The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 619 Moore: It would be great if there was a strong revolutionary group now! (Seeking votes)

Duke Tang’s Mansion, on top of a tall building.

"Look!" Friedrich quickly sketched in his notebook, "those Chinese feudal nobles are fleeing their fortresses!"

Through the telescope, all the bannermen in the city were pouring out of the city gates like frightened sheep - the so-called feudal aristocracy had now become penniless, and some had even lost their pigtails!
An old man of the Bannermen ran while cutting his braid with scissors, as if he wanted to pretend to be a Han Chinese. But before he could throw away the gray-white braid in his hand, which symbolized the Qing Dynasty's rule for more than 200 years, he was chopped down by a Hunan Army soldier who caught up with him. His blood dyed a large area of ​​snow red, but he had not yet thrown away the braid in his hand.

"Nine generations of hatred can still be avenged!" The Hunan Army captain raised his bloodstained sword high up, "My surname is Zhu! Hahaha, kill!"

Although the Hunan Army, Huai Army, and Shandong Army had sharpened their killing knives, Zeng Guoquan, Li Hongzhang, Huang Shijie and others who launched today's "Xi'an Incident" did not want to massacre all the Bannermen in Xi'an, so not many people blocked the gate of Manchuria. Therefore, most of the Bannermen who rushed out of Manchuria are still alive for the time being.

But where can they go?
Today, the city of Xi'an is under the firm control of the Hunan, Huai and Shandong armies. No, not firmly, a red "Taiping Righteous Army" flag is fluttering over the north gate of Xi'an.

Wen Xian held up a telescope, looking surprised: "They... They actually fled to the North Gate controlled by the Taiping Army."

Moore took the telescope and saw that the bannermen who had fled to the vicinity of the north gate took the red scarves given to them by the "Taiping Army" and wrapped them around their heads, thus suddenly becoming "Taiping Army" themselves.

Friedrich wrote: "On the morning of January 1858, 1, the entire city of Xi'an fell. It is worth noting that a large number of bannermen quickly changed their identities in order to survive."

"This is really ridiculous," Wenxian murmured, "the Eight Banners nobles have actually become the Taiping Army."

"That's not ridiculous at all." Moore interrupted him. "When the entire city of Xi'an was captured, those so-called noble bannermen had already lost all their privileges, and they also had no means of production! Sir, what do you think we should call them?"

"They are" Wenxian thought of a very scary name.

"Proletarians!" Friedrich laughed, "and the Taiping Army is also proletarians." He smiled and wrote in his notebook: "At this moment, the proletarians and the proletarians united, even though they were mortal enemies who had fought each other before!"

Moore sighed softly and whispered in German: "It's a pity that there is no real workers' party here."

Friedrich closed his notebook. "Thirty or forty years from now!"

Zeng Guofan sat in the sedan chair, his body trembling slightly under the bright yellow dragon robe. From outside the sedan chair came screams one after another. It was the soldiers from the Hunan, Huaihe and Shandong armies who were burning, killing and looting in the city.

"Shaoquan," Zeng Guofan lifted the curtain of the sedan chair, "Can such an army really defeat the Taiping Army?"

Li Hongzhang rode closer and whispered, "Your Majesty, the troops are now short of food and pay, and everyone is suffering. If we don't get rid of the Qing government, those soldiers will devour us, the well-dressed men who lead them."

The sedan chair passed by one, no, two corpses, and the sedan bearers crushed their bones, making a "crackling" sound. Zeng Guofan looked over and saw the corpse of an old banner woman holding a baby.

"Stop the sedan!" Zeng Guofan suddenly shouted, "Send an order to the troops."

"Your Majesty!" Luo Zenan rode over on horseback, "The Ji Camp has mutinied! They are robbing the Imperial City's treasury!"

Li Hongzhang suggested: "Let them fight for the five successive dynasties. It's always like this. When they are done fighting, they will have to join us!"

Zeng Guofan's whole body trembled, and the curtain of the sedan chair fell weakly. The sedan chair continued to move forward, passing through the streets full of corpses and killings.

Suddenly, the sedan stopped. Zeng Guofan opened the curtain and saw the gate of the imperial city was wide open with thick smoke billowing out.

"Your Majesty!" Luo Zenan put his hands on the pergola and looked around, "It seems that the Daizheng Palace is on fire!"

Da Zheng Hall was the residence of Cixi and the young Emperor Zaichun!

"You." Zeng Guofan glared at Luo Zenan and Li Hongzhang, "We are the emperor and his subjects, why do you have to do this?"

Luo Zenan and Li Hongzhang both looked innocent. They didn't order anyone to burn down the Daijoden!

Zeng Guofan sighed and sat in the sedan chair to the imperial city - there was no turning back for him now, and the scene in the imperial city made him even more desperate.

The Hunan soldiers were chasing the palace maids, the Huai army commander was searching the eunuchs' bodies, and the big and strong Lu soldiers were smashing the warehouses and stealing the property.
"Stop! Stop!" Zeng Guofan shouted, but no one paid attention. A Hunan Army sergeant ran past him holding a gilded incense burner, with a bloody head on his belt - Zeng Guofan recognized it as the head of a prince!

There was a loud noise in the distance, and the roof of the Daijoden collapsed.

After a while, Huang Shijie came running over, covered in dust and dirt: "Your Majesty! Cixi and Zaichun."

"Speak!" Zeng Guofan asked with clenched fists.

"In the ruins of the Daizheng Palace." Huang Shijie swallowed his saliva, "Two charred corpses were found, one was an adult, the other was a child!"

Zeng Guofan suddenly grabbed Li Hongzhang's arm and said, "Shaoquan, what are we doing?" Li Hongzhang brushed his hand away, his eyes flashing coldly, "Your Majesty, please find another palace to ascend the throne and be called the Emperor of the Great Zhou!"

The ice surface of the Wei River squeaked as tens of thousands of pairs of straw sandals stepped on it.

Ma Chaoqing, who was leading the way, raised his scimitar high and said, "Father Heaven, the Greatest God!"

Bai Yanhu followed closely behind, holding a large banner of the "Taiping Righteous Army": "Revenge for the folks of Weinan Thirteen Quarters!"

The allied forces surged across the Wei River like a tide, heading southward towards the open North Gate of Xi'an. The soldiers in the front row held up wooden shields with crosses scribbled on them.

A young soldier suddenly knelt on the ice and kowtowed to the red flag of the "Taiping Righteous Army" on the north gate wall: "Hong Tianwang has appeared!"

Another old man with a big beard kicked him and said: "Get up quickly, there is only truth." His voice was immediately drowned out by the "booming" sound of artillery - the north gate wall was being bombarded by artillery mounted in the city!
It was obvious that the Hunan Army, Huai Army and Lu Army in the city had already reacted and started attacking the Taiping Rebellion in the north of the city.

On the north bank of the Wei River, Chen Decai put down his telescope and said to Ma Xinyi beside him: "Let them go to their deaths."

Ma Xinyi sneered: "Lord Li said that these people are cannon fodder."

"Archbishop!" The messenger came running, "The vanguard has approached the north gate of Xi'an!"

Chen Decai looked at the distant city of Xi'an and saw the fireworks rising into the sky.

"Send an order," Chen Decai suddenly said, "The rear army should stop advancing and guard the north bank of the Wei River!"

At this time, earth-shaking shouts of killing were heard in the distance. Ma Xinyi stood on the stirrups, holding up a telescope and looking south. He saw the ant-like coalition army creeping towards the city wall of Xi'an.
Bai Siwen pushed open the rickety courtyard door, and the stench of mold and feces hit him in the face. Two skinny boys were huddled in the corner, and they were his two beloved sons!

"Ruixiang! Zhongxiang!" Bai Siwen rushed over, "Where are your mother and sister?

The eldest son, Bai Ruixiang, raised his head, his eye sockets sunken: "You are... Father?" He suddenly burst into tears: "Father, mother and sister went out to earn a living, it has been a day and a night."

The youngest son, Bai Zhongxiang, just shouted: "Hungry, hungry"

Bai Siwen took out the banknotes from his arms and said, "Father has a lot of money. Father has a big house in England and has deposited 150,000 pounds in an English bank. That's a lot of money! When your mother and sister come back, we will go to England together. Father will send you to the best schools, Eton, Harrow, Oxford, Cambridge. Father has connections!"

The shouts and cries of killing outside were getting louder and louder: "Nine generations of revenge can be avenged"

Yuan Bao pulled Bai Siwen up and said, "Old Bai, we can't wait any longer. We have to leave the city."

Suddenly, the gate was knocked open. Three Huai Army soldiers rushed in, and the leading sergeant waved his Minié rifle and said, "Four Eight Banners soldiers were found!"

Bai Siwen quickly protected his son behind him, then tremblingly took out a token with the word "Li" in it and said, "I am not a descendant of the Eight Banners. I am a French engineer hired by Lord Li."

As he spoke, he tore open his tattered cotton coat, revealing the British dress underneath.

What a foreigner!

Everyone in the Huai Army knew how powerful "Empress Ma" was - their Lord Li had achieved his current status by living off "Empress Ma", and "Empress Ma" must not be offended.

Seeing that his "foreign skin" had frightened the Huai Army in front of him, Bai Siwen quickly took out a handful of silver dollars and threw them on the ground: "This is a reward for you. If you protect me and these people and go to the Duke of Tang's Mansion together, I will give you another 100 silver dollars each!"

"Thank you, Lord Yang, for the reward!" The leader of the Huai Army was finally satisfied - one hundred silver dollars for each of the three men, that's three hundred silver dollars, a big bag, which Bai Siwen obviously didn't have.
As soon as the group exited the alley, they saw a suffocating scene: the Bannermen's street had become a sea of ​​fire, several Bannermen women were tied to pillars, and the Hunan Army was pouring kerosene on their long hair. Bai Siwen covered his youngest son's eyes tightly, but his own nails dug into his palms.

Because he found that one of them seemed to be his wife
"Is this the revolution?" Bonham put down the telescope, his handkerchief stained with vomit.

Friedrich quickly wrote in his notebook: "January 1858, 1, Xi'an was in chaos. The old order collapsed in blood and fire, but the new order has not yet been established."

Moore looked at the flames all over the city and whispered: "No, this is not a revolution because there is no strong revolutionary group leading it."

Friedrich took over the conversation: "Moore, do you think the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Datong Society and the True Covenant Sect are powerful?"

Moore said: "We will know soon!" He shook his head, "But I am not optimistic about their future! Because their upper echelons are already corrupt."

Wen Xian murmured to himself: "The Qing Dynasty is over. This is the last time I saw the Qing Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)