Chapter 4 fourth quarter

At this time, the Empress Dowager Cixi took Li Lianying, the chief manager, Cui Yugui, the second manager, and a large number of eunuchs and maids from Ningshou Palace to Jingren Palace, one of the "Six West Palaces". . Jingren Palace is the bedroom of Concubine Zhen, and it is also the place where the emperor often visits.Concubine Zhen was rewarded, knowing that the Empress Dowager Cixi's intentions were not good, she was afraid that she would be reprimanded by the wrong etiquette, so she hurried out of the palace and knelt down to receive her.The Empress Dowager Cixi ignored her, let Li Lianying support her, went up the steps to enter the room, sat down on the throne set in the middle, and then shouted: "Cui Yugui!"

"Zha!" Cui Yugui's voice was very female, and he answered it loudly, it was so high and sharp that it made one's heart palpitate.Concubine Zhen, who was following behind, couldn't help frowning. However, she finally took the lead, passed Cui Yugui who was holding a big belly, knelt down in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi and said, "Slave pays respects to Lafayette!" Empress Dowager Cixi ignored her, turned her face and shouted at Cui Yugui: "You search for me!" Searching for something that has been taken care of long ago, Cui Yugui yelled again: "Zha!" Turning around and beckoning, he went straight to Concubine Zhen's bedroom, pulled out a desk drawer that the emperor used often, picked it up and dumped it on the table, those The dismantled clocks and watches and other sundries were still swept away and put back in their original places. All the documents were wrapped up with a piece of yellow bundle.

After searching the desk, I also searched Zhenfei's dressing table and pillow box, and found quite a lot.It took only a cup of tea before and after to return to life, but Concubine Zhen was still kneeling upright on the cold green brick floor. "Take it back to see!" Empress Dowager Cixi raised her face and asked again: "Who is in charge here?" The eunuch, the leader of Jingren Palace, hurried over and knelt down, and reported to himself: "Slave Sun Delu kowtows to Lafayette." "Your master is not filial! From now on, stop the jewelry and clothes of 'Yue Li', so that she will not be dressed up all day long, fascinated by the emperor, and she doesn't know what she is doing?"

"Cha!" Sun Delu agreed loudly, and couldn't help but turn to look at Concubine Zhen. Concubine Zhen had two tears in her eyes, but she just didn't let them fall.Empress Dowager Cixi sneered and asked: "What's the matter? Are you still not convinced?" "The slave didn't say anything." Concubine Zhen answered quickly and urgently. "Listen!" Empress Dowager Cixi looked at Li Lianying, "Still talking back to me!" "How dare Concubine Zhen!" Li Lianying was afraid that the Empress Dowager Cixi would be too angry and everyone would be uncomfortable, so she immediately said, "Thank you, master!"

Concubine Zhen knew good and bad, knew that Li Lianying was protecting her, so she had to accept this, so she met her and said: "Is there something wrong with the slave, please punish the Lafayette, please don't get angry!" "Hmph!" The Empress Dowager Cixi replied, "Don't tell me what you mean! You all want me to die early! God has eyes, but he taught me to be tough, and he taught you not to do what you want!" With that said, Huo Di stood up, and in order to show his toughness, he strode down from the step of the throne.At this moment, someone shouted from outside: "Long live God is here!"

The emperor returned to Jingren Palace after reading the "Blessing Edition" of the court clothes, and came back to change into regular clothes. By the way, he wanted to pick up a few secret documents suggesting the New Deal submitted by his ministers, and was going to summon the "Si Jingqing" who was on shift in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.As soon as I arrived at the gate of the palace, I found the soft sedan chair of the Empress Dowager Cixi. I wanted to get out of the car to escape, but I couldn't do it anymore, so I had to bite the bullet and get out of the sedan chair to enter.

After entering the palace gate, she saw Empress Dowager Cixi standing on the porch, her knees bent involuntarily. "Get up!" said the Empress Dowager Cixi, who had no smile on her face, "I have something to ask you." "Yes!" The emperor struggled to stand up. "You want to kill Ronglu, don't you?" The emperor was taken aback, wondering where the Empress Dowager Cixi got the news from?However, he immediately thought that it was inappropriate and impossible to deny it, so he answered boldly, "Yes!" "Why did you kill him?" This is another matter that is extremely difficult to explain and cannot be ignored.People say that in early September, when the emperor and the empress dowager parade in Tianjin, Ronglu will abolish the establishment.Only at this point, with the power of the emperor, he can preemptively strike. But if Yi's order is not obeyed, how dare Rong Lu do this?Therefore, using this crime as a reason to kill Ronglu is tantamount to saying that he cannot stand with Empress Dowager Cixi.

With this scruple, the language is too obstructive, and under the accumulated power, it becomes more and more awkward and unable to speak.In such a situation, Empress Dowager Cixi never allowed him to think calmly, and asked: "Who did you send to kill Rong Lu? Did you send Yuan Shikai? Let me tell you, they sold you." It turned out that Yuan Shikai told the secret!However, what Tan Sitong suggested, sending Yuan Shikai's soldiers to surround the Summer Palace, of course, the Empress Dowager Cixi also knew about it.Thinking of this, my whole body trembled, and my teeth chattered.Most of the court ladies couldn't bear to see him like this, but they didn't dare to turn their faces to avoid him, so they had to lower their eyes to look at the ground.

"You figured it out! Silly brother, don't you think about it, without me today, you will be there tomorrow! With you, can you hold it back? Come, follow me to Xiyuan!" The tone suddenly softened, but everyone knew that it was not a good omen.The ashen-faced emperor staggered up, got into the sedan chair, and followed the Empress Dowager Cixi to the west, crossed the Jinaoyuyu Bridge, turned south, and walked near Dechangmen.Fengyu carried it all the way to Qinzheng Hall. In the court room in front of the hall, King Qing, Rong Lu and the whole class of military ministers were waiting to drive.After a while, "Called Da Qi", the military aircraft and other ministers summoned at the same time.So Li Wang Shiduo took the lead, Qing Wang took the second place, and the rest were arranged according to their official ranks, and walked slowly up the hall in a single file.

After finishing the ceremony, Empress Dowager Cixi shouted: "Rong Lu, have you told everyone what Yuan Shikai told you?" Rong Lu took a step on his knees and played back: "The servant has already told Prince Li and the Minister of Military Aircraft." "What do you mean?" As usual, King Li should answer questions like this, but he is called the leader of the military aircraft, but in fact he is just putting on a show, and rarely states his opinions or makes an idea in front of the emperor.Encountering such a big event, he didn't dare to speak indiscriminately, he just met his head and replied: "Fortitude has something to say, and I will play it with Lafayette."

Resolute didn't wait for the Empress Dowager Cixi to express anything, and said loudly: "The new party is making too much nonsense! The servant is waiting for everyone to discuss. Only by asking Lafayette to take back the power can the Qing Dynasty be preserved." The words were rude and rude, but the meaning was clearly expressed.The Empress Dowager Cixi asked all the military ministers by name one by one: "Wang Wenshao, you are an old man, so feel free to say something!" Wang Wenshao, who was originally from Hangzhou, had served as Minister of Military Aircraft 20 years ago, which was quoted by his teacher Shen Guifen.When Shen Guifen died, she lost her only backer, and was finally attacked by Li Hongzao and Qingliu. In the "Yunnan Reimbursement Case", Wang Wenshao's bribery was well-founded, so she was sent back to her hometown.After living at home for ten years, he has kept a low profile, honed his edges and corners, and cultivated a character that is invincible.He is not ignorant, but blindly smooth, so he is nicknamed "Glass Egg".I am getting old, and my ears are hard of hearing. I have no idea what the Empress Dowager Cixi is saying.However, he had another way to deal with it. Seeing the eyes of the superiors betting on him, he waited for the Empress Dowager Cixi to close her mouth, then met her head and said, "The empress dowager is holy!" There was absolutely no mistake in the emperor's eulogy, so the Empress Dowager Cixi asked another person: "Yu Lu, what do you think?" Yu Lu is a native of Zhengbai Banner, a young man who achieved great ambitions. He became the governor of Anhui at the age of thirty, and he served in the frontier for a long time.It has been less than three months since the Governor of Sichuan summoned him to be Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Minister of Military Affairs and Aircraft, and he still doesn't know much about the government, but he still understands the situation outside.At that time, he replied: "Nowadays, the great powers are waiting for peace. The reform and reform, originally Lafayette promised the emperor, but he acted too hastily, fearing that there will be changes. If Lafayette educates the government and let the emperor accept everything, it will be the country's foundation." blessing." "That's right!" Empress Dowager Cixi was scratching her itch, "Who doesn't want to make the country rich and the people strong? The emperor wants reforms and reforms, as long as they don't go too far, do I disagree? I just listened to Kang Youwei's outrageous words." , Everything old and old, whether it is the rules of the ancestors or not, is said to be bad, what is that called? Now the emperor himself is going to rebel." She paused for a while and then said: "I can't bear to say some things. You can ask Rong Lu, what Yuan Shikai said to him, and you will know! In a word, why should I bother? I can’t ignore it. If I ignore it, no one can control it. For example, some people in the palace are very restless, and the queen is too honest, so I can’t control those people. I don’t care, is it okay?” "Of course Lafayette has to take care of it! Today's matter is settled, and Lafayette doesn't need to ask any more. Please understand and decree!" This time, there were two military ministers, Qian Yingpu and Liao Shouheng, who lost the opportunity to speak.However, there is someone outside the military aircraft, and the Empress Dowager Cixi must ask. "Rong Lu, how is your discussion going?" "The slave has drawn up a draft of an imperial edict, asking Lafayette for his edict." As soon as this remark came out, all the military ministers except Qian Yingpu were stunned, and the fortitude was especially displeased. "Accepting the edict" and "reporting the edict" are the great powers of the Shuting. Rong Lu dared to act in violation of the rules, which is too abominable! However, thinking that he was following Yi's decree to handle it face to face, knowing that he could not compete with him, he could only stare helplessly, watching Rong Lu submit the decree to the imperial case helplessly. The Empress Dowager Cixi recognized the handwriting because of Qian Yingpu's handwriting. She was satisfied after reading it, but she didn't post it. She just nodded and said, "It's very well written! I'll let the emperor take a look and call you later." So Li Wang took the lead in saluting and retreating from the court for the time being.The Empress Dowager Cixi rested behind the Hall of Qinzheng, had a "tea meal", and assigned Li Lianying to go to Yingtai to meet the emperor with the manuscript. Yingtai is to the south of Qinzheng Hall, facing water on three sides. On the south side of Tainan, there is a large lake with red Polygonum and white apples and green water, which is the South China Sea, one of the three seas.When Li Lianying crossed the bridge, a young eunuch came up to meet her, and asked the emperor to rest at Butong Bookstore, and ran straight there without any notification, and shouted after climbing the steps: "There is a decree!" The emperor, who was in a daze in the room, immediately stood up when he heard the sound, went to the main room, and knelt down. So Li Lianying also stepped in, and stood at the top of the east, loudly proclaiming: "Bong Yi's decree: There is a decree from the emperor, and I will copy it with the emperor's ink pen." This is a common occurrence.The Empress Dowager Cixi often used the name of the emperor to issue decrees, and the emperor wrote Zhu Shu himself to cover up the false appearance. However, it was usually handed over in person, or Li Lianying sent the manuscript, and sometimes it was just dictated to the emperor himself.Between giving and receiving, it is informal.Dudu was so solemn at this time, the emperor knew that something was wrong. After he stood up, Li Lianying, who had put down the yellow box, greeted the emperor and said, "Long Live Lord, please sit inside!" "Acquaintance!" The emperor's address to Li Lianying was regarded as a kind of "respect".The emperor called the teacher who taught the reading, and if he was a Han Chinese, he was called "Master" if he taught Chinese, and if a bannerman taught Manchurian, Mongolian, or riding and archery, etiquette, he called him "Advanced" in Manchurian.At this time, the emperor called Li Lianying "knowledge", the voice was full of the meaning of asking for help: "You have to help me a little!" "How does Long live God say this? Only slaves can take care of me, and I dare not not do my best. However, it is really difficult for slaves. well! Li Lianying sighed slightly, "Nothing is a blessing!" " After finishing speaking, he took the yellow box with one hand and supported the emperor with the other, accompanied him into the study, opened the yellow box, and put it on the desk. The emperor stood there and picked up the manuscript, and read silently: "Now the state affairs are difficult, and the general affairs are waiting for me. I work hard and spend tens of thousands of days. In addition to competing for work, there are always troubles. Since the Tongzhi period, Cixi Duan You Kangyi, Zhao Yu, Zhuang Chengshou, Gong Xian, Empress Dowager Chongxi, listened to the government twice behind the curtain, and handled the government affairs. The macro economy was difficult, and everything was perfect. Because of the importance of remembrance of the Zongshe, I repeatedly appealed to the kindness and training of the government, and bowed down as I asked. , This is the blessing of the subjects of the world. From today onwards, I will be working in the Biandian. On the eighth day of the first month, I will lead the king and ministers to salute in the Qinzheng Hall. While reading, his body was already trembling.After reading, his face was ashen, and it was difficult to move his feet to the chair that was close at hand. Li Lianying hastily supported him to sit down, laid out the paper and uncovered the inkstone, took a pen and handed it to the emperor, and said softly: "Let's get through this perfunctory test." "Ada," the emperor asked with difficulty, "whose idea is this?" "You don't need to ask, Long Live. There are thousands of mistakes, and the mistake is that Yuan Shikai should not have been summoned yesterday!" "It's really him!" The emperor said in a low voice, "It's really this treacherous minister who told me the secret!" "This, the servant doesn't know!" Li Lianying put a pen into his hand, "Return to your life as soon as possible!" The emperor blankly picked up the pen to write the Zhu Yu, and when he wrote the sentence "repeatedly beseeching for kindness and education", two big tears fell on the paper, turning into a blush, which was as bright as the cheeks of a concubine Zhen. Rouge like that.