Pan Shiming's cheerfulness made Jin Anqing realize that Yuan Qi suddenly introduced the policies and systems of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with great fanfare, and its purpose may be to attack and criticize, which made him a little puzzled, what was Yuan Qi's intention? This was obviously not done in order to preserve the legitimacy of the imperial court. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

Twisting his beard and pondering for a while, he said, "Brother Zecheng, can you reveal what Yuan Qi's intentions are?" How did the old man feel like he was being sold and still helping to count the silver. ”

"We can't afford Mr. Kim." Pan Shiming said with a smile: "Our newspaper has invested a lot over the years, but it has been a small profit, this is not to use the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to hype, in order to increase the circulation of the newspaper, today's newspaper is selling surprisingly well, this is not being printed." ”

Seeing that he refused to tell the truth, Jin An glanced at him innocently and said, "It's just a matter of time before you see the poor dagger." ”

Pan Shiming simply didn't accept this, and changed his words: "There are many policies and systems in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, even if we want to criticize them, we will come one by one, after all, the newspaper space is limited." The newspaper intends to criticize and refute one after another, and only after a long stream of water can the circulation of the newspaper increase steadily. ”

Hearing this, Jin Anqing felt aggrieved for a while, and he felt like he was being led by the nose, he knew very well that since the newspaper was no longer submitted for review, the power to guide public opinion was completely in the hands of the newspaper or Yuan Qi, however, the Governor's Office was now eager to write an article to criticize the policies and systems of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and there was a way that people had to bow their heads under the eaves, although he was aggrieved, he still said in a muffled voice: "Which one does Brother Cheng plan to start with first?" ”

"Hong Xiuquan's three articles "Song of the Salvation of the Original Dao", "The Awakening of the Original Dao", and "The Awakening of the Primordial Dao" not only have extremely strong religious overtones, but also have great inflammatory and demagogic properties, so start with these three articles." After a pause, he continued: "These three articles mainly promote and emphasize two points - the idea of equality, all unequal political and economic hierarchies in the world are unreasonable, and everyone is equal before God.

The second is the relationship between people, the relationship between brothers and sisters—the ethical ideas of the world are absurd, but they can greatly incite and confuse the ignorant people, and must be attacked from the roots. ”

"Okay." Jin Anqing said simply, he read the three articles hastily, these two points are indeed extremely demagogic, and he didn't have the heart to stay longer, so he got up and said: "Before dusk tomorrow, the old man will send someone to send the article." ”

In just one day, hundreds of highly targeted articles were sent to the newspaper, citing scriptures to criticize the worship of God and the God it revered, to criticize the various inequalities existing in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, to criticize the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom for violating thousands of years of etiquette and human ethics, and to criticize the so-called one family in the world.

And from the perspectives of five Lun, five constants, four dimensions, eight virtues and so on, a comprehensive refutation.

Pan Shiming selected a number of representative articles that had not been changed word for word and published in the "Jiangning Daily", and many officials and gentry breathed a sigh of relief, but the front page of the "Jiangning Daily" the next day published an article entitled "On the Idea of Equality in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom," which made people feel a little strange.

At the beginning of this article, Hong Xiuquan was ridiculed for not learning and not being able to learn and not be an anti-dog, and he copied the Western idea of equality, but he did not understand the true essence of the Western idea of equality - everyone is equal before the law.

Subsequently, he elaborated on the meaning of the principle of equality before the law - all citizens, regardless of ethnicity, race, sex, occupation, family origin, religious belief, education level, or property status, enjoy the rights stipulated by the law and perform the obligations stipulated by the law equally.

The legitimate rights and interests of all citizens are equally protected, all illegal acts are investigated according to law, and no citizen is allowed to enjoy privileges other than the law before the law, and no citizen may be forced to undertake obligations other than the law, and no citizen shall be punished outside the law.

At the end of the article, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom only allowed the state officials to set fires, and the people were not allowed to light lamps, and the system of men's and women's pavilions was implemented, and husbands and wives were not allowed to meet and live together, but the kings were widely selected concubines, and the wives and concubines were in groups, blatantly trampling on the principle of equality.

The officials and gentry can be said to be good at some articles, and at first glance, it is clear that this article is nothing more than a criticism of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to peddle the Western idea of equality - everyone is equal before the law, and such an article is published on the front page, and the quick-witted people naturally smell some smell.

Sure enough, the next day's "Jiangning Daily" published an article on the front page entitled "Natural Human Rights: On Human Rights in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom," which was exactly the same as the previous article, attacking the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom for peddling human rights theories, but the article's exposition of human rights aroused a lot of resonance.

The right to life, the right to liberty, the right to property, the right to dignity, the right to equality, and especially the right to freedom, which are included in human rights, are deeply approved by the gentry, and freedom is the soul of human rights. Personal freedom, freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of religious belief, etc., are the basic rights of individuals. Without the full right to liberty, the human heart or person is invincible and ..... in chains.

"Jiangning Daily" was out of control at this point, and Western enlightenment ideas such as equality, human rights, freedom, democracy, science, state, nation, sovereignty, and civil rights came one after another, causing wave after wave of impact on Jiangning officials and gentry, especially young scholars, and various translations of Western books began to appear in the Jiangning Book Market, such as Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations", Darwin's "On the Origin of Species", Rousseau's "On the Origin and Basis of Human Inequality", "The Social Contract", Montesquieu's "On the Spirit of Law", France's Declaration of Human Rights, Citigroup's Constitution, England's ...... on the Separation of Powers.

Jingshi, Yuanmingyuan, diligent and pro-virtuous.

Qinzheng Hall is the place where the Qing Emperor summons the ministers to listen to the government in the garden, and it is also the place where the emperor usually approves the provincial chapters, summons the ministers, introduces officials and meets the princes of the foreign domains, the young Emperor Xianfeng stands in front of the throne in the bright room in the palace and looks up at the Yongzheng imperial book hanging high in the back of the palace "It is difficult for the monarch", stares for a long time, and he turns his head to look at the Qianlong imperial system hanging on the east wall.

After a long time, he sighed, it was difficult for the king! It's hard to keep! Today's Qing Dynasty is stormy, not to mention difficult! It has been two and a half years since Hong Yang made a rebellion, and now he actually set up the capital of Changsha, openly established the country and claimed the king to confront the imperial court, and the 30,000 new troops of the green battalion in several provinces worked together to encircle and suppress, but it was still an undefeated stalemate.

"Your Majesty, Mu Zhang'a and Lin Zexu are handing over signs to ask to see you." A eunuch cautiously whispered outside the hall.

Xian Fengshou returned his gaze and said slowly, "Let them come in." Saying slowly pacing to the east of Fangbi Cong, he has not heard any good news since the beginning of the year, he has also become accustomed to it, the state affairs are difficult, this is the biggest feeling since he ascended the throne for more than a year, just sat down, the chief eunuch Liu Chengyin came in with a dense folding box and said: "Your Majesty, the fold of Monk Greenqin." ”

Xianfeng hesitated before taking out the key to open the box, and Monk Greenqin briefly described the war in Hubei in the excerpt, and then the topic changed, and the five thousand Mini guns of Citigroup had arrived in Shanghai.

After reading the excerpt, Xianfeng's face became gloomy, although Monk Greenqin did not say it explicitly, but he knew that this must be easy to know enough for five thousand mini guns to blackmail the court to release people, carrying the mother and son Jingshi as a hostage, how could Monk Greenqin not know, how dare he rashly intercede?

He was muttering to himself, Mu Zhang'a and Lin Zexu had already come in steadily to ask for an invitation, and before the two of them could speak, he said: "Monk Lingqin just sent an excerpt, you can take a look." ”

Mu Zhang'a bowed forward and took the fold and quickly glanced at it twice and then turned it to Lin Zexu, and then looked at the nose and nose and heart, the old monk was in a general state, and the mother and son could be said to be the last resort for the imperial court to coerce Yi Zhi, but the five thousand Mini guns played a key role in the battle situation in Hubei, which was really not a good choice.

After reading the excerpt, Lin Zexu glanced at Mu Zhang'a, bowed down and returned the excerpt, but Xianfeng said: "How should this matter be handled?" ”

Seeing that Mu Zhang'a was silent, Lin Zexu spoke: "Your Majesty, Weichen secretly thinks that it is better to be content with Yi Zhi, it is better to be good at entrapment, not only these five thousand muskets are related to the battle situation in Hubei, but also need Yuan Qi's continuous supply of sufficient ammunition. ”

"Your Majesty." Mu Zhang'a opened his mouth and said: "Yuan Qi's attitude is ambiguous, so you must guard against it. ”

"Your Majesty." Lin Zexu immediately said in a deep voice: "With all due respect, Yi Zhixiang will not care about their mother and son if he is really messing up, and besides, Zaitong is the daughter of the clan, and she often accompanies her side, which is beneficial and harmless to the imperial court." ”

Xianfeng was already hesitant, and when he saw the two of them, he couldn't help but be bored, and immediately said impatiently: "What's the matter?" ”

Mu Zhang'a hurriedly presented a book of excerpts and said: "Li Xingyuan, the governor of Liangjiang, is begging for rest due to illness. ”

After a little flipped through it, Xianfeng said slowly: "Li Xingyuan has been in office in Liangjiang for a long time, and he is familiar with the situation in Liangjiang. ”

Originally, Mu Zhang'a also planned to arrange for him to trust the position of the governor of Liangjiang, but Xianfeng, who listened to it, was disappointed in his heart, but said: "The emperor is sage." After a pause, he continued: "Recently, the large and small newspapers controlled by Yuan Qi in the southeastern provinces have taken the opportunity of criticizing Hong Yang's rebellion to frequently promote and advocate Western learning, which is not conducive to the rule of the imperial court or to local tranquility. ”

This is a good idea, these days those newspapers frequently preach and advocate Western ideas and theories, he is also very annoyed, but the imperial court now has to rely on Yuan Qi to provide guns and ammunition, he is neither willing to make extraneous branches, nor willing to surrender his identity to issue an edict to set the record straight, if the imperial court officially opens a newspaper, it is much more convenient.

After a slight sigh, he said: "Jiangnan is full of humanities, and the celebrities and gentry are like carp crossing the river. ”

"The minions obey." Mu Zhang'a hurriedly said.

Before the words fell, a little eunuch reported at the door: "Your Majesty, Qi Liaozao is handing over a sign outside to ask to see." ”

What's going on? Xianfeng, Mu Zhang'a, and Lin Zexu were all a little surprised, and in the blink of an eye, all three of them reacted, afraid that there was an urgent matter, Xianfeng sighed secretly and said, "Let him come in." ”

Lin Zexu handed over the sign to ask to see, originally planned to ask for an order to go to Shanghai to see Yi Zhizhi, Yuan Qi during this time in the newspaper frequently preached and advocated Western learning, so that he had an extremely uneasy feeling, he planned to have a long talk with Yi Zhi, in order to ease the relationship between the court and Yuan Qi, listening to Qi Liaozao to see, he planned to wait, but in his heart he pondered, how to say that Xianfeng let go of the mother and son to return to the south, if the court can show some sincerity first, it is naturally better.

Qi Liaozao came quickly, and after coming in to ask for peace, he reported: "Li Xingyuan, the governor of Liangjiang, Yang Yizeng, the governor of Nanhe, and Lu Yinggu, the governor of Jiangxi, urgently reported that the Yellow River broke its embankment in Fengbei in northern Jiangsu, with a gap of more than 100 zhang, and the disaster in Jiangsu was seriously ....... ”

I'm really afraid of what, the Yellow River actually broke the embankment again, Xianfeng was speechless for a long time, a hundred zhang gap, the severity of the disaster, there is no need to say more, where can the imperial court still take a large amount of silver to the river workers to block the embankment and provide relief to the victims? And it was Jiangsu that suffered early, and for the imperial court, this was nothing less than a worse situation!

"Your Majesty." Lin Zexu took the initiative to ask, "Wechen is willing to go to Jiangsu to block the breach and help the victims." ”

It takes at least millions of taels of silver to block the breach and give relief to the victims, where can the imperial court raise the silver now? Xianfeng didn't react for a while, but Qi Liaozao reacted quickly, he knew very well the relationship between Lin Zexu and Yi Zhixiang, Jiangsu was hit by a disaster, Lin Zexu went in person, Yi Zhishu would definitely not make Lin Zexu embarrassed, and even said: "Your Majesty, Lord Lin is good at river governance, and he is the best candidate to go to Jiangsu for disaster relief and block the breach." ”

Xianfeng also reacted at this time, looked at Lin Zexu and said, "Lin Qing has any requirements, just mention it." ”

"Your Majesty." Lin Zexu said slowly: "The treasury is empty, and there is no way to build an embankment for disaster relief, so Weichen went to Jiangsu, and he could only find Yuanqi to fight the autumn wind ......." ”

Before Lin Zexu finished speaking, Xianfeng understood what he meant, which was to implore him to agree to release the mother and son to the south, after all, this would require millions of taels of silver, so he would not come to the door empty-handed, and he said: "You are allowed to go to Shanghai with the mother and son." ”

Hearing this, Mu Zhang'a couldn't help but sigh secretly, knowing that this matter could not be stopped, and the mother and son returned to the south, Yi Zhizhi had no scruples, but he was afraid that he would be more unscrupulous in the future, and he groaned slightly, and then he said: "At the beginning of the emperor's reign, he suffered from this catastrophe, and the court always had to take some silver out to help ......" ”

Xianfeng nodded, this matter is related to his reputation, the court is not pulling out a dime, what kind of reputation is it that spreads? After a slight sigh, he said: "Temporarily intercept the grain from Jiangning for relief." ”