Chapter 44 Section 44

In the morning of the next day, Prince Jin met with the Minister of Military Aircraft, the Minister of the Imperial Palace, and the three masters of Yuqing Palace separately, and made a stipulation on the matter of appealing to the Empress Dowager Cixi to continue to take charge of the affairs of state: a total of three papers should be submitted, and King Jin will take the The status of "growth deep palace", single title advice.The princes and the six ministries and nine ministers are led by the Prince of Li, and the Empress Dowager Cixi is asked to train the government for a few years. "After the emperor takes charge next year, he will still summon his ministers and workers every day to review the chapters, so that the emperor can follow the instructions at any time. .”

There is another excerpt, which is Weng Tonghe's manuscript, led by Boyan Namogu, as the official excerpt of the imperial minister and the master of Yuqing Palace.They are close ministers with relatively close knowledge and experience, so making a statement is not a kind of law. Listing three reasons, they think that the emperor has not yet reached the time to be in charge. The first reason is that although the emperor is very clever and recites it from memory, the scriptures are profound and the history books are extremely rich, and the lectures have not been implemented; It is true that a copy of the imperial decree has been ordered, and the emperor is invited to explain it as a trainee, but it is as big as soldiers, farmers, rites and music, and as detailed as salt affairs, customs, grain storage, and river transportation.Criticism needs to be paid attention to; the third reason, which is actually not important, is that the emperor's Manchurian has not been learned well.Manchu chapters, of course, use the so-called "national book", but the slightly important chapters and edicts are all in Chinese, so it doesn't matter if you can't listen or speak Manchurian, but it is always a reason.

Under these three reasons, what is suggested is not a political training, but a postponement of returning to power.The reason why Weng Tonghe advocated this is naturally meaningful. After thinking about it for a while, you can see that it is to show responsibility. The so-called "accomplishment in classical learning" can be complimented by anyone, but the master of Yuqing Palace can't say: the emperor His book is read very well, and he is well-read, enough to take on any major event. The deeper meaning is that it is better to be in power a few years later, but once in power, the power will be monopolized, the party will be arbitrary, and the Empress Dowager Cixi will not need to intervene.This is the true meaning behind his saying "it is better to ask for political training than to ask for a delay in returning to power".

However, no one can comprehend this deep meaning, and even if someone can understand it, they dare not reveal it.So judging from the situation, it is mostly political training. In the eyes of the Empress Dowager Cixi, these three excerpts were accidental or not.She had expected that in order to respect the etiquette of the empress dowager, she would definitely ask her to hang up for a few more years, and Li Lianying had heard from Li Shan and others that all the princes and ministers believed that the emperor was underage and had not come to rule At that time, the application was prepared to be opened publicly, so it was not a surprise.

What surprised me was Prince Chun's attitude.I thought he would ask for a postponement of his return to power, but he didn't want to give a suggestion of political training, and the two sentences "always follow the current regulations, all events, first ask for the decree, and then hear about it before the emperor" are tantamount to saying that political training will last forever. indefinitely.This is King Chun expressing his heart, he will never have any delusions with the honor of the emperor's real father.The heart is very deep and very bitter, but I have to accept his love.

But what she paid most attention to was the memorial drafted by Weng Tonghe.After pondering over and over again, I can see that the person who signed on this book and the person who signed on the book led by Li Wang Shiduo have different opinions.From the perspective of the imperial ministers and the masters of Yuqing Palace, there is a time limit for asking the empress dowager to suspend her return to power. The time limit, without mentioning the training of politics, means that once the government returns to power, the power should belong to the emperor alone, and the empress dowager should not intervene further.

Knowing this, the Empress Dowager Cixi couldn't help feeling vigilant, thinking about it under the lamp, and always felt that the past two years must be used well. Sure enough, in the past two years, he can fulfill his wish, teach the emperor to be an adult, and at the same time try to set a very practical prohibition to prevent King Chun from becoming the Supreme Emperor under any circumstances, so he can return to power with peace of mind . The idea is settled.But this is a big matter, and I think of the idiom "A wise man has a lot of worries, but he will make a mistake", so I want to ask my confidant to see if there is any miscalculation?This confidant is naturally Li Lianying, "What do you think?" she asked, "Is it better not to return to politics for a while, or to train politics?"

"I don't dare to talk nonsense about these important matters." Li Lianying replied: "But I am thinking that from ancient times to the present, the emperor has always listened to the old queen, and if the son can't get along with his mother, he will return to politics and stop training politics. Lafayette If you have something to say, the emperor dare not disobey. Besides, the emperor is also filial, and will report to Lafayette for anything, and follow Lafayette's wishes. " "If you can behave like this, what else can you say?" The Empress Dowager Cixi said lightly, "I'm afraid that people's hearts are hidden from the belly, and no one can figure it out. The mother and child are fake, but the father and son are real. You say you are listening to the truth, or listening to the truth?" fake?"

"The slaves don't ask whether it's true or not, but their conscience." Li Lianying replied, "The emperor entered the palace at the age of four, and Lafayette raised him with his own hands. Letting the emperor inherit the inheritance of his ancestors is truly a kindness. To be honest, being the emperor is the real thing." If you want to talk about intimacy, there is no better intimacy than seeing each other every day for twelve years." "You're right. If the emperor can't recognize this layer, then it's just not right." The Empress Dowager Cixi immediately asked, "If the project of Longevity Hill starts immediately, how long will it take to succeed?"

"It will take two years." Li Lianying said, "I'll talk to Lafayette after I ask Li Shan tomorrow." "There's no need to ask. Just tell him that the preparations should be made immediately, and it must be completed within two years." "Yes!" Li Lianying added: "Prepare quietly?" This is a secret point, do you want to let Chun Wang know?The Empress Dowager Cixi remained silent for a long time, and finally made a decision: "I will take care of Qiye." With this sentence, Li Lianying can say directly, "Qiye must obey Yi's order. But let Qiye do things, it's best to draw the road for him first." Li Lianying lowered her voice and said: "The project of Longevity Mountain is moving. , you have to have millions of silver coins placed there first.”

"Millions!" Empress Dowager Cixi frowned. "Actually, it's not difficult." Li Lianying said, "A boat costs two to three million silver, but it's just two less boats to buy." This reminded Empress Dowager Cixi.Not long ago, all provinces were strictly ordered to raise funds for the navy. There must be huge sums of money in Liangjiang and Guangdong. Li Lianying knew what she was referring to.The interface said: "When the provinces report to Beijing, it will be the end of the year. I'm afraid it will delay the use." "Then," Empress Dowager Cixi asked in amazement, "what should I do then?" "When I was in Tianjin, I heard that foreigners believed in Li Zhongtang, and as long as he was willing to borrow it, one or two million yuan was nothing more than a word." "Oh! Li Hongzhang has such great ability?" "Yes! Lafayette reused him, and foreigners will naturally believe him." This invisible compliment made Empress Dowager Cixi feel very comfortable, "Of course it's inconvenient for me to tell Li Hongzhang that Qiye should go and figure out a solution with him." She asked again: "Besides, let's see what else can come from it?" "The large amount of money will not be used until the second half of next year. With one million silver in front of us, plus the advances from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the wood factory, the project can make do. As for the materials to be used in the second half of next year, the servant can think about it." There is a money that can be moved..." "Oh!" The Empress Dowager Cixi was very interested, and interrupted him with a wave of her hand: "Don't say it, let me think about it." This is of course a large sum of money, and it is not a regular income.The bulk of the annual revenue, nothing more than tariffs and land, are all under the control of the Ministry of Households and must not be moved. Empress Dowager Cixi thought about it, and finally thought of it. "You mean big wedding money?" Li Lianying laughed and said, "It's true, you don't have to hide anything from Lafayette!" "This is a way to make money." The Empress Dowager Cixi said happily: "It's still early for the wedding, so we might as well raise money first. But..." She pondered and didn't say any more. Although she hadn't finished speaking, she was worried about things that could be imagined. If she moved, she could only borrow it temporarily, so what could she return?Li Lianying had made plans with Li Shan a long time ago on this level, so she replied calmly at this time: "Actually, repairing a garden is also for a big wedding. Ordinary people who marry a daughter-in-law have to paint, add a few rooms and so on. What's more, it's the emperor's big wedding? In the future, these accounts will naturally be counted together!" That is to say, in the name of a big wedding, raise funds to repair the garden.This method of embedding flowers and trees is justifiable, and it is much more grandiose than embezzlement of naval funds. "That's a good point." The Empress Dowager Cixi became more and more happy, "Don't worry about it now, I have my own reasons. Anyway, in the future, you will be the 'general manager to pass on the matter', and everything will be easy to handle." It was only at this time that the Empress Dowager Cixi fully understood the entire stakes, coordinated the overall situation, and shrewdly refuted the excerpts led by Shiduo and Boyan Namoqian respectively, but approved King Chun's petition, and first granted the full power of the inner court affairs, Hold it in your hand.As for the several years of political training, three persuasion and three concessions, it has to be artificial. However, no one dared to think that she was pretentious. They only felt that she was extremely determined to return to power, and she really looked "tired and diligent".As a result, the crowd was panicked, and there was a fear of shaking the foundation of the country. The princes and ministers gathered together and decided to go to the public fold again. In Weng Tonghe's eyes, these situations were extremely painful!Because there is obviously an emperor, why should there be such fear of "a country cannot live without a king"?After all, it is only because of the difficult task of the emperor that everyone feels that the Empress Dowager Cixi is indispensable.This is the disgrace of being a master, but who can appreciate that a master has the feeling of "hate iron but not steel" as the saying goes? Coincidentally, on this day, I was speaking to the emperor about the records of the past dynasties in Yuqing Palace, and I happened to meet the period when the holy ancestor killed Oboi when he was a child, and then took charge of the government when he was a minor.Weng Tonghe was touched for a while, and tried his best to state that the current situation was difficult, and the responsibility of being a king was very heavy, and tried to persuade the emperor to cheer up. Halfway through the speech, sadness came from it, and he exchanged tears. The emperor heard the eunuch say: When Li Hongzao was studying for Mu Zong, he once bitterly advised not to play too much, and he burst into tears.Mu Zong covered the bottom two words of "mouth" with his fingers on the sentence "a gentleman does not use weapons", and read it as "a gentleman does not cry", which made the master laugh out of tears.I don't have such wit, and I don't have the mood to joke when the master is sad, and I don't have any words to comfort the master, all I have is two lines of tears. This made Weng Tonghe deeply disturbed and deeply regretted. Is it easy for the emperor to cry?So he quickly stood up and asked solemnly: "It must be that the minister's words are serious?" "It has nothing to do with you." The emperor shook his head and said, "I hate myself." "The emperor's words are wrong! The body of Wan Cheng is the desire of the subjects of the world. It is the most precious and the most important. How can you blame yourself so easily?" The emperor was silent for a while before answering: "You don't understand what's in my heart, and I can't tell you." This is a grievance in the emperor's heart, and it can be guessed that it must be a secret between the flesh and blood of the palace.Yuqing Palace had many eyes and ears, and Weng Tonghe didn't dare to ask more questions. He just felt that no matter for the emperor or himself, he had to try to cover up the emperor's words. So he quickly took a look at the eunuch standing at the door, the eunuch sent by Changchun Palace, named caretaker, but actually the eunuch in charge of monitoring, Wang Chengnan, then slightly raised his voice and said: "The emperor's caring minister knows that it must be because the empress dowager doesn't care. The reason for the training of the government. The ministers have asked for it, but they have not received permission. It is better for the emperor to ask for it in person. The empress dowager will not bear it, or she will be willing to accept it." "In the past few days, I have begged several times." "The emperor begs again! You must ask the empress dowager to change her mind before she can give up." "Okay! I'll ask again."