The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 859 Yang Xiuqing: God has abandoned Luo Yaoguo, so he is a devil!

The sky was just getting light, and the hustle and bustle on both sides of the Qinhuai River was already boiling. Feng Yunshan's Nanwang Mansion was still located deep in the market on the west side of the Confucius Temple. The blue brick and gray tile courtyard walls were yellowed by the smoke from the restaurants along the street, and the corners were covered with moss. The driver Lao Chen flicked the whip, and the carriage with mottled paint squeaked over the wet bluestone road. The wheels rolled over the stagnant water, and the splashing water wet the trouser legs of the roadside vendors.

"Long live the Southern King, the grass carp I just caught this morning is so alive and kicking!" Zhang Laosi, the fish seller, spoke with a thick Changsha accent, lifted the lid of the bamboo basket, and the water droplets from the fish tail splashed on Feng Yunshan's cuffs. Zhang Laosi was a "Taiping countryman" who followed Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan from Changsha to the Little Paradise of Jinling. He had no merits, but he was a "follower of the dragon" after all, so he was granted the status of a countryman and was given a house in Jinling. However, he was not given an errand, but was given a reward and allowed to make a living in Tianjing. So he became a fishmonger and set up a stall in a vegetable market next to the Southern King's Palace, and his life was very comfortable.

Feng Yunshan was very friendly with these common people, and he didn't put on airs. He smiled and leaned forward to ask, "What's the current price of rice?"

"Eighty wen for a dou! Forty wen for a jin of meat!" The peasant woman carrying a basket of vegetables answered quickly, her dark face full of smiles, "Three wen for a handful of cabbage, two wen for a handful of bean sprouts - no one will starve in Tianjing!"

Feng Yunshan laughed out loud, his gray beard trembling with laughter, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were filled with satisfaction. He was really "poor" as the Southern King: his only guards were a few old soldiers who had followed him for twenty years. When the carriage passed by, the women selling pancakes and the porters carrying sacks greeted him with "Long live the king" in a familiar manner, which made him feel more comfortable than the pomp and circumstance when he first became the Southern King and was surrounded by people.

The wheels rolled over the puddles and came onto a wide street with newly built four-story brick buildings on both sides. The bright glass windows of the department stores displayed the latest silks produced by the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau. The golden roof of the Zhenyue Sect's headquarters gleamed in the morning light in the distance, dazzling people. The pedestrians hurrying along the sidewalks on both sides looked well-dressed and in good spirits.

The carriage turned onto Yifengmen Street, and the roar of a steam pile driver suddenly hit my eardrums. The six-story "Taiping Bank" was being topped out, and workers on the scaffolding were clinging to the beams like ants; on a construction site in the distance, a red-painted "earth-shaking dragon" steam pile driver was roaring and pounding piles into the ground, and every pounding made the leaves of the sycamore trees beside the road shake and fall off.

"Shanghai Heavy Industry's new guy!" The old soldier had to shout at the top of his lungs to be heard over the noise of the machines, "One hammer is as powerful as five hundred strong men!"

Feng Yunshan nodded and smiled, and suddenly heard a dull rolling sound from above. Looking up, he saw a black train sliding along the elevated track beside the city wall. The copper rods on the roof were connected to spider-web-like wires, and there was no trace of coal smoke - this was the electric train jointly developed by the "Psychic Laboratory" of Taiping University and Xuzhou Locomotive Factory.

"The little paradise that King Hong talked about back then." Feng Yunshan sighed softly while twirling his beard, but was interrupted by the hustle and bustle of the city.

"Candied pork elbow—three cents a piece!"

"Hankou's new chiming clock, don't miss it if you pass by!"

The hawking sounds were a mixture of Hunan dialect, Cantonese and Suzhou dialect. Scholars in Western suits and dock porters wearing belts were shoulder to shoulder, creating a lively scene.

As the carriage approached Lion Rock, the Chinese-style flying eaves and brackets of the National Assembly Hall could be seen from afar. At the foot of Lion Rock, known as the "National Assembly Hill", there were still many "Notices to the People" standing along the street - the national policies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the court budget, personnel arrangements, etc., all the things passed or not passed by the National Assembly would be publicly displayed here and announced to the world!

When Feng Yunshan's carriage drove up the winding road of "Capitol Hill", he saw through the glass window that dozens of reporters from large and small newspapers were crowded in front of the billboard copying something.
The dome of the Hall of Kings in the Lion Rock Congress Hall was inlaid with colored glass. The sunlight poured through the glass onto the long oak table, illuminating the golden lacquer tablet of "Heavenly Father Haotian Emperor". Luo Yaoguo sat in the main seat, his fingertips tapping unconsciously on the edge of the teacup. The kings on both sides were relaxed - Xiao Chaogui was whispering with Wei Changhui about the "new land restriction policy" to curb mergers, Hong Xuanjiao was playing with the platinum cross given to her by Maria, and Shi Dakai was concentrating on the Northwest Railway map. The servant had just refilled the third round of tea for everyone when Luo Yaoguo suddenly spoke:
"Today, we invite all the kings to come here to discuss the events of the twenty-sixth to twenty-eighth year of the Tianli calendar."

His tone was frighteningly deep, and the laughter in the room suddenly fell silent.

This year is only the twenty-third year of the Tianli calendar!
Luo Yaoguo took out the "Sky Mirror" and placed it on the conference table: "The four provinces of Shanhe will experience a century-long drought. Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, and Zhili will have no harvest, and Shaanxi, Gansu, Liaochuan and Sichuan will also be affected." Although his words were calm, the content was chilling: "The number of starving people may exceed 100 million."

"Bang!" The Jun kiln teacup in Wei Changhui's hand fell to the blue brick floor, and broken porcelain pieces flew everywhere.

Maria immediately made the sign of the cross on her chest and said, "Your Highness, we should pray to our Heavenly Father."

"Pray?" Luo Yaoguo glared at her. "Did God give us electric locomotives and 10,000-ton iron ships so that we can kneel and wait for rain?" He pointed at the steaming Tianjing City outside the window. "Twenty-three years of foundation, six hundred million people, can't you even withstand a drought?"

Xiao Chaogui clenched his fist and slammed it on the table: "If hundreds of millions of people have no food to eat, there will be a big chaos! Why would the Heavenly Father send disasters?"

Shi Dakai also looked indignant - what were the higher-ups doing? Why were they sending down such a disaster? They were just looking for trouble!

"It's not a disaster, it's a test!" Luo Yaoguo slapped the table with his palm, shaking the "Tongtian Mirror" a little, "To test whether our granaries are deep enough and whether we have enough ships!" He threw out a document, "We need to store more grain and build more ships. Not only should we store grain domestically, but we should also increase imports and buy large quantities from Siam, Java, Annan in Southeast Asia and America across the ocean. In order to raise funds, Taiping Bank will issue paper money from now on - grain, ships, and guano all need silver to pave the way!" Shi Dakai frowned, "Paper for rice? Can the people trust it?"

"It's based on silver dollars, and can be used to pay taxes and grain." Luo Yaoguo's eyes swept across the pale faces of the crowd, "The new cargo ship of Jiangnan Factory has been tested, carrying 12,000 tons of grain, and a speed of 12 knots. Build 100 ships in four years, cost 50 million silver dollars, and transport 4 million tons of grain per year!"

Hong Xuanjiao gasped: "Fifty million silver dollars! The national treasury is empty."

"That's why we have to let Taiping Bank issue banknotes!" Luo Yaoguo interrupted her, "Taiping Bank can issue silver-based banknotes to buy government bonds, so the government will have enough funds to do things. Of course, Zhenyue Bank must also support it!"

"But will the foreigners choke us?" Wei Changhui was so anxious that his Hakka accent came out. "The British regard the Javanese Kingdom as a thorn in their side!"

"So we need to build up a navy!" Luo Yaoguo pulled out a roll of nautical charts and flipped them open. "The Eagle will have sea trials this month, with a speed of 24 knots! The British Rafale class can only make 25 knots! With it and the Exocet class, the Indian Ocean route is our hostage!" He pointed his finger at the Gulf of Siam on the map hanging on the wall. "The Farmers' Association has already set up grain stations in Bangkok and Saigon. We also have a grain station on Java Island. If we place an order now, they will gradually increase their efforts to reclaim wasteland and increase production in the next few years."

In the dead silence, Maria suddenly asked in a trembling voice: "What should we do if the King of the East takes advantage of the drought to cause trouble?"

Luo Yaoguo was silent for a moment, then squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: "Then let's have a fight."

The kings looked at each other blankly. He grabbed the teacup and drank it all in one gulp: "Let's see whether his Koryo and Yamato are more powerful, or our Sea Dragon and Flying Eagle are more powerful!"

In the East Palace of Seoul, the incense made people dizzy. Yang Xiuqing leaned on the white jade couch that was a tribute from the Western Regions and the Tang Dynasty, and his fingertips touched the edge of the celadon cup. Hou Qianfang, the Minister of War in the East Palace, was hunched over and spoke quickly and softly:
"Shanghai Jiangnan Factory received an order for 100 grain ships, and the ship type drawings are here. The price of rice in Siam was raised by 30% by the Taiping Farmers' Association. Notices were posted at the gates of county governments in Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, and Hebei, forcing farmers to increase the planting area of ​​sweet potatoes and corn every year."

Yang Xiuqing narrowed his eyes and asked, "Is there a drought in the north?"

"The weather is favorable and the autumn crops will be harvested soon."

The celadon cup hit the table with a clang. Hou Qianfang stole a glance at the eaves of the Waitai Palace outside the window. The East Palace of the Kingdom of the Rising Sun was built in imitation of the Forbidden City in Beijing. It was magnificent and no less magnificent than the Forbidden City, except that the country under the palace was too small.

"So, he is preparing for famine?" Yang Xiuqing suddenly sneered, "It seems that Luo Yaoguo got some information from above."

Hou Qianfang took a step closer and said, "He has a god in heaven, why not just pray to him?"

"Fool!" Yang Xiuqing flicked his sleeves. "If Heaven still favors him, he would have ordered the Dragon King of the Pacific to pour down rain. How could there be a drought?" He walked to the "Universe Atlas" and scratched the Yangtze River Basin with his fingernails. "When there is a three-year drought and the land is full of starving people, will the people still believe that he is an angel sent by Heaven?"

"Punishment every day?" Hou Qianfang's voice trembled.

"That's right!" Yang Xiuqing's eyes flashed with coldness, "When the hungry people start to eat the Guanyin soil, I will do the justice for the Heavenly Father!"

Hou Qianfang asked quietly: "What if Luo Yaoguo survived the drought?"

Yang Xiuqing smiled coldly, "How can an angel like him resist the punishment from heaven? No, he is no longer an angel, he must have fallen into a devil! Hahaha." His face suddenly darkened, "Pass on my decree, saying that on the first day of October this year, the Heavenly Father will descend upon me!"

(End of this chapter)