Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 219 Yi: Bao can’t do that!

Andehai stroked the warm ring in his hand and said with a smile.

"Prince Gong is too polite. My reminder is just a small favor."

When Yi heard this, his eyes kept moving, as if he was thinking about something.

In his opinion, An Dehai should not know that he had just stolen his sister-in-law, but his reminder to himself this time was very telling.

To some extent, selling well is actually a prelude to taking sides.

Since An Dehai is willing to curry favor with him, it means that even if An Dehai has the opportunity to stand on his side, he will still be on the right side.

In this case, if he could get An Dehai, who was close to Emperor Xianfeng, to cooperate with his plan, he would be one step closer to the throne.

With mixed feelings, Yi followed An Dehai to the outside of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity.

After walking this distance, the smell of heather on Yi's body finally dissipated completely.

He raised his arm and sniffed the smell on his body. After making sure that there was no problem, he strode with An Dehai into the Hall of Mental Cultivation, then bowed and saluted in front of Emperor Xianfeng.

"Your Majesty, long live the emperor, long live the emperor, long, long live the emperor!!"

Xianfeng nodded slightly and then spoke.

"No need to be polite, Sixth Brother, just stand up!"

After Yi stood still, since the ministers of the Grand Council had not arrived yet, Xianfeng prepared to chat with Yi about family matters first.

"Old Six has been entering the palace quite frequently recently. How is the Dowager Concubine's health recovering?"

In order to give her son and Concubine Lan a chance to have an affair, Borjigit chose to pretend to be sick.

Then, Yi could visit the palace often without arousing suspicion.

Moreover, in order to show his filial piety, Xianfeng had to arrange for his concubines to take turns serving Borjigit.

Therefore, Yi and Lan Guiren had the opportunity to have an affair.

When Yi heard this, he was shocked.

But he thought that Xianfeng should not have discovered anything, otherwise it would not be An Dehai who came to invite him today, but the palace guards.

But even so, Yi still felt guilty and just tried to remain calm and replied.

"In reply to my brother, my mother's health has improved a lot recently and she should be able to recover soon."

Xianfeng nodded and said.

"You are recovering well. I can rest assured now that the Concubine is feeling better."

After Yi answered Xianfeng's words, he took the initiative to take over the topic.

"I wonder why my brother summoned me here today?"

Upon hearing this, Xianfeng did not keep the matter in suspense and spoke with a smile.

"I summoned you today, which is naturally a good thing."

"The latest news from Jiangnan is that Yiliang and Senggelinqin have successfully recaptured Jiangning, and Cai Bingwen also led his troops to capture the long-haired bandit leader Hong Xiuquan."

"The Long-haired Rebellion has finally been put down."

"Do you think this is a good thing?"

Upon hearing this, Yi bowed immediately.

"I congratulate the emperor on his victory in wiping out the Taiping rebels and restoring the Qing Dynasty. You are truly a wise and holy ruler!"

But after Yi bowed, from an angle that Xianfeng could not see, an expression of disdain and contempt appeared on his face.

A wise and holy ruler?

Is he, Xianfeng, worthy of it?
Have you ever heard of any wise and holy ruler in history who was a eunuch?
However, when Yi looked up again, the contempt and disdain on his face quickly turned into flattery.

Xianfeng nodded slightly.

"This is not my own achievement!"

"If it weren't for Yiliang and Senggelinqin leading the army to fight the enemy bravely on the front line, and if it weren't for you, Yi, contacting the foreigners and getting their help, it would not be easy for the Qing Dynasty to wipe out the Taiping Rebellion."

This sentence, translated, actually means, thanks to you, Lao Liu, for selling out the country so well...

Yi's mouth twitched when he heard this, but he continued.

"I dare not take credit for anything. It is all thanks to your majesty's wisdom and ability to appoint people and to whip the world. Only then can our Qing Dynasty be revived today..."

Just as Yi was flattering Xianfeng, footsteps were heard outside the hall.

Xiao Xia Zi brought all the officials from the Grand Council to the Yangxin Palace.

After entering the Hall of Mental Cultivation, everyone saluted to Emperor Xianfeng.

"Your servants pay their respects to His Majesty. Long live the emperor, long live the emperor, long, long live the emperor!"

Xianfeng nodded slightly.

"Everyone is safe!"

With a smile on his face, Xianfeng informed all the ministers about the Qing Dynasty's recovery of Jiangning and the suppression of the Taiping rebels.

After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but show joy on their faces.

Then they all congratulated Xianfeng, and even Yi, who had just congratulated him individually, followed the crowd and bowed down.

"Your servants congratulate the Emperor on wiping out the Taiping rebels and restoring the Qing Dynasty!"

Xianfeng nodded slightly with a smile on his face, and then said.

"Haha, no need to bow down, gentlemen. Haha!"

"I'm free of charge!"

After doing all this, Xianfeng finally got down to business.

"I summoned you all here today to share with you the joy of wiping out the Taiping rebels."

"Secondly, I want to discuss with you the matter of exterminating the Tang thieves."

"If I want to revive the Qing Dynasty, it will not be enough to just wipe out the Taiping rebels."

"Now, the southern part of our Qing Dynasty is still occupied by the Tang thieves in several provinces. What kind of revival is this?" "It's nothing but a joke!"

When everyone heard this, the expressions on their faces became solemn.

Unlike the Taiping rebels, the Tang bandits who occupied Guangdong and Guangxi and invaded Hunan were already considered powerful in the eyes of these important officials of the Qing court.

He occupied several provinces, opened the imperial examination, distributed land, proclaimed himself king, established a system, and sent officials to collect taxes...

How can such a bandit be compared with ordinary bandits?
Such bandits are absolutely big and fierce bandits no matter which dynasty or era they are in.

You can't be too cautious!

"My dear ministers, please speak freely and express your opinions. How should the Qing Dynasty suppress the bandits?"

Xianfeng continued.

Upon hearing this, Sushun made a suggestion.

"Your Majesty, I think our Qing Dynasty does not need to rush to use military force against the Tang thieves."

"According to what those foreigners said, England will soon send an expeditionary force to retaliate against the Tang thieves."

"The Qing Dynasty may send troops when the Tang thieves and foreigners are at war."

"When the time comes, with the help of foreigners to share the military force to deal with the Tang thieves, our Qing Dynasty will be able to wipe out the Tang thieves who are causing trouble to the area at the lowest cost!"

Sushun was not in a hurry to use military force against the Tang bandits.

In other words, in his opinion, the Qing Dynasty currently does not have the spare energy to continue using military force against the Tang bandits.

Since the beginning of the year, the Qing Dynasty has gathered its main forces in Jiangnan, hoping to wipe out the Taiping Rebellion.

After several months of hard fighting, although the Taiping Rebellion was wiped out, the Qing Dynasty also suffered heavy losses.

Whether it was the Jiangnan Camp, the Jiangbei Camp, or the main force of the Qing army in the north led by Senggelinqin, their elite troops suffered heavy losses in one tough battle after another.

Without repair, it will be difficult to get back on the battlefield in a short period of time.

Upon hearing this, Xianfeng nodded slightly.

"Sushun is right."

"But in my opinion, if the Qing Dynasty wants to defeat the rebels, we cannot pin all our hopes on foreigners."

"Foreigners value profit over righteousness. They are all dishonest and unrighteous people and cannot be trusted."

"If the Tang thieves give the foreigners any benefits, it is possible that those foreigners will defect to the Tang thieves' side and help them deal with our Qing Dynasty."

Xianfeng was somewhat worried that the Tang Dynasty would be more treacherous than the Qing Dynasty, so that the foreigners would defect.

Yi, who was standing by, couldn't help but curl his lips when he heard this.

The bag can’t be good!
When it comes to treason, who can sell out the country better than the Qing Dynasty?
Thinking about this, Yi spoke.

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, there is actually no possibility of collusion between the foreigners and the Tang thieves."

"First, our Great Qing can "measure the material resources of China and win the favor of other countries", but the Tang thieves will definitely not be able to do this."

For the Qing Dynasty, their core interest was only the Eight Banners.

In other words, as long as the interests of the Eight Banners were not harmed, the Qing Dynasty could exploit the Han people under its rule to death in order to satisfy the appetites of foreigners.

However, the slogan raised by the Tang Dynasty at the beginning of its uprising was "expel the Tartars, recover China, restore the country, and equalize land rights"!
This is nationalism in essence.

The Tang Dynasty was a regime under the banner of nationalism. It was impossible for such a regime to sell out its own national interests on a large scale and do good things for foreigners.

Otherwise, there would be problems with the underlying logic of the Tang Dynasty regime.

Therefore, Yi concluded that the Tang Dynasty could not sell out its country as well as the Qing Dynasty.

Yi continued.

"Secondly, there is a feud between the Tang thieves and the foreigners."

"The father of the leader of the Tang bandits died in the Opium War. This is revenge for the murder of his father. How can the Tang bandits not take revenge?"

"After occupying Guangzhou, the Tang bandits not only recovered Hong Kong and banned opium in Guangzhou, but also beheaded the British envoy and a group of foreign prisoners of war in public."

"Given the temperament of the British, there is no way they can swallow this anger and pretend that this incident never happened."

"Therefore, I dare to conclude that there is no possibility of cooperation between the Tang thieves and the foreigners."

"Of course, the emperor's concerns are correct. The foreigners are unfaithful and ungrateful. It is only right for the Qing Dynasty to be on guard against them."

Upon hearing this, Xianfeng nodded with a slightly complicated expression, and then continued to ask everyone.

"Then how do you think the Qing Dynasty should guard against foreigners?"

Sushun spoke.

"In reply to the emperor, I think the Qing Dynasty should continue to expand the Eight Banners New Army."

"As long as this elite army is trained in Western ways and uses foreign guns and cannons, then even if the Qing Dynasty falls out with the foreigners in the future, there will be nothing to fear."

Xianfeng nodded, still looking somewhat worried.

"Sushun is right."

"But the imperial court is facing financial difficulties right now, and it is not easy to expand the Eight Banners New Army."

Although the Qing Dynasty squeezed the poor out of their pockets by levying likin and increasing the remuneration for suppressing the rebels, it still managed to train a new army of the Eight Banners.

However, most of the money looted was lost by loyal and righteous people of the Qing Dynasty.

Even the remaining money was mostly used to purchase foreign guns and cannons, and to hire foreign soldiers.

In fact, only a small part of it can be used on the new recruits of the Eight Banners.

Therefore, the scale of this so-called Eight Banners New Army was actually not large, with only a few thousand people.

It's okay for pretending, but if they are really sent to the battlefield to fight, such a small number cannot play a decisive role.

However, if there is a conflict between the Qing Dynasty and foreigners in the future, those hired foreign soldiers will definitely not be reliable.

The only thing the Qing Dynasty could rely on was the Eight Banners New Army!

Therefore, the Qing court was still willing to continue expanding the Eight Banners New Army.

However, funding is a big problem!
(End of this chapter)