As a young intellectual, Hong Xiuquan founded his own so-called God-worshipping religion from a book called "Good Words to Encourage the World." Until now, he ignores foreign affairs and focuses on revising doctrines. He may have wasted a lot of time, but he has not understood himself. The God-worshipping religion has long been separated from the original teachings of Christianity, and even has obscene connotations. It has not considered whether anything should really be changed so that the people can really get what they want. On the contrary, when it comes to dealing with Western believers, he still insists on using his own teachings to change their views. This cannot but be said to be a tragedy for him. Especially at present, he believed that getting the support of foreign brothers would speed up his unification of the country. For this purpose, he did not think too much about it.
Like Yang Xiuqing, he adopted a strategy of neither explicitly admitting nor rejecting the unequal treaties proposed by foreigners that had already been signed with the Manchu Qing. The promises they made to their foreign brothers about "free entry and exit," "advance and retreat at will," "no taxes on goods," etc., were essentially damaging to the country's sovereignty. Obviously, they have not yet recognized the true nature of Western colonialists, and they lost due vigilance from the beginning. Compared with Emperor Xianfeng's unwillingness to lure wolves into the house, the leaders of the Taiping Rebellion were much more superficial than the Qing court in dealing with colonial aggression attempts by foreign powers.
Now facing Lin Haifeng¡¯s statement, Hong Xiuquan felt almost dismissive, ¡°How could that be?¡±
Yang Xiuqing was thinking more. He looked at Lin Haifeng and asked seriously: "No matter what, once we enter Shanghai, we will have to face them directly. How will I deal with this problem?"
"What does the King mean?" Lin Haifeng smiled and turned his head to Hong Xiuquan.
"I believe that we must not go to war with Western countries. This is contrary to the doctrine." Hong Xiuquan said it very simply.
Lin Haifeng looked at him and said nothing for a long time, but he was sneering in his heart. No wonder that in order to invade the Yangtze River in 1858, the British ships, led by Elgin, approached the outside of Tianjing City and paraded on the river to demonstrate. The Taiping Army fired artillery bombardments. Although bloodshed occurred on both sides, King Hong Xiuquan still stubbornly adhered to his earlier views. He issued an edict to behead the Taiping Army soldiers who fired the artillery and sent an envoy to apologize. He believed that Elgin's trip was a "Western expedition". "My brother goes to God" and "all the nations support me on the rooftop", and the "Western brothers" should also work with the Taiping Army to "fight the bed bugs with me".
"What if foreigners like them help Qingyao to fight against us?" Zheng Nan asked, "Are we still going to retreat?"
"This" Hong Xiuquan was stunned for a moment, "They will strictly maintain neutrality."
"How is it possible?" This time it was Lin Haifeng's turn to say this. "The Western powers used strong ships and cannons to knock on our country's door for their own interests. Which of the "Guangzhou Treaty" and "Nanjing Treaty" was not imposed on us? ? As long as you offend their interests, they will never strictly adhere to the so-called neutrality."
For the first time in several months, Lin Haifeng said "no" in front of the Heavenly King and the East King. Hong Xiuquan looked at Yang Xiuqing, and the two of them were speechless for a moment.
Seeing the uncomfortable look on Tianwang's face, Wei Changhui coughed to calm the air in the hall, "When Wenhan came to Tianjing, he was received by his younger brother, and the conversation was very harmonious. He introduced them to me. I also patted him on the shoulder and told him that our doctrines were the same, and he acted very sincerely. As Brother Haifeng said, he seemed to be very disgusted with China, but I didn¡¯t think so. He has no reason. Of course, Brother Haifeng knows the future and may realize something. I think we should still focus on etiquette."
His words were originally ambiguous and muddled, but they happened to find something to say to Lin Haifeng. Lin Haifeng stretched out his hand and was about to open his mouth when Zheng Nan stood up first and said, "Brother Bei Wang said it well. We are etiquette In a country, etiquette is of course the main thing. However, we still have to pay attention to propriety. When dealing with anyone, our slogan should be, no one will offend us; We will not recognize any unequal treaty on our heads, no matter who it is signed with. This point must be widely publicized in the future and must be seen by all the people in the country, especially those reactionary literati who wantonly slander the Chinese Empire. See, we are the ones who truly safeguard the interests of the country and the nation, and we will not bow to any hostile force!"
Haha, it seems that this Prince Ning is still a very bloody man! Not only was he not angry because Zheng Nan's words went against his wishes, but he felt more and more that the marriage between Xuan Jiao and Zheng Nan should be completed as soon as possible.
Yang Xiuqing doesn¡¯t want to dwell too much on this issue now. Although he saw the importance of Western weapons in war, he still looked down on those overseas barbarians in his heart. "Forget it, I can't explain this matter in a single sentence. Anyway, there is still time, so let's talk slowly. "He waved his hand towards LinFeng said, "Let's talk about the situation in Wanbei Nianzi again. Isn't Lai Hanying in contact with them now?"
"Okay, the situation is roughly like this. There are now five larger Nianzi forces around Guoyang, among which Zhang Lexing is the strongest, with a total of tens of thousands of men and horses gathered, which has a great influence. They focus on developing the cavalry team, They have good swimming ability." Lin Haifeng looked at Hong Xiuquan and several others, "However, their composition is complex, their discipline is relatively loose, and their hometown concept is also strong. Therefore, I agree with Brother Dongwang's opinion yesterday, that is, as long as they accept our Under the banner of the Celestial Empire, we will actively cooperate with our operations in northern Anhui and contain some of the Qingyao forces. We will not make large-scale mobilization of them for the time being."
"You can tell Lai Hanying that as long as they are willing to accept the rule of our Celestial Dynasty, Zhang Lexing will be made king and unified command of the Nianzi there. In this way, he can also expand the army on a large scale. Also, he can do the same with Liu Lichuan in Shanghai." Hong Xiuquan He stroked his beard and chuckled, "His so-and-so generalissimo is a bit nondescript."
Yang Xiuqing shook his head, "I don't think there is any need to add more titles in the future."
"Oh?" Hong Xiuquan looked at him with a smile and asked with some confusion, "Qingpao means"
"I still agree with what brother Haifeng said before, that the official system of the Celestial Dynasty must be slowly changed." Yang Xiuqing did not say any more. He knew in his heart that the purpose of the Celestial King's decision to make Zhang Lexing and Liu Lichuan king was not that simple.
"Okay, Qingpao is in charge of all government affairs in the empire. Since you said it, I don't mind." Hong Xiuquan waved his hand casually, looked at Zheng Nan, and then looked at Yang Xiuqing, "Qingpao, I'm asking for your help. How are you busy?"