"Yang Xiuqing twiddled his sparse beard and muttered to himself, 'As I thought... However, there is some disagreement among the Taiping army about where to search for small paradises!'"
"Little Brother knows," Luo Yaogu laughed, "someone wants to go south to operate in Guangdong and Guangxi, some want to go west into Sichuan to be like Liu Bei, and others want to go north all the way to strike the Yin Yan region directly!"
Yang Xiuqing nodded and then pointed to a row of chairs in the room, saying to Xiao ChaoGui, Hong Xuanjiao, and Luo Yaoguo, "Dear brother-in-law, younger sister six, younger brother eight, please take a seat!"
Seeing that the three were all sitting, Yang Xiuqing called out "tea," and immediately four female officials from the East Palace brought up four bowls of hot tea.
Yang Xiuqing picked up the hot tea given to him, took a sip to moisten his throat, spat out a bit of tea leaves on the ground, and then slowly asked: "Younger Brother Eight, do you think how I should convince everyone to focus on Jinling?"
Hearing Yang Xiuqing's question, Luo Yaoguo knew that he had "guessed" correctly again! The current Yang Xiuqing was not the same one who, after entering the city of Jinling, was full of pride, forgot himself, and thought he could sway the world with a single word—the "God Yang".
Now, the Yang Eastern King is just a "leading brother-in-law", although he has a lot of say, but Feng Yunshan, Xiao Chaogui's say is not small either, Wei Changhui, Shi Dakaifeng also have a "Son of God" status, and similarly have some say, and even Hu Yihuang, Qin Riqiang speak have some weight as two "stand-ins". With the status of "Son of God" and the Angel of Four Thousand Years that Luo Yaoguo owns, he naturally has some say.
In the current heaven, it is not that Hong Tianwang decides everything, nor is it that Yang Dongwang holds the weight of a nine-pound word, but rather that the sons, sons-in-law, daughters, and adopted sons of God—a family with no blood relations—all take charge together.
Yes, it has a collective leadership connotation!
And among this "family", except for Luo Yaoguo who is "parachuted" in and currently has no own team, the others have groups of little brothers behind them.
However, Luo Yaoguo is not daunted by these "family members" who hold powerful troops. After all, under the promotion of Hong Xiuzhen and Feng Yunshan, his status as the Son of God and the parachuted angel has been established; he is at least a "Chief Consultant" descended from heaven!
"Brother," Luo Yaoguo smiled, "do we want a small paradise in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, or the whole world?"
Yang Xiuqing put down his tea bowl and waved his hand: "Both!"
Luo Yaoguo raised his thumb in admiration: "Brother, you are wise! You are so wise! Managing the small paradise and taking over the world are essentially one and the same thing, two sides of the same coin!"
If our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom cannot gain the world, then the happiness of the small paradise will ultimately not be sustainable! So, if we want to specialize in the small paradise, we must have the attitude of gaining the world. Only by making the Qing enemy fight on all fronts and defend everywhere can our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom truly have its own ground in the small paradise.
Otherwise, if we only have a solitary city in hand, the Qing enemy can gather all its resources, materials, and troops from all over the world to surround and eliminate us. Outside of this small paradise are the troops of the Qing enemy......Is this still a small paradise?
Brother, you can think so far ahead; I truly admire you!"
Is that what I thought? You said that, it's not what I thought!
Yang Xiuqing is a wise person and of course knows that Luo Yaoguo is teaching him how to do things!
However, Luo Yaoguo is good at handling people and gave him enough face. Moreover, his analysis is very reasonable, and he agrees with him on the big picture.
So Yang Xiuqing had to twiddle his beard and play the role of a master, putting on the "high-crowned hat" that Luo Yaoguo offered him.
Seeing that Yang Xiuqing did not speak, Hong Xuanjiao quickly winked at her husband Xiao Chaogui. Although seemingly loyal and simple, Xiao Chaogui's mind was quite sharp. He of course knew what "dedicate oneself to Jinling" meant?
Yang Xiuqing was not keen on dividing his troops and was thinking of using tens of thousands of soldiers to unite as one and seize Jinling as their small paradise.
Xiao Chaogui was inspired by Luo Yaoguo to become the "master of three cities in Wuhan" - this meant dividing the army!
And Luo Yaoguo's previous speech implied that he also advocated for the separate establishment of bases, but wouldn't dividing too much weaken the main force?
Thinking of this, Xiao Chaogui furrowed his brow and asked Luo Yaoguo, "Brother Eight, we only have a few tens of thousands of soldiers at our disposal, and there are only thirty thousand that can actually fight. Can we dedicate ourselves to Jinling while also posing as a force capable of subduing the entire world with this limited number of troops?"
Yang Xiuqing squinted one eye and also glanced at Luo Yaoguo, obviously waiting for his response.
Luo Yaoguo had come to discuss this with Yang Xiuqing, so he started counting on his fingers and said, "Brother-in-law, although our Taiping army only has thirty or forty thousand soldiers, there are not just millions of strong men who have no choice but to take up arms in order to survive?"
As far as I know, there are millions of Heaven and Earth Society followers in Hunan who want to rise up and the poor masses who can no longer survive. As long as we can mobilize them, we don't need so many soldiers; just as many soldiers will be enough."
Yang Xiuqing made a sound of "oh" and remained silent.
Luo Yaoguo had long known that Yang Xiuqing always had reservations about enlisting the Heaven and Earth Society followers to join the Taiping army.
This may be because the Heaven and Earth Society organization is loose, with people of varying qualities, and there are many internal factions. Some of the followers' anti-Qing stance is not firm. When the Taiping army first emerged, some who had joined the Heaven and Earth Society had already defected to the Qing enemy.
However, the power of the Hunan Heaven and Earth Society is great, and they have been fighting against the Qing enemy. Many followers have some military experience, and enlisting them would definitely help to quickly enhance the strength of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Historically, the Taiping Army suffered losses in the Battle of Suyi River and had to relax the "entry requirements" after capturing Daozhou, attracting a large number of Heaven and Earth Society members to join. Later, the Taiping Army rapidly expanded in a short period of time, which was largely due to the addition of this new blood.
Seeing that Yang Xiuqing did not immediately reject his proposal, Luo Yaoguo felt that there was hope, so he continued to persuade him: "Although the followers of the Heaven and Earth Society are of varying qualities, they can still be utilized. When you were in Jinjin Village, didn't you recruit many Heaven and Earth Society members? Like Su Sanmama, Lu Da Gao, Wu Ruxiang, Bi Sanmama, etc., all of whom are from the Heaven and Earth Society. Nowadays, they are all my generals in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."
And besides the good men who joined the Heaven and Earth Society in Hunan, there are also many poor peasants who have not joined the society. They, just like the children of Tiancheng Mountain, are eager for someone to lead them in rebellion, to kill off the Qing enemy that devours people, and to become a founding hero!
Back in the past, wasn't it through the grand ceremony of the worship of God that Brother Three gathered the poor people and heroes from Zijing Mountain to become the pillars of our heavenly kingdom? Why doesn't our heavenly kingdom now use this method as a template for Huigang? By organizing grand ceremonies for worshiping God, we can turn the Heaven and Earth Society members and poor people in Huigang into our divine generals and pillars!"
Without a clear answer, Yang Xiuqing made a "oh" sound and turned his good eye around, asking: "Brother Eight, are you suggesting that we should hold grand ceremonies for worshiping God in the south of Hunan, Guangdong, and Guangxi provinces, gather the followers of the Heaven and Earth Society and poor peasants, and guide them to establish a base in this area?"
"Brother is wise!" Luo Yaoguo smiled and nodded in agreement, also sincerely offering a compliment.
Yang Xiuqing laughed heartily, seemingly very pleased, but then he furrowed his brow and muttered to himself, "But who can take on the great responsibility of leading the worship of God to establish a base in Hunan?"
He set up a question and then answered it with a twinkle in his eye, saying: "In my Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from top to bottom, it seems like only Brother Three has this great talent!"
Yang Xiuqing looked up at Luo Yaoguo: "Brother Eight, what do you think?"
Well done, you Eastern King Yang Xiuqing! You're taking advantage of the opportunity to establish a base in Hunan to oust Southern King Feng Yunshan from the center of power in the heavenly kingdom!
From now on, Xiao Chaogui will be in charge of Hubei, Feng Yunshan will be in charge of Hunan, and you can find an opportunity to oust me as well, so that the central government in Tianjin will only be under your Eastern King Yang Xiuqing's control. Then you can force to become an emperor or even usurp the throne......Alright, let's go with this for now!"
Luo Yaoguo thought of this, so he smiled and nodded, saying: "Brother is right! It is indeed only Brother Three who can undertake this great responsibility!"
Yang Xiuqing looked at Xiao Chaogui again.
Xiao Chaogui smiled and said, "This is wonderful! In the future, I will share the responsibility of guarding Hunan with Brother Three, while Brother Four and Brother Eight will be the left and right hands of the king!"
Yang Xiuqing laughed heartily: "Since Brother-in-law is of the same mind, then so be it!"
He suddenly reached out and grabbed Luo Yaoguo's wrist, then said to Xiao Chaogui and Hong Xuanjiao, "Brother-in-law, Youngest Sister, you two go ahead and busy yourselves. I have some things I need to ask Brother Eight!"
Xiao Chaogui and Hong Xuanjiao listened to Yang Xiuqing's words and quickly left the room to exit.
Luo Yaoguo didn't understand what Yang Xiuqing wanted to ask, so he looked at him with a smile on his face.
Yang Xiuqing asked with a smile, "Brother Eight, how do you open the box of two mooncakes you brought from heaven? Do you have to recite some kind of spell?"
What does that mean?
Luo Yaoguo thought to himself: Does that mean the Eastern God is hungry for mooncakes from Lianxiang Tower? No, it's not. You definitely have ambition!
