Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 175 The Birth of the Eldest Son
Soon after, the content of British newspapers began to turn into the significance of this expedition.

Newspapers began to fill with reports of new crusades being formed and expeditions launched to fight for God.

Moreover, the news is still spreading to France, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and other countries.

It is obvious that the UK is laying the groundwork for public opinion in order to drag France and other countries into the water.

At the same time, groups of diplomats also departed from London to Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Berlin, Vienna, Lisbon and other places.

Prepare to lobby all countries to send out their troops, form an alliance, and launch a joint expedition.

What the British did not expect was that just as they were sending diplomatic officials to organize a coalition force.

The Pope of the Vatican actually spoke out!
"The glory of the Lord will surely descend upon the East and cover the entire world. The heretic in the East should be wiped out. The guy who claims to be the Son of God is a demon and should be burned at the stake."

"God's people! Fight bravely for God!"

"Long live the Crusade!"

It is obvious that the reason the Pope spoke was not because he was targeting the Tang Dynasty, but the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The reason why he did this was very simple. The teachings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's God Worshipping Society were sent to the Vatican.

Then, the whole Vatican was angry!

Is this what you call believing in God?

This guy wants to be the father of their Holy See!
If it were normal times, the Vatican would probably have tolerated it.

After all, as the saying goes, how many teachers does God have?

But who can blame Britain for planning to organize a coalition and launch an expedition to the East?

In that case, the Pope wouldn't mind giving Britain a hand.

The Vatican still has a certain influence in Europe these days.

As for saying that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Tang Dynasty are not the same thing at all?

Let me put it this way, no one stipulated that the coalition forces could not attack the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom after destroying the Tang Dynasty, right?
Historically, the British and French powers decided to help the Qing Dynasty suppress the Taiping Rebellion because the Vatican played a big role in it.

Do you really think the Vatican is willing to recognize Hong Xiuquan?

Isn’t it because we can’t win the argument?

But in the eyes of the Vatican, if they can't win the argument, they might as well resort to violence.

It fits the tone of the old European gangster!
And soon after the Pope spoke, a wave of expedition to the East and spreading the glory of God began to blow across Europe.

Even Tsarist Russia, which was isolated by the whole of Europe, wanted to get involved and take advantage of it.

But it was directly rejected by the UK.

It's so funny. The British launched the expedition just to rehearse the Crimean War.

This was used to bring Austria, Prussia, the Kingdom of Sardinia and other countries onto British warships so that they could later go to war with Tsarist Russia in Crimea.

If Tsarist Russia also gets involved, what's the point of rehearsal?
Britain: See that fort in front? Think of it as a Russian fort. Charge at it!

France: Go!
Austria: Go!

Kingdom of Sardinia: Charge!
Tsarist Russia: ???
What does this sound like?

This has also caused the extremely tense situation in Crimea to cool down slightly.

Well, although the situation in Crimea is tense, there has been no real fighting.

There is still less than a year before the Crimean War broke out in history.

Most of the disputes between the parties are still at the verbal level.

Under the premise that Britain and France shift their attention to the East, it is actually normal for the situation in Crimea to cool down.

……

In early August of the first year of the Tang Dynasty's Zhaowu reign, only four months had passed since the Tang army began its Northern Expedition.

The entire Hunan province was brought under the rule of the Tang Dynasty.

Immediately afterwards, Li Yi personally announced in Changsha that the Hunan imperial examination was about to begin.

For this imperial examination, Li Yi once again lowered the difficulty of the exam and also increased the number of admission places in each subject.

The price was that after passing the imperial examination, the rank of the official position granted to the scholars was lowered.

It was lowered from the seventh rank to the eighth rank.

The starting point for entering the officialdom also changed from a chief official such as a county magistrate to an assistant official.

There was no opposition to this in Hunan.

Because, although the rank of the officials granted was lowered, the number of positions that could be granted was increased.

This can actually be considered a good thing for many people, as it allows many people who originally failed to pass the imperial examination to become an assistant official.

A reform can naturally be implemented smoothly if it is in the interests of the majority of people.

Li Yi's purpose was very simple. He wanted to carry out a series of boiling-frog-in-warm-water reforms, gradually relaxing the number of admissions to the imperial examination, lowering the rank of officials to be awarded, and gradually turning the imperial examination into a civil service examination.

This will undoubtedly take time, but Li Yi believes that he can accomplish it.

On this day, Li Yi was reviewing official documents.

There was a knock on the door from outside.

Li Yi looked up and said.

"Come in!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Shanxiang, who had been transferred to the secretariat to serve as Li Yi's accompanying secretary, walked in from outside with obvious joy on her face.

"Your Majesty, good news has been sent from Guangzhou."

"The Queen has given birth!"

Hearing this, Li Yi suddenly raised his head, his expression changed, and he asked hurriedly.

"How did it go? Did the birth go smoothly? Is it a boy or a girl?"

Fu Shanxiang nodded. "Don't worry, Your Majesty. According to the news from Guangzhou, everything is going well."

"Three nights ago, the queen suddenly felt abdominal pain and urgently summoned the imperial physician and midwife to the palace. Half an hour later, the queen successfully gave birth to a full-term baby boy, weighing 7.6 jin. Both mother and child are safe!"

"Guangzhou has sent a fast horse to report the news, hoping that the king can give a name to the eldest son!"

When Li Yi heard this, a smile appeared on his face involuntarily.

"Hahaha, okay, okay!"

"The queen has finally given birth, and I have a child now!"

"Hahahaha!"

"Pass the order down. Inform the entire army, the entire city, and everyone of this news. Hahahaha!"

Li Yi is really excited now.

The first child is a boy, so this is very valuable.

It’s not that he favors boys over girls, but as the leader of a faction, Li Yi must have an heir.

This is a political consideration!

This time, Li Yi not only proved his fertility to everyone, but his first child was also a boy. In this way, the next generation of heirs to the Tang Dynasty had been settled.

Well, as long as his eldest son has no intellectual or physical problems and is a normal person, then his position as the crown prince is secure.

After saying this, Li Yi continued to speak excitedly.

"Go and pass on the order to reward the entire army. All units of our army will receive an additional month's salary."

"Today, everyone has plenty of wine and meat, drink as much as you want, and celebrate, hahahaha!"

Fu Shanxiang nodded in acceptance of the order and turned away.

Li Yi continued to be excited until his cheeks started to hurt from laughing, and then he calmed down.

Immediately, he sat down and began to think about what name to give his eldest son.

After pondering for a long time, Li Yi finally came up with an idea.

To keep it simple, just call him Li Zai.

A nickname can bring him peace.

The word "zai" here by Li Yi comes from the word "zai" in "Heaven's movement is vigorous, and the gentleman should constantly strive for self-improvement. The earth's condition is gentle, and the gentleman should carry the world with virtue."

Li Yi hoped that his eldest son would have considerable virtue in the future and be able to bear the weight of the world.

The reason why his nickname was Ping An was because Li Yi wanted him to grow up safely.

It can be regarded as an old father’s earnest expectation for his children!

That night, Li Yi lay in bed, but he tossed and turned, and couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

An urge arose in his heart, he wanted to go back to Guangzhou!
He wanted to see his child with his own eyes, hug him, and then say thank you to his wife for her hard work.

However, Li Yi quickly suppressed this impulse.

Because the current situation in Hunan really cannot do without him.

Whether it is the imperial examination, land distribution, conscription, or taxation, Hunan now needs a strong person to take charge of the overall situation and coordinate planning.

In the current Tang Dynasty, Li Yi is the only one who can do this.

Thinking about this, Li Yi forced himself to calm down, but still couldn't fall asleep.

He got up from the bed, calmed himself down a little, and then began to deal with official documents.

Since you can’t sleep, just stay up late and work a little longer!
Just at this moment, there was a knock on his door.

Boom boom boom!
Li Yi looked up and asked.

"Who is outside and what's the matter?"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a response from outside the door.

"Your Majesty, it's me, Li Liang, the Director of the Military Intelligence Department!"

"I have something important to report!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yi looked up and responded.

Immediately, Li Liang pushed the door open and walked in, walked up to Li Yi, bowed slightly, and then spoke.

"Your Majesty, the latest news came from the capital of the Qing Dynasty. Zeng Guofan, the Minister of Hunan Militia, fled without a fight, which led to the loss of Changsha and the fall of Hunan. He was sentenced to immediate execution by the Qing chieftain Xianfeng, and his property was confiscated and he was exiled..."

When Li Yi heard this, his expression was obviously surprised.

"Immediate execution? Confiscating property and exiling?"

"Didn't Emperor Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty think highly of Zeng Guofan? Why did he treat him like this?"

You should know that the Hunan Militia Minister was the first Militia Minister appointed by the Qing Dynasty.

It was also the Qing Dynasty's initial attempt to organize militia to quell rebellion.

In addition to Zeng Guofan's experience of being promoted seven times and rising ten levels in the previous ten years, no matter how you look at it, he was Xianfeng's confidant.

Why was he suddenly beheaded, his property confiscated and he was exiled?

Did Xianfeng really not give his confidants any chance to make mistakes?
Li Yi was a little confused.

Li Liang heard this and said with a strange look on his face.

"Your Majesty, the spies stationed in the capital by the Military Intelligence Department have received some information, but they are not sure whether it is true or not."

As he was speaking, Li Liang told the story of how Emperor Xianfeng lost his brother due to his carelessness.

Li Yi looked very strange when he heard this.

"No way, is Xianfeng so careless? How dare you touch a woman whose husband and son you killed?"

"But if this is true, it makes sense that Emperor Xianfeng wanted to kill Zeng Guofan..."

(End of this chapter)