The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 492 Recovering the Two Capitals
Hebei was really not poor during the Qing Dynasty, at least during the reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong.

When Mo Zibu was escorted by an army of 30,000, he headed north along the Wei River. The scene he saw was completely different from what he saw in Henan.

The Qing government still put a lot of effort into managing this prime location that protected the capital.

The entire Hebei (Zhili) province has complete water conservancy facilities, and there are no large landowners in the countryside who own tens of thousands of acres of land like those in other provinces.

Of course, unlike other provinces, the entire Zhili exudes a sense of yin being dominant and yang being weak, which is strangely mixed with the various branches of the White Lotus Sect that recite the Blood Lake Sutra everywhere, forming a special gloomy temperament.

When Mo Zibu led his army to Cangzhou, not only all the officials from Cangzhou prefecture came, but also Liu Yong and Liu Luoguo, who had been hiding in Cangzhou, ran out.

Like Ji Yun and Ji Xiaolan, Liu Yong Liu Luoguo is also a figure in history whose image has been continuously reinforced by various folk legends.

Ji Yun was indeed talented in literature, able to absorb the strengths of many schools of thought and form his own opinions, but he was by no means a capable minister in governing the country, and he did not have that much face in front of Emperor Qianlong. He could do without relying on Heshen, but he did not dare to play tricks on Heshen.

Like Liu Yong, his main achievement was not in literature, but in local governance.

Even though he had a father who was a Grand Secretary, Liu Yong's official career was not smooth sailing.

In the early days, he simply did not have the courage to confront Heshen. Only in the later period, when Heshen sided with the emperor to control Qianlong, did Liu Yong take action to save Jiaqing.

Mo Zibu looked around. Liu Yong was not a hunchback, but he was very tall, a typical Shandong man, a little taller than Mo Zibu, maybe about 1.87 meters.

With such height and being very thin, his back was a little hunched, which would probably be more obvious in another twenty years. This was probably why Jiaqing called him Liu Luoguo.

"I, Liu Yong, the humble servant, pay my respects to Your Majesty. I did not surrender to the royal army earlier, and have been working for the rebel Qing. This is a capital crime!"

Liu Yong was very direct. The moment he was summoned, he knelt down and began to apologize.

Mo Zibu knew very well why this guy wanted to apologize. It was not because he did not come to the king's army earlier, but because this old guy had something to hide.

Therefore, Mo Zibu chuckled and did not ask Liu Yong to stand up. Instead, he sat in his seat and asked leisurely, "When I was in Yingtian Prefecture, I said that officials who served the Qing Dynasty would not be held accountable. Why are you calling yourself a criminal here?"

When Liu Yong heard Mo Zibu's tone, he knew that the emperor understood why he claimed to be guilty, so he quickly stuck his head to the ground again.

"Your Majesty, when I was an official rebelling against the Qing Dynasty, I was forced to fabricate rumors in the Yizhulou Poetry Case to curry favor with Emperor Qianlong. This is indeed a serious crime."

Liu Yong had two characteristics as an official.

The first is that they are not willing to take responsibility, and often fail to strictly control their subordinate officials, preferring to turn a blind eye.

Historically, Emperor Qianlong disliked this fact of his and reprimanded him in person many times, but Liu Yong remained the same and did not change at all.

The second is that he liked to use his literary acumen to exaggerate literary inquisition cases in order to please Emperor Qianlong and gain merit.

There were at least two literary inquisitions in history. Although he was not the initiator, his role in promoting them was significant.

Mo Zibu always severely punished such people. Cai Jiashu, who was the first to report the Yizhulou Poetry Case, had his house confiscated and his entire family was exiled to Southeast Asia.

This is why Liu Yong did not even dare to return to his hometown in Zhucheng, Shandong, and ran to Cangzhou with his adopted son Liu Xizhi to apologize to Mo Zibu.

"Is it only the Yizhulou Poetry Case? What about the Matamada Case?" Mo Zibu shouted loudly. The Matamada Case was the same as the Yizhulou Poetry Case. Liu Yong was guilty of adding fuel to the fire and expanding the case.

When Liu Yong heard that the emperor knew about the Ma Ma case, he knew that the Jinyiwei had already investigated him thoroughly. He immediately kowtowed on the ground and said in a mournful voice:
"Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty is not like Dayu. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, he was fond of launching a literary inquisition. The criminals were often at the emperor's side and were famous for their literary talent. If a case was handed to him, if he did not carefully capture every word, he would be dead if he was found to have any problems by later generations.

If I were born in Dayu, I would never do such a despicable thing. I beg Your Majesty to have mercy on me. I am willing to make meritorious contributions while serving my sentence."

This statement does have some truth to it. When the Qing Dynasty was involved in literary inquisitions, not only the Han ministers but also the Banner ministers were terrified.

Therefore, it is not surprising that when Liu Yong encountered such a thing, he often chose to carefully consider every word or even make groundless assumptions.

"Apology for meritorious service?" Mo Zibu sneered, "Does Dayu really need you, Liu Yong, to make meritorious service for your crimes now?"

Although Mo Zibu was sneering, it sounded like heavenly music to Liu Yong's ears. He came here today with some preparation, and he also had a close relationship with the emperor.

In the past, when the emperor was still the King of Hexian in Nanyang, his father Liu Tongxun used his influence among Han officials to make things easier for Hexian.

Even when he took office as the prefect of Jiangning, he specially approved several ships of fine iron that was extremely popular in Southeast Asia and usually not exported to Hexian, which was considered a bit of a credit.

"Your Majesty, although Dayu has completely defeated the rebel Qing and is about to recover its territory, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Shanxi have not yet been recovered.

In my earlier years, I served as the prefect of Taiyuan and am familiar with the area of Shanxi. Therefore, with just a single order from Your Majesty, I can take over Shanxi for Dayu without sending a single soldier.

Moreover, the Shanxi merchants are very wealthy, and most of the silver and money in the north are in their hands. If Your Majesty wants to circulate silver dollars throughout the country, he will definitely need the cooperation of these people.

The criminals were willing to use reason and profit to persuade them to hand over their silver in exchange for silver dollars.

In fact, Mo Zibu didn't want to kill Liu Yong, but when he heard Liu Yong's words, he felt something in his heart. It would be better to take Shanxi easily than to resort to war again.

At that moment, Mo Zibu looked at Liu Yong and said in a low voice, "In the late Ming Dynasty, the Shanxi merchants colluded with the Qing Dynasty, sold out their country for personal gain, and were even granted the title of Eight Imperial Merchants by the Qing Dynasty. Will they surrender obediently?"

Liu Yong didn't answer immediately, but pondered the matter carefully. The emperor, over a hundred years later, was mentioning the eight great imperial merchants, whose descendants had long since fallen on hard times or even vanished. Naturally, he wasn't worried they wouldn't submit. "I understand. Upon arrival in Shanxi, I will conduct a thorough investigation and will not let any of these traitors off the hook. All the ill-gotten gains they once made by selling out the Ming Dynasty will be fully recovered."

Mo Zibu nodded and said, "I will dispatch 5,000 soldiers to accompany you into Jin. Those who only buy land at home to become rich and do no good to the country must be thoroughly investigated and identified.

Those who are capable of going abroad and controlling the trade routes south and north of the desert must be won over. Do you understand?"

It's so obvious, how could he not understand? The emperor wants him to severely punish the Shanxi merchants, but only those whose ancestors were involved with the Eight Imperial Merchants and who are now local rich people in Shanxi by collecting rent.

"Sinners understand and must live up to the Holy Grace!"

Hearing Liu Yong's statement, Mo Zibu laughed in his heart. If he did it well, his sins would be wiped out. If he did not do it well, then both the old and new accounts would be settled together.

Of course, Mo Zibu felt that Liu Yong could basically get it done. After all, in the history of the Qing Dynasty, he was considered a capable minister.

After making arrangements with Liu Yong, Mo Zibu only had to wait for half a day before someone arrived from Beijing.

Among those who came was the jubilant Ji Dayanpai and Cai Qian, who had been prepared to die in Beijing but was lucky enough to survive until now.

It turned out that after the navy's Tanka No. 2 landed at Dagukou, Tianjin, they encountered basically no resistance, and the only battle took place at the Dagukou Fort.

The Dayu Marines first landed in small boats and attacked the fort from above. The hundreds of Eight Banners soldiers guarding the fort held out for half a day, but after more than a hundred were killed or wounded, the rest all surrendered.

Afterwards, Tanka Er marched all the way to Beijing, only to find that the bannermen in Beijing had already started fighting among themselves.

A large number of Kharchin Mongolian cavalrymen under Yongrong looted the inner and outer cities of Beijing except the Forbidden City, and set several fires. The Three Hills and Five Gardens in the suburbs of Beijing also suffered varying degrees of damage.

More than 70,000 bannermen in Beijing were killed in this riot.

Haha, Beijing was recovered, and none of the bannermen died at the hands of the Xing Tang Army. They were killed by the Kharchin Mongols who couldn't stop after they started looting.

This was truly a punishment from heaven, even Mo Zibu found it unbelievable.

June 1781, 6. May 2, the th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, the sixth year of the Guangzhong reign of the Great Yu Dynasty.

Mo Zibu arrived in Beijing under the escort of 40,000 troops by land and sea.

Mo Zibu entered the city from the Chaoyang Gate in the east and saw that the city was in ruins, with corpses of bannermen lying on the ground and houses burned down by the rebels everywhere.

Of course, at this time, the ground was also full of Manchu men and women kneeling. They did not dare to speak loudly, let alone raise their heads. They just kept their foreheads on the ground in extreme silence, like a group of silent animals.

The one kneeling in front of these people was the fifteenth son of Emperor Qianlong, Emperor Jiaqing in history, and the other was Heshen He, who made great contributions this time.

"The criminal Renshen respectfully welcomes His Majesty the Great Emperor of Dayu. Please enter the Forbidden City. Chieftain Hongli is also here, awaiting the Emperor's orders."

After hearing what Heshen said, Mo Zibu realized that the skinny figure shivering and trying desperately to get up on the wooden board next to Jiaqing Yongyan was actually the famous Emperor Qianlong.

Qianlong was trembling all over. He babbled a few times with his mouth crooked and his eyes squinting. He raised his right hand with great effort to point at Mo Zibu, but he couldn't raise his hand completely.

After trying several times and finding that he couldn't even point at anyone, Qianlong's chest heaved violently.

From his perspective, he was being looked down upon by Mo Zibu, with a look of infinite mockery in his eyes.

Qianlong lived a glorious life, but before he was ready for old age, he suddenly lost everything. This feeling made him feel extremely humiliated.

Mo Zibu naturally knew Qianlong's temper, so he didn't say anything, but just looked at Qianlong with a half-smirk, as if he was teasing a dog.

Qianlong could not move his whole body and could not speak. Under the intense stimulation, he let out a few wailing sounds and tears of humiliation flowed down his face uncontrollably.

"Hahahahahaha!" Mo Zibu felt extremely happy when he saw this.

Qianlong, what a proud man he was. I'm afraid that his current situation would make him ten thousand times more uncomfortable than killing him.

"Hongli, I will definitely let you live. I will let you live to be a hundred years old, so that you can see that the Tungus barbarians cannot rule over such a beautiful land. Only a wise leader like me can do it!"

"Ah!" Qianlong was so angry that he let out a shrill scream, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted from anger.

"Ahahahahaha!" All the soldiers who followed Mo Zibu laughed loudly at the same time. The sound waves spread in all directions of Beijing City.

"Dong! Dong! Dong!" It was exactly noon, and the bells of major temples in Beijing rang at the same time, as if in response.

Mo Zibu stood on his emperor's six-chariot, wearing the Han emperor's crown and robes, holding an eight-sided Han sword, with the blade pointing at the unconscious Qianlong and the trembling Jiaqing kneeling on the ground.

"To the previous emperors of the Ming Dynasty, to the unyielding heroes since the Jiashen Incident, I, Mo Zhao, will today recover the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty, expel the Tartar invaders, and restore our homeland.

Prince Li Jin, Lord Guoxing, Grandfather, you can rest in peace now!"

　My mood is still a little affected today. I have a hard time typing. There are still some places that need to be revised. I am one chapter short. I will try to catch up on the weekend.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)