The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 869 Yang Xiuqing: I know elections best! Dongdian Guoren: King Wu gave too much!

Deep inside the East Prince's Mansion, sandalwood was wafting from a "big toilet" separated by a carved wooden door. This 20-square-meter "clean room" was built specifically for the East Prince Yang according to Luo Yaoguo's requirements. The walls were covered with cloud-patterned tiles fired in Jingdezhen, the floor was covered with non-slip "gold bricks", and the flush toilet was also a Jingdezhen milky white bone porcelain toilet.

Yang Xiuqing sat on the bone porcelain flush toilet with his big horse and golden sword, and the cold touch under his buttocks made him frown. Although this Western object was novel, it was not as comfortable as the rosewood toilet in Seoul. He stood up and reached out to touch the gilded copper button on the water tank, then looked down at the clear water in the toilet, and suddenly felt a little funny - the dignified King of the East, who was nine thousand years old, now had to sit on such a white porcelain bucket to defecate.

"Mmmm!"

With a muffled cough, the wooden door opened slightly, and two maids in traditional Korean costumes walked forward with golden basins in their hands. Behind them were two Japanese maids, holding silk cotton cloth embroidered with the emblem of the Eastern Palace. The four of them worked together skillfully: the Korean maids helped Jiu Qiansui up, while the Japanese maids knelt on the ground and wiped his butt with Korean cotton cloth, and then helped him put on his pants. Afterwards, the two Korean maids wanted to help Yang Xiuqing out of the "big toilet".

"Wait." Yang Xiuqing suddenly raised his hand and pointed at the copper button on the water tank, saying, "Press it first."

You can’t go to the toilet without flushing it!

The leading Korean maid trembled as she pressed the copper button. The sound of water splashing suddenly echoed in the toilet, startling the maids so much that they all shrank their necks. Yang Xiuqing laughed out loud when he saw this: "This Western trick is quite convenient. I don't even have to empty the toilet!" When he turned around and saw the plain white toilet, his mouth sank again: "Tell Bian Sanniang to replace this unlucky thing with a gold one! White is unlucky and it's an eyesore to me. I want to sit on a gold toilet!"

"Yes." The Korean maid knelt down and answered. Yang Xiuqing nodded with satisfaction and reached out to press the light switch on the wall. The crystal chandelier on the ceiling suddenly dimmed, and only a few wall lamps still emitted a dim light.

"It's really a work of art!" Yang Xiuqing paced in the toilet with his hands behind his back. He suddenly remembered that 20 years ago in Jintian Village, everyone had to go to the bathroom in the bamboo forest. Now he could go to the bathroom in such a luxurious toilet, with flush toilets and bamboo lamps. He couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

When he walked out of the bathroom, he deliberately looked back at the white porcelain toilet that was about to be replaced, thinking that after replacing it with a gold one, he must let Luo Yaoguo see it - to let him know the grandeur of the East Palace!
Passing through the corridors painted with scenes of the Jintian Uprising, Yang Xiuqing came to the main hall of the East Palace. The three-meter-high floor-to-ceiling glass windows allowed a panoramic view of the ripples of Xuanwu Lake. Several steam boats were shuttling back and forth on the lake, and the white smoke they emitted shone golden in the sunset.

Hong Rengan had been waiting in the hall for a long time. When he saw the Eastern King coming, he immediately bowed and saluted while holding the gold-stamped cover of the "Election Charter of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom". He wore a brand new crimson-purple robe today, with a silver cross of the True Prophet on his chest, which made him look particularly solemn.

"Let's get started!" Yang Xiuqing sat on a large sofa facing Xuanwu Lake, so he could discuss matters while enjoying the scenery - it must be said that Luo Yaoguo was really good at his job, and the new palace arranged for him was really good.

"There are two types of people." Hong Rengan flipped open the booklet and said slowly, "Meritorious people must have joined the army and made meritorious contributions before the Northern Expedition, or joined the army after the Northern Expedition and made meritorious contributions of the second class or above. Ordinary people must have paid more than 100 taels of tax a year, graduated from high school, held an eighth-rank official position, or be the son of a meritorious person who failed to inherit the status of a meritorious person." The rustling sound of him turning the pages was particularly clear in the spacious hall. "Among the 300,000 people in Tianjing today, there are more than 70,000 former members of the East Palace."

Yang Xiuqing sank into the goose down sofa, his fingertips rhythmically tapping the rosewood armrests. He squinted his eyes and looked out the window at Xuanwu Lake, and suddenly asked, "Is there any mystery behind this grouping?"

"Replying to the East King, you can choose your group number, first come first served." Hong Rengan smiled, a few wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes, "Interestingly, the groups with 'eight' in the number are the most popular, and the brothers from Guangdong and Guangxi all want good luck."

As for the Cantonese people, there is no one who doesn’t like to “make money”.

"Great!" Yang Xiuqing stood up suddenly, and the sleeves of his dragon robe swept over the blue and white teacup on the coffee table. The tea splashed on the carpet, and a maid immediately knelt down to wipe it. But he didn't care at all, and spread his five fingers in the air, as if he had grasped a lot of chips: "Put our 70,000 people into 100 groups! 700 East Palace tickets for each group, and a few dozen scattered tickets--" His voice trembled slightly with excitement, "A hundred seats are at our fingertips!"

Chen Chengrong stood aside and could not help but remind him: "The King of the East is wise, but the National Assembly has a total of 500 seats."

"Luo Yaoguo can only take 30% at most!" Yang Xiuqing sneered and casually brushed off the non-existent dust on his sleeves. "How can the former subordinates of the four kings of the South, North and South wings obey him? Wait for me to contact one or two of them." He walked to the glazed window, and the gold fragments on the lake made him squint his eyes. "If you get half of the seats, the position of prime minister will be in your pocket! Even if it doesn't work out, with 20% of the seats and foreign aid from North Korea and Japan, who dares to underestimate the East Palace?"

The staff in the room bowed down with their foreheads on the Persian carpet: "The King of the East is wise!"

Yang Xiuqing stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the setting sun outside the window. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he asked, "By the way, is the ballot a secret or secret ballot?"

That night, the "Jintian Pavilion" on the bank of the Qinhuai River was brightly lit. This restaurant, named after the "Jintian" of the Jintian Uprising, was the favorite place for the old brothers from Guangdong and Guangxi in Tianjing City. In a magnificent private room on the third floor, Huang Wentong was carrying a tin pot to pour wine for a table of East Palace soldiers.

"Brothers, do you know about the benefits of Tianjing?" Huang Wentong deliberately lowered his voice so that everyone could hear clearly, "Not only are there free houses, but children can also go to school for free, and go to the public hospital when they are sick - even coffins are provided!"

"The King of Wu is so kind and righteous!" Zhang Chaojue broke the mud seal of a jar of aged Huadiao, and the rich aroma of the wine immediately filled the entire room. He filled the celadon cups in front of everyone and continued, "The lowest-level soldiers have a monthly salary of ten silver dollars. Even if they can't serve as soldiers, they will be assigned to work within their capabilities or fertile land in the northeast, starting from 100 acres! During festivals, there are additional rewards." He counted with his calloused fingers, and the light of the oil lamp reflected on his wrinkled face, making him look particularly rosy.

King Agui of the North, who was about to go to the East, drank a few more cups. Thinking of the days in Seoul, his voice unconsciously lowered: "We even had to pay for the medicine in Seoul."

"There's more!" Huang Wentong suddenly pulled out a cowhide envelope from his bosom and pushed it to the center of the table mysteriously. "The brothers of the Datong Society under Prime Minister Luo said that the brothers of Dongdian have been working hard in Korea and Japan for many years, and they are all good guys." He deliberately paused and slowly opened the envelope. "Here, as long as you are willing to join the Datong Society, these are some gifts from other brothers in the society and King Wu to you." A stack of Taiping Bank bills slipped out of the envelope, shining blue under the light. The breath of everyone at the table was held - the words "ten yuan" were written on it.

The private room suddenly fell silent, and the only sound was the faint sound of string music coming from the pleasure boat on the Qinhuai River outside the window.

"Is this appropriate?" a soldier in his thirties asked timidly.

Huang Wentong laughed and patted the soldier on the shoulder: "Why not? You were only eleven when you were a boy soldier. You are already thirty years old now. You have worked hard for the Heavenly Kingdom for more than twenty years. You have made a lot of contributions and hard work. You are the talent that our Datong Association needs most!" He raised his glass, "Come on, drink this glass! I will take you to join the association tomorrow!"

Amid the clinking of glasses, no one noticed that Zhang Chaojue quietly slipped a note to the waiter. There were only a few numbers on the note: "Ten old brothers, all join."

In the city of Tianjing, the headquarters of the Datong Society was brightly lit.

Xiang Wu, the secretary general of the Datong Association, walked quickly into Luo Yaoguo's study, holding a thick stack of rosters. He was so happy that he even forgot to greet her and said directly, "Teacher, it's done! Twelve thousand old brothers from the East Hall have registered as provisional members!"

Luo Yaoguo put down the pen in his hand and looked up at him: "Twelve thousand people?"

"Yes!" Xiang Wu flipped open the roster and pointed at the densely packed names. "These people all came back from Korea with Yang Xiuqing. Now they are all willing to join the Datong Society. As long as they go through another three-month probation period, they can become formal members."

Luo Yaoguo smiled slightly and tapped the table with his fingers: "How many official members do we have in Tianjing City?"

"Sixty-three thousand people!" Xiang Wu answered decisively, "Add these preparatory members and those who already support us, and we can get at least 70% of the votes in Tianjing City!"

Luo Yaoguo nodded and turned his gaze to Chen Ji, the president of the Farmers Association standing beside him: "What about you?"

Chen Ji held a stack of farmer association reports and handed them forward respectfully: "Teacher, all the farmer associations outside Tianjing City have been mobilized. According to reports from various places, we can at least win 230 seats, and more than half is a foregone conclusion!"

Luo Yaoguo took the report, flipped through a few pages, and the smile on his face deepened.

"Yang Xiuqing thought he could turn the tables with just 70,000 men?" He snorted. "He must have forgotten where the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's foundation was."

Xiang Wu smiled and said, "Teacher is very smart. We have already spread the Farmers' Association and the Datong Association to every corner. Even if Yang Xiuqing's people stick together, they can't make any waves."

Luo Yaoguo closed the report, stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the brightly lit city of Tianjing in the distance.

"But more than half is not enough!" Luo Yaoguo said word by word, "I want Prince Yang Dong to lose completely. The seats of the Dong Palace party cannot exceed 25."

"25 seats?"

"Isn't this easy?"

Xiang Wu and Chen Ji looked at each other and both felt it was a bit prickly.

Luo Yaoguo smiled, picked up a telegram from the table and handed it to Xiang Wu: "Lao Wu, take a look at this!"

Xiang Wu took the telegram and read it, and immediately cheered: "Great! The Young Heavenly King is coming to Tianjing to support the teacher!"

(End of this chapter)