Chapter 48 Chapter 48: Misfortune Comes From Heaven

When Li Hongzhang returned to his old house in Hefei, the whole family was filled with joy. Li Hongzhang first met his mother, and then went to the ancestral hall to pay respects. When he was free, he was busy reporting safety to his eldest brother who had been promoted to governor of Zhejiang, and sent a letter to his mentor Zeng Guofan to inform him of military affairs and his plans for the next year.Then I wrote letters to my friends and got busy with Chinese New Year matters. On the day Dongmei arrived home, Zhao Lian asked someone to clean out a room for Dongmei to live in, and assigned a girl to take care of her in the morning and evening, and everything was handled according to her aunt's rules.

The old lady also sat down in Dongmei's house from time to time, counting the date of birth with her fingers, and specially instructed the cook that Aunt Dongmei is a healthy person, so she has to cook whatever she wants, and she is not allowed to disobey. Li Hongzhang and Zhao Lian were several times better than newly married. Zhang Youfu was so busy that he sharpened his knife in his room every day. As the new year is approaching, Li's mansion is already decorated with lights and festivities, and the private school teacher hired by the mansion has also taken Shu Xiu home for vacation.The husband was hired by Zhao Lian specially for her two daughters and adopted son Jingfang.There are two sons and one daughter under Zhaoqing's knees. Although they are not of Kaimeng age, they hang out in the private school every day.

On New Year's Eve, all the members of the Li family wore new clothes and went to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors.The head of the Li family refused to officiate because Li Hongzhang was too high-ranking, so he must push Li Hongzhang to the front. Li Hongzhang considered that although his official title was high, his seniority was too low, so he still pushed the patriarch to officiate. After giving way for a long time, the patriarch carefully walked to the front, lit incense and kowtowed, and worshiped the ancestors, but with his eyes, he secretly glanced at Li Hongzhang from time to time.

After offering sacrifices to the ancestors, Li Hongzhang called Hezhang to him and told him: "I had a very strange dream last night. It seemed to be on a mountain or in a rotten pond. For some reason, I flew out of a dream." A big eagle came and pecked me on the shoulder. I woke up with a dull pain in my shoulder, which was really disturbing. I don’t want to go out today. You can go to various houses for me later. Well, lest they make a fuss." Li Hezhang said: "Second brother, you look very ugly, do you want to call a doctor?" Li Hongzhang said angrily: "What is the name of the man who celebrates the Chinese New Year? Let my mother see it and ask questions again." The two brothers entered the house while talking.

Li Hezhang went to get gifts for New Year's greetings, while Li Hongzhang went straight into his mother's room, wanting to talk to the old lady for a while, and then go back to the room to rest. The old lady was chatting and laughing with Zhao Lian, Yunzhang, and Zhaoqing's daughter-in-law while forking sparrows around the table, having fun. Before Li Hongzhang stepped into the door and hadn't spoken yet, some family members hurried in and tugged at Li Hongzhang's cuff, saying, "Second young master, someone from Beijing is waiting in the hall, and they say there is a purpose."

Li Hongzhang also didn't care about talking to his mother, so he hurried back to his bedroom and changed into an official uniform, and then hurried into the hall to receive the order. The official who passed the decree was drinking tea. When he saw Li Hongzhang coming in, he got up and shouted: "Li Hongzhang accepts the order!" The decree sent to the official Zhanzhi read: "Today, according to the official document of the governor of Zhili and the three ministers of trade, Chonghou, the bandit Zhang Zongyu went north to Hengshui and Dingzhou; Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong, led the troops out of the province Raising the Northern Aid and other words. Looking at the play, He Sheng is angry! The imperial court specially appointed the official and cultural agent to act as the governor of Zhili to suppress the bandits. Zuo Zongtang, Governor of Shaanxi and Gansu Province, failed to wipe out the stocks in Shanxi Province due to Mr. Zhang's stupidity, causing them to flee to Shanxi and Henan, disturbing Jifu, and making no arrangements. Official documents, Zuo Zongtang's Ministry of Communications strictly enforced As an imperial envoy, Li Hongzhang, who was always trusted by the imperial court, should dispatch reinforcements as soon as possible when the bandits are disturbing the north, so as to suppress the bandits with one heart. The army of the West waited for the march, and they did not repeat a single word for a long time. What was their intention? They pulled out the feathers of their eyes, and took off their yellow jackets. Afterwards, if you follow this pattern again, you should be severely punished, and you must use military law to eliminate discipline. It doesn’t mean that the imperial court said it too early. This is it.” Zhang Zongyu in the imperial decree is the leader of the Qing court against Xi Nian A disparaging name for Zhang Zongyu.

With tears of grievance in his eyes, Li Hongzhang took the imperial decree with both hands, and thanked him with his face north as usual. The official who delivered the decree didn't care what Li Hongzhang's expression was, and with a cold face, he stretched out his hand to pull out Li Hongzhang's eyes, and said coldly: "Master Li, you should always hand over the yellow jacket." When Li Hongzhang heard this, regardless of his dizziness, he went to the study and took the yellow jacket and respectfully handed it to the officer.Watching the messenger go away on horseback, Li Hongzhang felt a blur in front of his eyes, and then fainted by the door.The whole family suddenly panicked.What's going on here?

It turned out that after Lai Wenguang's troops in the East Nian were wiped out one by one by Li Hongzhang and led by the army, Zhang Zongyu, the leader of the West Nian who entered Shaanxi, came up with the idea of ​​returning to the horse for revenge.Taking advantage of the slackness of the officers and soldiers, most of the generals such as Liu Mingchuan of the Huai Army returned home to recuperate from illness, Li Hongzhang was rewarded for leave, and the government seals were sealed at the end of the year, he led his 50,000 cavalry to quietly leave Shaanxi Province and cross the Yellow River on the ice from Yichuan. , to Jizhou, Shanxi, from the southeast of Shanxi to Zhili, and straight to the capital, it will definitely turn him upside down.

According to the plan of the Empress Dowager Cixi, she wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of the five provinces to live a good life this year, but she never expected that Zhang Zongyu would do this.The good mood of the Empress Dowager Cixi for the New Year is gone.She first ordered the official document of the governor of Zhili to prevent the blockage as soon as possible, and then ordered Chonghou, the three ministers of trade and commerce, to let the foreign gun team dispatched by Chonghou to cooperate closely, so that Zhang Zongyu could not be allowed to enter Beijing no matter what.She just forgot that Liu Mingchuan left the camp due to illness, and that the Imperial Envoy Li Hongzhang also granted a two-month leave of absence, so she asked the Military Aircraft Department to draft an order overnight. There is no way, and then he angrily reprimanded Li Hongzhang for his intentions.

Judging from what Empress Dowager Cixi meant, it seems that it was Li Hongzhang's idea that Zhang Zongyu left Shaanxi and entered Zhili. The imperial decree was sent from the capital by eight hundred miles of fast riding for several days, and was quickly delivered to the imperial envoy Xingyuan outside Xuzhou City, and then sent to Hefei by Xingyuan.This is also the reason why the official who passed the decree was so angry. Although the imperial decree is thunderbolt and lightning, careful people will find that although Guan Wen and Zuo Zongtang "had a negative appointment and no way to dispatch", they only strictly discussed and dealt with the two people. Li Hongzhang was different. The eyes are blurred, the yellow jacket is removed, and the first-class cavalry captain who has just been acquired has been removed, and only the title of imperial envoy is retained!

Li Hongzhang was carried into the bed in the bedroom by his family, and the old lady sat on the bedside screaming and crying.Zhao Lian had someone pry open Li Hongzhang's mouth, and poured hot water into it spoonful by spoonful.Zhao Lian's heart felt like a knife was being twisted, and tears streamed down her face, but she didn't dare to cry out in front of the old lady.It took Li Hongzhang a long time to open his eyes. When the old lady saw her son, she grabbed her son's hand and said in a hoarse voice, "How can you get ginseng if you are older than Chinese New Year? How can you get ginseng if you are older than Chinese New Year?" When Li Hongzhang saw his mother sitting on the bed and weeping, he hurriedly turned over and sat up, but his head became dizzy and he almost fell under the bed.He collected himself, then knelt down and said, "Mother, your son's unfilial piety will scare you to grow old!" The old lady bent down and hugged her son, repeatedly said: "How did you say that?" Then she raised her head and said: "Quickly send the doctor over here." Li Hongzhang got up, helped the old lady to the chair and sat down with Zhao Lian on the left and right, and then said: "Mother, the West Nian is running back, the brigade is approaching the capital, and the government and the people are shaking. The imperial court sent his son to the military camp to supervise the suppression. Mother , my son is not filial, so I can't spend the New Year with you." After finishing speaking, Li Hongzhang wanted to kneel down again. The old lady hurriedly said: "The imperial decree is so frightening, you have to pull out the flower feathers, take off the yellow jacket, and even remove your hard-earned first-class cavalry captain. Mother is really I was terrified, Mother thought that the imperial court would never allow you to work as an official again!" Li Hongzhang helped the old lady up and said, "Mother, you should go back to the house and rest first. My son is going to the local yamen, borrow their fast horses, send a few official letters back to the camp to Liu Shengsan and the others, and also to the court. Send me a booklet for the departure, so you can rest assured." Li Hongzhang quickly came to the Hefei County Yamen in a sedan chair, sent several official letters one after another, and asked the county magistrate to spread out a pen and paper, and quickly drafted a "Respectful Announcement of the Departure Date" for the imperial court, and issued it on the same day with the county government seal . After Li Hongzhang finished these, he chatted a few gossips with the county magistrate, and then hurried back to the mansion to pack his luggage.As soon as he entered the gate, Li Hongzhang suddenly felt that the atmosphere was abnormal, and he couldn't help being surprised, and walked quickly to the hall.A family member came up to him in a panic and said, "Second young master, you should go to the study to avoid it, Aunt Dongmei just passed away!" Li Hongzhang was stunned suddenly, and asked again and again: "When I left, I was still fine. How can I say that I'm gone!" The family said: "Second young master, not long after you left, Aunt Dongmei's stomach started to hurt, and it disappeared after a while." With tears in his eyes, Li Hongzhang walked back to the study with his head down, only to see Zhao Lian wiping tears accompanied by two maids.When the maid saw Li Hongzhang coming in, she hurriedly asked An to leave, while Zhao Lian threw herself into Li Hongzhang's arms, crying and asking, "Why did you come back? Why did you come back? Your name is being called, don't you feel it at the county government office?" Li Hongzhang asked in a hoarse voice: "Lian'er, Dongmei just left? Why is she so sick?" Zhao Lian left Li Hongzhang's chest, took out a cloth towel to wipe away tears, and said, "It's a shame you still asked! You were not scared by the imperial decree you received! Not long after you left, the maid came and called me, saying Dong Mei's stomach was uncomfortable, and she was bleeding a lot. I hurriedly sent someone to call Zhao's mother, and rushed to Dongmei's room. Who knew that Dongmei's pain became worse. I knew she was about to give birth, so I asked her to give birth. People rushed to wait on me, and Zhao's mother also arrived at this time. Dongmei grabbed my hand because of the pain, but she called your name. Zhao's mother was busy for a while, but she still hadn't picked up the child. Mei can’t do it anymore. Zhao’s mother said, Dongmei is scared. Poor Dongmei, she has been with me since she was ten years old, and now she’s gone like this!” Before Zhao Lian finished speaking, Li Hongzhang was already in tears His face was full of tears. Seeing that Li Hongzhang was distraught, Zhao Lian quickly stopped crying, and persuaded: "My lord, don't pay too much attention to it, the concubine was just talking nonsense in a moment of urgency. In fact, life and death are fate, wealth and honor are in the hands of others. It's not too late. You'd better wipe away your tears and think about where to bury Dongmei." Li Hongzhang cried and said, "Is there any need to ask? She will be buried with me at least once, and she will be buried in the ancestral tomb." Zhao Lian whispered: "My lord, you'd better calm down. The old lady said that Dongmei was a concubine and died of dystocia, so she couldn't enter the grave of the Li family's ancestors. The concubine thought about it just now, Dongmei was born in Xiangxi, but She grew up with her parents in Hanjiang, Jiangsu. Why don't you send her back to Hanjiang and bury her next to her parents. If there are any people in her family, give them some money and entrust them to take care of the grave during festivals. Put a few pieces of paper, this is better than burying her elsewhere and suffering loneliness. Even if she is alive in heaven, she can understand your difficulties. Dongmei's funeral, the concubine will find someone to take care of it, you still want to Think about going back to camp." Li Hongzhang suddenly came to his senses, and hurriedly took out a cloth towel to wipe away his tears, got up and said, "Lian'er, accompany me to see Dongmei again. After all, she died because of me. I will take one last look at her, and I will feel at ease after returning to the camp." .” Zhao Lian stood up and said in a low voice, "You six brothers from the Li family, you are the only one who is sentimental!" The next day, Li Hongzhang bid farewell to his mother before seeing Dongmei buried in the ground, and hurried to Xuzhou Daying with Hezhang, Yunzhang, and Zhaoqing.