The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 549 Yang Xiuqing's Fantasy of a New Heavenly Kingdom

Changdeok Palace had been hastily cleaned up inside and outside. The dense corpses outside the palace walls had been moved away, and the dead bodies inside the palace walls were dragged out and buried. However, the palace walls were beaten like a honeycomb, and there were traces of smoke and fire, which could not be covered up for the time being.

It turned out that when the Taiping Army led by Yang Xiuqing attacked Seoul, the Eagle Guard of the Lee Dynasty had put up a final resistance inside and outside this dilapidated and shabby royal palace, but was ultimately wiped out!
In addition to them, there were many officials of the Joseon Dynasty who fled to Changdeok Palace, as well as eunuchs and palace maids in Changdeok Palace, who also died for the Joseon Dynasty. Even the 25th king of the Joseon Dynasty, Yi Bian, did not escape death in the end. He was captured alive in the Injeongjeon Hall where Yang Xiuqing was sitting cross-legged! He was then detained for a night, and the next day he was beheaded in Sungnyemun, the South Gate of Seoul, and was given the title of the last king of the Joseon Dynasty. His head, which was still hanging on the tower of Sungnyemun, is now displayed to the public!

When Nan Ben Inako arrived at Changdeokgung, the Taiping Army guarding here were exhausted to the extreme, but still very excited. It was not because they had just captured the capital of a country. How could the small Seoul compare with Beijing and Nanjing? It even looked shabby compared with Shengjing in Liaodong. The real reason for their excitement was that before their general attack on Seoul, the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, who had "ascended" for many days, came back again! However, he did not come down in the flesh, but in spirit, and possessed the body of the Eastern King Yang Xiuqing. He also continued the Eastern King's mouth and conveyed the latest instructions - to establish a new heavenly kingdom with Seoul as the new capital, and the territory covering the Northeast, Korea, Japan, East and West Siberia, and the west coast of North America!

And taking down Seoul is the first battle for the rise of this new kingdom of heaven!
In the Renzheng Hall, candlelight flickered. Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King, sat cross-legged on the main seat that originally belonged to Li Bian, with a red dragon robe under his buttocks - it was the robe of the Joseon Dynasty that was stripped from Li Bian. A banquet was being held in the hall, and all the Taiping Army generals sat cross-legged, filling the small Renzheng Hall to the brim. The delicious fish, meat, wine and food were brought up like water by the trembling Korean eunuchs and palace servants.

When Nan Ben Inako was led into the hall, Yang Xiuqing might have drunk a little too much. He was holding a golden and jade wine cup he had brought from the Old Summer Palace, talking loudly, and his voice sounded a little lisp: "I have already thought about it. The new kingdom of heaven ordered by the Heavenly King can only be built with Korea as the core. Don't look at Korea's small territory and barren land, but Korea has a large population. According to the Korean officials who surrendered to us, Korea has a population of 15 to 16 million. 16 million! The entire Northeast together is not even half as many as Korea!

In addition, those people also explained that North Korea has a lot of gold, copper, coal, iron and timber. Although it is certainly not as much as in the Northeast, North Korea has a population, so people can mine, and the mines can be sold for money, and they can start industries like King Luo Wu! With that industry, our New Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can make guns, cannons and steam warships by ourselves. "

While Yang Xiuqing was talking, his one eye suddenly swept across the door of Renzheng Hall, and he saw Kusumoto Inako, wearing a furisode kimono, taking off her wooden clogs at the door of the hall, and walking into the hall barefoot, slowly.

Seeing clearly that the woman in kimono was Daozi, the slightly tipsy Yang Xiuqing waved at her and said, "Daozi, come here and drink with me!"

Daozi walked barefoot to Yang Xiuqing, bowed deeply to the Nine Thousand Year Old King of the East, then knelt down beside King Yang with a smile, picked up the wine pot and poured some Korean soju into Yang Xiuqing's gold and jade wine cup.

Yang Xiuqing put his arms around Daozi's slender waist and took Hong Xiuquan's Japanese "concubine" into his arms. Daozi leaned on Yang Xiuqing's shoulder very obediently.

Yang Xiuqing drank the shochu that Daozi had poured for him, and asked under the influence of alcohol: "Daozi, how was your trip to Japan? Is General Tokugawa willing to submit to my new Heavenly Kingdom?"

Inako smiled and said, "Your Majesty, Tokugawa Iesada is a fool and cannot govern the country at all. Several elders in the shogunate even want to use the True Covenant blessed by the Heavenly King to cure his stupidity."

Yang Xiuqing laughed: "Can a fool be cured? Are those old eunuchs in the shogunate also fools?"

"They are not stupid, they are just desperate and trying all kinds of help!" Daozi felt Yang Xiuqing's big hand touching her soft flesh. She let out a moan in response and raised her eyes to look at Yang Xiuqing.

"Keep talking!" Yang Xiuqing did not stop his hands.

"Hai." Inako blushed and said softly, "The elder councillors Abe and Ii are still not giving up. They want to ask the Eastern Prince or the Ina Prince to go to Edo to cure Tokugawa Iesada's stupidity."

"Oh? Are they really that stupid? Or are they thinking..." Yang Xiuqing narrowed his one eye, as if thinking about something.

"Your Majesty, I think Abe and Ii must have noticed that Hong Daquan was very close to the Japanese court officials and the powerful vassal states in the southwest, so they wanted to bring in your power to balance Hong Daquan." "Yes." Yang Xiuqing nodded, "Then how should I respond?"

Inako suggested: "Your Highness and Prince Kan cannot go to Japan in person, but they should also take the opportunity to strengthen the relationship with the Tokugawa shogunate, vigorously export the God Worshipping Religion to Japan, and also attract scholars in Japan who are proficient in Dutch studies."

"What is Dutch studies?" Yang Xiuqing asked.

"Dutch learning is the learning of the Netherlands, which is also Western learning." Daozi said, "Although Japan is closed to the outside world, it has not closed the door to the import of Dutch learning. Many feudal schools teach the three learnings of Japanese, Dutch and Confucianism at the same time, so there must be many talents who can help the East King to open mines and set up factories. Now that the feudal shogunate is in conflict in Japan and chaos is coming, there is no place for Western learning talents. It is better to invite them to Korea to work for the East King. In the future, the East King can take them with him and plant the flag of God all over the Japanese islands!"

"Well said!" Yang Xiuqing put down his wine glass, pinched Daozi's chin, lifted her face, and looked at her carefully with his one eye that seemed to be able to see through people's souls. After a while, he said, "The Heavenly King will not come down. From now on, you will be my 'god concubine'!"

Daozi nodded, her face full of joy, and said in a soft but firm voice: "It is Daozi's honor to serve His Majesty the King of the East!"

In the twilight of Yu Garden, Luo Yaoguo stood by the Nine-Curve Bridge, watching the koi in the pond breaking up the setting sun. Huang Kuan's surprise when he reported that berberine had a certain therapeutic effect on cholera and typhoid fever, Pasteur's solemnity when he mentioned that berberine needed to be prepared with glycerin and avoided light to extend its shelf life, and Williams' endless talk about the various things that needed to be paid attention to when mass-producing berberine, all seemed to linger in his ears. It seemed that in a few months at most, small-scale production of berberine would become possible.

Now we need to consider the pricing issue. Berberine and gold both have the same name, so it should be fine to sell them at the same price, right?

The next thing to be solved after berberine is allicin. If Luo Yaoguo remembers correctly, this thing can not only cure diseases, but also be a feed and food additive. In addition, it is said that this garlic can also threaten the national security of the United States! It has a wide range of uses! If it can be developed, the sales and price of Chinese garlic can be improved.
"Your Highness, the great master has arrived, and he has brought with him two female warriors from Japan."

Xu Yuegui's voice awakened Luo Yaoguo from his deep thought. When he turned around, he saw three figures passing through the Moon Gate. Hong Daquan's dragon-patterned jacket shone coldly in the sunset, and two women in kimonos walked lightly behind him, and the sound of wooden clogs knocking on the bluestone slabs had an exotic rhythm.

"I will meet them in Dianchun Hall." Luo Yaoguo gave the order and stepped into Dianchun Hall. After sitting down, Xu Yuegui brought Hong Daquan, Rinko and Qianye in.

Hong Daquan bowed to Luo Yaoguo, who pointed to a chair nearby for him to sit on. The two Japanese women knelt before Luo Yaoguo and signed their names in Chinese. Rinko spoke Chinese more fluently, while Chiba and Yona spoke in a very stiff manner.

When the two Japanese women introduced themselves, Hong Daquan also handed Luo Yaoguo a letter that listed the positions, salaries, and merits of Rinko and Chiba. Chiba's position and salary were very high, but his merits were not many, all of which were training or winning competitions. Rinko was amazing. She had carried out 23 assassination missions in total, succeeded 19 times, failed 4 times, and killed 6 people other than the assassination targets and injured 7 people during the mission. The last and most eye-catching person on the assassination list was California Senator Brannan. She was simply a murderous devil! However, her position was lower than Chiba's, and her salary was less than one-third of Chiba's.

Is the salary of this business backbone too low?
Luo Yaoguo glanced over and found that the "business backbone" named Linzi was kneeling very respectfully, with her forehead pressed tightly against the ground and her buttocks raised high, with a kind of "Maria-like" piety. "Linzi, raise your head." Luo Yaoguo gently asked her to stand up, and at the same time cast a complaining look at Hong Daquan: Linzi is superstitious, so you bully her?

"Hi!" Rinko agreed, but did not raise her head completely. Instead, she lowered her head and did not dare to look directly at Luo Yaoguo - she seemed to be more pious than Maria, and completely regarded Luo Yaoguo as a god.

However, Luo Yaoguo still saw the woman's face clearly. She was very petite and a little thin, with delicate features and a kind of pitiful beauty. It was really hard to associate her with the number one killer of the Zhenyue faction.

In comparison, Qianye Yuna is much taller and stronger. Although she cannot compare with Maria, Natalia, Zhou Xiuying, and Su Sanniang, she is definitely tall among Japanese women. She is also beautiful, with a majestic and intimidating beauty. Considering that she is also a female swordsman of Beichen Ittoryu, a famous woman, it is too easy to be exposed if she is sent out as an assassin. She can only be a leader.
(End of this chapter)