Chapter 14 Section Fourteen

On the list of visiting guests, the first one is Linggui, a scholar of Wuyingdian University.He is the biography of Zeng Guofan. In the twenty-seventh year of Daoguang Ding Wei, he was the deputy capital censor as the "Zhi Gong Ju" in the general examination. Although he was an "outer curtain official", he was also regarded as the teacher of this subject as usual.Li Hongzhang is a member of Dingwei Hanlin, a member of the first class, and the most important teacher, so he was the first to worship Linggui, and prepared a gift of one thousand taels of silver, with a door bag of two hundred taels of silver.

Students pay homage to the teacher, enter through the side door according to the rules, and use the middle door to exit, which is called "soft entry and hard exit".But Li Hongzhang has both a title and a chief assistant, so the so-called "extremely talented minister".Linggui's house opened the middle door to welcome them, and first the butler came to the sedan chair to return, "No need to surrender", the big sedan chair was carried all the way to the dripping eaves of the second hall, which became "hard entry and hard exit". Linggui was too sick to get out of bed.The one who greeted him in front of the sedan chair was Linggui's son Fuhui, who was young and immature. Fortunately, Linggui's son-in-law Ronglu took care of him, and he was very organized.After exchanging pleasantries, Li Hongzhang asked about the teacher's condition.

"Jiayue's illness was originally asthma, which would happen every autumn, but this year it's very severe and out of control." "Oh," Li Hongzhang asked, "Who did you ask to read it?" "Xue Fuping, please." Rong Lu shook his head, "He said: It's not going to be saved! It's just procrastinating." "Ah!" Li Hongzhang said with a slight sigh, "I'll go see the teacher!" "Meeting each other will only add to the sadness. Zhongtang doesn't need to work!" This is a humble word, of course Li Hongzhang has to read it, "Brother Baitou," he said, "One side is the other. Zhonghua, please lead the way."

So when they arrived at Linggui's sick bed, the white-headed junior brother looked at each other with his hands in tears, and Rong Lu insisted to invite Li Hongzhang to the living room.I could have said goodbye here, and even though the visitor list has been cut in half, there is still a long list behind, so I can't sit still for a long time.But for the sake of Ronglu, Li Hongzhang decided to seize this opportunity of unintentional encounter and hang around for a while. "After thinking about it, everything is prepared." "Yes!" Rong Lu took out a piece of paper from his pocket, "The draft of the leftover is ready, please consider it in Zhongtang."

This is also a kind of "entertainment", and because Li Hongzhang has never been an examiner in his life, he is most interested in reading articles from others, so he actually put on his glasses, brought a pen and inkstone, and went to his desk to carefully revise Linggui's manuscript.This took another half an hour. After Rong Lu thanked him.When mentioning Li Hongzhang's trip, there must be some decent compliments.Li Hongzhang didn't doubt it, he didn't show modesty, and when Rong Lu finished speaking, he suddenly asked, "Zhonghua, are you Geng this year?"

"Thirty-eight this year." "It's a pity!" Li Hongzhang shook his head, "I'm a pity for the country. I'm in the prime of life, how can I let you have a leisurely time? I admire everything about King Chun's work. I can't compliment you on this matter alone." Rong Lu smiled casually, "Being a sinful body, one should contemplate behind closed doors." He said, "As for Qiye's support and support towards me, I really have nothing to say, and there will always be a chance to make up for it in the future." "There is an opportunity in front of us." Li Hongzhang said, "It seems imperative to increase the salary of the Beijing camp. Naturally, we must rectify the increase. This job, Zhonghua, in my opinion, is none other than you."

Rong Lu could hear what he meant, as long as he expressed something, he would be willing to speak and recommend in front of King Chun. In fact, why should a third party bother about his relationship with King Chun?The shortcoming of King Chun is that he is unavoidably suspicious. Sure enough, Li Hongzhang said good things for himself in front of him. He only thought that he had the heart to fall to Beiyang, which aroused suspicion instead. Thinking about it this way, I was quite uneasy, afraid that Li Hongzhang would act recklessly and his good intentions would become unbearable, so he replied, "This is Zhongtang who thinks highly of me. If Qiye thinks that I can still run around for a while, why would I dare to act on my own accord?" Gao? Please take Zhongtang's advice, and within a day or two, I'll go see Master Qi."

This is a hint: if he has something to say, he can say it himself, without the need for others to do it for him.What kind of role is Li Hongzhang?Naturally, he understood immediately, "This is it!" He nodded repeatedly, encouraging him, "King Chun knows people well, and remembers old love. Zhong Hua, you really don't need to be outside of others."