The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 551: Taiping University and Li Hongzhang's Great Tang Dream of the Western Regions (Request for subscription and ticket)
The first day of December in the fifth year of the Tianli calendar of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Taiping University in Tianjing.

In the midday sun, the 118 Panlong stone pillars at the foot of Mufu Mountain glowed white. These 118 Panlong stone pillars were all built by Luo Yaoguo, and are said to be in line with the "Way of Heaven". 63 of them are engraved with words, namely: hydrogen, lithium, beryllium, boron, sodium. There are not only Chinese characters, but also corresponding English abbreviations and Arabic numerals (actually atomic numbers). The remaining stone pillars are not engraved with words, but there is space for engraving.

In addition, these sixty-three inscribed stone pillars are not all next to each other. It is not the case that all pillars from No. 1 to No. 63 are inscribed and the others are not. Instead, the inscribed and uninscribed stone pillars are mixed together.

Which pillars to be engraved, which not to be engraved, and what to engrave on the pillars were all ordered by Luo Yaoguo himself. There must be no mistakes, otherwise the pillars would have to be pulled out and re-engraved.

As the European "mages" arrived one after another, the 118 stone pillars outside the gate of Taiping University began to have a mysterious meaning. From time to time, "foreign mages" wearing tuxedos and top hats would come to these pillars to meditate.
"Maria, what are those foreign wizards trying to comprehend?"

When a gilded four-wheeled carriage passed through the 118 stone pillars standing on both sides of the road, Southern King Feng Yunshan couldn't resist his curiosity and asked questions to Maria, who was pregnant.

"Just trying to be mysterious!" Su Sanniang, who was also sitting in the carriage, curled her lips, seeming a little disdainful and even a little angry - she became angry after receiving the letter sent by Luo Yaoguo yesterday, and she didn't know who she was angry with?
Maria's pregnant belly stretched the shawl embroidered with the cross tight, but she smiled and said, "Sister, this is not a trick, there is really a mystery. Do you see that old man with white hair and beard? He is Professor Faraday, a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences! I heard that he often comes here to comprehend the mystery of 'elements'."

"Elements?" Feng Yunshan asked, "What are those things?"

"It's just spiritual energy!" Su Sanniang pouted and said, "King Wu said long ago that there are 63 kinds of spiritual energy in the world and 118 kinds of spiritual energy in heaven. So there is not enough spiritual energy in the world, so he can't use the magic of heaven in the world."

Feng Yunshan paused while stroking his beard and looked at Maria: "Maria, is there really so much spiritual energy in the sky?"

Maria smiled slightly. "There are more than just in the sky. There are actually 118 kinds of spiritual energy on earth, maybe even more, but nearly half of them have not been discovered. And even for the spiritual energy, or elements, that have been discovered, people only know the basics."

Su Sanniang sighed, "You are the only one who can discuss this with him. You and he are clearly on equal terms, so why do you just let him bully you and never do anything to stop him? If I were like you, I would never watch him mess with that Russian Grand Duchess!"

It turned out that in the letter Luo Yaoguo sent to Tianjing, he mentioned that he wanted to bring Grand Duchess Natalia back to Tianjing to "raise her", and asked Su Sanniang and Maria to make arrangements.

This kind of thing was something he had never dared to imagine before he traveled through time. He had an affair with a "mistress" outside, and asked his first wife, Su Sanniang, and the "mistress" Maria to arrange it. Moreover, his first wife was a female general, and the mistresses were both foreign women with status and background!

But now he feels that these things are all natural. He, an angel, is actually fallen!

"Sister," Maria quickly made the sign of the cross in front of her big chest, "Don't talk about the angel like that. He and I are not shoulder to shoulder. I am just his humble servant."

Oh, so you are his "humble servant" in heaven! Feng Yunshan took a breath of the cool December air and thought to himself: You are the disciple of the Holy Mother, and in heaven you are Luo Yaoguo's servant, and a "humble" one at that. It seems that Luo Yaoguo is also a prince in heaven!

After hearing what Maria said, Su Sanniang knew the truth and sighed: "So you pamper him like this in heaven, no wonder."

Hong Xiuquan and Luo Yaoguo had already verified Maria's identity! She was the disciple of the Virgin Mary and one of the "gods" in heaven. Moreover, Luo Yaoguo issued a "gag order" to Maria after he completely got her. Hong Xiuquan and Luo Yaoguo's verification could not be denied.

The carriage traveled through the campus of Taiping University, passing through the Dharma Teaching Hall (teaching building), the Dao Building (graduate school), the Institute of Object Studies (experimental building), the Observatory (astronomical observatory), the Sports Hall (sports hall), and the Spiritual Energy Hall (power plant), and soon exited the north gate of Taiping University.

The north gate of Taiping University is not far from the Yangtze River. A special dock and a Dengtian Square (balloon landing field) have been built. The Taiping Army's guards from Tianjing City are already standing guard around the dock. Two carriages belonging to the Wu Wang Mansion have arrived in advance - they are prepared for Luo Yaoguo and Natalia respectively.

“Woo—”

Suddenly, a long whistle blew from the river. A paddle-wheel steamer broke through the fog. It was an ordinary, medium-sized wooden paddle-wheel steamer - the "Jianghai" supervised by Wang Yan.

Luo Yaoguo and Natalia were standing on the deck, talking and laughing. Rinko, who had changed into a jacket and skirt, was standing beside Luo Yaoguo, with a faint, somewhat sad smile on her pitiful face.

"We're here!" Luo Yaoguo raised his hand and pointed to a palace under the sun. "Natalie, that's Taiping University. It will become the best university!"

"Oh, really?" Natalia looked at the building and thought of St. Petersburg University in her hometown. "How many students are there in Taiping University now?" "Now? None."

"Not even one?" Natalia was stunned. "Then how can it be the best university?"

Luo Yaoguo smiled and said, "Because it will definitely recruit the smartest and best students. Now, it is waiting for those students to finish their high school courses, and then they will take the college entrance examination and select them from high school graduates across the country."

"College Entrance Examination?" Natalia knew that she could go to college by taking the exam, but she still didn't understand the significance of the "College Entrance Examination". "What is the College Entrance Examination?"

"It's a nationwide unified entrance examination!" Luo Yaoguo said with a longing look on his face. "It doesn't matter your background, wealth, or faith. It only looks at the test scores. Everyone is equal in front of the scores. Only in this way can the smartest students be selected and enter the best universities in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom! Then, after a few years of training, they will become engineers, teachers, scholars, and officials."

Natalia just frowned: "Only look at the test scores?"

"Yes!" Luo Yaoguo nodded heavily, "Just look at the results!"

"What if the nobles' children fail the exam?" Natalia asked again.

The steamship whimpered again. Amid the roar of the steam engine, Luo Yaoguo saw his pregnant wife waving at him on the dock. "If you can't pass the exam, then join the army. There will be military academies open to these dandy boys!"

As he spoke, he waved vigorously to Maria on the boat.

Natalia also saw Maria. In fact, she and Maria had met in Europe. She didn't expect to meet in this way in the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. "You already have Maria, but you still want me. Aren't you too greedy?" Natalia also smiled and waved to Maria. "Aren't you afraid that Maria will be angry?"

Luo Yaoguo waved his hand and smiled, "She won't be angry. She's very nice to me! Natasha, when will you give yourself to me?"

Natalia threw a seductive glance at him and said with a smile: "Aren't you an angel? Don't you have magical powers? I allow you to use magic on me, even if it is the devil's black magic!"

Tongguan, on the ancient road, the setting sun stretched the shadows of the Beiyang Army long. Li Hongzhang took off his hat and wiped his face, his palms were covered with yellow soil. Mathilde rode her horse alongside him, and there were a few dark brown bloodstains on her French breastplate - they were splashed when she suppressed the salt smugglers in Jingyang three days ago.

"Jianfu," Mathilde suddenly called him by his courtesy name in Chinese, "Do you know what my uncle Napoleon encountered when he was on the expedition to Egypt? The British destroyed his navy and cut off his supplies. Although his army was invincible in the Middle East, it eventually became weaker and weaker, just like us now!"

Li Hongzhang looked at the wounded soldiers groaning on the mule cart, and the wrinkles on his forehead deepened. Since the retreat from Beijing to Xi'an, the remnants of the Beiyang Army have been reduced to less than 40,000, and the bullets have to be melted by dismantling the bronze bells in the temples. Even more difficult is that Shaanxi and Gansu are poor and the autumn grain has suffered from locust plagues.
"Report--" The scout came in a cloud of dust, "Report to the commander-in-chief, the governor of Gansu has sent an urgent message from six hundred miles away!"

Li Hongzhang took the newspaper, unfolded it and saw that the veins on his forehead suddenly bulged.

Mathilde moved closer to him and asked in French: "Are they the ones wearing white hats?"

Li Hongzhang nodded silently.

As dusk spread over the Qiaohan Ancient Road, the two men had already spread out the yellowed "Map of the Qing Dynasty" on the Tongguan city wall.

Mathilde untied her hair, her golden hair cascading down on the silk map. "Our biggest difficulty now is not the white hats, nor the barren land, the poor people, nor the Taiping Army in the east, but the fact that we have lost the supply from the ocean, there is no import of Western firearms, and in the short term we cannot build an industry inland to produce Western guns and cannons. Our strength will become weaker and weaker. Unless... we can get foreign aid!"

"Foreign aid?" Li Hongzhang sighed softly as he looked at the French princess who had followed him here. "Where can we find foreign aid? We can't cross the snowy region and ask the British in India for help, can we?"

"To the west!" Mathilde punched the edge of the map. "While we still have some strength, we will march into the Western Regions and rebuild the Anxi Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty. At the same time, we will use the name of the Qing Dynasty to ask the Tsar for an alliance and jointly oppose Britain, France and their lackeys, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!"

(End of this chapter)