The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 501: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Plan (Request for subscription and votes)
In March of the fifth year of the Tianli calendar, the Wulao Peak of Mount Lu was shrouded in lead-gray clouds. The morning mist at Hanpokou was mixed with a wisp of coal smoke from a steamship, covering the mottled red walls of the Qixian Temple in a fairyland-like cloud.

As Luo Yaoguo climbed the stairs, his calfskin shoes, handmade by Guangdong craftsmen in Shanghai, rolled over the newly grown mosses between the cracks of the bluestone slabs, making a slight cracking sound. In his arms, he was holding a draft of the "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Plan" drafted in the name of his brother Ji Du, which almost exhausted his brains. Even through his dragon-shaped brocade robe made in Suzhou, he could feel the surging "industrial magic power" of his brother Ji Du.

According to this "Brother Heavenly Plan", the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will take "starting the industrial revolution and building a heavenly kingdom on earth" as its guideline, use the dividends of land reform as its foundation, and use large-scale "introduction, absorption, and digestion" as its means, striving to build a new heavenly kingdom on earth that has initially entered the threshold of industrialization within five years.

By then, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom should have the most basic national defense industry that can operate independently. At the same time, it should also establish a relatively advanced light industry with the silk textile industry as the core, which can create a large surplus.

In addition to developing industry, the "Heavenly Brother Plan" also made forward-looking plans for agriculture, education, infrastructure, diplomacy, and foreign colonization in Heaven.
"Ninth brother, you are finally here. My King of the West and Third Brother Feng have been waiting for you for seven days." A sweet female voice pierced through the thick fog and came from the mountain path beside. Hong Xuanjiao, wearing a scarlet cloak, appeared and disappeared among the towering ancient trees. She was seen carrying a rifle made by the Shanghai Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau (a replica of the 1841 Mississippi rifle) in the third year of the Tianli period, followed by several female soldiers, each holding a killed bird or animal in her hand.

The mountain wind suddenly changed direction, blowing up Hong Xuanjiao's bright silk cloak, while Luo Yaoguo smelled the smell of gunpowder coming from Qixian Temple.

"My Western King has nothing to do, so he tried the imitation foreign cannon you sent to him in the temple, disturbing the Buddha's peace." When Hong Xuanjiao walked briskly to Luo Yaoguo's side, a thunderous roar came from the Qixian Temple. The startled sparrows flew over Luo Yaoguo's head. Hong Xuanjiao took off the rifle she was carrying, aimed at one of them, and pulled the trigger. With a crisp "pop", a bird fell to the ground.

"Seventh sister, is the foreign rifle I made in Shanghai still working well?" Luo Yaoguo turned his head and asked Hong Xuanjiao who was skillfully loading bullets into the Tianli Year 3 rifle in her hand.

"They are very useful. Ninth brother's foreign rifles and cannons are all very useful. They are much better than the half-foreign and half-Chinese junk made by the gun factory opened by my Western King in Hanyang." Hong Xuanjiao loaded the bullets, put the foreign rifle carefully on her back, and walked towards the mountain gate of Qixian Temple with Luo Yaoguo.

Luo Yaoguo turned around and waved to Maria and the personal soldiers of Prince Wu's palace who were following behind him, asking them to stay away. Hong Xuanjiao also winked at her female soldiers, and they all stepped back together, leaving enough space for the two men.

"The king has passed away?" Hong Xuanjiao walked slowly up the bluestone steps in her embroidered shoes. She turned her charming face to Luo Yaoguo with a flattering smile.

"He passed away during the Battle of Baoying, and the East Palace kept it a secret until Brother Tian came out a while ago and restarted the Starlink, and then I learned about it." Luo Yaoguo whispered as he walked, "But I didn't leak this news, and the East Palace also kept it a secret. How did you know?"

Hong Xuanjiao chuckled: "Ninth brother, have you forgotten that I was originally the female camp manager? I am not comparable to your third mother's female camp manager!"

"Is Bian Sanniang yours?" Luo Yaoguo asked.

Hong Xuanjiao shook her head: "She believes in Heavenly Father, Heavenly Brother and the Virgin Mary. If you ask Maria to take action, she will be able to be conquered." She paused, then smiled and said, "Of course, it will be easier if you take action yourself."

Luo Yaoguo waved his hands hurriedly: "Seventh sister, what's yours is mine, it's good that you have someone by the East Palace. By the way, where is the East Palace now?"

"We are almost at Xiangyang Prefecture." Hong Xuanjiao snorted, "My Western King fought Guan Wen and Zhang Liangji for dozens of times, and finally got the upper hand, driving Guan Wen to Sichuan and sending Zhang Liangji back to Xiangyang, where he dared not show up. He came here to take advantage of the situation! Ninth brother, are you going to deal with him this time? Don't worry, Seventh Sister will definitely support you!"

"What does the King of the West mean? What does Third Brother mean?" Luo Yaoguo did not respond to Hong Xuanjiao's question, but instead asked about Xiao Chaogui and Feng Yunshan's thoughts.

"Third brother wants to make Hong Tiangui the new king," Hong Xuanjiao said, looking at Luo Yaoguo as if to show her loyalty, "but I support you to be the new king!"

She didn't say who Xiao Chaogui supported? Luo Yaoguo thought to himself: "King Xiao Xi must not have expressed his position and is ready to be a fence-sitter at any time."

Hong Xuanjiao added, "Don't worry about my man. At least he won't oppose you. First, add Maria to the Council of Kings. She is the disciple of the Holy Mother, so it is natural for her to be in the Council of Kings. In this way, we will have four votes. The East Palace cannot come, so the third brother will only have two votes. Six, the eighth brother, and Hu Yihuang and Qin Rigang will have four votes. If we can get one vote, it will be a 50-50 split. Then you can ask Brother Tian to make the decision, and you will be the new Heavenly King."

Her plan was a good one, and it was indeed feasible.

Although Maria was a foreign sister who had just joined the group, she was regarded as the apprentice of the Virgin Mary by chance, and also brought the Spear of Langnuski to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In terms of "divine power", she was second only to Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing, Luo Yaoguo, Xiao Chaogui, and Feng Yunshan, and it was natural for her to be included in the meeting of kings. However, Luo Yaoguo did not want to do it so recklessly, he had a better way. He lowered his voice and said to Hong Xuanjiao: "I am not the king of heaven, and Hong Tiangui cannot be it either."

Hong Xuanjiao was stunned: "Who will do it then?"

Luo Yaoguo smiled and said, "Of course it's Hong Xiuquan! He will always be the king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, forever!"

Hong Xuanjiao was stunned again and again: "He has already passed away, how can he be the king of heaven?"

Luo Yaoguo said: "It would be great if he passed away. He would just become a memorial tablet and would not cause us any trouble or trouble."

Hong Xuanjiao nodded, seeming to agree: "Then what do you do?"

"Prime Minister! I am still the Prime Minister of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom," Luo Yaoguo looked at Hong Xuanjiao, "I will appoint a Speaker of the National People's Conference and a Patriarch of the True Covenant Sect to do it for the Western King and the Third Brother, right?"

Hong Xuanjiao frowned and said, "I don't mind, but I'm afraid they won't agree."

Luo Yaoguo smiled and said, "That's easy. We can take turns to be the top officials of the three Taiping Heavenly Kingdom! As long as they are willing to support the "Tianxiong Plan"."

"'Brother Tian's Plan'? What is it?" Hong Xuanjiao asked curiously, blinking her black eyes.

"It's a plan to build a heaven on earth!" Luo Yaoguo said seriously.

At the moment when the gate of Qixian Temple creaked open and closed, Xiao Chaogui's hoarse voice mixed with the sound of artillery reloading ammunition came: "Brother Feng San, when can you take over Hunan? Do you want me to send troops from Hubei to help?"

Through the mountain gate that had just been pushed open, Luo Yaoguo saw the much thinner King of the West, holding his right shoulder with his left hand while circling around a 6-jin muzzle-loading smoothbore cannon that had just been cast by the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. Several artillerymen were busy loading gunpowder and bullets into the cannon barrel.

Feng Yunshan sat upright on a royal chair, his yellow robe with a dragon pattern on it spotless. He played with a revolver made in the fourth year of the Tianli Period, also produced in the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau in Shanghai, and snorted, "What I lack in Hunan is not soldiers, but food and guns and ammunition. If you really want to help, why not give me one million dan of Hubei rice and ten thousand flintlock muskets made in Hanyang?"

The 6-jin cannon made a loud bang, and fire and smoke suddenly flashed from the muzzle. The target made of sandbags a few dozen steps away trembled. A cork bullet hit the soft sandbag and broke into countless pieces, all of which disappeared. Luo Yaoguo and Hong Xuanjiao stepped into the mountain gate together, and walked to the 6-jin cannon with smiles on their faces.

"Are the counterfeit foreign guns and cannons still working?" Luo Yaoguo took out the bound copy of Brother Tian's Plan that he had hidden in his arms and handed it to Feng Yunshan who stood up to greet him. "Third brother, if we want more counterfeit foreign guns and cannons, our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom must develop industry. This is the industrial plan that Brother Tian sent down from above a few days ago. Please take a look at it and see if it can work?"

Feng Yunshan took the thread-bound book and glanced at the words "Written by Ji Du" on the cover: "What are you still reading? Brother Tian's plan is almost catching up with "True Covenant", and not a single word of it can be changed."

"Brother Tian didn't say that," Luo Yaoguo shook his head and looked at Feng Yunshan. "Brother Tian just followed the way Heaven was industrializing in the past and combined it with the actual situation of our Heaven to come up with such a plan. If we feel that something is inappropriate, we can change it. How can there be no word that can't be changed? This is not a scripture that can go to Heaven by reading it. This is to build the Heaven on Earth!"

Xiao Chaogui stared at the "Heavenly Book" in Feng Yunshan's hand, with a puzzled look on his face: "Father and Brother are both gods. Do gods also need to engage in industry?"

Luo Yaoguo smiled and said, "How can we become gods without industrialization? Going up to the sky and down to the earth, traveling through the void, creating the world, and calculating the universe, all depend on industry! Without industry, they can't build heaven. Brother-in-law, you must have read the Heaven Theory, right? Where do all the novel magic weapons in heaven come from? They are all produced by the magic weapon factory in heaven. As long as we follow Brother Tian's guidance and work hard, at most one hundred and seventy or eighty years, we will build the world into a place like heaven!"

(End of this chapter)