"The absolute monarchy system has come to an end. The future world will definitely be an era where decentralization replaces centralization, and the people's rights will overwhelm the imperial power... Do you think I will sit on that crater?"
"Even if I succeed against the odds, how many lives will it take to replace mine and the collective advancement of our group? How many do you think it would be?"
"There was a riot in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the south of the Yangtze River. Xiao Hexin, Sima Yun, and Wang Huaiyuan, you three were all veterans of the Heavenly Kingdom back then. Can you tell us how many people died in the war of more than ten years? No need to be silent, I can tell you that both the enemy and us plus the innocent More than a hundred million people have died!"
"I don't want a throne made of flesh and blood. I, Xiao Letian, am not so lucky to step on other people's corpses to ascend, so those who want to push me to be the emperor should give up as soon as possible!"
Xiao Letian sneered and said, "Do you still remember Luo Hao and Wen Xiu that I met when I first arrived in the capital? Now they are only in the Qing Dynasty, helping the Intelligence Bureau to win over the hearts of the rebel officials. They have only been to Ryukyu once... "
"Why did I exile these two men, who had followed me for a long time, from the core power? Because after I became the prime minister of Ryukyu, they actually gave me advice and asked me to replace them. First, they would seize Ryukyu and then enter Taiwan to establish a base. Later, he plans to take over the Qing Dynasty and replace it..."
ah? Everyone was stunned. No one thought that such a thing happened back then, and no one knew about it. Luo Hao and Wen Xiu were their subordinates when Xiao Letian was writing the Romance of Journey to the West and Dou Wangshi was Zheng Lao Hanlin. According to the time, it is only a few days later than Xiao Hexin and others.
Originally, this kind of person should be a member of Xiao Letian's core power circle, but what is surprising is that Xiao Letian excluded them from the inner circle.
"So the root lies here?" Xiao Hexin sighed, but did not say what was in his heart. In fact, Luo Hao and Wen Xiu still had merit. They contributed a lot to the fight against Wang Shizheng's group of old Hanlin. Later, the Intelligence Bureau infiltrated grassroots officials to instigate rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, and the two men often played a role in matchmaking.
Now more than 140 county officials in the entire Qing Dynasty have been incited to rebel, and more than 60 officials at the government and Taiwan levels have also been incited to rebel. Many of these officials who were openly loyal to the Qing Dynasty but secretly surrendered to Xiao Letian were It was these two who instigated the rebellion.
With such merit, he was expelled by Xiao Letian just because of a reckless suggestion. It can be seen that the prime minister's core strategy is absolutely unshakable, and everyone present felt awe-inspiring in their hearts.
Xiao Letian ignored the changes in their expressions and continued, "Don't think I'm being alarmist. Not to mention the Qing Dynasty, which is now lagging behind. What can even the powerful monarchs in Europe do? Don't they also allocate power to the parliament and cabinet!"
"The gap between the French Emperor Napoleon III and the cabinet is already very deep. The unsatisfactory consequences of the Mexican War and the Ryukyu War have made the cabinet represented by capitalists dissatisfied. The French have woken up from the frenzy of consecutive victories, and soon Soon these capital elites will join forces to curb Napoleon III's path to centralization..."
"Relatively speaking, the King of Prussia is slightly better, and the people are still very loyal to him, but even so, they have to allow Bismarck, a powerful prime minister, to formulate national policies! All foreign affairs, domestic affairs, and even the direction of war are It was Bismarck who planned everything... In the end, even the crown prince had to help him, becoming an ordinary general, how authoritative is this?"
"Of course there is the Empire on which the sun never sets. The Queen has handed over most of her power to the Prime Minister, including the power to mobilize the army for war. It has also been given to the Prime Minister and Parliament. Can you imagine? The most powerful United Kingdom in the world, the Queen It's just a puppet..."
"Of course, what I said is a bit inaccurate. The Queen is still influential. As long as she ascends the throne, any British Prime Minister will have to back down. After all, this is the most golden period of development for the United Kingdom... But it is undeniable. The Queen's power is weakening little by little..."
"In time, will the British royal family evolve into the spokesperson of the country without actually exercising any power? I think it is very possible, considering that there are also kings who were beheaded in the UK..."
Xiao Letian sighed, "I don't want to be pushed to the guillotine in the future, and I don't want to have someone open a museum to humiliate the corpse after I die..." Upon hearing this, Luo Huo slammed the table and shouted, "Let's see who dares! Ours The army is not vegetarian!"
"Sit down!" Xiao Letian glared at him. "Do you still want to live forever? We will all grow old and die one day. Sooner or later, future generations will insult me and scold me. Maybe a hundred years later I will become a national thief. , In all things in the world, every benefit will bring about a disadvantage! As long as you do something, there will be gains and losses. Naturally, some people will love you and some will hate you. Isn't this normal? Why are you so excited? "
"If you don't believe me, ask Wang Huaiyuan, what happened in Tanggu in the past six months? There are countless people blocking the Xishui Gate side and yelling at me every day..."
Seeing Wang Huaiyuan nodding, the generals who had not returned to Tanggu for a long time asked in disbelief, "What is going on?"
Wang Huaiyuan smiled wryly and shook his head, sighing, "It's just a matter of favor and hatred. The greed of the common people and the Prime Minister's request that the army and local officials should not be convicted of crimes based on their words, so..."
While there was a secret meeting in the wind and rain at the prime minister's house in Ryukyu, in Tanggu, thousands of miles away to the north, it was the bitter summer season when the sun was shining brightly, dogs stuck out their tongues and people were bleeding.
The leaves and crops were withered under the scorching sun, and the dirt on the post road was noisy. White smoke puffed out when I stepped on it, and half of my feet were submerged in it.
Everyone was listless, no one wanted to say a word, and the whole street was dead quiet. In this weather, unless someone really couldn't open the pot, no one would choose to go out to work at this time if they had a bite to eat.
There is a town to the west of Tanggu called Beitang, which was an important commercial port town during the Ming Dynasty. As the second line of defense to defend Dagukou, there are also two strong forts here, but now Beitang has been included in Tanggu Within the special zone, according to the agreement, the military defense affairs here are completely controlled by the Ryukyu New Army.
A little to the west of Beitang and close to the Haihe River is the west gate of the special zone, which the locals call Xishui Gate. New forts have been built on both the north and south banks here. The 88mm-caliber Armstrong rapid-fire cannon can easily control the entire Haihe River with cross-fire. Coupled with more than a dozen Gatling heavy machine guns, the defense of West Watergate is impregnable.
This is an important pass where water, land and land roads run parallel. The Haihe River is crowded with cargo ships everywhere. Goods from the West are transported to Beijing, and export goods from Zhili and other places, bristles, rhubarb, and various ores are continuously transported to Tanggu. In addition, Xishuimen here has to collect taxes and conduct strict inspections, so almost every day and night they gather into a big knot, and there is no smooth flow.
"Get off the boat... I've been waiting for three hours, but I still can't get through. How did Xiao Letian manage this brat? He made it such a mess..."
"Get off the boat and take the dry road. I don't believe they have blocked all the wild land..."
An old and angry voice silenced the surroundings, and everyone turned their attention to the old man with a Shanxi accent. As a result, a platoon leader from Xishuimen was a veteran and recognized him at a glance.
"Ouch... isn't this old guy Fan Ru? The brother of old shopkeeper Fan Jian, why is this bastard here..."
