Foreign Gun Corps, Swords Drawn

The guests arrived one after another, most of them old acquaintances. After all, there were not many prominent figures in the Tibetan region; people were bound to run into each other sooner or later.

After greeting several tusi, I began chatting with them.

Yangjin was speaking with the Municipal Official, whose expression was somewhat ugly. Though he claimed not to care about the twenty percent share of the Gold Mountain profits, I knew it was just talk. Even twenty percent was worth the annual income of several estates.

"I heard things outside are getting chaotic. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has already fought its way to Nanjing City," one tusi said after taking a sip of tea.

Another tusi picked up the topic. "Exactly. Who knows whether The Officials can hold on? We might be looking at another change of dynasty."

"Shh, don't say that carelessly. It'll be trouble if Lord Lu hears you. At a time like this, we need to be even more cautious. The Officials still have a hundred thousand elite troops in the Tibetan region. I think those peasants won't amount to much. I heard Hong Xiuquan even went after his own brothers' women. Sooner or later, they'll turn on one another. The Officials won't even need to lift a finger—they'll destroy themselves."

Another tusi said, "Who cares? Even if the Qing Dynasty really falls, what does that have to do with us? As long as the Great Living Buddha remains and the Municipal Official remains, nothing will change here."

Several major tusi deeply agreed with him.

I did not join the discussion. Of course, I knew that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would fail in the end.

But Great Qing would not last much longer either. With the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, Great Qing would truly