C8 (1/2)
Chapter 8 - The Mr. Xiao's Instruction of the Rivers and Mountains
”Kneel down …” gray beard behind him fiercely kicked, this time with enough strength, Great Xiao Letian directly knelt onto the ground.
”Stinky brat, you've killed so many of our brothers. Just cutting off your head is already enough to make you our king … ”Our leader has a Bodhisattva's heart. Remember this kid, you have to hide from me in your next life too.” After that, he raised the steel blade that had killed countless people up high, and in the next second, it was Xiao Letian's doomsday.
”You'll regret it if you kill me, because I am the only one who knows the reason for your Heavenly Kingdom's failure, and I am the only one who knows how to overthrow the Qing Dynasty …” At this time, Xiao Letian threw caution to the wind, because he knew that if he did not use this trump card, he would definitely die.
”If you kill me, no one will be able to answer your questions, and the questions in your heart will never be answered …”
”Stop!” Shi Dakai had already been overwhelmed by Xiao Letian's aura, he never thought that this young man would be so arrogant. If millions of capable people in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could not find out the reason for the failure, how could you understand it with just a second ghost? Wait, Second Demon? This mountain rock could be used to fight for jade. Who knew if he might really have some dry goods in his stomach.
When the news of the fall of Tianjing spread, Shi Dakai also sank into a deep state of confusion. He did not know where the Heavenly Kingdom was wrong? Was it wrong to overthrow the power of the Qing Dynasty's Tattoo? Was it wrong to overturn the slave owners who were riding on the necks of the Chinese in the whole world? Is it unpopular to abrogate unequal treaties with foreigners?
Yes, Shi Dakai also knew that the internal strife and internal strife in the Sky Nation was extremely serious. But to push all the sins of failure onto the inside? Shi Dakai felt that this reason was not enough, but what was it that was missing? He couldn't figure it out.
Countless of nights had passed since Shi Dakai sat there watching a dried up lamp for an entire night. He racked his brain to recall the eleven years of history that had sprung up in the Kingdom of Heaven until it was destroyed, but he could not find the answer to the key question that he was looking for. Sometimes he looked through the history books and the books left behind by the saints, trying to find the crux of the problem from the subtleties, but the saints of thousands of years ago seemed helpless against this world of confusion.
Seek, fail, seek again, fail again... Shi Dakai's mood had already reached the brink of collapse. Until just now, this young man who called herself Alone overseas said that he knew the answer to the question?
Shi Dakai grabbed Xiao Letian's collar: ”Young man, I advise you not to play with fire. If you can't say anything, just wanting to stall for time, then what's waiting for you isn't to chop your head off.
Xiao Letian took a few deep breaths fiercely. He knew that he had grasped the rhythm of the negotiations and he had cut a wound in Shi Dakai's heart that was sealed tightly. Xiao Letian did not care if the wound was bloody, he only wanted to save the lives of the hundred people in Mountain Temple.
Xiao Letian said fiercely, ”Release the people from the Mountain Temple, they are not your enemies, if not I will not reveal even half a word to you …”
”Hehe, if you want the lives of those people, it will depend on whether the answer you gave me is worth it or not. ”Don't worry, I, Shi Dakai, am a man of indomitable spirit. I, Shi Dakai, have not been called a free man. I can't lie to you …”
Xiao Letian rubbed his wrists that were tied up in pain, and said coldly: ”I will believe you this one time, time is of the essence, I don't have the effort to circle around you guys. With your knowledge, prince, you already know that overthrowing Qing Dynasty is an extremely difficult mission, if I just casually said that I can give you two tactics that can overthrow Qing Dynasty, even you wouldn't believe me …”
”How about this, I can only discuss this from an area that you are not familiar with. Although it is just the tip of the iceberg, it can still help you open up your mind …”
Xiao Letian thought for a long time, then carefully organized his words. He picked up a tree branch and started to draw on the sand. ”This is Britain, France, and this is the continental Europe. There is also Africa, and India, all the way to China …”
Xiao Letian began to talk about the Second Opium War, from the Yarrow incident, the incident with Priest Ma all the way to the battle with the oculi bridge and even setting the Yuan Ming Yuan on fire. Here, Xiao Letian was not simply reviewing the entire matter, but he had also analyzed all the interests of the Western powers behind the war.
”In the First Opium War, after Lin Zexu's war, the British gave up Hong Kong island and forced the Qing dynasty to open up. Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, Shanghai, these five ports were officially filled with foreigners, but this is still far from enough.”
Initially, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was at its worst, the foreign citizens wanted to get more rights to negotiate from Tianjing City. However, they never expected that Hong Xiuquan and the others were even more hostile towards the foreign delegates, and actually unilaterally declared that the Qing dynasty's treaty with the foreign citizens was null and void. It also provoked chaos in the Shanghai Knife Club.
From that moment onwards, the foreigners had completely given up on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and were trying to support it. But unfortunately, although the Qing Dynasty had lost to the First Opium War, they did not seem to be hurt. They still stubbornly believed themselves to be from the Empire of Heaven.
Since the Qing Dynasty was not enlightened, then she could only use military power. Thus, although the war seemed to be coincidental, it was definitely inevitable.