The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 99: Your Majesty, there are thousands of miles of fertile land outside the Great Wall!

The official residence of the Manchu and Han military officials on duty in the Old Summer Palace.

Several military ministers did not go to their own offices today. They all gathered in the official residence to "study" the "Anti-Scripture" together!
The "Anti-Scripture" in their hands all came from Daozhou, and somehow appeared in the border areas of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan near Daozhou. A lot of them were collected by people in the Imperial Commissioner's Office in Quanzhou and the Guangdong-Guangxi Governor's Office in Guangzhou, and then sent to Beijing together with the urgent military newspaper.

Of course, the military reports sent by Sai Shang'a's headquarters and the Guangdong-Guangxi Governor's Office only reported bad news, and each one was worse than the last!

First of all, of course, the Taiping Army's territory in the border area of ​​Hunan, Guangdong and Guangxi was expanding, from only one scattered state, Daozhou, to occupying Daozhou, Ningyuan, Jianghua, Yongming, Lanshan, and Guanyang, a total of one scattered state and five counties, and also surrounded the city of Lianzhou.

Among them, Ning, Jiang, and Yong counties were all subordinate to Yongzhou Prefecture, scattered around Daozhou. After Yu Wanqing's army was destroyed and Daozhou was occupied by the Taiping Army, these three counties were naturally difficult to defend. After the army led by Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing arrived in Daozhou, they quickly fell.

Lanshan County was a county under Guiyang Prefecture, and soon after Ningyuan County was occupied by the Taiping Army, it was also returned to the sons of Tianfu's family. This was of course expected, so no one took it seriously.

However, the situation became a bit confusing as Guanyang County, which belonged to Quanzhou Prefecture in Guangxi, was broken through by the Taiping Army and Lianzhou, a Zhili Prefecture in Guangdong, was surrounded by the Taiping Army!

What exactly did the Taiping Army want to do?
Did he want to take Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan as his home first, and then advance northward step by step?

This is not so bad if it is true - isn't this Wu Sangui's way?

But then came the news that the Taiping Army was beating up the local tyrants and dividing up their land in one prefecture and three counties in Yongzhou Prefecture and in Lanshan County in Guiyang Prefecture!
This made Qi Junzao, Peng Yunzhang, Mu Yin and other three older ministers who knew how miserable the poor people at the bottom of society were and how many military ministers there were realize that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was different from Wu Sangui, and that this was no longer the early Qing Dynasty.

Wu Sangui could not mobilize the working people, and the population was small in the early Qing Dynasty, so the contradiction between population and land could be ignored. The "Wu-occupied area" in the southwest was even more sparsely populated. Even if Wu Sangui wanted to distribute land to people, they would not be interested.

How many people are there in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hunan now? Tens of millions, no doubt! There are many poor people and little land. When hungry men see a few acres of paddy fields, their eyes bleed!

If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was to start a war by dividing the land and fighting against the local tyrants, wouldn't it have to have millions of soldiers?
Such traitors must be dealt with severely and cannot be allowed to grow bigger and stronger!
What made several military ministers who wanted to strike hard speechless were Volume 2 of "Anti-Classics", "The Rebellion of the Gentry" and Volume 3 of "Anti-Classics", "The Rebellion of the Han Officials"!

These two volumes of "Anti-Scripture" are no longer handwritten copies, but printed versions, and somehow they have been circulated in various places in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan.

"They rebelled. Not only did they distribute land, cancel debts and fight against the tyrants, they also printed this heinous 'Anti-Scripture' and spread it everywhere. These Guangdong bandits are so hateful for their rebellion!"

The one who was holding Volume 3 of "Anti-Scripture" in his hand and cursing the Guangdong bandits for being treasonous and hateful was Prince Gong Yixin!
Even though he looked stern and gnashing his teeth, in his heart he just thought that this book was really good!

The rebellion of Han officials!

He was not a Han official, but a Manchu, and the second-in-command of the Aisin-Gioro family.

If the Han officials were unreliable, shouldn't Yi Xin step forward and lead the army to fight the rebellion? He could first become the Great General, then the Regent of the Emperor's Uncle, and then the Regent of the Emperor's Uncle Father who was more like Dorgon than Dorgon.
"That's right. This Anti-Scripture actually compares my Qing Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, compares the present to the end of the Yuan Dynasty, compares the loyal Qing officials who led the army to suppress the rebellion and the bandits to the likes of Richard Han and Wang Baobao, and compares the gentry and powerful who led the militia to deal with the traitors like them to Li Siqi and Zhang Liangbi. What exactly is the purpose of this?"

Mu Yinmu, the military minister of the Plain White Banner, frowned tightly and shook his head as he spoke. He just felt that what was said in the "Anti-Scripture" made a lot of sense, so it was very troublesome!
"What is it? A plot to sow discord! It's just a trivial trick, not worth mentioning! But why is there only two or three copies of this Anti-Scripture and not even one?"

The person who asked this question was Peng Yunzhang, a military minister who came from the Peng family of Fengmen, a family of top scholars in Suzhou. Of course, Luo Yaoguo's conspiracy could not be hidden from the great military minister Peng.

However, Peng Dajunji's academic intuition told him that the key to this "Anti-Scripture" must be "Volume One"!
"You don't even need to read Volume 1 of "Anti-Scripture" to know that it must be about teaching those poor Koreans how to get something for nothing, divide the land of the local tyrants, and escape the debts of the local tyrants. How hateful, so hateful!" The one who gritted his teeth and shouted "hateful" was Mr. Qi Junzao, the Minister of Military Affairs, who came from Shouyang County, Pingding Prefecture, Shanxi. Needless to say, the big boss of Shanxi must have a close relationship with the Shanxi merchants.

Shanxi merchants hate debt evaders the most!
Moreover, Shanxi merchants not only engage in business and open bill offices, they also buy large amounts of land, and each of them is a big landlord!
Of course, they can also be the leaders of large groups.
"Your Highness," Old Master Qi Junzao looked back at Prince Gong, "It seems that this group of rebels who came out of Guangxi are very special! Not only the White Lotus Sect that was rampant in Sichuan and Hubei back then could not compare to them, even Li Zicheng was not as cunning and vicious as them. And the world today is indeed too crowded and land is scarce, and it is difficult for farmers to survive. They are very easy to be instigated by them! If we want to eliminate their chaos, I am afraid we have to let those ordinary people who can't survive have a way to survive!"

"A way to survive?" Peng Yunzhang shook his head. "The land's power has long been exhausted. How can it support the four trillion people in the world?"

Mu Yin sighed: "Unless the imperial court can conjure up some land."

Prince Gong suddenly turned his head and looked at him: "Qingxuan, what did you say?"

"I'll tell you, I'll tell you." Mu Yin's face suddenly changed, he stood there frozen, and said nothing.

Prince Gong muttered in a low voice: "There is still some land!"

Now everyone in the Grand Council's office lowered their heads and remained silent.

Just when the four military officials were all dumbfounded, a voice of a junior official suddenly came from outside the door: "Your Majesty, three lords, the Emperor has sent someone to summon you."

The "Anti-Scripture" that the four military ministers got must also be in the hands of Emperor Xianfeng!

In addition, secret memorials submitted to Emperor Xianfeng by Sai Shang'a, Xu Guangjin, and Luo Bingzhang, the dismissed but not yet resigned Hunan governor, were also delivered.

That is why Emperor Xianfeng summoned the four military ministers who were guarding the Old Summer Palace to the Qinzheng Qinxian Hall.

Seeing that the four ministers had already kowtowed, Emperor Xianfeng did not ask them to stand up, nor did he offer a seat to Qi Junzao. He just started to scold them: "Tell me! What should we do now? The Guangdong bandits are becoming more and more rampant. They have occupied one state and five counties in a short period of time. Lianzhou City is also in danger!

Well, they are really getting stronger and stronger. What is going on? There are frequent reports of victory, but the Guangdong bandits are getting stronger and stronger, and they are about to sweep across Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan.

Moreover, this gang of rebels evenly distributed the land in the occupied territory, killed and expelled the tyrants, bewitched the common people, and even created an "Anti-Scripture" in an attempt to bewitch the officials and gentry of the Qing Dynasty! Don't you have any solution?"

Emperor Xianfeng was scolding vigorously, while Qi Junzao, Peng Yunzhang and Mu Yin, three old military officials, were lying on the ground with their buttocks sticking up, motionless, silent and at a loss. However, Prince Gong could not stand this kind of humiliation. When he heard Emperor Xianfeng asking if there was any solution, he answered loudly: "Your Majesty, I have a plan that can defeat the equal distribution of land by the Guangdong bandits!"

Oh, you have a plan?
You always have a plan! You've been like this since you were a kid! You have too many tricks up your sleeve, and that's what our Emperor hates the most about you. He's afraid that you'll ruin our Qing Dynasty!
"Tell me, what plan do you have?" Xianfeng asked calmly.

Prince Gong asked: "Your Majesty, do you still remember the incident of the Huguang people filling Sichuan?"

"Huguang fills Sichuan?" Xianfeng frowned, "But Sichuan is already full now, where is there any space left?"

"Your Majesty," said Prince Gong Yixin, "Sichuan is fully occupied, but there are still thousands of miles of fertile land outside the Great Wall to be filled."

(End of this chapter)