My Realistic Simulation Game

Chapter 285 Proclaiming My Ambition to the World

Inside the commander's mansion, Qin Yuan handed Zeng Jinqian a manuscript with the ink still wet.

"Mr. Zeng, the good news about the liberation of Fuzhou will be published tomorrow and announced to the world. Also, this is a new article I have written, which will be published as well."

Zeng Jinqian was pleased with the liberation of Fuzhou, but not surprised. It was an inevitable trend that he had anticipated, only that the timing was a little earlier.

What attracted him even more at this moment was the new article written by Qin Yuan himself.

Zeng Jinqian was well aware of the profound impact of those three powerful articles that had previously stirred up a huge wave in Fujian and even further.

After that, he urged Qin Yuan to write the manuscript many times. Qin Yuan also produced a sequel about the history of the Manchu massacre and the Western powers. Each issue sold at least 10,000 copies.

But clearly, this is the main event.

He immediately took the manuscript with both hands and eagerly read it.

Zhang Suimou, Yu Zian, and others, unable to contain their curiosity, gathered around.

At the top of the manuscript, a title, bold and clear, came into view:

The Age of Sea Power

Zeng Jinqian took a deep breath, cleared his throat amidst the expectant gazes of the crowd, and slowly recited the opening lines:
"The decline of China is not solely due to its loss of land power, but even more so to its loss of maritime power. To restore the glory of China, we must first contend for supremacy at sea; for China to prosper forever, we must hold maritime power and connect with all nations."

Silence, deathly silence!

This very first sentence, which clearly states the purpose of the discussion, resonated like a thunderclap in everyone's ears.

Zhang Suimou, Yu Zian, and the others' pupils contracted, and their breathing faltered!
"Sea power"? "Competing for supremacy at sea"?
This is a completely new strategic dimension that they have never thought about deeply, or even clearly realized!

Throughout history, both the Taiping Army and the Restoration Army have focused their strategic efforts on the defense and attack of cities on land and on mobile warfare.

At this moment, the commander-in-chief turned his gaze to the boundless sea and put forward an unprecedented grand idea!
Zeng Jinqian's voice trembled slightly as he continued reading. The article, with its powerful momentum, reviewed the rise of the two great powers through their maritime power, lamented the humiliation suffered by China due to its closed-door policy and loss of maritime power, and sharply refuted the fallacy that China was a land power and that ignoring the ocean was unimportant.

Every word and every sentence struck the hearts of everyone present like a heavy hammer, opening a door to a completely new strategic world for them.

Just as Zeng Jinqian had predicted, this newspaper, once published, caused a huge reaction across the country, in all provinces, counties and cities, and at all levels of society.

……

The capital city, the Forbidden City, the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Prince Gong Yixin held a copy of the latest Guangfu Xinbao newspaper and read aloud passages from "The Age of Sea Power" clearly, word by word.

"Looking at the global situation, for hundreds of years, the reason why the Western barbarians have been able to dominate thousands of miles and command thousands of people is not only due to their superior firearms, but also because of their convenient ships and their strong maritime power!"

"Spain and Portugal occupied the Americas, the Netherlands occupied the South Seas, and England, with its three islands and its powerful warships, roamed the seven seas and was known as 'the sun never sets'."

"What they seek is not a single city or territory, but control of shipping routes, monopolization of commercial profits, and the use of global resources to sustain their nation and the wealth of the world to strengthen their military..."

"Our great nation of China, though possessing a vast maritime territory, has been closed off from the world, lacking both maritime defense and maritime power. This led to the Opium Wars and the opening of our doors... In today's world, maritime power is of paramount importance to the nation's survival; the loss of maritime power will inevitably lead to national peril!"

Even as he finished speaking, the hall remained so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

An elderly minister with white hair and beard finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked in a trembling voice, "Prince Gong, this... this was really written by the Cantonese bandit Shi?"

He simply couldn't believe that such a profound and insightful article, which addressed the very foundations of the nation, could have come from the hand of someone they called a "bandit."

Yi glanced at him, his tone indifferent yet certain: "Lord Du, this article is undoubtedly written by Shi Dakai."

He turned his gaze to Emperor Xianfeng on the throne, his tone meaningful, "Moreover, this report not only contains the original text in classical Chinese, but also includes a vernacular translation, intended so that even the common people in the world can understand it."

His act of openly reading the "rebellious document" at the court assembly was undoubtedly an attempt to force his elder brother, the reigning emperor, to abdicate and hold him accountable.

Emperor Xianfeng sat upright on the dragon throne, his face so gloomy it seemed to drip water.

His previously devised strategy to encircle and suppress Shi Dakai now appears to have almost completely failed.

Zhejiang authorities took strict precautions to prevent the Taiping Army from leaving the province and joining forces with Shi Dakai. As a result, the Restoration Army launched a counterattack, causing chaos and upheaval in western Zhejiang.

The army of 100,000 entered Fujian to suppress the rebellion, but now it is surrounded on all sides and is in imminent danger.

Fuzhou, the provincial capital on which he had placed high hopes, fell to the new ruler in less than a week.

With the situation deteriorating to this point, it is probably only a matter of time before the entire province of Fujian falls to the enemy.

Although Zeng Guofan's side did its utmost to sweep through Jiangxi, a large number of remnants of the Taiping Army from Jiangxi poured into Fujian, which actually strengthened the momentum of the Restoration Army. Difficult! Difficult! Difficult!
A sense of powerlessness and anger welled up in Emperor Xianfeng's heart. He, the emperor of a country, had mobilized the entire nation's strength, yet he couldn't crush Shi Dakai.

Where is the problem?

Why did Fuzhou fall so quickly?

If we can hold out for a longer period of time, and wait for the 100,000-strong army of Fu Ning Prefecture to fight the main force of the Restoration Army, the outcome will still be uncertain!

The turning point was simply because Fuzhou was lost too quickly and too suddenly!

"I want to ask you all," Emperor Xianfeng's icy voice broke the silence, "Why? Why is it that before any secret reports of the fall of Fuzhou have been submitted from various regions, these reports are already being widely publicized? Is our intelligence system so slow? Has Fujian really been turned into an impenetrable fortress by Shi Dakai?!"

"I need to know the safety of the 100,000 troops in Fuzhou! I need to know the truth behind the fall of Fuzhou!"

"And that damned Qingrui, as a high-ranking official, he lost cities and territories within a week. He deserves to die a thousand deaths to atone for his crimes!"

"Who can tell me the answer?!"

His gaze turned coldly to Prince Gong: "Prince Gong, your information network is so extensive that it extends to Jiangxi and Fujian. Can you give me the answer?"

When Yi was questioned in public, he dared not show his sharpness again and remained silent.

The reason he was able to get the newspaper so quickly was that he had spies in Jiangxi and Fujian who delivered this "weapon" that was powerful enough to strike at his political enemies to the capital as soon as possible.

However, with Fuzhou fallen, it was already a stroke of luck that he was able to obtain this latest newspaper; how could he possibly know what happened on the night Fuzhou fell?

Seeing this, Su Shun sighed inwardly and stepped forward to break the deadlock: "Your Majesty, now is not the time to pursue blame. The most urgent task is to find a way to support the 100,000 troops in Fujian!"

"If these 100,000 men are all wiped out in Fuzhou, not only will Fujian be lost, but the gateway to Zhejiang will also be wide open, and Shi will be able to freely enter and leave Zhejiang in the future!"

Emperor Xianfeng certainly wanted to save them, but to do so, he had to rely on Zeng Guofan's power. But could Zeng Guofan be mobilized at the moment?
Just as he hesitated, the chief eunuch nervously took a memorial from a junior eunuch and quickly presented it to the emperor.

When Emperor Xianfeng saw the words "Zeng Guofan's secret memorial," he was immediately moved and began to read it.

The next moment, his face turned ashen, and his hand holding the memorial trembled slightly with anger.

"Yeah!"

His voice was cold and sharp, like ice, "The militia rebelled and opened the gates of Fuzhou... It turns out that Fuzhou was surrendered by an inside agent!"

"This inside man is the son of Shen Baozhen, the prefect of Guangxin!"

He suddenly looked up, his gaze sweeping across the ranks of Han officials in the hall like a knife: "You Han officials, you are truly remarkable!"

When these words were spoken, everyone in the hall was shocked.

Several Han Chinese officials, led by Kuang Yuan, Du Han, and Jiao Youying, were so frightened that they immediately knelt down to beg for forgiveness, their backs instantly soaked with cold sweat.

Seeing this, Yi immediately seized the opportunity to attack: "Your Majesty! I have long said that the Han people cannot be trusted at all! In the end, it is still us Manchus who can save the Qing Dynasty!"

These Han Chinese ministers were all Su Shun's men; how could Yi not seize the opportunity?

Su Shun quickly retorted, "Your Majesty! In this critical situation, we cannot do without the service of our Han ministers!"

"I suggest that Zeng Guofan be ordered immediately to arrest Shen Baozhen and bring him to justice!"

"Hmph!" Emperor Xianfeng sneered, throwing the memorial to the ground. "Arrest him? Shen Baozhen has already abandoned his post and fled! Do you think you can catch him?!"

He was also feeling sad.

They originally thought that by choosing to descend upon Emperor Xianfeng, they could quickly pacify the world.

However, the complexity of this instance far exceeded his expectations.

If even a capable official like Shen Baozhen chose to betray or flee this Qing dynasty, then how much loyalty can be found in this great Qing empire?

He doesn't know who to use or who not to use now.

Can Zeng Guofan be trusted?

Once he quelled the Taiping Rebellion, he would not seek to establish himself independently.

Disaster!Disaster!Disaster!
……

(End of this chapter)