The 59th year of Qianlong was indeed an eventful autumn, first the British invaded the Yangtze River, and then, the White Lotus uprising occurred in the Xiangyang area, and, in a very short period of time, it affected several provinces, and the uprising led by Zhang Zhengmo and Nie Jieren broke out in the hot spring kiln area at the junction of Yidu and Zhijiang in Hubei, and other areas followed one after another. Liu Shengming of Zhijiang, Lin Zhihua, Qin Jiayao, Huang Tingzhu of Changyang, Zeng Guangning of Yidu and others all revolted and responded one after another. Under the leadership of Yang Qiyuan, the Dangyang sect killed the county order and occupied the entire county seat. Immediately afterwards, uprisings broke out in Laifeng, Zhushan, Donghu, Yuan'an, Baokang, Xuan'en, Xianfeng, Longshan and other places.

Under the leadership of Qi Lin, Wang Cong'er, Song Zhiqing, Fan Xueming, Yao Zhifu, Wang Tingzhao, Liu Qirong, Fan Renjie, Zhang Hanchao, Zhang Tianlun, Wang Guangzu, Gao Junde, and other people, the people in Xiangyang, Suizhou, Zhongxiang, Jingshan and other places led the White Lotus Sect to rise up. In May, the Xiaogan White Lotus people responded under the leadership of Lu Weizhi and others.

The Great White Lotus Uprising in Hubei soon spread to Hunan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Henan and other provinces. In just two months, dozens of uprisings took place, and for a moment, the world shook.

"The world is in chaos, this is simply the chaos in the world." Zhao Yi sat in the annex where he lived in Anding Academy, smiling bitterly.

"These are not all forced by those corrupt officials, the rule of the court officials [***], the world knows, but our emperor is reluctant to believe it, and thinks that it is the officials of the world who intend to damage the prestige of the court." His proud disciple Wang Jing looked disdainful and angry.

Zhao Yi closed his eyes and said slowly: "In the past, Yin Zhuangtu, a cabinet scholar and a waiter of the Ministry of Rites, said in the recital of the suspension of the crime and silver system: 'The governors have a bad reputation, and the officials are lax. The ministers passed by the place, and observed whether the officials were virtuous or not, and the businessmen and people were half frowning and sighing. The atmosphere of the provinces is mostly the same'. When the emperor saw it, he was furious, and finally forced Master Yin to admit his falsehood and was punished and demoted. ”

"Therefore, the court should have this calamity." Wang Jing shook his robe, picked up a book from the table and flipped through it, the title of the book was very strange: The Theory of the Original Wealth.

Most of these books were quietly collected by him for Zhao Yi, but after those Yingyi appeared at the mouth of the Yangtze River and humiliated the court and the people of the world, there were many fewer scholars and literati who claimed to be the superior country of the Heavenly Empire and pretentious, at least they would not make a big deal of nonsense all day long, and proudly blow the nonsense that he would only blame him for his righteousness, and he would be ashamed of himself.

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Instead, more attention was paid to the Western books that had flowed into the people, and most of those books were books about the history and development of the West, and also introduced the colonial history of Western countries and the process of their use of science and technology to develop.

Although there are still many people who read the book and think that the history of these Westerners beating horses and horses killing cattle all day long is ridiculous and pitiful, China has not been a smart person since ancient times, and there are still many of them. Among them, many people have also faintly had a kind of understanding, that is, hundreds of years ago, those Westerners could only lick the heels of the Chinese continent, but now, they have taken such a big step that they have crossed the Chinese nation, they have begun to think, and they are still looking at everything around them with a scrutinizing eye.

And there are many students in Anding Academy who have such an attitude, but Wang Jing, who is Zhao Yi's mantle disciple, is further than them, because he has a good mentor, and after discussing and examining with himself, one of the teachers of Jiang Yousan, they also sadly found that China is no longer good. If we continue to be so arrogant, if we still cling to the Four Books and the Five Classics all day long, and if we still allow the government to decay, I am afraid that this empire will really become a fat meat that anyone in the West can step on and bite into, although it will not become a colony of those Westerners, but if it continues like this, the pride of the Chinese people will also become the dust of history.

However, in their hearts, they still did not think of overthrowing this court in the past, this seemingly still powerful ruling class that has been standing on their heads and even souls for more than a hundred years, after all, it is really difficult for the minds that have been stifled by slavery education and literary prison for more than a hundred years to be transformed all at once.

"In the past, the emperor once said that after 60 years on the throne, he abdicated, and now, it has been 59 years, and I hope that the new emperor can make great efforts, rectify the rule of the world, and then restore the peaceful world." Zhao Yi rubbed his brows and said slowly, but he didn't have a trace of confidence in saying this.

"How many saints can there be in the world, even if the new emperor can do it? The officials of the world are all officials for wealth, and the soldiers and generals in the world are all the same, can they be reversed with their own strength? The students remember that in the past, Emperor Sejong also purged the rule of the world, but now, from the governor's palace to the servants, which one is honest? Wang Jing sneered and said unceremoniously.

Hearing his disciple's words that were almost reprimanding, Zhao Yi couldn't help laughing: "Okay, the teacher knows that you can't argue, but after all, the court is the court, and the White Lotus bandits, although the momentum is huge, but it is just a cult to confuse the world, and it will not be a big weapon in the end. Forget it, these things, you and I are people in the mountains and wilderness after all, and we can't manage it, and I don't want to care about it. I can only watch the wind and clouds change. ”

"Yes, in such a court, if a student becomes an official, I am afraid that in less than half a year, he will either become the public enemy of his colleagues, or he can only be in the same stream, it is better to learn more things from the teacher here, and be much happier and freer." Wang Jing said with a smile, however, the helplessness in his tone, how could Zhao Yi not hear it, but he could only be silent, after all, at present, this official rule [***] has reached the extreme court, and he has been deeply disappointed, he doesn't want his proud disciple to go to this altar of stagnant water, it's not good, Wang Jing, who is surnamed strong, is afraid that he can't even save his life.

"By the way, teacher, when I went to the maritime merchant to pick up the book, I heard a joke." Wang Jing saw Zhao Yi's expression, and didn't want his master to worry about his affairs, so he quickly interjected the topic.

"Jokes? Okay, let's listen to it, so that the teacher can also have fun. Zhao Yi leaned back on the recliner, picked up the small teapot and sipped it deliciously, while motioning to Wang Jingdao.

This is what those maritime merchants told their disciples in private, saying that the Chinese Federation of the South Seas heard that the court and the English were defeated in successive battles, and were even blocked from shipping, and finally had to sign an alliance with the English, and its leader led tens of thousands of heroes to fight with those English on Hong Kong Island...... He also said that those heroes did not dare to have another warship enter the South Seas. Wang Jing told Zhao Yi the exaggerated news he heard.

However, Zhao Yi did not laugh heartily after hearing such boasting as Wang Jing expected, as Wang Jing expected, but his brows became more and more wrinkled, and the expression on his face also looked very serious, which made Wang Jing can't help but think in his arms.

"You think it's a joke?" After listening to Wang Jing's narration, Zhao Yi fell into silence, holding the purple clay pot in one hand, and gently tapping on the armrest of the chaise longue with the other, the tea in the pot in his hand was already cold.

Wang Jing didn't dare to disturb Zhao Yi, he knew his temper as a teacher, and when he was thinking about a problem, whoever dared to disturb him would be angry. waited until at least two pillars of incense, until Wang Jing felt that his sitting posture had stiffened for too long, and his spine was a little sour, that he heard Zhao Yi put down the beloved purple clay pot, with a look of horror and disbelief on his face: "Impossible, how can this be ......?"

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"Teacher, what's wrong? What could not be possible? Hearing Zhao Yi's muttering, Wang Jing felt that his head was a little dizzy.

Zhao Yi ignored Wang Jing, rubbed his hands, paced in the room, and whispered to himself, but when these words were heard in Wang Jing's ears, he shocked the young talent's face and his face was full of horror.

"Since the English have the upper hand and forced the court to sign the Treaty of Zhenjiang, but after nearly half a year, why don't the English send their consuls or envoys to the ports that require development to station? Didn't you see British merchants, or even those from the West, appearing in the ports of Fujian and Zhejiang? ”

"According to these books, these Westerners have always bullied the weak and feared the hard, and now, when they have the upper hand, the court is in a state of shame, and they are afraid of their sailors, but they do not come to demand that the court fulfill the treaty, doesn't it feel strange?"

Listening to Zhao Yi's muttering, Wang Jingcai suddenly woke up, and Huo Ran stood up from the chair: "Teacher's meaning, could it be that what those Nanyang maritime merchants said is true?" ”

"I'm afraid it can't be fake." Zhao Yi frowned and said in a deep voice. Wang Jing raised his leg and wanted to rush out of the door. Zhao Yi couldn't help but be stunned: "What are you going to do?" ”

"The student wants to check it out." Wang Jing, who had just walked to the gate of the courtyard, replied.

"Nonsense, stop for the old man!" Zhao Yi's white thick eyebrows raised, and he shouted in a deep voice. Wang Jing couldn't help but be stunned: "Teacher, don't you want to know the answer?" ”

"Who said that the old man didn't want to know, but the old man wanted to ask you, if the matter is really true, there is another strong Han force in this world, what should you do?"

"yes, what should I do?" Wang Jing stood at the gate of the courtyard, his face was blank, and he muttered to himself for a while, but he couldn't make a sound. Seeing his mantle disciple like this, Zhao Yi couldn't help but have a bitter face, how could he know what to do, but there were some things that he didn't figure out, and he was really itching. "Perhaps, we should go and take a look, if we really defeat the English, then Hong Kong Island should be worry-free, right?" Zhao Yi muttered quietly.

(To be continued)