The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 517 Xian Zicheng, Gong Chongzhen, Yang Ergun, Li Datou (seeking votes and subscription)
In Qufu, the leaden clouds seemed to be pressed down to the earth by an invisible giant hand, hanging heavily in the air, as if they would collapse at any time. Outside the ten-thousand-foot palace walls, the camps of the garrison troops were stacked up one after another, like a gray forest trapped in despair. The depressing atmosphere was like thick ink, immersing everything in it.

The former Yanshenggong Mansion in the city now became the residence of Emperor Xianfeng, one of the "Second Emperor of the Qing Dynasty". Xianfeng threw the memorials from Li Jun, the governor of the river, and Ying Gui, the governor of Henan, on a gilded self-ringing clock in the imperial study. Amid the sound of cracking gears, Du Han, the leading military minister of the Qufu court, knelt down with a plop, and his big red hat rolled down the steps: "Your Majesty, Li Jun, the governor of the Donghe River, and Ying Gui, the governor of Henan, have come to you in an urgent manner from 600 miles away. Since May, the water from the upper reaches has been surging, and the water level in the river in Henan has risen sharply. I am afraid it will really be..."

"What do you really want?" Xianfeng turned around abruptly, his eyes wide open, bloodshot, almost spitting fire, "Are you trying to say: If the Yellow River collapses, the Qing will fall?"

"Your Majesty!" Zeng Guofan, who was sitting on the side, stroked his beard and said calmly, "That was a rumor spread by Xiao Chaogui, the leader of the Guangdong bandits, to deceive the people. It is not credible, not credible!"

"Not credible?" Xianfeng reached out and pressed a purse hanging on his waist, which contained a letter that he had twisted into a ball. It was a letter sent to him by Ronglu and signed by Luo Xueyan. On the letter was the process of the "Yellow River collapse" and several exact dates. In mid-to-late May, the Yellow River flooded. From June 15th to 17th, the piles of Xiabei Hall grew suddenly, and the water accumulated to more than 11 feet. The water was turbulent. On the 18th, the water continued to rise, and the earthen embankment built could not withstand the rising water. It happened that the south wind blew, and the huge waves rushed directly to the top of the embankment. The soldiers could not stand and manpower was difficult to do anything. On the 19th, the Yellow River began to overflow.
Today is May 15th!

The collapse of the Yellow River has already begun, but is the demise of the Qing Dynasty far away?

Zeng Jia Linshu frowned, looking worried, but spoke calmly: "Your Majesty, the collapse of the Yellow River is actually an opportunity! If the Yellow River does not collapse, will the Qing Dynasty definitely belong to you, Your Majesty?"

Xianfeng slammed his fist on the table: "Linshu, what do you want to say?"

Zeng Jia Linshu held the hilt of the imperial sword in one hand and stroked his beard with the other, glancing at his new father-in-law, the Prince of Lu and the Duke of Yansheng, Kong Fanhao. Thanks to Emperor Xianfeng, a 16-year-old girl from the side branch of the Kong family in Qufu is now Zeng Guofan's "little stepmother"! She is listed in the family tree and is the "real stepmother" that Zeng Guofan kowtows to! This is not an insult. She is the little princess of the Prince of Lu's mansion, the second wife who was carried into Zeng Jia's mansion in a sedan chair, and a legitimate "descendant of the saint". If Zeng Guofan's wife was not still alive, he would have wanted to marry her.

With this relationship, the Zeng family and the Kong family are now united as one.

Xianfeng and the like just need someone to sit on the throne!

"Your Majesty," Kong Fanhao said solemnly, "If the Yellow River collapses, millions of beggars will be killed. Does Your Majesty know about the Beggars Army?"

How could he not know? Xianfeng squeezed his purse again. Luo Xueyan's letter had already clearly stated the strategy for bringing millions of beggars to the capital.

Li Hongzhang's Beiyang New Army had at most six regiments, and Senggelinqin had gathered even fewer Eight Banners new soldiers who had gone to Tongde, and it was not known whether they could even form a regiment? With less than 100,000 soldiers and horses, how could they stop a million beggars? Even if they could stop them, Luo Xueyan had prepared a back-up plan for Emperor Xianfeng.
"Your Majesty, Prince Lu's plan is brilliant!" Shandong Governor Chong'en spoke with a flattering look on his face - not to please Emperor Xianfeng, but to please the Zeng and Kong families!
The sky of Shandong is now named Zeng or Kong, not "Xian"! As for Aisin-Gioro, Emperor Tongde is the orthodox one! Xianfeng led millions of beggars to seize the Eight Banners, just like "Xian Zicheng"!
"Your Majesty, let's do it this way!" Zeng Guofan was too lazy to discuss it further and simply made the final decision.

As soon as he spoke, everyone in the court agreed with him. However, in Xianfeng's mind, there was only a plot given to him by the "Shanghai Devil": Concubine Yi could become the Empress Dowager of the Later Jin Khan!
"Good! Good! Good!" Xianfeng suddenly laughed crazily, his pale and slender arms exposed from the cuffs of his dragon robe. "Send an order to the Governor of the River and the Governor of Henan, and all river workers to withdraw their defenses immediately! When the Yellow Dragon breaks the dike, I want millions of refugees to become the vanguard -" He grabbed the opium pipe on the table and took a deep puff, "Go and give a big gift to my sixth brother!"

"Your Majesty!"

All the ministers in the hall bowed to Xianfeng.

In the back garden of Prince Fu's Mansion, the Western pocket watch that Ronglu obtained in Shanghai was clicking on the stone table.

Concubine Yi had a cold expression, and her gilded armor scratched across the draft of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom-Later Jin Treaty: "Your Highness Prince Wu wants to help Chun'er ascend the throne? He is a man who raised the red flag on the top of Nanjing City, and he is meddling in the family affairs of the Aisin-Gioro clan?"

"Your Majesty, I see." Ronglu took out an enamel tobacco box, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's dragon seal glowed in the secret compartment. "King Wu said that when the Yellow River collapses, the Qing Dynasty will fall. The Qing Dynasty will definitely fall, but the Later Jin can still last for decades." He suddenly lowered his voice, "The condition is to make the emperor and Emperor Tongde become the previous emperor!"

With a snap, one of Concubine Yi's gilded armor pieces broke into two pieces. Concubine Yi's eyes widened: "What a cruel King Wu, he actually wants me to kill the king and my husband?"

Ronglu said softly, "My Lady, will you do it or not?"

Imperial Concubine Yi gritted her teeth and said, "How can I commit the crime of Ling Chi?" "If you fail Ling Chi, you will be the queen mother of the country if you win!" Ronglu said, "His Royal Highness Prince Wu said that if you don't do it, it means that Emperor De is tired of playing with you, and it's also two cups of poisoned wine!"

"Two cups?" Imperial Concubine Yi was shocked. "Do you need two cups of poisoned wine to kill me?"

Ronglu said word by word: "One cup for you, one cup for His Royal Highness Prince Fu!"

"What! Emperor Tongde..." Imperial Concubine Yi bit her lip, "How much can the King of Wu help? What are my chances of winning?"

Ronglu said, "There are 500,000 silver dollars in the account of the Bank of the Orient in the French Concession in Tianjin, which can be used by the imperial concubine." He pointed to the tobacco box on the table, "The seal for taking the silver is in this tobacco box! In addition, there is also a hidden man of His Royal Highness Prince Wu in Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Army."

Concubine Yi bit her red lips hard again, then opened the text of the "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom-Later Jin Treaty", and used her right thumb to dip into the rouge and blood on her red lips and pressed a handprint on it: "Tell His Royal Highness the King of Wu that my Lalan is willing to serve him as her master, and I only ask that he allow my son Zaichun to be the master of the northern and northwestern regions!"

In the Forbidden City, in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. As dusk fell, Li Hongzhang held up a French whale oil lamp and shone it on the sand table. Senggelinqin stared at Qufu on the sand table with his eyes wide open. Yuan Bao, who ran back to Beijing with Senggelinqin, had a ferocious look on his face: "Your Majesty, the Yellow River has collapsed, but the Qing Dynasty cannot perish!"

Hearing "The Qing Dynasty cannot perish", Li Hongzhang's eyes twitched. He thought of Mathilde, the plump beauty in his own house, and her dream of becoming an empress. He said he would satisfy her dream no matter what.

How could the Qing Dynasty not perish?
"Your Majesty," Senggelinqin looked at the Yellow River on the sand table, "If the Yellow River collapses, Emperor Xianfeng will bring millions of refugees north, and the defense forces in the capital are only seven regiments, less than 90,000."

"Shaoquan!" Yi Xin, with his hands behind his back and hunched over, slowly paced in front of the sand table. "I went to Jingshan yesterday!" He suddenly looked at the tall and burly Li Hongzhang with a ruddy face, "Do you think I will be like Chongzhen?"

"No, no." The light of the whale oil lamp flickered, and Li Hongzhang's face was bright and dark. "Your Majesty, I have a plan that can protect Your Majesty from any mistakes!"

"A plan? What plan?" Yi Xin looked at Li Hongzhang, "You don't want me to make peace with that traitor Xianfeng, do you?"

Li Hongzhang smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, there are no brothers in the royal family. At this point, what is the point of talking about peace? My strategy is to hunt in the west! If Chongzhen had been willing to move south, the Ming Dynasty might not have been unable to continue!"

Yi Xin looked at Li Hongzhang with a cold tone: "The emperor guards the country's gates, and the king dies for the country. I am not afraid of being Chongzhen! Li Hongzhang, Senggelinqin, you fight for me well. If you win, I will share the world with you!"

The red dragon flag fluttered on the top of Xiangyang City. Yang Xiuqing stepped on the nanmu plaque of the Huguang Governor's Office and looked north. Hou Qianfang held the blood-stained "Xiangyang Household Register" and quickly climbed the stairs: "Your Majesty, the gentry of Xiangyang City are willing to donate 300,000 dan of grain, enough for 100,000 troops for three months!"

"Not enough! We need 500,000 shi!" The East King suddenly drew out his gilded sword and chopped it towards the battlements. The brocade-dressed boy held by Bian Sanniang was startled and cried non-stop. "The Yellow River is about to change its course. How many refugees will there be?" Yang Xiuqing turned and stared at the map bag on Nan Ben Inoko's waist. "Inoko, did Luo Yaoguo tell us when and where the Yellow River will change its course?"

"August 1, Western calendar, Tongwaxiang." Rice unfolded the Yellow River Basin map, and the cinnabar mark of the Kaifeng section was as dazzling as blood. "King Wu said that this is a change that has not happened for more than 700 years since the Yuan Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. The change of the river god will definitely take away the luck of the Qing monster."

Hong Rengan tightly grasped the cross on his chest. "The two demons Xianfeng and Tongde are fighting each other, just like when Li Chuang broke into Beijing. Nine thousand years old, we should follow the story of Dorgon, support the young master, take advantage of the internal strife, and take Beijing in one fell swoop, and lay the foundation for our eternal kingdom!"

Yang Xiuqing turned his one eye and looked at the young Heavenly King Hong Tiangui who was crying non-stop, and said in a grim tone: "I am not Dorgon, and the young Heavenly King is not Fulin. The Heavenly King has just passed away, and he will come back sooner or later! He appeared in my dream last night and said that the day we will establish our capital in Beijing will be the day when he will come down to earth!" He turned his gaze to the north and paused, "The entire army will rest for three days. After three days, we will cross the Han River and head north to the Central Plains. We will first go to Nanyang and then seize Luoyang. After the Yellow River changes its course, I will go north to establish my capital in Beijing! Before I take control of Beijing, no one is allowed to leak the news that the Heavenly King has passed away! Otherwise, I will kill him without mercy!"

(End of this chapter)