The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 866 War and Peace

Paying homage to the God of Zhenwu is a tradition that existed in the Yuan Dynasty and was further developed in the Ming Dynasty.

In the process of seizing the throne, Liu Zhaosun - according to his own description - was blessed by the God Zhenwu many times, allowing him to survive desperate situations on the battlefield.

After the establishment of Da Qi, Emperor Zhenwu was promoted to a higher position.

Liu Ruolan had complicated feelings towards gods. Before becoming emperor, she was a devout Taoist who regarded Zhenwu God as the supreme being.

Now that Da Qi has entered the constitutional era, theocracy and imperial power should be abandoned.

The belief in Zhenwu God should become a thing of the past and become history.

The queen thought of her grandfather, the warrior who was obsessed with immortality.

When Liu Zhaosun was alive, he would lead a group of princes and grandchildren to climb Tianzhu Peak every summer and autumn, kneel before the statue, burn incense and recite scriptures devoutly, and pray for the people.

Liu Ruolan's father, Emperor Guangde Liu Kan, was quite dissatisfied with Taoism since he was a child.

The little fat boy followed his father Liu Zhaosun to climb Tianzhu Peak countless times and was exhausted. Those were painful memories.

So after he ascended the throne, he quickly announced that the autumn ceremony would be changed from once a year to once every three years. Later, he simply handed over the worship ceremony to his close ministers and never went up the mountain again.

Empress Tianshou has a special affection for Wudang Mountain. Now she has picked up the tradition left by her grandfather and paid a personal visit to the God of Zhenwu.

The country's affairs are difficult.

Debts are due, reforms are difficult, and constitutionalism cannot be accepted by everyone.

After Kang Guangxu fell ill, voices advocating the use of foreign military force were heard everywhere in the court, and Chen Mingxia even advocated "using war to settle debts and resolve the dilemma."

The so-called "using war to pay off debts and resolve dilemmas by oneself" means expanding armaments, declaring war on Britain, France, the Holy Roman Empire and other countries, and fighting ten against one.

Eliminate the creditor and the debt will be gone.

The Great Qi could not repeat the tragedy of the past. If it expanded its military and prepared for war, the countless efforts of two generations, including my father, would be wasted, and everything would return to the era of excessive militarism.

With the current military strength of the Great Qi, can it really compete with the European powers?

To turn left or to turn right, that is the question.

In the autumn of the fourth year of Tianshou, Liu Ruolan led the royal family and cabinet ministers to Taiyue Mountain to pay homage to the Great Emperor Zhenwu. This was the Autumn Ceremony.

On the ninth day of the ninth month, everyone arrived at the foot of Taizipo.

It rained that night, but cleared up in the morning.

At the beginning of the morning hour, Empress Tianshou stopped at the foot of the mountain and looked out at the forest-like peaks. Thousands of birds were flying in the mountains and hundreds of monkeys were playing, which was a refreshing sight.

"Let's go to the Five Dragon Palace."

The Taoist priest Liu Yifeng said cautiously:

"Your Majesty, the Five Dragon Palace has fallen into disrepair and is in danger of being polluted..."

Before the emperor could speak, the eunuch Li Gonggong beside him said in a sarcastic tone:
"Master Liu, what are you talking about? Don't you cry poor every day? Now that His Majesty wants to visit the Five Dragon Palace, you're disgusted by its shabby appearance."

Over the past decade or so, the abbot and eunuchs in charge of the temples at Wudang Mountain have been submitting petitions to the emperor regularly, alleging that the temple was leaking badly, had crooked walls, was severely infested by termites, and was in danger of collapsing at any time, requiring urgent repairs.

In a nutshell, it means asking the court for money.

"This time I'm climbing Mount Wudang, not only to see the magnificent Golden Palace at Tianzhu Peak, but also to pay my respects to these dilapidated Taoist temples."

After Queen Tianshou said this, she just looked at the distant mountains quietly.

The Taoist priest of the main temple had no choice but to lead the way.

Near the Five Dragons Palace, walk slowly along the nine-bend Yellow River wall next to it, and you will find a different world inside.

The stone wall has become mottled and wet, but the patterns carved on it are still clearly visible. It is of similar scale to the Nine Dragon Wall in the Tianxin City Palace.

However, the Nine Dragon Wall is famous throughout the world, while the patterns here can only be hidden here and admired by itself.

The Five Dragon Palace was built in the Tang Dynasty, hundreds of years earlier than the Lingxiao Palace. It is said that it had as many as 850 rooms during its heyday.

Now only dilapidated walls remain, with colorful rubble scattered everywhere.

Emperor Tianshou stared at the rubble on the ground and said calmly, "Even as powerful as the Han and Tang dynasties, they eventually turned to dust."

The cultural relics before the Yuan Dynasty in Wudang Mountain were destroyed by wars. In the late Ming Dynasty and early Qi Dynasty, the cultural relics were repeatedly damaged by natural disasters and man-made disasters. In particular, most of the precious artifacts such as gold, silver, pearls and jade were lost.

In the early years of Guangde, some people collected more than 1,000 kilograms of bronze statues near Laoying and sold them. They were stopped by the government and all those involved were sentenced to exile.

Later, it was discovered that the refugees had stolen about 10,000 kilograms of bronze statues and smashed hundreds of kilograms of bronze statues to sell. This was also stopped, and the refugees were beaten with sticks and expelled from Junzhou.

Although Emperor Guangde was committed to destroying Buddhism and Taoism, and was particularly harsh on Taoist priests, the government had no choice but to punish the criminals in the face of such blatant acts of robbery.

However, due to the lenient punishment, the reselling trend became more and more serious in the following decades.

In the fifth year of Guangde, the officials of Junzhou colluded with the eunuchs in charge of the inspection and arbitrarily "excavated the bronze statues buried underground to support the agricultural production of Tianxin City."

He forced the yamen runners and Taoist priests to collect 48,000 kilograms of bronze statues and 2,000 kilograms of iron statues from Taihe Palace, Nanyan Palace, Cijiantai, Laojun Hall, Laoying Palace, Jinshaping, Yuzhen Palace, Xiangfu Temple, Zhangye Temple, Ying'en Palace, etc., and sold them all to French and Italian businessmen for 180,000 taels of silver.

In the sixth year of Guangde, the clerks and the Taoist priests organized many yamen runners to climb Mount Taiyue in the name of "repaying debts to Zhenwu Shenhuazhai" and destroyed bronze statues and offerings. This took several months.

According to statistics from 21 temples and monasteries, 200 bronze statues were destroyed, costing 20,000 kilograms of copper. Among them: a Ming Dynasty gilded bronze statue of Zhenwu in Yuxu Temple weighed 3,800 kilograms. According to eyewitness accounts, it took three days to destroy the statue. Yamen runners first burned it with charcoal, then drilled it with steel drills, and finally broke it with hammers. It took eight people to lift just the head and shoulders of copper...

·······
Liu Ruolan was moved by the scene, her thoughts were flying, and she said leisurely:
"Taiyue Mountain was not destroyed by the rebels and the Ming army, but it was nearly destroyed by these corrupt officials of my dynasty."

The accompanying eunuchs, the Taoist priests of the main temple, and the Taoist priests of the seventy-two temples all knelt on the ground and confessed their crimes.

"I am tired, let's go back to the palace."

Chen Mingxia said in surprise: "Your Majesty, we haven't reached the top of Tianzhu Peak yet."

“No need to climb to the top.”

Queen Tianshou is determined to return to Tianxin City because the statue on Tianzhu Peak may not be able to help her solve the problems facing Da Qi.

All the Taoists knelt on the ground. Liu Ruolan said as if no one was around:
"Since the Tang Dynasty, the Immortal Mountain has suffered repeated disasters. The True Martial God can't even protect himself, so who else can he protect?"

~~~~~~~~~~
The day after Emperor Tianshou returned from Wudang Mountain, the Holy Roman Bank rejected Qi's request for an extension.

The little credibility that Da Qi had left had been squandered by Liu Wuji and the princess.

The envoys from various countries stationed in Tianxin City expressed to Queen Tianshou:

Considering Qi's precarious financial situation and unstable political situation, domestic banks will not consider extending the loan period because it would be no different from giving money away.

On the first day of October, the British ambassador stationed at No. 33 Xiangtianmen Street in Tianxin City met with Prime Minister Chen Mingxia. The British ambassador threatened:

"All Qi people who have settled in Great Britain will become subjects of the British king as soon as they start paying taxes to Britain. No organization or individual can bypass Britain to harm these citizens and deprive them of their property."

The ambassador specifically reminded Qi to abandon all attempts to assassinate migrants in Britain. That's right - they called the corrupt officials who took away Qi's wealth migrants - otherwise, Qi would bear the corresponding price.

In the same month, envoys from Italy and France expressed similar requests to Chen Mingxia.

Chen Mingxia was furious.

In Da Qi, no one except Emperor Tianshou dared to speak to him like this.

These foreigners are so bold!

Since the debt extension fails and the recovery of overseas fugitives has become a pipe dream, the only way left is to "pay off the debt with war."

At the same time, Britain and France put forward their new demands.

If Da Qi really cannot repay its debts, then according to the original contract, your country needs to open thirteen places including Dapeng, Chongming, and Xiamen as trading ports, allowing merchants from Britain, France and other countries to trade here, and all countries can enjoy most-favored-nation treatment for a period of ten years.

Of course, it is also possible to cede an island in the east as a permanent trading place.

Chen Mingxia, who was in charge of the negotiations, certainly could not accept such terms. He knew very well that once he accepted them, he would face public criticism and his career as prime minister would be over.

But what if you don’t accept it?

Either repay the debt on time, or go to war with ten other nations at once.

Tolerable or unbearable!
Chen Mingxia had even written a declaration of war on eleven countries (Britain and Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, the Holy Roman Empire, the Papal States, the Kingdom of Sicily, the Republic of Venice, the Kingdom of Hungary, Denmark, and Sweden) for Empress Tianshou in advance. The declaration was as follows:
For over seventy years, our dynasty has been deeply benevolent and generous. Our ancestors have treated all foreigners who came to the Great Qi with kindness and appeasement. During the Wuding period, we graciously permitted them to trade with us and to preach in our country. The court, believing they were encouraging good deeds, reluctantly granted their request, initially adhering to our territories and abiding by our rules.

Yet, for the past seventy years, relying on our country's benevolence and indulgence, they have become increasingly arrogant, bullying our country and extorting our property. The slightest concession from the court has only served to inflict them with increasing brutality, becoming more and more violent, and committing all sorts of crimes. From minor acts of oppression against the common people to major acts of disrespect for the sacred. Our people are filled with resentment, and everyone is willing to take advantage of them...

I now weep to tell my ancestors, and express my indignation to my teachers and disciples. Rather than trying to survive in a cowardly way, which would bring shame to the world, it is better to launch a full-scale attack on the Tartars and decide the outcome. I have summoned ministers of all ranks for days to consult and agree. The volunteer soldiers from Kinki, Hubei, and other provinces gathered together on the same day, numbering no less than several million. Even a child five feet tall is capable of taking up arms to defend our country. They rely on deceit and schemes, while we rely on the principles of heaven; they rely on brute force, while we rely on the hearts of the people. Regardless of our country's loyalty and trustworthiness, its righteousness and its courage, everyone is willing to die. Even though our territory covers more than thirty provinces and our population exceeds four hundred million, it will not be difficult to subdue their arrogance and show our power...

However, the imperial edict was never issued.

Declaring war on eleven countries would undoubtedly be like trying to stop a chariot with a mantis arm and courting self-destruction.

~~~~~

Emperor Palace

Chen Mingxia and Kang Guangxu stood on both sides, silently waiting for the emperor's decision.

"Order the provinces to pay more taxes, and I will then draw upon the palace treasury to gather enough silver to repay the debt."

Chen Mingxia was furious, and Kang Guangxu remained silent.

Empress Tianshou muttered to herself, "If that's not enough, I'll mortgage Shanglin Garden and Jingle Lake, and sell all the artifacts in the palace that need to be sold."

Liu Ruolan not only wanted to mortgage the royal gardens, but also auction off all the cultural relics and treasures that the Qi army had looted from Japan and Annan in the past to repay the debt. It was a desperate move.

Seeing that Kang Guangxu remained silent, the empress continued, "If it's not enough, we can dismiss the palace maids and eunuchs, and the Central Guards, starting with a portion. This will also help offset some of the military expenses."

Upon hearing about the military reduction, Chen Mingxia hurriedly advised: "Your Majesty, please think twice. The imperial family is already in decline, and the Central Guards are guarding the capital. They are of great importance. If they are easily dismantled, it will inevitably lead to the situation of neglecting the inner court and strengthening the outer court. If the local people show rebellious intentions, the consequences will be disastrous..."

Liu Ruolan gritted her teeth and said, "Of course I know the consequences, but I have to make an emergency decision."

Kang Guangxu looked up at the Empress and said calmly, "Your Majesty, don't worry. We are still too soft on the foreigners. We must let them understand the resolve of the Great Qi to punish traitors."

Liu Ruolan and Chen Mingxia asked in unison: "Determination?"

Chen Mingxia asked, "Are you going to go to war with the eleven nations?"

Kang Guangxu, who was always gentle and polite, finally showed his iron-blooded and tough side:
"We can't win by fighting, but we must be determined to fight to the death. First, send the fleet to Jakarta and cut off the trade routes. The foreigners have come from afar and we can't afford to waste time. Let them know that Da Qi will never abandon any of its citizens, but it will not easily let go of any enemy. Tell them that if they want Da Qi to pay back the money, they should stop hindering the Mino Guard from doing things in Europe."

(End of this chapter)