The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 860 God sent me to provide disaster relief!
At 3:30 pm on the first day of October in the 23rd year of the Tianli calendar, there was a huge crowd of people in front of the Dongwang Palace in Seoul.

Last night's autumn rain soaked the bluestone slabs. The brocade cushion under the knees of Nanmu Inoko, the chief priest of the Zhenyue Shinto Temple, who was kneeling in the front row, had dark water marks on it. She stole a glance at the nine-story high platform - Yang Xiuqing was wearing the Eastern Dynasty robe that had been sealed for 20 years. There were dozens of dragons all over the robe, densely packed. The "Seven Star Demon Slayer Sword" hanging from his waist was also a "sacred weapon" that had been with him since the Jintian Uprising. It had long been enshrined in the temple, but she didn't expect it to be taken out today.

"Father, it's three quarters past the hour." Yang Chengtian's voice tightened, and the hem of his eighteen-fold dragon robe trembled slightly. The palms of this Eastern Prince and Japanese Chengtian Prince were already soaked with cold sweat - since he could remember, his father had never "invited the Heavenly Father to come to the world" in public again. Now the new army of the Asahi Heavenly Kingdom has not been formed, and there are only three truly usable ironclad ships. If the Heavenly Father issues an order to start a war today...
"Cough! Cough cough!" A heart-wrenching cough suddenly broke out from the dragon throne. Yang Xiuqing dug his ten fingers into the armrests like iron hooks, his joints turning pale. Thousands of old brothers from Guangdong and Guangxi in the audience suddenly burst into tears, shouting "Heavenly Father, have mercy" with their foreheads clenched - they recognized this posture, just like the scene when the Eastern King killed the demon on behalf of Heavenly Father on the top of Yong'an City.

"I am the Supreme God!"

This voice was like thunder exploding in the sky! Yang Xiuqing's pupils turned white, and his voice shook the whole field like a bell: "I am sitting on the clouds and watching the lower world. The drought is about to spread in the Central Plains. There has been no rain for three years and the rivers have dried up. The people are wailing and my heart is moved! I specially order Xiuqing to hold my sword and open the warehouse to provide relief to save the people!"

Yang Xiuqing's words were like the sound of a sword clashing with a sword, which was the unique seven-character style of the Taiping Edict. Before he finished speaking, the King of the East suddenly fell down. When Yang Chengtian helped his father up, he found that his palms were burning hot and his underwear was soaked with cold sweat. It seemed that it was not easy for God to come down once.

"Heavenly Father appears! Long live the King of the East!" Hong Ren'gan was the first to fall to the ground and shout, secretly breathing a sigh of relief - fortunately, Heavenly Father did not mention the word "kill the demon", let alone say that Luo Yaoguo was a "devil", otherwise how would it end?

His shout was like a starting gun, and instantly thousands of people fell to their knees like wheat waves, and the shouts of "Long live" made the copper bells on the eaves jingle. In the ranks of the Shinyo Shrine warriors, several young warriors showed disappointment.

In the private room of the Heavenly Father Tea House on Jongno Street in Seoul, Wuyi rock tea is simmering in a charcoal basin. Li Xiufeng, the former chief steward of the Holy Treasury, opened the Heavenly Father's Divine Edict and traced back and forth the five words "return to Tianjing for disaster relief" with his dry fingers: "Brother Zhang, please read this." He slipped out a sealed wax letter from his sleeve, "Last month, the meritorious people in Tianjing received another sum of 'Southeast Asian grace', even the seventh-rank two Sima received three silver dollars!"

Zhang Chaojue, the blacksmith sitting opposite him, sneered, "My nephew is a master in the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, and the annual 'reward from heaven' is equivalent to half a year's salary for me!" Then he dipped his finger in tea and wrote the word "America" ​​on the table, "I heard that the meritorious Chinese who went to America are doing better."

"Why are you shouting so loudly!" Huang Wentong, the official in charge of the palace by the window, suddenly raised his finger. The sound of leather boots clattered downstairs, and several people immediately changed the tune and chanted "The Benevolence of the Eastern King". When the sound faded away, several old brothers in the Eastern Palace who had followed Yang Xiuqing for many years began to discuss in a low voice again - Yang Xiuqing's Chaori Heavenly Kingdom was too poor after all, and it really couldn't give much to the old brothers below.

Everyone has been looking forward to returning to heaven.
Huang Wentong suddenly lowered his voice and said to those around him, "Last night I dreamt of the kapok tree at the head of Jintian Village. Its flowers were as red as my brothers' blood." He dipped the tea in water and wrote the word "return", "Of the 10,000 brothers who followed Dongdian to Guangxi back then, how many are left now?" Several people looked out the window in silence - under the gray autumn clouds of Seoul, a team of hatamoto warriors from the Shinyo Shinto Temple were escorting Nanmu Rice towards the Dongwang Palace.

On the official road in the eastern suburbs of Seoul, Old Man Jin led the whole village to prostrate themselves in front of the notice board. Although he could not read Chinese characters, the picture of the King of the East sailing out to sea in the painting made him burst into tears. "The King of the East is leaving." He remembered the great epidemic in the year of Dingsi, when the King of the East sent the "Heavenly Doctors" to save the whole village, and even issued "Entian Deeds" to the people who had been tenants for generations to divide the land. Suddenly, crying rang out behind him - a young widow hugged a skinny child and cried: "If the King of the East leaves, those new yangban masters will definitely take away the 'Entian'! How are we going to live!"

The "old yangban" of Korea had long been cleared out by Yang Xiuqing's Taiping Army, but the old yangban did not leave and the new ones did not come! Those old brothers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom who followed Yang Xiuqing to pacify Korea naturally became the new yangban!

Yang Xiuqing could still manage these new yangban groups, but if this Eastern King returned to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and handed over Korea to these new yangban groups, it would be really disastrous.

Thinking of this, the people of North Korea burst into tears: "Don't leave, King Dong. We have not yet repaid your kindness."

In the telegraph room of the British Embassy in Seoul, Ambassador Parkes was dictating the third encrypted telegram. With each word he spoke, the Indian telegraph operator's fingers struck a rapid rhythm on the Morse key:
"Yang Xiuqing's theocratic performance may be crude, but combined with the drought prophecy, it is extremely inflammatory. If it is really fulfilled, it is very likely to trigger a power reshuffle in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Suggestions: 1. Restrict Indian grain exports to China from now on; 2. Send more ironclad ships to Malacca to deter the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's vassal states, the Java Heavenly Kingdom and the Kingdom of Siam; 3. Show support for Yang Xiuqing to encourage his adventurous behavior. Finally, we must also prevent Yang Xiuqing from losing this power struggle!"

In a warehouse in the Chinese Concession in Sakai City, kerosene lamps illuminated the content of Yang Xiuqing's "Father's Words" in the Chosun Ilbo. Sakuma Shozan, who had just returned from Europe, clenched his fist and said, "The experience of the French Revolution tells us that when the emperor is defeated, the revolutionary storm will rise!"

"But there are still many people in Japan who have illusions about the Crown Prince." Fujiwara Yuta, who was wearing round-framed glasses, started to speak, but was immediately interrupted by Sakuma: "Then we will cooperate with the royalists!" He clapped his hands vigorously: "No matter what, it is better than the rule of the Shinyo Shinto Shrine!"

He gritted his teeth and said bitterly: "Japan is now the worst Japan, the most hopeless Japan. Even if the Tokugawa shogunate is restored, it will be much better than it is now! So..." He gritted his teeth, "In order to overthrow the Shinto Shrine, we can cooperate with anyone, including the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom! In short, we must do everything we can to make Yang Xiuqing fail!"

The fragrance filled the bedroom of the East Prince's Mansion. Daozi knelt beside the couch and adjusted her kimono, with a red mark on her neck. "My Lord, are you really going back to Tianjing?" She said softly, "The navy's Gaoli and Yamato ships have not been built yet." "Who said that I want to go to war?" Yang Xiuqing sneered, "As long as I can return to Tianjing, I will win on behalf of God."

Daozi looked up at Yang Xiuqing in confusion. Yang Xiuqing smiled and said, "The present Heaven is still Heaven after all, the kingdom of Heavenly Father, Heavenly King, and Heavenly Brother, not the kingdom of Luo Yaoguo, a fallen angel! As long as I go back, the old brothers will abandon Luo Yaoguo, a man hated by God, and return to my side."

He became more and more excited as he spoke, and looked a little intoxicated, as if victory was just around the corner!
But Nanmu Inoko's face was full of worry.

In the Prime Minister's Office in Tianjing, the self-ringing clock rang ten times, and it was exactly ten o'clock in the morning. A meeting of the kings had just begun to get down to business.

Maria, the deputy leader of the True Covenant sect, placed a report from the True Covenant sect's Korean archbishop Hong Rengan on the table: "The True Covenant sect churches in the eight provinces of Korea now all praise Yang Xiuqing as the 'Holy Lord of Disaster Relief'! They say he was appointed by the Heavenly Father."

"Nonsense! It's already this time, and he still dares to do this?" Xiao Chaogui punched the conference table, "I'm going to lead my troops to Seoul and smash this charlatan's stage!"

Shi Dakai also gnashed his teeth and said: "Fourth brother cuts off his relationship with the Kingdom of Heaven, and when he goes to heaven in the future, he won't be able to explain to the Heavenly Father, Heavenly Brother, and Heavenly King!"

Feng Yunshan said with a sullen face: "No matter what, he is also the son of the 9,000-year-old Heavenly Father of the Eastern King. How can we fight him?"

Luo Yaoguo glanced at the Southern King Feng Yunshan, smiled and nodded, saying: "It is inappropriate to fight. After all, he still has a last layer of dignity. Third brother, you are the leader of the True Covenant Sect. Tell me, how should the fourth brother be punished for fabricating the words of the Heavenly Father to confuse the people?"

What he said was equivalent to defining Yang Xiuqing!

Maria immediately said, "Your Highness, would you like me to ask for the Spear of Langnusky?"

This is the "holy object" of the True Covenant Sect, symbolizing "the punishment of the Heavenly Father"! And Maria, the deputy leader, has been in charge of the True Covenant Sect's precepts for more than ten years. If Yang Xiuqing's impersonation of God's will is confirmed, then it will be her turn to formulate the punishment for this former second-in-command of the Heavenly Kingdom.

"No need!" Feng Yunshan hurriedly stopped him, "Come here, fetch my golden seal. In the name of the leader of the God Worshipping Society, I will tell the truth to the hundreds of millions of people in Heaven!"

Soon someone brought the four treasures of the study to Feng Yunshan. The 7,000-year-old Southern King picked up a wolf-hair brush and wrote on the yellow silk like a dragon: The leader of the True Covenant sect of the God Worshipping Society told the billions of soldiers and civilians: The benevolence of the Heavenly Father has been passed down through the ages, how could he reappear in the mortal world? The drought has long been revealed by the sky, and the kings have already known about it. Jiangnan has already had a perfect plan - iron ships break the waves to transport corn, and silver hoes fall to the ground to open springs! If the Eastern King has the ambition to save the people, why not make preparations together with Tianjing? The seats in the palaces of the kings are empty, and I dare to ask if Seoul dares to come? "

After Feng Yunshan finished writing his "doggerel", he turned around and asked Luo Yaoguo: "Ninth brother, what do you think of this? If he is willing to come to Tianjing, he will be included in the meeting of the kings!"

Hong Xuanjiao sneered, "What if Fourth Brother doesn't come?"

Luo Yaoguo laughed and said, "If Fourth Brother hadn't come, he would no longer have a place in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

He only said half of his words, the other half was: If Yang Xiuqing didn't come, he would not have a seat in the meeting of kings, and even the king of the Kingdom of the Rising Sun would be deposed by him sooner or later - falsely conveying the will of the Heavenly Father. This is enough for him to bear! And if he came to Tianjing, maybe a belated incident was waiting for him!

(End of this chapter)