The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 389: Misty Rain in Jiangnan
In the misty rain, there is a small bridge and flowing water, and clusters of crimson and purple bayberries are hidden among the green leaves wet by the misty drizzle.

It is the end of the plum rain season. The south of the Yangtze River in July is less damp and more hot.

In the Hedong residence of the Qian family in Wangxianqiao, Jiading County, Taicang Prefecture, Jiangsu Province, a Confucian scholar in his forties or fifties was holding a book, looking at the north for a long time in silence, as if he wanted his gaze to penetrate the rain curtain.

Since this is Qian’s house, this person is most likely surnamed Qian.

From Hangzhou in Zhejiang to Suzhou in Jiangsu, this place known as "Suzhou and Hangzhou in Heaven" has been home to countless elegant families since the Han people migrated south.

But even among these countless families of poetry, etiquette and nobility, the Qian family of Jiangnan is still the most dazzling one.

The Qian family has always claimed to have two branches. One branch claims to be from the royal family of Yue State during the Warring States Period, and the other branch basically claims to be descendants of the famous King Qian Liu of Wuyue.

By this time, after hundreds of years of unifying clans, continuing genealogies, and recognizing family lines, the Qian family in the Wu Yue region basically only had these two ancestors left.

For example, Qian Daxin's family, who was leaning against the door and looking out, was like this.

Their ancestral home is Changshu, Suzhou, and they did not specifically claim to be descendants of King Qian Liu of Wuyue. However, after Qian Daxin became famous all over the world, the Qian family in Hangzhou came knocking on their door.

As a result, Qian Daxin's entire family immediately became the legitimate descendants of King Qian Liu of Wuyue.

Qian Daxin was born in the sixth year of Yongzheng's reign (1728), and became a Jinshi in the nineteenth year of Qianlong's reign (1754). After his father passed away in the fortieth year of Qianlong's reign (1775), he returned to his hometown to mourn.

Historically, Qian Daxin did not return to officialdom after his return, but instead traveled to various places to give lectures. In his later years, his academic achievements were so great that he had more than 2,000 disciples, and countless of them became ministers, attendants, and made great achievements.

He was the most outstanding writer, historian and linguist in the Qing Dynasty. He made great contributions to the reconstruction of ancient languages by later generations and was even called the number one historian in Qing Dynasty by Mr. Chen Yinke.

Therefore, even in the Jiangnan region where there are countless literary figures, Qian Daxin is the one who stands at the top.

Soon, the drizzling plum rain became much lighter. In the distance, a scholar in his thirties came quickly with an oil umbrella. His eyes and eyebrows were quite similar to Qian Daxin.

But he is not Qian Daxin's son, but Qian Daxin's younger brother Qian Dazhao.

Seeing his brother's long-awaited yet evasive eyes, Qian Dazhao couldn't bear to go forward for a moment.

Qian Daxin saw his younger brother's hesitation, closed the book in his hand, and finally returned to the study and found a chair to sit on.

"If it's a blessing, it won't cause trouble. If it's a disaster, it can't be avoided." Qian Daxin muttered to himself for a few seconds, then asked:

"You traveled to the north and must have met President Ji Yunji. I heard that he was preserving a rare copy of an ancient book for someone. I wonder how the progress is going?"

When Qian Daxin was an official in the capital, he had a very good relationship with Ji Yun and Ji Xiaolan. The two of them edited the "Rehe Chronicle" together and were called "Southern Qian and Northern Ji" by people at that time.

His younger brother Qian Dazhao nodded and said, "President Ji didn't hide it from me. The man from the south did ask him to do so. It was Master Cai Xincai who told him personally."

Qian Daxin smiled and nodded in agreement, "After all, he is the emperor of the Han Dynasty. He knows what is most precious. Even in this small corner of Lingnan, he has already cared about the whole thing."

Qian Dazhao also whispered: "I was in the capital and heard another piece of news.

It is said that after the disastrous defeat at Beihe, even the yellow and red belt members of the royal family were beheaded, and only the bodies of Agui and a few generals were sent back intact.

It was the one from the south who sent them to Dengzhou on a large ocean ship, saying that this was a special favor from him because he appreciated Agui and the others’ service in defending the Western Regions.”

"Haha, what a brilliant move!" Qian Daxin clapped his hands and laughed again. "This way, even if the court slanders Mo Guangzhong a thousand times, once Ah Gui's body arrives in the capital, everyone will see Mo Guangzhong's broad-minded character."

Qian Dazhao was quite speechless. He smiled and said to his brother, "Since I returned home, you have only asked me a few questions, but you have already praised me generously. In the past thirty years, I have never seen you praise anyone else like this."

"This man is an anomaly!" Qian Daxin put away his smile and sighed meaningfully. "I've studied his life in detail, but I still don't understand how he rose to such a high position in just twelve years."

Qian Dazhao followed his elder brother since childhood and was good at studying history. He scratched his head and said, "Emperor Taizu of Han conquered the world in seven years, and Emperor Guangwu revived the Han Dynasty in six years.

The Li family of Emperor Taizong of Tang wiped out the heroes of the late Sui Dynasty in just eleven years, and it took only thirteen years for Emperor Hongwu to overthrow the Mongols and restore the Han Dynasty.

However, since Mo Guangzhong started the rebellion, he was unable to conquer Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian in the twelve years. He also did not know how to lie low and hastily proclaimed himself emperor after taking Guangzhou.

Do you think he can be considered an emperor like the Han and Tang dynasties, who appear only once every five hundred years?"

"You!" Qian Daxin nodded at Qian Dazhao with his right index finger, "You, the historian, are not good enough at treating the disease!

During the reign of Emperor Gaozu of Han, the world had suffered from Qin for a long time, and it was not he who defeated the main force of the Qin army, but he borrowed the power of the King of Chu.

During the reign of Emperor Guangwu, Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty and acted recklessly, putting the people in dire straits. The dragon spirit was long gone.

When Li Tang conquered Guanzhong, Emperor Yang of Sui had already conquered Goryeo three times and opened the Grand Canal. The whole country was in turmoil and war was raging everywhere.

During the Yuan Dynasty, the Tartar emperors were cruel and ruthless, and the Han patriots never stopped resisting.

But look at today. Although Qianlong was a bannerman, we have to admit that the world is at peace and the livelihood of ordinary people can still be maintained. The court has tens of thousands of elite soldiers and is far from corrupt.

In such a prosperous era, there have been very few successful rebellions, let alone those that became major ones.

On the contrary, Mo Guangzhong has spent twelve years single-handedly stirring up the world, and now, there are even signs of a change of dynasty. To have achieved so much in twelve years is already extremely impressive. Moreover, I think he hastily proclaimed himself emperor just to paralyze those of you who are not fully aware.

Qian Daxin stood up and took two steps to the left and right as he spoke. "Also, I was observing the celestial phenomena at night and discovered that at some point, the Emperor Star in the Purple Palace shone brilliantly, while the other Heavenly Pillars, the Six Jias, etc., all disappeared.

Even the Empress, Consorts, Crown Prince, and Concubine's sons, who originally surrounded the Emperor's star, were dimmed. This celestial phenomenon was a complete reversal of normal times, as if the world was turning upside down and chaos was shattered."

Qian Dazhao didn't really believe in this stuff, he just studied it as a hobby. When he heard his brother say this, his face suddenly changed. "It sounds like someone is going against fate?"

Qian Daxin whispered, "To be precise, this is called going against the will of Heaven! And it's not just one person, but many people who are going against the will of Heaven."

Qian Dazhao was stunned. After a long while, he said quietly, "There's something I didn't want to tell you, brother. Thinking about it today, I feel cold all over. If someone really went against the will of heaven, I'm afraid the evidence has been confirmed on another person."

Qian Daxin sat back in his chair and said, "If you say so, then something must have happened to Yu Taibao."

Qian Dazhao nodded. "Taibao Yu died of illness in the capital two months ago. The emperor ordered that Taibao Yu work tirelessly for state affairs, setting an example for others. Therefore, he is specially allowed to be buried in the capital and does not need to be brought back south!"

Yu Taibao is Yu Minzhong. He was from Jintan County, Zhenjiang Prefecture, very close to the Qian family's ancestral home. The two sides were considered fellow villagers and had very close contacts.

Qian Daxin didn't expect that Yu Minzhong had already passed away. Moreover, there were not many rumors among the scholars in Jiangnan about the death of such an important official. Qian Daxin's heart sank to the bottom of the valley.

A bad premonition began to grow stronger and stronger, and he couldn't help but mutter: "How could this happen? How could this happen?"

Qian Dazhao knew that his brother had close contacts with Yu Minzhong, and he felt sorry for it, but he still said it out loud.

"Not only did Yu Taibao pass away, but his nephew Yu Shihe, who had always served him by his side, also seemed to have disappeared."

As he spoke, Qian Dazhao took out a wrinkled white silk cloth and handed it to Qian Daxin, "This was given to me by President Ji. He said it was a letter that Mrs. Yu kept for her brother."

Qian Daxin tried hard to stop his hands from shaking, then opened it carefully. After looking at it for less than a minute, he screamed and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Brother Shuzi, your death was so worthless, your death was so unjust!"

Qian Dazhao hurried over to support his brother, only to see Qian Daxin's face pale as gold paper, blood flowing onto his chest, and tears rolling down his face.

"It was Emperor Qianlong who killed him. Emperor Qianlong poisoned his uncle and brother. It's a pity that he served the Tartars for thirty years, working so hard but ended up like this.

"Old Qianlong killed my uncle's family just for three million taels of silver. How cruel, how cruel!"

After hearing this, Qian Dazhao was so frightened that he sat down on the ground. "It turns out that Yu Taibao already knew his own fate in advance. He has been in the central government for a long time and has long seen through Qianlong's true face."

The two brothers were furious and felt a sudden sense of grief. Before they could stand up, Qian Dongbi, the son of Qian Daxin, ran in in panic.

He saw his father and uncle rolling on the ground with blood all around them. He was so scared that he screamed and rushed over to check.

Qian Daxin pushed him, and the two brothers quickly stood up. Qian Daxin ignored the blood on his chest and shouted in a low voice: "What happened? Why are you so flustered?"

Qian Dongbi quickly replied, "I just received news that the Governor-General Fu Biao arrived in Dongtai and Changzhou five days ago and took away Xu Shukui's entire family and Grand Tutor Shen's family of over thirty people. Dongtai County Magistrate Tu Yuelong was even directly locked up."

Qian Daxin was stunned for a moment, then suddenly began to pant violently. "The Tartars are about to start another poetry case. This time they're after our Jiangnan region's money and grain."

The poetry case that Qian Daxin mentioned is the famous Yizhulou poetry case in history.

In his published Yizhulou poems, Xu Shukui quoted the works of Lu Liuliang, which were banned by the Qing court. After being exposed, it became a major case of literary inquisition.

"What on earth was Qianlong thinking? Didn't he want Jiangnan anymore? How dare he bring up the poetry case at this time?"

Qian Dazhao was shocked and angry. In his opinion, what the court should do now is to stabilize Jiangnan and rely on the gentry of Jiangnan to resist Mo Guangzhong in the south!

How can we continue to stir up the poetry case? Isn't this pushing people towards Mo Guangzhong?
Qian Daxin opened his bloody mouth and laughed silently, "Who told us Wu people to always give people the impression of being weak?

Qianlong is trying to seize the wealth of Jiangnan before Mo Guangzhong launches his Northern Expedition, so that he can raise elite troops elsewhere!"

Qian Dazhao was speechless. Thinking back to a few months ago, when Heshen came down from the capital and used deception and intimidation to get millions of taels of silver from the salt merchants in Yangzhou, and when the Governor-General of Liangjiang, Gao Jin, was frantically demanding money and grain from Liangjiang, he began to believe what his brother said.

"There is no other way now. It seems that the Tartars do not intend to treat us Wu people as human beings.

Brother, you have been back for a short time and have not attracted much attention. Leave immediately and go to the villa in the west of the city.

There are two people in the other courtyard who came from Wenzhou Prefecture. They are Mr. Xinghuo's followers. Find them and go to Quanzhou overnight."

After hearing this, Qian Dazhao looked at his brother Qian Daxin in shock. He swallowed hard, not expecting that his brother had already had contact with Mo Guangzhong's people.

"Go quickly. Others may have no place in the new dynasty, but our Qian family still has one." Qian Daxin made up his mind, and a somewhat terrifying smile bloomed on his blood-stained face.

"Because our Qian family is well versed in textual research, inheriting the legacy of Gu Tinglin. Mo Guangzhong wants to restore Han Chinese clothing and etiquette, and we are absolutely indispensable."

(End of this chapter)