The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 76: Welcome peace, men should be strong (the seventh update, please subscribe)
On the Xiaoshui River, two or three hundred large ships, with sails hoisted, cut through the waves and sailed south in a line.

On both sides of the Xiaoshui River, countless "red-headed men" lined up in teams, carrying swords, spears and muskets, and marched forward in a mighty manner.

Suddenly, a strong rhythmic drum beat rang out from the team on the west bank of the Xiaoshui River: "Dong-dong-dong-dong-dong-dong-dong."

The drum beats became faster and faster, until at the top of the pitch, a man suddenly uttered the loudest voice: "My pride laughs at the waves, my blood is hotter than the sun! My courage is like iron, my bones are like steel, my mind is as broad as a thousand feet, and my vision is as far as a thousand miles."

Not long after his singing began, about a hundred good men on the official roads on both sides of the Xiaoshui River began to "howl" together. Then more good men from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom spontaneously sang along with the rhythm of "A Man Should Be Self-reliant."

Although I was a little off-tune and couldn't remember all the lyrics, I could only sing as much as I remembered, but there were a lot of people and the voices were loud, and they were all gentlemen, so the main theme was a passionate one!
The song of "A Man Should Be Self-reliant" flowed southward along the surging Xiaoshui River and soon reached Etang Town, which had become a "fortress of heaven" - it was already a double fortress of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in both the spiritual and physical sense!

Etang Town originally had a low wall, and outside the wall there was a narrow and shallow trench, which was enough to resist the thieves in Yangming Mountain, but not enough to deal with the regular army.

After Feng Yunshan and Wu Ruxiao took over Etang, the construction of thickening the walls, widening the trenches, and building artillery batteries began in full swing. Not only did the Taiping Army under the Southern King participate in the construction, but the people around Etang who were given land also enthusiastically joined the struggle to "defend the fruits of land distribution"!

The farmers, who were allocated land and wealth and had a full meal after a long absence, turned into "infrastructure maniacs" and their enthusiasm for work was high!

In less than twenty days, Etang Town was built into an impregnable fortress!

After the completion of Etang Fortress, the construction of Shuangpai Town and Shuangpai Pass located in the Xiaoshui River Valley in Yangming Mountain was started immediately. It could be operated as the center of the base.

However, what really made Archangel Luo feel confident was the "red-headed men" who were lined up one after another on the west side of the official road in the north of Etang Town. They formed a square formation covering a large field, and the number of people was probably no less than 30,000!

These 30,000 are only a part of the miners and poor peasants who enthusiastically joined the Taiping Army!

The poor peasants among them lack organization and discipline, but the miners who have nothing are the most powerful!
Mining is not only hard and dangerous, but also requires collective strength. Whether it is daily production labor or fighting for territory, you have to work together as a group.

Therefore, their organization and discipline are very strong, even stronger than feudal armies such as the Green Camp Army and the Eight Banners Army. The Daozhou Uprising more than half a month ago has proved their strength!
In addition, there are a large number of leaders among these miners who emerged in daily production and struggle - people like Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui!
Therefore, this group of miners were easily organized into the Taiping Army. Su Sanniang, who was a big boss of the Tiandihui, could also easily command them. It only took her three days to transfer a force of more than 20,000 people to Etang Town.

In addition to the 20,000 Daozhou miners, Luo Yaoguo also issued a "gathering order" to all the villages under the jurisdiction of the God Worshipping Society branch in Etang Town, ordering the militia from all towns and villages to gather in Etang Town and accept the inspection of Hong Xiuquan, the king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!
The number of this militia was not as large as that of the miners, but they also gathered four to five thousand people.

Together with the Taiping Army recruits and surrendered Qing soldiers recruited by Luo Yaoguo in Etang, Shuangpai, Meihua, Baimadu, Lingtang and other towns, as well as the female soldiers of Su Sanniang and He Damei, the total number of people was about 30,000.

Under the command of Yu Wanqing, Zeng Tianyang, Su Sanniang and others, these 30,000 people were arranged into the simplest square formations with brigades of 500 people each, covering the wilderness on the west bank of the Xiaoshui River.

Most of them did not have any standard military uniforms, just a red scarf wrapped around their heads. Most of them did not have any powerful weapons in their hands, most of them just had a spear, and only a few carried a musket or held a knife.

There were no artillery pieces in front of most of the square formations. Only one square formation led by Yu Wanqing's godson Yu Dabao and Ji Dapao, who fired artillery at Daozhou Yamen, had as many as twenty-four artillery pieces of various types in front of it, but they were all small cannons with little power.

Although the army's equipment was backward and the training level was not high, they could still prove that the route followed by Luo Yaoguo was correct - at least in today's Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, "correctness" still had value! Especially the "correctness" with divine power.

Yang Xiuqing’s current status was not entirely due to his shamanic skills, but he was not only good at shamanic skills, but he was also able to bring one victory after another to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Luo Yaoguo holds the magic weapon Tongtianjing, and his ability to perform shaman dances is not bad! If his ability to win battles is no worse than Yang Xiuqing's, then his "route" will be convincing.

"Your Highness, what you are listening to is 'A Man Should Be Self-reliant'!" Su Sanniang, who had long been convinced of Luo Yaoguo, had the most sensitive ears. She heard the song "A Man Should Be Self-reliant" from afar and immediately went to the ear of Archangel Luo who was sitting under a canopy on the Di Street Pier to report it.

Luo Yaoguo looked back at her and found that she was still a little nervous, so he smiled and said to her: "It's okay, Father and Brother Heaven are both reasonable!"

As he spoke, he was playing with a purple gold bowl - it was called "purple gold", but it was actually made of purple copper. Originally, there were four Buddhist "swastika" characters engraved on the surface. Luo Yaoguo then asked Zhang Bao to find a coppersmith in Etang Town to shovel the "swastika" characters into "cross" characters and also made it a little antique.

"Guard Zeng!"

After Luo Yaoguo finished talking to Su Sanniang, they turned their attention to Old Man Zeng Tianyang.

"Angel, what do you want me to do for you?" The old man knelt on one knee and clasped his fists again.

He originally did not agree with Luo Yaoguo's approach, but now he is completely convinced.

They can really win!
The Zeng family of Zijingshan has bet everything on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. If they win, they will be nobles for generations, but if they lose, they will have nothing!

In his opinion, the series of measures implemented by Luo Yaoguo in Daozhou were indeed effective, so he was convinced.

"Guard Zeng, you have a loud voice, go and lead everyone to sing 'Welcome Peace'!" Luo Yaoguo ordered.

"Yes!" Zeng Tianyang received the order, stood up and left the dock, got on his horse, and went out of the north gate of Dike Street.

After a while, the loud and high-pitched song of "Welcome Taiping" began to sound on the banks of the Xiaoshui River.

Although "Welcome to Peace" cannot compare with "A Man Should Be Self-reliant" in terms of lyrics or melody, it can express the voices of hundreds of millions of toiling people who are struggling to survive on the Chinese land at that time!
Thirty thousand people sang loudly together and shouted to the sky, immediately drowning out the song "A Man Should Be Self-reliant" led by "King of Songs Xiao".

"The rent is heavy, the interest is high, and it is hard for the poor to survive these days. Open the gates early to welcome peace, and everyone will be happy. Kill the Qing demons, slaughter the evil gentry, open the city gates to welcome peace, and when peace comes, divide the land! Divide the land, divide the wealth, and make sure everyone is well fed and warm. No rent to pay, no debt to repay, and there will be equality everywhere in the world."

"This is."

Hong Xiuquan, who was sitting on a big boat humming "A Man Should Be Self-reliant", was interrupted by the sudden singing with a Hunan accent, which made him feel unhappy. He also couldn't understand Hunan dialect, so he asked Feng Yunshan beside him: "Mountain compatriots, what's going on?"

Feng Yunshan smiled and said, "This is the song "Welcome to Peace" compiled by our compatriots. The lyrics are..."

While listening to Feng Yunshan reciting the lyrics of "Welcome Taiping", Hong Xiuquan stood up, strode out of the cabin, stood on the bow deck, looked to the south, and immediately saw the "red-headed men" all over the field!
"They are?" Hong Xiuquan asked subconsciously.

Feng Yunshan said in a voice full of joy: "Heavenly King, they are all new brothers of our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom! They are new brothers who joined us in Daozhou."

"There are so many!" Hong Xiuquan murmured.

Feng Yunshan nodded: "Indeed, many of them became new brothers because of the "Ying Tianping" performed by my eighth brother!"

(End of this chapter)