"Using tea as a medium, cultivating oneself, and nourishing one's character. Through brewing, appreciating, smelling, and drinking tea, one beautifies the mind and cultivates virtue. Drinking tea calms the mind and spirit, refines one's sentiments, and eliminates distracting thoughts. Wenji seems to be very good at this." Watching Cai Yan's movements, which seemed to be in perfect harmony with nature, Lin Yang took a sip and remarked with admiration.
It could be said that the initial taste of this tea is quite beneficial for cultivation. However, Lin Yang did not take this opportunity to cultivate. Otherwise, wouldn't he be destined to be single forever!
Therefore, Lin Yang laughed and said, "Haha, since Wenji is making tea, then I'll play the flute." After saying that, he took out a beautifully crafted jade flute that radiated purple light and began to play it.
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Chapter 49: It's Time to Rebel
Before we knew it, more than ten days had passed.
Over the past ten days, the Green Standard Army has essentially collapsed. Its commanders had already lost all will to fight. Now, facing thousands of muskets, they have absolutely no desire to continue.
The main reason was that attacking Baiyun Mountain was unprofitable; there was no reward for the attack, and even if they captured it, they wouldn't be able to plunder much. Therefore, the Green Standard Army lacked the desire to fight.
In addition, after thousands of people were killed or wounded, even though Saishana executed several hundred deserters on the spot, it was still to no avail.
As for Dubiao, it only held out for a few more days against the powerful, accurate grenades. Now, they have no plans to attack anymore.
As for the renowned Eight Banners cavalry, they were even less capable. Fighting on the plains would be fine, but Zheng Hong and his men held their ground on Baiyun Mountain and refused to descend.
Furthermore, these Eight Banners 'warriors' were all veterans of the imperial court. If they were all wiped out, what would be left to suppress the Han people?
Therefore, after witnessing the power of the hand grenade, Tachar was unwilling to send out the Eight Banners cavalry.
As for Tachar himself, he was captured and fought a fierce battle by Shia a few days ago. Afterwards, thinking of Lin Yang's plan, Shia, being cunning and mischievous, accidentally injected a stream of true energy into Tachar's kidney meridian.
Therefore, already in a bad mood, and seriously injured, Master Tachaer went straight back to Guangzhou to cause trouble for the gentry.
So, apart from the first three days when the fighting was quite intense, the remaining seven or eight days were almost a sit-in battle.
The elites on the mountain stood guard at the crossroads, their eyes wide open, watching the Communist Party members below. The Communist Party members below, in turn, watched the displaced people on the mountain.
Of course, occasionally a few outdated cannons would be brought out and fired weakly a few shots, just to show that this was a battlefield and that a battle was taking place.
Just as the silent battle was taking place atop White Cloud Mountain, Emperor Zhu emerged from seclusion in high spirits. He had broken through to the third-rank Grandmaster level, making him a renowned expert in the world today.
"Haha, now that I've broken through, the time has come!" Zhu Jishi said happily.
Upon hearing this, Lin Yang scanned the area with his divine eyes and discovered that Emperor Zhu's original fortune was merely that of a jiao (a type of dragon). But now, it had directly transformed from a jiao into a dragon. It could barely be considered a jiao-long (a type of dragon).
Of course, the changes have only just begun. It is estimated that they will only truly transform into dragons after the fall of Guangzhou.
However, in this grand game of vying for supremacy, a lead at one step means a lead at every step. Zhu Jishi, now blessed with the destiny of a dragon, is on the verge of becoming a true dragon.
In this world today, there is practically no one with the destiny of a true dragon. The Daoguang Emperor, for example, inherited his position. In terms of his own destiny, he was at most a dragon.
As for Chen Ming of Lushan, the leader of the four major bandits, he was probably just a dragon at this point. As for Wei Ze and Hong Xiuquan, they were probably not even as good as Zhu Yuanzhang.
At the same time, Zuo Zongtang, Old Pierre, Lai Enjue, Lin Yang, and others also arrived at the scene. The small room suddenly became crowded with dozens of people.
It could be said that if the Qing court had used all its top experts and resources at that time, and launched a full-scale attack, there might have been a real chance of killing Emperor Zhu.
"It's time to rebel! I thought that after the lesson of the restored Han emperor, the court would train a new army and give more important positions to Han people. But the battle of Baiyun Mountain has proven that our army can easily take on ten men at once," Han Si said excitedly.
With Zheng Hong absent, Han Si is the top leader in the military. Therefore, it's quite normal for him to be the first to speak.
"Indeed, the imperial court, no, the Green Standard Army on the other side of the puppet Qing, has long been corrupt. The only ones capable of fighting are the commanders of the provincial and local militias. But even if you add up all these troops, I don't know if they have two hundred thousand."
“Even if they did, they wouldn’t be a match for the new army. One shot from the cannons, one shot from the muskets, and then we’d have to fight them hand-to-hand. They’d probably scatter. One against ten is perfectly normal,” Lai Enjue said seriously after careful consideration.
At this point, under the influence of the surrender drug, he had completely submitted to Emperor Zhu. After all, he had once risen to the high position of provincial naval commander in the Qing army, and he had some understanding of the Qing army's strength.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Jishi asked calmly, "How is the soldiers' training going? How is their morale?"
"Now that we've heard about the outcome of the Battle of Baiyun Mountain, the soldiers' morale is high. They're all waiting to make a name for themselves after we capture Guangzhou," Han Si said with a smile.
It can be said that although Baiyun Mountain is a small place, the consequences of this battle are enormous. For one thing, isn't the reason the army's morale is so high right now precisely because of this battle?
Upon hearing this, Zhu Jishi nodded and then asked, "How are the preparations for the funds going?"
This time, it was Liu Peng who answered. He was also an old hand who had followed Zhu Jishi, and was now the head of Jishi Foreign Firm.
"Now, Jishihang has monopolized all foreign business in the Guangzhou area. Last month alone, it earned two million taels of silver. Its total savings amount to a full thirty million taels."
"As for the restoration of sight bonds, two million taels had already been sold half a month ago. In the last half month, due to the impact of the Battle of Baiyun Mountain, ten million taels were sold at once."
"I estimate that once you've completely captured Guangzhou, you can sell it for another twenty or thirty million taels to ensure your safety. So, you won't have to worry about money," Liu Peng said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Jishi couldn't help but nod. With money and silver, what more could he need? After a moment's thought, he looked up at Lin Yang.
"Tianxuan, how are the gentry doing?"
"The gentry have also completely lost their way. Since returning to Guangzhou, no one has been able to control Tacha. Sai Shang'a is overseeing the battle at Baiyun Mountain, Ye Mingchen is seriously injured, and Zeng Guofan is just a junior. In the entire city of Guangzhou, he is the most powerful."
"In just a few days, we've obtained three million taels of silver through various methods and pretexts. Now, the morale of the entire city of Guangzhou is completely shattered. In fact, coupled with the prolonged stalemate at Baiyun Mountain, the people of Guangzhou are now longing for the Ming Dynasty," Lin Yang said with a smile.
The gentry of this world are quite different from the powerless gentry of the previous life. The gentry of the previous life had no power whatsoever and mostly relied on farming and scholarship as their family tradition. But the gentry of this world are not just those who rely on farming and scholarship; they are those who have passed down their martial arts skills.
Generally speaking, the descendants of local tycoons in the countryside usually have a cultivation level of rank eight to nine by adulthood. In short, they are definitely at the entry-level. In the army, this is equivalent to being able to defeat ten men, and they could easily serve as a centurion.
The local tycoons in the county town are even more remarkable. After reaching adulthood, they generally possess a cultivation level of seventh or eighth rank. With some fortuitous opportunities, breaking through to the innate realm and reaching the sixth rank is not impossible.
These are just the gentry at the county and township levels, considered insignificant. As for the gentry at the prefectural and provincial levels, they are far more remarkable.
Like Lin Zexu, who destroyed opium at Humen, he came from the Lin family of Houguan, one of the largest families in Fujian Province.
Even in his youth, he was a master of innate talent. By the age of thirty, he had already broken through several barriers, becoming a grandmaster. Later, during the burning of opium at Humen, he achieved a profound enlightenment and directly broke through to the level of a second-grade grandmaster.