As Lu Xun once said, when a person's beliefs clash with the reality they perceive, and someone seizes that moment to implant new beliefs, the outcome is quite obvious.
Achanga now found himself in such a situation.
Having joined the Sticky Rod Bureau from childhood, and having grown up listening to tales of Qian Long's heroic and divine deeds, Achanga's heart had long been sown with the seeds of loyalty to Qian Long and loyalty to our Great Qing.
As Achanga grew older and was sent out by the Sticky Rod Bureau to carry out various missions, he witnessed the true Great Qing and the true Qian Long.
The more he learned of the truth, the more Achanga's heart trembled.
Before this, Achanga could still console himself with the idea that "those not of our kind are bound to have different hearts," or that "all the common people are troublesome," thereby preventing his faith from collapsing.
However, when Achanga watched one Banner miner after another begin to accuse the Great Qing court and shout slogans to overthrow the Great Qing, his faith was inevitably shaken.
Achanga feared that he too would become like these Banner miners of the upper three and lower five banners, with nothing but thoughts of mining to atone for sins, and even more so, he feared he would join them in contributing to the overthrow of the Great Qing.
Before his inner faith completely crumbled, Achanga decided to stop investigating the veracity of Menglianggu's firearms and instead began plotting how to escape the mine and how to report everything he had experienced.
Yet, to Achanga's despair, any attempt to escape was immediately discovered by the damned overseers. Even though he had been extremely careful and confirmed that no one around suspected his intention to escape, he still could not evade the overseers' eyes.
Achanga finally despaired.
Achanga felt that either what he had learned from the Sticky Rod Bureau was useless, or these overseers were descendants of the Imperial Guard. Otherwise, there was simply no explanation for why he was always caught every time he tried to escape.
Later, Achanga no longer thought of escaping but instead pondered how to perform well, how to mine more coal, and how to contribute to the overthrow of the Great Qing.
Until one day, Achanga finally learned the truth.
It wasn't that what he had learned from the Sticky Rod Bureau was useless, nor were the overseers descendants of the Imperial Guard as he had imagined. The truth was very simple, so simple it was outrageous.
Those overseers were originally officers of the Green Standard Army!
In terms of gathering information, lurking, and assassinating, ten Green Standard soldiers were no match for one Sticky Rod Bai Tang. But when it came to desertion, perhaps a hundred Sticky Rod Bai Tangs tied together couldn't compare to one veteran Green Standard soldier. These Green Standard soldiers were not good at commanding battles, but when it came to catching deserters...
And so, Achanga was defeated, inexplicably defeated.
Of course, there were countless experts in the Great Qing's sticky rods. The addition or subtraction of one Achanga would have little impact on the Sticky Rod Bureau. The only ones affected would be the unlucky duo, Agui and Ming Xing.
Without news from Achanga, Agui and Ming Xing could not ascertain whether the rifled cannons mentioned in the "Menglianggu Newspaper" were real or not, and thus dared not directly attack Menglianggu.
For Agui and Ming Xing, if the news was false, it wouldn't matter. But if it were true, becoming a transport captain for the rebel Zhu again would be truly unpardonable.
As more than a month rushed by, and a portion of the matchlock and flintlock guns purchased from the Western barbarians had arrived, while the scouts sent out after Achanga had all disappeared without a trace, Agui, the Imperial Commissioner, finally couldn't sit still.
Imitate first.
Agui reasoned that since he couldn't ascertain the situation at Menglianggu, he might as well make the worst-case assumption—if the rebel Zhu was not lying in the "Menglianggu Newspaper," it meant that rifled cannons were far superior to smoothbore cannons. If that were the case, then the Great Qing should also build a batch of rifled cannons.
As long as they tried to build a few, they would know if rifled cannons were as powerful as rebel Zhu boasted.
After all, the production of cannons required nothing more than copper, iron, and craftsmen. And in terms of both copper and iron resources and craftsmen, the Great Qing was far superior to the rebels of Menglianggu. If the Menglianggu rebels could build rifled cannons, the Great Qing could do so as well.
However, before the Great Qing could imitate the first rifled cannon, bad news kept pouring in.
First, Dengzhou had completely fallen into the hands of the Menglianggu rebels. Now, the Menglianggu rebels occupied Dengzhou Prefecture, Laizhou Prefecture, Tai'an Prefecture, Yizhou Prefecture, and more than half of Yanzhou Prefecture, as well as half of Qingzhou Prefecture.
In plain terms, half of Shandong had fallen into the hands of rebel Zhu.
The second piece of bad news was that the rebel Chen Tailai had obtained a large number of flintlock guns from somewhere, and was now colluding with the Bagua Sect rebels of Cao Prefecture. Fuk'anggan had no choice but to abandon Heze.
And the third piece of bad news made Agui feel like dying.
Fifteen more prefectures and counties of the Great Qing had appeared with rebels.
Rebels appeared in Zhangde Prefecture, Pingyang Prefecture, and Nanyang Prefecture. Guide Prefecture, Ruren Prefecture, Xuzhou Prefecture, Yingzhou Prefecture, and Luzhou Prefecture all saw the emergence of rebels.
In addition, rebel traces were also found in places like Zhangzhou Prefecture, Chaozhou Prefecture, Huizhou Prefecture, Fuzhou Prefecture, Yanping Prefecture, Taizhou Prefecture, and Ningbo Prefecture.
If one were to also count the prefectures and counties occupied by Zhu Jinsong, Chen Tailai, and the Bagua Sect, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the heartland of the Great Qing had descended into chaos.
To say that these prefectures and counties with rebels were all a result of official oppression leading to rebellion would be pure nonsense. To say that the people of these prefectures and counties all wanted to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming would also be pure nonsense.
The reason for so many prefectures and counties rebelling successively was the existence of the two traitorous bandits, Zhu Jinsong and Chen Tailai, in the former, and Lin Shuangwen in the latter.
Ultimately, it was all because of rebel Zhu.
After all, if Zhu Jinsong and Chen Tailai could rebel in Shandong, a place so difficult to rebel in, and remain uncrushed for nearly a year, even cutting off the Great Qing court's grain transport, what did that signify?
It signified that the Great Qing court was incompetent. It couldn't even handle a rebellion in Shandong, so whom could it handle among the rest?
Agui knew very well that if rebel Zhu could not be swiftly suppressed, more prefectures and counties would join the ranks of rebellion in the future. These rebels would then attack and devour each other, ultimately producing a true dragon to fight to the death with the Great Qing.
Of course, the greatest possibility was that the Great Qing would be eliminated by these rebels before that day arrived.
The history of the Central Plains Hall spanned thousands of years, and such events were clearly recorded in historical texts.
Therefore, the problem returned to the original point—to stabilize the Great Qing's empire and state, Zhu Jinsong, the top-tier rebel, had to be eliminated. And to eliminate Zhu Jinsong...
Agui felt a lack of confidence.
Glancing at Fu Huan, who had just arrived in Jinan with troops, and Fuk'anggan, who had been forced to abandon Heze and retreat to Jinan, Agui gritted his teeth and said, "Forget about Menglianggu. The situation is not what it used to be. If we delay any further, I fear the Great Qing's empire will be engulfed in smoke everywhere."
After everyone nodded in agreement, Agui turned his gaze to Fuk'anggan, saying, "Grand Uncle Fu, I intend for you to lead the vanguard in this campaign against Menglianggu. What are your thoughts, Grand Uncle Fu?"
Fuk'anggan sat upright in his chair, rubbing the thumb and index finger of his right hand against the thumb ring on his left hand, and replied with a cold expression, "Very well."
Agui gave a wry smile, then turned his gaze to Fu Huan, saying, "Brother Fu Huan, you will lead the rear guard as support this time. How about it?"
Fu Huan also agreed, "Imperial Commissioner, rest assured, there will be no mistakes."
Agui grunted, then turned his gaze to Ming Xing, saying, "After the troops are dispatched, all provisions and ammunition will be entrusted to Brother Ming Xing?"
Ming Xing also readily agreed, "It is my duty, Imperial Commissioner, rest assured."
Look at them, look at them! Although Grand Uncle Fu looked at this Imperial Commissioner from the corner of his eye when he agreed, and although Grand Scholar Fu Huan agreed nonchalantly, and although Ming Xing agreed carelessly, they all showed this Imperial Commissioner some respect, didn't they?
This Imperial Commissioner was truly pleased, wishing he could hand these scoundrels over to that surnamed Zhu, or have His Majesty simply replace this Imperial Commissioner, to save him from this unbearable indignity!
After cursing Fuk'anggan, Fu Huan, and Ming Xing in his heart, Agui stood up and shouted to his personal guards, "Guards! Relay my order as Imperial Commissioner! Beat the drums! Muster the troops!"