Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 194 Xianfeng: Your suggestion is very good, but I suggest you not to suggest it first!

Upon hearing this, Xianfeng twitched his mouth and said.

"Old Six, your suggestion is very good."

"But I suggest you not to suggest it for now."

"The current Eight Banners are no longer as brave as they once were. If the imperial court wants to organize an army with the Eight Banners, it may not be easy."

As the emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the master of the Eight Banners of Manchu and Mongolia, Xianfeng knew how rotten the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty had become.

It is no exaggeration to say that the average person is a heavy smoker.

If we really hope to form a new army with the Eight Banners descendants as soldiers, a group of heavy smokers will not be able to withstand a battle on the battlefield.

After all, we can't tell the enemy to wait a moment before starting a war and wait until we have enough opium, right?
Isn't this just funny?
The Eight Banners were indeed very capable when they first entered the Pass!
Although there is some water in the saying that Man Wan is invincible, the water is not too much.

But the reason why the Eight Banners at that time were able to fight was because they were poor enough.

Growing up between the white mountains and black waters, they would freeze to death or starve to death if they didn't dare to fight.

In order to survive, they can only fight desperately, and their fighting power is certainly strong enough!
However, as the Manchus entered the country and occupied land and houses, the lives of the Eight Banners descendants began to become more and more carefree.

Naturally, the combat effectiveness began to decline.

Especially with the death of the first generation of the Eight Banners, the new Eight Banners who grew up in wealth and luxury became the main force of the Eight Banners Army.

The combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners dropped drastically!
By now, the Eight Banners had become completely rotten.

Expecting the descendants of the Eight Banners to join the army is simply a joke.

It's so funny. Is it that the beautiful wife and concubines at home are not fun anymore, or the wine and food are not tasty anymore, or the cockfighting, dog running, and bird cages are not interesting enough?

Wouldn't it be great to lead the court's iron-clad crops and enjoy life happily?
Why do you want to fight on the battlefield?
We, the Eight Banners masters, are not penniless people, and our lives are not that cheap!
Sushun, who was standing by, saw this and spoke up.

"Your Majesty, I think since the Eight Banners are no longer useful, then the Qing Dynasty might as well expand the Eight Banners."

"Recruit and select brave and courageous Han people from the Green Camps in various places to join the banners, re-establish the Han Eight Banners, and use these Han Eight Banners soldiers as the foundation to establish and train the Eight Banners New Army."

Since the Qianlong period, Qianlong felt that his throne was secure and began to turn his back on his people. He settled accounts with the heroes who helped the Qing Dynasty enter the Central Plains and carried out a large-scale expulsion of the Han army banners. After that, the Han Eight Banners among the Eight Banners began to gradually disappear.

Until now, the only ones left are the Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners.

However, seeing that the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia were now useless, Su Shun suddenly remembered that the Qing Dynasty still had the Han Army Banner.

It is obvious that to our Qing Dynasty, the Eight Banners are typical urinals. When you are of use to us, you are of course a great help, but once you are no longer of use, you will be kicked away.

After all, is a man with only one penny worthy of being called one of the Eight Banners?
Upon hearing this, Xianfeng showed an expression of approval on his face, and then spoke.

"That's fine."

"If we can form a new Han Eight Banners, we can revitalize the military strength of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty."

Upon hearing this, Qi Junzao couldn't help but speak.

"Your Majesty, rebuilding the Han Eight Banners is easy, but what about the crops of the Eight Banners?"

The most serious problem facing the Qing Dynasty at this time is not the Qing army’s disadvantage on the battlefield, but the lack of money.

Before the chaos in the world, the Qing Dynasty's most important financial and taxation areas were Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Huguang, Guangdong, Sichuan and other places.

But now, almost all of these places have fallen into war, and some have even been occupied by bandits.

It was difficult for the Qing Dynasty to collect taxes from these lands. In addition, due to the continuous wars in recent years, financial difficulties had increased.

The Qing Dynasty’s finances are now almost in a state of deficit.

Even the distribution of the Eight Banners' staple crops began to stop!
Once the Eight Banners of Han are formed, it will add a huge amount of expenses to the Qing court.

The Qing Dynasty’s finances are about to collapse!
But if the Han Eight Banners are not given iron-clad crops, can the Han Eight Banners still be called the Eight Banners?

Xianfeng frowned when he heard this.

"How about calling on all civil and military officials in the court, as well as the nobles of the Eight Banners, to donate money and food to support the court in fighting the bandits?"

When everyone heard this, their mouths twitched.

Not much!
Absolutely not!
The money is theirs and the country belongs to the emperor. Why should they be asked to donate their own money to save the emperor's country!

Even Sushun and Yi, both of whom were from the Aisin-Gioro clan, were secretly complaining in their hearts.

If you want us to donate money, why didn’t you, Xianfeng, sell some of the treasures in the Old Summer Palace?
If all the treasures in the Old Summer Palace were really sold, would they still be afraid that they wouldn't be able to support the soldiers or provide crops to the Eight Banners?
You, the Emperor Xianfeng, were unwilling to sacrifice your family to save the country, so why do you ask us, your subjects, to donate money?

To put it bluntly, the current situation of the Qing Dynasty is the same as that of the late Ming Dynasty.

It’s not that there is no money, but that the court has no money.

Court officials, nobles, and royal family members were all fatter than the other.

But no one, including the royal family themselves, was willing to ruin their family fortune to help the country.

It really is this moment, just like that moment!

He Ruolin made a suggestion.

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, the court can levy an additional amount of money to suppress bandits, which can be used to train new troops and suppress bandits."

"Let the people suffer first. At worst, when the Qing Dynasty pacifies the bandits, we can reduce or exempt taxes for the people as compensation."

Upon hearing this, Xianfeng nodded subconsciously.

I immediately realized something was wrong.

The court officials and nobles could not get donations, so the court could only levy more money to suppress the bandits...

What a familiar feeling!
If Liaodong had not been the birthplace of the Qing Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty had not had to collect tribute from Liaodong, Xianfeng would have suspected that he was possessed by Chongzhen.

Bah, bah, bah, what bad luck!
Su Shun, who was standing by, twitched his mouth when he heard this, and then said.

"In reply to the emperor, I suggest that the court can also set up checkpoints at official roads and water transport hubs to collect taxes." "Even if each checkpoint only collects one cent, if there are more tax checkpoints, the total amount of money collected should be considerable."

Sushun proposed the suggestion of levying lijin.

Xianfeng nodded and his expression became much better.

After such a long time, he finally heard some pretty good advice.

Xianfeng yawned again, feeling that his urge to smoke was almost uncontrollable.

He immediately waved his hand to dismiss everyone.

Before leaving, Yi specifically asked Emperor Xianfeng for permission to go to the harem to visit his mother.

Xianfeng was craving for cigarettes and just wanted to get rid of the person as soon as possible, so he agreed without hesitation.

……

Yi left the Hall of Mental Cultivation and walked towards the harem.

Soon, he arrived at the Cining Palace where the Dowager Concubine Borjigit lived.

Outside the Cining Palace, Yi happened to meet Concubine Lan who was walking out of the palace.

In the snow, Concubine Lan was wearing a light pink cheongsam, a simple hairpin on her head, a heater in her hands, and a pair of flower-pot shoes on her feet.

In addition, she was wearing a snow fox fur cloak, and the white cloak almost blended into the drifting wind and snow.

The furry snow fox fur collar made her face look only the size of a palm, which was extremely charming.

Looking at the woman walking towards him, Yi couldn't help swallowing.

Obviously, Concubine Lan's appearance could only be considered pretty, not stunningly beautiful, but at that moment, Yi felt that she had an indescribable unique charm.

Yi couldn't take his eyes off it!

Just as Yi was watching Concubine Lan lose her mind, Concubine Lan took the initiative to step forward, bowed gracefully, and spoke.

"Your Highness, I greet you. May your Highness be safe and sound!"

Yi was brought back to his senses by Lady Lan's salute and bowed slightly in return.

"Long live the Emperor's sister-in-law!"

After exchanging greetings, the two passed each other.

Yi's eyes were fixed on Concubine Lan's slender figure, unable to move his eyes away.

Not until the figure of Concubine Lan completely disappeared did he come to his senses and walked towards the Cining Palace.

There is a fire burning in Yi's heart now!

The emperor is crippled, so the concubines in the harem must be having a very miserable life, right?
As a brother, how can I just sit back and watch?

It’s time to “step forward” and share the worries of my brothers and sisters-in-law…

Yi walked closer to the Cining Palace and soon saw his biological mother, Imperial Concubine Borjigit.

"Your son pays homage to the Queen Mother. May the Queen Mother live long and happy!"

Yi flicked his horse-hoof sleeves, bowed and saluted.

When Borjigit saw her son coming to see her, a very obvious smile appeared on her face and she spoke with a smile.

"Excuse me, my son, please excuse me!"

"Come and sit next to me."

Borjigit pulled Yi to sit next to her, ordered the palace maid to serve tea, and then asked.

"My son, you haven't come to see me for a while. Are you busy lately?"

Borjigit said with a hint of complaint in his voice.

Yi heard this and shook his head.

"It's not that I don't want to go to the palace to pay my respects to my mother from time to time, but this is a restricted palace after all. Even if I am the descendant of the late emperor, if I go in and out frequently, it will inevitably cause gossip."

"If the emperor heard these rumors, it would only cause trouble."

If Yi entered the palace frequently, Xianfeng would definitely be dissatisfied.

After all, Xianfeng is still alive and well, and you, Yi, can go in and out of the palace as if it were your own home. Why can't you wait to move in?
It is only the tacit consensus in the court today that the Crown Prince Yi will be the successor of Emperor Xianfeng.

The reason why it is said to be default is that there is no explicit regulation.

However, no one can tell whether things that are not explicitly stipulated will lead to unexpected events.

It is not impossible that Xianfeng would become resentful of Yi's frequent visits to the palace to look at houses in advance and decide to replace him with a crown prince.

You know, the late Emperor Daoguang has more than one descendant still alive.

Upon hearing this, Borjigit could only nod and say.

"It's because my mother is anxious."

"This kind of thing can't be rushed, it still needs to be planned slowly."

As if he remembered something, Borjigit asked.

"My son, have your wives been pregnant recently?"

"The emperor has no son, so his throne is unstable. If you want to secure your position as the crown prince, you should have a son by your side."

(End of this chapter)