The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 523 Tongde is dead, who is next?
Tongzhou Wharf, Beiyang Army Camp.

Li Hongzhang stepped on Wenxiang's body, which was still warm, and the sticky blood from the soles of his boots left one bloody footprint after another on the blue bricks.

Duolong'a's slashing knife fell to the ground with a clang, and the bright yellow tassel wrapped around the handle swept across the sand table, smearing the word "Zhuozhou" into a mess. He knelt down with a thump, and his forehead banged loudly: "I am willing to be the vanguard for Li Zhongtang!"

Li Hongzhang nodded with a smile, took the official seal of the Beiyang Army's Third Regiment from Li Hanzhang, and then handed it to Duolong'a: "Chairman, the commander-in-chief of the Third Regiment will be given to you!"

"Thank you, Marshal!" Duolong'a kowtowed to Li Hongzhang, took the official seal with both hands, and sobbed, "I am honored by your trust. I will serve you wholeheartedly and live up to your cultivation!"

Li Hongzhang waved his hand and said, "Why so many flowery words? Just follow me, Li Hongzhang, from now on! Stop kneeling and stand up to talk."

Duolong'a immediately dropped his bureaucratic manners, stood up, patted his chest and said, "Marshal, from now on, you tell me who to fight, and I, Duolong'a, will attack without hesitation, picking up my knife!"

"Okay!" Li Hongzhang patted the shoulder of the Daur warrior from Heilongjiang. "I like people like you. Go gather the men. We have to go and besiege the Old Summer Palace!"

He did not say whose orders he was following, only that he wanted to surround the Old Summer Palace. Duolong'a did not hesitate at all. He put away the official seal, clasped his fists, shouted "Yes, sir", and strode out of the house to mobilize troops for Li Hongzhang.

Li Hongzhang looked down at Wenxiang, who looked like a dead dog, and just waved his hand. Two of his personal soldiers came up immediately and dragged the body of this Manchurian official out to bury it.

"Sir," Mathilde came in from the door. She had changed into a velvet French women's military uniform with a sword and a pistol on her belt. "Has our great cause begun?"

She did not say this in English or French, but in Chinese, and the Beiyang officers in the room heard it clearly. What was this "great cause"? Did the French emperor want to support Li Hongzhang's great progress?
What does the prophecy say?

"The collapse of the Yellow River means the fall of the Qing Dynasty", "Xianfeng killed Tongde and the Qing Dynasty fell". The Qing Dynasty was going to fall, and who would take its place? Was there only one Taiping Heavenly Kingdom? Did others stand a chance?

Li Hongzhang looked at Mathilde and nodded heavily: "Yes! Our great cause has begun."

Before he finished his words, the thunderous sound of military drums suddenly rang out.

The Third Regiment of the Beiyang New Army is finally about to start!

Texas, Canal.

"Kill the dog officials and eat the emperor's food!"

Senggelinqin stood on the watchtower, looking at the beggar army pouring in like a tide from the other side of the canal, and his heart was filled with a chilling coldness.

"Your Highness, we can't stop them, we really can't stop them. These poor Koreans are crazy and rushing towards us without caring about their lives. We can't kill them all. Moreover, they only rush towards the place guarded by our Eight Banners Soldiers, not the area guarded by the Beiyang New Army." A Mongolian general came up to Senggelinqin, and while speaking, he raised his hand and pointed at the camp of the Beiyang New Army with the word "Li" fluttering handsomely on the back.

Senggelinqin did not even look at the Beiyang Army camp, but stared at the beggars with their heads wrapped in green cloth rushing over from the other side of the canal, stepping on the canal filled with corpses and sandbags filled with mud. He said coldly: "Is it strange that Zeng Guofan did not attack Li Hongzhang? They were originally master and apprentice. If I am not mistaken, the main force of Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Army should have withdrawn last night, and those camps are just empty camps!"

"It's an empty camp? Then, what should we do?" The Mongolian generals below were suddenly panicked.

Senggelinqin turned around and looked at the Mongolian general who had followed him out of the Khorchin grassland, and smiled faintly: "Kexing Ataiji, do you really think you are a descendant of the Eight Banners? We are just sheepherders on the grassland, not meat eaters in Beijing! Even if we have been promoted to the banner, our roots are still in the grassland!"

He raised his whip, pointed at the Eight Banners soldiers wearing eight-colored cotton armor who were fighting hard below, and sneered: "Don't you understand? Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang are acting! The beggars are risking their lives to survive, and those Eight Banners uncles in Beijing are paying off their ancestors' debts! Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang conspired to grind these people wearing cotton armor into pieces, and the Qing Dynasty will be broken. Otherwise, it will perish in many years!"

"Then, what should we do?" Kexing Ataiji looked anxious.

Senggelinqin sneered, "What should we do? Of course we have to cooperate with the two masters and apprentices in their tricks." He lowered his voice, "Matilde has given the money! Three hundred thousand silver dollars and five thousand foreign guns. No matter who is in power in the future, we good men on horseback will always be needed!" He paused and said, "Go tell the Mongolian camp below to pack up and leave before dark!"

"Go? Where to?" asked Kexing Ataiji.

"Grassland! Let's go back to the grassland!" Senggelinqin said with a smile, "Do you think I look like the Great Khan of Mongolia?"

Outside Dezhou City, west of the canal, is Zeng Guofan’s camp.

When Zeng Guoquan entered the tent, Zeng Guofan was holding a letter sent by Li Hongzhang through the channel of "Kong Shenggong", and was reading it over and over again by candlelight. There were howlings coming from outside the tent. It was the beggars who were not infected with the disease burying their companions who were infected with the plague alive. Since Emperor Xianfeng left with the elite soldiers of the imperial guards, the plague god in the army has become more rampant. In addition to the plague god's reluctance to spare this beggar army, the army's food and grass have gradually become low. Now Zeng Guofan ignored the casualties of his subordinates and asked them to attack desperately, in order to reduce some mouths to eat - the dead don't need to eat!

"Brother," Zeng Guoquan said with a look of joy, "Senggelinqin's Mongolian cavalry abandoned the Eight Banners soldiers and ran away!"

"Escaped?" Zeng Guofan was stunned, and then put Li Hongzhang's letter on the table. With the help of candlelight, Zeng Guoquan saw the four big characters "Can be named King of Shu", "Okay! Pass the order. Continue the fierce attack and make sure to wipe out the remaining enemies in Dezhou!"

"What happens after they are all killed?" Zeng Guoquan asked.

Zeng Guofan said in a deep voice: "Of course we have to enter Beijing! The thirty-six beggars must enter Beijing at least once!"

"twitter!"

Beijing City, outside Guangqumen.

When Li Hongzhang reined in his horse, it was already pitch dark. He looked at the twinkling lanterns on the tower and a large flag embroidered with the three characters "Xianfeng Dynasty" and sneered - did the Eight Banners people in Beijing think they could save anything by hanging this tattered flag?

"General," Feng Guifen, who had been waiting outside Guangqu Gate, rode forward and said in a low voice, "Imperial Concubine Yi and Sushun launched a coup yesterday afternoon and captured the new Nine Gates Admiral Yuan Bao. Now the city of Beijing is in the hands of Imperial Concubine Yi."

Li Hongzhang raised his eyebrows: "This Imperial Concubine Yi is quite a character, but it's a pity that she was born at the wrong time."

Before he finished speaking, three cannon shots were heard from the top of the city wall. Li Hongzhang looked up suddenly and saw a green velvet sedan chair coming out of the city gate. When the curtain of the sedan chair was opened, it was Sushun, who had shaved his beard. He had changed into the official robes of a first-rank official and was holding a yellow box containing a secret decree.

"Shao Quan!" Su Shun got out of the sedan chair and held up the box. "The emperor has ordered you to lead the troops to surround the garden immediately, but you are not allowed to send any soldiers into the garden!"

Li Hongzhang dismounted from his horse, strode forward, and without kneeling, he reached out to take the yellow box. When he opened it, he found it was empty. How could there be any secret decree?
"I accept your order." When Li Hongzhang closed the yellow box, he caught a glimpse of Sushun's pretty face behind the curtain of the sedan chair. It was clearly a girl, but she was wearing the uniform of Goshha. He sneered in his heart, but his face remained calm: "Please give me your instructions, what happened in the Old Summer Palace?"

Su Shun said, "The Qing dynasty's household affairs should be handled by Concubine Yi herself. Lord Li will not be bothered."

Li Hongzhang nodded gently: "It's just a family matter, okay!"

Old Summer Palace, Kyushu Qingyan.

Yi Xin went crazy and swung the half-broken sword wildly, leaving messy marks on the blue bricks.

Gui Liang's hat had long gone to nowhere. He rushed in with a flintlock pistol in his hand, along with a few panicked eunuchs and yellow jackets. He knelt down in front of Yi Xin and said, "Your Majesty, run quickly. It will be too late if you don't run now! Yuan Bao has rebelled. People in Beijing are saying that Xianfeng has returned to the Forbidden City! The Beiyang Army in Tongzhou has also rebelled and is now heading towards the garden. More than 10,000 foreign riflemen, holding torches, have already arrived outside the garden and are about to surround it. Your Majesty, the situation is over."

Yi Xin looked up blankly, then he suddenly laughed crazily, then took out an enamel cigarette case and smashed it against the palace door: "I am a real dragon! I have the imperial seal! I am not going anywhere, I want the king to die for the country. I, I have nowhere to go."

As he spoke, Yi Xin burst into tears.

"Yes, yes." Gui Liang hugged Tongdedi's thigh, "We can also escape to Russia. As long as we escape from Juyongguan and cross the Mongolian grassland, we will reach Russia. The Tsar will definitely welcome us!"

Yi Xin shook his head and pushed Gui Liang away: "I will not escape. I cannot escape. I became the emperor for the sake of the Qing Dynasty. If I really escape, the Qing Dynasty will..."

"boom!"

Before Emperor Tongde finished speaking, a clear gunshot was heard from outside the courtyard. Yi Xin turned his head and saw Concubine Yi walking in with a flintlock pistol in her hand. Behind her was Princess Wanzhen, who was holding a tray with a wine pot and wine glasses in her hands! Little Zaichun was holding Ming Wanzhen's robe and taking his first steps. After the three of them, it was Yuan Bao and a group of yellow jackets holding foreign guns.

"Sixth Uncle," Imperial Concubine Yi lowered her gun to the ground, smiling gently, "You should go to the underworld to apologize to your ancestors. I have prepared the Crane's Peak Red for you. It is an old medicine passed down by Emperor Yongzheng. It is very effective. Drink a pot of it, and I guarantee you will be able to see the ancestors of the Aisin-Gioro clan."

Emperor Tongde looked at Concubine Yi and suddenly felt a little relieved. He threw away the broken sword and nodded, saying, "Good, good, very good, it's you who came. It's better than Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guofan and others!" He suddenly looked at Concubine Yi and said very seriously, "Lan'er, you are the destined person of the Qing Dynasty!"

Concubine Yi was stunned and stared at Yi Xin. Yi Xin strode forward, walked up to Wanzhen, picked up the wine pot, and said: "This is what Hong Xiuquan's brother said that you are the man of destiny of the Qing Dynasty! That's why I won't kill you!" As he said that, he took off the lid of the pot, opened his mouth, tilted his neck, and drank the whole pot of crane's beak red made during the Yongzheng period.

(End of this chapter)