Chapter 169: Two Hundred Years Later, the Nineteenth Century

This time, Peng Feng helped the Southern Ming Dynasty establish many rules and regulations.

However, the power of Confucianism over thousands of years is truly too great.

After Peng Feng fell into slumber, in just twenty or thirty years, the imperial examination system changed.

The imperial examinations still tested subjects in science and engineering.

However, not only did the number of graduates in science and engineering drastically decrease.

But, the graduates in science and engineering were often sent to serve as minor officials, never to be promoted.

Under the manipulation of these shrewd Confucians, although there were still people studying science and engineering, more than in history, they were still quite rare.

And in this situation, the Southern Ming Dynasty still did not experience a technological leap, remaining that feudal dynasty.

Time, unknowingly, had reached the nineteenth century.

And the nineteenth century was actually a time of great change globally.

In a word, it was a transformation unseen in three thousand years.

The Age of Exploration had arrived.

Those European countries, such as the Rotting Leaf Country, the Vampire Country, the Werewolf Country, the Holy See Country, the Northern Bear Country, the Highland Duck Country, and the Ugly Country on another continent.

These countries all began their frantic global voyages.

Or, it could be called the era of global colonization.

These European and American countries conquered one nation after another.

And finally, they saw the vast Southern Ming Kingdom in the East.

Of course, the Southern Ming Kingdom was too vast, and they initially did not dare to attack it.

So, at first, they wanted to treat the Southern Ming Empire as a dumping ground for their products.

However, the products of these European powers, such as wool and woolen textiles, were not popular in China.

On the contrary, luxury goods from the Southern Ming Empire, such as tea, silk, and porcelain, were very popular in the European market.

Until the 1820s and 1830s, China still maintained a trade surplus of two to three million taels of silver annually with the Holy See Country.

In order to change this unfavorable trade situation, the Holy See Country began to promote a type of Snake Venom Flower in the Southern Ming Empire.

This Snake Venom Flower, when consumed, could cause addiction, destroying a person’s body, mind, and will. Then, people would uncontrollably spend more money to buy and consume this Snake Venom Flower, even if it meant…bankruptcy.

The Holy See Country’s idea was to make the people of the Southern Ming Empire addicted to the Snake Venom Flower, and then make a fortune from it, while also weakening the Southern Ming Empire’s fighting power, truly killing two birds with one stone.

The Snake Venom Flower trade brought astonishing profits to the bourgeoisie, government, West Borneo Company, and Snake Venom Flower dealers of the Holy See Country.

It broke China’s long-term advantage in foreign trade, turning China from a country with a trade surplus for over two hundred years into a country with a trade deficit.

“The poison of the Snake Venom Flower is a disaster unseen in China for three thousand years.” The massive influx of Snake Venom Flower caused an outflow of six million taels of silver annually from China, leading to a severe silver shortage in the country, causing silver to become expensive and money to become cheap, resulting in financial exhaustion and an empty treasury.

And at this time, the emperor of the Southern Ming Empire, Emperor Guangzong Zhu Zhengyan, ordered the minister Mu, to go to the southeastern coastal areas to ban the Snake Venom Flower.

After Mu arrived in the southeastern province, he ordered the foreign Snake Venom Flower dealers to hand over all their Snake Venom Flower, and promised that they would no longer sell it, guaranteeing that future ships would never dare to carry Snake Venom Flower. If they did, once discovered, all goods would be confiscated, and the people would be executed, willingly accepting their punishment.

Then, in July, he destroyed most of the Snake Venom Flower inventory that legally belonged to the people of the Holy See Country.

And the Holy See Country, with its interests damaged, would certainly not let this go.

In February 1833, the parliament of the Holy See Country held a fierce debate on this matter, and finally decided to take military action.

In June, the Holy See Country’s General Jack Peterburg, led a mobile fleet of more than 60 ships and 6,000 soldiers from the Elephant Country, arriving in Chinese waters.

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After the outbreak of the war, the Holy See Country continuously sent reinforcements from its homeland. Excluding the ships that were replaced and returned home, the Holy See Country had 40 military warships, 25 steamships, and more than 80 hospital ships, survey ships, and transport ships.

In September, the army of the Holy See Country suddenly launched an attack at Chuanbi Ocean, capturing the Shajiao and Dajiao forts. The Southern Ming Empire’s garrison suffered more than 700 casualties, and 11 troop ships and tugboats were sunk or destroyed.

After the Holy See Empire launched this undeclared war, the Southern Ming Empire immediately counterattacked.

However, the Southern Ming Empire was still just a feudal empire.

And the current Holy See Country was a capitalist empire.

The military strength of the two was actually generations apart.

Just four days later, the Holy See Country captured the Humen Forts, and the naval commander, patriotic general Guan Tianpei, and hundreds of his soldiers heroically sacrificed themselves.

In October, the Holy See Country besieged South China City. Many strategic locations near South China City fell.

At this time, General Yishan, who was defending South China City, raised the white flag and signed the South China City Treaty, willing to pay the Holy See army a ransom of 6 million silver dollars, which was extorted from the merchants of South China City. The Holy See army also withdrew from South China City after receiving the money.

However, the Holy See army believed that the benefits obtained from the South China City Treaty were too small and planned to continue the war. The Holy See army moved north, and in December, captured Gulangyu, Xiamen, Dinghai, Zhenhai, and Zhapu.

Then, the Holy See army attacked Wusong, the gateway to the Yangtze River.

The Governor-General of Liangjiang, Niu Jian, wanted to negotiate peace and ordered a retreat, which was refused. Niu Jian fled, the East Fort was captured, and the West Fort also fell. Wusong was breached.

Then, the warships of the Holy See could directly enter the Yangtze River.

And the Holy See army then captured Zhenjiang, directly threatening Jinling City.

In this situation, the Southern Ming Empire was forced to negotiate.

However, no one in the Southern Ming Empire wanted to negotiate.

After all, everyone understood one thing.

The Southern Ming army had been defeated on the battlefield.

Naturally, it would be even more difficult at the negotiating table.

Whoever went to negotiate this treaty would become a sinner for all time, with a name that would stink in the annals of history, and leave a bad name for ten thousand years.

Moreover, the emperor of the Southern Ming Empire, Emperor Guangzong Zhu Zhengyan, was much more courageous than the Qing Dynasty in the parallel timeline. When he heard that Yishan had extorted 600,000 taels of silver from merchants in South China City to give to the Holy See Country, he immediately executed Yishan.

Then he said: “In the past, our former Ming Dynasty did not cede land, did not form marriage alliances, did not call ourselves subjects, did not pay tribute, the emperor guarded the gates of the country, and the monarch died for the state.

Today’s Southern Ming is the same. We will not cede land, will not form marriage alliances, will not call ourselves subjects, will not pay tribute, the emperor will guard the gates of the country, and the monarch will die for the state.

The Holy See Country is indeed powerful. But there is no need for negotiations.

We have lost now, we will just fight again. We have millions of troops, at worst, we will exchange lives with them at a ratio of ten to one. We will fight again.”

“In addition, take silver to Europe to buy advanced firearms. Our army, with advanced firearms, may not lose to this Holy See Country.”

He sent people to contact Europe, but for some reason, those European countries simply would not sell advanced firearms to the Southern Ming.

For a time, the Southern Ming Empire was in a difficult situation.

After thinking for a long time, I decided to directly write about the events of the nineteenth century.

Of course, I changed the names of those countries.