Chapter 39 1. The Conspiracy in Prince Gong's Mansion

Many new things have emerged in the ancient Tianjin Wei in recent decades, almost all of which are related to the word "foreign": some blond, blue-eyed, tall hats, black canes, and arrogant men can often be seen on the streets. Foreigners; you can also see women in long black robes and white headscarves, with their heads bowed and expressionless, hurrying along without a sound of footsteps. They are nuns, and the common people call them foreign nuns; Suddenly, there will be a strange building next to the house, which is made of large blocks of stones, with a pointed roof piercing into the sky, and a cross stands on the roof. It is a foreign church; in the prosperous area of ​​the city center, or It is a quiet place by the sea, where you can often see novel and bright houses, which are western-style buildings where foreigners live.

Most of the officials in the large and small yamen of Tianjin Wei took a respectful and distant attitude towards these things with the word "foreign".At this time, in a luxurious and dazzling blue woolen sedan chair, there was an official with a different mentality than the others.This person looked at the long gowns and jackets passing by the side of the sedan chair and the outdated shops with a cold and even somewhat disdainful gaze, and once he saw a foreigner or a bungalow in front of his eyes, he would immediately open the curtains of the sedan chair Son, eyes wide open, admiring with great interest, that expression, full of envy, longing, pursuit...

This person is not a foreigner, and he has never drank foreign water for half a day abroad. He is an authentic Chinese, with a standard Chinese appearance, pure Chinese blood, and a standard Chinese name: Sheng Xuanhuai, with the word Xing Sun.However, he admires and admires foreigners and everything they have done. Sheng Xuanhuai was born in a bureaucratic family. His father was a member of Yanfa Road in Hubei, and he was very close to brothers Hu Linyi, Li Hanzhang and Li Hongzhang who successively served as Governor of Hubei and then Governor of Huguang.Because of this relationship, he entered Li Hongzhang's shogunate as a scholar at the age of twenty, and gained Li's trust with his shrewdness and ability.Soon, Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang, founded the Shipping Merchants Bureau, and he appointed Sheng Xuanhuai as the bureau's director.

Sheng Xuanhuai managed the inland waterway shipping company that was run by the Chinese for the first time, and managed it prosperously. He actually bought all the Qichang Shipping Company, which was run by the Americans and dominated the Yangtze River for 15 years. .At the same time, Sheng Xuanhuai also made a lot of money for himself, was impeached, and finally lost his job. At this time, the Sino-Russian Ili dispute arose, and the imperial court was deeply worried about the lack of communication in the city of Ili, which was far away in the northwest border.On the contrary, the Russians can communicate with St. Petersburg every day by telegraph.In the face of facts, even the most stubborn old-schoolers admit that the telegrams of foreigners are better than China's 400-mile courier.Therefore, the imperial court decided to establish a telegraph office following the method of foreigners, and handed over the matter to Li Hongzhang.Li Hongzhang believed in Sheng Xuanhuai's ability.Because of this, Sheng Xuanhuai, who was unemployed at home, became the supervisor of the China Telegraph Administration in Tianjin.Only four years later, Sheng Xuanhuai made another trendy Westernization project flourish.

He now had an important telegram in his sleeve pocket.He took it straight to the Yamen of the Beiyang Minister of Commerce to pay homage to his master. After passing several foreign buildings and churches and seeing off a few foreign men and nuns, the blue sedan chair came to the majestic Yamen of the Beiyang Minister.The brightly dressed servant of the Sheng family held a business card, stepped up the nine steps paved with granite, bent down and handed the business card to a middle-aged concierge with a big frame. The concierge saw the business card and knew that the visitor was Superintendent Sheng of the Telegraph Bureau.Governor Sheng is a frequent visitor to the Beiyang Yamen, and the concierge is familiar, but it was noon, so it was not the right time to come.The concierge spoke Hefei dialect, and said to the servant of the Sheng family: "Mr. Jue just laid down after taking a walk, and he won't get up for work after half an hour. Please wait, Master Sheng."

The Juexiang is Li Hongzhang, which is the most respectful title for him.Li Hongzhang's official residence is the governor, the usual governor, can be honored as the system or the governor; as a bachelor, the usual bachelor, he can be honored as Zhongtang or Xiangguo.But Li Hongzhang was not an ordinary governor, nor an ordinary bachelor. He was a university governor with the second-class title of Marquis of Suyi, so people especially respected him as "Mr. The servant of the Sheng family had already received instructions from his master, and hurriedly said: "My master said, please excuse me, he has an important telegram from a foreigner, and he needs to report it to the minister immediately."

Hearing that it was an important telegram from a foreigner, the concierge didn't dare to neglect, so he hurried in.After a while, a word came out: "Master Sheng, please come in." Only then did Sheng Xuanhuai step out of the blue woolen sedan chair, and stride across the wide and thick iron threshold of the Beiyang minister's yamen with dignity.As soon as he sat down in the small guest room, a resounding Anhui official voice came from outside the door: "Xingsun, what's the matter, come to bother me at this time?" Immediately, a slender man wearing white silk pajamas and pajamas walked in. This man was the famous Li Hongzhang.

Li Hongzhang came to Beijing from his hometown in Hefei when he was 22 years old. He worshiped Zeng Guofan as his teacher in the same year as his father, and became Zeng's only disciple in his life.Hanyuan, a 24-year-old high school Jinshi, returned to his hometown at the age of 30 to assist Lu Xianji in organizing regiment training, and was promoted to the rank of inspector because of his military achievements.At the age of thirty-six, he defected to Zeng Guofan, and was appreciated by his professional teachers. Soon he was ordered to return to his hometown to recruit children, form a Huai army, and rescue Shanghai.He was recommended to the imperial court as governor of Jiangsu.From then on, Li Hongzhang, relying on the Huai Army, a highly combative army, and his own extraordinary talents, recovered the south, put down the Nian army, and effectively suppressed the Hui chaos in the northwest, and was able to reach the peak of his career step by step.In the last years of Tongzhi, he was on par with Naishi regardless of his official position or power.

Li Hongzhang was highly regarded by Cixi.Since the ninth year of Tongzhi, he has been the governor of Zhili, the top border official in the world, for fifteen years. Regardless of whether it is inside or outside the court, Cixi attaches great importance to Li Hongzhang's opinions on all major national affairs.Although he is very busy with military and state affairs, Li Hongzhang has learned the essence of health preservation from a professional teacher. He insists on walking 3,000 steps after meals every day and soaking his feet in hot water for 15 minutes before going to bed. The ruddy, sixty-two-year-old man looks like a man in his fifties.

"Your Excellency, I'm really sorry to disturb your afternoon nap." Sheng Xuanhuai has followed Li Hongzhang for more than ten years, and he is well aware of Li Hongzhang's easy-going temperament. After he stood up and said this sentence, he sat down immediately without waiting for Li Hongzhang's order. Hurd sent a telegram from Shanghai about the current dispute with the French. The matter is important and cannot be delayed, so send it here immediately, and ask the prince to look at it." Hurd is a British citizen. He came to China at the age of 21 and has lived in China for 30 years. He is a real China hand.He has held an important position in the General Taxation Department of the Chinese Customs for twenty years. As a foreigner, he is in charge of the customs duties of the Qing Empire, and he has a very close relationship with Li Hongzhang.

Hearing that it was Hurd's telegram and that it was about the French, Li Hongzhang cheered up immediately.He put the two spinning jade balls from Zeng Guofan on the coffee table and said, "Take it out and show me!" Sheng Xuanhuai took out a bundle of telegrams from the sleeve of his left hand, and handed it over with both hands.After Li Hongzhang took it, he put on a pair of imported western reading glasses on the coffee table and looked carefully. Hurd's telegram was longer.He told China's No. 1 diplomat today that France recently dispatched a naval lieutenant colonel named Freneau as a special envoy, who came to China with an important confidential letter and met with the Taxation Department of Guangdong Customs in Guangzhou. De Cui Lin accompanied him to the north, trying to deliver the secret letter to the imperial court.With this letter, De Cui Lin and Fulu Nuo have arrived in Shanghai, and will go to Tianjin to pay homage to the noble minister.According to Fluno, the secret letter included the opening of Yunnan, not to damage or restrict France's rights in Vietnam, to compensate France for military expenses, and to transfer Zeng Jize, the Minister to France who advocated fighting against France, and other main contents.How to answer this matter, please make a decision. After reading the telegram, Li Hongzhang took off his reading glasses and remained silent. "Fluno and De Cuilin will come to Tianjin soon, what should we do?" Seeing that Li Hongzhang was always silent, Sheng Xuanhuai couldn't help asking. Li Hongzhang picked up the two light green jade balls again and rolled them slowly in his hands, but still did not speak. This is a big matter, and Li Hongzhang naturally had to think deeply before making a decision, so Sheng Xuanhuai stopped talking too much.He himself began to think seriously.Firstly, he is also very concerned about this major national event at the moment, and secondly, he needs to make some preparations, so that if the Lord asks a question, he can give a decent answer. "Xingsun, how do you think this Frenchman should be treated?" As expected by Sheng Xuan, after Li Hongzhang spun the jade ball many times, he suddenly turned his face to ask him.Sheng Xuanhuai knew that Li Hongzhang was the only high-ranking official who could deal with foreigners skillfully, but because the Empress Dowager Cixi's attitude was difficult to grasp, he could not help but have some doubts when dealing with foreigners. Sheng Xuan replied confidently: "Your Honor, the professional idea is to ask De Cuilin to come to Tianjin with a secret letter from the French government, and let the French envoy wait in Yantai. Although De Cuilin is a German, but in the end Now we are officials, and we have to listen to the court and the nobleman, and we can talk to each other. We have never met the French envoy. I don’t know what kind of person he is. If he is an arrogant and unreasonable guy, Instead, it will mess things up.” Li Hongzhang listened carefully to Sheng Xuanhuai's words, and kept thinking in his heart: This kid is getting more and more mature.It's a pity that there are too few people who are clear-headed and capable of doing things. If there are ten Sheng Xingsun around, everything in the world will be easy to handle. "I have met this French envoy once." Li Hongzhang said slowly. "Master Jue knows him?" Sheng Xuanhuai was quite surprised. "Three years ago, his warship stopped in Tanggu for a month. He made a special trip to Beiyang Yamen to see me. He looked like a shrewd ghost. I only saw him once. I don't know him well, so I have to be careful. Just follow your idea. Do it, send a telegram to Hurd as soon as possible, ask De Trilin to come to me with a secret letter, and let the Frenchman wait for the letter in Yantai." Sheng Xuanhuai didn't dare to disturb Li Hongzhang any more, so he took his leave and left the Yamen of Beiyang Minister. Li Hongzhang walked into the bedroom with the telegram, read it carefully, and pressed it under the pillow.He is an open-minded person, and he has experienced many rough seas and rough seas in his life. This kind of thing will not affect his mood, and he takes his afternoon nap as usual. An hour later, he got up and walked into the signing room, and began to deal with business.The old servant brought him the Keemun black tea he had been used to drinking for decades.After he took a sip, he remembered the telegram sent by Sheng Xuanhuai at noon. Li Hongzhang has dealt with foreigners for more than 20 years since he formed the Huai Army to rescue Shanghai in the first year of Tongzhi.Although he doesn't understand foreign languages, he has not let go of foreign languages, but he has a general understanding of the situation in the Eastern and Western countries, and he has a clear understanding of the strength and various disadvantages of his own country.With more than 20 years of experience in Westernization, Li Hongzhang knows that China is far from being an opponent of Western countries at present. It must take a considerable period of time to learn from foreigners and introduce their skills before they can talk about competing with them; As for subduing foreigners, it cannot be expected in the near future.When his teacher Zeng Guofan was alive, the master and apprentice talked about this matter many times, and they agreed with each other.In the ninth year of Tongzhi, they joined forces and asked to send outstanding children to study abroad in batches to learn astronomy, calendar, machine manufacturing and other technologies of foreigners, and return to China to serve after ten or eight years of study.He and his teacher named this national policy the policy of "Xu Tu Self-improvement", and believed that this was the only stable and effective strategy to lead to China's prosperity.In recent decades, China should have a stable environment that can ensure the realization of this national policy. Therefore, in disputes with foreigners, it is necessary to adopt compromise methods as much as possible and avoid fighting with foreigners. Xu Tu's strategy of self-improvement was supported by Empress Dowager Cixi and Prince Gong, but it was often criticized by the people of the country.Conservatives believe that imitating the "uncanny skills" of foreigners is deviant and insulting to the ancestors; radicals also think that compromising in front of foreigners is a weak and shameful act, and they are suspected of traitors.Despite the support of the Empress Dowager and Prince Gong, Li Hongzhang still often had unwelcome troubles from all parties, but he was stubborn by nature and did not change his state affairs because of this. The dispute with the Chinese provoked by the French in Vietnam started last year, and the court, as usual, entrusted Li Hongzhang to handle this difficult diplomatic matter.In April last year, when the French government dispatched troops, increased military spending, and prepared to fight in Vietnam, Cixi ordered Li Hongzhang to go to Guangdong to supervise the war in Vietnam. All the troops in Guangxi and Yunnan provinces belonged to him. One-person moderation.Li Hongzhang held on to the established policy of not breaking up with France, and instead of going to Guangzhou, he held peace talks with the French minister in Shanghai for more than a month.Later, the location of the negotiation was moved to Tianjin.China and France have been grinding their lips at the negotiating table for more than half a year, with little progress.The French side finally stopped negotiations, so the Chinese army lost ground on the Vietnam battlefield this spring. At this time, the French government sent a special envoy to Tianjin to pay a visit, expressing that France did not want to continue the war.As long as China does not lose too much, Li Hongzhang advocates forbearance in foreign affairs for the great plan of "Xu Tu self-improvement".Yes, we must seize this opportunity and resume negotiations. It would be even better if we can sign a treaty acceptable to both parties to stop the war immediately. But this is a very important matter, and it cannot be decided by itself. While the French envoy and De Trilin are still sailing at sea, they should go to the capital to ask His Majesty to see you and report to the Queen Mother.Li Hongzhang made up his mind and set off early the next morning, leaving Tianjin in a fast carriage.After entering the capital, he decided to visit Prince Gong first.In public and private, this is a must. The mansion of Prince Gong Yiyi is the No. 1 palace in Beijing. It is located on Qianhai West Street and is the residence of He Kun, the Prime Minister of the Qianlong Dynasty.He Kun played power, took bribes, and accumulated countless money to build this mansion second only to the imperial palace.After Qianlong's death, Hekun collapsed. Emperor Jiaqing gave it to his younger brother King Qing, and after many twists and turns, it came into the hands of King Gong.Since the two palaces listened to the government behind the curtains in the year of Xinyou, for more than 20 years, Prince Gong has been in an important position as the chief minister of the military aircraft department, in charge of the government, with power all over the world.He lives in this house, which is worthy of the name. But right now, Prince Gong's status does not match the size of this palace, because now he is just an ordinary prince, and his hot power has been deprived by the order of the Empress Dowager Cixi. At that time, due to the common dangerous situation, the uncles and sisters-in-law joined hands to form an alliance. They should have cooperated for a long time and shared the glory of sitting in the world, but it was not the case.As early as the early days of listening to the government behind the curtain, when Jiangning had just been conquered and the situation in the south of the Yangtze River had not yet fully stabilized, there was a rift between Cixi and Prince Gong. Although Cixi was the concubine of Emperor Xianfeng, her son became emperor, and she was promoted to empress dowager and became emperor.Although Prince Gong is the son of Emperor Daoguang, he is also the legitimate heir to the throne in terms of blood, but once the throne is not inherited, he is just a courtier and can only obey the orders of the emperor.To disobey the order is to deceive the emperor, to resist is to rebel, and the ups and downs of the situation, in a blink of an eye, are determined for life like this.So Cixi can issue orders to King Gong, with both kindness and power, and King Gong can only submit to him. When the cracks appeared, Cixi was very dissatisfied with Prince Gong, and wrote a typo-filled edict by herself, giving Prince Gong all the duties.A few days later, Cixi returned her post to King Gong because the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty did not approve of it, but the highest title of "Minister of the King of Discussion" was never returned. A few years later, Emperor Tongzhi was in charge, and at the behest of his mother, he ordered the restoration of the Old Summer Palace.Knowing that the national treasury was in distress and he couldn't afford the huge sum of money, Prince Gong, who was in charge of the family, urged his nephew to take it back.Prince Gong's non-cooperation offended not only his nephew, the emperor, but also his sister-in-law, the queen mother.The little emperor had just come into power, and he didn't know the severity. In order to win the favor of his mother and to establish his own authority, he even ordered the dismissal of all the errands of Prince Gong and demoted him to a commoner.This order was so shocking that the entire royal family was shocked.On behalf of princes and ministers, Emperor Xianfeng's fifth younger brother, Wang Wang, pleaded with the Queen Mother. Cixi originally wanted to warn Prince Gong and give him a punishment, but unexpectedly her son was so ignorant, which made the whole court dissatisfied.She had no choice but to teach her son a lesson and return all the errands she had been dismissed for several hours.Of course Prince Gong knew the reason behind this, and the rift between them deepened. Last month, due to the military defeat on the front line in Vietnam, the whole class of the Military Aircraft Division stepped down. Prince Gong knew in his heart that this was the total outbreak of all kinds of grievances between him and Cixi in state affairs and private affairs for more than 20 years. Prince Gong is a prince with a broad mind and a weak personality. After he was dismissed from office, he almost declined everyone's visits, and he even stayed at home.In the palace, he enjoys watching the flowers, watching the fish, playing the flute and listening to the opera, but he also enjoys himself.In the past, he was too busy to read books, but now he has plenty of free time. He took out a few books of Tang poetry and Song Ci to read, and was immediately overwhelmed by the exquisite art created by the ancestors of the Han people, and became a fan of poetry and poetry. Prince Gong is smart, and has received rigorous court education since he was a child, with a good foundation in learning.After one or two months, he actually wrote dozens of decent poems, and his extraordinary talent is even more evident in the collection of sentences. After breakfast, he took a walk in the East Garden of the palace, reciting a few Tang poems at random.Suddenly inspiration came up, and I got another excellent collection of sentences.He hurried back to his study, took out a piece of paper, and wrote down the poem.As soon as he finished writing, Shi, the head of the palace, came to report: Li Zhongtang's sedan chair had stopped outside the gate of the mansion. Although Prince Gong was dismissed from office, he is still a prince, and he has been in power for many years, and there are many people who have benefited from him. Although the former home has been very deserted, it is not crowded, and some people still come to visit and greet.If it was an ordinary minister, after seeing the famous post, Prince Gong would say "Understood, thank you" to Chang Shi, and there would be no further words.Chang Shi understood what the prince meant, and went out to politely reject the visitor.In doing so, the visitor is not offended, but feels very appropriate.Because at this time, the visitors are just expressing condolences, and it is inconvenient to have a deep talk with each other, and they don't even know if there is a spy from King Chun next to the palace. The shorter the sedan chair stays, the better. .After Chang Shi finished speaking, the visitors would get up and leave immediately. This is the communication between officials, which is unreasonable at first, but it is reasonable for everyone to do so.However, Li Hongzhang is not an ordinary minister, and his friendship with Prince Gong is also unusual.Li Hongzhang had lived in Tianjin for the past six months. After Prince Gong left the Military Aircraft Department, he only sent a condolence letter. This was his first visit after he was dismissed from office.Prince Gong put down the pen in his hand and said to Chang Shi: "Please take Li Zhongtang to the newspaper reading room." The newspaper reading room in the palace is a room specially set up for Prince Gong to read newspapers and periodicals from various Western countries.Prince Gong doesn't understand foreign language, so the articles in these newspapers and periodicals have naturally been translated by the General Administration.All the furnishings in the room are Western style, exquisite, comfortable and practical. "My lord." As soon as Li Hongzhang entered the newspaper reading room, he wanted to kneel down and bow down. Prince Gong hurriedly supported his shoulders with both hands to prevent him from kneeling down. "Zhongtang is old, don't do this." As he spoke, he personally led Li Hongzhang to the seat by the wall and asked him to sit down.This is a set of western cowhide sofas, which was sent by the British Minister Wade. "My lord, how are you doing recently?" Li Hongzhang looked at Prince Gong who was showing signs of aging in his early fifties, and asked with concern. "Thanks to the ancestors, it's okay." Yiyi said with a smile, "Zhongtang's complexion is very good, I really admire your maintenance skills." "There's no time to take care of yourself, just don't think about things." Li Hongzhang laughed, "I heard that the prince is studying hard. What books have you been reading these two days?" "All I read are idle books." Yiyi suddenly remembered his poems, and hurriedly asked Chang Shi to bring the freshly written piece of paper from the study, and handed it to Li Hongzhang, "Zhongtang is from the Imperial Academy, and the poems are very good. Look at it." In this first episode of my Tang Chinese sentences, is there anything wrong with the bull's head?" Li Hongzhang took the flower paper respectfully, and saw that it was written on it was a poem titled "Five Rhythms": white hair urges old age, and color temporarily becomes red because of drunkenness.Sometimes the pen is idle, and the book is empty if there is nothing to do.Outside the misty and sunny clouds, the muscles and bones are in the medicine mortar.Hiding the world in a ladle is like coming out of a dust cage. Li Hongzhang was born in a scholarly family. When he was a child, under the strict supervision of his father, he worked hard to study a subset of classics and history, and he did a good job in poetry and prose.Back then, his father Li Wen'an wanted his son to worship Zeng Guofan as his teacher.Zeng Guofan said to Li Wen'an: "Show me the poems and essays of your second young master." Li Wen'an sent his son's poem manuscript, Zeng Guofan slowly opened it, his eyes stopped for a long time on the ten poems in the "Rendu" group, and silently read the poems of the twenty-two-year-old Nian Jiazi: "Ma It’s out of the group to rest in love, and Yan’s resignation from the old base is renewed. I have made friends with famous people in the country, and I have visited the Taoists in the capital.” I nodded approvingly in my heart.When he read "The husband only holds the Wu hook with one hand, his spirit is higher than that of Baichilou. Whoever wrote the history for 10,000 years, wants to be a prince three thousand miles away", he was very surprised. He closed the poem manuscript and said to Li Wen'an Said: "The second young master has lofty ambitions and a bright future. I accept this student." Later, under Zeng Guofan's guidance, his poetry and prose improved even more.But Li Hongzhang wants to do a heroic cause, and he is not willing to spend too much time between pen and ink.Later, he was busy with military and government affairs, and he almost broke up with poetry. At this moment, after reading Yiyi's collection of Tang poems, he couldn't help but feel admiration: "It's completely natural, as if it was done by one hand. The prince's Tang poetry is so profound, it really makes me ashamed of the Hanlin." Yiyi was very happy when he heard that: "Zhongtang said yes, it seems that I can continue to do this in the future." Li Hongzhang said: "Reciting poems and composing Fu is, after all, the career of literati. Although the prince is talented in this area, he doesn't need to put in too much effort. There are still many important things that require your attention!" Yi Yi said with a smile: "Now that I have no official status, I don't care about military and national affairs, and I can devote myself to this famous mountain career." Li Hongzhang admires Yiyi's skills, Yiyi appreciates Li Hongzhang's talent, and both internally and externally, the two agree very well in big plans. Therefore, in the past twenty years, Li Hongzhang and Yiyi have not only cooperated tacitly in the official circles, but also in personal relationships. There is also a deeper friendship.Regarding the drastic changes in the political situation two months ago, Li Hongzhang didn't take it seriously, but it was the queen mother's decision, and the backstage of the new military aircraft department was the emperor's biological father, not to mention the military defeat, the military aircraft department also had the responsibility to shirk .All of this made it difficult for Li Hongzhang to say anything, so he could only keep silent about it, while his sympathy for Yi Yi came from the heart.Although there was an insurmountable gap between them in their identities between the prince of Jinzhi and the minister of the Han Dynasty, because they knew each other very well, Li Hongzhang did not hesitate to speak. "My lord, even though I say that, how can I? Can my lord not worry about the country left by my ancestors? According to the old minister, my lord will have to come back soon, and you have to be my lord in charge of the imperial court!" Yiyi's eyes lit up, and he suddenly thought: Li Hongzhang has always lived in Tianjin, why did he come to the capital now?Could it be that the Empress Dowager summoned him to discuss some important matter? "After all this gossip, I haven't asked you when you came to the capital and where you live." "I arrived yesterday afternoon and live in Xianliang Temple." Yi Yi nodded: "Is there anything important?" "I have an important matter to report to the Empress Dowager face to face. I haven't handed over the sign yet. I came here first. Firstly, I came to visit the prince, and secondly, I also wanted to ask the prince for advice." "What's the big deal, I'm still looking for someone who is unemployed." Yi Yi said, his expression immediately became solemn.He knew that Li Hongzhang came to the capital to report to the queen mother, so there must be something very important.During his more than 20 years in power, he has developed the habit of taking state affairs as his own responsibility.In the past two months, he had no state affairs, and his heart was empty. Whether it was reading or collecting sentences, it was really a boring self-pastime.Deep in his heart, he never stopped recalling the power of the past. "For the war in Vietnam, Hurd sent a telegram, saying that the French government sent a special envoy to meet me in Tianjin to discuss the signing of the armistice." Li Hongzhang took out the telegram from his sleeve pocket and handed it to Yiyi, " This is Hurd's telegram, please read it, Your Highness." Yi Yi took the telegram, read it carefully, and returned it to Li Hongzhang. He picked up the tea bowl, sipped it slowly, and said nothing. Li Hongzhang asked humbly: "Your Majesty, do you see this French envoy?" Yi Yi was silent for a while, before he opened his mouth: "It stands to reason that it is inconvenient for me to say anything about such a big event now. As you said, it is related to the country and society handed down by my ancestors, and I have no official position anymore. , is also a descendant of Taizu Taizong, the son of Emperor Xuanzongcheng; secondly, you have come from a long distance and think highly of me, so I have to say a few words just for Zhongtang's sake." "My lord is serious. My old face is irrelevant, but you said it well, the country and the country passed down from the ancestors are the most important, and other festivals are trivial." Yiyi heard the meaning of Li Hongzhang's words, and said, "Lao Qi has long wanted to do it himself. It's okay, it doesn't take much effort to carry the load, let him pick it himself!" "My lord is absolutely right!" Yiyi's words really touched Li Hongzhang's heart.Over the past twenty years, whenever he was criticized by others, he would always think of this sentence in his heart, full of resentment. "If you ask me my opinion, I will tell you the truth. It is absolutely impossible to win a war with the French. It is better to be early or late, and it is always good. You just work hard, seize this opportunity, and fight against the French." The French envoy reached a peace. If the negotiation is successful, it will be the blessing of the Qing Dynasty, the queen mother and the emperor." Yiyi expressed his opinion in very clear language. "Okay, with the words of the prince, I have a bottom line in my heart." Yiyi's attitude is exactly Li Hongzhang's attitude. "When are you going to see the Queen Mother?" "After I take my leave later, I will pass the sign. See if the Queen Mother can summon me tomorrow morning. I will wait in Xianliang Temple." Yi Yi picked up the tea bowl again and drank the tea slowly.Li Hongzhang thought to himself: Prince Gong read the telegram, and Prince Gong also expressed his views on the negotiation, so we can leave.Just when he was thinking about getting up, Yi Yi said: "The two governors who led troops to fight in Vietnam were strongly recommended by the Qingliu party. They were also those Qingliu party who pushed the responsibility to the military plane after bad things. I really don't know what kind of situation these people want to make the country. !" The two governors mentioned by Yi Yi refer to Xu Yanxu, the governor of Guangxi, and Tang Jiong, the governor of Yunnan.When Xu Yanxu was a feudal secretary in Guangxi, one of his staff lived in Vietnam for a period of time. Xu wrote a book about the situation of Vietnam's mountains and rivers through this person's narration. The tune is sung very high.After Tang Jiongnai was a general, he also regarded himself very high in the matter of fighting, and fought hard. Qingliu party members who have always advocated toughness to the outside world admire Xu Yanxu and Tang Jiong very much; especially Xu Yanxu, who is also an expert in Vietnam, is even more valued by these scholars.Just when the French army was provoking more and more provocations, Zhang Peilun strongly advocated replacing the original governors of Yunnan and Guangxi provinces, and promoting Xu and Tang as governors.Zhang Peilun was afraid that his strength alone would be weak, so he invited his old friend, who was already a frontier official, to meet Zhang Zhidong, who held the same views as himself on Vietnam affairs.Zhang Zhidong also agreed, but both of them were related to him: Tang Jiong was the younger brother of his deceased Mrs. Tang, and Xu Yanxu was the relative of Lu Chuanlin's children. To avoid suspicion, he invited Chen Baochen and Zhang Peilun to join him.Within a few days after Zhang and Chen's papers were delivered, Xu and Tang were promoted to governors of Yunnan and Guangxi provinces respectively. Unexpectedly, both of these two are just roles on paper, and they are useless when it comes to actual combat.When the telegram reached the capital, everyone was very angry.Sheng Yu posted a bulletin, first accusing Zhang Peilun and Chen Baochen of indiscriminately protecting the bandits, and then emphasizing that the ultimate responsibility lies with the military aircraft department. As a result, there was a major shift change in the Military Aircraft Department.Because Sheng Yu, who lives in the right concubine, is also a speech officer who likes to impeach high officials, and people at that time also regarded him as a clean party.This is the background of Yiyi's resentment. Li Hongzhang said: "It is indeed a theory that the Qingliu harmed the country. These people only sing high-profile things and do not do practical things. If they get into trouble and cause trouble, they have no responsibility at all, and others have to settle it for them. Let's take the first few." Let’s talk about the incident of burning churches and killing foreigners in Tianjin in 2010. It is said that Chen Guorui was the conductor behind the scenes, but in fact Chen Guorui was instigated by those high-profile people. Later, he said that he took this opportunity to burn all the churches and kill all foreigners. It sounds very patriotic, but if you really do what they say, you don’t know how big the disaster will be. Thanks to Wen Zhenggong’s humiliation, it’s finally over, but he died of depression on the charge of being a traitor.” "Take this opportunity to burn all the churches and kill all the foreigners" was said by Chun Wang Yixuan. It is not convenient for Li Hongzhang to name names, but Yiyi understood it immediately.In terms of Westernization, the two of them are completely consistent, and both hate the accusation of the Qingliu Party. Yi Yi said: "This group of Qingliu party, I think it's better to give them some practical things to do, lest they say every day that they are unappreciated for their talents, and others don't like this or that." "Zhang Zhidong won't let the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi go, let him try it!" Li Hongzhang's words were obviously somewhat contemptuous.In front of him, Zhang Zhidong is really a junior, without his great military achievements, it goes without saying; as far as seniority is concerned, he has only served as governor of Shanxi for more than two years.Promoted to Governor of Guangdong based on just a few well-written military memorials?Things on the battlefield are not just fuss, white knives go in and red knives go out, what you want is a real guy! "That's right!" Yi Yi said in a drawn-out tone, "It was just a few days after the Military Aircraft Department took over. In order not to be indifferent to me, the Empress Dowager specifically asked me what Shiduo proposed to let Zhang Zhidong take over from Zhang Shusheng. Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, see if it works. I know this is Zhang Zhiwan's mischief, and he will seek personal gain as soon as he enters the military plane. The old seven is also eager to promote new recruits and form his own team. Can you, I said it was useless. Later I think Zhang Zhidong yelled the most in the main battle, and he was the one who yelled the most in the Yili incident that year. As you said just now, let him try it himself, suffer a little bit, and gain insights. Being the second Xu Yanxu is not necessarily a blessing to the imperial court, so as not to cause more harm in the future. So I said to the queen mother, letting Zhang Zhidong be the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi is considered the right person. He wrote so many military memorials. The talent of a military commander, Guangdong and Guangxi are looking for someone like him to set up a platform." "My lord is right! Let him bump into the south wall so that he can clear his mind." Li Hongzhang laughed unconsciously.Zhang Shusheng, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, was one of the first sentry officers when Li Hongzhang founded the Huai Army more than 20 years ago. He followed Li Hongzhang in the South and North Wars and had many military exploits. He was a very important member of the Huai Army system.Removing Zhang Shusheng's Cantonese governor and replacing him with Zhang Zhidong was naturally not what Li Hongzhang liked. "Let a few more people bump into the south wall." Yiyi picked up the tea bowl, but didn't drink it. He said while thinking, "The first one is to let Zhang Peilun go out. This person thinks he is the best in the world, and everyone can do it." Don't put it in his eyes, and when it comes to fighting, he seems to be more capable than anyone else. I think I have to send a soldier to let him have a good time." For Zhang Peilun, Li Hongzhang loved and hated him.I love his talent and dare to speak out, but I hate that he often confronts me in state affairs.A man of the same age as his father, who has made great achievements in the world, he uses harsh words to sarcasm in his memorials, and ridicules in his daily conversations with ridicule.Li Hongzhang very much agrees with Yi Yi's suggestion, and even admires Prince Gong's brilliant way of manipulating people without leaving any traces. "Zhang Peilun is one." "There is also Chen Baochen. This person is also a guy who looks down on Wu Chu. There is also Wu Dacheng, who is good at calligraphy and painting in gold and stone. Just. I think they have to try it, so as not to be depressed all day long." Yi Yi lifted the lid of the tea bowl, with a sneer on the corner of his mouth. "Isn't Zhongtang going to hand over the sign to see the Queen Mother tomorrow? You should think about it carefully, what kind of errands should you assign to Zhang Peilun, Chen Baochen, and Wu Dachen, and you will ask the Queen Mother in person tomorrow. The Queen Mother always values ​​your words." Leaving Prince Gong's mansion, on the way back to Xianliang Temple, Li Hongzhang sat in the sedan chair and kept thinking about Yiyi's suggestion.It is also Li Hongzhang's long-cherished wish to let those Qingliu parties bump into obstacles in practical affairs and kill their usual arrogance.However, after thinking about it carefully, he realized that Yi Yi's main purpose was not to punish several Qingliu parties, but he used King Chun as Qingliu's backer, and his ultimate goal was to punish his own brother and political enemy.李鸿章想到这里，心猛地抽动了一下。