng Yunshan, they were given two options: one was to become the "King of Pingxi" and move the vassal state to Sichuan or Yunnan and Guizhou; the other was to be like Wei Changhui and others, either to assist in the government or to become a frontier official.

No matter which one they choose, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's degree of centralization will be greatly enhanced, and the territory under its actual control will be greatly expanded.

As for the Northern Expedition, the General Staff had already formulated the "three major battle plans" of first Xuzhou, then Liaodong, and finally the capital. Now that the "Xuzhou area" has been taken care of, the next step is Liaodong, and finally after the "Yellow River collapses", the Qing court in the capital can be dealt with. This calculation is really perfect.

"Well, since the Heavenly King has sent a dream to the Eastern King, the Eastern King should march north as soon as possible and not disappoint the Heavenly King's spirit in heaven." Luo Yaoguo nodded gently and said with a smile, "As for the meeting of the kings, let's hold it after our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom takes Beijing!"

Then Luo Yaoguo turned to Hong Daquan and said, "Daquan, did Gao Zi come to Haizhou with you this time?"

After hearing what Luo Yaoguo said, the rice trembled.

"I brought it." Hong Daquan replied with a smile.

"Okay!" Luo Yaoguo nodded and smiled gently, "Then let Gaozi and Daozi reunite for a few days." He then said to Daozi, "I also gave Daquan a copy of "The Book of Prophets (Japanese Volume)" and a copy of "Anti-Scripture (The Emperor's Anti-Scripture)". You can also take some time to read them."

"Yes." Daozi nodded.

The north wind blew raindrops mixed with ice and snow onto the blue bricks of Qufu City, making a rustling sound. The official road outside the city had long been trampled into a muddy pond. A skinny horse was treading on the half-foot-deep mud. The man on the saddle was wearing a hat to protect him from the wind and rain, and a gray fur coat, with half of the faded dragon pattern exposed at the collar. Xianfeng tightly grasped the reins, his knuckles white, his face pockmarked and blue, and he kept thinking about what Ronglu had said to him.

"Your Majesty, the King Wu of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom said that you are no longer the true emperor of the Qing Dynasty. You are just a rebel, just like Hong Xiuquan back then. Think carefully, how did Hong Xiuquan rise to power?
He first asked his earliest believers to give up their property, abandon their land, burn down their houses, and cut off their own routes to follow him as bandits, eating wherever they went. He then forced more people to follow him, and along the way, his military strength grew like a snowball!

Think about it, who is the richest among your subordinates? The Duke of Yansheng! You have to eat his family first, then you can have the money and food to start your business, and then you can use the land distribution to raise the flag and attract people. "

Thinking of this, Xianfeng suddenly looked up and forward, and found that he was not far from the city wall of Qufu.

In front of Xianfeng was a large group of Eight Banners New Army leading the way. They were either wearing rain hats or sacks to keep out the rain, walking on the muddy road with one foot deep and one foot shallow, looking very miserable. Most of them had lost their boots, and they just wrapped their feet with thick cotton and linen layer by layer, which was covered with mud and looked like a big lump.

Behind Xianfeng was a group of people in "faded yellow jackets", half of them had skinny horses that were about to die of exhaustion to ride, while the rest could only move forward step by step with difficulty.

Zeng Guofan was holding the hilt of his sword and following behind the imperial carriage. He was also riding a skinny, muddy old horse. The hem of his maroon cloak was condensed with mud and ice. His brows were lower than lead clouds, and his face was full of worry. Beside him was a shaky carriage that seemed to be falling apart. Zeng Guohua was driving it himself with a whip. The two brothers were very close, but they were silent all the way. Behind them followed the officers and soldiers of the Ji Camp and the Yue Camp of the Hunan Army. They looked similar to the Eight Banners New Army, but the team was a little more orderly. However, after walking more than a hundred miles in a late spring cold and rain and snow, they were also extremely tired.

Following the Jizi Camp were countless refugees, leaning on crutches, supporting the old and the young, and moving slowly forward in the cold wind, snow and rain. From time to time, someone would suddenly fall to the ground in the mud and die. No one would help them up, and the people behind them would just numbly step on their bodies and continue to move forward.

Huang Shijie, Peng Yulin and Guo Songtao led the 3,000 Hunan troops from the Yingzi Camp to cover the rear. The three of them sat together in a large grain cart with a makeshift rainproof shed, pulled by a skinny mule, with a bag of rice under their buttocks, huddled together, whispering as they moved forward.

"Yunxian, do you think the Qing Dynasty can survive for many more years?"

"How many years? Hey, Ziying, have you heard of this prophecy? The Yellow River collapses and the Qing Dynasty falls!"

"The Yellow River collapsed? The Yellow River collapsed twice in three years"

"That's right! We have to make plans early!"

"Xueqin, what do you want to do?"

"What else can I do? Of course I will find the right opportunity to help my husband."

Peng Yulin had just said half of his words when he suddenly heard a burst of shouting.

“It’s here, it’s here, it’s finally here.”

We have arrived in Qufu.

The three people in the carriage looked at each other and stopped their plans.

Kong Fanhao, who had returned to Qufu earlier, knelt in the mud outside the Wanren Palace wall. The hem of his blue satin official uniform had long been dyed dark brown. He looked up at the endless procession on the official road, and his mouth opened wide in shock. The thirty-six Kong Mansion stewards holding apricot yellow ceremonial guards behind him were also stunned by this scene.

There must be 100,000 people there, right? How could there be so many people? A small city like Qufu would be devoured by them, right?
The Eight Banners New Army that had already reached the outside of the Wanren Palace wall suddenly split into two, revealing the road in the middle. Then dozens of riders were seen coming, and the first one seemed to be Xianfeng, with a dragon flag covered with ice chips behind him.

"Your servant Kong Fanhao respectfully welcomes the emperor!" Kong Fanhao bowed to Emperor Xianfeng who was riding a horse towards him.

Xianfeng pulled the reins, and the horse under his crotch, which had long lost its strength, blew out a few puffs of white air and stopped. Xianfeng showed his red and numb face from the cold, and smiled at Kong Fanhao: "Lord Kong, I come to you to beg for food, will you give me some?"

"Give it to the emperor. Whatever he wants, there is no reason for me not to give it to him." Kong Fanhao dared not say no, and quickly kowtowed repeatedly with his forehead against the ice mud.

Xianfeng suddenly laughed wildly: "Okay! Lord Kong, when my army has rested enough in Qufu, we will march north together!"

"Long live the king! Long live the king!"

At the same time, in Fengyang County, Fengyang Prefecture, south of the Huai River, Hong Xiuquan, who had long since passed away, once again rode on a hot air balloon and appeared in front of countless infantry and cavalry! Of course, the person riding the hot air balloon was not the real Hong Xiuquan, but Ye Zhifa who was dressed as Hong Xiuquan. Yang Xiuqing did not announce to the public that Hong Xiuquan was dead, so the king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was still pretending to be alive.

And today is the day when Hong Xiuquan, who pretends to be alive, leads the "100,000 Northern Expedition Army" to leave Fengyang and embark on the journey!

The first Northern Expedition after Hong Xiuquan’s death began!

(End of this chapter)