Correctly, it is the Daozhou City loyal to Luoyao Guo!
As Luo Yao Guo rode into the west gate of Daozhou, the scene he saw was just like the one he encountered on that day when he entered the Egret Pond on Di Street.
On both sides of the long Xidu Street in Daozhou, there were scores of poverty-stricken people with hands held up to beg for food, with no end in sight!
This scene... For a great traitor, it is too beautiful!
These beggars look more suitable for rebellion than those in the Egret Pond. They are more robust; those with bare chests have the physique of "muscle monkeys," and it's evident they do manual labor. With some good training, they could definitely fight!
And they are now at a standstill, relying solely on hoping for a sudden change for the better.
And the pies they desire, only Luo Yao Guo, standing on the shoulders of "giants," knows how to provide them with.
Once the pies are delivered, these people will all become "followers of the angels," and Daozhou will naturally become Luo Yao Guo's and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's territory!
Thinking of this, Luo Yao Guo suddenly shouted "stop," and Chen Chengrong, who was holding the reins for him, quickly pulled on the reins. Then he saw Luo Yao Guo standing tall on his horse, surveying those poor people holding up their rickety belongings, claiming they wanted to "present them to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" to show their full devotion to the Taiping cause.
The Taiping soldiers, under Chen Chengrong, who were on site to maintain order, knew that the Taiping Angel was about to speak, so they immediately shouted loudly to instruct the crowd to remain quiet.
"Compatriots and villagers of Daozhou! You have suffered greatly!" Luo Yao Guo shouted, "You have been oppressed by the Qing demons and their lackeys. It is they who have caused you to go without food, without clothing, without shelter, without land to till... with nothing at all! Even digging for minerals outside the city of Daozhou is not allowed by the Qing government, and the hard-earned money has to be used to bribe the greedy officials of the Qing! This is a path to no life at all!"
What do you all think of the Qing demons? Are they detestable? And what do you think of the Qing demons' dogs and the corrupt officials of the Qing government? Are they detestable?"
"Detestable!"
"Too detestable!"
The poor people below immediately started shouting.
Luo Yao Guo made a hand gesture, and the people below fell silent once again.
"Since they are detestable, what should we do about it?" Luo Yao Guo asked loudly.
"Rebellion, rebellion!"
"Angel of Taiping, please lead us in rebellion!"
"Rebel against the Qing demons, march to Beijing... Establish the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and rule the kingdom!"
Poor people... Long for rebellion!
This has been the case since ancient times!
Under the rule of the Great Qing Dynasty, the number of poor people was unparalleled in all dynasties!
Just this alone is enough to bring down the Qing Dynasty!
Luo Yao Guo made a hand gesture again, and the people below fell silent once more: "What else? Besides marching to Beijing and overthrowing the Qing dynasty, helping the king seize the throne, what else do we need to do for our Taiping Army?"
What else is there to do?
The people below were taken aback for a moment, but then someone quickly realized and started singing "Welcoming Taiping."
"Rent is heavy, interest rates are high, and lately, the poor man's survival has become difficult. Open the door early to welcome Taiping, and teach everyone to be happy regardless of size. Kill the Qing demons, kill the inferior scholars, open the city gate to welcome Taiping, and when Taiping arrives, we will divide the land..."
Luo Yao Guo waved his hand again, and when the poor people below quieted down once more, he announced loudly, "The Taiping Army keeps its promises! Today, we will open the granaries and distribute food so that everyone will have something to eat. Afterward, we will seize the land of the wealthy nobles and distribute it to everyone... Those who join the Taiping Army will receive five mu per person. Others will initially receive one mu per person. If there is plenty of land available, more can be allocated."
If you are tired of farming and do not want to divide land in rural Hunan, you can first record a credit for joining the Taiping Army. When we conquer a large territory in the future, I will distribute good wealth to you!
"Conquer the world, sit on the throne...... What is there in the world that is more true than this?"
With that said, Luo Yao Guo led the way, raising his arms and shouting enthusiastically, "Long live the Heavenly King! Kill the Qing demons, ascend to heaven, divide the wealth, divide the land..."
The people below were once again stirred into a frenzy, and their cheers echoed like thunder!
Luo Yao Guo then said to Chen Chengyong, "Chen guard, let's go!"
"Yes!"
......
The original Daozhou government office had been hastily cleaned up. The gaps previously pounded by cannon fire had been as much blocked up as possible. The bodies outside and inside the government office that could be collected had been gathered, wrapped in white cloth, sprinkled with lime, and roughly gathered into two parts—part for the Qing demons' bodies, which were taken to a random burial ground; and part for the rebels' bodies, which were to be given a grand funeral!
The remains of the martyrs must be treated with great respect!
The walls that had been pocked by gunfire and the sooty marks from the smoke and flames were unavoidable.
A detachment of Taiping Army female soldiers had arrived there ahead of time. Although they were all exhausted, they were also very happy. They had finally taken over a fairly prosperous city! Moreover, the city and its surrounding countryside would be developed into the first consolidated base for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
After a year and a half of traveling and fighting, they finally had a "home" again!
Luo Yao Guo, along with Chen Chengyong and Su San Niang, walked into the inner chamber of the state office - this was once the last place of work for the prefectural magistrate Wang Kuiyi. There was a desk on the hall, which still had its writing utensils and some stamps, letters, public notices, and official documents left undone.
Luo Yao Guo walked over to the desk, flipping through something as he asked Chen Chengyong, "Chen guard, have the residences for the King, the Eastern King, the Western King, the Southern King, the Northern King, and the Wing King been arranged?"
"Your Majesty, the steward Chen Chengyong reports," said Chen Chengyong. "All the residences have been arranged according to your orders, and their palaces are better than yours, Your Majesty."
"Good! That's the way it should be."
"But..." Chen Chengyong pondered for a moment before saying, "Besides the Southern King, should the other royal princes not be coming to reside in Daozhou?"
Luo Yao Guo laughed and said, "The Heavenly King, the Eastern King, and the Western King have been camped in Linger City for some time. The soldiers have nothing, but how could the other royal princes, who are so respected? How can they live in the wild all the time? And they also have so many families... It is very inconvenient. Chen guard, you might as well go on a trip to Linger Front together with Feng Ge. Go and tell the Heavenly King and the Eastern King to move their residence to Daozhou. At the same time, leave one person to command the troops to continue attacking Linger."
The reason behind Luo Yao Guo sending Chen Chengyong and Hong Renfa to Linger was actually twofold: one was to invite Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing, and others to the south; the other was to get rid of these two people so that he could act freely in Daozhou.
He has only controlled the city of Daozhou and its surrounding areas with the army at present, but has not yet established a grassroots administration, nor has he had a chance to integrate the Tongmenghui soldiers. There are many things that need to be done, and Chen Chengyong and Hong Renfa standing by cannot be convenient!
The cautious Chen Chengyong, however, didn't think about it much and also wanted to leave Daozhou and visit the Linger Front to give Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing two small reports!
This was not because he deliberately wanted to target Luo Yao Guo, but because it was part of his duty!
In name, he was a servant of Hong Xiuquan, but in fact he was under the supervision of Yang Xiuqing, and had been entrusted by both to help Luo Yao Guo. Although neither Hong Xiuquan nor Yang Xiuqing had explicitly said how to monitor Luo Yao Guo, it was understood by all.
Luo Yao Guo's actions in these days were indeed worth reporting to the above.
So he knelt on one knee before Luo Yao Guo and said, "I have received the order... Your Highness, who should command the troops I lead?"
"For the time being, hand it over to Zeng Servant," Luo Yao Guo said. "He will arrive in Daozhou City this afternoon, and you can take care of the troops. Hand them over to him at that time."
"Yes!"
Chen Chengyong responded with a nod and rose to leave the inner hall.
At this moment, Luo Yao Guo seemed to have found something interesting, standing at the edge of the desk and lost in thought.
Seeing this, Su San Niang, who was standing by, quickly approached and in a low voice asked, "Your Highness... Did you find something?"
"It seems to be a letter from the clerk of Saishang Adie to the prefect of Daozhou," Luo Yao Guo replied.
"What does it say?" Su San Niang asked out of curiosity.
Luo Yao Guo said, "Some strange things..."
"What strange things?" Su San Niang continued to ask curiously.
"The clerk of Saishang Adie said in the letter that while fighting with He Chun and Jiang Zhongyuan at the Suo Yi Crossing, they encountered a Monkey King riding a flying car that descended from heaven..." Luo Yao Guo turned and looked at Su San Niang. "San Niang, you were also at Suo Yi Crossing that day, right? Did you see a Monkey King pass through?"
"No, I didn't see anything," said Su San Niang. "That day... it was just you who descended from the sky, and there was no Monkey King!" She suddenly thought of something and blinked as she looked at Luo Yao Guo. "Sir Angel, could that Monkey King... be you?"
"I?" Luo Yao Guo was taken aback for a moment, and thought in his heart, "Maybe it really is me... the officials of this big Qing Dynasty can indeed make things up! This is interesting. I will send someone to investigate and find out the situation later, then I can use this to my advantage..."]
