The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 521: Mantis and Cicada, Both the Yellow Bird and the Yellow Bird Want It (Please Subscribe, Please Vote)

Linqing Prefecture, Wucheng County, Jiamaying, and the imperial residence of Emperor Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty.

When Zeng Guofan pushed open the main door of a landlord's mansion, Emperor Xianfeng was curled up on the dragon chair and shaking. The candle on the desk was almost burned out, and the wax tears condensed into a hideous bloodstain on the "Huangyu Quantu". The Beijing city on the map was pierced with a hole by the red pen, and the tabletop could be seen at a glance.

"Your Majesty, the thirty-six beggars have already set up camp. The front army camp is in the town of Si Nu Si, south of Dezhou City, and the rear army is not far from Linqing City." Zeng Guofan, the general manager of the thirty-six armies, bowed and handed over the report, but was grabbed by the wrist by Emperor Xianfeng. The emperor's eyes were bloodshot, and his throat was wheezing like a broken bellows: "Zeng Guofan, what do you think of my million-strong army compared to the Beijing camp of Emperor Chongzhen back then?"

I don’t know from when on, but Emperor Xianfeng no longer called Zeng Guofan Zeng Jia Guofan, and Zeng Guofan no longer pretended to be a bannerman, but instead raised the banner of being the descendant of Zengzi.

Hearing Xianfeng's question, Zeng Guofan just lowered his eyes and said nothing. There were wails coming from outside the yard - the refugees of the beggar army who were infected with plague were buried alive! After the flood, there was a big epidemic. Now the flood of the Yellow River has not receded yet, and the thirty-six beggars struggling in the Yellow River flood area have spread the plague. Even Xianfeng has malaria. In order to prevent the spread of the plague, Zeng Guofan issued a death order that all the beggar soldiers who were infected with the plague would be tied up and buried alive! Of course, people from Hunan and Beijing are excluded!
"Your Majesty!" Zeng Guofan suddenly knelt down, knocking his forehead heavily on the blue bricks. "According to Shanxi, the two rebels Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuzhen have broken through the city of Lu'an. According to Dengzhou, Zuo Zongtang's warships have entered Lushunkou. If this war continues, I'm afraid it will be a fight between two parties."

"Bullshit!" Xianfeng picked up the inkstone and threw it over, splashing ink all over Zeng Guofan's face. "I am the true dragon emperor! The emperor of the Qing Dynasty. When I enter Beijing, I will buy more foreign guns and cannons from foreigners. Zuo Zongtang, Yang Xiuqing, Hong Xiuquan, and Luo Yaoguo are no match for me! Zeng Guofan, do you also want to be like Zuo Zongtang, the traitor?!"

Suddenly, the sound of hurried horse hooves could be heard outside the courtyard, and Zeng Jia Linshu hurriedly walked in clutching an envelope. He was startled to see Zeng Guofan kneeling, and then he handed the envelope to Emperor Xianfeng: "Your Majesty, this is Sushun's Geshaha who risked his life to send it from Beijing!"

Xianfeng stretched out his withered fingers and tremblingly took the envelope handed to him by Zeng Jia Linshu, then suddenly tore open the seal and took out the letter inside. He first glanced at it, then read it carefully again before laughing out loud: "Good, good, good Concubine Yi, good Li Hongzhang Zeng Guofan, you stand up! I know you are a loyal minister, I trust you!"

Zeng Guofan did not bother to be polite with Xianfeng. He immediately stood up, squinted his triangular eyes, looked at the letter in Xianfeng's hand, and the prophecy "Xianfeng will kill Tongde, and the Qing Dynasty will be destroyed" emerged in his mind.

Xianfeng thrust the letter in his hand towards Zeng Guofan and said, "Zeng Guofan, take a look for yourself. Your good student believed that I was captured by the Hong and Yang rebels and therefore submitted to Gong Laoliu. Now that he knows that I have not been captured, he has decided to rebel. As long as I can return to Beijing with a team of elite soldiers, he will immediately join my side, lead the troops to surround the Old Summer Palace, and capture Gong Laoliu for me!"

Zeng Guofan took the letter and looked at it carefully, but his brows furrowed more and more. The letter was written by Sushun himself, and the handwriting was sloppy, obviously written in a hurry. The letter described in detail the strategy of "encircling the garden and killing the king" that he, Concubine Yi and Li Hongzhang had formulated together. However, Zeng Guofan still thought of the prophecy - Xianfeng killed Tongde, and the Qing Dynasty was destroyed!

His intuition told him that "surrounding the garden and killing the king" was definitely not as simple as it seemed!
"Your Majesty," Zeng Guofan considered again and again, "You must be on guard against others. If Li Hongzhang really wants to defect, he can do so in Dezhou. He is currently supervising the army in Dezhou with Senggelinqin."

Xianfeng's ten dry fingers suddenly grabbed the armrests of the dragon throne, and the smile on his numb face suddenly disappeared without a trace: "If I remember correctly, Li Hongzhang's direct Beiyang Army only has one town, and it was Gong Laoliu who helped him expand the army to six towns in a very short time! So the Beiyang Army he brought to Dezhou is mostly controlled by Gong Laoliu's confidants, plus that Senggelinqin, it may not be easy for Li Hongzhang to stay in Dezhou. But as long as I return to Beijing, no, as long as I get close to Beijing, the people of Beijing will definitely turn to me! How could Li Hongzhang miss this opportunity to establish an unprecedented achievement?"

Xianfeng said this, staring at the hole on the map. He suddenly grabbed the red pen on the desk and fiercely drew a red line on the map that bypassed Dezhou: "I will go back to Beijing from here! Zeng Guofan, the 36-square beggar army will be led by you. Attack Dezhou and Jizhou for me and contain the traitor Senggelinqin!"

"I obey your order." Zeng Guofan had no choice but to bow, but the ominous thought still lingered in his mind.

"Lin Shu!"

"I'm here!" Zeng Jia Linshu bowed.

"I order you to bring my personal guards and elite infantry and cavalry to escort me back to Beijing!" When Xianfeng said this, he suddenly felt sad and blurted out, "Even if I die, I will die in Beijing!"

Texas, Canal Dock, July 7th.

The bonfire burned the night sky red. Li Hongzhang stood on the watchtower and looked at a brightly lit camp on the west bank of the canal that was as vast as a sea of ​​stars. That was the camp of the 36 beggar armies led by Zeng Guofan!

The army, which is said to be one million strong, can indeed give people a sense of suffocation and oppression. Ma Xinyi came hurriedly with a copy of the Tang newspaper in his hand, leaned close to Li Hongzhang's ear, and lowered his voice: "Marshal, Madam Ma just sent a secret report that the two hundred Eight Banners soldiers from Guangzhou who landed in Tianjin have all entered Guangqumen!"

Li Hongzhang did not respond, his eyes were still fixed on the other side. In the firelight, a dark crowd could be vaguely seen moving along the river bank, like a group of startled ants - they were part of the Thirty-Six Beggars Army, all of them old and weak, a woman wrapped in tattered cotton carrying a child who looked like a dead firewood and holding a stone in her arms, a white-haired old man carrying half a bag of soil and falling to the edge of the canal, throwing stones and soil into it, as if he wanted to fill up this major water artery connecting the north and the south!
"Shoot!" Senggelinqin's roar sounded like thunder. The moment the rain of arrows flew out, Li Hongzhang closed his eyes. He heard the dull sound of flesh being torn, the heart-wrenching cry of a baby, and someone yelling in Henan and Shandong accents: "Emperor Xianfeng has led his troops to Beijing to kill Prince Gong! You dog officials will soon become traitors, and we should be the ones to eat your imperial grain--"

"Report!" The scouts tumbled and crawled up to the watchtower, "The dragon flag of the fake emperor Xianfeng has passed Hengshui this afternoon! There are also several thousand infantry and cavalry accompanying him, shouting... shouting 'Xianfeng is here, execute Yixin'!"

The scout let out a scream before he could finish his words. The sharp tip of a knife suddenly emerged from his chest, and Senggelinqin, with a murderous face, appeared behind him at some point.

Li Hongzhang narrowed his eyes suddenly, his five fingers clenched in his sleeves and creaked. The north wind carried the smell of blood into his throat. He suppressed his discomfort and said to Senggelinqin: "Monk King, I will lead a town of Beiyang Army to chase them. We will set off tonight!"

Senggelinqin nodded heavily: "Okay! Leave Dezhou to me. Zeng Guofan's thirty-six gangs will not be able to advance north. But you have to be careful. The two rebels Hong and Yang have already reached Shanxi, and Zuo Zongtang has also arrived in Liaodong. You have to be careful that the mantis stalks the cicada, and the oriole is behind!"

"I see. Li Hongzhang is also familiar with military books!" When Li Hongzhang said this, he suddenly remembered Mathilde's whisper in bed: "You Chinese always say that the mantis stalks the cicada, but have you ever thought that the oriole's gun has long been aimed at the cicada?"

He sighed softly in his heart: In the current situation, who is the cicada, who is the mantis, who is the gun, who is the oriole holding the gun, and who is after the oriole? It is too complicated. I just hope I won't let down the beauty!

Tianjing, Maguan Port.

The moment the whistle of the Geely steamship sounded, Maria suddenly grabbed Luo Yaoguo's wrist, pressed his right palm on her bulging belly, her blue eyes full of reluctance.

Su Sanniang, who was standing next to Luo Yaoguo, smiled and said, "Sister Maria, you can rest assured and give birth in Tianjing. Xiuying will take care of you. Your Highness, I am here, and nothing will go wrong!"

"Your Highness, Mathilde has dreamed of becoming a queen since she was a child." She suddenly remembered her old acquaintance in Europe, "Li Hongzhang has benefited from her and will probably find a way to satisfy her, so you must be careful of Li Hongzhang colluding with the French!"

Luo Yaoguo's fingers stroked the dragon pattern on his enamel tobacco box, and the brass clasp popped open, revealing a small Book of Prophets. He closed the enamel tobacco box again and stuffed it into Maria's hand: "Maria, this is the Book of Prophecies I prepared for you. There is also a list of names in the Dark Hall in the book. With this Book of Prophecies in hand, the King of the South and the King of the West will not dare to act rashly."

Maria nodded heavily and held the enamel tobacco box tightly in her hand, but her blue eyes were only staring at Luo Yaoguo.

Luo Yaoguo solemnly said to Zhou Xiuying: "Xiuying, after Sanniang and I go north, you will be in charge of the personal soldiers of the Wu Wang Mansion and the Tianjing Women's Camp. You must protect Maria!"

After that, he and Su Sanniang boarded the steamer heading north. On this night, he set out with 8,000 Taiping troops!

That night, Yang Xiuqing was in his own Lu'an Prefecture East Palace, wearing a dragon robe embroidered with forty dragons that only the Heavenly King could wear, and he made Daozi kneel at his feet and shout, "Long live the Heavenly King!"

Listening to the gentle sound of rice, Yang Xiuqing turned his head and looked towards the northeast, muttering to himself: "Xianfeng killed Tongde, the Qing Dynasty broke Beijing, I am here!"

(End of this chapter)