Chapter 140: The Heavenly King Debates
In the city of Tianjing, the Heavenly King’s Palace.
Hong Xiuquan was wearing a bright yellow crown and robe embroidered with stars, sun, moon, mountains, rivers, fish and insects.
He wore a crown on his head and a cross on his chest.
The combination of Chinese and Western dressing style makes him look a bit out of place.
In front of Hong Xiuquan sat a foreign missionary.
The missionary was wearing a priest's robe and a cross on his chest. He looked very kind.
At this time, the two were braiding scriptures.
"Your Excellency, may I ask why you claim to be the second son of God and the brother of Jesus?"
Father Andre suppressed the urge to curse and asked.
Before he came to Tianjing, he had felt very close to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a Qing rebel army whose every member was a Christian.
But when he arrived in Tianjing, he realized that it was not the case at all.
He believed that the teachings of the God Worshipping Society were:
Everyone believes in God and is a fanatical follower of Jesus.
The actual teachings of the Church of God:
Hong Xiuquan claimed to be the son of God, the brother of Jesus, and the incarnation of God on earth. He also made God and Jesus appear on earth from time to time...
In the priest's opinion, this is simply blasphemy!
The kind that deserves to be burned at the stake!
Upon hearing this, Hong Xiuquan shook his head and said.
"This is not a self-proclaimed statement, but a fact."
"I was seriously ill a few years ago, and I met an old man in my dream. The old man called himself God Yehuohua, and he was my father in heaven."
"There is also a young man named Jesus, who claims to be my brother, who once suffered in the human world and later returned to heaven."
Andre asked, taking a deep breath.
"Then do you have any evidence?"
"As far as I know, the Bible, whether in the New Testament or the Old Testament, never mentions that God has a second son or that Jesus has a younger brother."
Hong Xiuquan was not angry, he just spoke slowly.
“That’s where your Bible is wrong.”
"The Bible was written more than a thousand years ago, and I was born only in recent years. If you want to find my existence in the Bible, isn't that like looking for a sword on a boat?"
Andre took a deep breath and continued.
“The Bible was written by prophets of all ages. How can the prophets be wrong?”
Hong Xiuquan continued.
"Who says a prophet can never be wrong? The only one who can never be wrong is God."
"It was God who told me personally that the Bible was missing something, and gave me three volumes of heavenly books in a dream, one called "Original Dao Awakening the World Instructions", one called "Original Dao Awakening the World Instructions", and one called "Original Dao Savior Song", so that I could complete the Bible based on them."
"When the priest leaves, you can take a few books back to read."
Father Andre retorted.
"But this does not prove that you, the Heavenly King, are the Son of God."
Hong Xiuquan was a little unhappy and frowned.
"If it weren't for the fact that you are believers in God, I would not bother with you. Just based on what you just said, I would have had you dragged out and put on a red robe."
Hearing this, Andre continued.
"Your Excellency, even if you let me be a cardinal, I cannot accept that you are the Son of God."
Andre failed to understand that the Taiping Army's wearing of red robes meant lingchi, and thought that Hong Xiuquan wanted to bribe him with the position of cardinal.
When Hong Xiuquan heard this, he almost laughed out of anger, but he continued speaking.
"Whether you agree or not, I am the Son of God. This is what God said when he came down to earth."
"If you don't believe me, I can ask someone to invite the King of the East to come, and let God use the King of the East to come down to earth and explain it to you in person..."
Andre took a deep breath and continued.
"As far as I know, God only appears in the world, but does not possess anyone."
Upon hearing this, Hong Xiuquan waved his hand.
"What nonsense!"
"The reason why God cannot use you to descend to the earth is because you are all mortals and naturally cannot bear the power of God."
"But the King of the East in my kingdom of heaven is just like me, the son of God on earth. How can he be the same as you, a mortal?"
"God can naturally come down to earth through the flesh of the Eastern King."
When Hong Xiuquan said this, Andre was speechless for a moment.
Damn, God actually has another son for no reason, what the hell is this!
In fact, although both sides were debating, their thinking was not on the same level at all.
Andre attempted to use the Bible to refute Hong Xiuquan.
But Hong Xiuquan simply did not even recognize the Bible and directly said that the Bible was wrong.
He also wanted to invite God to come down to earth and let God debate with Andre.
No matter what Andre said, Hong Xiuquan could deny everything by claiming that he was the son of God and had the final say over God.
Under such circumstances, let alone the fact that Andre was just a priest, even if the Pope and the College of Cardinals were brought in, they would still not be able to argue with Hong Xiuquan.
Seeing that Andre was speechless, Hong Xiuquan continued.
"I know that you have misunderstood the doctrine and have gone astray."
"However, there is an old Chinese saying that there is nothing better than returning to the right path after having strayed from the right path!"
"As long as you can correct your mistakes in time, I think the merciful God will not blame you."
"And I am willing to modify the doctrine for you, so that you can return to the right path and return to God's embrace..."
Andre: "..."
He swore that he had never wanted to send someone to the stake so much in his life.
Just when Hong Xiuquan was about to continue pursuing the victory, Meng De'en walked in from outside with an anxious look on his face.
He strode to Hong Xiuquan, leaned over and spoke.
"Your Majesty, I have something important to report to you alone..."
Hong Xiuquan took a look at Meng De'en's nervous face and knew that he must have something serious. He immediately waved his hand to dismiss Andre and asked him to go down and rest. Then he asked, "What happened? Why are you so anxious?"
Meng De'en wiped the sweat from his forehead and said.
"Report to the Heavenly King, something terrible has happened in Henan. The Western King died in battle outside Luoyang City..."
When Hong Xiuquan heard this, his eyes widened instantly.
"What? Xiao Chaogui is dead?"
"What exactly is going on?"
Hong Xiuquan could hardly believe the news of Xiao Chaogui's death.
Seeing this, Meng De'en began to explain.
"To answer the king, this is what happened."
"The Western King and the Wing King were originally attacking Luoyang. The Western King even led the charge and attacked the city himself."
"However, the Western King was hit by a stray bullet on the battlefield and was seriously injured. As a result of the Western King's injury, the army fell into chaos."
"At this moment, the Qing army's reinforcements suddenly rushed into the battlefield, and our army was defeated. The Western King died in the chaos, and the Wing King was leading his troops to retreat towards Nanyang..."
It was obvious that Meng De'en had a high regard for Xiao Chaogui and Shi Dakai, and when he addressed them, he couldn't help but use the term "our army".
When Hong Xiuquan heard this, his face immediately turned ugly.
"How could this be? How could this be?!"
Just then, there was another noise outside, and a servant came in to report.
"Report, Heavenly King, the Eastern King and others are outside seeking to see you."
When Hong Xiuquan heard this, he immediately understood Yang Xiuqing's intention and spoke hurriedly.
"Quick! Go and invite the King of the East in!"
The attendant took the order and left. Soon, Eastern King Yang Xiuqing, Northern King Wei Changhui, as well as Qin Rigang, Hu Yihuang, Zhu Xikun, Huang Wenjin and others came in from outside.
Looking at all these people following Yang Xiuqing, Hong Xiuquan felt a little uncomfortable for some reason.
But he did not get angry and waited for Yang Xiuqing and others to come up and pay their respects.
After everyone had finished paying their respects, Hong Xiuquan began to ask.
"I wonder why the King of the East came here today?"
Yang Xiuqing did not keep the audience in suspense and spoke directly.
"In reply to the king, something happened in Henan..."
Yang Xiuqing recounted what Meng De'en had just said.
Upon hearing this, Hong Xiuquan opened his mouth and asked.
"How does the Eastern King think our Heavenly Kingdom should respond?"
Yang Xiuqing thought for a while and then said.
"In reply to the King of Heaven, I believe that the original strategy of our Heavenly Kingdom should not be changed."
"We still need to send people to launch a northern expedition to attract the Qing army's attention and relieve the pressure on Tianjing City."
"But at the same time, we can send someone to contact King Yi and have him return to heaven."
"If we can get King Yi's support and attack from Huguang to the south of the Yangtze River, then our army can launch a western expedition while also launching a northern expedition to break the Qing monsters' blockade of Tianjing City."
To put it bluntly, Yang Xiuqing wanted to take advantage of Xiao Chaogui's death to bring Shi Dakai back.
Although he disliked Shi Dakai, this did not prevent Yang Xiuqing from using him.
The worst that can happen is that you cross the river and destroy the bridge!
Upon hearing this, Hong Xiuquan nodded immediately.
"Okay, let's do it..."
Hong Xiuquan had little interest in military and political affairs.
Otherwise, he would not have allowed Yang Xiuqing to handle all the affairs of the Heavenly Kingdom.
Yang Xiuqing nodded, and then discussed the Northern Expedition with everyone in front of Hong Xiuquan...
……
"King Yi, we have passed Fangcheng, and Bowangpo is not far ahead."
Guozong Shi Xiangzhen led the horse to Shi Dakai and spoke.
Shi Dakai rubbed his face, his eyes were full of fatigue, the stubble on his face was very obvious, and he looked a little depressed.
After looking at his brother and then at the tired soldiers around him, Shi Dakai seemed to have made up his mind and spoke.
"Bowangpo, what a great place!"
"Let the brothers prepare to stop and repair."
"After running away for so long, it's time to take a break."
Upon hearing this, Shi Xiangzhen asked hesitantly.
"The Qing demon's pursuers?"
Shi Dakai took a deep breath.
"We have been running for such a long time, but not only have we not been able to escape the pursuit of the Qing monsters, but our losses have also been increasing. If we continue like this, we will be dragged to death by the Qing monsters' pursuers sooner or later."
"Fuck his grandma! Order the whole army to prepare for a counterattack!"
"We will also follow the example of Uncle Liu and burn Bowangpo to the Qing demons..."
Upon hearing this, Shi Xiangzhen instantly perked up and responded with a fist salute.
"Yes, I will understand!"
"Go and pass the order right away!"
Ever since the great defeat at the city of Luoyang, the Taiping Army had been on the run and was constantly hunted down by the Qing army.
Shi Xiangzhen had had enough and felt very aggrieved.
Now that he heard that Shi Dakai had decided to fight back, he was naturally excited.
……
PS: I have something to do today, so there are only 6,000 left. I will resume normal updates tomorrow.
Also, well, it’s the beginning of the month, so I’d like to ask for a monthly ticket!
(End of this chapter)