"King Zhang, did you learn anything from your trip to Nanjing?" Wing King Shi Dakai asked Lin Fengxiang.
Ever since the death of Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, the Taiping Rebellion was most afraid of the Liberation Army's sudden attack. Ever since Tianjing City was moved from Nanjing to Chang 'an, the Taiping Rebellion knew that it was only a matter of time before Vézé swallowed them up. Heavenly King Hong was a man who cared a lot about his reputation. When he was alive, he had to put up a front no matter what and always said that he was the only master of the world. After Heavenly King Hong passed away, the Taiping Rebellion sent people to Nanjing to send some congratulatory gifts to Vézé during the Spring Festival.
This kind of tribute didn't cause any opposition in the Taiping Rebellion. If Vézé's Liberation Army attacked, the Taiping Rebellion naturally wouldn't sit still and wait for death. However, if Vézé was really willing to admit the Taiping Rebellion's vassal status in the northwest, most of the Taiping Army's higher-ups would probably accept it with joy.
Last year, the Taiping Rebellion sent an envoy with no status, but the Liberation Army only sent a lowly section chief to receive them. Although the Taiping Rebellion's higher-ups were annoyed, they didn't dare to cut off contact with the Liberation Army. This year, Lin Fengxiang went to the front personally.
Neither the Liberation Army nor the Taiping Army had any diplomatic exchanges with the Manchu Qing government. Correspondingly, before the Liberation Army forced the Taiping Rebellion to move its capital, they had some contacts with the Taiping Army. Therefore, the Taiping Army could continue to exist in the northwest even after the Liberation Army wiped out the Manchu Qing. In Lin Fengxiang's opinion, the lack of communication in the past two years wasn't a good thing. There was a great danger hidden in it.
"It's a long story." Lin Fengxiang sighed, his face full of worry.
Shi Dakai did not see any imminent danger in Lin Fengxiang's expression. He asked tentatively, "Did the Prince Of Qi make a request?"
When Heavenly King Hong was still alive, no one dared to publicly address Vézé as Prince Of Qi. After Heavenly King Hong passed away, this form of address became common again. They didn't have the guts to call Vézé by his name, and they didn't think it was appropriate. Of course, the generals of the Taiping Rebellion did not dare to call Vézé the Emperor. Therefore, the title of Prince Of Qi became a fixed one again. Shi Dakai liked to address him this way. This way, he could show his status as the Wing King. At the very least, his status in the Taiping Rebellion was still slightly higher than Vézé's.
"I met the Prince Of Qi this time. The Prince Of Qi still said the same thing. He hoped that we could go to Xinjiang," Lin Fengxiang answered with a regretful expression. Wing King Shi Dakai might have a psychological advantage when facing the Prince Of Qi, Vézé. However, ever since the coup in Tianjing, only Hong Xiuquan and Shi Dakai had a higher status than Vézé in the Taiping Rebellion. Everyone else was below Vézé. Below the King of the Four Directions were the Nobles with fiefs. Even if a veteran like Lin Fengxiang received the title of King, in terms of status, he still had to kneel down when he saw Vézé. Needless to say, Vézé was now more than a hundred times stronger than he was in the past.
The suggestion to let the Taiping Rebellion go to Xinjiang was not made by Vézé recently. In the past two years, the Taiping Rebellion and the Liberation Army had all received the same advice. Shi Dakai asked, "What did Prince Zhang see along the way?"
"Everything I saw along the way was full of vitality. Needless to say, there were trains and ships. There were tall buildings everywhere. The place I lived in was a four-story building. There were electric lights, a bathtub in the toilet, and cold water and hot water all day long. The latrine pit was not for squatting, but made of white porcelain. You could sit on it. After using it, you could press it and it flushed itself … "
Wing King Shi Dakai listened to Lin Fengxiang's description of the luxury in Nanjing. A hint of mockery appeared on his face. Shi Dakai had a lofty personality and despised indulgence in pleasure. Vézé was so extravagant that no matter how he looked at it, it looked like the country was about to perish. If Vézé had ruined himself, Shi Dakai would have clapped his hands in glee.
Lin Fengxiang let out a long sigh after he finished. Shi Dakai knew that Lin Fengxiang and Vézé had a good relationship. He thought that Lin Fengxiang felt sorry for Vézé's fall. But Lin Fengxiang continued, "The place I stayed in was a famous hotel in Nanjing. Since it was famous, it naturally had to be ostentatious. Later, I went to see some people's homes and found that the expenses in their homes were about the same as where I was staying. "Having said this, Lin Fengxiang couldn't help but sigh again.
Shi Dakai knew that Lin Fengxiang wasn't one to lie. Plus, he had a lot of people with him. As long as Shi Dakai asked around, he would know the truth immediately. Lin Fengxiang sighed because he saw the huge difference between Vézé's rule and the Taiping Rebellion's rule. This difference represented the difference in strength between the two sides. According to what Lin Fengxiang had said, this gap had already reached a horrifying level.
"Since Nanjing is the capital, it should be much better than other places." Shi Dakai gave his opinion. "I wonder if King Zhang could go to other places to take a look."
Hearing Shi Dakai's urgent question, Lin Fengxiang slowed down and said, "I went back to my hometown, Martial Serendipity."
Shi Dakai couldn't help but widen his eyes. It was normal to travel from Chang 'an to Nanjing for two months. He had never thought that Lin Fengxiang would go back to his hometown, Martial Serendipity in Nanning. From Chang 'an to Guangxi, and then to Nanjing to see Vézé in the middle. What kind of speed was that? Based on Shi Dakai's understanding of speed, it was impossible to travel from Chang 'an to Nanning in two months, let alone to make a round trip in two months.
"If I hadn't gone back to Martial Serendipity to see my family, I wouldn't have known that it was Martial Serendipity!" Lin Fengxiang's voice became intense. "King Yi, can you believe that every family in Martial Serendipity eats rice every day and has meat for every meal?"
Pfft! Shi Dakai laughed. Of course, he knew what kind of a poor place like Martial Serendipity was. There was a popular ballad in that area, "New debt in June, new rent in October, two grains made by two grains, but not a single grain throughout the year." "Eight hundred Miao Jiang Ting Jia Wei, scattered for thirty-six cases. Teams of foxes move like tigers. Villages ride horses and eat meat. Riding horses, eating meat, hoeing money, hoeing until seven hoes are pitiful. (The natives have a proverb for hoeing: One hoe for the officials, two hoe for the officials, three hoe for the jia wei, four hoe for the servants, five hoe for the six hoe for the servants, and seven hoe for the family.) " Needless to say, they ate rice every day and had meat for every meal. As long as the locals didn't starve to death, Lin Fengxiang and the rest wouldn't rebel.
Because Lin Fengxiang was exaggerating, Shi Dakai couldn't help but laugh out loud. After laughing, he immediately regained his composure. "What's going on?"
Lin Fengxiang began to talk about what he saw in Martial Serendipity. Actually, Martial Serendipity didn't lack land, but it was mostly dry land with higher positions. Without water to irrigate, dry land couldn't be used as farmland. Martial Serendipity had a good climate with sufficient light and heat, abundant rainfall, mountains, and rivers. In fact, it didn't lack water.
The Restoration Party had a set of standards for each area. Martial Serendipity was defined as a tobacco, sugarcane, cassava, peanut, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery farming area. Once the people divided the land, they would close the mountains for afforestation, build reservoirs, and construct irrigation canals. Martial Serendipity was a continuous piece of land, so tobacco, sugarcane, and farmland were planted in a large scale. Areas prone to soil erosion were planted with trees and bamboo to stabilize the soil and increase income at the same time. Animal husbandry was done by the government with technology and the farmers themselves. After paying the public grain tax, the local people had enough food for themselves. There were also cash crops such as sugarcane, tobacco, and trees. As long as they weren't the kind of people who would rather die than work hard, how could the local people not have a good life?
Rice could fill their stomachs, and cassava could provide starch. After sugar was extracted from sugarcane, the bagasse could be fermented to make wine. Chicken, duck, and fish were fried in local peanut oil, mixed with soy sauce, soy sauce, and spices provided by the cooperative to make different flavors. After eating and drinking, they would have a cigarette produced by the local tobacco factory. The food of the people in Martial Serendipity was quite good.
Moreover, Martial Serendipity didn't lack land, and it met the requirements to apply for tractors. After mechanical farming, the local people's manpower was liberated. Lin Fengxiang couldn't stop praising these iron oxen.
At first, Shi Dakai was curious to hear Lin Fengxiang's story, but he suddenly pulled a long face and said loudly, "King Zhang! Stop talking! Even if Martial Serendipity has changed so much, it doesn't mean that other places are the same. Guangxi has been poor for so long, how could it become the same in Martial Serendipity in just a dozen years! "
Even though he was scolded by Shi Dakai, Lin Fengxiang didn't get angry. If the person he was talking to was not Shi Dakai, Lin Fengxiang actually didn't want to talk about his experience back home. Lin Fengxiang saw it with his own eyes in his hometown, and investigated it himself. Then, he immediately chose to escape from Martial Serendipity. Lin Fengxiang knew that if he continued to stay at home, he would completely lose the courage to return to the Taiping Rebellion.
Nineteen years ago, Lin Fengxiang joined the Taiping army and embarked on the path of rebellion. At that time, he also thought that if he overthrew the Manchu Qing and seized the world, he would definitely make his hometown better. Returning to his hometown after leaving for nineteen years, Lin Fengxiang realized that the beautiful future he imagined for Martial Serendipity was only twenty percent of the current situation.
His hometown had become better, of course, Lin Fengxiang was happy. But this happiness was also interrogating Lin Fengxiang's heart. The relationship between the Taiping army and the Liberation Army was complicated, and they were essentially hostile forces. After witnessing the Liberation Army's political and martial arts skills, how could the Taiping Rebellion be hostile to Vézé? Could it be because of the small number of troops in his hands? No matter what choice others would make, Lin Fengxiang felt very weak in his heart.
When Vézé turned Lin Fengxiang's hometown upside down, the only reason for Lin Fengxiang to oppose Vézé was completely because of Lin Fengxiang. The upper echelons of the Taiping Rebellion already had their own vested interests, so Lin Fengxiang had to stand on the opposite side of Vézé for these interests, and even had to fight with Vézé to protect these vested interests.
I embarked on the path of rebellion for the betterment of my hometown …
For the group I belonged to, I had to find a way to kill the person who made my hometown better …
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