The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 589: Heavenly Master Carl (Seeking votes and subscription)

What? I saw it in the Tongtian Mirror? Could it be that the heaven sent someone down again?

Thinking of this, a trace of uneasiness flashed in Yang Xiuqing's one eye. He tilted his head slightly and asked in a low voice: "Are you sure? But how could the person in the Tongtian Mirror appear here? Do you know what he does?"

Maria pondered and said, "King of the East, I have seen his book in King Wu's mirror. The principles in his book coincide with the ideas in the Anti-Scripture and the Tianchao Tianmu System. King Wu also called him a 'mentor' and said that his 'Tao' once illuminated most of the heaven. I think he might be the teacher of the angels - the Heavenly Master!"

"Tianshi?" Yang Xiuqing's voice trembled slightly. His fingers unconsciously grasped the hilt of the sword at his waist, and an indescribable fear surged in his heart.

Of course he knew what he had done. He called himself "the fourth son of Heavenly Father" and falsely spread the will of Heavenly Father and Heavenly King to deceive the world. He also used "Heavenly King possession" to oppose the angel Luo Yaoguo.

Could it be that Luo Yaoguo had complained to the Heavenly Father, Heavenly Brother, and Heavenly King, so they sent a Heavenly Master to capture him? Moreover, this Heavenly Master's "Daoism" once covered half of the heavens, and his power was boundless!
Daozi, who was always sensitive and good at observing people's expressions, immediately noticed Yang Xiuqing's fear, so he asked in a low voice: "Dong Wang, have you remembered something? Could this person be your teacher in heaven?"

Yang Xiuqing's heart tightened, knowing that Daozi had seen that he was panicking, so he quickly covered it up and said, "Yes, yes, I remember now. He was Master Ka, my teacher in the study room in heaven. I didn't like studying very much since I was a child, and I was scolded by Master Ka many times."

Maria didn't see anything wrong with Yang Xiuqing, and she was still talking about what she saw in the Tongtian Mirror about "Karl": "King Dong, this Karl's book contains many discussions about land, wealth and power. What you did in Korea seems to be very consistent with his "Tao"."

"Yes, yes, I am his student after all." Yang Xiuqing responded casually. He became more and more panicked and held the sword in his hand tighter and tighter.

Maria's words are so scary! What Yang Xiuqing did in Korea was based on Luo Yaoguo's "Anti-Scriptures", "Tianchao Tianmu System" and "Zizheng Xinpian" which can be used in Korea.
Most of Luo Yaoguo's methods came from that "Heavenly Master Karl"! Now this "ancestor" has come down to earth to take him in.
Daozi saw that Yang Xiuqing was getting more and more nervous, so he whispered, "Dong Wang, is it too hot here? Why don't we go back to the palace first!"

"Go back to the palace?" Maria was stunned. "Didn't you say you would summon the British and Dutch envoys to the iron factory?"

"No, no." Yang Xiuqing suddenly swayed twice, and Daozi, who was standing beside him, immediately stepped forward to help him up. "I am not feeling well, so I have to go back to the palace in Seoul to rest. Sister Maria, why don't you go back to the cathedral in Seoul to rest as well? When I feel better tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, we can meet them together."

After saying this, Yang Xiuqing did not want to stay in the Hancheng Ironworks for even a minute. He quickly asked Daozi to support him, who was feeling unwell, and left at a rapid speed. As soon as he left the cannon foundry and before he got on his carriage, Yang Xiuqing grabbed Daozi's wrist and said, "Daozi, go find out what Karl is capable of!"

"Yes!" Daozi agreed, then knelt down beside the carriage and bowed to see Yang Xiuqing off.

At the same time, Maria still stayed where she was, staring intently at Moore (Karl) who was discussing something with a Chinese man in a Western dress downstairs.
The pinewood columns of the Seoul Guest House glowed dark red in the twilight, and eight glazed palace lanterns illuminated the main hall. Inoko Kusumoto, who played the guest role of "host of the guest house," knelt on the main seat, and twelve lacquered plates filled with delicacies were lined up along the long table. The crispy skin of the charcoal-grilled suckling pig glowed temptingly under the candlelight.

"Gentlemen, please enjoy." Daozi spoke in fluent Oxford English, "This is prepared by the chef we invited from Guangzhou. It may not be as good as the kitchens in the palaces of the kings in Tianjing, but it is still edible."

Bai Siwen paused his silver chopsticks above a steamed large yellow croaker and said, "The King of Korea is very generous. I heard that the monthly salary of the 100,000 holy soldiers under the command of the King of the East is five silver dollars, and the 200,000 family members have an additional three silver dollars for food?" He deliberately slowed down his speech and glanced at Friedrich who was recording data.

Daozi took a sip of Korean soju, leaving a faint trace of rouge on the edge of the porcelain cup: "Mr. Bai knows everything about the military affairs of the Heavenly Kingdom."

"It's not military affairs, it's mathematics." Moore suddenly interrupted, his silver fork drawing an invisible equation on the table, "Korea has 20 million mu of thin land, and the tax per mu is no more than three dou, and the tax grain is converted into silver at most 5 million won. One hundred thousand soldiers cost six million per year, and two hundred thousand dependents cost another seven million - this is not counting the monthly losses of the Seoul Iron Works and the industrialization that loses millions every year. How does the King of the East maintain it?"

Consul Styron put down his knife and fork, Sir Sutton took out his monocle, and Bonham lit a cigar. The three of them looked at Daozi, the famous "Goddess of Heaven" with interest. "Master Ka is indeed a great scholar." Daozi smiled softly, and the pearls on her temples trembled slightly. "It's just that the East King has his own way of making money." She clapped her hands three times, and six girls in kimonos filed in. The sound of the shamisen sounded like falling snow. "Everyone has walked all the way from Busan to Seoul. Wherever you go, there should be no one who doesn't appreciate the East King's kindness, right?"

Wen Xian suddenly spoke up: "I heard that the True Treaty Party sends twelve steamships from Nagasaki every month." The old diplomat used the tip of his spoon to stir the fish soup in his bowl. "Each ship carries more than a thousand tons of cargo, mostly rice, which is not enough for Japan, and two hundred Japanese girls with Shimada buns."

"Sir, you're joking." Daozi ran her fingertips across a Japanese lacquer box and picked up a piece of almond biscuit. "They are just sisters who volunteered to go to the New World to serve God." She turned her head and looked at Moore. "Mr. Ka, what do you think of North Korea's industrialization?"

Bai Siwen suddenly sneered: "This is industrialization built with the tears of girls from other countries, right? Does the Heavenly Father God know what you are doing?"

Li Zairong slammed his wine glass on the table: "How dare you! When the King of Dong liberated more than 10 million serfs in North Korea, you foreigners..."

"Master Li is drunk." Daozi interrupted him softly, and two guards quietly lifted up the Korean official. She turned to Moore with a smile on her face again: "Master Ka is well versed in economics. Do you know how much a stone of Japanese rice is worth in San Francisco now?"

"Twenty-five dollars." Moore pushed up his glasses. "That's twenty times the price of rice in Shanghai."

"What if we use a steamship to transport it?" Daozi's eyes gleamed. "How much gold can we get in exchange for 1,500 tons of rice per ship?"

She paused, tears suddenly flashing in her eyes, "Then Master Ka, do you know how worthless Japanese girls of low birth are in Japan? How precious are they on the West Coast? Master Ka, do you know that most Japanese men of common birth and a considerable number of low-level samurai will never be able to marry and have children in their entire lives? More than half of the men cannot marry, so how many women cannot marry? How should those women who cannot marry live in Japan? Aren't those who are slightly pretty selling themselves in brothels everywhere? They are selling themselves anyway, so why can't they sell themselves on the West Coast? Moreover, there are more men than women on the West Coast, and even women who have been sold in brothels can marry a gold digger and raise children for him. What's more, many Japanese girls will be bought by gold diggers immediately after arriving on the West Coast. No, they should be married! California is a free state and slavery is not allowed. Master Ka, do you know how rich those gold diggers are? If the gold they have is brought to East Asia, it will be enough for them to live better than a Japanese feudal lord! How many of those girls who boarded the ship to the New World were not happy?"

Sir Sutton stirred the shark fin soup with his spoon. "Surely the King of the East will not continue to do such a dishonorable business?"

"Of course." Daozi said with a smile, "So the King of East has to invest money in industry even if he loses money every month!" She looked at the British consul with a smile, "When Korea's industry develops, the King of East will liberate all the poor girls in Japan!"

Bai Siwen suddenly clapped his hands and laughed: "Great! Use the flesh and blood of the Japanese to nourish the Korean industry, use the Korean industry to arm the East King's army, and then use the East King's army to conquer Japan - after all this, it's like Japan helping the East King conquer Japan! By the way, Ms. Kusumoto herself is Japanese, right?"

Daozi looked at Bai Siwen and said, "You look like an East Asian, but your mind is filled with the European nation-state system. This system does not apply to East Asia! China, Korea, and Japan are originally one family! Your Majesty the Emperor will soon admit that he is the descendant of the Heavenly Father, God!"

"So the deficit of the Seoul Iron Works is not important?" Moore already understood how Yang Xiuqing calculated the "industrial account". "The East King's investment in the Korean industry will eventually be realized through military expansion? But swallowing Japan will not bring much benefit to the East King. What should he do then?"

Daozi looked at Moore and said, "Of course we will continue to expand! Isn't this the common practice of Western powers such as Britain, France, and Russia? Industry, especially industries such as iron smelting, cannon casting, and shipbuilding are so expensive, why do countries invest at all costs? And which industrial country with powerful ships and cannons has not used them to expand its territory?" As she spoke, she suddenly bowed deeply to Moore, "Master Ka, the plan of the King of the East is of great benefit to the poor people of Korea and Japan, please understand!"

"What did you call me?" Moore looked at Daozi blankly.

"Tianshi!" Yang Xiuqing's concubine said in a very pious tone, "We already know your true identity."

(End of this chapter)