The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 611 National People’s Congress—Applaud, I understand best!

On November 11, the seventh year of the Tianli calendar, in the Great Hall of the People in Tianjing, eighty-eight whale oil lamps illuminated the hand-painted "Heavenly King Leading Emperor Xianfeng to Ascension" on the dome, making it a dazzling golden light. The Prime Minister of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Prince Wu Luo Yaoguo, stood in front of the podium on the rostrum, with Xiao Chaogui, Wei Changhui, Hong Xuanjiao, Maria and four other "Gods of Heaven" behind him, as well as Hong Rengan and Qin Rigang, two kings who did not reach the "God" level.

In the current system of "gods" and "kings" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, only those who are worthy of being called "relatives of God" or "disciples of God and the Virgin Mary" are "gods". There are a total of eight people: Feng Yunshan, Yang Xiuqing, Wei Changhui, Shi Dakai (he is said to be the reincarnation of a fighting angel and can be considered a disciple of God), Luo Yaoguo, Victoria, Hong Xiujiao, and Maria - that is to say, if Victoria came to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, she could also sit on the rostrum at this moment.

Under the "gods" are kings without divine status. Currently, there are Hong Rengan and Qin Rigang, as well as two "young kings" Hong Tiangui and Hu Wansheng - one is the son of Hong Xiuquan, and the other is the son of Hu Yihuang. Hu Yihuang's health has always been poor and he passed away a few months ago. His eldest son Hu Wansheng is still young, so he did not immediately inherit his father's title of king, but was called "young king of Henan". Hong Tiangui is not only young, but his father is "not dead", so he cannot inherit the throne of the king, and can only be a "young king" or be renamed another king.

In addition, there are three special existences in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom today, namely "Heavenly Master Karl", "Heavenly Master Friedrich" and "Divine Concubine Daozi". Although they cannot sit on the rostrum, they are also considered to have a certain "divine nature".

At this moment, "Heavenly Master Karl" and "Heavenly Master Friedrich" were sitting in the audience, and Bai Siwen took advantage of them to get a seat. As soon as the three of them sat down in the audience, warm applause broke out in the auditorium. When they looked up, Luo Yaoguo was already waving to everyone.

As soon as Moore and Friedrich took out their notebooks and spread them out on the desk in front of them, Luo Yaoguo's voice suddenly rang out. For some reason, it was so loud that it instantly drowned out the applause in the conference hall.

"My Lords and Deputies, today's discussion on the "Expedite the Establishment of Ten Thousand Primary Schools" concerns the future and destiny of our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the survival and success of the Heavenly Father and Heavenly King's cause!!"

The first issue that Luo Yaoguo wants to talk about today is not the fight against the remnants of the Qing Dynasty who surrendered and then rebelled again, but a more important issue - compulsory education!
Luo Yaoguo looked distressed. "Last month, the new boiler at the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau exploded because the craftsman didn't know how to read the pressure gauge. Last year, when the imperial army was marching into Sichuan, troops often got lost and delayed military operations because the officers didn't know how to read the contour lines. Such bloody lessons should never be repeated again."

Xiao Chaogui stood up suddenly and echoed, "King Wu is right! When I was supervising the army in Wuchang, I saw too many peasants who couldn't even figure out the proportion of gunpowder. I don't know how many important things they missed. We must seize this opportunity to educate them!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the national representatives below applauded in unison, shaking the large words "Bless us, Heavenly Father, Heavenly Brother, Heavenly King" on the yellow silk banners hanging between the pillars to tremble slightly.

In the audience, Moore leaned close to Friedrich and whispered: "He actually wants to open 10,000 primary schools. This is too big a step!"

Friedrich tapped his pipe on the ashtray. “I bet he can’t even find 10,000 teachers who can teach elementary school math.”

Luo Yaoguo on the stage has already given a solution: "This king also knows the difficulties in the local areas, but this king does not have high requirements, nor does he require these 10,000 primary schools to be as good as the Tianjing Prefecture Primary School, Suzhou Prefecture Primary School, Shanghai Prefecture Primary School, and Guangzhou Prefecture Primary School from the beginning. Local areas can make do with what they have and first invite some scholars and masters to teach "Chinese". As for mathematics, let the teachers who teach "Chinese" and the students study on their own! Primary school mathematics is not that difficult, and this king understands self-study the best. The current "Primary School Mathematics" is compiled by this king based on the "Prussian Primary School Mathematics", which is very easy to learn on your own!"

Hong Xuanjiao immediately helped Luo Yaoguo to promote the idea: "It should have been done long ago! When I was running a literacy class for girls, some girls were studying on their own with Elementary School Mathematics, and some even passed the exam and became the top female scholar!"

Luo Yaoguo waited for a while, until everyone finished clapping, and then he continued, "Sister Xuan Jiao is right. In the past few years, not only have some people self-studied "Elementary Mathematics" and passed the middle school entrance examination, but there are also people who self-studied mathematics, spiritual power, and the study of things and passed the university entrance examination! It can be seen that self-study can make people talented. The Ministry of Rites and local education officials will organize middle school and university entrance examinations every year in the future. In the future, every county must have at least one county middle school, every prefecture must open a county high school, and every province must have at least one university! As long as you are willing to study hard, everyone can take the exam. This king only looks at the scores, not other things. If you pass the exam, you will be admitted!"

There was another round of thunderous applause from the audience!
Moore frowned in the audience and spoke in German very softly: "He wants to use self-study and examinations to select tens of thousands or thousands of the most hardworking and intelligent students from 10,000 primary schools and millions of primary school students. This method is very similar to those who advocate the law of the jungle and survival of the fittest!"

Friedrich took notes, his pencil scratching on the parchment: "Not emphasizing education, only focusing on exams, selecting geniuses based on scores will only make the children of workers and farmers completely lose interest in studying!"

Bai Siwen snorted, "It's nothing more than the imperial examinations to test mathematics, psychic powers, and the study of things. Children from poor families don't want to learn at all, while the descendants of scholarly families are naturally forced to study hard. In the end, it's still the same old story, and they have cultivated a group of nerds who can only take exams. I think the British education is still better!"

At this point, he suddenly thought of his wife and children who were left in Beijing. They might have followed the Queen Mother to Xi'an. If he could find them this time, he would take them abroad. Let the children go to the UK to receive education, to Eton College or Harrow School, which are the places that truly cultivate talents. With Prince Albert's recommendation letter, the principals of these two schools will definitely find that his two sons have extremely excellent qualities.
There was a "pop" sound.

Luo Yaoguo suddenly slammed the table, making the blue and white teacup on the podium clink: "The fall of the Ming Dynasty was due to corruption; the defeat of the Qing Dynasty was due to extravagance! We, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, must learn a lesson and take precautions before it happens!" Prime Minister Luo's voice suddenly became low - the "Quickly Handle Ten Thousand Primary Schools Case" had been voted through amid thunderous applause!
The second issue that Luo Yaoguo wants to talk about today is the corruption and extravagance that began to appear in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom officialdom in the past two years.
Xiao Chaogui, who had more than 20 concubines, was the first to stand up and applaud loudly - it was very well said, he, Xiao Chaogui, hated corrupt officials the most! When he fought in Huguang and Guangxi, he killed countless corrupt officials, and the millions of taels of silver in the "Little Holy Treasury" of the Western Palace were all confiscated from the homes of corrupt officials!
Wei Changhui, who had just received the ten Japanese beautiful warriors presented by Hong Daquan, also stood up and applauded. He also hated corrupt officials - when he was in Guangxi, his family was harmed by corrupt officials, otherwise he would not have rebelled! Later, when he was in charge of Jiangxi, he also raided the homes of many corrupt officials. Thirty percent of the seized silver was deposited in the North Palace Treasury, thirty percent was deposited in the Jiangxi Holy Treasury, and forty percent was sent to Tianjing and delivered to the Tianjing Holy Treasury.

"This prince hates corrupt officials the most!" Luo Yaoguo pulled out a draft of the Anti-Corruption Law from his sleeve. "According to this law, anyone who embezzles 100 taels but less than 1,000 taels will be sentenced to hard labor for ten to thirty years! Anyone who embezzles more than 1,000 taels but less than 10,000 taels will be beheaded regardless of their position! Anyone who embezzles more than 10,000 taels will be executed by slow slicing!"

There was thunderous applause from the audience again.

This time, Hong Xuanjiao took the lead in standing up, and the jade cross pendant on her chest was so green that it attracted attention. Maria took out a golden abacus and fiddled with the beads with her slender jade fingers, as if calculating how many knives she should take? She was in charge of Luo Yaoguo's "prophecy fund", and she had made a lot of money from the "prophecy transaction" in the past two years!
Moore sneered in the audience: "The ones who deserve to be beheaded the most are probably the 'gods' on the stage."

Friedrich drew a satirical cartoon in his notebook: Luo Yaoguo was holding a machete, and the person kneeling under the machete was.
Bai Siwen leaned in and whispered, "At least Emperor Jiaqing investigated Heshen back then. Who of those people behind Luo Yaoguo could he investigate?"

"We should use our remaining courage to pursue the enemy!" When mentioning the Qing Dynasty that was attacking the northwest, Luo Yaoguo suddenly raised his voice and waved his fist, "I will compose a poem to boost the morale of the army!"

Maria immediately picked up the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone, and Luo Yaoguo started to write with his brush. In the blink of an eye, a poem "Seven-Character Verse. Western Expedition" was already completed - of course, this poem was written with the help of Zhao Liewen, Weng Tonghe and others, but it was credited to Luo Yaoguo.

Fu Shanxiang led 12 dancers to line up under the rostrum and chanted: "The smoke of Qin and Long is rolling up, and 100,000 heavenly soldiers are descending from Luntai. Clouds are across the vast sea, and thousands of flags are waving. Snow is all over Qilian, and thousands of horses are mourning. We have already broken through Yumen and taken the Han jade, and are urging the cavalry to cross Yinshan. Men should not ask about being granted titles, but go straight to Loulan and return with a triumphant victory."

While listening to the dancers singing, Moore was thinking about what China looked like before it was swept by the Taiping Rebellion.

Friedrich wrote in his notebook: "His Royal Highness Prince Wu of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom married the sister of the Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty, but was eager to destroy the Qing Dynasty. Could it be that he wanted to take both the Nara sisters into his harem?"

The applause rang out again. This time, Xiao Chaogui took the lead in standing up and clapping vigorously. Wei Changhui nodded frequently while clapping.

As the night deepened, the palace of the King of Wu was decorated with lanterns and colorful lights. As soon as Moore and others returned to the guest room, they heard the deafening sound of firecrackers. Fu Shanxiang came in leisurely, wearing a red robe and red scarf, looking very festive.

"Gentlemen, the King of Wu invites you." She pursed her lips and smiled, "Today is an auspicious day for the King of Wu and Princess Wanzhen."

Bai Siwen shook his head and chuckled: "Just now he was denouncing Nara, and now he is marrying her sister. The King of Wu really knows the most."

In the wedding hall, Luo Yaoguo and Wanzhen were toasting each other. Maria played the piano, and the twelve dancers from the Wu Palace danced to the tune of "Ode to the Father".

Moore raised his glass and said meaningfully in German: "Cheers to this heaven that has improved but not completely improved."

Friedrich later wrote in his notebook: "It is hopeful that in the not too distant future the real workers' paradise will triumph."

(End of this chapter)