The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 861: Emperor Yang: I will bring people back to Tianjing to reason with them!
On the tenth day of the eleventh month of the twenty-third year of the Tianli calendar, before noon, the base of the blue brick wall of Sungnyemun in Seoul was already crowded with meritorious Chinese people wrapped in red headscarves. An old Korean woman selling kimchi huddled in a corner, looking in panic at the "new yangban" group speaking with Guangdong and Guangxi accents surrounding the newly posted yellow silk notice.

"The Seven Thousand Year Old Southern King invites our Eastern King to return to Tianjing! The Nine Thousand Year Old's chair is reserved in the Palace of Kings!" Zhang Chaojue stood on tiptoe, poking his rough fingers at the "Edict to Billions of Soldiers and Civilians" signed by Feng Yunshan, and shouted at the top of his voice, with tears in his eyes.

"Father in Heaven!" Huang Wentong squeezed forward, his skinny fingers touching the five words "Tianjing and Together" and his throat choked with sobs: "The red cloth from the Jintian uprising is still in my bag... Now I can finally return to my little paradise to enjoy happiness!" He suddenly turned around and raised his arms, "My nephew who works in the Jiangnan Factory wrote to me and said that there is a seven-story tower in Tianjing City! When the mechanism is pressed, the iron cage will jump into the clouds by itself, and it is called 'Stairway to Heaven'!"

"Climbing the ladder to heaven is nothing!" Li Xiufeng took out a crumpled piece of letter paper from his bag and spread it out in front of everyone: "My nephew is a custodian of the Taiping Bank. The letter said that there are 800 'sky lanterns' hanging in the lobby of the head office, which light up the Peach Festival at night! There are also iron horses on the riverside that don't eat grass or coal, and they are whining and pulling ten carriages!"

The lame old soldier Wang Agui suddenly squeezed to the front and shouted at the top of his voice: "The meritorious compatriots across the sea have white rice and meat soup for every meal! The meritorious compatriots who were wounded fighting for the Heavenly Kingdom are given tin cans every day! It's beef, shipped from America... It's really a little paradise!" As he swallowed, the sound of stomach rumblings was heard all around him.

"My third son was transferred to Tianjing to serve last year," an old soldier with a frosted face interrupted, "a letter said that now even the coolies carrying manure in Tianjing can eat meat every meal and earn twenty silver dollars a month!"

"Twenty yuan? A month!" Someone nearby exclaimed, "I'm a clerk in North Korea, and I only get twenty yuan a year!"

"So we have to go back to Tianjing!" Zhang Chaojue slapped his thigh and shouted, "Among us old brothers, who didn't follow the King of the East and fight our way out of Jintian? Now that the little paradise has been built, let the younger generations enjoy it!"

Although Yang Xiuqing was also trying to take care of these old brothers, the financial resources of the Korean Heavenly Kingdom were not at the same level as those of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom! The annual income of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom exceeded 200 million silver dollars, while the Korean Heavenly Kingdom only had more than 3 million. Including Japan, it barely reached 8 million. Moreover, there were no less than 100,000 meritorious Chinese who followed Yang Xiuqing into the DPRK. Although some of them later ran back to the Northeast (from the Nian Army), and some followed the Hong family to the United States and Hawaii, there were no less than 70,000 people left with Yang Xiuqing. This group of people married and had children in Korea, and the number had increased to 200,000 or 300,000! The 8 million income of the Korean Heavenly Kingdom was divided among them, and each person could not bear a few.

Besides, Yang Xiuqing also wanted to promote industrialization, and Japan also had a team at the Shinto Shrine, which would cost some money.

Therefore, the treatment of these Red Turban people was quite poor compared with the meritorious people of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. And they were indeed qualified to enjoy the benefits of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom - the Taiping Army in the East Palace was also the Taiping Army, and their merits were recognized by both the Conference of Kings and the Conference of the People!
"But what if King Dong refuses to leave?" A hesitant voice suddenly came from behind the crowd.

"Bullshit!" Zhang Chaojue kicked over a Korean kimchi jar, splashing the sour juice all over his leggings. "The King of the East is the fourth son of the Heavenly Father! He just appeared as a saint last month, how dare he not return to Tianjing?"

Huang Wentong took the opportunity to jump onto the stone pillar, waving his fist and shouting: "Since Heavenly Father has ordered the King of the East to provide disaster relief, we should follow him to transport food! Old brothers who fought against the Qing monsters in the past, please stand up--"

Dozens of arms were raised at the foot of the city wall, each covered with scars. Someone shouted, "When I was in Yong'an City, I followed the King of the East to kill monsters and was stabbed seven times!"

"I was hit by a cannonball during the battle of Hengshan!" another veteran shouted.

Li Xiufeng stuffed the letter back into his arms and raised his arms and shouted: "Let's go! Let's ask the King of the East for a definite answer! We are meritorious people who can even discuss the Heavenly Law, so why are we afraid to ask a question?"

The red turbans suddenly formed a torrent, and their footsteps rumbled into one. The Korean soldiers guarding the gate were so scared that they huddled in the corner, watching this group of fanatical veterans rush into the city. The same scene was repeated at the gates of Seoul and outside the True Prophet Church. Everywhere in and outside Seoul, the "Edict to the Billions of Soldiers and Civilians" was posted overnight. No one knew who did it.
"Your Majesty! There are more than ten thousand people gathered at Chongli Gate and Xingren Gate, all clamoring to return to Tianjing!" Hou Qianfang stumbled into the hall and knelt down on the white jade tiles.

The copper clock in the corner of the hall was ticking. Yang Fuqing was also holding a copy of the "Edict" and pointed to the key point and said anxiously, "Brother, look - Feng Yunshan wrote in person, 'The drought was already revealed by astronomical phenomena'. This is to prove that you are falsely conveying the will of the Heavenly Father!"

"Shut up!" Yang Xiuqing swept his sleeves, and the celadon cup fell to the ground and broke into eight pieces, and the porcelain pieces splashed on the corner of Hong Rengan's robe. The Korean archbishop gritted his teeth and said, "It must be Zhang Sanxiang's secret hall that is causing trouble! I have sent people to investigate."

Before he could finish his words, a Hakka folk song crashed into the hall like a wave:
"Father and Brother Heaven are very skilled, killing monsters in Jintian and heading to Han River"

"Now that I have been summoned back to Tianjing, why are the palace gates locked with iron bars?"

Yang Xiuqing's face suddenly changed, and he quickly ran up to the tower of the palace gate. When he saw the scene outside the palace gate, he couldn't help but gasp - thousands of red headscarves merged into a sea of ​​blood, and the old soldiers in the front row even carried the faded "Taiping Central Army Flag". Seeing him appear, the boiling waves of voices suddenly became silent, and only countless burning eyes were left like sharp arrows piercing his face. "Your Highness, take us back!" Zhang Chaojue suddenly rushed out of the crowd, pointing to the sky and roaring, "The Heavenly Father has spoken, and His Highness the Southern King also asks you to return to Tianjing. We are willing to protect you back to Tianjing"

Huang Wentong knelt down on the steps, resting his forehead against the bluestone bricks and shouted, "Back then, you carried out the order of Heavenly Father to slay the demons, and we brothers followed you through fire and water! Today, I beg you to take us back together—back to the Little Paradise! We conquered that place with our swords and guns!"

Yang Xiuqing clenched his fists behind his back: Feng Yunshan's trick is vicious! If we suppress it forcefully, the divine power will collapse immediately; if we return to Tianjing, Luo Yaoguo has already prepared a cage for him. Even if he doesn't want his life, he will be under house arrest and become a rich man at best.

He glanced at the crowd and saw only a vast expanse of "red scarves". Immediately, a plan came to his mind - people's hearts can be used!

"Silence!" This sound was like thunder, and the army fell to their knees in response. Yang Xiuqing raised his arms high, and the morning glow gilded him: "I heard the king in my dream last night! He ordered me to lead 100,000 brothers and escort 10 million tons of grain to Tianjing to rescue the disaster!"

He paused, and continued in a voice as loud as a bell: "However, it will take time to prepare food and fodder. I have decided that after the autumn harvest next year, I will personally lead the army to transport food back to the capital!"

Ten million dan? The Red Turban people below were stunned.

How could there be so much food? Where could we get so much food? Even if we starved all the North Koreans to death, it wouldn't be enough!
Seeing the hesitation on everyone's faces, Yang Xiuqing suddenly raised his voice: "My True Covenant followers are all over the world. Any True Covenant believer who donates one stone of grain will accumulate one point of merit; those who donate ten stones of grain can be included in the list of heaven!"

After a moment of dead silence, cheers suddenly broke out: "Long live the King of the East! Transport grain! Return to Tianjing!"

Yang Xiuqing smiled and looked down at the roaring mountains and seas, his back soaked with cold sweat. He thought to himself: With this year's buffer, he could collect food from believers in North Korea, Japan, and even the United States across the ocean.

If he could really raise 10 million shi, he would have a huge political bargaining chip in his hand. Because believers are willing to give him food, it means that everyone believes that he is a real god!
That night, in a side hall of the East Prince's Palace, five oil lamps flickered on the sandalwood table, illuminating five uncertain faces. Hou Qianfang's abacus beads clattered, and suddenly "crashed" and scattered all over the floor.

"Ten million dan?" Yang Fuqing grabbed a grain register and shook it loudly. "North Korea only collected 18 million dan of grain last year. If they take out ten million, the remaining eight million is simply impossible."

Hong Rengan pointed to America on a world map and said, "Korea has no grain, but America has grain. I will go to America to collect grain for you, King Dong. The fertile land over there is barren for tens of thousands of miles. Let alone 10 million shi, even ten times more is not a problem.

The oil lamp suddenly burst into flames, and Yang Xiuqing coughed and said, "It's not difficult to collect grain. What really worries Luo Yaoguo is not the lack of grain, but the lack of ships to transport it. Otherwise, he would not have placed an order for 100 large sea ships. But we can only collect million shi. How many tons is that?"

"It's 60 tons." Hong Rengan said, "It also requires 50 Jiangnan ships to run once, but the difficulty is much less than Luo Yaoguo's millions of tons. And this amount does not need to be shipped all from the United States. Japan and North Korea can raise some. Annan, Siam, and Java can also raise some."

"Well said!" Yang Xiuqing quickly unfolded the "Distribution Map of True Covenant Churches Around the World" and circled Bangkok, Saigon, Manila and other ports with cinnabar pen: "Each church has a 'Grain Storehouse for Accumulating Merits'. As long as you donate grain, you can exchange it for indulgences and heaven tickets. You can also issue 'Peace Tickets' to the owners and sailors of those ship companies. As long as you help transport the grain of merit, you will have smooth sailing! Moreover, this matter can be made into a rule in the future. As long as it is a country of the True Covenant, when one country is in trouble, all parties should support it!"

Yang Xiuqing's eyes finally turned to Tianjing on the map: "When my 10 million dan of rice and 100,000 people arrive in Tianjing, I want to see whether the people of Tianjing believe in me or Luo Yaoguo!"

"But," Huang Wenjin reminded, "the Taiping Army in Tianjing has strong ships and powerful artillery!"

Yang Xiuqing sneered: "The strong ships and powerful guns are for dealing with the Qing demons, not for me. I am the fourth son of the Heavenly Father and the 9,000-year-old Eastern King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. I will bring food and 100,000 people back to hold a national congress with him, so that the people can judge the situation together! I am the best at convincing people with reason!"

(End of this chapter)