Heshen, minister of the Grand Secretariat, felt he was truly brilliant. He could even fabricate a reason like "It's better to demolish ten temples than to ruin one marriage" – it not only prevented the old dog Qianlong from impulsively throwing his life away, but also saved his face, which was simply perfect.
However, the old dog Qianlong chuckled, and with half-closed eyes, said, "Heshen, do you think that I, that our Qing dynasty, cannot defeat the rebel Zhu, do you?"
Heshen's smile froze. He immediately knelt with a thud and bowed his head, saying, "Your servant dares not!"
The old dog Qianlong snorted dismissively, his eyes still half-closed, and said, "Heshen, I also feel that our Qing dynasty cannot defeat the rebel Zhu. Tell me, does our Qing dynasty still have a chance to turn the tables?"
Being asked this by the old dog Qianlong, Heshen couldn't help but tremble inwardly.
As everyone knew, Emperor Qianlong was a truly dignified person who always cared about his reputation. His Majesty Kangxi was known for his civil and military achievements; Emperor Qianlong wrote over 40,000 poems and had ten great military campaigns, just as Kangxi toured the south six times, Qianlong also toured the south six times.
Even when the notorious rebel leader Zhu Jinsong held a grand imperial selection of concubines, Emperor Qianlong had to participate, as if he couldn't prove his might was still intact without selecting concubines.
Emperor Qianlong's motto was: Hongli's life was not inferior to anyone's.
For such a proud and "heroic" ruler of an era to utter such dejected words showed that the old dog Qianlong likely had something on his mind.
After pondering for a moment, Heshen tentatively asked, "Your Majesty, why do you say this? Now that Gurkha and Joseon are both in our Qing dynasty's hands, and we also hold Zhili, the lands beyond the pass, and U-Tsang, at most it will be a situation of dividing the river and governing, won't it?"
However, the old dog Qianlong sighed and shook his head, his half-closed eyes now completely shut. "You don't need to try to make me happy anymore. Some things, even if I don't say them, it doesn't mean I don't know."
"Sixteen of the eighteen provinces of Han have been lost, and half of the grasslands have turned to the rebel Zhu. Now they are merely waiting to strike, because those princes and taishis are still observing."
"As for the Eight Banners of Joseon and the Eight Banners of Gurkha... I know they are useless. They can't even defeat our Qing Eight Banners, let alone the Solon troops. Therefore, how can I truly expect them to defeat the rebel Zhu?"
Speaking to this point, the old dog Qianlong couldn't help but sigh again, saying, "What skillful means! That rebel Zhu truly has skillful means. With a simple imperial selection of concubines, he has destroyed the plans of three generations of our Qing emperors, from Emperor Kangxi to Emperor Yongzheng and then to me."
As a Grand Councillor of our Qing dynasty and a trusted minister of the old dog Qianlong, Heshen naturally knew what plans the old dog Qianlong was referring to.
Kangxi, in his forty-fifth year, compiled the "Complete Collection of Illustrations and Texts Past and Present," which included the "Biographies of Virtuous Women" and the "Chapter on Bound Feet," extensively promoting foot binding. This was printed and promoted in the sixth year of Yongzheng, and foot binding became completely widespread during Qianlong's reign!
This also included secretly promoting early marriage. Ancient people knew the harm of early marriage and early childbirth. It's impossible that our Qing dynasty didn't know this, right?
In reality, our Qing dynasty was well aware of this harm, but the more aware it was of the harm, the more it promoted early marriage and early childbirth, thereby completely destroying the future of the Han people.
Let's look at some data: In the Pre-Qin period, the average male lifespan was 35, and the average height was 163 cm. The average female lifespan was 39, and the average height was 150 cm. By the Qin and Han dynasties, the average male lifespan was 49, and the average height was 168 cm (higher than China's 167.1 cm!), and the average female lifespan was 52, and the average height was 155 cm.
After the Qin and Han dynasties, the data for each dynasty was basically similar. Although there were fluctuations, they generally remained within a difference of 1-2 cm.
During the Ming Dynasty, the average male lifespan was 46 years, and the average height was 166 cm. The average female lifespan was 51 years, and the average height was 156 cm.
However, during our Qing dynasty, the average male lifespan was 51 years, and the average height was 162 cm. The average female lifespan was 33 years, and the average height was 151 cm.
Isn't this shocking?
Under the reign of corruption and decadence, both the average lifespan and average height reached their lowest historical values! Especially after 1840, the data plummeted!
To attribute this to corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes is complete nonsense. Did the barbarians of Europe not eat them? Did only the Chinese eat them? If you say the Chinese were malnourished, were the commoners in Europe well-nourished? Is it possible that mixing stones into black bread increased nutrition?
Don't say that the low average lifespan of ancient people necessitated early marriage and childbirth. That's including the average lifespan of wars, disasters, infant mortality, etc.
Let's take another example: During the Zhou Dynasty, men reached adulthood at twenty, Confucius said one reaches self-awareness at fifty and comprehension at sixty. During the Sui Dynasty, men above eighteen were considered adults. During the Sui Yangdi's reign, this was raised to twenty-two. In the Tang Dynasty, there was the saying that seventy is rare.
What does this mean? It means that those over seventy might indeed be rare, otherwise, the folk tradition of celebrating deaths of people over seventy as happy occasions wouldn't exist. But fifty and sixty were not rare at all.
Don't treat ancient people as a different species!
The reason for this situation is the deep-rooted problem caused by our Qing dynasty's continuous promotion of foot binding, early marriage, and early childbirth! Just as since the time of Nurhaci, our Qing dynasty has been winning over the grassland tribes while implementing population reduction policies!
Other measures such as the Eight-legged essay and community schools are also for the same reason.
In short, our Qing dynasty really can't do anything good. But when it comes to such insidious methods of destroying future generations, our Qing dynasty is second to none in the world.
However, such a century-long plan has been broken by someone. Not only were no specific laws enacted, but a simple imperial selection of concubines and a slightly modified "Great Ming Code" unearthed from old archives solved the problem.
Now, it is our Qing dynasty that suffers greatly from foot binding, and most of the Eight Banners officials are illiterate. This is truly infuriating!
The old dog Qianlong continued, "Even more hateful is that our Qing dynasty, after more than a hundred years, has still not completely eliminated the remnants of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot. They even managed to form the Tiandihui, making our Qing court like a sieve, allowing that rebel Zhu to always gain the upper hand."
"Perhaps there are remnants of the Eastern Depot in this palace?"
"Our Qing dynasty is likely truly nearing its end."
Upon hearing the old dog Qianlong's words, Heshen couldn't help but look up at the eunuch standing behind the old dog Qianlong.
Just at this moment, the old dog Qianlong spoke again, "You don't need to look at him. He grew up by my side since he was young. If even he is a remnant of the Eastern Depot, then no one in this world is worthy of my trust."
The eunuch standing behind the old dog Qianlong still kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his mouth, as if the old dog Qianlong wasn't talking about himself at all.
Heshen also wore a look of utter confusion.
If you weren't targeting the eunuch behind you, why would you say all this?
The old dog Qianlong continued, "The reason I'm saying so much is to tell you that either we should take advantage of the fact that our Qing dynasty still has some strength and immediately march south, gambling our dynasty's fate, and fight with the rebel Zhu.
"Or, we should completely abandon the Central Plains and, while the barbarians of Europe in the west are in chaos, march west, just like the Xiongnu and Turks of the past, and carve out a new empire in Europe."
"Don't forget, the rebel Zhu said in their newspapers that he would present captives to the Imperial Ancestral Temple within three years. Tell me, does Jinan have an Imperial Ancestral Temple? Where is the Imperial Ancestral Temple of his Zhu family?"
Upon hearing this, Heshen basically understood the meaning of the old dog Qianlong.
The old dog Qianlong was scared by the words "present captives to the Imperial Ancestral Temple"!
He was scared!
What about the clear skies and stopped rain? He felt confident again. What about gambling our dynasty's fate in a life-and-death struggle? It was just a dying struggle before surrendering.
Heshen also understood that the old dog Qianlong's miraculous operations might not be a bad thing for our Qing dynasty. After all, the situation was already chaotic, and retreating to Zhili in advance preserved the Qing dynasty's strength to the greatest extent.
But, Heshen was also somewhat unwilling – wasn't the reason our Qing dynasty ended up in this situation largely due to the old dog Qianlong's miraculous operations?
If it weren't for the old dog Qianlong's insistence on touring the south and causing so much trouble in the Central Plains, would there be so many rebels and such chaos in the world?
If it weren't for the old dog Qianlong's eagerness to retreat to Zhili when the rebel Zhu had just occupied Shandong and the rebels had just started to stir up trouble, the rebel Zhu might not have been able to pacify the world in just a few years, and our Qing dynasty wouldn't be forced to run away!
Furthermore, if we were to march west as the old dog Qianlong suggested, it would essentially mean our Qing dynasty would have to abandon Zhili, the lands beyond the pass, and U-Tsang.
Wouldn't that mean losing the ancestral foundation?
Although losing some ancestral foundation wasn't a big deal, as it was a traditional skill of our Qing dynasty, being a minister of the Grand Secretariat in the Forbidden City in Zhili was different from being a miserable minister of the Grand Secretariat in the western regions, or even in Europe, starting a new empire from scratch. How could that be the same?
Moreover, even if our Qing dynasty wholeheartedly decided to run away, who could guarantee that the rebel Zhu's army wouldn't pursue them and punish our Qing dynasty with a single blow?
At that time, our Qing dynasty would truly have lost all possibility of turning things around.
After carefully considering, Heshen tentatively advised, "Reporting to Your Majesty, in this servant's opinion, instead of marching west, it would be better for us to head north to Nurgan and 'recover' Yaksa and Kyakhta."
Hearing Heshen emphasize the word "recover," the old dog Qianlong, who had been squinting, suddenly became interested: "Continue."
Heshen responded with a "Yes," bowed, and said obsequiously, "Reporting to Your Majesty, this servant recalls that when our Qing dynasty sent troops to Gurkha, that rebel Zhu remained motionless. This shows that the rebel Zhu also understands righteousness."
"Therefore, this servant believes that if our Qing dynasty sends troops to recover Yaksa and Kyakhta, the rebel Zhu might remain motionless as before."
"This servant remembers that the intelligence reported from Ladakh mentioned that Tsarist Russia is currently busy fighting the barbarians of Europe and will not be able to pay attention to Yaksa for a while."
Heshen's thinking was clear. Since they were all going to run away, why run west instead of north?
Yes, the barbarians in the west were currently in a state of chaos, much like the former Ming dynasty. From this perspective alone, it was indeed a good time for our Qing dynasty to march west.
But don't forget, Europe's firearms were much more advanced than those of our Qing dynasty. Moreover, they were unfamiliar with the land. It would be better to advance directly towards Yaksa.
Heshen deliberated and said, "Although Yaksa is more bitter and cold than the lands beyond the pass in Liaodong, didn't our Qing dynasty, before entering the pass, rely on the bitter and cold lands beyond the pass to cultivate a martial spirit?"
"If we advance north to Yaksa, firstly, it is legitimate. Secondly, it avoids the sharp edge of the rebel Zhu's army. Thirdly, it can allow our Eight Banners youths to regain their martial spirit. Thus, wouldn't it be killing several birds with one stone?"