Very nice. Very well written and good usage of screen shots and pictures. Keep it up! Teach these English a lesson!!! Cheers
Sappy.
-
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Very nice. Very well written and good usage of screen shots and pictures. Keep it up! Teach these English a lesson!!! Cheers
Sappy.
Just wanted to let you know.
You have my vote for Favorte Narrative AAR. Keep up the great work.
You have my vote for Favorte Narrative AAR. Keep up the great work.
Yeah I saw that Thanks buddy!
Update gameplay going to be in progress soon... wish me luck. Those British scare me, even if I have massive hordes of armies and they tend to only drop of tiny, doomed contingents
Thanks buddy!Update gameplay going to be in progress soon... wish me luck. Those British scare me, even if I have massive hordes of armies and they tend to only drop of tiny, doomed contingents
Sapphire said:
Cheers
Sappy.
Thanks dude!
The British will sometimes land up to 30,000 men in one wave (or three successive ones).
The trick is to have a few native-quality divisions waiting to reinforce the irregulars you have stationed in each coastal province.
The trick is to have a few native-quality divisions waiting to reinforce the irregulars you have stationed in each coastal province.
巨大狮子攻击 Pounce of the Lion:
Chapter 十
Chapter 十
[size=+1][/size]
Sun Sun Tzu 孫子 once said:
Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy,
will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has
to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.
Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy,
but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.
By holding out advantages to him,
he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord;
or, by inflicting damage,
he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near.
If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him
The war went on in bloody ferocity, and as the season changed into warmer months it seemed for a time that the strategies of Viceroy Lin Ze Xu and Prince Sengge Rinchen had worked in driving the British utterly out of China, or at least those were the braggings of some officers whom had already taken leave of the campaign and arrived back in court, claiming victory of course.
Indeed such men lacked wisdom, for it was only natural that when a Lion is struck it might retreat for a while to lick it's wounds. Yet as seasons changed, so too would that great lion's temperment.
... And soon enough, that lion would come back to challenge the dragon.
The Chinese watch as great scores of
British ships arrive on the coasts of the south east...
Within the month more British vessels began to arrive from both the far west lands of Europe and India where much of the British Queen's power lay. Great and terrible bombardments ensued that terrified the people and seemed to shake the sky and the earth below. All along the coasts cities such as Fuzhou and Xiamen as well as Guangzhou faced the worst of the British attacks, their sea walls shattered and bombarded far beyond repair.
In Guangzhou the Viceroy Lin Ze Xu was more than worried. In his temporary palace residence within the city, he sat and quietly drank strong white rice wine, contemplating the situation. One of his officers, Dong Yi Bo stood aside him.
"Yi bo..." The Viceroy stared forward, staring almost into nothing, addressing his appointed commanding officer.
"Your lordship?' The Officer stepped forth, in his military manner. He was silent, awaiting orders.
"I fear the situation, Yi Bo..." Taking back another shot of the rice wine, he turned to the ageing, Yi Bo, "We have so many men so confident of victory, but already the cost of the armies is proving a strain - and I fear the British invaders have yet to land their true forces."
The officer spoke as formally as ever, "Permission to advise your grace requested."
The Viceroy turned, "Granted." he then turned and began to refill his small jade cup. The Officer Dong Yi Bo shook his head, "I suspect your grace is right in the fact that these invaders are just... testing the river waters for fish, or as they say in my home clan. Truly with so many grand ships, they are planning a grand invasion."
The Viceroy did not like what he was hearing, only because it was indeed confirming his own opinion on the matter.
"Sit, Officer, and have a drink with a lonely old man. Whether we win or lose, general, we will fight in this together."
The officer stepped forth, and promptly sat, speaking finally in plain terms, "That would make two old men, your lordship."
Raising the bottle to pour, the Viceroy smirked at this.
The defense forces were returned to their original positions, prepared to deal with any further British landings, especially in the Hong Kong islands and along the south east trading coasts. However even the great numbers, the many defenses, seemed to be tiny and few when the sight of the behemoths that the British called ships fired again and again on the coastlines.
But soon they came. A grand army of invaders bombarded their way to the coast, and landing at Quanzhou they landed in a storm of great violence which that land had never seen of such in all it's history.
Captain Charles Elliot
British naval officer, diplomat and invasion commander
The British plan was nothing too clever it seemed at first to the Viceroy, when he recieved an emissary from the coastal towns that the garrisons were beyond sure that the British sailing up the coast had come to a halt, and they were going to make a landing. Immediately the council of war was summoned at the temporary residence of the Viceroy in Guangzhou.
The Viceroy soon learned the name of his enemy - Captain Charles Elliot, a knight and warrior of the Queen of England. Well, he too was a warrior of a great Emperor, and on this field in his most Confucian manner the Viceroy would test his mettle against this strange and foreign commander.
The Viceroy would see whom held the greater of wits.
And so a quick call was made for a meeting of commanders within the hour, and the council of war was quite clear on it's motives.
It was generally agreed amongst the mostly Manchu commanders that it would serve the Empire best to ensure a pincer like movement from three directions to route the British invader's armies, and the careful positions that they seemed to take.
"Then it is agreed," Viceroy Lin began turning to the men around him,
"North, east, and south we shall ride and together hunt this great lion of an army. And I advise you all to be wary of sending forward your best men first - even the most well crafted armours shatter in face of their dangerous musket guns. Be prepare, and use your horsemen sparingly."
The officers agreed, and the plan was set into motion. The Viceroy and Dong Yi Bo held command of the main army of some twenty five thousand men just outside the city near the beaches where the British would make their landing. Reinforcements would arrive from all directions, taking the invaders by surprise.
Yet this would cost to defense of the city of Guangzhou itself, the Viceroy weighed this against the dire need to defeat the British at Quanzhou further east.
An old prophetic story was told of a lion and a dragon whom challenged each other, and it caused great fear and uproar in all the lands below and within the Heavens. Such was being retold by many in the south, this old tale - for it seemed eerie enough it had come to more than truth.
A lion is not a tame creature by any means. It seeks to control it's territory - make it's dominance known, and proclaim itself King in it's domain in face of all other challengers. And challenge they might, the lion is a beast that rarely falls without a great struggle.
Indeed a dragon, an ancient creature of myth and eminence was not always bred for such ferocity as a lion. Yet it was a creature with a great fire in it's heart, and would defend it's own all the same. One could only imagine in a great fight between such a lion of ferocity and an ancient dragon, both the earth and sky would shake.
The blasts of the initial attack was bombardment from both land and sea on the fort defenses as the British made their way towards the land. The rumbling of the great firepower the Queen's ships held was beyond measure - women took their children and hid in corners within their homes, grown men shaking and holding their hands over their ears, truly never have seen anything like such a thing in all their lives.
The fire on the beach seemed distant to the cavalrymen hidden around the hills. The Viceroy himself sat on a steed, knowing he had chosen well in naming Dong Yi Bo as the fort commander. Looking behind him, scores of cavalrymen from across the empire sat ready.
"When I make the order, we come around the hill and strike the foreign devils as they make their way up the beach. Is that understood?" He shouted the last words, coughing after as he did.
'Yes, commander!'
The confirmation seemed to echo across the soldier's, rows upon rows in the distance. Turning and staring forth confidently as he watched the black gunsmoke begin to gather in the air and overtake the smell of the sea...
As the British small boats landed, soldiers clad in strange red jackets, familiar now to some of these chinese soldiers - depared with muskets and hand and at the shouts in their strange British language their own commanders ushered them forward. Some conscripts ran to meet them, being mostly shot down or turned back as more and more of these red coated foreign devils made their landings.
With a purchased cannon at the side of the fort, the aging officer Dong Yi Bo stared forth and gave the word.
"Fire."
A horrendous blast seemed to almost push the man back as he watched the cannon fire downwards at the British, rolling down the hill and causing some of them to flee aside. Then, a second blast of gunfire - the precious few muskets that the Viceroy possessed would be used in the fort's defense, and would be employed now, or never.
The cavalry rushed forth then, and it was a great skirmnish of which there was so much dust and gun powder smoke that not even from the fort above on the hill could Dong Yi Bo naught but see. Indeed the blood spilled upon the earth was upon red jackets as well as Imperial battle armour, as the cries of both men both foreign and not was mixed with the discomforting shrieks of falling horses and battering musket blasts.
For hours this slaughter upon both sides continued, however the landings proved too much for the Viceroy's cavalry, and falling back he made the order for the men to retreat back around the hill, with any luck to at least divert and slip apart some of the foreign devil regiments.
The plan continued on, and while the British thought that they might have succeeded in pushing back the defenders, they did not foresee the coming of the three armies of the north, south and east.
Indeed the jackets would be a darker crimson than ever before...
Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy,
will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has
to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.
Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy,
but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.
By holding out advantages to him,
he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord;
or, by inflicting damage,
he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near.
If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him
The war went on in bloody ferocity, and as the season changed into warmer months it seemed for a time that the strategies of Viceroy Lin Ze Xu and Prince Sengge Rinchen had worked in driving the British utterly out of China, or at least those were the braggings of some officers whom had already taken leave of the campaign and arrived back in court, claiming victory of course.
Indeed such men lacked wisdom, for it was only natural that when a Lion is struck it might retreat for a while to lick it's wounds. Yet as seasons changed, so too would that great lion's temperment.
... And soon enough, that lion would come back to challenge the dragon.
The Chinese watch as great scores of
British ships arrive on the coasts of the south east...
Within the month more British vessels began to arrive from both the far west lands of Europe and India where much of the British Queen's power lay. Great and terrible bombardments ensued that terrified the people and seemed to shake the sky and the earth below. All along the coasts cities such as Fuzhou and Xiamen as well as Guangzhou faced the worst of the British attacks, their sea walls shattered and bombarded far beyond repair.
In Guangzhou the Viceroy Lin Ze Xu was more than worried. In his temporary palace residence within the city, he sat and quietly drank strong white rice wine, contemplating the situation. One of his officers, Dong Yi Bo stood aside him.
"Yi bo..." The Viceroy stared forward, staring almost into nothing, addressing his appointed commanding officer.
"Your lordship?' The Officer stepped forth, in his military manner. He was silent, awaiting orders.
"I fear the situation, Yi Bo..." Taking back another shot of the rice wine, he turned to the ageing, Yi Bo, "We have so many men so confident of victory, but already the cost of the armies is proving a strain - and I fear the British invaders have yet to land their true forces."
The officer spoke as formally as ever, "Permission to advise your grace requested."
The Viceroy turned, "Granted." he then turned and began to refill his small jade cup. The Officer Dong Yi Bo shook his head, "I suspect your grace is right in the fact that these invaders are just... testing the river waters for fish, or as they say in my home clan. Truly with so many grand ships, they are planning a grand invasion."
The Viceroy did not like what he was hearing, only because it was indeed confirming his own opinion on the matter.
"Sit, Officer, and have a drink with a lonely old man. Whether we win or lose, general, we will fight in this together."
The officer stepped forth, and promptly sat, speaking finally in plain terms, "That would make two old men, your lordship."
Raising the bottle to pour, the Viceroy smirked at this.
The defense forces were returned to their original positions, prepared to deal with any further British landings, especially in the Hong Kong islands and along the south east trading coasts. However even the great numbers, the many defenses, seemed to be tiny and few when the sight of the behemoths that the British called ships fired again and again on the coastlines.
But soon they came. A grand army of invaders bombarded their way to the coast, and landing at Quanzhou they landed in a storm of great violence which that land had never seen of such in all it's history.
Captain Charles Elliot
British naval officer, diplomat and invasion commander
The British plan was nothing too clever it seemed at first to the Viceroy, when he recieved an emissary from the coastal towns that the garrisons were beyond sure that the British sailing up the coast had come to a halt, and they were going to make a landing. Immediately the council of war was summoned at the temporary residence of the Viceroy in Guangzhou.
The Viceroy soon learned the name of his enemy - Captain Charles Elliot, a knight and warrior of the Queen of England. Well, he too was a warrior of a great Emperor, and on this field in his most Confucian manner the Viceroy would test his mettle against this strange and foreign commander.
The Viceroy would see whom held the greater of wits.
And so a quick call was made for a meeting of commanders within the hour, and the council of war was quite clear on it's motives.
It was generally agreed amongst the mostly Manchu commanders that it would serve the Empire best to ensure a pincer like movement from three directions to route the British invader's armies, and the careful positions that they seemed to take.
"Then it is agreed," Viceroy Lin began turning to the men around him,
"North, east, and south we shall ride and together hunt this great lion of an army. And I advise you all to be wary of sending forward your best men first - even the most well crafted armours shatter in face of their dangerous musket guns. Be prepare, and use your horsemen sparingly."
The officers agreed, and the plan was set into motion. The Viceroy and Dong Yi Bo held command of the main army of some twenty five thousand men just outside the city near the beaches where the British would make their landing. Reinforcements would arrive from all directions, taking the invaders by surprise.
Yet this would cost to defense of the city of Guangzhou itself, the Viceroy weighed this against the dire need to defeat the British at Quanzhou further east.
An old prophetic story was told of a lion and a dragon whom challenged each other, and it caused great fear and uproar in all the lands below and within the Heavens. Such was being retold by many in the south, this old tale - for it seemed eerie enough it had come to more than truth.
A lion is not a tame creature by any means. It seeks to control it's territory - make it's dominance known, and proclaim itself King in it's domain in face of all other challengers. And challenge they might, the lion is a beast that rarely falls without a great struggle.
Indeed a dragon, an ancient creature of myth and eminence was not always bred for such ferocity as a lion. Yet it was a creature with a great fire in it's heart, and would defend it's own all the same. One could only imagine in a great fight between such a lion of ferocity and an ancient dragon, both the earth and sky would shake.
The blasts of the initial attack was bombardment from both land and sea on the fort defenses as the British made their way towards the land. The rumbling of the great firepower the Queen's ships held was beyond measure - women took their children and hid in corners within their homes, grown men shaking and holding their hands over their ears, truly never have seen anything like such a thing in all their lives.
The fire on the beach seemed distant to the cavalrymen hidden around the hills. The Viceroy himself sat on a steed, knowing he had chosen well in naming Dong Yi Bo as the fort commander. Looking behind him, scores of cavalrymen from across the empire sat ready.
"When I make the order, we come around the hill and strike the foreign devils as they make their way up the beach. Is that understood?" He shouted the last words, coughing after as he did.
'Yes, commander!'
The confirmation seemed to echo across the soldier's, rows upon rows in the distance. Turning and staring forth confidently as he watched the black gunsmoke begin to gather in the air and overtake the smell of the sea...
As the British small boats landed, soldiers clad in strange red jackets, familiar now to some of these chinese soldiers - depared with muskets and hand and at the shouts in their strange British language their own commanders ushered them forward. Some conscripts ran to meet them, being mostly shot down or turned back as more and more of these red coated foreign devils made their landings.
With a purchased cannon at the side of the fort, the aging officer Dong Yi Bo stared forth and gave the word.
"Fire."
A horrendous blast seemed to almost push the man back as he watched the cannon fire downwards at the British, rolling down the hill and causing some of them to flee aside. Then, a second blast of gunfire - the precious few muskets that the Viceroy possessed would be used in the fort's defense, and would be employed now, or never.
The cavalry rushed forth then, and it was a great skirmnish of which there was so much dust and gun powder smoke that not even from the fort above on the hill could Dong Yi Bo naught but see. Indeed the blood spilled upon the earth was upon red jackets as well as Imperial battle armour, as the cries of both men both foreign and not was mixed with the discomforting shrieks of falling horses and battering musket blasts.
For hours this slaughter upon both sides continued, however the landings proved too much for the Viceroy's cavalry, and falling back he made the order for the men to retreat back around the hill, with any luck to at least divert and slip apart some of the foreign devil regiments.
The plan continued on, and while the British thought that they might have succeeded in pushing back the defenders, they did not foresee the coming of the three armies of the north, south and east.
Indeed the jackets would be a darker crimson than ever before...
Sorry about the choppiness of some of the images - some from an older "60's Chinese quality" movie, Opium War
You know the movies might be choppy but your language is only getting better.
Very very vivid.
Take that, British India!
Very very vivid.
Take that, British India!
Great update Jeff. Nice to see Captain Chard, *cough*, I mean Captain Elliot. The battle so far seems a stalemate, although the brits do have a toehold. Remains to be seen if they can expand it or will get pushed back into the ocean. Very nice picture support. That picture with the brits running ashore, was that from the opium war movie, or Horatio Hornblower?
The battle so far seems a stalemate, although the brits do have a toehold. Remains to be seen if they can expand it or will get pushed back into the ocean. Very nice picture support. That picture with the brits running ashore, was that from the opium war movie, or Horatio Hornblower?
RGB said:
Thank you
British India is going to get a nice kick in the ass. The game is saved up to this point, so I know no more than the rest of you.Kinda scary, actually. Heh.
grayghost said:Great update Jeff. Nice to see Captain Chard, *cough*, I mean Captain Elliot.
The battle was an almost loss, but the addition of the other armies seem to be moving things in the other direction. I had to call in additional forces from the armies near the central east coast, and additional men from Hong Kong's defense and Guangzhou. I'm exposing my rear, but I really think the alternative of the British gaining a beach landing with any sort of success. And that 90,000 strong army is terrifying... 
Brilliant update, the old Chinese legend of the dragon and the lion in particular really captured the foreboding the Opium War must have had for the Chinese (rather than the 'jolly ole' colonial war POV of the Brits )
Can't wait for the next update
)Can't wait for the next update
RGB said:
Isn't it HK and the surrounding lands? Unless VIP changed it.
What techs you researching jeffg006? Seems like you could use some finance techs so that you get more out of your tariffs.
突出的麻烦 The Eminent Schemings:
Chapter 十一
Chapter 十一
Mood Music Here
[size=+1][/size]
"You ask me why I dwell in the green mountain;
I smile and make no reply for my heart is free of care.
As the peach-blossom flows down stream
and is gone into the unknown,
I had a world apart that is not among such men."
~ Li Po
While the great beasts struggled and in the south the earth and sky alike shook with chaos, other parts of the Middle Kingdom had not seen such chaos as so in the far coasts. The clouds flowed in the sky with the warm summer winds, dancing and separating the heavens from the earth. The fields were clad with wheats and the forests timbered at the peasant's will and happiness. Indeed life was the same in these lands, and had not changed for a very long time. Nor would it, many of those therein thought.
It was in these lands of Hunan that a curious young man had come about from to a curious disposition indeed. Perhaps it is the wills of heaven that guide some men's destinies - for indeed only such can explain how men come from the rural lands to become masters of great lands.
Born a native of Xiangxiang, Hunan 湘乡, Zeng Zicheng 曾子城 was the grandson of Zeng Yiping, a prosperous local farmer with social and political ambitions and local prestige. The boy passed the prefectural examination, only a year after his father Zeng Linshu. He was a remarkable young man in intellect in strategy indeed - for he then passed the provincial examination a year later, at age 27, he had successfully passed the Imperial metropolitan examinations - an achievement of great prestige in the Empire - He had even now earned the Jin shi degree, the highest level in the civil service examinations, which led to his appointment to the Hanlin Academy, a body of outstanding Chinese literary scholars who performed great literary and spiritual tasks for the imperial court. It was at Hanlin amongst the wise men of the old ways of the qi where he changed his name to Zeng Guofan 曾國藩, ranking him with his degree of newfound power and intellect, or at least by courtly rank and degree of measure. In truth it was a grand achievement to rise from the rural lands to being a man whom stood near the Emperor in the north capital.
It was this man, Zēng Guófán 曾國藩, whom was asleep in his less reputable quarters of the purple Forbidden City when his quarters were stormed. Immediately rising, Zeng Guofan reached for his blade as the room filled with dark-clad Imperial guards.
Pointing his blade forward, now drawn from it's sheeth, the scholar and warrior Zeng Guofan spoke with contempt at the group of men facing him with similar stance, "Why do you not wear your Imperial clad yellow!? What is the meaning of this?"
"Silence," A voice hissed amongst the guards, as their captain seemed to pass through them walking in, "My master has extended his invitation to your audience."
As Zeng was about to reply, the guardsman spoke in finality before he turned to lead them out, "You would be wise to now come with us."
Looking around him and seeing he was outnumbered and hopeless to fight his way free - and indeed a slight curious at the mystery behind this whole affair - he looked to the guards and lowered his blade, placing it within it's sheeth and fastening it onto his belt. The guards nodded, and sheathing their own blades they lead, and others followed him out.
Into the night air they walked, along endless outdoor corridors into the restricted quarters of the higher nobles, many of which areas the purple and gold city was dedicated unto. It was within these grandly designed and adorned palaces that Zeng Guofan had never seen or been within before.
The guards then demanded Zeng's blade, and handing it over he was lead into a room. Within he could smell perfumes and strange smokes and incenses, the giggling of women. Entering and passing layers of curtains, Zeng Guofan found himself in the lap of luxury - and sitting within the middle, surrounded by his own concubines was the Prince - nephew of the Emperor.
The gluttonous Prince Yi Xin 奕忻, son of the now dead Prince Miankai 绵恺 whom himself was a direct brother of the Daoguang Emperor laid back and relaxed, enjoying the company of his women. But hearing the coming of Zeng the hedonistic Prince turned and looked on him a moment. Then turning back, he clapped his hands twice, dismissing the women whom promptly picked up their things and left the room out another back door.
"Zeng Guofan... welcome." The Prince Yi Xin spoke with a smirk within his tone indeed, "Quite a prodigy, I have heard."
Then standing, he faced the scholar whom immediately bowed in the courtly manner. After this sign of imperial respect, the scholar Zeng stood and replied, "It is... an honour to be summoned by your eminence."
Scoffing, the Prince turned and walked towards a table which held a bowl of fruits, "Hah, indeed it is." Biting into a plum, he spoke on, "But sit my friend, sit."
Zeng sat, and eyed the Prince for a moment. The Prince did not waste time in his meanings, as he began frankly enough, "Word has come to me that you are well favoured by my uncle..."
Zeng was modest in his reply, "The Lord of Ten Thousand Years honours me to have me in his presence."
"Indeed..." Prince Yi Xin spoke, "Such often times around his Imperial majesty, truly you must learn many things of all affairs. Surely an ear near the Emperor of the Middle Kingdom hears things of all the world..."
He was silent only for a moment, "... and all within the palace."
The Prince
Zeng Guofan nodded, "Without being immodest, I am knowledgeable of many of the Imperial affairs as of recent weeks. Yet... what of it?"
The Prince chuckled, and taking a drink of rice wine he bit again into the yellow plum, chewing it softly and enjoying it's flavour for the moment as the scholar awaited his reply. After swallowing the thing, the Prince cleared his throat, and spoke in a low tone,
"My father was brother of the former Emperor, truly the noblest of Aisin Gioro Imperial blood coarses through my veins. It is my heavenly duty to ensure that the throne is kept stable, the Empire and my uncle... protected, naturally."
He went on, "- Such affairs of his safety, his personal guard, the imperial finances and indeed news of the campaign is always welcome."
The imperial finances... Zeng Guofan noticed how he had slipped that in. But he knew well it was the very heart of the Prince's desires - but in what interests? Surely, Zeng knew he had no allies at court as of yet - and little power in his position without wealth. He was silent for a moment, taking a drink of wine that was poured now for him by one of the women whom had returned to serve them as the spoke.
In the corner of the room the Prince's bodyguard watched with sharp eyes, but seemed to not move even an inch.
"Of course..." The young scholar and courtier began arousing the Prince's sudden attention, "Such tenuous labours in addition to my services unto the empire are not without the necessity of reparations..."
The young man looked at the Prince with wary eyes. He knew they both knew what he was talking about - a bribe. It was more than common in the Forbidden city, more of a custom than a crime it seemed in these times. The Prince smiled, "A man after my own heart...!"
Standing, he drew his blade, causing Zeng's eyes to widen in alarm. Would he kill him for this request?! Was it too much of a gamble to ask..? Zeng watched in horror at what might have been his last moments. But the Prince used the blade and cut a cord from his belt, a pouch dropping down onto the table. It's weight filled with money was evident enough.
"More will come for those men loyal to the Empire." The Prince pushed it across the table. The courtier and scholar Zeng took it, and weighing it in his mind with his hand he placed it within his coat. Nodding, he stood and spoke to take his leave.
As he did so, the Prince spoke last words in finality with serious eyes, "And if I learn you have any affairs with Mian Yu 绵愉, you will end up as all my enemies."
It was a harsh enough warning. Soon after with his money, Zeng was escorted back out towards his quarters and was told he would be contacted again later. To him, it was an opportunity of sheer luck... and if the Prince would use him to his own advantage, Zeng in his confucian manner would find his own way to use the Prince to his own accord...
I smile and make no reply for my heart is free of care.
As the peach-blossom flows down stream
and is gone into the unknown,
I had a world apart that is not among such men."
~ Li Po
While the great beasts struggled and in the south the earth and sky alike shook with chaos, other parts of the Middle Kingdom had not seen such chaos as so in the far coasts. The clouds flowed in the sky with the warm summer winds, dancing and separating the heavens from the earth. The fields were clad with wheats and the forests timbered at the peasant's will and happiness. Indeed life was the same in these lands, and had not changed for a very long time. Nor would it, many of those therein thought.
It was in these lands of Hunan that a curious young man had come about from to a curious disposition indeed. Perhaps it is the wills of heaven that guide some men's destinies - for indeed only such can explain how men come from the rural lands to become masters of great lands.
Born a native of Xiangxiang, Hunan 湘乡, Zeng Zicheng 曾子城 was the grandson of Zeng Yiping, a prosperous local farmer with social and political ambitions and local prestige. The boy passed the prefectural examination, only a year after his father Zeng Linshu. He was a remarkable young man in intellect in strategy indeed - for he then passed the provincial examination a year later, at age 27, he had successfully passed the Imperial metropolitan examinations - an achievement of great prestige in the Empire - He had even now earned the Jin shi degree, the highest level in the civil service examinations, which led to his appointment to the Hanlin Academy, a body of outstanding Chinese literary scholars who performed great literary and spiritual tasks for the imperial court. It was at Hanlin amongst the wise men of the old ways of the qi where he changed his name to Zeng Guofan 曾國藩, ranking him with his degree of newfound power and intellect, or at least by courtly rank and degree of measure. In truth it was a grand achievement to rise from the rural lands to being a man whom stood near the Emperor in the north capital.
It was this man, Zēng Guófán 曾國藩, whom was asleep in his less reputable quarters of the purple Forbidden City when his quarters were stormed. Immediately rising, Zeng Guofan reached for his blade as the room filled with dark-clad Imperial guards.
Pointing his blade forward, now drawn from it's sheeth, the scholar and warrior Zeng Guofan spoke with contempt at the group of men facing him with similar stance, "Why do you not wear your Imperial clad yellow!? What is the meaning of this?"
"Silence," A voice hissed amongst the guards, as their captain seemed to pass through them walking in, "My master has extended his invitation to your audience."
As Zeng was about to reply, the guardsman spoke in finality before he turned to lead them out, "You would be wise to now come with us."
Looking around him and seeing he was outnumbered and hopeless to fight his way free - and indeed a slight curious at the mystery behind this whole affair - he looked to the guards and lowered his blade, placing it within it's sheeth and fastening it onto his belt. The guards nodded, and sheathing their own blades they lead, and others followed him out.
Into the night air they walked, along endless outdoor corridors into the restricted quarters of the higher nobles, many of which areas the purple and gold city was dedicated unto. It was within these grandly designed and adorned palaces that Zeng Guofan had never seen or been within before.
The guards then demanded Zeng's blade, and handing it over he was lead into a room. Within he could smell perfumes and strange smokes and incenses, the giggling of women. Entering and passing layers of curtains, Zeng Guofan found himself in the lap of luxury - and sitting within the middle, surrounded by his own concubines was the Prince - nephew of the Emperor.
The gluttonous Prince Yi Xin 奕忻, son of the now dead Prince Miankai 绵恺 whom himself was a direct brother of the Daoguang Emperor laid back and relaxed, enjoying the company of his women. But hearing the coming of Zeng the hedonistic Prince turned and looked on him a moment. Then turning back, he clapped his hands twice, dismissing the women whom promptly picked up their things and left the room out another back door.
"Zeng Guofan... welcome." The Prince Yi Xin spoke with a smirk within his tone indeed, "Quite a prodigy, I have heard."
Then standing, he faced the scholar whom immediately bowed in the courtly manner. After this sign of imperial respect, the scholar Zeng stood and replied, "It is... an honour to be summoned by your eminence."
Scoffing, the Prince turned and walked towards a table which held a bowl of fruits, "Hah, indeed it is." Biting into a plum, he spoke on, "But sit my friend, sit."
Zeng sat, and eyed the Prince for a moment. The Prince did not waste time in his meanings, as he began frankly enough, "Word has come to me that you are well favoured by my uncle..."
Zeng was modest in his reply, "The Lord of Ten Thousand Years honours me to have me in his presence."
"Indeed..." Prince Yi Xin spoke, "Such often times around his Imperial majesty, truly you must learn many things of all affairs. Surely an ear near the Emperor of the Middle Kingdom hears things of all the world..."
He was silent only for a moment, "... and all within the palace."
The Prince
Zeng Guofan nodded, "Without being immodest, I am knowledgeable of many of the Imperial affairs as of recent weeks. Yet... what of it?"
The Prince chuckled, and taking a drink of rice wine he bit again into the yellow plum, chewing it softly and enjoying it's flavour for the moment as the scholar awaited his reply. After swallowing the thing, the Prince cleared his throat, and spoke in a low tone,
"My father was brother of the former Emperor, truly the noblest of Aisin Gioro Imperial blood coarses through my veins. It is my heavenly duty to ensure that the throne is kept stable, the Empire and my uncle... protected, naturally."
He went on, "- Such affairs of his safety, his personal guard, the imperial finances and indeed news of the campaign is always welcome."
The imperial finances... Zeng Guofan noticed how he had slipped that in. But he knew well it was the very heart of the Prince's desires - but in what interests? Surely, Zeng knew he had no allies at court as of yet - and little power in his position without wealth. He was silent for a moment, taking a drink of wine that was poured now for him by one of the women whom had returned to serve them as the spoke.
In the corner of the room the Prince's bodyguard watched with sharp eyes, but seemed to not move even an inch.
"Of course..." The young scholar and courtier began arousing the Prince's sudden attention, "Such tenuous labours in addition to my services unto the empire are not without the necessity of reparations..."
The young man looked at the Prince with wary eyes. He knew they both knew what he was talking about - a bribe. It was more than common in the Forbidden city, more of a custom than a crime it seemed in these times. The Prince smiled, "A man after my own heart...!"
Standing, he drew his blade, causing Zeng's eyes to widen in alarm. Would he kill him for this request?! Was it too much of a gamble to ask..? Zeng watched in horror at what might have been his last moments. But the Prince used the blade and cut a cord from his belt, a pouch dropping down onto the table. It's weight filled with money was evident enough.
"More will come for those men loyal to the Empire." The Prince pushed it across the table. The courtier and scholar Zeng took it, and weighing it in his mind with his hand he placed it within his coat. Nodding, he stood and spoke to take his leave.
As he did so, the Prince spoke last words in finality with serious eyes, "And if I learn you have any affairs with Mian Yu 绵愉, you will end up as all my enemies."
It was a harsh enough warning. Soon after with his money, Zeng was escorted back out towards his quarters and was told he would be contacted again later. To him, it was an opportunity of sheer luck... and if the Prince would use him to his own advantage, Zeng in his confucian manner would find his own way to use the Prince to his own accord...
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