Xu Lin and Xu Xinmin sat knee-to-knee for a long, heartfelt talk. Through this deep and thorough communication, it was as if a magnificent scroll depicting the current complex situation of the Great Qing Empire had been unfurled before them.
At that time, the Great Qing Empire was like a battered, giant ship tossing about in fierce winds and raging waves. The smoke of separatist wars and chaos filled the air on all sides, and the plight of internal troubles and external aggression acted like heavy shackles, tightly binding this ancient nation. Had it not been for the joint suppression by domestic and foreign forces, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement might well have succeeded.
Yet the rulers in the imperial court remained oblivious to their own faults, still immersed in the illusory, long-decayed mindset of the Celestial Empire, viewing themselves as superior and blindly arrogant. In reality, however, their actions were nothing short of heartbreaking: ceding territory and paying indemnities, with one act of national humiliation following another.
Chapter 118