The Manchu and Qing court began to pretend to be ostriches, but the Qingliu people would not let go easily. These gentlemen who spoke of benevolence, righteousness, and morality were immersed in the joy of burning the Xiao family's concierge these days, and they were too lazy to read day by day.
"Oh Brother Huang, I have been waiting for a long time. I will punish myself with three drinks..."
"My dear Young Master, at what time do you still want to hide in the study and read? The Qing Dynasty has reached a critical moment of life and death. How can I hide in the study..."
"What's wrong? Is there anything new? Didn't the court say it would take control?"
"Young Master Yu is so confused. There has been a traitor in the court for a long time. You still don't know?"
The teahouses and restaurants in Sijiu City were crowded with people from all over the country. They were talking about the Tanggu Incident and they were cursing Xiao Letian. It seemed that they still had not recovered from the excitement of burning the concierge.
That night was an unforgettable night for all the disciples. They burned down the entire Xiao family's gatehouse, and even rushed to the Forbidden City and knelt outside the city gate to force the emperor to enter the palace. They even saw the emperor's face.
These scholars did not expect that Enke and the others would gain so much this time. Although they said they respected Confucian scholars for more than two hundred years in the Qing Dynasty, these were only superficial words. The imperial court also killed scholars frequently.
The lifelong ideal of all Confucian scholars is to return to the literati political system of the Song Dynasty. How wonderful it was back then. The Zhao family swore not to kill civil servants. No matter how big the crime was, the most it would be was exile. The scholars at that time were living in paradise. .
Today, this group of imperial concubines tried for the first time in the Qing Dynasty the taste of forced imperialism, and they did not expect that the court did not punish them, and Enke did not cancel it.
Not only that, their actions also won collective applause from the people of all the forty-nine cities. The common people don't understand the principles of Western learning, so they know that these people are very talented, and they dare to go to the imperial city to force the palace. Even for this, they have to pick a thumb.
From that day on, gatherings of scholars in the capital often encountered people secretly helping to pay the bill, or even skipping the bill at restaurants. Even during the banquet, some nobles from the Eight Banners came over to toast, patting their shoulders and shouting, "This is the seed for reading, you have the ability and the ambition."
As the whole city was filled with compliments, these scholars became more and more angry, and an evil fire began to spread in their hearts.
"A national thief, a national thief! Did you ever know that Xiao Letian secretly set up a dungeon in Tanggu? The guards with swords in the Forbidden City locked him up as soon as he said he was in, and he produced countless false testimonies under severe torture and extortion of confessions!"
"I know, I know. Not only that, he also relies on his wealth to coerce all the businessmen in the city to do his bidding. His disobedience is clearly revealed!"
"What's more, he preyed on the people in the city. Not to mention the common people, even the landlords and gentry could not escape his vicious hands. The villagers were unwilling to sell their land, so he killed people, set fires, or even poisoned them... How did Huang Juren die? ? Didn’t he die just because he opposed that special zone..."
"The most outrageous thing is his fallacies. This guy surnamed Xiao is a spy sent by the foreign devils to dig up the Qing Dynasty. What bullshit is the earth round? Who can say that anyone can do that?" Flying in the sky, and even talking about using iron to build large ships? You are simply crazy. Iron will sink when exposed to water, and you still need to use it to build ships, hahaha..."
The crowd was talking a lot, and their faces reddened by the heat and alcohol were burning with angry souls. They wanted to take out their hearts and show them to the emperor and all the people in the world.
Scholars are working together, conspiring, and even secretly forming associations. Encouraged by a large number of thoughtful people, they are ready to fight against Western learning at all costs.
However, there are always some people who are born to pour cold water on others. They are souls who are unwilling to follow the crowd. They are a group of scholars who like to look at the world with cold eyes and are full of doubts.
Although these people also participated in the forced labor, most of the time they spent most of the time on the periphery of the crowd observing everything, as quietly as if they didn't exist.
Silence does not mean that they are not thinking. When these rotten scholars began to use clichés to attack Western learning, a faint voice suddenly floated from the table in the corner.
"A bunch of ignorant fools, it's not uncommon to build ships with iron. Citi, Britain and France have already launched iron ships, and you are still chattering here..."
One sentence made the rotten scholars, who were all red in the face after drinking, explode with anger. "Who! Who is it? Come forward... It turns out it's you, you Cantonese guy. I've invited you to banquets several times before." , you are trying to avoid coming because you have something to do, it turns out that your true identity is a lackey of the Western School... Bah! I am ashamed to be associated with you..."
The scolded Guangdong Juzi blushed, "Is this someone who has read the books of sages? You dare not admit the facts in front of you. I think you are not blind, but you are blind..."
"The earth is round. Westerners have proven it for hundreds of years. The ironclad reality is before us. If a ship travels in one direction, it can return to the starting point. What's there to question? Foreigners ship ships. It has been sailing like this for hundreds of years..."
"It's not news that people can fly in the sky, including the Thousand-mile Telephony Technique, which has already appeared in Citigroup. Things that have already happened, what is there to argue about? It's unreasonable and unreasonable!"
The quarrel immediately escalated. The drunken man jumped up and yelled, "Fart, you're farting! Where's the evidence? I want evidence. Prove to me that the earth is round and people can fly in the sky. I'll see if you fly." look……"
The people at the Guangdong Juzi table were all scholars from coastal provinces where they had contact with foreigners. Their mentality was very open, so they were the first disciples to take Xiao Letian as their teacher.
These people can remain silent, but that does not mean they are easy to bully. A Fujianese man next to him slapped the table and responded, "Evidence! What evidence do you need? Winter is cold and summer is hot. This is the truth before us, and it is a truth that does not require debate. Xiao Everything you said has been proven by Westerners, and it is the reality before your eyes..."
"According to what you said, do I need to ask you one more question? Can you prove to me that you are your parents' biological son? If you can't produce evidence, are you a bastard?"
"Hahaha..." The tavern burst into laughter.
"Oh, it's unbearable. I'll fight with you..." The drunk man rushed forward and punched him, but the drunk man struggled to walk in a straight line. As a result, the chair leg tripped and a big horse fell down. He fell to the ground, and when he reached out and touched his nose, there was blood all over it.
"You guys are still just watching? They're already doing it, Xi Xue is beating someone..." The voice was heard clearly by half of the street. The disciples who were loyal to Xian Xue pounced on them like a group of vicious dogs, and started to attack them. The table was overturned, and the entire table of food and wine was smashed to pieces.
"Beat, beat, beat...kill these Western learning dogs. There is no place for you in the Qing Dynasty!"
"Bah! A bunch of short-sighted rotten scholars, rats in the ditch, they will be destroyed in your hands early and late in the morning... If I am afraid of you, I will beat you!"
The scholars on both sides began to fight with their bastard fists. The surrounding drinkers dispersed with a bang, leaving a large empty place. There were always people watching the excitement.
The owner of the tavern was already crying. It was all money. He might decide whether to accompany him or not. "Masters, please show me your support. It is not easy to run a small shop. You should take pity on me..." Before he could finish his words, whoosh With a loud sound, a saucer flew over the head and hit the wall with a loud bang.
While the boss lowered his head to hide from the dishes, a Eight Banners man next to him was protecting his bird cage with one hand and grabbing the tavern owner with the other. "Stop yelling, this is a fight between scholars. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Today I blocked it, but in the future there will be another new bragging..."
"Above, what's the point of hitting him on the forehead? Hit the bridge of his nose... Ouch, a monkey steals peaches, hahaha, it's more deadly if a scholar is ruthless..."
There was a clang as they spoke, and the two people hugging each other knocked open half of the wooden door, tore the cotton curtain to pieces, and rolled directly onto the street. At this time, there were also crowds of people watching the excitement on the long street. Everyone looked at each other in confusion. No one expected that the usually gentle and polite people would be so enthusiastic.
Just when the melee was at its most intense, a large group of Shuntian government officials came running down the street. "Stop it, stop it. You are actually fighting along the street. You don't want the honors? Write down all the names and report them all to the ceremony department..." "
Now the fighting officials were afraid. They were not afraid of the government officials, or even the officials of Shuntian Prefecture, but they were afraid of the Ministry of Rites. If this were to be taken out of the teachings of the saints, their fame would not be revoked. Without saying anything, just run away. A group of people covered their faces and ran away, not caring about the tavern owner behind them crying and fighting.
The government officials are just trying to scare people. How dare they arrest these future officials? If they can scare them away, it will be considered a great achievement. Before any of them could take a breath, someone suddenly shouted, "Brothers, reinforcements are coming. Fighting started in Taibai Tower in Nancheng. All those who are studying in the West today have eaten the gunpowder..."
That's right, starting from today, I don't know what happened. Those admirers of Western learning who used to be very low-key in the past actually took the initiative to cater to the provocations of the disciples of Xianxue, and fierce conflicts broke out between the two sides.
In the city of Beijing, there are many entertainment venues in Nancheng, and there are many tea shops, wine shops and gouran courtyards. It is in these places that the emperors from all over the Qing Dynasty held a full-scale martial arts competition. In just one day, twelve things happened. There were countless fights and scoldings.
Logically speaking, those who support Western learning should be in the minority, but what is strange is that in today's conflict, these Western learning elements did not suffer much. The reason is also very simple. These provocative Westerners don't seem to drink much, and they always use their sobriety to provoke drunks.
And there were still a lot of people vaguely supporting them. Although they didn't help fight, they did a lot to provide cover when they retreated.
The servants of Shuntian Mansion were exhausted all day long, but they couldn't even rest. Night was always the prime time for literati and prostitutes to hang out. They would fight in restaurants during the day, and they might have to fight in brothels at night. Soldiers see battle.
Sure enough, it was still the unlucky Baihua Tower. Just when the foreign clock struck nine-thirty in the evening, two groups of people in the hall started smashing into each other because of a fight between Western scholars.
"This is where Wang Shizheng and Wang Lao Hanlin fought. We juniors must not back down. We must inherit Lao Hanlin's legacy and fight with them...go to hell with you!"
"Hahaha, you bunch of corrupt people will fight in brothels and restaurants. We all know that Master Wang is greedy and lustful. Of course, Baihualou is his base..."
The two groups of people started to curse first, then threw things, and ended up throwing their fists. The old madam of Baihualou cried so hard that the powder on her face was washed away. She sat on the ground and cried loudly.
"Xiao Letian, you are so lacking in virtue... It's because of you that my Baihua Building was hit twice. Why am I so unlucky? I can't live anymore..."
