Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 261 Yi: Since you want excitement, then go all the way!
The first day of the twelfth lunar month in the third year of Emperor Xianfeng’s reign in the Qing Dynasty.

Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace!
The end of the year is approaching, but since Emperor Xianfeng has passed away and his body is still lying in the Qianqing Palace, there is no festive atmosphere in the Forbidden City.

Instead, there are white cloths hanging everywhere!

Quite solemn!

The reason why Xianfeng has not been buried until now even though he died several months ago is that his body is kept in the Qianqing Palace.

It was not that Yi was unwilling to bury Xianfeng's coffin, but because Xianfeng's death was too sudden and the imperial tomb had not been repaired in time.

Even if Xianfeng wanted to be buried, there was no place to bury him.

Therefore, before the imperial mausoleum was built, his coffin and coffin could only be placed in the Qianqing Palace.

In fact, there were people who suggested temporarily moving Xianfeng's coffin to another place.

Clear out the Qianqing Palace for Yi!
However, in order to show that he was truly a loyal minister, filial son, and good brother, Yi decisively rejected the ministers' petition to move the coffin and moved to the Yangxin Palace himself.

Well, of course, there is also a reason why the Hall of Mental Cultivation is indeed more comfortable to live in than the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

When Emperor Xianfeng was still alive, he lived in the Palace of Tranquil Longevity.

However, as the place where the body of Emperor Xianfeng was laid to rest, the Qianqing Palace should have been a quiet place. But today, a burst of lascivious music was heard in the Qianqing Palace.

In the side hall of the Qianqing Palace, Yi and Xianfeng's Empress Niohuru hugged each other, two white figures entangled and overlapping.

Not far from them, separated by a door, was the coffin of Emperor Xianfeng.

There is a strange smell in the air!

Although Xianfeng had been dead for several months, it was now winter and the royal family had their own means of preserving the body.

Therefore, the corpse did not rot, and of course there was no corpse odor, but the smell of medicinal herbs was unavoidable.

After a moment, Yi's body trembled, and then he became bored.

Niu Hulu buried her head in the quilt, leaving only her smooth forehead exposed, and spoke with a hint of shyness in her voice.

"Your Majesty...how could you think of coming to a place like this and doing such a thing?"

"It's really, really ridiculous!"

Yi Yang lay on the bed, savoring the aftertaste and laughing.

"Hahaha."

"My brother left my sister-in-law a widow for so long before he died. Am I not helping my brother solve his problems and taking care of his sister-in-law?"

"Since I'm here to help my brother, I must do it in front of him, otherwise he will think I've treated my sister-in-law unfairly!"

Niu Hulu looked down at her own white body and couldn't help but complain in her heart.

[So this is how you, Yi, take care of your sister-in-law? You are truly a good brother to Xianfeng! ]

After officially ascending the throne, Yi began to find ways to seduce Empress Niohuru, the Empress of Emperor Xianfeng.

Since Emperor Xianfeng was deposed, Niohuru had been a widow for a long time and could no longer hold back.

Besides, she herself is not a person who would settle for less.

So, once Yi got started, the two of them easily hooked up with each other.

During this period, because Concubine Lan was pregnant and was taking care of her pregnancy, Yi Jingcheng stayed overnight in Niu Hulu's room.

Perhaps he was tired of the usual tricks and felt that they were not exciting enough, so he brought Niu Hulu to Yi Ling at night.

A drama of "committing crime in front of the husband" was staged!

Well, if you want excitement, then of course you should pursue it to the end!

However, although Yi was stimulated by this, Niu Hulu found it difficult to accept it.

It was already a bit unfair to Emperor Xianfeng that he was having an affair with Yi, and now the two of them were having an affair in front of Emperor Xianfeng's coffin, which was really too ridiculous.

He hid himself under the quilt, not daring to show his head.

Just when Yi was getting excited and preparing to commit suicide in front of his husband again, there was a knock on the door outside the Qianqing Palace.

An Dehai reported from outside.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, there is an urgent message from Fujian, eight hundred miles away."

"The officials from the Grand Council are asking for an audience outside the palace!"

Upon hearing this, Yi lost interest and spoke.

"Got it. Xiao Anzi, go take the officials from the Military Affairs Office to the Imperial Study first."

"I'll be there soon!"

After saying this, Yi began to get dressed and prepare to leave.

Before leaving, Yi lowered his head and said with a wicked smile to Niu Hulu who was lying on the bed.

"I have to go and take care of state affairs."

"Sister-in-law, please go back and rest first."

"Well, if the sister-in-law wants to spend more time with her brother, then she can stay overnight in the Qianqing Palace..."

Upon hearing this, Niu Hulu's pretty face changed drastically and she immediately began to dress in a hurry.

Given that she was so sorry for Emperor Xianfeng, she didn't dare to spend the night alone in front of his coffin.

If Emperor Xianfeng knew about this in his afterlife and sent her a dream, that would be really exciting!
Yi left the Qianqing Palace and went to the imperial study under the guidance of his trusted eunuch Lin Ronglu.

Logically speaking, after the death of Emperor Xianfeng, An Dehai, the confidant of the previous emperor, should have been dealt with by the new emperor.

However, An Dehai surrendered in time and made contributions when Yi succeeded to the throne.

So, Yi accepted An Dehai.

Although he still dismissed him from his title of chief eunuch and replaced him with his confidant Lin Ronglu, he was still arranged to be the chief eunuch in charge of the Qianqing Gate, in charge of internal and external traffic, which was considered a preferential treatment.

Therefore, this time An Dehai came to report to Yi that someone from the Military Affairs Council wanted to see him.

Soon, Lin Ronglu took Yi to the imperial study. Not long after, An Dehai came in with Guiliang, Shengbao, Wenxiang, Baojun, Shen Guifen and others.

After Emperor Xianfeng ascended the throne, the first thing he did was to eliminate dissidents and clean up the Grand Council.

He dismissed Su Shun from his post and investigated him for improper protection that led to the assassination and death of the previous emperor.

Afterwards, Qi Junzao, He Rulin and other direct descendants of Emperor Xianfeng were almost all cleared out of the court by Yi.

Instead, Shengbao and Guiliang, who had always been on good terms with Yi, were promoted to fill the vacancies left by Sushun and others after they were dismissed.

Among them, Gui Liang is Yi's father-in-law and his true confidant.

After everyone bowed and saluted to him, Yi then asked.

"Why do you gentlemen want to see me so late at night?"

"What happened in Fujian?"

Eight hundred miles express, this kind of thing is generally not used unless it is a very urgent situation.

So, Yi asked this question.

Upon hearing this, Shengbao immediately stepped forward and spoke.

"Your Majesty, General Youfeng of Fuzhou and Governor of Minzhou and Zhejiang sent an urgent message that the foreigners in Shanghai contacted him and requested to be supplied in Fuzhou in order to fight against the Tang bandits."

"Youfeng asked the court whether they would agree!"

After the Battle of Jiangning ended and Yiliang, Senggelinqin, Qishan and others were captured by the Tang army one after another, Youfeng, the general of Fuzhou and the governor of Min and Zhejiang, is the person with the most say in the Qing court in Jiangnan.

In addition, if foreigners want to obtain supplies along the Chinese coast, Fuzhou is the best choice besides Guangzhou, so they will naturally contact Youfeng.

However, this matter is so important that Youfeng dare not make a decision on her own.

Therefore, he could only use an express message of 800 miles to ask for the opinions of the court.

Upon hearing this, Yi frowned and thought, but did not make a rash decision.

Just asked.

"What do you think of this matter?"

Upon hearing this, Shengbao simply spoke.

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

Yi nodded slightly as if in approval, then asked.

"What's the reason?"

Shengbao replied after hearing this.

"In reply to the emperor, in my opinion, after the defeat in Jiangning, almost all of the elite troops in the Qing Dynasty were lost, and there is no way to turn the tide in Jiangnan."

"If we fail to send troops to contain the Tang thieves, Jiangnan will be lost immediately."

"Since the foreigners are willing to send troops to help our Qing Dynasty contain the Tang thieves, it is worth it even if our Qing Dynasty bears the food and wages they need for the war."

Yi heard this and nodded.

"Well, Shengbao is right."

"If foreigners help the Qing Dynasty contain the Tang thieves, I will have time to reorganize my elite troops and march south again to recover Jiangnan."

"In that case, there's no harm in agreeing to the foreigners' request for supplies."

"However, even if we say so, the foreigners want our Qing Dynasty to provide them with food and supplies, and we can't just talk without words."

"We have to make the foreigners bleed!"

When it comes to dealing with foreigners and even political skills, Yi is superior to Xianfeng.

If it were Emperor Xianfeng, in order to get the foreigners to send troops to help, let alone make demands, he would even want to agree to a few more unequal treaties.

But Yi's brain was very active. He knew that the foreigners wanted something from him now, and this was a good opportunity for him to control them.

If we can get some benefits from those foreigners, it will be profitable for the entire Qing Dynasty.

Upon hearing this, everyone bowed down.

"Your Majesty!"

Guiliang asked.

"May I ask your Majesty, what benefits should the Qing Dynasty ask for from the foreigners?"

Yi heard this and said, touching his chin.

"Not to mention guns and ammunition. No matter how many there are, our Qing Dynasty will never think it is too much."

"Besides that, we can also find a way to offset some of the loans that the Qing Dynasty borrowed from foreigners using tariffs as collateral."

"In addition, our Qing Dynasty can also take this opportunity to hire a group of military instructors and craftsmen from the foreigners, and send envoys to the foreigners' homeland to study..."

Everyone heard this and wrote it down one by one.

Yi seemed to remember something and continued.

"Also, I heard that the Tang thieves got something called a telegraph from the foreigners."

"Using telegraph to send messages thousands of miles away in an instant is truly a miracle."

"Contact the foreigners and tell them that the Qing Dynasty also wants it!"

"Tell them to find a way to get a few telegraph machines and technicians who can operate them."

The Tang Dynasty caused quite a stir when it set up a telegraph network within its territory.

Just to deter scoundrels from trying to steal the cables, hundreds of people were arrested or killed, and tens of thousands of people were implicated and their homes were searched, or their entire families were sent to labor camps.

They also offered a high reward for anyone who stole the cables, and published an advertisement on the front page of newspapers for several months to crack down on the theft of cables.

With such a big commotion, the Qing Dynasty would naturally receive the news.

(End of this chapter)