The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 552 Buffer Country and Spiritual Power Periodic Table (Please vote, please subscribe)
"Ally with the Tsar?" Li Hongzhang looked at Mathilde in surprise. "Aren't you a princess of France? Isn't France an enemy of Russia? How can you..."

"Jianfu, there are no eternal enemies in the world. As long as their interests are the same, even if they are fighting with swords one moment, they can still drink and chat happily the next moment! This is international politics!" Mathilde sneered, "Don't think that Napoleon III and Alexander II are mortal enemies. But if Germany rises one day and Prussia and Austria are unified, they will definitely become close. The same principle applies to the East."

"Germany's rise, Prussia's unification with Austria, and France's reconciliation with Russia." Li Hongzhang smiled bitterly, "It seems that this has nothing to do with us, right?"

"Why not? Jianfu, look," she drew on the silk map with tea, "In the southwest, the army of Xiao Chaogui, the Western King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, has already taken over Hunan, and is now attacking Guangxi from two directions together with Qin Rigang. In the Central Plains, Li Shoucheng and Zhu Ba's 60,000 troops are sweeping Henan and Shandong, and it is only a matter of time before they are all taken over. And Zuo Zongtang is sharpening his sword to attack Shanxi. Du Han can't resist at all! What does this mean? It means that China will soon be unified by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!"

Li Hongzhang stared at the area on the map that Mathilde had included in the territory of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and suddenly felt powerless: "What can the Russians do? They have already gone all out in the west. Do they have the energy to start another game in the east?"

"This is the key!" Mathilde suddenly grabbed his wrist. "In the short term, if the Tsar wants to avoid fighting on two fronts, he needs an ally who can contain the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the East. In the long term, the Russians need a buffer state to protect their soft belly to avoid direct borders with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

She dipped her finger in some tea and drew a topographic map of Central Asia on the table next to the map. Then she slid her finger towards Khalkha Mongolia: "Jianfu, this is your Tang Dynasty, a religious empire sandwiched between the Russian Empire and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!"

"Why the Tang Dynasty?" Li Hongzhang's eyes swept across the Central Asia that Mathilde had outlined. "Why not the three Kazakh tents, the Bukhara Khanate, or the Kokand Khanate?"

"Of course they can become a buffer state," Mathilde said, "but our Tang Dynasty is a better choice! Because the three Kazakh tents, the Bukhara Khanate, and the Kokand Khanate all believe in Islam, and the Turkish Sultan has the title of Caliph. What the Tsar needs is a firm ally, not a Muslim country that may stab him in the back at any time. As long as we march westward under the banner of 'allying with Russia against Britain, France, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom', and coerce the people along the way, and go to Central Asia to establish a Confucian regime, the Russians will not only not stop us, but will provide firearms!" Even the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is happy to see such a buffer state, which can prevent the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from having to face the giant bear in the Arctic for a long time in the future. The future Tang Dynasty will be a buffer state needed by both the East and the West."

The sound of mules and horses neighing could be heard from below the tower. Several Beiyang Army generals were counting the few remaining ammunition boxes. Li Hongzhang looked at their patched uniforms and could not help but recall the high spirits they had in Tianjin. At that time, the Beiyang Army had sufficient weapons, but now they had to use the bronze bells and bronze Buddhas from the temples to melt bronze cannons to make up for the losses in the war.

"Marty, you're right," he turned around and looked at the map of Central Asia drawn with tea that gradually disappeared on the table, "We don't have much time left, but Teacher, Confucius, and their Hunan Army and Shandong Army are probably unwilling to go west to Central Asia? The Queen Mother will definitely not agree. In addition, how many people in the Beiyang Army are willing to follow me to the Western Regions?"

Mathilde's blue eyes also swept over the exhausted Beiyang officers and soldiers below: "Jianfu, the Qing Dynasty is a broken ship that is about to sink. If we don't want to sink with it, we should leave as soon as possible and take as much property as possible. We must also make others think that this ship will not sink for the time being."

Li Hongzhang's eyes lit up: "Marty, what do you mean?"

"We can lie to them and say that our purpose of going west is to open up the transportation line to Russia, so as to promote the Qing-Russia alliance and destroy the Taiping Rebellion together!" Mathilde leaned close to Li Hongzhang's ear and lowered her voice to the lowest level. "When we reach Central Asia, Luo Yaoguo will have almost conquered Chang'an and captured the Queen Mother and Zaichun. By then, you will be the emperor and I will be the queen, and we will build the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions together!"

Li Hongzhang suddenly stretched out his arms, took Mathilde into his arms, and raised her chin with his hand, letting her face him: "Marty, that's really hard for you, you have to go to Central Asia with me and eat sand."

Mathilde blinked her blue eyes: "I just want to be the queen, your queen. I don't care where I am!" She suddenly laughed, "Besides, I find that the process of being a queen excites me more!"

When she was talking about her excitement, Li Hongzhang had already begun to tear off her breastplate and clothes roughly.
Tianjing City.

In the waterside pavilion of the Southern Prince's Palace, Maria, with her big belly, stirred the glutinous rice balls in the enameled porcelain bowl with a silver spoon. The kerosene lamps hanging on the four corners of the octagonal pavilion glowed dimly in the twilight, stretching the shadows of the people long and casting them on the Taihu stone.

"Brother, please have a look," Luo Yaoguo unfolded the "World Expo Charter" which smelled of camphor, "This World Expo was originally scheduled to be held this year, but Napoleon III was fascinated by our magic, so he postponed it for a year so that we could send a delegation. In addition, Paris also asked us to set up a separate pavilion, which is located between the British Pavilion and the Haussmann Pavilion. We must show some real stuff!"

"Real stuff?" Feng Yunshan took the French-Chinese invitation to the "World Expo" and read it again and again. "What 'real stuff' do we have? People want to see magic." He shook his head. "I don't know how to do it! Otherwise, you should go!" Luo Yaoguo thought to himself, "I don't know how to do it even if I go! I can still pretend to be an expert if I don't go, but how can I pretend to be an expert if I go?"

Maria said with a smile as she stirred the glutinous rice balls: "Third brother, showing magic is not a trick. My King Wu has already prepared the magic products for you to show."

"A product of magic?" Feng Yunshan subconsciously glanced at Luo Yaoguo's belt. The "Tongtian Mirror" was hanging on his belt! If there was a product of magic, it had to be this thing!
Luo Yaoguo took out a "Spiritual Power Element Table" and handed it to Feng Yunshan: "Third brother, please take a look."

"This is..." Feng Yunshan had never studied chemistry, so of course he couldn't tell that what he had in his hand was actually a table of chemical elements. "What is the secret of the 118 Panlong Heavenly Dao Pillars?"

Luo Yaoguo nodded and said, "Yes, this completes the spiritual power periodic table of 118 elements! 118 replicas of Panlong Heavenly Dao Pillars will also be packed and sent to Paris! These 118 pillars alone are enough to open the eyes of foreigners."

Hong Xuanjiao poked a crab meat lion with ivory chopsticks and said, "What on earth are these 118 pillars? Why did the foreigners open their eyes?" After saying that, she took a delicious bite. The mixture of the fragrant crab meat and the freshness filled her little mouth, and she looked very satisfied.

Maria explained: "These 118 pillars correspond to the 118 elements that make up the world we live in. Only more than 60 elements have been discovered so far, and His Royal Highness King Wu's table lists the remaining 50 or so. Moreover, the atomic masses of these 118 elements are different."

Feng Yunshan blinked, confused, totally not understanding what Maria was talking about.
Luo Yaoguo smiled as he looked at his "mistress" who was about to give birth. He was so happy that he couldn't express it - Maria was actually a rare "science girl"! Who knew how smart the child she would give birth to would be?
Linzi, who was serving beside him, came forward with a wine pot and filled Feng Yunshan's glass with the fragrant Shaoxing daughter red wine. "Father, when the time comes, you just need to act sophisticated. Uncle Jiu will tell his daughter about magic in detail in the next few days."

Luo Yaoguo suddenly chuckled and picked up a piece of Tianjing Osmanthus Duck: "Professor Faraday will go back to Europe with you, my third brother, with a new element he discovered based on the predictions of the element table. With his endorsement, the smartest scientists in Europe will be attracted to Paris, to these 118 stone pillars."

As he spoke, he glanced at Rinko leisurely - there were so many talented people in Europe, and it would be too difficult for Rinko to find them all over Europe. Now, she could gather them together and fish for as many as she could catch.

It doesn't matter even if she can't catch them for the time being. Rinko will live in Europe in the future. As long as she can maintain long-term relationships with these people, she can help the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom get many of the latest and most important technologies.

They can also recommend young people with unappreciated talents to come to Shanghai and Tianjin to conduct research and guide students. After a few years, when a large number of science students have been trained in Tianjin University, someone will be needed to guide them in research.

If a group of first- and second-rate European scientists could come to China to conduct research, it would definitely greatly accelerate the progress of Chinese science.

"Ninth brother, if you want me to go to Europe for you, of course that's fine. To be honest, even if you don't mention it, I also want to go to the West." Feng Yunshan took a sip of the Shaoxing girl's red wine that Linzi poured for him. "I also want to go to Rome, to Constantine, and the King of Jerusalem keeps talking about Jerusalem. I really want to see it with my own eyes!"

"It's time to see it." Luo Yaoguo nodded, thinking: I'll be disappointed if I see it! I don't know if Hong Xiuquan saw Jerusalem in "heaven"?

"But there is one thing I am still worried about!" Feng Yunshan frowned suddenly and looked at Luo Yaoguo, "While I am here, there is still someone who can mediate between you and the King of the East. I will not be able to come back for two years. You and the King of the East will not come to war, right?"

(End of this chapter)