Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 193 Guiziliu: I will definitely sell this country!

Sushun waited for a long time in the cold wind and finally got an audience with Emperor Xianfeng.

Under the guidance of An Dehai, Sushun walked into the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and a wave of heat hit his face.

There was a floor heating in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, making it warm and cozy, forming a sharp contrast with the ice and snow outside.

However, as soon as Sushun entered the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, the expression on his face couldn't help but change slightly.

The air in the Hall of Mental Cultivation was filled with a faint stench left over from burning opium.

Even if sandalwood was burning in the hall, the smell could not be suppressed.

Sushun couldn't help but frown.

I have a bad feeling in my heart!
Could it be that the Emperor has become addicted to opium like the Eight Banners descendants under him?

This is not a good thing!

Seeing Sushun walk into the Yangxin Palace, Xianfeng, who was lying lazily on the bed with his eyes half open, enjoying the afterglow of his cigarette, asked.

"Sushun, you came to the palace to ask for an audience today, but what's the matter?"

Upon hearing this, Sushun first knelt down and kowtowed, then spoke.

"In reply to your Majesty, I came here today because I have a few important matters to report to your Majesty."

Xianfeng nodded gloomily, motioning Sushun to speak.

Seeing this, Sushun spoke.

"Your Majesty, I have five important matters to report today."

"First, I have received a report from Jiangnan that there have been frequent exchanges of messengers between the Longhair bandits and the Tang bandits."

"According to reliable information, the Taiping rebels and the Tang thieves have formed an alliance and are preparing to jointly fight against the Qing Dynasty."

When Xianfeng heard this, the lazy expression on his face disappeared instantly, and he came back to his senses from the daze from smoking opium.

He asked with a serious tone.

"Is this true?"

Sushun nodded.

"To reply to the emperor, this is the news sent back by the spies of the Sticking Rod Office in Jiangning and Guangzhou. It should not be false."

The expression on Xianfeng's face began to become solemn.

After a moment, he asked.

"Besides that, what else?"

He planned to listen to Sushun finish his words before considering what to do next.

Sushun heard this and continued to report.

"In reply to the emperor, the second thing is also news from Jiangnan."

"Gilhanga has contacted the foreigners in Shanghai. The foreigners agreed to sell foreign guns and cannons to the Qing Dynasty, and even sent troops to help the Qing Dynasty suppress the rebellion."

"However, the foreigners demanded that the Qing Dynasty open Tianjin, Qingdao, Lianyungang and other coastal prefectures as trading ports to them, and allow them to set up concessions in the trading ports and buy houses and land."

"Moreover, the prices asked by those foreigners were very high. A foreign rifle cost fifty taels of silver, and the price of a foreign cannon was easily over a thousand taels."

"And the foreign mercenaries are also very expensive. A foreign rifleman needs fifty taels of silver per month."

Upon hearing this, Xianfeng's expression became even more solemn.

Sushun continued.

"The third thing is that the Jingshan Cannon Factory has hired a group of foreign cannon makers and has started to forge new cannons."

"I believe that we will soon be able to forge a batch of new cannons that can be used to suppress the bandits."

"The fourth thing came from Shandong. The monk king was unfortunately defeated when he led his army to suppress the Nian bandits. The situation of the Qing Dynasty in Shandong is quite unfavorable."

"The monk king asked the court for help, hoping that the court could send troops to reinforce Shandong."

"The fifth thing is the urgent report from Sichuan that after the Longhair Bandits' Wing King Shi Dakai captured Chongqing, he once again sent troops to Chengdu."

"Geng Zhengzhi, the governor of Sichuan, and Xu Wenliang, the governor of Sichuan, led their troops to meet the enemy and were defeated. Chengdu fell."

"Now they have led their troops to retreat to the Baoning Prefecture area, hoping that the court can send troops to Sichuan to reinforce the Sichuan war."

After hearing this series of bad news, Xianfeng finally couldn't bear it anymore.

With a loud bang, he threw the heater in his hand away. The heater hit the ground with a dull thud.

The charcoal inside fell out and rolled to Sushun's feet.

"Damn it!"

"How could the world become like this!"

Upon seeing this, Sushun immediately knelt down and kowtowed to apologize.

"I am incompetent and cannot help the emperor. Please punish me!"

Xianfeng took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the emotion in his heart, not sure whether it was anger or helplessness, and spoke.

"Sushun, go and summon Prince Gong, Minister Qi and other important officials of the Military Affairs Council to come to the Yangxin Palace to discuss matters."

"Alas, the New Year is coming soon. I'm afraid I won't be able to celebrate this year!"

Upon hearing this, Sushun kowtowed again, then stood up and left.

Without making Xianfeng wait for long, Su Shun invited all the ministers of the Military Affairs Council to the Yangxin Palace.

After several people kowtowed to Xianfeng, Xianfeng finally spoke.

"Sushun, tell me again the important matters you just reported to me."

Sushun nodded in agreement and began to tell the story.

After Sushun finished speaking, Xianfeng said with a tone full of emotion.

"The Qing Dynasty is facing many difficult times now."

"Please tell me, my lords. How should the Qing Dynasty deal with the world situation next?"

After Emperor Xianfeng finished speaking, Prince Gong Yi spoke first.

"Your Majesty, I think the Qing Dynasty might be able to agree to the foreigners' demands."

"If we can get help from the foreigners, then our Qing Dynasty can quickly put down the long-haired bandits in Jiangnan, and then concentrate our main forces to deal with the Tang bandits, so as to put down the rebellion in the south as soon as possible."

In Yi's opinion, as long as he could quell the rebellion of the Han people in the south, selling out the country would be fine. He was determined to sell the country!

Xianfeng frowned.

"If we open the trading ports to foreigners, will that affect the stability of our Qing Dynasty?"

Yi Qiang resisted the urge to complain and spoke earnestly.

"Your Majesty, you are worrying too much. Nowadays, for our Qing Dynasty, foreigners are just a minor problem, while the Han people are the real threat."

"As long as we can put down the Han people's rebellion as soon as possible, it doesn't matter if we let the foreigners take advantage of us."

"It is better to be friends with foreign nations than to be friends with domestic slaves!"

Xianfeng nodded slightly, as if agreeing with Yi's words, but still asked.

"Then how about the money needed to buy foreign guns and cannons, and hire foreign soldiers?"

As Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan fell one after another, Jiangnan, Sichuan and other places became war zones.

Today, the Qing government's fiscal and tax revenue has fallen precipitously.

In order to pay the troops on the front lines, the Qing Dynasty has even stopped paying the salaries of officials at all levels in the court and the crops to the Eight Banners.

Where would we get the money to buy foreign guns and cannons from foreigners?
Sushun, who was standing by, saw this and spoke up.

"In reply to the emperor, the foreigners in Shanghai said that if the Qing Dynasty has no money, their banks can provide loans to the Qing Dynasty."

"As long as the Qing Dynasty agrees to their tariff agreement requirements, it will hand over the customs to foreigners for management and use the tariffs as collateral."

While Xianfeng was still thinking, Qi Junzao on the side spoke.

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, the Qing Dynasty can agree to the foreigners' conditions."

"As long as the Qing Dynasty can wipe out the Taiping Rebellion and recover the land of Jiangnan, it will not be difficult to repay the money."

Upon hearing this, Xianfeng nodded and agreed.

Then he turned his gaze to Yi Dao.

"Yi, I'll leave this matter to you. I believe you won't let me down."

When Yi heard this, it was as if his blood awakened. A light bulb suddenly lit up in his mind and he had countless ideas about how to deal with foreigners.

He immediately bowed down.

"Your Highness obeys your command!"

Xianfeng continued.

"Besides that, there is the matter of the alliance between the long-haired thieves and the Tang thieves."

"The two gangs of bandits are rampant in their own areas, which is already difficult to deal with. Now they are forming an alliance. How should the Qing Dynasty respond?"

Xianfeng is really worried to death now.

The Tang Dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom fought each other, and the Qing Dynasty could not defeat them.

Once the two groups of rebels unite, it is conceivable that the situation faced by the Qing Dynasty will become more and more dangerous.

Sushun thought for a while, came up with an idea, and spoke.

"In reply to your Majesty, I believe that the Qing Dynasty should continue to adhere to the previous strategy of concentrating our forces and defeating the bandits one by one."

"First, although the two groups of bandits claim to be allied, there are still several provinces between them. It is difficult for the two groups of bandits to unite their forces. It is likely that they will continue to fight on their own."

"Secondly, the long-haired bandits have just experienced an internal conflict and are now at a time of weakness."

"The Qing Dynasty still has a chance to defeat the two groups of bandits one by one!"

Xianfeng nodded and continued to ask.

"What about the war situation in Shandong and Sichuan?"

Somehow, a feeling of powerlessness suddenly surged up in Xianfeng's heart, and his face was filled with inextricable fatigue.

He couldn't help but yawn, and it seemed that his urge to smoke came back again...

Upon hearing this, everyone in the Grand Council couldn't help but look at each other in surprise.

The situation that the Qing Dynasty is facing now is truly terrible.

After a moment, He Ruolin, who had been silent just now, spoke.

"Your Majesty, I think that the Qing Dynasty should now send troops from Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Zhili and other places to reinforce the war in Shandong."

"After resolving the war in Shandong, the monk king will lead his army south to Jiangnan, unite the forces in Jiangnan, and suppress the Taiping rebels."

"As for Sichuan, my humble opinion is that as long as the fake King Yi of the Longhair Bandits does not lead his army out of Sichuan, the court can ignore it for now."

"Sichuan is easy to defend but difficult to attack, but it is also easy to enter but difficult to exit, so it is good for a safe place, but not for aggressiveness."

"Since ancient times, I have never heard of anyone being able to use Sichuan as their base to achieve their ambitions and hegemony."

"The bandit soldiers' initiative to enter Sichuan is not a bad thing for our Qing Dynasty."

He Ruolin's attitude is very clear.

He will bear the blame when the people of Sichuan suffer.

Upon hearing this, Xianfeng could only nod.

"Now, this is the only way."

Just as Xianfeng was about to wave his hand to dismiss everyone and go enjoy the longevity cream, Yi on the side spoke again.

"Your Majesty, I have something else to say but I don't know whether I should say it or not!"

Xianfeng wrinkled his nose. Although he didn't know what Yi was up to, he still spoke.

"Speak!"

Yi took a deep breath and then said.

"In reply to the emperor, the world is in such a state of chaos now, and the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty cannot continue to decline."

"I propose that the court should use the sons of the Eight Banners as soldiers and the sons of the royal family as generals, train a new army using Western methods, and rectify the military equipment of the Eight Banners in an attempt to restore the former glory of the Eight Banners Heavenly Army!"

……

PS: There are only two updates today, and more will be added tomorrow.

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(End of this chapter)