You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

The central axis extends all the way to the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City.

The funeral procession, composed of veteran Zhili Green Standard Army generals, headed north, with paper money flying everywhere and cries echoing through the sky. Crowds of onlookers lined the route, but remained completely silent.

Nobody dared to stir up trouble.
These Beijing men, who grew up right under the emperor's nose, may seem loud and boisterous at times, but they all know very well what the real forbidden zones are.

In today's game, whoever touches it dies.

As the procession approached Zhengyang Gate.

Five hundred fully armed flag guards blocked their way.

The two sides entered a stalemate.
On one side were veteran officials who had followed the Grand Secretary and his son into the Qing Dynasty and enjoyed extremely high prestige within the Zhili army.

One side consists of descendants of the inner city bannermen who were born after the founding of the United Empire.

An old man stepped out of the ranks, looked up at the sky, and roared, "Admiral Zheng, you died unjustly!"

"I'm innocent!"

The crowd wailed in unison.

Then they carried Zheng Siwei's coffin forward in unison.

The young guards were not to be outdone, and they all drew their swords, as if a violent conflict was about to break out.

……

In the distance~
A lone rider galloped in.

The knight held a golden token.

"The Grand Secretary has decreed that a curfew will be imposed in the capital in half an hour. Anyone who moves within the nine gates without authorization, regardless of who they are, will be executed without mercy!"

The flag guards dismounted in unison, knelt on one knee, and pounded the ground with the blade of their swords in their right hands.

"As ordered."

The old men at the funeral did not react.

The knight raised the golden token once more.

"Do you intend to disobey orders?"

No one responded.

All the old men simultaneously tore open their shirts.

Everyone present gasped in shock. Sword wounds, gunshot wounds, burns—all sorts of horrifying injuries covered the old men's bodies.

Silence~
A terrifying silence~
An old man took off the sword from his waist and held it in his hand.

"This knife was personally bestowed upon us by the Grand Secretary in the 8th year of the Shunzhi Emperor's reign. Back then, the Grand Secretary was still Jiang Qingtian of Nancheng. We followed the Grand Secretary through thick and thin, fought bloody battles, and overcame one difficulty after another, which led to the establishment of the United Empire."

The knight remained silent.

The old man continued:
"A curfew? At the end of the Shunzhi reign, I was ordered to lead my men to enforce a curfew in the capital. We killed so many that rivers of blood flowed, and the corpses weren't even burned. When it comes to enforcing curfews, we are the true masters!"

The knight suppressed his anger.

"General, please understand the difficulties faced by the Grand Secretary and the imperial court."

"Understanding? We've been understanding that the Grand Secretary has been unwilling to declare himself emperor all these years, giving up readily available titles and the wealth and glory of our families. But now, what serious crime has Old Zheng committed by not wanting to exchange his silver ingots?"

"The imperial court has stipulated that everyone must exchange currency."

"Regulations? Are regulations given? Are we just ordinary people?"

The old man suddenly drew his knife and held it to his own neck.

"Brothers, let's get justice for Old Zheng! Charge over my dead body!!"

After shouting, he drew his sword horizontally.

Blood splattered on the spot.

……

The tragedy happened so suddenly that no one had time to react.

This man's death drastically changed the situation.

Tens of seconds later~
Driven by the sight of blood, hundreds of shirtless old men, their eyes bloodshot, formed a neat line and strode forward, determined to charge the Flag Guard's formation.

The flag guards lost all their momentum and retreated in disarray.

After all, no one dares to actually start a massacre.
Just as the old man who just committed suicide said, "Are we ordinary people?" Of course not, they are the founding fathers of the empire.

Without the Prime Minister's order, no one would dare to kill these people at this time and place!!!
Chaos broke out at Zhengyang Gate.

Half an hour later~
The Temple of Heaven was also captured, and Zheng Siwei's coffin was placed inside. The sound of weeping was deafening.
……

Yuquanshan Imperial Palace.

Zhou Shao rode up at breakneck speed.

"Quickly, something's happened! Take me to see the Grand Secretary."

Upon reaching the summit in one breath and seeing Jiang Qingyun, Zhou Shao blurted out...

"Prime Minister, something has happened. Make immediate preparations for the response."

After listening to the whole thing, Jiang Qingyun was stunned for two seconds. He really didn't expect these old men to be so fierce and forcefully tear down the face of the United Empire.

Even more dangerous is~
"Grand Secretary, quickly transfer troops from the provinces to the capital."

Looking at his sworn brother with his white hair, Jiang Qingyun smiled. Even at this point, to still have a brother who would risk his life for him, and to have a brotherhood that has remained unchanged for 25 years, he was content.

"Old Zhou, don't rush, sit down."

Zhou Shao sat down and drank tea voraciously, but was immediately choked and coughed incessantly.

Jiang Qingyun waved.

Immediately, a maidservant stepped forward and gently patted Zhou Shao's back to stop his cough.

Jiang Qingyun pondered for a moment, but did not rush to deploy troops.

"Where's my dad? Tell him to come here."

"Yes."

……

Half an hour later.

Sitting in a soft palanquin, the sickly Jiang Zhongcheng arrived. Zhou Shao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, half of the worst thing was over.

Jiang Qingyun remained calm.

"Father, how are you?"

"What a load of bull! I'll never even get the title of Emperor Emeritus before I die. What the hell did you study all these years for? If you weren't going to be emperor, what the hell were you doing all these years?"

Although Jiang Zhongcheng used very vulgar language.

But Jiang Qingyun wasn't angry at all; instead, he helped his father to a seat.

"Father, something has happened in the capital. Your old subordinates carried Zheng Siwei's coffin and occupied the Temple of Heaven, tearing down the empire's dignity and trampling on it like a ball."

"Can you blame them? What were they hoping to gain by risking their lives to fight alongside you? They wanted to secure a good future for their wives and children, and bring glory to their ancestors. And what did you do? You put together some bullshit cabinet and bullshit local councils. They're doing you a favor by not rebelling. Cough cough cough~"

Jiang Zhongcheng had a severe cough.

Jiang Qingyun knew that his father's death was imminent, so he endured all the scolding.

"Dad, have some water."

"You scoundrel, who has bewitched you to choose sainthood over emperor? Sainthood never ends well. Do you even know that your father had a family before?"

"I don't know."

"When Emperor Chongzhen was in power, I was serving as a border soldier in Shanxi. I married a wife and had several children, but they all starved to death."

Do you remember them?

“I don’t remember. I’ve forgotten what they looked like, completely forgotten.” Jiang Zhongcheng’s eyes were full of tears, and his arms trembled uncontrollably. “Later, I followed the officials and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. I was given land, cattle, and silver. Later, I married your mother.”

"Father, I did all these things for the greater good."

"Bullshit! When I was starving on the frontier, who ever spoke of righteousness to me? Of all those officials who passed the imperial examinations, did any of them have righteousness in their hearts?"

"Father, didn't you wish there were officials like me back then?"

Jiang Zhongcheng was speechless.

After a long while, he sighed softly, and stopped cursing and talking.

……

My mother, Wen's, grave is nearby.

The father and son visited the ancestral graves again, remaining silent to each other.

"Son, are you really sure?"

"Yes."

"Then can you give me a good posthumous title? I can't be the retired emperor in life, but I want to experience what it's like to be the retired emperor in death."

"Is it not in accordance with the rites of Zhou?"

"Come on, what have you done all these years in accordance with the rites of Zhou? I don't care about rites or anything like that. After I die, my tombstone must be inscribed with: 'The Supreme Emperor, who received the mandate of Heaven, possessed divine virtue and merit, established the foundation of the dynasty, and was benevolent, filial, wise, martial, upright, resolute, and righteous.'"

"Okay, deal."

“You swear an oath to your ancestors.”

Jiang Qingyun calmly accepted the agreement. Although there were too many words on the tombstone, it didn't matter. He could just replace it with a bigger one.

"What are your plans for handling the aftermath at the Temple of Heaven?"

"I do not know."

“They are all my old subordinates, I’ll go and try to persuade them.”

"Thank you, Father." Jiang Zhongcheng left in his sedan chair, while Jiang Qingyun continued to pay respects at a smaller tomb nearby, where his most loyal maid, Lüzhu, was buried.

Green Pearl died of illness, probably from a heart attack. Her death was sudden, and she didn't even leave a word.

Her life was very simple; she only had one person in her heart, and that was herself, the young master of the Jiang family.

Green Pearl is a good woman.
After walking several dozen feet, we pulled away the weeds on the ground and revealed a small, cute-looking tomb, inside which lay the peacefully deceased Sanhua.

Calico is a good cat~
……

at dusk.

Jiang Zhongcheng returned in a soft-drawn carriage, looking utterly exhausted.

The first thing he said when he got back was, "Kill them!"

"Father, why won't those people go home?"

"No, they've already gone home, but the way they looked at me at the Temple of Heaven made me feel very uncomfortable, just like the way I looked at those gentry when I was in the border army."

"I see."

"Back then, you defied all opposition and maintained the Banner Guard and Miyun Army. Did you foresee this day?"

"Yes."

"Can the new army be relied upon?"

"Most of the new army soldiers are reliable, but senior officers are not necessarily so."

"Yun'er, you won't hold back, will you?"

"Father, have you ever seen me go easy on you?"

Jiang Zhongcheng smiled. "Speak softly, but do tough things. I know my son's methods well."

Suddenly, his gaze passed over Jiang Qingyun's shoulder and landed on a young maid.

"she?"

Jiang Qingyun understood and then waved his hand.

"what's your name?"

"My name is Fei'er."

"Fei'er, I'm giving you 50 taels of gold. From today onwards, you will serve my father."

"Yes."

The maid, Fei'er, was slightly disappointed, but she could only accept reality.

……

The coup attempt seemed to have passed, and the Grand Secretary did not pursue the matter further, but secretly began a series of personnel reshuffles.

Newton joined the cabinet.

Li Guoying joined the cabinet.

Zhou Shao left Beijing to serve as the Governor-General of Zhili and concurrently led the Baoding New Army.

Fengtian Military Governor Wang Jinbao was ordered to enter the pass and serve as the Zhili Green Standard Army Commander.

Meng Qiaofang's son, Meng Xiongchen, entered the cabinet as the governor of Shaanxi.

Li Dingguo's son, Li Sixing, was appointed as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and was in charge of the Tongzhou granary.

Wait ~
In addition, 10 communication towers will be added between Yuquanshan and Miyun.

Only Yongding Gate remains open in the south city; the others are temporarily closed for renovation.

……

The Zhili Green Standard Army.

A military official announced the decree.

"By order of the Cabinet, effective immediately, all armed forces of the Empire will be reorganized, with the Baoding New Army and the Zhili Green Standard Army as the first pilot units."

"The original organizational structure was abolished and changed to Town-Agency-Standard-Battalion-Team-Platoon-Shelter."

"The reorganization will last for one month. During this period, in order to prevent chaos, each unit must take inventory of weapons, seal artillery, put warhorses into pens, and store gunpowder in warehouses."

"Six ministries will send personnel to assist in the compilation, registration, and cataloging."

"To prevent chaos, each unit will be reorganized and deployed at the same time. The purpose is to allow you to train together, get to know your personnel and officers. After reorganization, all soldiers will receive an additional silver coin in their monthly pay, while officers' pay will remain unchanged."

"Long live."

The soldiers cheered in unison.

The officer remained silent.

……

Baoding Military Academy.

"Effective immediately, by order of the Prime Minister, our school will begin live-fire exercises. All students must carry firearms and weapons with them at all times, even while sleeping or eating."

"Add two guards at the entrance and double the patrol team."

"No one may enter or leave the school without authorization. For any suspicious person who trespasses on our school, the sentry will issue a warning the first time and may shoot them dead the second time."

"As ordered!"

The trainees were inexplicably excited.

The two successful candidates who came to the imperial examinations with guns were no ordinary soldiers. They sensed that there was a change in the court and the country, and everyone was eager to make a name for themselves.

Crises often contain abundant opportunities.

For these rural youths with no connections, the prime minister was a mentor, a school principal, and a guide in the officialdom.

Someone used a dagger to carve on the earthen wall of the latrine: "Pillow your sword and wait for dawn, ready to serve the king."

Many people later engraved: I second that!

The atmosphere in the Gyeonggi region is becoming increasingly tense.

But Jiang Qingyun remained unhurried, spending his days eating, drinking, and having fun at Yuquan Mountain, occasionally going to the shooting range.

……

Zhou Shao was very nervous.

"Grand Secretary, should we send reinforcements from other provinces to the capital?"

"No need."

"Prime Minister, it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Old Zhou, historically, seven or eight out of ten mutinies are instigated by young and middle-aged officers. Soldiers, kept in the dark, are intimidated by military discipline and the officers' authority, and thus go down the wrong path. However, as long as the dynasty's vitality has not been exhausted and the central government still has prestige, mutinies generally end in failure."

"The Grand Secretary is truly a god descended from heaven."

"A mutiny is not scary; silence is. Let all the treacherous officials jump out and openly oppose me so that I can wipe them all out in one fell swoop."

Zhou Shao remained silent.

More than 20 years have passed, but the chief minister's character and conduct have never changed; he remains as sincere as ever.

"Come on, let's go see Newton's new invention."

Yuquanshan Machinery Bureau.

Although the steam engine had not yet been invented, water-powered and animal-powered machines were already quite advanced. Before popularizing the steam engine, the machine-based handicraft industry should be popularized first.

For a genius scientist like Newton, it would be a waste of his talent to bury himself in studying such a small object.

He is flexible and adaptable, and is exceptionally talented.

Improved flintlock musket~
Hydraulic forging hammer machine~
A new breech-loading 2-pounder city defense gun~
Defensive rolling mine~
Fully enclosed pig-faced iron helmet~
Looking at these small-scale mass-produced weapons, Newton sadly recalled the two years he spent studying science in the country attic, after which he never studied science again.

Life was reduced to three things: being an official, alchemy, and proving God's existence.

……

As the reorganization proceeded, the treacherous officials finally couldn't hold back any longer.

1676.
February 24th.

As winter turned to spring, dozens of young and strong military officers secretly gathered at a farm in the suburbs of Baoding, deciding to launch an uprising two days later to overthrow the corrupt rule of Chief Minister Chiang Kai-shek by force.

Behind them are old men.

Faced with enormous profits, the Zhili Green Camp ultimately chose betrayal.

"Speed ​​is of the essence in war. We should attack Yuquan Mountain directly. As long as we kill the chief minister, everything will be fine."

"To be on the safe side, let's take the capital first and seize all the treasuries."

"The capital is too big; we can't swallow it all."

Quarreling.

It's simply a conflict between the radicals and the conservatives regarding their proposed solutions.

suddenly~
Someone asked a crucial question: "If we kill Chief Minister Chiang, who should we support as emperor?"

"Governor-General Chiang had several sons."

"No, let's just support Zhu Youlang as the nominal emperor, and let the rest of us take control of the government."

"Abolish the cabinet?"

“There’s absolutely no need to abolish it. We can form a new military cabinet for the United Empire.”

The cold wind is howling outside~
The young and strong officers took turns cutting their palms and swearing an oath of blood.

"We do not seek to be born on the same day, month, and year, but we seek to die on the same day, month, and year. On February 26th, we will march on Yuquan Mountain!" (End of Chapter)