Chapter 86 Section 86 Offending Emperor Xianfeng and Imprisoned

Back at the Ministry of Rites, I saw Qu Ziliang was still waiting in the office.When Qu Ziliang saw Zeng Guofan coming in, he got up and saluted.Zeng Guofan waved his hand and said, "Master Qu." He picked up his teacup. Qu Ziliang knew that Zeng Guofan was serving tea to see off the guests, so he had to leave.The case against Zheng Zuchen fell on the case.Zeng Guofan was startled, then rolled up his sleeves and decided to return home. That night, Zeng Guofan had a severe attack of ringworm. After putting on plaster, he managed to fall asleep, but he had a strange dream.Emperor Daoguang was sitting and Zeng Guofan was kneeling, as if in the Hall of Qinzheng and the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Emperor Daoguang said: "I have been in power for thirty years. I think I have done nothing, but I have no faults. I know that the fourth elder brother is mediocre in learning, and his intelligence is not as good as that of the sixth elder brother. But the sixth elder brother is too upright and cannot listen to opposing opinions. You can assist the government but not govern. You know this better than I do. Zeng Guofan, the Qing Dynasty belongs to everyone!" Thousands of grievances suddenly surged in Zeng Guofan's heart. He kowtowed and choked up: "I will remember the emperor's instruction. I am the country, and I wish to be ashamed!"

But a voice said coldly: "Zeng Guofan, don't talk beautiful words! I have seen your ability!" Zeng Guofan glanced up and saw that sitting on it was Emperor Xianfeng and Emperor Daoguang. Gone.He risked his life and said loudly: "The emperor and his ministers are all passengers crossing the river. Only when the emperor and his ministers are in the same boat can they help each other, how can they attack each other. The emperor treats his ministers like this, and the ministers are willing to die!" After finishing speaking, he tried his best to bump his head against the temple pillar, and there was a plop, and he lay flat on the cold ground.The head was not injured, but the body fell firmly.

Zeng Guofan opened his eyes secretly, and after observing for a long time, he realized that he had fallen in the bedroom.Emperor Daoguang and Emperor Xianfeng are all characters in dreams. He stood up with difficulty, but saw that the sky was already bright, and the snowflakes were dancing vigorously outside the window, and Zhou Sheng was cleaning the snow in the courtyard under the window. Zeng Guofan returned to the bed, couldn't help recalling the dream just now, and thought of all kinds of things that happened in the court after Emperor Daoguang's ascension, but his eyes could no longer close.

He had no choice but to get up, drank a bowl of porridge, and practiced his calligraphy for a couple of minutes before he went up to court in a sedan chair. When Emperor Xianfeng ascended the throne, the first oracle he announced was: to present the relics of the former emperor to the princes and ministers; the second oracle was: Amnesty for the world, and all princes and ministers were granted a higher rank; the third oracle was : Confer to the parents and ancestors of princes and ministers. At that time, Emperor Xianfeng ordered the eunuchs to present the relics of Emperor Daoguang to the civil and military officials present.

Zeng Guofan received two relics of Emperor Daoguang: one is the coat worn by Emperor Daoguang, and the other is the jade pendant used by Emperor Daoguang. Zeng Guofan took the two relics of the former emperor with both hands, suddenly recalled the dream of last night, couldn't help crying bitterly, and fainted again and again, as if Emperor Daoguang was right in front of him. Zeng Guofan's move not only stunned Xianfeng, but also made the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty sweat in their hands.According to the system of the Qing court, the court officials lost their composure, and those who were light were dismissed from their posts, and those who were serious were beheaded.Zeng Guofan's unscrupulous mourning on the Longting just happened to violate this rule.

Emperor Xianfeng slapped the dragon chair with his hand and stood up abruptly. Zeng Guofan suddenly woke up and stopped crying in an instant. All the ministers knelt down and stared at the new emperor's mouth together, some gloated at his misfortune, some secretly sighed.Everyone has a common thought: Zeng Guofan is completely finished this time! Mu Zhang'a thought so, Qi Yuzao thought so, and Wen Qing thought so too. After a long time, Emperor Xianfeng said slowly: "Zeng Guofan, I know you have a deep attachment to the late emperor, so I don't blame you!" Zeng Guofan took a step forward, choked with sobs and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your innocence!"

Emperor Xianfeng waved his hand, but said nothing. Back to the Ministry of Rites.The more Zeng Guofan thought about it, the more afraid he became.From then on, whenever he thought of Long Ting's gaffe this time, his neck would feel cold, his whole body would feel cold, and he would have nightmares at night. Wen Qing once told people in private: "The emperor did not blame Zeng Shilang for such a gaffe. This is the first time that we have established a dynasty. It seems that the previous emperor is to protect him!" The first emperor in Wenqing's dialect refers to Emperor Daoguang.

This year, Zeng Guofan's grandfather, Zeng Xinggang, and father, Zeng Linshu, both received the title of Dr. Ronglu. Since his wife's family already had a canon, Zeng Guofan asked his uncle, Zeng Jiyun, to be granted the title of Dr. Ronglu, and Emperor Xianfeng approved it.All are first class. Soon, Emperor Xianfeng announced the fourth edict: Cao Jinxi, the eunuch of the late emperor, dared to disregard the family law of his ancestors. He often scolded all officials. The next day, Emperor Xianfeng announced the fifth edict: From now on, all officials of science and education, regardless of their rank, can directly play their role and open up their opinions.

Except for the fourth article, which surprised the princes and ministers, the other few articles were all followed by Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan concluded that Sushun may rise in the near future!Emperor Xianfeng must have listened to Sushun's advice before doing so.Emperor Xianfeng was willing to listen to Sushun's words, which was also a blessing to the Qing Dynasty. It was sunset, and after Zeng Guofan left the hall with all the princes and ministers, he vaguely felt that there was some light ahead. On the afternoon when Emperor Xianfeng's fifth edict was announced, Qu Ziliang, the supervisory censor, wrote an excerpt about "Governor Zheng Zuchen of Guangxi connives with the Chinese army to kill innocent people indiscriminately". A rewritten one.

Afterwards, Huashana, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, heard the news through some channel, and immediately said, "The tune of the supervisory censor heard the wind, but the performance was not true", and put on a pose to replace Zheng Zuchen looked for justice.The two notebooks were placed on the Longshu table almost at the same time. At this time, the "bandits" in Guangxi became more and more troublesome. There was a failed scholar named Hong Xiuquan in Hua County, who gathered more than 20,000 people in Jintian Village, Guiping County, and established a Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Regardless of the confrontation between the officers and the army, there were a few battles where the officers and the army were beaten to the brim, occupying the ground of several prefectures and counties; the names of "bandit chieftains" such as Feng Yunshan, Xiao Chaogui, Shi Dakai, etc. were also passed on to the capital one after another. .Guangxi is about to become a naked chicken with its feathers plucked. Emperor Xianfeng was in a hurry today with Zheng Zuchen's urgent documents, cursing the Han people as hateful, but Qu Ziliang made such a note at this time. Emperor Xianfeng's anger immediately shifted from Hong Xiuquan to Qu Ziliang. On the first day of the early court, Emperor Xianfeng wrote to the eunuch in front of the imperial court to announce: the supervisory censor, Qu Ziliang, heard the news and played a senior member of the imperial court, and ordered that the member be removed from the crown and handed over to the Ministry of Officials. When Zeng Guofan heard this, he felt a humming sound on the top of his head.He never expected that Emperor Xianfeng, who is the emperor, would be so capricious: the day before, he had just promulgated an imperial decree to let the princes and ministers speak out, and today he took off Qu Ziliang's top hat!Isn't this clearly teasing the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs? He took a step forward, knelt down in front of the court, and said, "Your Majesty is wise!" Then there was no more to say. Both groups of civil and military ministers were surprised, and Emperor Xianfeng was even more surprised. "Zeng Guofan, speak up if you have something to say." Emperor Xianfeng said, looking at him coldly, his tone full of dissatisfaction. Zeng Guofan bowed his head and replied: "My Majesty, I do not understand something. It took less than three days for Qu Ziliang to participate in Guangxi Governor Zheng Zuchen's handover. How did the Emperor judge that Qu Ziliang played it after hearing the wind? Even if he heard the wind and played it, According to our system of upright officials, the censor heard the wind and played without guilt. The music will not be dismissed if the crime is revealed! Please look into it clearly." Emperor Xianfeng was stunned for a moment, and the princes and ministers also looked at each other in blank dismay, not daring to speak. Emperor Xianfeng stood up suddenly from the dragon seat, and it took him a long time to say from the bottom of his heart: "Zeng Guofan, you are presumptuous!" Zeng Guofan bowed his head and replied: "I am in a hurry to say anything, please forgive me, Your Majesty!" Emperor Xianfeng clapped the dragon case, and shouted: "Come here, take off Zeng Guofan's hat, and put him in the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, waiting to be released!" Prince Gong Yi, who was at the head of the class, came out of the class and said: "Report to the emperor, I have something to say." Emperor Xianfeng didn't pay any attention, and casually said "retire from the court", then supported the shoulders of the imperial eunuch, walked down the hall proudly, and limped away, completely forgetting the just promulgated "I will go..." oracles. Yixin blushed and froze all of a sudden. The princes and ministers watched as Zeng Guofan was removed from his crown, dragged out of the hall, and taken to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. As he walked, Zeng Guofan murmured in his heart: O late emperor!I am willing to go with you, and I don't want to serve this current emperor who is going back on his word! Because of the amnesty, the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, which was overcrowded, now looks deserted; there are more than a dozen wooden prison cells, with a total of more than a dozen people locked up, and a few of them were recently admitted. Because Zeng Guofan was an unconvicted prisoner, he was quite special, so he was locked up with an old man.The old man had obviously just been brought in. Although his hair and beard were not very long, and his clothes were not neat, his complexion was dark, unlike someone who had been in prison for a long time. But Zeng Guofan was soon surprised. He found that the old man walking back and forth was actually the old man who stopped the sedan chair and sued Zheng Zuchen, the governor of Guangxi! The old man obviously didn't recognize Zeng Guofan, and just walked around in the prison, acting like a trapped animal. The jailer on duty didn't know Zeng Guofan, but he didn't make it difficult for Zeng Guofan. He opened the iron lock of the prison fence, let Zeng Guofan go in alone, and walked away by himself. Zeng Guofan raised his eyes and looked around, and saw that there was nothing special about the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, except that the ground was not covered with straw but was covered with yellow sand, and the toilet in the corner of the room was still smelly.Obviously, after entering the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, prisoners can only lie on the sand or sleep or rest.No grass whatsoever. Zeng Guofan took off his patched clothes and spread them on the sandy ground. He didn't care too much, so he sat down on it. The old man looked at Zeng Guofan first, and saw that he was a scholar. He didn't think he would have much strength, so he snatched him over with one step, pushed Zeng Guofan out with both hands, and said, "I should sit on this mat." !” The old man used the second-grade supplementary suit as a butt pad. Just as Zeng Guofan was about to close his eyes and take a rest, he didn't pay attention to the sudden push of the old man, his body lost his balance for an instant, and he fell to the side at once, and the head on the neck hit the wooden railing just right. The old man smiled and took advantage of the opportunity to sit on the mending suit, grinned and said, "I enjoy it too." Zeng Guofan didn't want to argue with him, so he stood up, patted the dust with his hands, and rubbed the swelling on his head. Bao, then slowly walked to the wooden gate, looking out. The old man lay leisurely on the make-up clothes by himself, and said to himself: "The world is amnesty, but I add the crime, it is unreasonable!" After muttering for a long time, he snored and fell asleep. Zeng Guofan ignored him and sat down by the wooden gate.His mind is in a mess right now, and he desperately needs some quiet time.When you encounter trouble, whether you can turn the crisis into safety depends on whether you can hold on at the critical moment! I don't know how long it took, he was about to fall asleep in a trance, but he was suddenly awakened by a loud noise. He opened his eyes with difficulty, and saw a jailer unlocking the lock.He had no choice but to stand up while leaning on the wooden railing, his legs were heavy and numb, and he swayed several times before he stood still, and then he saw clearly that there was an official wearing a red cap standing behind the jailer. Because of the darkness in the prison, he couldn't see clearly, so he couldn't help thinking: "Has the 'crane top red' rewarded by the emperor arrived yet?" Most of them are killed by a potent poison called "Hedinghong" given by the emperor.Zeng Guofan only committed a crime, not a heinous crime, so it is reasonable to give him the "red crane crest". There was a sound of rattling, and the iron lock of the wooden door was finally unlocked; the jailer stepped aside, and the red-capped official walked in tremblingly.With a cordial call of "Disheng", Zeng Guofan finally saw that the person who came was Pan Shi'en, a scholar of the Martial Arts Hall. When Zeng Guofan saw Pan Shien, he was so excited that he could hardly control himself.He called out "Old Zhongtang" emotionally, and then choked up; two lines of hot tears were hard to control, and fell down.