The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 658 Forget it, my Qing Dynasty is gone! (Please subscribe, please vote)
Wangjiabao Manor, 20 miles outside Huailai County, was originally the second home of Feng Pu, a university scholar during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. The blue brick courtyard with three lanes and five entrances had long been ruined by war: the brick carving of "farming and studying to pass on the family" on the screen wall was half broken by foreign guns, and the rockery made of Taihu stones had become a pile of rubble. There were still more than a dozen Mongolian horses in the east wing, and the horse manure mixed with melted snow froze into ice lumps, which squeaked when stepped on.

"Please come in, Your Majesty!" Zuo Zongtang led Xianfeng all the way inside until they reached the door of the main hall.

When Xianfeng squinted his eyes to make out the three faded gold characters "Jingguantang" on a plaque, he suddenly heard shouts and horse neighs outside the courtyard wall. Then three blue wool sedan chairs, protected by a group of pigtail soldiers, filed in through the open courtyard gate. The personal soldiers brought by Zuo Zongtang were so frightened that they fixed bayonets on the Tianli Year 3 rifled rifles they carried.

It was Qi Junzao, Xu Jishe and Senggelinqin who came out of the three blue wool sedan chairs. Led by Luo Bingzhang, they walked around the screen wall, entered the second door, and arrived outside the main hall where Emperor Xianfeng and Zuo Zongtang were.

As soon as the three of them entered the courtyard, they looked up and saw Xianfeng standing in the corridor with his hands behind his back. They were stunned at first, then they knelt on the ground as if it was natural. Goshha and the advisors looked at each other in surprise. What was going on? Didn't they come here to negotiate? Why did they kneel before talking? Were they going to negotiate on their knees?

Those who reacted quickly knelt down immediately, and when the others saw this, they also fell to the ground. Only Xianfeng, Zuo Zongtang, Luo Bingzhang and the personal guards of Governor-General Zuo were still standing in the yard.

After Qi Junzao, Xu Jishe and Senggelinqin knelt down, they realized something was wrong. It seemed that Xianfeng's identity was kept secret, and they could not pay their respects to this master now!

"What are you doing?" Just as he was feeling awkward, Zuo Zongtang stepped forward with a smile, and accepted the greetings from Qi Junzao, Xu Jishe, and Senggelinqin. He smiled at the three of them and said, "Qi Zhongtang, Xu Futai, and Seng Wang, I am really not worthy of your greetings!"

Qi Junzao's old face flushed red, Xu Jishe supported himself on the ground and tried to stand up, while Senggelinqin stiffened his neck and shouted, "Zuo Jigao, you..."

Senggelinqin was cut off halfway through his words when Emperor Xianfeng laughed: "Seng Wang, you have to thank Zuo Zhijun very much this time!"

As soon as he said this, Senggelinqin became speechless.

Zuo Zongtang took the opportunity to pass on the topic and said, "I have just asked for favors from Tianjing on behalf of you. Mr. Qi will be granted the title of Marquis of Guiyi, with an annual salary of 2,000 silver dollars; Mr. Xu will be appointed as the chairman of the Shanxi Advisory Council, with an annual salary of 1,800 silver dollars; the monk king will be appointed as the vassal king of Khalkha, with an annual grant of 10,000 silver dollars. As for the brothers under your command, those who wish to stay will be incorporated into the reclamation camp and sent to Liaodong, and those who want to leave will be given 20 silver dollars each for travel expenses!"

"What about the land distribution in Shanxi?" Qi Junzao's captain Goshaha couldn't help shouting, "Those lands are our lifeblood."

"Life is bullshit!" Xianfeng suddenly roared, shocking everyone, "You have only 30 to 50 mu of thin land in Shanxi, and you have to wait until the New Year to eat mutton. In America, even the black slaves would laugh at you for being so shabby! I'm not kidding, the amount of beef that American black slaves eat in a year is probably more than many of you will eat in your entire life!

Also, do you know how big the estates of the landlords in the United States are? You can ride a horse for a whole day and still not see the end of any estate!

Even the poor fellows who went to Southeast Asia were given a hundred acres of land in Java and Malaya. By the way, the Rakshasa country is going to abolish serfdom recently. Do you know how much land a serf can get? 50 acres! 50 acres. If you want to be a landlord, why not come with me to America? I can’t say anything else, but one or two hundred acres of land is enough for you!”

After saying this, Xianfeng swaggered into the main hall with his hands behind his back.

When the third bell gong was struck at the hour of Xu, three visitors suddenly came to the guest room where Xianfeng and Chiyoko were staying. They were Qi Junzao, Xu Jishe and Senggelinqin.

"Chiyo, go guard outside." Xianfeng sent Chiyo to watch the gate of the yard, and then called the three people into the house.

"Your Majesty!" The three of them knelt down on the cold floor tiles. Xianfeng sat cross-legged on the kang, picking his teeth and flicking the toothpick into the red clay stove: "Forget it, my Qing Dynasty is dead! Why are you still messing around with these useless things?"

Senggelinqin knelt forward and said, "Your Majesty, I still have 30,000 Mongolian cavalry on the grassland! As long as Your Majesty..." "What's the use of 30,000 Mongolian cavalry!" Xianfeng waved his hand and said, "The Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau can make hundreds of foreign guns a day, and the blast furnace of the Xuzhou Steel Plant is taller than the Hall of Supreme Harmony! It can produce tens of thousands of kilograms of steel a day! It's steel, not iron!" He picked up a copy of the "Beijing Vernacular Newspaper" and said, "Look, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Nanyang Fleet sank many steam cruisers of the Dutch Navy in the Java Sea. And that Yi Wang Shi Dakai, he killed 30,000 Russian soldiers in the Sevastopol Fortress two years ago, and helped the Queen of England kill tens of thousands of Indian rebels in India last year. He is about to return home. How many heads do you have? Do you still dare to send them up?"

Qi Junzao trembled as he took out a blood-written letter from his sleeve: "I have contacted the gentry of the four provinces in Shanhe. All you need is for Your Majesty to make a call."

"Fuck your grandma's legs!" Xianfeng kicked over the table, and a blue and white covered bowl fell to the ground and broke into eight pieces. "When Zeng Guofan was crowned in Xi'an, why didn't the gentry from the four provinces stand up? The Eight Banners are almost wiped out by Zeng. If you really want to, help me collect the rest and follow me to America!"

Xu Jishe suddenly said: "I am willing to follow the emperor to the United States! I heard that the United States is a vast land with a sparse population, which is a perfect place for heroes to show their talents."

"Stop!" Xianfeng waved his hands quickly. "I am now the consort of King Feng Nan. I am really asking the bishop of the East Coast Diocese to come with me if you want to find a way out in the New World. Pick a few smart nephews and nieces to follow me. No other options! Also, the Qing Dynasty was not destroyed by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but by the old villain Zeng Guofan. Do you understand?"

It was chilly in the spring in Tianjing, and the copper heater in the meeting room of the Zongli Yamen was burning red. Luo Yaoguo put down Zuo Zongtang's memorial in his hand and said to Feng Yunshan with a smile: "You, Prince Consort Zhao Si, are a capable man. You used the promise of land distribution in America to deceive the landlords under Qi Junzao and Xu Jishe. Even Xu Jishe, who is already old, wants to follow him to North America to make a living."

Feng Yunshan paced in the hall holding a Yixing purple clay teapot. "Xu Jishe, the old Confucian scholar, wrote an article in the Beijing Vernacular Newspaper last month criticizing us for 'forgetting our roots'. I never thought that he would go overseas to become an American now."

"Well done!" Army Minister Wei Changhui pushed the door open and came in. He took off his snow-covered cloak and threw it to the guards. "Now that these stubborn guys have run away, our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can have a bright future!"

Luo Yaoguo spread out a map of North America and circled a few points with red and blue pencils: "Zhao Si is going to take people to the United States. We should give them more support. The Oregon area north of California and south of Tianwang City is a good place. It is now a U.S. territory, but it has not yet been established as a state. If we can move 200,000 or 300,000 Chinese there before Oregon becomes a state, then when Oregon becomes a state, they can be counted as mixed-race and all registered as citizens. In the future, the True Protestant faction in the United States will have at least one or two core states."

He suddenly looked up and said with a smile: "Mr. Feng, your son-in-law may be able to be elected governor in the United States in the future!"

Feng Yunshan laughed, "It would be great if he had that ability. He is very close to that Democratic Party boss in the United States. Maybe he can really be elected governor of Oregon." He tapped his finger on the position of Oregon. "It is better to let those old guards harm the rednecks than to let them stay in the country and cause trouble."

Luo Yaoguo nodded: "This year is already 1859 in the Gregorian calendar. In two years, the Civil War will break out. Whether the True Covenant faction can take over three states on the west coast of the United States depends on this time." He said to Feng Yunshan, "Third brother, this is the best time for us to block the United States from advancing westward to the Pacific Ocean. In the next two years, we must allocate more resources to the East Coast diocese!"

Luo Yaoguo has always been very wary of the United States, the chosen country. He knows that once the United States grows stronger and truly moves westward to the Pacific coast, the Pacific Ocean will no longer be peaceful. It would be great if the United States of America could really be transformed into the Confederate States of America, and three Chinese states with state power higher than confederation power appeared on the West Coast.
Feng Yunshan patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, we still have Zhao Si, a capable man. We will definitely succeed!"

On the day when Prince Consort Zhao Si left Tianjin, it was drizzling at Dagukou Wharf. Three steamships flying the flag of Jardine Matheson were moored in the harbor, with thick smoke billowing out of their chimneys.

Qi Junzao's nephew cried while holding his ancestral tablet, and was dragged onto the gangplank by two True Jew priests holding his arms; Xu Jishe's grandson held a copy of the English Conversation Manual and was still reciting something like "Ai Lao Hu You" before boarding the ship. Senggelinqin selected 300 Khorchin warriors, carrying sabers and bows and arrows, and also boarded the ship with Xianfeng, saying that he was going to America to herd cattle and sheep.
"I'll leave Lan'er and Chun'er in your care." Xianfeng stuffed a stack of banknotes from Zhenyue Bank to Ronglu who came to the dock to see him off. "Don't let Lan'er set up a stall. You won't make much money, and it's embarrassing."

Ronglu smiled and said, "That's what I told her, too."

Xianfeng nodded, and without saying anything more to Ronglu, the "junior", he turned around and boarded a 2000-ton steamship.

As the whistle sounded, Xianfeng took a last look at the Dagu Fort which had just been completed - this fort was equipped with a 68-pound rifled gun cast by the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, and could also fire picric acid shells. Even if the English ironclad ships came, they probably wouldn't be able to destroy it.
"Sail!" He turned and walked into the captain's room, and said to a British captain in English, "Send me to America. Never come back again!"

(End of this chapter)