The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 565: Xianfeng: Come and vote! Give out eggs and "Sakura Girl"! (Please subscribe and vote)
"Seventy percent? This is impossible!" Hong Rengan saw that Yang Xiuqing was about to lose his temper again, and hurriedly explained with a wry smile, "I am only the deputy leader of the Zhenyue faction, and Brother Feng San is the leader."

"Can 30% of the gold support 100,000 new troops? Can it build ironclad ships?" Yang Xiuqing interrupted, "How much gold can Chen Chengrong transport to the west coast every month?"

The new Heavenly Kingdom Minister of Finance (nominal still the Minister of the East Palace) of Hong Rengan's lineage knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, I have a clear view. According to the agreement, 35,000 taels of the 50,000 taels of gold shipped from the west coast every month must be distributed to Tianjing."

"Agreement?" Yang Xiuqing was furious. "When I was leading my army to conquer the world, that angel was still running errands for Brother Tian in heaven!"

"Eastern King, please calm down. Tianjing has many soldiers and generals, as well as the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, Xuzhou Iron and Steel Plant, and Taiping University." Hong Ren'gan shook his head repeatedly and said a few names that Yang Xiuqing least wanted to hear.

To be fair, Yang Xiuqing had already made great efforts in industrialization!
How long has it been? The stirring furnace of the Seoul Iron Works has already produced molten iron - although the sulfur content is still above the standard, it can be used for the time being. The reverberatory furnace for steelmaking will also be put into production soon. The Seoul Manufacturing Bureau and the Busan Shipbuilding Bureau have also begun to import equipment. Many foreign craftsmen were invited from Shanghai at high prices, and many "Dutch scholars" and craftsmen were brought in from Japan through the Shin-Yo School.

Compared with the Westernization Movement in the Qing Dynasty in history, it is much stronger!

But Yang Xiuqing's efforts pale in comparison to Luo Yaoguo's "genius" (angelic talent).

Who did Yang Xiuqing invite? Either half-baked Russian priests, self-taught Japanese orchidologists, or European "wandering craftsmen" with some skills.

The "angel" Luo Yaoguo had fooled here were all true masters! Faraday, Pasteur, and Williams-Bethemay had arrived two months ago. They were appointed by Luo Yaoguo as the director of the Metallurgical Department of Taiping University and the chief engineer of Xuzhou Iron and Steel Plant. They were also given a project to develop a steelmaking furnace that could smelt sulfur-containing phosphate ore. They led a group of students from Taiping University to help Xuzhou Iron and Steel Plant build a converter production line while developing new technologies.

In addition, Luo Yaoguo now controls much more funds than Yang Xiuqing! Not only are the two industries with huge sources of income in silk and tea in his hands, but the coptis root in Huguang has become in short supply recently. Even the gold trade in the New World, Luo Yaoguo takes 70%!

How could Yang Xiuqing not be angry?

If things continue to develop in this way, by the time Luo Yaoguo has built the old Taiping Heavenly Kingdom into an industrialized kingdom, the industrialization of his new Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will still be moving at the slow pace of a snail!

This won't work, we have to speed up.
Seeing Yang Xiuqing's anxious look, the old brothers around him were all at a loss. How could they understand industrialization? In terms of knowledge in this area, they were far behind the "goddess concubine" Inako Kusumoto. Inako was a Japanese orchid expert, and even her bloodline was "orchid" - her father was a German doctor, and now she was invited to the new heaven to serve as the director of the Seoul Heavenly Kingdom Hospital!

Yang Xiuqing turned his one eye to Kusumoto Inako and said, "You say!"

A Japanese woman wearing a kimono embroidered with scriptures from the True Covenant walked forward slowly: "In the thirty-sixth chapter of Genesis, Heavenly Father revealed that the rebellious should be punished with seven plagues." She suddenly spoke in a particularly long tone: "Several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River are suffering from severe drought, and the autumn harvest has been reduced by at least half - but our farms on both sides of the Liaohe River can harvest 30 million shi of surplus grain this autumn. 30 million shi! More than the Tokugawa family's shigao!"

Chen Chengrong suddenly understood something, and cold sweat broke out under his official hat: "What Lady Daozi meant is..."

"If Tianjing wants disaster relief, we have to exchange gold for food. One ounce of gold for one dan of wheat!"

Hong Rengan frowned and said, "Are you going to starve the people of Jiangnan to death?"

Kusumoto Inako walked up to Hong Rengan in her wooden clogs and said, "They're using all their profits on the west coast of North America in exchange for us selling food to Jiangnan at a fair price for disaster relief. Isn't that reasonable?"

This is more! Hong Rengan thought: Now the True Promise Sect can earn 600,000 gold a year on the west coast of North America. In 20 years, it will be 6 million, and in 20 years, it will be 12 million! This is still in the case of no growth.

"God's punishment falls on the unjust! If that angel was really blessed by God, how could Jiangnan suffer such a severe drought?" Kusumoto Inako turned around and bowed deeply to Yang Xiuqing, "Your Highness the Eastern King is the real Messiah!"

Yang Xiuqing threw his sword to Hou Qianfang and said, "Pass on my edict! All grain from Liaodong and Korea must not be shipped south! Tax collectors will be added to all ports, and all grain ships will be detained!" "No, my Lord!" Chen Chengrong hugged Yang Xiuqing's boots and said, "Liaodong is the land of heaven, and your governor of the Northeast is still..."

Yang Xiuqing kicked Chen Chengrong and said, "The Heavenly King has ascended to heaven, and the ruler of the Kingdom of Heaven should be the young Heavenly King!"

"Your Majesty," Chen Chengrong said tremblingly, "If we cut off the food supply to Jiangnan, I'm afraid it will provoke a civil uprising."

"Civil uprising?" Yang Xiuqing sneered, "Isn't Luo Yaoguo an angel? Why didn't he ask Brother Heaven to bring rain to Jiangnan?" He turned and looked at Kusumoto Inako, "Tell me, does Father Heaven no longer favor him?"

Kusumoto Inako stood up slowly, tears in her eyes: "Luo Yaoguo and others are unwilling to support the young master to ascend the throne. In name, they are waiting for the king of heaven to come, but in fact they are committing treason!" Her voice was a little crazy, "Now only the King of the East supports the young master, which is the orthodoxy of the kingdom of heaven!"

Daozi knew that Hong Xiuquan could not come back. So she also understood what Luo Yaoguo and the others were doing?
Hong Rengan was worried: "What if Luo Yaoguo took this opportunity to cause trouble?"

"Make trouble?" Yang Xiuqing slammed the table, "I'm not afraid of him!" He turned to Yang Fuqing, "Pass the order down, let the troops intensify their training. Within three months, they must complete the foreign exercises taught by the Russian instructors!"

Yang Fuqing clasped his fists and accepted the order: "I will do it right away!"

Hou Qianfang stepped forward and said, "Nine Thousand Years Old, according to the Rakshasa Hall, new cannons are being tested every day in the Purple Gold Mountain in Tianjing."

"New cannon?" Yang Xiuqing turned his one-eyed gaze towards Kusumoto Inako, "You tell me!"

Kusumoto Inako took out a secret report from her sleeve: "Nine Thousand Years Old, Britain, France and Germany have recently been testing a new type of breech-loading cannon." A hint of enthusiasm flashed in her eyes, "As long as we have this kind of cannon, we can take Tianjing in one fell swoop!"

Yang Xiuqing clenched his fists and murmured, "It seems that we have to send an embassy to Britain as well!"

The morning mist in San Francisco Bay had not yet dissipated, and thirty steamships flying the Panlong flag had already crowded the dock. When Xianfeng stepped onto the pier in his thousand-layer shoes, the abacus on his waist clattered - this was the "Golden Dollar Fleet" of the True Covenant faction unloading goods. Each wooden box was printed with "Blessings from the Heavenly Father" and contained gold-plated True Covenant cover voting tickets made in Jiangnan.

This voting ticket was a genius invention of a banker who defected to the True Promise faction. It was actually a commemorative ticket used to exchange for votes. In theory, it had no value, just a souvenir. But in reality, it could be used as currency in the "Sakura House", grocery stores and casinos controlled by the True Promise faction. It was a clear bribe for votes!
Of course, it is not easy to convict the True Protestants of vote-buying! Sherman has already hired the best lawyers in California to help the True Protestants, and the case can go all the way to the Supreme Court!
"Manager Huang, push the egg cart to Union Square!" Xianfeng tore open a voter list, revealing a long list of names. "Tell Lei Lao Hu that every miner who marries a Sakura girl will receive an extra voting ticket!"

As soon as Huang Shiren's carriage turned past Chinatown, it was blocked by a parade holding signs that read "President Fremont". It turned out that fifty Irish miners were scrambling for tea eggs on a cart - those were for voters to replenish their energy. Well, voting is so tiring, they must eat two tea eggs to replenish their energy.

"Vote for the Shinyo candidate and get a real Edo bride!" Lei Laohu's hoarse voice rang out. Behind him, on the second-floor terrace of Sakura House, twenty girls in kimonos were shouting slogans in stiff English: "Vote for Smith and you will have eternal life! Vote for Sherman and you will go to heaven."

In the underground chamber of the San Francisco Cathedral, William Sherman, dressed in a neat suit, was practicing the salute in front of the True Covenant verses on the wall: "All men are brothers."

"Wrong!" John Smith, a white pastor of the True York sect, pushed the door open and walked in. This former head of the San Francisco Customs, who married three Japanese girls, now wears a "San Francisco County Mayor Candidate" badge on his chest. "When you salute, your left hand should be half an inch higher than your right hand. This is Archbishop Hong's rule!"

At noon the next day, outside a polling station outside the San Francisco dock, the brothers Sushun and Linshu, each with their own family, were staring at the long queue in amazement - every white miner who received a "voting ticket" had to circle the True Contract candidate with a brush under the guidance of the Sakura Girl.

"This is more lively than the relief porridge in Beijing!" Lin Shu bent down and picked up a flyer with the words "Vote for County Magistrate Smith and get a day trip to Sakura House". He suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure: their Emperor Xianfeng, who was now wearing a black robe of the true Yue style and shouted in fluent English: "Come and vote, get free eggs and Sakura girls. After voting, remember to go to Sakura House to get the bridal brochure!"

(End of this chapter)