The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 85 Yuan Bao Enters the Capital (th Update)
Beijing, Yongdingmen.

Early this morning, two half-old carriages entered the south gate of Beijing. Because it was summer and the sun was very hot, the two carriages and their owners were all huddled inside the gate to enjoy the cool air.

Those who can curl up in the doorway of Yongdingmen to enjoy the cool air are certainly not ordinary people, but people of status!
The owners of these two carriages were both the fathers of the people of the Qing Dynasty. Moreover, they were not ordinary Han officials, but dignified descendants of the Eight Banners.

One of them was named Guaerjia Shengbao, who only had one character difference from Guaerjia Yuanbao. They were brothers!
Yuanbao is the younger brother, Shengbao is the older brother, and now he is appointed as a cabinet scholar! This is a high-ranking official of the second rank, with only ten positions, six Manchus and four Hans, and those who can be appointed must be educated! Shengbao is one of the six Manchu scholars. His main job is to read books to the emperor when he is in the palace - that requires literacy! Shengbao knows, he is a juren, proficient in Manchu, Mongolian, and Chinese, and can read most books.

But there were also some that he could not read, for example, books written in the Rakshasa language, which he could not read.

And the young man of the Eight Banners who is with Shengbao now can read books in Russian - he is the supervisor of the Russian Pavilion of the Lifanyuan, Bai Siwen, whose original surname is Popov, and he is the 17th lieutenant colonel of the fourth lieutenant colonel of the Manchu General of the Bordered Yellow Banner.

This zuoling, also known as the "Rakshasa zuoling", was composed of the Rakshasa people and their descendants who surrendered or were captured during the Shunzhi and Kangxi periods.

In other words, this Bai Siwen is actually a "Mao Bear Bannerman". He is no longer a pure Russian, but one-eighth or one-sixteenth of a Russian - the bear content is not enough!
This is because his ancestors could not find a Russian woman to marry, so they could only "muddle around", and as a result they grew up to be a fat, fair-skinned young man. Except for his more three-dimensional facial features and a vaguely "bear-like" appearance, he was no different from an ordinary Eight Banners descendant.

Today, Shengbao and Bai Siwen were waiting outside Yongding Gate for the evidence of the "Bull Demon King Incident" to arrive in Beijing under the order of Prince Gong. Prince Gong was very methodical in dealing with demons. He had to wait for all the evidence to arrive and then ask professionals to examine it before he could study the plan to subdue the demon.

However, Shengbao still had some doubts about the ability of the professionals invited by Prince Gong, so he took advantage of the fact that his brothers Yuanbao and Hong Daquan had not arrived yet to ask Bai Siwen, who was sitting on a small stool beside him and cracking melon seeds: "Hey Siwen, can the new Tu Lama in the Saint Nicholas Lama Temple really exorcise demons? Is he another drunkard?"

The "St. Nicholas Lama Temple" he mentioned is actually an Orthodox church!
Many people in later generations probably don’t know that the capital of the Qing Dynasty, which was known for its closed-door policy, actually always had foreigners and foreign religions!
The foreigners and foreign religions active in Beijing were divided into two factions. One faction was mainly Roman Catholic foreigners composed mainly of Jesuit missionaries. This group of foreigners and foreign religions did quite well in the early Qing Dynasty. Later, because they were too evil and opposed Chinese traditional rituals and sacrificial activities, they began to be suppressed by the Qing court. However, they still existed in Beijing until 1838, when they were banned by Emperor Daoguang.

The other faction is the Russian Orthodox monks. The Russian Orthodox Church is governed by the Tsar, a secular monarch. The Orthodox monks sent to Beijing actually undertake the diplomatic mission of the Russian state. Of course, they are not as crazy as the Jesuits. So until now, the Russian St. Nicholas Lama Temple is still in good condition.

As for why this Orthodox church is called a Lama Temple, it may be because this Orthodox religion was introduced from the Mongolian territory. The Mongolians thought that those who chanted scriptures looked like Lamas, so the Qing Dynasty followed suit and called them "Rakshasa Lamas."

The biggest Rakshasa Lama in Beijing is called "the High Priest Monk" by the Russians. He is nominally sent by the Irkutsk Diocese, but in fact he is sent by the Supreme Cultist Conference of the Rakshasa State.

According to the ancestral system of Emperor Kangxi, Bai Siwen, a "Baqi Mao Xiong", should believe in Luosha Orthodox Christianity - the ancestral family rules cannot be changed! Therefore, in addition to burning incense to the Buddha on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, Bai Siwen had to go to the St. Nicholas Lama Temple in Beijing to recite the "Mao Xiong Sutra" every Sabbath day of the "Mao Xiong Calendar", which was Saturday. This is how he practiced Luosha language.

It was precisely because he could speak fluent Rakshasa language and was familiar with the "Mao Xiong Jing" that he was able to become the supervisor of the Rakshasa Hall of the Lifan Yuan. Now he has stepped on the "Bull Demon King's cusp", and has become familiar with Prince Gong Yixin, who is responsible for slaying demons, and he is also expected to curry favor with Shengbao, a promising cabinet scholar.

Now, when he heard Shengbao asking him about the new high priest Tu Lama, Bai Siwen quickly said with a big smile, "Master Sheng, you don't know that the new Tu Lama is very powerful. He was originally a forbidden spell master of the Luosha Kingdom, specializing in slaying demons and exorcising monsters in front of the army. His Buddhist name is Tupolev!"

"Tubulev, this name sounds quite powerful!" Shengbao asked, "I wonder what powerful magic he knows?"

"He can throw the holy bomb!" Bai Siwen said with admiration, "It's the kind that puts gunpowder in a hollow iron ball, then lights the fuse and throws it out. It can explode any monster, and it's very accurate!"

It turns out that this Tupolev is a forbidden spell mage in the Mao Bear Grenadiers. Luo Yaoguo "Luo Niu Mo" must be careful. If this is blown up by Tupolev, it will be difficult for Ji Du to save it. "Master, Second Master and the others are back!"

Shengbao was still thinking about asking Bai Siwen what that "Tu Lama" thought of the "Bull Demon King" when one of his family members who was standing on the bridge outside Yongdingmen, gazing into the distance, suddenly opened his throat and shouted.

This is Guaerjia. Yuanbao is escorting Hong Daquan to Beijing!
This time, Hong Daquan was escorted to Beijing in a prison van. This treatment was not something that ordinary prisoners could enjoy. Ordinary prisoners had to walk by themselves when escorted to Beijing, and they had to wear wooden shackles and shackles, which would cost them half their lives.

Hong Daquan had a horse-drawn prisoner carriage to sit in, which was covered with mattresses and straw mats, so that he could sit comfortably. Shengbao was afraid that he would be "lonely", so he bought him "The Investiture of the Gods" and "Journey to the West" with his own money, and even bought him a Bible published by the Jesuit Society when he passed by Hankou!
Apart from eating, drinking, defecating, urinating and sleeping, Hong Daquan spent his time reading and thinking - he had to absorb the essence from "Romance of the Gods", "Journey to the West" and "The Bible", and then think about how to mix the contents of these three books together.

This difficulty is not a little bit high!

When Shengbao and Bai Siwen came out in a carriage, Yuanbao, who was riding a chestnut horse beside the prison car, was still whispering instructions to Hong Daquan.

"Quan'er, did you see that? We've arrived in Beijing! You're about to meet Prince Gong! You have to talk to him nicely, or he'll be tortured to death!"

If you tell a bad story, you will be tortured to death!

Is there any justice in this?

Although Hong Daquan was very scared in his heart, he still kept his composure and asked nonchalantly, "So what's the deal?"

"It's agreed that the lingchi must be carried out!" Yuan Bao was a down-to-earth man, "but it was agreed that the lingchi could be carried out later, and that he could eat and drink better before the lingchi. After all, the prince is kind-hearted and cannot bear to see people suffer."

"You can't bear to see others suffer and you want to torture me?" Hong Daquan didn't know whether to laugh or cry after hearing this.

Yuan Bao smiled bitterly and said, "Quan'er, aren't you a traitor? You are also the brother of the traitor Hong Xiuquan. Lingchi is the law of the country. Don't be sad."

While he was comforting Hong Daquan, Shengbao and Bai Siwen had already arrived in a carriage.

Shengbao jumped off the carriage before it stopped, lifted up his robe and ran towards Yuanbao, shouting as he ran: "Second brother, you're back! I missed you so much!"

When Yuan Bao heard his brother's voice, he stopped talking to Hong Daquan and turned his head to see his brother Shengbao running towards him. He fell off the horse and rushed to his brother, crying, "Brother, I encountered a demon in Guangxi this time and almost couldn't come back."

(End of this chapter)