Chapter 59: Chapter 58: Peking, Flower City of the East

Peking City, Qing Empire

Peking City, the capital of the largest Empire in Asia, the Qing Empire. Beautiful parks, gardens, temples, walls, and majestic palaces are all around the city to show its grandeur and power to all citizens and visitors of this mighty city. Such rich history and power can be seen in the walls and structures around the city, as it served as the capital of once the largest empire in the whole world.

In the most inner part of the city, the Forbidden City is where the Imperial Family of the Qing Empire resided. Then the next would be the Imperial city which surrounds the Forbidden City. Next is the inner city, there are eight gates each guarded by the Eight Banners who served the Qing Empire where most of the city dwellers resided. At the outer city, is large tracts of land under the ownership of rich nobles and landowners where they resided.

With more than three million people residing in the capital city of the Qing Empire, the streets of the city are bustling with life and energy. The merchants are selling their wares to the people, the children are playing with each other, street performers are dancing to entertain any passerby, women are carrying the baggage of dirty clothes to wash in the nearby river, there are some men who are drinking or working and some are even performing martial arts.

Along with the Chinese people, there are also a lot of foreigners who are on the streets doing their own thing. Some were priests who are preaching Christianity and religion, some were businessmen who are here to manage their businesses and some were diplomats and officials of various foreign powers who have embassies and concessions in the Qing Empire. The families of these men are also in Peking, adding more foreigners to the already packed and vibrant city.

Nonetheless, the city is huge enough for all the people and it just adds more to the prosperity of Peking City. But underneath such a peaceful and vibrant façade, there is a lot of discontent among the citizens of the Qing Empire and it is reflected in the eyes and actions of some Qing Chinese people. Besides, the bustling streets are protests and demonstrations of the Qing Chinese wanting to remove the foreign influence and people who they call devils and snakes who are destroying the culture and heritage of the Qing Empire.

“Save Qing China!”

“Support the Glorious Qing!”

“Leave Tyrants!”

“Death to the TRAITORS!”

“Death to the FOREIGNERS!”

Different protest slogans and goals are shouted at by the Qing Chinese Protestors. Every day their number grows by hundreds as the inequality and financial status between the native Chinese and the foreigners with the Christianized Chinese have widened. Most of the foreigners only accept Christian convert Chinese in their factories, businesses and jobs offer that converting to Christianity had become a necessity just to apply for jobs.

It had sowed discontent in the masses, as the Qing Chinese wants to generally retain their culture and identity and regain the glory and power of the Qing Empire as the most powerful empire in the world.

To the Qing elite and nobles, the rapid Christianization of the Qing Chinese would cause a massive shift in the society which would endanger their privileges and power. As a deeply conservative state, any rapid changes in society would be detrimental as these would question the social order that the Qing had for centuries. 

The Qing or China, in general, are more conservative than their western counterparts where liberalism and liberty are already present even in a monarchial state like Germany, France, Great Britain, and Austria. Every day, they hear reports that tens of thousands of Chinese are being converted to Christianity across the country, especially in the Southern part of the empire. It alarmed them that it might destroy the Confucian and Buddhist traditions they had, and the people would become more pro-Western and pro-Liberals. There are even some Chinese groups domestic and abroad who want a democratic change in the country. As the people part of the ruling class, they are not willing to lose some of the privileges and power that they enjoyed for centuries.

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To the ordinary citizens, they believed that the reason for the unemployment and inequality are the fault of the foreigners in the empire. The rapid industrialization and the free market that the foreigners had brought to the empire ruined a lot of local shops and businesses as they can’t compete with the large foreign businesses who are flooding the Chinese market. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Chinese lost their jobs and livelihood. Especially in the provinces and rural areas, where the effect of industrialization is greatly felt. Thousands of Chinese farmers and artisans lost their jobs as they were replaced by machines that were cheaper and more efficient than manual labor. As the ones who introduce and brought these evil machines, the local Qing Chinese point to the foreigners as the culprit of their plight.

There are also a lot of Chinese nationalists and liberal patriots who see the unequal treaties sanctioned by the foreign powers to the Qing Empire are outrageous and shameful. They feel the need to expel these foreigners from Qing China and end such heinous treaties for the honor and glory of the Qing Empire. The once powerful and glorious Qing Empire had just been reduced to this horrendous state, the foreign powers just trample the empire and the Qing Empire citizens are treated inferior by the foreigners on their native soil.

Such disgrace and humiliation should not be left unattended, and they believed it is their duty to bring the Qing Empire to its heyday, making it back to world power. These people had become a large movement in the rural provinces of Shandong and Hebei and they attack Chinese Christians and foreign missionaries. They armed themselves with any weapons, from farmer tools to rifles, anything that they collect, and started to raise a large militia to expel the foreigners in the provinces.

Such discontent brewing didn’t go unnoticed in the eyes of the foreigners, several ambassadors requested the Qing government to be allowed to increase the garrison sizes in their embassies with their troops from their countries. They also asked the Qing government to squash such movements that threaten the safety of foreigners and Chinese Christians from these armed militias.

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“The situation here in Northern China is worsening as the day passes, Even here in Peking, there are a lot of attacks on us foreigners, especially on the missionaries. I think we should handle this in our own hands Ambassador.”

“And risks conflict with the Qing? We can’t afford the consequences of the collapse of the Qing Government Colonel.”

A middle-aged man is sipping his tea while reading the local newspaper in the city. He expresses his concern to the man in front of him, Ambassador Harry Cornwall, the British Ambassador in the Qing Empire. As the highest-ranking officer of the British Empire in the region, it is his responsibility to keep the influence and interest of the British in this state, and the worsening situation in the region is a worrying problem for him. The Qing Empire is a very large market for British goods and if there are any large problems between the British and the Qing would harm the trade deals. But the man he is conversing with, Colonel William Brooke, the head of the security detail of the British Embassy, wants him to give an order for the British soldiers to take action.

They had observed that the Qing Government suddenly become passive regards this violent movement that is brewing across the country. At first, the Qing had taken direct and swift action against the movement and even defeated the movement in a battle in the Hebei region. But after that battle, the Qing Empire had suddenly taken a passive and neutral stance. As a result, the violent movement had free rein in their actions committed across the lands.

There are already a number of European missionaries and citizens that were harmed and even killed by the violent protestors. The Foreign power had already banned selling weapons to the Qing Chinese as these were used by the protestors but still, it didn’t stop them to attack foreigners. And it even escalates larger that different countries are recommending their citizens to left the country except for that essential personnel and security forces. Even the Austrian Empire, which had good relations with the Qing Empire, wasn’t able to escape the attacks and increase the number of troops in their embassy up to a hundred soldiers.

“But Sir Ambassador, the Qing Army won’t take action against these terrorists. If these would be left unchecked, it would only embolden these people to attack and take arms… then it would be too late.”

“Then what are you proposing Colonel, to march our army on foreign soil? That would be tantamount to declaring war against the Qing. We can’t afford that to happen or else we would be the ones to be blamed if the relationship between our country and the Qing breaks down.”

The Ambassador is not willing to be the first to take action. If anything, it would be better if the Qing or other European power started any actions so that they can observe and deduct what would be the course of action. Only fools would trigger such folly.

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