The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 367 Qianlong's Cruelty and the Greening of Northwest China
In the capital, at the Qingyi Garden, the predecessor of the Summer Palace, the 66-year-old Emperor Qianlong had not slept much for several nights.

He took the battle reports of Fukang'an and Hailancha and read them over and over again, feeling as if he had had a horrible nightmare.

Qianlong wanted to take a nap, and then wake up to find that the nightmare was over and Mo Wu had been pacified long ago. He even wished that he had not sent troops to attack Mo Zibu.

But his eyes, unable to close, told him that all this was true.

But three months ago, Agui sent back a battle report, and Qianlong even replied in person, saying that Agui had responded appropriately and that once the navy controlled the mouth of the Baiteng River, Mo Wu would be exhausted to death.

But then the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. Qianlong looked at it carefully again. First, the navy was defeated, then Fu Kang'an was five times larger than the enemy but could not break through the blockade, and finally the main force fought a decisive battle, and more than 5,000 people were killed in two hours.

Such terrifyingly rapid casualties showed one thing: Mo Wu had really trained the army that Jiang Youren had told him about.

That is, the army is fully equipped with a large number of Western muskets and artillery, and the gunners have all undergone systematic training. The navy is mainly composed of Western soft-sailed ships, and the officers, soldiers and even sailors are all elite Western soldiers.

Qianlong sighed, drove out all the palace maids and eunuchs serving him, and then struggled to dig out a huge box from a very hidden corner.

The box was covered with dust, and the cinnabar on the seal of the 32nd year of the Qianlong reign that he had personally affixed ten years ago had turned a corrupted black-red.

Qianlong found a long rectangular box from a pile of boxes of different sizes, which he had specially marked. This was where his important seals were kept, and they were not allowed to be touched casually.

However, the long rectangular box that Qianlong took out did not contain a seal, but a purple-red copper key, which was used to open the lock of the large box sealed with cinnabar.

"Your Majesty, the technology of the East has been falling behind for a hundred years. Without proper competition, the vitality of this land has been lost.

Your era may not require you to feel the challenges from Europe, because the Qing Dynasty is still a powerful country that all European countries respect.

However, your descendants will undoubtedly face this worry, so I suggest you consider introducing some more advanced European military technology and sending your princes and nobles to Europe to learn. This will require maintaining at least a 30,000-man army fully armed with firearms."

Jiang Youren's words were as if they were ringing in his ears, but Qianlong reprimanded him severely at that time.

Because in order to maintain so many new-style armies, not only do we need to call back all the Han troops who have left the flag, but we may also need to raise a group of people.

This was something Qianlong did not want to see, and it was something the Qing government could not afford. If Jiang Youren were a Han official, he would have probably lost his head.

. . . .

Inside the opened large box were dozens of lifelike models.

There are soldiers wearing Western uniforms holding flintlock rifles, artillerymen dragging new cannons, and a huge and precise map on which all the European countries are now drawn.

Above the map was a thick stack of secret information compiled by the Sticky Rod Department, including the kinship relationships of various European royal families.

On one of the documents that was repeatedly flipped through, it was written in red letters: "Your Highness, the Minister of the Reserve Office, advises that a hundred years from now, the one who will destroy the territory of the Qing Dynasty will not be England or France, but Russia. There are three reasons for this."

In addition, the most common are various sailboat models.

The largest warship was densely packed with cannons on both sides. Qianlong counted them again in a low voice. There were a total of 108 cannons. Obviously, this was a powerful first-class sailing battleship.

Seeing the models presented by Jiang Youren and thinking of his words, Qianlong couldn't help but sigh.

He didn't expect that Jiang Youren's prediction was already very optimistic. Only ten years later, the troubles for the Westerners had not yet arrived, but the troubles for the Han people had arrived.

"As a small tribe facing a big country, we will die if we reform, and we will also die if we don't reform. Is our fate as Manchus to wander in the bitter cold forests of the Northeast?" Qianlong murmured, and in an instant he seemed to have aged more than ten years.

"Your Majesty, the Qing dynasty rests on your shoulders alone. Even if something terrible happens, you must not harm yourself!
We, your servants, are also counting on you, Your Majesty, to be our guiding light. Woo woo woo woo, if your dragon body is damaged, what will we, your servants, do?

This ginseng soup, carefully prepared by the imperial kitchen, has been thrown away three times. Your Majesty, please have mercy and drink a little."

There was a sobbing sound coming from outside the door. Apart from Heshen and the Lord, there was no one else who could approach the Qingyi Garden at this time and dare to say such disgusting things.

After hearing Heshen's words, Qianlong felt much better. This performance was really embarrassing and corny to outsiders, but Qianlong felt that Heshen was expressing his true feelings and he enjoyed it very much.

Because everyone around Qianlong has been performing like this for the past few decades, he has become accustomed to it and has no idea what the real world is like.

After reluctantly drinking a sip of the ginseng soup to give Heshen face, Qianlong showed Heshen the battle reports sent by Hailancha from Kunming and Fukangan from Guangdong.

"It has spread outside, right?" Qianlong asked in a low voice.

He Shen didn't read the battle report, but nodded slowly, "There are indeed rumors, and many of them are very detailed."

"Humph! This is what Han ministers are like. They usually look more loyal than anyone else, but once something goes wrong, they are quicker than anyone else to take advantage of the situation." Qianlong snorted coldly and said:
"Zhizhai, read this quickly and then immediately go to Jiangnan. Have the Governor-General of Liangjiang, Gao Jin, allocate at least two million dan of grain to be transported to the capital.

I will appoint you as Minister of Military Affairs and Governor-General of the Grand Canal, and send you to Yangzhou as an imperial envoy to extort at least five million taels of silver from those salt thieves."

He Shen was trembling all over, not because he was happy about his sudden promotion, but because he found the reality of the situation was much more terrifying than he had imagined. He had originally thought it would be just a battle at Hetongbo, but it turned out to be Sarhu, no, it was almost the Battle of Songshan.

"This journey to Jiangnan is a difficult one. Zhizhai, you must gather as much supplies as possible and ship them to the north before the Han people in Jiangnan react. Otherwise, even if we, the bannermen, want to retreat outside the Great Wall, it will be a dream."

Qianlong was very clear-headed at this time and he would not consult with anyone because he knew how unreliable the officials under him, especially the Han officials, were. No matter how they discussed things, they were not as reliable as he was in making decisions on his own.

After sending Heshen to the south of the Yangtze River immediately, Qianlong ordered someone to call his eighth son Yongxuan over.

"My son, we bannermen are in big trouble!" Qianlong said and showed the battle report to Yongxuan again.

After reading it, Yongxuan's forehead was covered with cold sweat. He was completely terrified and it took him a long time to come back to his senses.

"Old Eight, I will choose an auspicious day in a few days to promote you to the title of Prince of Duoruoyi and order you to go to Shaanxi and Gansu."

Qianlong looked at Yongxuan. In fact, he didn't like this eighth son very much. Firstly, Yongxuan's mother died early, and secondly, he was Korean.

There is still a chain of contempt within the Manchu Bannermen. Although some Koreans are also Bannermen, or even from the Eight Banners of the Manchu, they are often regarded as inferior in status.

Yongxuan's mother died early and was Korean, and he also had leg problems, so he was not liked by Emperor Qianlong.

But at this time, the sixth prince Yongrong had already been adopted, the eleventh prince Yongyan was not even good at riding and shooting, and the sixteenth prince, the future Emperor Jiaqing, was only sixteen years old and not capable of taking on important tasks, so they had to use the relatively capable Yongxuan.

"Do you know why I asked you to go to Shaanxi and Gansu?" Qianlong asked in a deep voice.

Yongxuan had some ability, but not much. After thinking for a while, he could only shake his head blankly, "I really don't know. Please tell me clearly, Father."

"I have already decided that if necessary, you will establish a residence in Shaanxi and Gansu. Your mother passed away early. Are you willing to accept Concubine Rong as your mother?"

Qianlong said slowly, if you still don’t understand after hearing this, then it’s time to send someone else to Shaanxi.

Yongxuan's eyes suddenly widened. "Father, why is it so? Why is it so?"

Rong Fei, also known as the Fragrant Concubine who was blindly praised by some bannermen in history, was the ex-wife of the young Hezhuom Huozhanji, and her original name was Fatima.

Qianlong asked Yongxuan to set up a government office in Shaanxi and Gansu when necessary, and also asked Yongxuan to worship Rongfei as his mother, in order to borrow the power of the Hui people.

At this time, the northwest where Shaanxi and Gansu are located has basically been completely greened, and it was much more ferocious than in later generations. In later generations, it was already after the Tongzhi Hui Rebellion, Zuo Wenxianggong and Wang Huzi had dealt with it three times with great force.

At this point, it can be said that even Xi'an is in danger of large-scale greening. Well, the soil and water conservation is quite good.

It can even be said further that the only ones who can compete with the Han people who are about to be organized by Mo Zibu in terms of numbers and combat effectiveness are those who are still regarded as Han people but believe in Tianfang Christianity.

Therefore, Emperor Qianlong asked the eighth prince Yongxuan to go to Shaanxi and Gansu and worship Fatima, a girl from the Baishan sect, as his mother. He wanted to use the Muslims in the northwest to fight against Mo Zibu.

When Qianlong heard Yongxuan say "Why has it come to this?", he finally showed a look of relief.

"Firearms and cannons are truly the most vicious inventions in the world. They can easily destroy the invincible cavalry and archery power of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty.

We only have so few people, and we can't afford to lose them. The only way to save our country is to let the Han people kill each other."

"I understand. When we go to Shaanxi and Gansu, we must make use of the religious Han people, make them our confidants, and organize them to fight a bloody battle with Mo Wu's southern barbarians."

Yongxuan said tremblingly that he had a pretty good mental state. He was not frightened to the point of losing his mind after hearing such horrific news suddenly.

Qianlong then spent another half hour carefully explaining the specific matters, and also called Lebao, the son of Wen Fu who died in the battles of Jinchuan and Dajinchuan, and the Kulun official who had just arrived in the capital to take up his post, and ordered him to assist Yongxuan.

After preparing to confer the title of Prince Duoloyi on Yongxuan in a few days, he was sent to Shaanxi and Gansu to take charge.

After doing all this, Qianlong personally wrote a letter to Hailancha in Kunming, ordering him to replace Tuside, who died in battle, as the Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou, and to guard Yunnan and Guizhou.

He also wrote a secret letter to Fu Kang'an in Guangzhou, ordering him not to attempt resistance if there was any change in Fujian and Guangdong, but to immediately retreat with the remaining troops and Han officials and generals who were still loyal to the Qing Dynasty to Shaozhou, Nanxiong and other places, relying on the natural barrier of Nanling Mountains to prevent Mo Zibu from entering Hunan and Jiangxi.

Three days later, after Emperor Qianlong conferred the title of Prince Duoloyi on Yongxuan, he summoned all the Jesuit priests in Beijing.

Except for Suo Dechao who could train gunners, Qian Deming, Pan Tingzhang and others were required to stay in the capital. They immediately went to Europe to persuade Louis XVI, George III and others to give up supporting Mo Zibu.

However, Qianlong never dreamed that although he had done his best, the Society of Jesus had long been banned by Pope Clement XIV, and the Jesuit priests in the East did not dare to tell him.

　There is another chapter to be completed in the evening, but it will be later, as I will not be back from a business trip until 3:30 in the afternoon.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)