The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 94 You, Lao Liu, are quite ambitious! (Fifth update)

"Sixth Brother," Xianfeng took the opportunity to observe Concubine Lan's "reaction to eating the cake" and discussed with Yi Xin about subduing demons and monsters, "Lan Er has already eaten the physical evidence of the demon falling from the sky, so it should be real! What about the human witnesses? Have you asked them? And does Tu Lama from Luosha Country have any tricks for dealing with the Bull Demon King?"

"Reporting to the emperor," Prince Gong Yixin replied, "I have already questioned the witness Guaerjia Yuanbao, and also interrogated the Guangdong bandit leader Hong Xiuquan's brother Hong Daquan. The Tupolev Lama of the Rakshasa Kingdom also participated in the questioning and interrogation. According to the Tupolev Lama, the Guangdong bandit Hong Xiuquan worshipped the devil leader from the West, and the Bull Demon that fell from the sky was not our Bull Demon King, but the devil Satan from the West!"

Xianfeng frowned and said worriedly: "There really are Western devils!"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty," Prince Gong said hastily, "That Western devil may have great magical power in heaven, but after coming down to the mortal world, his magical power is not that strong."

“How come you see?”

"Your Majesty, that box of mooncakes is proof!" Prince Gong explained, "That was from the vanguard captain Guaerjia. Yuan Bao fought with that devil for three rounds and took it from the devil's waist. That devil couldn't defeat a vanguard captain from Manchuria in three rounds, and he even lost a box of mooncakes. How powerful can he be?"

Xianfeng nodded and finally breathed a sigh of relief: "This Yuan Bao should be rewarded with a Baturu! The vanguard colonel is too young, so I will give him a second-class guard later!"

Yuan Bao made a fortune this time!

Although the second-class guards were only fourth-rank military officers, not much higher than the city gate captain, they were the emperor's close ministers and were more than qualified to be sent out as a deputy general of the Green Camp.

And Yuanbao can also get a Baturu!

Prince Gong then said to Emperor Xianfeng: "As for that Rakshasa Lama, he still knows some Western methods of subduing demons and monsters."

"Oh? What's the solution? Tell me about it."

"That Tu Lama said he could make a 'holy bomb', which is specially used to blow up Western demons and magicians!" Prince Gong said, "According to Tu Lama, he once used this holy bomb to deal with Turkish demons in the West! I have already allocated one thousand taels of silver to him and asked him to make a batch first. If it is really powerful, I will personally lead the Eight Banners soldiers to the south with the holy bombs to slay demons and eliminate evil!"

What? You're going south yourself?
Xianfeng immediately became alert!
Yi Xin was Prince Gong, a title bestowed by the late emperor in his last will and testament when he secretly established the heir. It couldn't be more ironclad! If he wanted to lead his troops south, he would have to be given the title of Grand General. The Eight Banners, Green Camp, and militia in Huguang, Guangdong, and Guangxi all had to listen to him.

If he defeats the Changmao Guangdong bandits and returns to the court with a triumphant victory, shouldn't the emperor be replaced?

You, Old Six, are quite ambitious!
Although he was suspicious of Yi Xin in his heart, Xianfeng's pockmarked face was full of trusting smiles: "Okay, okay, Sixth Brother, you are indeed my good brother! But you are a prince of the Qing Dynasty after all, you can't go out easily. If something goes wrong, won't the whole world be in panic? Even if nothing goes wrong, people inside and outside the capital will be in panic when they see you go out."

Yi Xin had long known that his fourth brother was worried about him, so he had already prepared a backup plan. He immediately followed Xianfeng's words and said, "Your Majesty is right. I really haven't thought it through. How about Your Majesty letting Shengbao lead Yuanbao and Tu Lama, and bring a thousand of our Beijing Banner troops and a thousand holy bombs, and a batch of sophisticated firearms to the south to eliminate the bull demon from the West?"

If you can't go, why don't you let your confidant go?
Xianfeng understood everything clearly, but he did not refuse this time, because it was easy for these confidants of Prince Gong to leave Beijing, but it would be difficult for them to come back!

Xianfeng smiled and nodded, saying, "Okay! Sixth Brother, since I have entrusted you with the task of slaying demons and eliminating evil, I will of course trust the person you recommend."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Yi Xin hurriedly bowed, "I will definitely urge them to slay demons and monsters for the country."

"Go back and have a good discussion with the people in the Grand Council and come up with a specific strategy." Xianfeng looked out the window at the dark sky and said, "It's getting late, Sixth Brother, please kneel down and pay your respects."

Yi Xin had already left, and Xianfeng looked through the window on the dragon boat at his strong brother walking away at the speed of flight. After a while, he turned around and glanced at Concubine Lan, and found that she seemed more beautiful than before!

It seems that the mooncake is harmless to mortals. Xianfeng smiled and said, "Lan'er, bring the mooncake to me. I am a little hungry. I want to taste what the mooncake falling from the sky tastes like!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Concubine Lan smiled and handed over half a mooncake placed in a small plastic box.

"Hahahaha," Emperor Xianfeng laughed as he took the small plastic box handed over by Concubine Lan. He carefully examined the material of the box and nodded, saying, "It is indeed not something from the mortal world!"

As he spoke, he picked up the half mooncake with his fingers and ate it bite by bite. It was really delicious and he felt happier after eating it!

"Come on, come on, you drink lightly and I drink deeply, brother Zhonghua, let's not stop until we are drunk today!"

At this moment, in a small tavern in a small alley outside Zhengyang Gate, Yuan Bao was diligently pouring a bowl of wine for a young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old, with a fair, round face and squinting eyes, and then filled his own glass.

This "Brother Zhonghua" is a distant relative of Yuanbao. His surname is Guaerjia, Zhonghua is his pen name, and his full name is Ronglu - that is, Guaerjia, Ronglu, the Empress Dowager Cixi's favorite!

Ronglu lived with his father Changshou in Fujian before. His father was a general in Fujian at that time, and Ronglu was the son of the general's mansion. He lived a very comfortable life. Later, when the Taiping Rebellion broke out, his father Changshou and his uncle Changrui followed Sai Shang'a to Guangxi to fight against the Taiping Army. As a result, they were both killed in the ambush in Dadong, which can be regarded as "dying on the same day of the same month of the same year".

So the sixteen or seventeen-year-old Ronglu had no choice but to carry the coffin back to Beijing. He arrived in Beijing at the same time as Yuanbao, just a few days earlier.

In addition to his dead father and uncle, Ronglu received an expected bad news after returning to Beijing. Lan'er, his childhood sweetheart and a child engaged to him, was selected to enter the palace to serve Emperor Xianfeng!

He was so unlucky that not only his father and uncle died, but also his girlfriend and the emperor had their relationship too. As Ronglu's brother and childhood playmate, Yuanbao had to comfort him.

But Yuanbao himself was also "feeling miserable"!

Because he just learned from his brother Shengbao that his lover, Tatara Li'er, participated in the Imperial Household Department's selection and entered the palace in February of this year, and was given the title of Li Guiren. When Yuanbao thought that his beloved Tatara's sister had become someone else's concubine, he felt extremely sad!

But what can we do? This is the fate of a bannerman!
Yuan Bao swallowed the yellow soup and said: "Zhonghua, this is the fate of us bannermen! Men join the army to serve our country and shed blood on the battlefield, while women are selected to enter the palace and serve the king. It's really hard."

When he said this, tears began to fall from his eyes, and he looked even sadder than Ronglu.

Although Ronglu and Concubine Lan were childhood sweethearts, they were still young when they were childhood sweethearts and did not understand the matters between men and women!
Yuan Bao and Li Guiren had been enjoying each other's affection for a long time under the moonlight.

The two also agreed that after Hetala had finished dealing with the selection, she would marry Yuan Bao.

But unexpectedly, Hetala was really chosen and now becomes Concubine Li.

Yuan Bao may have drunk too much, and his words were inevitably filled with resentment: "Once you enter the palace, it is like entering a deep sea. I will never see Zhonghua again. Tell me, why can't we, the sons of the Eight Banners, have beautiful wives and concubines like the rich Han people outside?

The emperor's family is obviously rich, why does he have to compete with us for those bannermen ladies in Beijing? Choose, choose, choose. All the better ones have been chosen, leaving us with a few crappy ones, which are so rare that they have no house, no job, and no family background. Even an old maiden released from the palace in her twenties and thirties can't get one!

Tell me, what's the point of being a member of the Eight Banners?"

(End of this chapter)