The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 526 Don't worry, Lan'er, Luo Yaoguo is coming! (Please subscribe, please vote)

Tianjin, Dagu Port.

Amid the long whistle, the iron anchor of the Geely fell into the khaki sea water with a splash. The shirtless dock workers shouted slogans and pulled the cables hard, firmly fixing the "giant ship" of more than 2,000 tons next to the wooden deep-water dock.

On the dock, several officials from the Beiyang Minister's Office of the Qing Dynasty and Chinese and foreign officials from the Tianjin Customs looked at the strong Taiping Army on the ship with gloomy faces. Although these officials knew that the Qing Dynasty was going to fall and be destroyed, they still had some illusions. They thought that Tianjin had a French concession, foreign soldiers commanded by the French envoy, elite soldiers of the "Foreign Legion", foreign cannons imported from France on the Dagukou Fort, and a brigade of elite soldiers led by Beiyang Lieutenant General Zhang, and the Taiping Army coming from the sea might not be able to break in. But they never expected that the sky in Tianjin would change in just a few days!
First, Lieutenant General Zhang Shusheng, who was guarding Tianjin, and the elite French Foreign Legion troops in the French Concession in Tianjin were all transferred to Beijing and replaced by Green Camp soldiers from Beijing. The 54 French-made 12-pound cannons on the Dagu Fort were also taken away! Although there were still 8 32-pound heavy cannons on the fort to scare people, was there really no problem with so many fewer cannons?

Today, the Chinese and foreign officials who stayed in Tianjin finally understood that the loss of the 54 cannons was really nothing! Because the new Tianjin Town General Bo Yongbo had no intention of resisting at all. He directly raised the white flag and learned from Wu Sangui, the general of the Shanhaiguan of the Ming Dynasty, to open the gate to welcome the surrender!
However, this "Bo Sangui" was an "Eight Banners descendant" from Beijing, claiming to be the confidant of the Holy Mother Empress Dowager, and the soldiers under his command were all elite from the five patrol battalions. When the Holy Mother Empress Dowager had restored order in Beijing a while ago, executed the "rebel Gong", established Tongzhi, and welcomed back the retired Emperor Xianfeng, they had all made contributions and were all meritorious officials of the Holy Mother Empress Dowager. How could they rebel in the blink of an eye?
Isn't this transformation too smooth?

Also, who is the little beauty in Manchu clothing surrounded by Tianjin Town General Bo Yong and Tianjin Prefect Zhao Si?
In short, the officials waiting at the dock were all nervous and confused. But no matter how nervous they were, no one dared to ask any more questions at this moment! At the artillery fort near Dagukou Wharf, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Panlong flag and the "Great Wall Will Never Fall" flag were already hung, and there was also a "Zuo" character that was just fluttering handsomely - could it be that Zuo Jigao, the left official of the Ketchum Castle, who defeated the Russian division in the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far north, had already taken over the Dagukou artillery fort without anyone noticing?

This Zuo Jigao is truly “Jinliang”!

When everyone was in doubt, they suddenly heard a loud military song in Hakka dialect. They didn't know what it was, but they knew it was very majestic. They looked in the direction of the sound and saw a group of Taiping soldiers in red scarves and yellow robes carrying foreign guns, coming from the Dagu Fort. Leading them was a "four-eyed boy" - not the "four-eyed" boy wearing glasses, but a mole under each eye, which made him look like he had an extra pair of pupils.

Following this "four-eyed boy" came about two hundred Taiping Army infantrymen carrying foreign rifles with bayonets. They were so heroic and high-spirited, they were truly soldiers under Zuo Gong's command!
It seems that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has taken over the world!
Just as they were thinking about this, a few salutes suddenly rang out from the Jili, which frightened the officials on the dock. Just as they were wondering, the little beauty in Manchu clothing suddenly spoke. Her voice was not loud, but it was a crisp Beijing dialect: "The five thousand year old King Wu of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is here!"

Everyone quickly looked towards the cast iron gangway of the Geely, and sure enough, they saw a young man in a yellow hat and dragon robe, surrounded by a group of male and female officials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, walking quickly down the gangway.

This person is the famous Prime Minister of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Wu Wang Luo Yaoguo. Is he the legendary angel? He actually came to Tianjin in person. Could it be that he was going to Beijing with Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing who came from the west?

The Qing Dynasty is in danger!

The beautiful lady in Manchu clothing, who looked of noble status, was already holding a golden nanmu box and walking towards Luo Yaoguo in her high heels. She knelt down in front of Luo Yaoguo, held up the wooden box, and said in a loud voice: "Narawanzhen, the younger sister of the Holy Mother Empress Dowager of the Great Qing Dynasty, is begging for surrender to the Five Thousand Years Old King Wu of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the name of the Holy Mother Empress Dowager. I present the letter of surrender. I only hope that the Five Thousand Years Old King Wu will advance his troops as soon as possible. My sister, the Holy Mother Empress Dowager of the Great Qing Dynasty, will lead all the civil and military officials to kneel and welcome the king ten miles outside Chaoyang Gate."

What? That's the Virgin Queen Mother's sister?

The Holy Mother Queen Dowager surrendered?
They surrendered so quickly and proactively. Was it because they were afraid of falling into the hands of Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing and being burned to death?

Except for Bo Yong and Zhao Si who knew the inside story, all the Qing officials present were dumbfounded - they originally thought that Bo Yong was "Bo Sangui", but they didn't expect that the Virgin Empress Dowager was "that Sangui"!

And if she surrendered, would the Qing Dynasty fall?
Luo Yaoguo didn't seem to expect that the situation had become so urgent, so he stepped forward, pinched Wanzhen's white and slender wrist, and helped her up. The little girl's eyes were already filled with tears. "What's wrong?" Luo Yaoguo looked concerned, "Is the situation over there urgent?"

"Lan'er"?
The group of would-be traitors were all shocked and wondered in their hearts, Could this "Lan'er" be the name of the Holy Mother Empress Dowager? King Luo Wu called her so affectionately? Was he very familiar with the Holy Mother Empress Dowager?
"Your Highness, please send troops to rescue my sister!" Wanzhen's tears could not stop flowing down. "Beijing now has the troops of Hong Tianwang and Yang Dongwang outside, and Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, two powerful ministers with heavy troops inside. The Eight Banners soldiers have been exhausted, and the remaining ones are old and weak. Although the retired emperor Xianfeng is raising troops in Yingtai, he still refuses to give up and is planning a palace coup day and night. My sister can't hold on any longer, and now she can only count on you!"

It seems a bit serious!

Although Luo Yaoguo sent out many "enamel tobacco boxes" and several prophecies, he had no magical powers other than these "prophecies" and did not know what was going on in Beijing. He also did not know what consequences his plans and Yang Xiuqing's approach would have.
Now that I hear this, the city of Beijing might be lost soon. We can’t wait any longer!
Thinking of this, he turned to Su Sanniang behind him and said, "Sanniang, organize the unloading of the ship immediately. Within two days, the 10,000 expeditionary forces must be unloaded. I will take them to take Beijing!" "Yes!" Su Sanniang agreed with a happy face.

Luo Yaoguo turned his head again and said to Wanzhen kindly, "Don't worry, Zhen'er, I will lead the troops to take Beijing City right away!"

The first day of August in the fifth year of the Xianfeng reign, at 3:30 pm.

The lights in the east warm room of the Hall of Mental Cultivation were brightly lit. The autumn rain that had been falling for several days stopped the day before yesterday. Yesterday, the damp gunpowder and bedding were taken out to dry. Those who were strong could work hard to repair the trenches and breastworks. According to the memorials of Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, today was the day to start the battle on the Yongding River front!

The Taiping rebels could afford to delay, but the Hunan-Huaihe coalition could not! Every day they delayed, they would consume one more day of food rations - there were millions of mouths to feed in and around Beijing!
"Report——"

Feng Guifen rushed open the palace door with the 800-li express. The blue glass on the top of the temple glowed like a ghost fire in the candlelight. The air coming in from outside the palace was faintly filled with the smell of gunpowder. Nara Lan, who was sitting on the bed at the table, was shocked and held the enamel tobacco box in her hand even tighter - as if she was holding on to a life-saving straw!
"Speak!" The leading military minister Su Shun sat upright on an embroidered cushion with a calm face, looking as if he was not easily alarmed by any emergency.

"The Changmao Northern Route Army has broken through Juyong Pass and is only 40 miles away from Deshengmen!"

Su Shun snorted coldly: "It's just bluffing! Yang Xiuqing is used to using the tactic of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west. This must be the Nian cavalry encircling the refugees."

"Sushun!" Naralan suddenly knocked the teacup with her armor, "Who is guarding the north of the capital now? If this so-called Nianzi cavalry rushes towards Beijing, can they be stopped?"

"To the north of the city is Senggelinqin's Mongolian cavalry plus the three groups of beggars' troops commanded by Du Han." Sushun sounded confident in his words, but Naralan'er's face changed slightly.

Senggelinqin was Gong Laoliu's confidant, and Du Han's father Du Shutian was Emperor Xianfeng's teacher.
The warm room suddenly became dead silent, with only the clanking of iron horses on the eaves in the autumn wind. Yuan Bao saw that Nara Lan'er's face was gloomy, and said first: "The Queen Mother is wise, Senggelinqin and Du Han have already submitted letters of apology, and the Queen Mother has pardoned them. Now Senggelinqin has 5,000 Mongolian cavalry, and everyone has a foreign gun! Du Han's three-party begging army has 100,000 people."

"One hundred thousand?" Na Lalan sneered. "I'm afraid that after deducting the elderly, the weak, women, children and those suffering from plague, there are only more than ten thousand people who can be used!" Her palm stroked a rosewood box, which contained another copy of the "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom-Later Jin Treaty". "Is there any news from Tianjin?"

Sushun's thick eyebrows jumped suddenly.

There is no news from Tianjin, no news at all
Just when he didn't know how to answer, there was a sound of thunder outside, but tonight was clearly a good day with a bright moon and a starry sky!
Feng Guifen said: "This is Li Hongzhang's 108 French cannons firing. The Taiping army can't stand it!"

Na Lalan looked at the moonlight outside the window and nodded: "Send an order to Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, and tell them to fight hard. If they win, I will make them each a prince!"

Suddenly, a shrill crow cry came from the direction of Yingtai, and An Dehai's hand holding the medicine box trembled slightly. The glazed tiles of Hanyuan Hall shone green under the moonlight. Xianfeng was wrapped in a bright yellow satin quilt and huddled in the corner of the kang. His waxy yellow fingers were dipping in the medicine and repeatedly drawing the five words "Kill Li, kill the slave" on the kang table.

(End of this chapter)