In the monk's house in Hangzhou's East Garden, an old man over 60 years old sat on a futon in a monk's robe, his braided hair on the back of his head had gone, his head had been shaved full of white hair, his eyebrows were lowered, he was holding a prayer bead, and his mouth was constantly chanting.

Outside the house, Shami entered the house and said: "Chengguan layman, the queen of Taiping West is visiting." The old monk sighed and said, "I'm going to meet each other." ”

When he was about to get up from the futon, several women had already entered, and the first woman was dressed in a wide robe, and her hair was naturally hanging down, and she smiled when she entered the room: "If you don't firmly accept the layman's connection, I will come uninvited and disturb the layman's cultivation." ”

The old layman laughed and said: "People outside the square can't give up the mundane world, and escaping the world is just a pretext, Xuanjiao Xiaoyou always makes fun of the old man with this." ”

That woman is Hong Xuanjiao, the queen of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, she is already pot-bellied at the moment, although she is covered by a wide robe, she can still see that she is pregnant with Liujia, I saw her smile and said: "Mr. Wei Yuan is the first person to open his eyes to the world today, how dare I make fun of you when I wait for the younger students?" ”

The old layman on the futon in the monk's house is the famous person in history who opened his eyes to the world, Wei Yuan, in 1853, when he was still the governor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and then dismissed for "late post" and "playing with military aircraft". Later, although the Manchu Qing Dynasty reinstated his post, he was more than sixty years old, encountered ups and downs, resigned due to the chaos of the world, devoted himself to learning Buddhism, and the name of the law was inherited, and he traveled to Yangzhou, Suzhou and Hangzhou.

At that time, Yangzhou, Suzhou and Hangzhou were captured by the Taiping army one by one, and after the king of the West took charge, it was a clear and good government, protecting the beliefs of all factions, and Wei Yuan extinguished the idea of returning to his hometown Hunan. Retreat in Hangzhou East Garden. Later, the West Wang Niang came to visit, after a few conversations. and became friends for the year.

Wei Yuan smiled and pointed to a few Eight Immortal Chairs and said, "Let's sit down and talk, why don't you recuperate in Tianjing when you are pregnant with Liujia." What is the matter with coming all this way to see the old man? ”

Xi Wang Niang smiled slightly, beckoned behind her, followed by Fu Shanxiang, who presided over the edict, only to see Fu Shanxiang take out a few books from the backpack behind him and hand them to Wei Yuan, Wei Yuan stared at it and saw that the "Four Classics of the Pure Land" was written on it.

"Old layman, this is the "Four Sutras of the Pure Land" compiled by your old man in recent years, which has been printed by the Heavenly Edict Yaxue Edition, and is brought to you for review today." Hong Yun'er still said with a smile.

Wei Yuan was overjoyed and flipped through a few pages. Sure enough, it was the "Four Classics of the Pure Land" compiled by him in his later years, and he laughed at the moment: "The old man still thinks that he will not see this scripture published in the world in his lifetime, and he can't imagine that the Heavenly Book Company can still let the old man see it, which is really enough." Although the Kingdom of Heaven is founded on Taiping Christianity, it can embrace all rivers, and all schools of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Halal can circulate books, which is really tolerant. Just for the sake of this scripture, let Xi Wangniang go to Hangzhou for a special trip, how can the old man bear it. ”

Hong Yun'er smiled. stuck out his tongue and said: "Actually, I didn't send books specifically, the Suzhou-Hangzhou-Tianjing Railway was connected, and I came to watch the ceremony." On the side, Fu Shanxiang said with a smile: "There is also Xi Wang Niang who has been recuperating in Tianjing for too long, and she is so depressed that she panics. Want to get out and walk around. ”

Hong Yun'er was exposed by Fu Shanxiang, and her pretty face was slightly red and smiled: "Those who know me, Miss Fu is also." The crowd laughed together.

The little novice brought tea. Hong Yun'er only needed a cup of clear spring hot water because she was pregnant, and after taking a sip, she said, "Old layman." Although I came to Hangzhou this time mainly to observe the opening of the ceremony, I still want to ask you some questions. ”

Wei Yuan smiled. He knew that Hong Yun'er would definitely not be as simple as just watching the ceremony, so he immediately said, "Little friend, please speak." ”

Hong Yun'er said: "Twenty years ago, the old monk studied Western countries, and even compiled the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom", which covers the world's geography, history, political system, economy, religion, calendar, culture, and products. The road of strengthening the country and defending itself against insults, correcting the evils of the times, and revitalizing the national lineage has been explored. And put forward the theory that the master Yi has long skills to control the country, and he thinks that the old layman has always believed that China can defeat the Western invasion. But what I want to ask is, if it is true that my kingdom of heaven and foreigners fight, will my kingdom of heaven have a chance of winning? ”

Wei Yuan smiled and said: "At that time, several post-graduate technicians from the Shanghai Manufacturing Bureau of the Ministry of Industry of the Kingdom of Heaven came to ask for advice on mine practices. At that time, several descendants also asked the old man the same question, if the kingdom of heaven and the foreigners fought, who would win or lose? ”

Speaking of this, Wei Yuan paused and continued: "Actually, when the old man and Lord Lin Zexu were friends, they also discussed this matter, thinking that I have a lot of Chinese people and rich land, why can't I beat that small country in England?" The war between the countries of Gaine did not mobilize the people, and the guest army from other provinces rushed thousands of miles after a long time of sparse warfare, and the people and the time were not in me, how could I not be defeated? At that time, the old man also built the Manchu court, to resist foreign insults and the righteous people are available today, but the Manchu court suppressed in every possible way, the old man was still very puzzled at that time, until he read a few books of the West Wang Niang did not understand that this Manchu court is to guard against the people under its rule than to guard against foreigners, how can such a court defeat foreigners? ”

Speaking of this, Wei Yuan sighed lightly, and then said: "Since the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom swept the south of the Yangtze River, the cultivation of virtue and politics, and the work of mastering and cultivating the skills of the people have been done very well, and then the ministries and provinces have opened up the people's bravery, which is to use the righteous people to prevent external troubles, and judging from the words and deeds of those juniors in the Shanghai Manufacturing Bureau, the armament of the Kingdom of Heaven is set up to control the country, and sooner or later there will be a war between the Kingdom of Heaven and the foreigners. In fact, what the Kingdom of Heaven is doing now has achieved the master's skills mentioned by the old man before to control the Yi and the righteous people, if there is really a war with the foreigners, the people everywhere will definitely fight together with the enemy to defend against foreign aggression in order to protect their respective homes. The only thing to pay attention to is the vast number of merchants, who have a good relationship with foreigners, and have a lot of business contacts. ”

"As for the time of day, if war is declared at this time, although it is a bit hasty, but it is also the time when the Western countries have no time to look eastward, the new king of the Rakshasa country in the north has not long succeeded to the throne, the domestic political situation is unstable, Britain and France have just exchanged troops with the Rakshasa country, and the country also needs to recuperate, and the United States and other countries are trapped in their own domestic political instability, and there are Prussia in the Western countries that intend to revive, it is the time to use troops. It's just that under the rule of Heaven, it has had a long relationship with the Taixi countries, and how to publicize the righteousness of war after the declaration of war requires more effort. After the war between the Kingdom of Heaven and the foreigners, we need to remember to promote peace with war and defeat the country. ”

Hong Yun'er listened carefully, and sure enough, this old man who could write the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" was not a cover, he was a person who had really studied the Taixi countries.

Wei Yuan continued: "As for the geographical advantage, the land south of the Yangtze River in my Heavenly Kingdom is vast, and the Heavenly Kingdom has set up township soldiers in various places to prepare for the army, and the local township soldiers are familiar with the folk customs and geography of their respective places, and they are fighting to defend the land, so they will all serve the dead. ”

Hong Yun'er bowed slightly, these favorable factors were completely consistent with the previous analysis of the General Staff, and asked: "But the foreigners are strong and the ships are strong, our Heavenly Kingdom Navy was formed late, and it is difficult to match it, and the coast south of the Yangtze River is vast, how can we fight?" ”

Wei Yuan muttered: "More than 20 years ago, the foreigners attacked Guangzhou, and then the coast went north, and many important towns along the coast fell. Now it's different, every time a foreigner fights, if it's a hard battle, the foreigner will definitely go straight to the key place of heaven, which is Tianjing! If it is unfavorable for foreigners to attack Shanghai and other places, they will inevitably turn to attack Tianjing, with the intention of wanting to bring the kingdom of heaven to its knees in a war, and the battle of Tianjing can control the overall situation. ”

Hong Yun'er nodded thoughtfully, and Wei Yuan smiled and said: "Although the foreign ships are strong and powerful, and the Heavenly Navy is not yet matched, if the foreign ships break into the inland rivers, the Heavenly Kingdom still has other sharp weapons to match them, such as the mines that the young people of the Shanghai Manufacturing Bureau discussed with the old man before." This thing is not much difficult to make, in the Ming Dynasty, in order to guard against the Japanese invaders, there are folk self-made underwater dragon king cannons and other utensils, these are the predecessors of mines. Later, when I heard that Britain and France fought fiercely with the Rakshasa country, the Rakshasa people also used this thing to defend the port, and the effect was quite good. Presumably, after those descendants returned, they must have developed shaped mines for the kingdom of heaven. With this thing, it is a sharp weapon for poor countries to defend against the sea, and if it is used, it can even annihilate the warships of the water division that break into the inland river, and the West Wang Niang can let the generals make good use of this thing. ”

Hong Yun'er laughed and nodded yes, although Wei Yuan, an old man, did not want to become an official several times, but only devoted himself to cultivating Buddhism, but when it came to national affairs, he still couldn't help but talk eloquently, and when some people from the Manufacturing Bureau came to ask for advice, he could also discuss it with him, and he still had a scientific spirit.

The use of mines in the Taiping army has long been mature, but the ports and ships in various places are frequent, and the mines are easy to arrange, but it is very difficult to discharge, and the cost of clearing mines is often 10 to 200 times that of laying them, so the Taiping army has never used them in practice. But now that there is a war with Britain and France, the use of mines is on the agenda, and how to make good use of this thing is indeed a problem, otherwise it will be a big problem to clear mines after the war in the future.

"After listening to the words of the old layman, the little girl was very deeply taught, by the way, there are some tonic medicines for the old layman this time, and the old layman remembers to take care of his body when he is meditating." Hong Yun'er smiled and asked Fu Shanxiang to offer some tonic medicine, Wei Yuan would have died of illness two years ago in history, but because Hong Yun'er got acquainted with Wei Yuan, Hong Yun'er often asked famous doctors to regulate Wei Yuan's body, so Wei Yuan's life was extended, and sometimes Hong Yun'er felt that she had changed history.

Wei Yuan took it with a smile, and was not hypocritical, and was about to say a few words of thanks, when a female guard soldier outside the house hurriedly came in and reported: "Xiwangniang, Shanghai emergency telegram, at about 9 o'clock this morning, the Yangtze River estuary found traces of the British and French navies, and went straight to Wusongkou to ......" (to be continued......