Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 250: Kang Youwei is everywhere, but Tan Sitong is nowhere to be found! [Subscription Request]

When Liu Kuan called up the first short video and put the tablet away, Zhu Yuanzhang and others clearly saw the name of this short video.

"Kang Youwei is everywhere, but Tan Sitong is nowhere to be found?" Zhu Biao read out the video's title and then asked, "Brother-in-law, what is this video about?"

The others also showed curiosity.

Liu Kuan said, "This short video was edited from a film set in the late Qing Dynasty called 'A Cutting Sword'. As for its content, please allow me to discuss it after the video is finished."

Zhu Biao nodded.

Liu Kuan then played the video.

The video begins with a scene of an execution ground.

Surrounded by many civilians and soldiers of the late Qing Dynasty, an executioner was about to chop off a person's head.

The executioner said, "Brother Tan, I'm here to take you on your way."

The man being beheaded glanced at the executioner and said with a smile, "Isn't it a pleasure to die under the sword of the captain of the Black Flag Army's broadsword team?"

Then the scene changed to a blacksmith shop.

The beheaded man asked the blacksmith, "Excuse me, is that the Black Flag emblem tattooed on your back?"

"Yes."

The man asked, "I want a knife?"

The blacksmith asked, "What knife?"

At this time, a man who looked unkind came out and said, "The knife that Mr. Tan wants is actually you, brother."

After seeing this, Lao Zhu and others finally understood a little bit - the man who was about to be beheaded was most likely Tan Sitong in the video title.

Then why was he beheaded?

Could it be because of the assassination of the Qing emperor?
So did he succeed?
The video has a fast pace, and anyone who thinks so will soon realize that he is wrong.

The three people then got to know each other. The man who bought the knife was indeed Tan Sitong, and the other two were Wang Wu and Yuan Shikai.

The dialogue in the video is straightforward but memorable.

Tan Sitong invited Wang Wu to join him in a great endeavor. Wang Wu said, "Brother Tan, look, this furnace is already burning out. How can you forge a good sword?"

Tan Sitong: "Not hot enough? Then I'll use my hands instead of firewood to make it hot enough!"

After saying that, he put his hand into the fire!

The concubines, princesses, other women and children in the back couldn't help but scream in surprise when they saw this scene, even though they knew that the video was all acted out.

Fortunately, Tan Sitong was pulled back by Yuan Shikai and others.

Yuan Shikai: "Brother Tan, everyone has their own aspirations, so why bother?"

Tan Sitong shook Yuan Shikai's hand and said, "Brother Yuan, a single spark can start a prairie fire!"

Later, Wang Wu was moved by Tan Sitong and agreed to return to the political arena and go with him to do great things.

After the video camera switched several times, it reached the scene where Tan Sitong discussed the situation in the late Qing Dynasty.

"We must face death and then rise again. China has reached this point and is already terminally ill. We can no longer use the old method of treating the symptoms instead of the cause. We must implement thorough reforms and start from scratch!"

Yuan Shikai disagreed with Tan Sitong's opinion and advised him, "Brother Tan, be moderate in everything and think twice before doing anything."

Tan Sitong: "Time is not on our side. If this continues, China will be doomed forever!"

After seeing this, those members of Zhu's family who had some historical knowledge finally understood that Tan Sitong did not want to assassinate the Qing emperor or rebel, but to reform.

In the previous video, it was said that Yuan Shikai was the infantry commander in the capital.

Now seeing that the two men disagreed, and considering the scene at the beginning of the video where Tan Sitong was beheaded, Zhu Yuanzhang guessed that it was probably because Yuan Shikai did not play a role or betrayed Tan Sitong.

Sure enough, the next few shots and conversations verified Zhu Yuanzhang's guess.

Tan Sitong asked Yuan Shikai to use military force to protect the Qing emperor and force Empress Dowager Cixi to abdicate.

Yuan Shikai agreed on the surface, but betrayed Tan Sitong and others behind the scenes and defected to Cixi.

Tan Sitong was arrested and imprisoned, and Wang Wu went to the prison to rescue him.

"Brother Tan, let's go."

"I won't leave," Tan Sitong said. "I can leave the prison, but I can't leave the world."

Wang Wu advised, "If we can leave tonight, we will have tomorrow."

Tan Sitong said: "Tomorrow's affairs will be left to tomorrow's people. What I have to do today is to sacrifice myself bravely and inspire everyone with my blood!"

The camera turns and Tan Sitong is taken to the execution ground, which corresponds exactly to the beginning of the video.

Tan Sitong began to recall past events.

"Those who have always worried about their country are the ones who have been sad for thousands of years."

“As long as we share the same ideals, even if the road is full of storms, there will always be a day when the sun shines brightly.”

"I work for the world, and only the world knows this. Ten thousand years is too long, we must seize the day."

"To be timid, to take two steps forward and one step back, is not the behavior of a true man."

"When you do great things, you either achieve great success or fail miserably. There's no middle ground." "The worst that can happen is blood spilled on the desert road. Death will make all the difference!"

"I will smile to the sky from my horizontal sword, leaving my liver and gallbladder intact!"

After Tan Sitong's death, Wang Wu went to seek revenge on Yuan Shikai.

He was an expert swordsman and extremely brave, but he ultimately failed to kill Yuan Shikai and died at the hands of the musketeers.

After the four or five-minute video was over, Lao Zhu, Zhu Biao and others felt as if they had watched a movie and were still recalling it.

Zhu Biao then spoke first, lamenting, "There was a noble man like Tan Sitong who was so concerned about his country and his people, and who cared about the world and who disregarded life and death. The Qing court failed to use him and instead killed him. I'm afraid the country is not far from being destroyed. No wonder it happened in the late Qing Dynasty."

Hearing this, Zhu Di could not help but say, "This Tan Sitong is indeed a noble man, but he is not good at judging people - first, he misjudged the Qing emperor; second, he misjudged Yuan Shikai."

Zhu Biao said, "No one is perfect. Even if Tan Sitong misjudged someone, it would not affect his noble character of caring for the world."

Zhu Di wanted to say something else but was interrupted by Zhu Yuanzhang - he didn't want to see Zhu Di arguing with Zhu Biao in public.

"Liu Kuan, could you please tell me about the events in the video just now? Did Tan Sitong and the late Qing Dynasty reforms actually happen in later history?"

"Also, who is Kang Youwei? He's nowhere to be seen in the entire video, so why is his name on it? And what about Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu?"

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, I'd better start by giving you a brief introduction to the history of the late Qing Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

"In the late Qing Dynasty, Emperor Xianfeng passed away, leaving only Cixi with a son, Tongzhi. Cixi was given the title of Empress Dowager of the Western Palace, as she was honored by her son. Because Tongzhi was young, she and Emperor Xianfeng's former empress jointly ruled the country from behind the scenes."

"Later, Tongzhi died before he was 20 years old. To maintain her power, Cixi colluded with powerful officials and adopted a child from the Manchu royal family as emperor, who was Guangxu."

"During this process, Cixi also used her skills to exclude the Empress Dowager Donggong from the throne, and from then on she took sole control of the government, thereby gaining control of the Qing Dynasty's military and political power."

"When Guangxu came of age, Cixi pretended to return power, but soon used the political reforms to reclaim power and placed Guangxu under house arrest until his death."

"At that time, China was being bullied by the great powers, and Cixi was not only an ignorant woman, but also selfish and greedy. She lived a luxurious life and was obsessed with vanity. She once embezzled the Qing navy's military funds to hold her birthday celebration."

"She once said, 'I would rather give it to foreign invaders than to domestic slaves,' and she also made the foolish and ridiculous act of ordering war against all nations."

"It can be said that it was because of Cixi that the Qing Dynasty, a feudal dynasty that had learned from the experiences and lessons of previous Chinese dynasties, ended more quickly."

"The reforms that Tan Sitong and others are implementing in the video were launched when Emperor Guangxu had just taken power and was determined to make progress. The video is named after Kang Youwei because he was the initiator and leader of this reform."

"Your Majesty must be aware that reforms throughout history have required not only strong support from the monarch but also real power, especially the support of the military. Otherwise, they would easily be counterattacked by stubborn conservative forces."

"Yuan Shikai in the video was a famous general in the late Qing Dynasty. He commanded a new army trained entirely with firearms based on Western methods. His combat effectiveness was arguably the highest among all the Qing armies at the time."

"Yuan Shikai initially supported the reformists, but at a critical moment, he was lured by Cixi with benefits and betrayed Guangxu and the reformists, leading to the failure of the Qing Dynasty's reform."

After listening to Liu Kuan's story, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but shake his head and comment: "Throughout dynasties, haven't there been many disastrous consequences caused by the harem interfering in politics? The Qing Dynasty was so ignorant of this that it produced a figure like Empress Lü. It's truly ridiculous."

Zhu Biao said, "If what my brother-in-law said is true, then Cixi is far inferior to Empress Lü."

Others also felt that Cixi's actions were far inferior to those of Empress Lü.

So we didn't talk about it anymore.

Zhu Yuanzhang then asked, "Why was the previous video titled 'Kang Youwei is everywhere, but Tan Sitong is nowhere to be seen?'"

"Your Majesty, one reason is that after the failure of this reform, Kang Youwei, the initiator and leader, fled overseas early."

"But people like Tan Sitong bravely faced death, even leaving behind inspiring poems like 'I laugh at the sky with my sword drawn, my loyalty and courage will remain in Kunlun Mountains whether I live or die' to encourage future generations."

"If that were all, it would be fine. But the key is that Kang Youwei later became a stubborn conservative who obstructed change in China, and was thus despised by later generations."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, "So that's how it is—although Tan Sitong was foolishly loyal to the Qing, he was able to bravely die for the people of the country, inspiring future generations with his blood. He is truly a rare man of great generosity and tragedy."

At this time, Zhu Di couldn't help but ask: "Third brother-in-law, what's the matter with the Black Flag Army mentioned repeatedly in the video?"

Liu Kuan said, "Your Highness, the Prince of Yan, the Black Flag Army was originally a peasant army in the late Qing Dynasty that resisted the Qing Dynasty's rule. Because the peasant army was defeated and suppressed by the Qing Dynasty, the Black Flag Army could no longer stay in the country, so its leader Liu Yongfu led his troops to Annan."

"Later, the French used Annan as a springboard to invade Guangxi. The Black Flag Army then cooperated with the Qing court's army and defeated the French."

"Unfortunately, because the Qing court was extremely afraid of Western powers at the time, although they won the war, they still gave up many of the benefits they should have gained when signing the peace treaty with France. It can be said that they won the war but lost the country, which aroused the resentment of their contemporaries and later generations."

Zhu Di and others were shocked when they heard this. They did not expect that the Qing court would be so incompetent and cowardly.

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted and commented, "When a dynasty reaches its late stages, its biggest problems are often the monarch's incompetence, the court's chaos, and the corruption of officials. The military's strength may not necessarily be that low."

"Take the Mongols. Were there not many capable Yuan troops at the end of the Yuan Dynasty? What was the outcome? The Yuan court was incompetent, so the Mongols were eventually driven back to the prairie."

Zhu Biao, Zhu Di and other princes nodded after listening, seeming to be thinking about something.

Liu Kuan thought to himself: Old Zhu’s summary is good, wasn’t it the same in the late Ming Dynasty?

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang was also thinking that the late Ming Dynasty was probably the same in history, but he didn't want to discuss it, so he said: "Okay, put down the video."

In fact, not many people in Lao Zhu's family are interested in the late Qing Dynasty - at least the women don't like it, because the pigtails in the video are really ugly, and they can't finish watching it even if the content is exciting.

Liu Kuan picked up the tablet and called up the second video.

After he put the tablet away, Zhu Yuanzhang and others naturally saw the title of the second short video.

"The end of the world caused by a carton of eggs."

Seeing this title, the Zhu family was a little confused again.

I thought: Why is this video title so weird? Can a box of eggs actually cause the end of the world?
　First update.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)