Chapter 8 Section 8 Be calm in the face of doubts

The day of the ceremony has finally arrived. Before dawn, the soldiers of Shuntian Mansion set up sentries on all the roads of the capital, and the officials of the capital also got up very early that day.Although Zeng Guofan was an alternate reviewer, he came to the Imperial Academy early to wait.After all, this is a rare big scene, and no one wants to miss it.If you miss it, you will regret it for a lifetime. By daybreak, both sides of the road leading to the Forbidden City were already full of people.Everyone in the capital knew that since Emperor Daoguang ascended the throne, this was the first time such a big scene had occurred.Everyone stretched their necks looking forward and waiting, more anxious than the emperor himself.

The first person to enter the Forbidden City was the Mongolian prince Zhu Yingnatai. There was a guard of honor and a cavalry team. The old prince sat in an uncovered sedan chair, looking sleepy.Seeing this scene, the old people watching on both sides of the street sighed: "My lord is really old! Thinking about the grand gatherings held by Lord Qianlong, how energetic is Lord Zhu Yingnatai! Hold your head high , the waist is straight, the two big eyeballs are like two bright lights! It seems that in a flash, the hair turns white, the eyelids sag, and the whole person loses energy!"

After the old prince entered the Forbidden City, the special envoy of North Korea also came in a sedan chair with gifts. Behind the special envoy's sedan chair were ten bridal sedan chairs, on which sat ten beautiful girls.The common people who watched the excitement were wondering: "What's the matter, these ten women are also gifts? Our Long Live Lord is not good at this!" The soldiers guarding the street immediately stopped everyone in a low voice: "Shut up! Let's talk about cutting your tongue!" Teams of congratulatory people spent the whole morning, and in the evening, it was the turn of the editors, reviewers, and scholars of the Imperial Academy to pay homage.

Zeng Guofan hadn't had a drop of water all day, and at this time he was dizzy with hunger, and he was undecided whether to go out for a meal secretly or continue to wait, but suddenly he sent an audience.Zeng Guofan's expression immediately lifted, and it was strange to say that he didn't feel hungry. When Zeng Guofan and other Hanlin officials entered the Hall of Supreme Harmony under the leadership of the hall officials from the Ministry of Rites, the two sides of the Dragon Seat were already full of titled kings, dukes, marquises, uncles, sons, men, and officials of the third rank or above. them.The envoys of the Mongolian and Korean princes are not here, and they seem to have been taken elsewhere for dinner.

The official of the Ministry of Rites shouted: "I wish the empress dowager a long life! Long live my emperor!" The Hanlins knelt down in unison, and painted gourds together, and when the emperor said, "Go down", the official of the Ministry of Rites shouted: "Thank you!" The Hanlins kowtowed together, and then withdrew.Zeng Guofan, who was about to withdraw, was stopped by the jubilant Emperor Daoguang. "Zeng Guofan, come to the front, I have something to ask you." Emperor Daoguang glanced at the astonished princes and ministers standing on both sides.Zeng Guofan braced himself, kneeled down and came to the front, his heart began to beat up and down, and sweat broke out on his forehead.

"I heard that you posted a statement in the guild hall, saying that you will no longer attend any officials' banquets. Is there such a thing?" Emperor Daoguang asked with a solemn expression. "If you go back to the emperor, there is such a thing." Zeng Guofan replied with his head down, unable to guess why the emperor suddenly asked about it. "Presumptuous!" Emperor Daoguang was inexplicably furious, "Aren't you going to attend the state banquet and the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet?" Zeng Guofan shuddered, and hurriedly replied: "Return to the emperor's words, the state banquet and the empress dowager's birthday banquet, I will naturally attend the state banquet!"

"Then you have become a villain with inconsistent words and deeds?" Emperor Daoguang was aggressive, "If you don't do things well, you will spend all your time trying to make these things. My Qing Dynasty, how can I allow a villain like you to ostentatious! You just say it!" Emperor Daoguang's voice was not loud, but it sounded like thunder to Zeng Guofan.Zeng Guofan's forehead was densely covered with beads of sweat. He calmed down a little, and bravely replied: "Returning to the emperor, the reason why I attended the emperor's birthday banquet and the empress dowager's birthday banquet is because the emperor is not an official, and the empress dowager is not an official." Not an officer."

"Then what are I and the Empress Dowager?" "Returning to the emperor, the emperor is the lord of the people, the ruler of our Qing Dynasty! And the empress dowager is the country's empress! Therefore, the emperor and the empress dowager's birthday banquet must be attended by humble ministers." "Zeng Guofan," Emperor Daoguang breathed a sigh of relief, and his face softened a lot, "Even if you still have a conscience, I won't ask this question. I have never understood why you, as an official of the Qing Dynasty, didn't join other officials. What about your banquet? Don’t you look down on our officials from the Qing Dynasty?”

Zeng Guofan kowtowed and replied: "If you want to return to the emperor, I dare not. In the past few years since I entered the capital, I have participated in hundreds of banquets of various types, large and small, and I am afraid that there will be one hundred and eighty taels of silver. Slowly, I discovered that many officials called birthday banquets and congratulatory banquets, which were actually wealth-gathering banquets. I attended two birthday banquets for one person in a year. I dared to ask the emperor that when a mother gave birth, there were two times in a year. Is it reasonable to live? Wei Chen then decided not to participate in any birthday banquets, this trend will not last long! Although Wei Chen has now become an alternate reviewer who does not receive a salary, since he was appointed by the Hanlin by Tian En, he will inevitably go out in the future Being an official, doing things for the emperor, doing things for the people... I am not righteous anymore, how can I teach others, I don’t want to bear the grace of the saints! Please the emperor clearly observe." When it comes to emotions, thinking of the blow he has received for this, Zeng Guofan The eye circles turned red, no matter how hard to control the tears, they rolled down like pearls.After a long time, I heard Emperor Daoguang say: "Go down."

Zeng Guofan was about to get up to thank him, but saw a man suddenly leave the shift, kneel down in front of the emperor, said "the emperor calm down" and choked up.All the civil and military officials in the hall were stunned for a moment, but upon closer inspection, they turned out to be Mu Zhang, a Manchu University scholar who lived in the first rank and was in the prime minister's office. Emperor Daoguang hurriedly raised his hand: "Mu Zhang, get up and speak." "Thank you, Your Majesty!" Mu Zhang'a stood up and took a step back, "The Hanlin Academy's alternate review of Zeng Guofan is a slave's disciple. Huangkou Ruzi's slanderous nonsense made the Emperor angry. As his teacher, he has an unavoidable inability to teach well. The responsibility of slavery! The crime of slavery is unforgivable!" After speaking, he knelt down again, kowtowed and said, "This slaver has accepted the crime for Zeng Guofan!"

All the people in the hall were shocked. Listening to Mu Zhongtang's tone, this is not a confession, it is clearly an intercession for Zeng Guofan.Emperor Daoguang couldn't help but glanced at Zeng Guofan, and said: "Don't talk about it, old Zhongtang. Cough! Zeng Guofan seems to make sense. Go down, I'm tired, and I want to be quiet for a while, and I have to accompany you at night." The Empress Dowager and the princes are watching a play!" Emperor Daoguang lazily closed his eyes. When Zeng Guofan stood up, he took a sneak look at the emperor sitting on the dragon chair, and this sight surprised him. He found that the emperor suddenly aged a lot, and his complexion was not as ruddy as the old lady sitting next to him.A trace of indescribable sadness hit Zeng Guofan's heart. Emperor Daoguang was originally named Aixinjueluo Mianning, and later changed to Minning. He was the sixth emperor after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs. He was thirty-nine years old when he came to the throne.When his father, Emperor Jiaqing, came to the throne, the country's financial resources had been squandered by Lord Qianlong, so there was a folk saying that "Heshen fell and Jiaqing was full".It is really shabby that the treasury bank of the Qing Dynasty, which has many territories, is not worth the private wealth of a treacherous prime minister.Emperor Jiaqing relied on Heshen's family wealth to maintain it for several years. When he passed the throne to Emperor Daoguang, the household bank was less than ten million, close to the edge of discontinuation. When Emperor Daoguang was the crown prince, he was already aware of the various disadvantages of state affairs, so after he took over the throne, he first put thrift as the top priority and strictly prohibited extravagance.First cut down the Mulan Autumn Festival established by the ancestors once a year. When Emperor Daoguang came to the throne, he claimed that the Mulan Autumn Festival was excessive and harassed the people along the way. A few useless governors and governors were replaced, and a few unrealistic bachelors were dismissed. In the early years of Daoguang, the new academicians Cao Zhenyong, Minister of the Ministry of Officials Shu Yinghe, and Minister of Rites Huang Yue were once called the confidants of the Emperor Daoguang. Let Daoguang somewhat disappointed.Emperor Daoguang quickly adjusted the military aircraft team, and promoted Mu Zhang'a, who was more daring to speak and govern, to a scholar of the first assistant university. Therefore, Daoguang's first ten years were the period with the most frequent personnel changes in the Qing Dynasty.Sometimes two bachelors are dismissed at the same time in one day, and sometimes four or five governors are promoted at the same time in one day.Emperor Daoguang did not enjoy the enjoyment of Qian and Jia, but all the hard work of Qian and Jia was given to Emperor Daoguang. How could Emperor Daoguang not grow old? In Zeng Guofan's eyes, Emperor Daoguang is like Beijing's moat, with its bronze-colored and rusty mystery, and its superhuman capacity to accommodate everything.You can't tell when he's going to be filthy, and you can't tell when he's going to be rejuvenated.