Chapter 26 Section 26

If Ronglu was like Li Hongzhang before the Sino-Japanese War, who had mastered the elite Beiyang military power, then Zaiyi was like King Chun back then, who retained full power to command the imperial army.His "Wu Sheng New Team" changed its name to "Tiger God Camp". Tigers attack sheep, and sheep and foreign have the same pronunciation, which is equivalent to hanging up the pretense of "helping the Qing and destroying the foreign". Rong Lu's troops also changed their designations, the general name is "Wu Shengjun", imitating the system of the Ming Dynasty's governor's mansion, and set up five armies: the former army Nie Shicheng, the rear army Dong Fuxiang, and the left army Song Qing - "Tingjun" Bao Chao The general under his command, the right army Yuan Shikai.In addition, 10,000 people were recruited for the Chinese army, and Rong Lu personally led them.

Not only serving as a military aircraft, but also holding military power, Rong Lu became the most powerful minister since the founding of the Qing Dynasty.However, the Empress Dowager Cixi did not feel threatened. She had the means to control Rong Lu, and she was more confident that Rong Lu would never be unfaithful. Even so, Rong Lu still has troubles, because there are too many people who are jealous of him, especially fortitude.He consciously seeks the country's talents and contributions to help the crisis, all of which are above his honor and salary, but his official position, power, and favor and trust are all inferior to others.Therefore, I often complain about everything about Ronglu.Rong Lu is a very deep person, he can't help getting angry in his heart, but on the surface he always commits crimes without correction.However, as time goes by, there are times when it is intolerable.

One day, the military had an opportunity to eat, and the fortitude was lost in thought, and suddenly he patted the table and said, "Hey! When will I be able to get ahead?" This sudden action and words surprised his colleagues, and Rong Lu asked, "Zi Liang! How do you get ahead?" "You are on top of me, how can I get ahead?" Fortitude means that the four great scholars Li Hongzhang, Kun Gang, and Xu Tong are all out of ancient times, and it took three or two years for them to be vacant.As a co-organizer of the "Fuzheng", I really care about it, but Rong Lu is about the same age as myself, and I will go step by step. Once the first three bachelors die, Rong Lu will be the seat of the seat naturally, and if I want to be the first, I have to do it. I don't know what year it was?

Rong Lu figured out what he meant, and felt that his intentions were despicable, so he felt a little bit drunk, so he smiled and replied: "That's easy! After Li, Kun, and Xu are dead, you can just take a knife." , Kill me too, won’t you become a scholar of the Wenhua Palace?" The nail touched the fortitude, and his face turned blue and red, embarrassing and annoyed.It's just that Rong Lu was smiling, as if he was joking, but he didn't know the truth, and he didn't dare to attack Rong Lu because he was afraid of him, so he had to laugh dryly to cover up his embarrassment.

The more I thought about it afterwards, the more annoyed I became, and I couldn't bear the tone.So Gang Yi found an opportunity to embarrass Rong Lu in business affairs. Every day when he was right, as long as there was a slight loophole in Rong Lu's performance, he seized it and opposed the attack with rhetoric.After such a month, Rong Lu felt bitter and hated deeply, and secretly discussed with his advisers, and came up with a clever plan to kill two birds with one stone. It turns out that the Empress Dowager Cixi listened to the government for three times and tried her best to reform the law. She felt that if it can be broken, it must be able to be established. Therefore, she repeatedly ordered the governors of the provinces to seriously rectify government affairs, especially focusing on five things: military training, salary raising, Baojia, regiment training, and grain accumulation. Sufficient food, a stable place, and only then can we deal with foreigners, and the shame accumulated since the end of Xianfeng.However, the big officials in the frontier, especially the governors of the provinces known as the rich, Liu Kunyi of Liangjiang, Zhang Zhidong of Huguang, and Tan Zhonglin of Guangdong and Guangxi, were highly respected and deeply rooted, so they could not help disregarding the orders of the court.Rong Lu knew that the problem was that the minister of military aircraft had too little prestige, and it was not enough to reverse the decline without gaining prestige, but it has become a trend that cannot be lost.

This clever plan to kill two birds with one stone is to let the fortitude stand out and use the knife to cut off the big tail that cannot be turned.Of course, when he was alone, he would never reveal his original intention to kill Gang Yi with a knife. He only praised Gang Yi as his name, strong and persistent, capable of breaking down sensibilities, and completely eradicating the long-standing evils of the provinces.The Empress Dowager Cixi thought so deeply, and immediately instructed to issue a "sent letter to the decree" first, accusing the provinces of doing things in an orderly manner, "failed to achieve actual results", and then issued a decree again, "seriously hold it immediately". If you don't like the state and counties, play with the people's misfortune, and obey the evil, the governor should strictly implement the impeachment and punish the crime." Two days later, another "Mingfa Shangyu" was issued, ordering resolutely to "go to the south of the Yangtze River to investigate and deal with the incident."

The so-called "investigation and handling of incidents" usually refers to the investigation and handling of impeachment cases.But when the Minister of Military Aircraft was dispatched to Beijing to investigate and deal with it, it was known that he must be the governor, so there were various rumors that Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, was in trouble. In fact, fortitude is to investigate and deal with the five events that the imperial court has ordered in various provinces.Ronglu told Gangyi through the mouth of Empress Dowager Cixi: Lijin should be rectified even more.The accumulated disadvantages of lijin in the south of the Yangtze River are very deep. If they are resolutely and resolutely sorted out, the salary of the Wuwei Army will be settled.As for Gang Yi himself, there must be a lot of grievances. If there are words of dissatisfaction with him, if they spread to Beijing, then they can be used on camera.If you can go, go, if you can't go, find a vacancy for the governor, and leave him outside, won't your ears be clean from now on?

This is a plan of gaining both public and private interests, and the fortitude can be roughly guessed.However, he has his plans.In the past, imperial envoys often took charge of their own affairs, such as investigating cases, or reorganizing the army, or as Li Hongzhang's imperial envoys in the past six months, he managed the rivers in Shandong.There is no precedent for the five major state affairs of the country to be investigated and dealt with.He felt that his imperial envoy was a special imperial envoy. During this trip to the south of the Yangtze River, all the governors had to look up to him. This official addiction was enough.

Of course, he was confident in his errands.Empress Dowager Cixi would be impressed by the fact that several million taels of silver could be found for nothing.At that time, I found an opportunity to teach Ronglu to take his five military and guard armies and return to Zhili to guard the gate of the capital. How can he be a minister when he is a foreign official?At that time, the Military Aircraft Department was its own world. Because each has a clever plan, so Gu Xinran.Fortitude arrived in Jiangning, and it really shook the place.In four months' time, many officials were overthrown by participation, and they also acted as domineering, which caused complaints from the people.In this way, by the end of July, everything can come to an end and return to Beijing to return to life.As soon as he arrived in Shanghai, he received a telegram: "Guangdong has a vast land and rich resources, and Chen Zou, a minister and worker who has repeated scriptures, has accumulated more disadvantages than those in Jiangnan. If we can seriously rectify it, we will be able to get rid of the rich and raise a huge sum of money. Fortitude was the governor of Guangdong. , Familiar with the local situation; then the supervisor will send a secretary to the province recently, and together with the governor, all the incoming and outgoing funds will be carefully checked. How should the regulations be properly determined to enrich the treasury? It will be handled at any time. "

Gang Yi knew that this was Rong Lu's plan to prevent him from returning to Beijing, but he didn't care.When I arrived in Guangzhou by ferry, I lived in seclusion just like in Jiangning.The official documents of the inquiry were sent to the governor and the governor's office one by one.Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Tan Zhonglin, was the same year as Weng Tonghe. He had served in the frontier for a long time, and his peers were very respected.Moreover, at the age of seventy-eight, it is difficult to overcome the complicated drama, and he had already asked to be released to the field. At this time, he decided to reiterate the previous request, and his resignation was very firm, so the Empress Dowager Cixi decided to allow him to resign.

This was originally a good opportunity for Rong Lu to stay in other provinces, but the Empress Dowager Cixi thought that there were many foreign affairs in Guangdong and Guangxi, and a well-known important minister who was well-versed in Western affairs was needed to sit in charge.Therefore, Li Hongzhang was appointed as Tan Zhonglin's successor by default. Li Hongzhang decided to visit Ronglu, intending to take a breather. If he could not be the governor of Zhili, he could be half of the master in case of trouble, and he would not take this trip to the south. Upon seeing it, Li Hongzhang was not surprised. "Zhonghua," he said, "your complexion is very bad! Why are you so worried?" Rong Lu sighed and said: "Zhongtang is really a blessed person. 'Eating three hundred lychees a day' has jumped out of the circle of right and wrong! I have received the most kindness, and the reprimands from my superiors are also the strictest. These days, it is really impossible to survive. Please die!" Li Hongzhang was moved, "Why did you say that?" He asked, "Zhonghua, can you talk to me?" "Of course! I also want to see the Zhongtang. If there is nothing I can do, I might as well take the Zhongtang out and fight together." Having said this, Rong Lu got up, closed the door with his own hands, and then, across the kang, said to Li Hongzhang said in a low voice: "A great change is imminent!" It turns out that the abolition of legislation is about to become a reality!It was originally a situation of indecision, but since Gangyi returned to Beijing from Guangzhou in early October, the situation has taken a turn for the worse, because although Xu Tong and Chongqi tried their best to advocate the abolition of the establishment, the big policy came from a military plane, and only Xu and Chong were persuaded by Qi It is difficult for Xiu to work hard alone.When Gangyi returned to Beijing, he united with Qixiu, expelled Liao Shouheng, and recommended Zhao Shuqiao, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, to join the military plane. Therefore, except Qian Yingpu, who had withdrawn from the military plane long ago, and Li Wang Shiduo, who had no claim, the rest Four people, three against one, became Rong Lu alone! However, the Empress Dowager Cixi made up her mind to do this extraordinary move, and it cannot be done unless Ronglu agrees!Therefore, he became the target of public criticism.Gangyi, Qixiu, and Zhao Shuqiao squeezed him every day with words, telling him to let go, one against three, almost unable to parry.And when the Empress Dowager Cixi summoned her alone, her tone became tighter every time when she talked about this matter, first persuading, then expecting, and recently, she was quite reproachful.It seems that if the meaning of "compassion and sage" is repeated, I am afraid that it will arouse fury, and the "curtain family" that has been cultivated for decades will be destroyed in one fell swoop.If the government and military power are all taken away, even if it will not be the successor of Weng Tonghe and Zhang Yinhuan, idleness and abolition may be inevitable! "I'm trying my best to prevaricate. A telegram from Liu Xianzhuang a while ago made me breathe a sigh of relief..." In order to prevaricate, Rong Lu once suggested secret telegrams to important border officials to ask for the opinion of abolishing Li.Liu Kunyi's call back expressed his opposition, saying that "the distinction between the monarch and his ministers has been determined, and it is difficult to guard against the mouths of Chinese and foreign people." "But it's November 25th today! Merciful Saint means that this major event must be completed within the year! It's about time when the plan is poor and the dagger will meet. Zhongtang, I'm afraid I won't be able to do what I want!" Before he finished speaking, Li Hongzhang replied in awe-inspiring way: "What kind of thing is this? How can it be done in today's world surrounded by great powers? Zhonghua, how many brains do you have to dare to try this matter! If the superiors insist on going their own way, it will be dangerous. The envoys in Beijing protested first, and the ministers of all provinces and borders can also denounce it righteously! If you move the soldiers of the world for no reason, Zhonghua, Chunqiu blames the sages, you will not escape the punishment of Shibi." At this point, he felt that he was too excited and gasped. After a while, he slowed down his voice and said: "This dynasty is very cautious in dealing with major affairs. If you are confused for a while, you must finally wake up. Is there no hope of turning the relationship between mother and child? It's just that no one is qualified to mediate except for your step. Zhong Hua , you have received the most kindness, and now you are the family member Youlong, if you don't say anything, no one else will. When you are knee-deep, you might as well make the relationship between success and failure close and grievances, and the overall situation will definitely be saved!" Rong Luyuan also had the same meaning, but he didn't dare to be confident that he had such power.Now Li Hongzhang, who is clear to the onlookers, analyzed it for him. He was greatly encouraged and said resolutely: "Yes, yes! My purpose is set." "But I hope that the palace will be quiet and the government will be stable. It will be easier to talk to foreigners when dealing with foreigners." Speaking of foreigners, Rong Lu remembered something he had kept in his heart for a long time.Although foreign language newspapers have ridiculed and criticized the failure of the reform and the abolition of the establishment, I don't know what the ministers of various countries said?I wanted to ask Li Hongzhang to find out.However, the purpose of inquiring has changed. Before, it was to find out the attitude of the ministers of various countries and decide his final attitude. Now he said: "In order to prevaricate the boss, I want to ask Zhongtang to find out the tone of the ministers of various countries. I have something to say to the superior. " Li Hongzhang pondered for a while and replied: "It is inconvenient for me to ask others about this matter first. The envoys of various countries are going to farewell for me in the past few days. If it is mentioned, I can ask about it by the way. Otherwise, there is no way to report. " On the third day, Li Hongzhang had an answer.He wrote to Ronglu and said: The ministers of various countries stated that if there is a matter of abolishing the establishment, although countries cannot interfere in China's internal affairs, they will definitely adopt a policy of not recognizing the new emperor in diplomacy. Such a confidential matter should not be put into words, but Li Hongzhang actually replied in writing, which shows that he is fully responsible for what he said.Realizing this, Rong Lu became more determined.