The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 352 Is there really anyone willing to be a dog?
A flame the size of a soybean was slowly jumping in the dim oil lamp, and the dim light could barely illuminate this fairly spacious house.

Zhao Bantou of Nanhai County walked into the house with heavy steps. He threw away the knife in his hand with a clang, sat down on the chair while panting, picked up the teapot and drank it all in one gulp.

When his wife saw him come back, she quickly flicked the oil lamp twice to make the room brighter, and then brought over a few plates of side dishes and a pot of fresh meat porridge that had been warm on the fire.

"Master, you should take some rest. There is no end to the official work. No one will care if you get exhausted. Your body is your own." Seeing how exhausted he was, his wife persuaded him cautiously.

"What do you know about a woman like you? You have long hair but little knowledge. You don't treat the government's affairs as your own. Does this position of police chief have to be yours?

Do you know how many people are eyeing this position? If you don't take it, there will be plenty of people vying for it!"

Captain Zhao yelled and cursed, and it seemed that he was really angry. He was not an easy person to talk to at home.

Sure enough, when the wife heard her husband getting angry, she shrank back and looked a little scared.

But she was still worried, so she mustered up the courage to advise him, "I've heard that the people from the Heaven and Earth Society are very vicious. If anyone works for the Tartars, they will come and kill us."

Captain Zhao was already in a depressed mood. Over the past year or so, Nanhai County had been in trouble. First, the county magistrate was beaten to death by rioters at the door, and before the case was closed, the two captains were directly exiled to the front line of Jinchuan.

And now, the Governor of Guangdong, the governor of a province, and a member of the upper three banners, has died. God knows how much trouble this will cause. The Emperor in the capital will be furious, and countless people will lose their heads.

Of course, Captain Zhao was so concerned because he was the beneficiary of the last murder of the county magistrate.

Without the two constables being exiled to Jinchuan, he would not be able to take the position he has today.

Therefore, in the entire Nanhai County Government, Captain Zhao was the one who was most dedicated to hunting down the rebels. When he heard his wife say this and call the imperial court Tartars, he was of course furious.

Captain Zhao threw the chopsticks on the table, causing the dishes to shake and the chopsticks to fly high, splashing the soup all over his wife's face.

"You damned bastard, stop listening to the gossip of the neighbors. If you dare to say 'Tartar' again, I will beat you to death.

Let me tell you, I'm a soldier, and those people in the Tiandihui are thieves. Since ancient times, soldiers have always caught thieves, and I've never seen thieves dare to catch soldiers. Since you eat the emperor's food, you have to work for the emperor!

‘Clang! ’

Just as Captain Zhao finished his righteous words, he heard the door suddenly kicked open, and a gust of cold wind mixed with a few fallen leaves blew in violently.

Captain Zhao looked around in surprise and suddenly saw three figures appear at the door. His first reaction was to grab a knife, but before he could reach out, he saw two muskets aimed at him.

"Captain Zhao, do you think you are a soldier?" The man among the three who did not hold a musket but a spear sneered.

"But why do I feel that you are a traitor who has betrayed your ancestors, accepted the enemy as your father, and is willing to serve the Tartars!"

"Friend, using muskets at night will attract the soldiers of the Governor's and the Pacification's. If you open fire, you won't be able to escape."

Captain Zhao broke out in a cold sweat, his mind racing to find any negligence of the visitor.

"That makes sense!" The man in the middle nodded, and the two people next to him immediately put down their muskets, and one of them took out a crossbow.

Captain Zhao immediately seized the opportunity, roared, and stood up the table with the dishes on it. At the same time, he quickly hid behind the table and drew the dagger from his waist with his left hand.

"Looking for death!" The burly man in the middle snorted coldly, and with a few leaps he actually came into the house. Then he exhaled and kicked hard.

Captain Zhao, who was holding the table with one hand, screamed and flew out along with the table.

Then the sturdy man performed a gun show, and the silver tip of the gun came like a meteor, instantly piercing a bloody hole in Captain Zhao's chest.

Captain Zhao felt as if he was about to die, and his face turned snow-white. However, he soon stopped feeling the severe pain in his chest, only a slight warmth.

Captain Zhao was overjoyed, thinking that the other party had not stabbed him. He was about to pounce on the other party, but suddenly he felt weak and dizzy. Then his body became extremely cold, and the severe pain in his chest began to radiate throughout his body. He could not stand and fell to the ground with a thud.

He was still shot, but the huge amount of adrenaline just now temporarily blocked all pain and powerlessness.

The burly man in the middle pulled out his gun, wiped the blood off the gun on Captain Zhao's body, looked at Captain Zhao twitching on the ground, and spat a mouthful of thick phlegm at him with disgust on his face.

"Soldier? You don't deserve to be one. I'm a soldier, and you're just a traitor and a lackey!"

Then he gave a nervous smile to the mother who was trembling in the corner holding her son and had to cover her mouth to prevent herself from screaming.

"Don't worry, sister-in-law. I don't kill women, and your Captain Zhao isn't so evil as to kill an entire family."

On the second day, the magistrate of Nanhai went to court to gather the staff of the yamen, but found that one-third of the people were missing.

The Dianshi came to him in shock and told him that a total of one captain of the police, four yamen runners, and more than a dozen fast-moving officers were killed in Nanhai County yesterday.

In addition to those who were groped and killed at night, there were actually two yamen runners who were shot in the head with muskets in public on their way home.

When the magistrate thought of what happened to the previous one, he was so frightened that he hid in the back hall and dared not come out to take charge of affairs.

The magistrate was terrified, and the yamen runners were even more frightened. Seeing the magistrate running back to the back hall, everyone hurriedly discussed the matter with the registrar.

In the end, it was decided that people still had to be arrested, but they couldn't really arrest members of the Tiandihui. Instead, they would arrest those underworld figures who were not members of the Tiandihui to make up the numbers.

My goodness, they had already completely withdrawn from the Kunlun Mountains around Guangzhou, but instead they encountered a strange scene of a huge explosion of attendees and a continued increase in their share.

Because the heroes who originally begged for food around Guangzhou found that if they entered Kunlun Mountain, they would be safe, but if they didn't enter, they would be arrested by the government, so they hurried to enter.

Well, originally the Tiandihui, headed by Kunlun Mountain, only accounted for 60% of the underground forces near Guangzhou. Later, the large-scale cleanup by government offices increased the proportion to 90%.

Some of them came to seek refuge temporarily, but more of them were people from the underworld who were arrested, the base number became smaller, and the market became empty.

. . . .

At Yuexiu Academy, Wen Rushi, a successful candidate, and others gathered secretly to study King Mo's three essays: "The Great King of Benevolence and Virtue Reviving the Tang Dynasty's Proclamation to the Northern River Army and People," "The Spread of Western Learning to the East: The Path of Reconstruction for Western Countries after the Collapse of the Roman Empire," and "The Debate on the Sino-Barbarian Relationship after the Fall of the Two Kingdoms." "Revitalize the orthodox teachings, restore the mountains and rivers, expand the land and distribute it equally, and achieve universal peace," Wen Rushi muttered softly, his skin crawling with goose bumps.

"This sixteen-character policy is no less effective than the Ming Taizu's previous plan to expel the barbarians, restore China, establish laws and disciplines, and help the people!"

"It seems a bit milder than what the Hongwu Emperor said, but it also seems to have the intention of revolutionizing the orthodox religion. Could it be that this King Mo not only wants to be Zhu Hongwu, but also wants to be the saint of our orthodox religion?"

"It's not impossible. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the emperor was also called a saint. Didn't King Mo say that after the Tang Dynasty, only the Ming Dynasty was a unified dynasty? If he has talent and knowledge, it's no problem for him to become a saint."

"This man's ambitions are truly great! I originally thought he was just a pirate leader who luckily became the King of Guangnan. I never expected that he was actually a hidden Zhu Hongwu."

"He's so patient! He's spent a full ten years building high walls and storing up food, and only now, after entering Jiaozhi, has he revealed his ambitions and taken the slow step of claiming the throne. The more I look at him, the more he looks like Zhu Hongwu."

"Could it be... could it be that our Han Chinese Zhu Hongwu has really appeared, and the Qing Dynasty is about to end?"

Someone asked this question with a frightened soul, and then the nine Guangdong scholars who were preparing for the Dingyou (1777) imperial examination in the room immediately fell silent.

Some of the timid ones began to tremble after the excitement of the heated discussion just now.

"Gentlemen, if the imperial court knew about this, what we just said would be enough to punish us with death!"

"Brother, don't worry. What we just said is only known to us. How can we execute someone without any evidence? Even if someone reports it, it won't be a problem.

Moreover, I can see clearly that if anyone reports the secret, the imperial court will only kill me, but the members of the Tiandihui will definitely kill the informer's entire family."

"Yes, yes, that's right! That's right." When the scholar who was obviously connected with the Tiandihui said this, the people in the room immediately looked happy and agreed with him.

"What a great ambition! But why does King Mo compare us to cynics? He's so contemptuous!"

"I think what you said is true. We have studied hard and worked so hard just to get a small official position awarded by the Qing Dynasty. Aren't we just like dogs trying to curry favor with their masters?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere fell silent again, and some people looked at Wen Rushi with displeasure.

"Brother Bu Rong, from what you said, you really want that King Xing Tang to become Zhu Hongwu."

Wen Rushi hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "That's not what I meant. I was simply referring to the current imperial examination system. It's really like a dog trying to curry favor with its master. It's no different."

The man was about to say something else, but the scholar who had just opened his mouth and ordered the Tiandihui to kill an entire family spoke again.

"Whether it's seeking favor or supporting someone, regardless of the debate between Chinese and foreigners, everything in this world ultimately comes down to profit.

The Bannermen, with a population of one million, account for more than 70% of the official hats in the world. If these people were not there, just like in the Ming Dynasty, we would have 70% more official hats. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

Just like the recently killed Governor Debao De, doesn’t everyone know what level he was at?

I dare say he had not even read the Four Books and Five Classics. If he were a Han Chinese, he would not even pass the examination for becoming a student. But just because he was a bannerman, he was able to easily ascend to the position of a provincial governor.

If you look at it this way, there's nothing wrong with the Han Chinese people all leaning towards King Mo. At least he doesn't have over a million bannermen who are doing nothing and are completely dependent on us Han people for support."

The room fell silent again, and someone asked, "Brother Zhang, aren't you afraid of others finding out?"

Brother Zhang chuckled, "In this world, the timid die of starvation and the bold die of gluttony. Even if something goes wrong, a good name can be recorded in history, just like the Three Loyal Lords of Lingnan."

I have nothing to fear. As long as King Mo is willing to come to Guangzhou, I will go and join him."

After hearing this, the candidates lost interest in talking and no one knew what they were thinking.

. . . .

In the office of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, the Governor-General Yonggui felt a dizziness in front of his eyes. It was too fucking horrifying. Since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, there has never been an incident where a provincial governor was killed in the street.

The trusted staff thought hard, and then said to Yonggui: "The matter cannot be concealed, so the governor should cut the Gordian knot.

If we wait until General Agui and the Minister of the Interior Fu Kang'an arrive, and someone takes advantage of our misfortune, we will be in danger."

This is what Yonggui was worried about. Now he is still the top leader of the two provinces and can control things within his own scope. If Agui, Fukang'an or Qianlong sent someone, he would be in danger.

"Then how can we cut the Gordian knot quickly?" Yonggui asked.

"A lot of bandits and pirates have been captured down there. They are the rebels. We will interrogate them thoroughly for the master and will definitely find out who is the leader who tried to assassinate Defutai.

On the other hand, please ask General Yang Ning to mobilize the Eight Banners stationed in Guangzhou to wipe out all the places in the city that are confirmed to be rebels.

We should try to close the case before General Agui and his men arrive, and as for the real culprit, we'll slowly catch him."

Yonggui understood that this was to use the captured gangsters as scapegoats, and then do some superficial work to make it look like Debao really died in an accidental assassination, and not something planned by Mo Wu.

This way, the case can be closed quickly and you can get yourself out of danger.

Yonggui suddenly realized that his predecessor, Li Shiyao, also used the same method.

Damn, there are so many unruly people in Guangdong Province.

It was just a thought, but Yonggui's body was honest. "Then will General Yang Ning of Guangzhou agree to help us?"

The staff laughed and said, "This is not helping us at all. Think about it, General Yang, the previous governor Li, and the Guangdong Customs Supervisor Li Wenzhao, they were all in cahoots and manipulated everything.

"Now that Supervisor Li Wenzhao has been imprisoned and taken to the capital in connection with the Gao Yuncong case, and Governor Li has been recalled by the court, it seems he's also in trouble. Now that only General Yang is left, he's probably eager for us to help him clean up his tracks."

Yonggui agreed and nodded immediately, "Go and make arrangements to resolve the problem as quickly and severely as possible."

(End of this chapter)