"Welcome, of course, welcome!"
"Feng Yunshan is still good at uniting brothers, although he doesn't particularly approve of Luo Yaoguo recruiting the evil Yu Wanqing. However, he can't publicly disagree with Luo Yaoguo and undermine his prestige, so he still welcomed Yu Wanqing."
"Fetch the scissors, please."
Luo Yaoguo made a grand gesture, and a Taiping Army woman promptly approached with a tray, on which rested a pair of gleaming shears.
"Yu Meiquing!" Luo Yaoguo shouted.
"Yes!" Yu Wanqing, or as he should be known, Yu Meiquing, quickly replied.
Luo Yaoguo pointed to the scissors: "Yu Meiquing, your queue was imposed by the Qing devils, so you must cut it yourself, then give the Father of Our race, the Holy God of the Chinese people, three bows and nine kowtows. From now on, you are a brother in Taiping Tianzhuang!"
Upon hearing Luo Yaoguo say the seven characters "Father of the Bright Heaven Emperor God," and looking at the newly made tablet with the inscription "Father of the Bright Heaven Emperor God," Feng Yunshan's brow furrowed even tighter.
Does the "Heavenly Father, Supreme Heavenly Emperor God" and the "High Heavenly Father, Supreme Heavenly Emperor God" refer to the same God?
The Heavenly Father, Supreme Heavenly Emperor God is called Ye Huohua, but has the Wu Tian Shangdi ever been called Ye Huohua?
However, this "Luo Tian Sheng" claims to have come from heaven. How could he not remember the name of the Heavenly Father, Supreme Heavenly Emperor God?
"We must definitely ask him about it later..."
While Feng Yunshan was deep in thought about serious religious issues, Yu Meiquing, who didn't care what the "Father of the Bright Heaven Emperor God" was called, had already picked up the scissors and cut a significant portion of his queue.
After cutting off his queue, he knocked nine resounding heads to the tablet of the "Heavenly Father, Supreme Heavenly Emperor God," and then bowed three times. Afterward, he swung his fist and shouted enthusiastically, "Be sure to destroy the Manchu Qing Dynasty! Vow to kill Xianfeng and the Xian devil!"
Luo Yaoguo was very satisfied with Yu Meiquing's performance.
He nodded and loudly declared: "Yu Wanqing is dead, killed by Su Sanmour with her own hands. His Goshiha and most of his military officers have also been slain by my Taiping Sacred Troops... Remember this all of you!"
He then pointed at Yu Meiquing, whose hair was now disheveled and who had lost the majority of his queue, "He is Yu Meiquing, and he is now a new brother in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!"
Luo Yaoguo then looked at the other people present with a piercing gaze, "You... who among you wants to be like him?"
The surrounding onlookers and captured Qing officers and soldiers witnessed that Yu Wanqing, the Hunan Director of Defense, had surrendered to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and worshipped God, which immediately motivated many people to make up their minds to follow suit. They shouted loudly in unison.
"I! I! I..."
"Me too!"
"I want to cut my queue, worship God, and kill the Qing devils..."
Luo Yaoguo nodded in approval and loudly announced: "Okay! Those who are willing to turn against the Qing Dynasty are welcome in our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom... Don't be in a hurry, come one by one, cut your queue, bow to God, and become new brothers if you don't have a smoking habit. Those who do have a smoking habit should first quit smoking and then join the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!"
"We'll kill the Qing devils, take the empire by storm, and rule the world together!"
At this moment, he saw Yu Meiquing's adopted son, Yu Dabao, also preparing to cut his queue, and quickly stopped him, saying, "Yu Dabao, and you guys seem quite sturdy; leave your queues for now..."
...
"What's your meaning, eighth brother?"
In the large mansion of the Huang family in Getao Town, Feng Yunshan had just settled down when he sent everyone around him away first, and then he sternly questioned Luo Yaoguo, also known as Luo Tian Sheng, who had entered with him.
"Third brother, what specific meaning do you have?"
Luo Yaoguo had long anticipated this day, given that his actions in Getao Town differed from those of the original Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
And he intends to continue with this new approach, implementing it across the entire Daozhou region, and eventually extending it to the entire Xiangjiang-Yue border area and beyond, to the whole of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
As for the original, somewhat crazy old path of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, of course, it is not possible for it to retreat from the historical stage by itself.
The inevitable conflict between the new and old ways of thinking cannot be avoided!
"First, tell me what you mean by 'Wu Tian God'," Feng Yunshan asked, frowning. "Is this Wu Tian God our Father God Ye Huohua?"
"Third brother," Luo Yaoguo explained, "Ye Huohua is the Latinized name of the Father's name. It originated from Hebrew, but no Han people in heaven would use Hebrew to address the Father. Instead, we all refer to Him as 'Wu Tian' or 'Wu Tian Shangdi' or 'Father of Our race, the Holy God of the Chinese people'!"
"Third brother," Luo Yaoguo explained, "You should have read quite a few books in the mortal world, and you should know that the title 'God' is not unique to the West. It is also very common in our Chinese historical texts. The Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci, who came to China at the end of the Ming Dynasty, studied our Chinese classics and found that God and their 'Father in Heaven,' or 'God,' which the Westerners call 'Gao De' or 'Ye Huohua,' are actually one and the same. That's why there is this respectful title 'Heavenly Father, Supreme Heavenly Emperor God'!"
Feng Yunshan had indeed read some classical works, but he was unaware that Matteo Ricci, an Western missionary, had translated the Western God and their Father in Heaven into the Chinese term "God." Furthermore, he was not aware that "God" had another name in Western terms - "Gao De."
Luo Yaoguo noticed his skeptical expression and so he slapped his chest and said to him: "Third brother, I won't deceive you. Once you meet Hong Rengang, he will tell you that everything I say is true."
"Hong Rengang? Do you also know him?" Feng Yunshan was taken aback, "Is it the elder brother who told you about him?"
"No." Luo Yaoguo shook his head, "In the original Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Rengang was also an important figure. After the Anqing Incident, he would come from Hong Kong via Shanghai to become the ruler of the country and bring forth a very formidable 'New Policy for the Administration.'" Unfortunately, at that time, the people's hearts had already scattered and the tower was about to fall..."
Feng Yunshan fell silent upon hearing Luo Yaoguo talk about the Anqing Incident and the impending collapse of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Luo Yaoguo said: "Third brother, Hong Rengang actually wanted to come and meet the King long ago, but was blocked by the Qing devils and couldn't pass through. Therefore, he had to go to Hong Kong and join the Swedish-Swedish Eights Society Missionary Han Shanying. He studied Western languages and Christian teachings while waiting for an opportunity to meet the King. Once you have firmly established your base in the border areas of Hunan, Guizhou, and Yue, send someone to find Han Shanying of the Swedish-Swedish Eights Society Missionary. We can then bring Hong Rengang over, and everything will be clear then."
Moreover, the Wu Tian God...... that is recognized by scholars across the land! They must all admit: God is an alias for heaven, i.e., the Wu Tian Shangdi!
And we are all children of the Wu Tian God, descended to the mortal realm to rectify chaos and eliminate the Qing devils. This is a divine commission... Third brother, give this some thought. Isn't the name Wu Tian God more fitting than Ye Huohua?
"Third brother, you must have read quite a few books. You can taste it, carefully consider it..."
Feng Yunshan took a careful taste, and indeed, the flavor was quite different.
It's quite a challenge to have the world's scholars bow down to a name like 'Ye Huohua'!
However, when replaced with 'Wu Tian God,' the problem is no longer there... "Heaven, Earth, Lord, Parents, Teachers" is the 'Tian' in 'Heaven, Earth, Lord, Parents, Teachers.' Every scholar has certainly bowed down to it. However, this would mean that those who worship God would be worshiping the same deity as those of the famous scholars.
"Eight brother......" Feng Yunshan squinted his eyes and looked at Luo Yaoguo, "You brought up the name of Wu Tian God, not to try and win over the Confucian scholars who read the Four Books and Five Classics, right?"
Indeed, Feng Yunshan saw right through it!
Luo Yaoguo took a deep breath: "Third brother, shouldn't we try to win them over? Not all scholars can pass the imperial examinations and not everyone has vast landholdings. Don't you and the King share the same fate?"
"Don't bring me and the King into this!" Feng Yunshan interrupted, "If the scholars across the land are willing to join us in worshiping the Heavenly Father, Supreme Heavenly Emperor God, I would be more than happy to welcome them!"
But are they willing? Even if some are, it's still a minority. So now it seems like you want our Worship of the Heavenly God movement to lean more towards Confucianism, isn't that right?"
"I apologize! I apologize, my little brother is only concerned about the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom... Let me explain, I have already understood your thoughts now. Although you may not be as crazy as Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiusheng, you are still a die-hard follower of the 'Father God Gao De'!"
However, Luo big angel must still try to unify him, even though he is quite stubborn.
Because without his support, it would be difficult for Luo the Angel to struggle against Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiusheng, those two big nutcases!
