The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 780 Revolution is the inevitable product of the European unification process! (Seeking monthly votes)

In the magnificent Hall of the Champ de Mars in the Tuileries Palace, Napoleon III sat on the throne, with an oil painting of the Battle of Austerlitz behind him, which depicted Napoleon's great military achievements. As soon as Ma Baocai's cloth shoes stepped on the Persian carpet, he noticed a young official in a purple robe standing in the corner of the hall - about 24 or 25 years old, wearing a black gauze hat, a goldfish bag hanging from a jade belt around his waist, and a coarse linen mourning dress, as if he was a high-ranking official from the Tang Dynasty who had come over a thousand years ago.

"This is the prince of the Great Zhou, His Royal Highness the King of Zhou of the Great Tang." French Foreign Minister Duke Valevsky tapped the ground with his cane, "The current Tang Empire's ambassador to France." He deliberately glanced at the yellow silk ribbon on Hu Wansheng's chest, "The Qing Dynasty that you, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, opposed was destroyed by the Great Zhou, and the Great Zhou was destroyed by the Tang Dynasty. What a pity!"

Zeng Jize turned around and looked at the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom official with a gentle look. There was neither sadness nor resentment on the young man's thin face, as if the Great Zhou Dynasty replaced by Li Hongzhang had nothing to do with him.

"The abdication of the Zhou and Tang dynasties is truly a great story that will be passed down through the ages." Zeng Jize's voice was calm as if he was narrating an event that happened long ago. "In the past, Yao abdicated to Shun, and Shun abdicated to Yu, all because the world was for all. Today, the ten military governors have jointly elected a wise leader, and three hundred great scholars have jointly discussed the great succession. The late emperor even left a will that is no less than that of Yao and Shun!"

Napoleon III did not understand the Chinese spoken by Zeng Jize, so Hu Wansheng, who had learned French at the Army University, leaned over and whispered: "He said that the electoral system was modeled after the ancient Chinese sage kings, so his Zhou Kingdom was not destroyed, but it destroyed itself."

"Hahaha"

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Napoleon III's laughter.

"Matilde wrote to say that she is now the empress of Emperor Li, and will go with Emperor Li to recover the old territory of Transoxiana from the Tang Dynasty this spring!" The French emperor laughed, "Once they recover Transoxiana, I can send them a gift through the territory of Turkey." He suddenly stared at Zeng Jize who was wearing mourning clothes, "Since it is a good thing that the Great Zhou was replaced by the Tang Dynasty, then I also congratulate Your Highness."

"Thank you." Zeng Jize bowed and looked at Ma Baocai and the other two. "I wonder if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom recognizes the legitimacy of the Tang Empire?"

Weng Tongjue laughed and said, "The Heavenly Kingdom has already recognized that the Tang Dynasty ruled Hezhong. The Prime Minister of the Heavenly Kingdom said: Zhou and Tang will succeed each other and their names will surely be recorded in history!"

Hu Wansheng followed suit and bowed: "In the future, the history pen will be as strong as iron, and this story of Yao and Shun will be recorded."

Only Ma Baocai said nothing, but stared coldly at the white linen mourning clothes on Zeng Jize.

Zeng Jize smiled slightly, said goodbye to Napoleon III, and then left accompanied by his attendants.

As soon as the new Tang envoy left, the new Taiping Heavenly Kingdom ambassador Hu Wansheng stepped forward and formally handed in his credentials. Napoleon III took the credentials and casually placed them on the table, but his eyes swept across the three people meaningfully.

"I heard that the workers' leaders of various European countries will hold a meeting in London?" He suddenly asked, with a tentative tone, "Did you, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, also receive an invitation?"

Hu Wansheng, who was fluent in French, translated his words to Ma Baocai, who could speak English but not French. In the subsequent talks, he and Weng Tongjue acted as interpreters between Napoleon III and Ma Baocai.

Ma Baocai remained calm and answered directly, "Yes, I have received an invitation and will attend the founding meeting of the Workers' Association in London as the president of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Farmers' Association."

Napoleon III narrowed his eyes and said, "You Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, do you want to support the red elements in Europe and mess up Europe?"

Ma Baocai shook his head: "If the International Workingmen's Association really wanted to mess up Europe, why would the British government allow them to hold a meeting in London?"

He paused, looked directly at Napoleon III, and said slowly: "What will really mess up Europe is not the workers' movement, but the ongoing process of European unification."

Napoleon III frowned and asked: "What does European unification mean?"

Ma Baocai did not answer directly, but asked: "Your Majesty, do you know the seven powers of the Warring States Period in China?"

Napoleon III shook his head.

Ma Baocai explained: "More than 2,000 years ago, China was divided into many countries, just like Europe today. Later, after hundreds of years of war and annexation, the seven most powerful countries remained - Qin, Chu, Qi, Yan, Zhao, Wei and Han."

"These seven countries are very similar to today's European powers." Hu Wansheng added after finishing the translation.

"Very similar?" Napoleon III thought to himself, "We in Europe are so advanced, how can we be very similar to China 2000 years ago? Are we 2000 years behind you?"

Weng Tongjue explained: "Before the Warring States Period, China's aristocrats held power for generations, and the country was their private property. However, due to fierce annexation wars, in the Warring States Period, in order to survive, countries had to break the aristocracy's monopoly and promote capable people among the common people. Just like in Europe today, the Junker aristocracy in Prussia, the Bonaparte family in France, and the Habsburg dynasty in Austria are all facing the same challenge - if a country wants to be strong, it must allow more common people to participate."

"It's a little bit like that." Napoleon III thought. "The wars during the Warring States period were more brutal than ever before. The population of each country was only a few million, but the number of troops mobilized was often hundreds of thousands. Wars were no longer duels between nobles, but life-and-death battles for the entire nation. It was a war that mobilized the entire country."

"Ah," Napoleon III thought, "this is really a bit like it! The war is getting bigger and bigger, from the nobles' private soldiers to mercenaries, and from mercenaries to the mobilization of the whole people."

Hu Wansheng added: "In today's Europe, Britain, France, Prussia, Austria, and Russia are all carrying out various reforms that are conducive to military mobilization. This is undoubtedly preparation for a larger-scale war!"

Weng Tongjue added: "In addition to institutional reforms and the expansion of production and mobilization, during the Warring States Period, the ideas of various schools of thought spread across countries, including Confucianism, Legalism, Mohism, and the School of Military Science... These schools were no longer restricted by national borders, and all kinds of scholars, idealists, conspirators, and ambitious people began to travel between countries. Today in Europe, the workers' movement, nationalism, and liberalism are also not restricted by national borders. The London Workers' Association, like the Mohists back then, is trying to establish connections between countries."

Is this true? Napoleon III was skeptical. Did you guys do this 2000 years ago, just when our advanced European civilization was just starting to do it? Who knows what happened in the end?

Ma Baocai then continued: "In the end, the Qin Dynasty unified the six kingdoms and established the first centralized empire in Chinese history. But the Qin Dynasty's rule lasted only fifteen years."

Napoleon III raised his eyebrows: "Why?"

"Because of the revolution!" Ma Baocai said, "After the unification of the Qin State, it faced three fatal problems, which eventually caused it to be swept away by the storm of revolution!"

"What fatal question?" Napoleon III asked quickly - his uncle almost became the Qin Shi Huang of Europe!

"First," Ma Baocai said, "the nobles of the six countries that were destroyed were unwilling to lose power. They secretly accumulated strength and waited for the opportunity."

After Hu Wansheng finished translating his words, he asked Napoleon III: "If Napoleon I unified Europe, would the old nobles in Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, and England be willing?"

Of course not! Napoleon III thought to himself: "Even the old French aristocracy is unwilling to accept this!"

"Secondly," Weng Tongjue added, "before the unification of the Qin State, commoners could obtain titles through military merit. But after the unification, the war ended and the path for commoners to rise was blocked. Those who climbed to high positions in the war of unification became the new aristocracy. If today's European workers find that the unified Europe they fought so hard for with countless blood and sweat is controlled by a group of new aristocrats, will they be satisfied?"

Napoleon III shook his head - he knew that the French had begun to become dissatisfied in the later years of his uncle's reign.
"Third," Weng Tongjue counted on his fingers and said, "The Qin State spent a huge amount of money on the war of unification. In order to maintain the unity, it had to build the Great Wall and repair the highway. Qin Shihuang himself liked to build large mausoleums and palaces, which cost a lot of money. In the end, the finances collapsed and the people were living in poverty. Today, the European powers are engaged in an arms race, have carried out many unprofitable colonial expansions, and have fought many unprofitable wars, which are also consuming national strength."

The more Napoleon III listened, the more frightened he became: "Then, then the end."

Hu Wansheng said: "In the end, a group of laborers who were building the Great Wall launched an uprising under the leadership of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. They were not nobles, but the lowest class of civilians, laborers!"

"Workers." Napoleon's forehead was covered with cold sweat.

Hu Wansheng went on to say: "After the uprising broke out, the old nobles of the six kingdoms responded one after another, but it was Liu Bang, the head of the Pei County, and his companions who finally conquered the world - a group of people who were born as commoners or minor nobles. They founded the Han Dynasty, a unified country that lasted for 400 years."

Ma Baocai looked at Napoleon III and said slowly: "Your Majesty, the process of European unification may eventually lead to revolution like the Qin Dynasty."

Napoleon III was silent for a long time: "You mean that the unification of Europe will lead to a workers' revolution?"

Ma Baocai nodded: "Yes, but it's not because the workers want a revolution, but because a unified Europe still can't resolve the conflict between the new nobility and the common people. And the huge cost of European unification will also be unbearable!"

"No one in Europe wants to unify!" Napoleon III said firmly, "My uncle was an exception!"

Weng Tongjue adjusted his glasses and said, "In the early years of the Warring States Period, no one wanted to unify the country. But when the Qin State began to implement the policy of granting titles for military merit, civilians could get titles by chopping off a head. As a result, the scale of the war expanded from 30,000 to 600,000 within a hundred years."

"Like Prussia's railway network, industrial system and national mobilization." Hu Wansheng took over the conversation, "Ten years ago, it took them thirty days to mobilize, but now it only takes eighteen hours. And when civilians find that war can buy them votes, land, and pensions..."

Napoleon III's face turned pale: "What do you want to say?"

"When Shang Yang carried out the reform, the Qin nobles never thought that they would be overthrown by the civilian military class they had cultivated." Ma Baocai said, "And when those Qin soldiers who rose to higher ranks by beheading people found out that they would have to continue to be slaves after the unification, Your Majesty understands now? When the war between the European powers develops to the point where the whole nation needs to be mobilized, the civilians who rose to power through the war will be the best revolutionary fighters!"

(End of this chapter)