39: Chapter 39 Souls of Two Eras

Hu Tian muttered to himself, his tone carrying a rare mix of emotion and teasing: "This system is truly my 'timely rain'; treasure hunting will be like adding wings to a tiger from now on."

He flexed his wrists, his knuckles cracking with a crisp sound. Pulling his thoughts away from the system rewards, he cast his gaze back onto the unopened chest before him. His eyes became focused and sharp, as if he could pierce through the container to see the treasures hidden inside.

The show wasn't over yet; who knew what heaven-shaking wonders were hidden inside, waiting for him to lift the veil of history.

"Alright, the system upgrade is complete, and the skills are in hand. Time to get back to business!"

Hu Tian rubbed his hands together, eager to start, an expectant smile curling the corners of his mouth.

The fourth chest was the most special. Inside lay yellowed papers, yet they exuded a scholarly scent more captivating than gold or silver—a cultural aura settled over a century, intoxicating to the senses.

As the lid opened, a massive stream of information regarding these two documents flooded into Hu Tian's mind like a bursting dam.

[Item Name: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom "Land System of the Heavenly Dynasty" Hand-copied Unique Edition! Preserved intact, neat handwriting, the only existing copy for researching the land policy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, epic-level artifact, priceless treasure!]

[Estimated Value: 240,000,000 Yuan]

[Absorbed Energy: +24,000 points, Total Energy: 65,040 points]

[Item Name: Hong Rengan's Autograph Manuscript of "New Treatise on Governing the State"! The first programmatic document in modern China proposing the development of capitalism, the authentic work appears in the world, epic-level artifact, priceless treasure!]

[Estimated Value: 200,000,000 Yuan]

[Absorbed Energy: +20,000 points, Total Energy: 85,040 points]

Hu Tian took a deep breath, his fingertips gently brushing over the edges of the yellowed papers. He dared not use force, fearing that a careless move might damage these historical witnesses that had spanned a century.

The historical scroll of the "Land System of the Heavenly Dynasty" slowly unfolded before his eyes: In 1853, after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom established its capital in Tianjing, Hong Xiuquan promulgated this land program, proposing the ideal that "all land under heaven shall be tilled by all people under heaven," attempting to build a peasant utopia where "there is land to till, food to eat, clothes to wear, money to spend, equality everywhere, and no one is left hungry or cold."

Every stroke of handwriting in this hand-copied manuscript revealed the piety and diligence of the Taiping Army scribes; it was the dream and struggle of an era.

Immediately following, the stream of information for the "New Treatise on Governing the State" surged forth: In 1859, Hong Rengan, the well-traveled Gan Wang of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, proposed a shocking reform plan—advocating learning from the West, developing industry and commerce, building railways, establishing banks, starting newspapers, and even promoting a patent system and opposing superstition.

In that era of isolationism, this was a truly earth-shattering idea, even more advanced and radical than the Self-Strengthening Movement. Unfortunately, it failed to be implemented due to the chaos of war, becoming a helpless sigh in the long river of history.

These two documents—one representing the most rustic egalitarian ideal of the peasant class, the other representing the earliest vision of capitalist modernization in China—appeared simultaneously in this chest. It was truly a miraculous collision of history!

"These aren't just two documents; they are clearly the souls of two eras!"

He muttered to himself, his eyes flashing with irrepressible excitement. "One wanted to let everyone under heaven eat their fill, the other wanted to make China wealthy. Unfortunately, both were born at the wrong time and their ambitions remained unfulfilled. Now that they have seen the light of day again, it can be considered a consolation to that period of history."

Hu Tian looked at these yellowed papers, his eyes filled with reverence. He knew that these seemingly fragile papers carried far more weight than all that gold and jewelry; they were the sparks of civilization, the echoes of history.

Although these papers had yellowed and become brittle, in Hu Tian's eyes, they were ten million times more precious than a room full of gold.

Facing the room full of epic-level artifacts flowing with purple light, he suppressed his wild joy, took a few deep breaths, and forced himself to calm down. His gaze gradually became as sharp as a hawk's.

There remained a "Collection of Secret Documents of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom," including unpublished edicts, military orders, and diplomatic letters. These filled in many historical gaps, and each piece was a key to unlocking historical mysteries.

Hu Tian carefully pulled out the secret documents one by one from the bottom of the chest. Most of these documents were mounted with yellow silk and satin, and the covers were stamped with the word "Secret" in vermilion ink. Some edges were worn, but they remained intact.

He flipped through them one by one, becoming more shocked the more he read.

The content recorded in these documents completely overturned his previous understanding of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

One of the secret letters, labeled "The Ins and Outs of the Tianjing Incident," detailed the bloody infighting between Yang Xiuqing and Wei Changhui in 1856—the Eastern King Yang Xiuqing relied on his military merits to usurp power, even forcing the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan to grant him the title of "Nine Thousand Years." This eventually led the Northern King Wei Changhui to lead troops in a night raid on the Eastern King's Mansion, slaughtering over twenty thousand people in one night, turning the place into a river of blood.

The description in the document was shocking: "The Eastern King's residence was drenched in blood; corpses lay everywhere. Within the city of Tianjing, cries shook the heavens as the Taiping Army slaughtered each other, suffering a devastating blow to their vitality. From then on, the various kings harbored mutual suspicion and became alienated, never again having the same unity of purpose as before."

Looking at these words, Hu Tian could almost hear the sounds of slaughter and screams from that night. The foundation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had been thoroughly shaken by this internal strife.

Another document, labeled "Record of Foreign Affairs Negotiations," recorded the various awkward situations the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom faced when dealing with Western powers.

The document recorded that although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom called itself the "God Worshipping Society" and initially thought it could form an alliance with Western Christian nations, differences in doctrinal understanding, conflicts in etiquette, and ignorance of the outside world led to frequent embarrassments during meetings with Western envoys.

There was even a document labeled "Absurd Prohibitions," which listed the various impractical policies implemented by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom—banning civilian marriages and segregating men and women into different camps; burning ancient classics, viewing them as "demonic books"; and forcibly implementing the "Heavenly Calendar," abolishing the lunar calendar, which caused farmers to be unable to farm according to the solar terms...

These policies not only failed to gain the support of the common people, but instead caused popular support to gradually slip away.

"They had ideals, but didn't know how to realize them; they wanted to change the world, but didn't know the laws by which the world operates."

Hu Tian shook his head and sighed, "In the end, it was just that their vision was too narrow, trapped by the era and their own limitations."

What moved Hu Tian the most were several handwritten letters from the Gan Wang, Hong Rengan.

This high-ranking official of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, who had traveled for many years in places like Hong Kong and Shanghai and had seen Western civilization, revealed a deep sense of powerlessness and sorrow between the lines of his letters.

One of the letters wrote: "The kings of the Heavenly Kingdom fight for power and profit, without thought of progress. Although I presented the strategy of the 'New Treatise on Governing the State,' wishing to emulate the Western path of enriching the country and strengthening the military, the other kings did not approve, viewing me as a heretic. My heart burns with worry, yet I am unable to turn the tide. I can only watch helplessly as the great situation is destroyed in one fell swoop. Oh, the sorrow! Oh, the pain!"

Another letter was even more blunt: "In the Taiping Army, there are very few who can read, let alone understand the world's trends. The kings are addicted to the riches of Tianjing, engaging in large-scale construction and taking in concubines, completely forgetting the original intention of the uprising. I have advised them repeatedly, but I am denounced for disrupting military morale. Alas, the defeat of the Heavenly Kingdom is a defeat caused by not knowing the greatness of the world, a defeat caused by the selfish desires of the kings, a defeat caused by destroying our own Great Wall!"

After reading these letters, an indescribable sense of sorrow welled up in Hu Tian's heart.

Hong Rengan, the only person in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom who opened his eyes to see the world, could only utter the lament of being "unable to turn the tide" in the end, due to the ignorance of his colleagues and power struggles.

His "New Treatise on Governing the State" could have led the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom toward modernization, but it became a mere scrap of paper due to war and internal strife. How is this not the greatest regret of history?

"If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had truly been able to implement the 'New Treatise on Governing the State' back then, if the kings had not been busy with infighting but had worked together, perhaps China's modernization process would have been advanced by several decades."

Hu Tian whispered to himself, "Unfortunately, history has no 'ifs.' In the end, they were defeated by themselves."

He organized and classified these documents one by one, gaining a deeper understanding of the value of this treasure trove—these were not just priceless artifacts, but a mirror reflecting the tragedy and lessons of an era.

Hu Tian took a deep breath and cast his gaze toward the last three rosewood chests.

Hu Tian rubbed his hands and slowly walked toward the fifth rosewood chest, thinking to himself: "The previous four chests were either gems or antiques, calligraphy, paintings, and books. This fifth chest should probably be about the same."

He carefully unlatched the lock and slowly lifted the lid. But the moment the lid was fully opened, Hu Tian couldn't help but freeze.

Before his eyes was a suit of gleaming golden armor!

"This... is this armor? Holy crap, is this the legendary Gold Saint set? Or some big shot's 'Golden Armor'?"

Just as Hu Tian was stunned, a clear system notification suddenly rang out in his mind.

"Ding—Special artifact scanned. Information analysis in progress... Analysis complete. Please view the details."

Immediately, lines of information unfolded in Hu Tian's mind like flowing water.

[Item Name: Heavenly King's Imperial Nine-Dragon Battle Armor (Full Set)] [Period: Third to Fourth Year of Xianfeng, Qing Dynasty (1853–1854 AD)] [Background: In March 1853, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom captured Nanjing and established its capital in Tianjing. The Heavenly King, Hong Xiuquan, officially ascended the throne. To manifest his majesty and the mandate of heaven, Hong Xiuquan ordered the gathering of the top craftsmen from the Suzhou and Yangzhou areas to Tianjing. It took nearly a year, exhausting the nation's resources, to forge this set of imperial battle armor. The armor was based on refined copper, gilded with pure gold on the surface, and engraved with nine coiling dragon patterns, signifying the "Nine-Five Supremacy and the True Dragon Son of Heaven." Embedded in the center of the breastplate is a massive South Sea pearl, recorded to be about an inch in diameter, symbolizing "The Sun and Moon Shining Together, the Mandate of Heaven Unified." The inner lining of the armor is made of soft jade scales presented as tribute from the Western Regions, which are both blade-resistant and lightweight and form-fitting. The craftsmanship is extremely complex and beyond the capability of ordinary artisans. After the armor was completed, Hong Xiuquan once wore it on the city walls of Tianjing to review his troops, displaying the utmost majesty. However, ironically, Hong Xiuquan subsequently stayed deep within the Heavenly Kings Mansion, indulging in palace pleasures, and this armor never saw the battlefield again. It was secretly transferred on the eve of the fall of Tianjing, eventually drifting to this place, and has since been buried in the dust of history.]

[Preservation Status: Extremely well-preserved. The gilding is still bright, the nine-dragon patterns are clear, the pearl on the breastplate is undamaged, and the inner lining of soft jade scales has no obvious shedding. The overall condition can be called a miracle.]

[Estimated Value: This battle armor combines historical value, artistic value, and craftsmanship value. It is extremely rare, and among the currently known artifacts of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a complete set of armor has never appeared before; it can be called a unique piece. If it enters top international auction houses, the conservative estimate would be between 530 million and 600 million RMB. If heavyweight collectors compete, the actual transaction price is very likely to break the 800 million RMB mark.]

[Absorbed Energy: +56,000 points, Total Energy: 141,040 points]

The system notification slowly faded away. Hu Tian stood where he was, unable to snap out of his daze for a long time.