Chapter 73 Section 73

According to Li Guangzhao himself, he was a supervisor in Jiaying Prefecture. After he was 20 years old, he moved to Hanyang with his father. His family was engaged in two businesses, one was timber and one was tea. Yunnan Guizhou, Sichuan.Passing through Anhui in the first year of Tongzhi, because he was angry with a patrol inspector, in a rage, he donated a magistrate in the Linhuai military camp, but he never wore an official uniform, because he felt that he was still a free-spirited businessman. Come comfortably. Hearing these words, Guibao was in awe, and gave a thumbs up: "Gao!" Then he toasted a glass of wine, and changed his name to Li Guangzhao as "Brother Li".

"Don't dare, dare not!" Li Guangzhao asked modestly, "Have you ever been to the Southwest Province?" "I'm ashamed!" Guibao replied, "I've never been out of Zhili." So Li Guangzhao talked about the famous mountains and great rivers in the southwest, how majestic the mountains and rivers are, and how strange the customs are, and he talked endlessly, which fascinated everyone present. "To tell the truth," Li Guangzhao said, "I inherited my father's business and started this business because I was born to like beautiful mountains and rivers. I don't know how much money I spent when I was greedy for mountains and rivers, but I didn't expect it to be used today. It's really a great pleasure!" As he spoke, he raised the pot to drink with all the guests, and at the same time explained his own words, why did he say "wasted money" and how did he say "used it"?

He said that since he entered the deep mountains, he could not return empty-handed, and the natives knew that he was a big wood merchant, so naturally they couldn't let him go, so they bought many "mountain tops", and the transportation was inconvenient. Abandoned on the ground, so it is a waste of money. With this said, it is not difficult to explain the following sentence "use it". Of course, it is "use it" to serve the garden workers.However, since the transportation is inconvenient and cannot be transported down the mountain, how can it be used? Asked this, Li Guangzhao laughed. "Master Gui," he said, "you don't even understand this? I'm a candidate for the magistrate, and I have to kowtow when I see the governor, and ask him to build a road and let me transport wood plants. Who will listen to me?"

"Hmm..." Guibao slapped himself on the forehead with a "snap", "I really taught you to ask!" He nodded repeatedly, "Okay, okay, you don't have to worry about this. Brother Li, I want Excuse me, what wood plants do you have? Where are they? How much is it worth?How much is the preparation?Want something? " "I don't want anything!" Li Guangzhao quickly interjected, "Relying on the blessings of the empress dowagers of the two palaces and the emperor, we have evened Changmao and Nianzi, and Zuo Jueshuai's expedition to the west is almost complete. The common people can live in peace, but not Should I do my best to repay it? Besides, those wood plants are not useful to me. To put it disrespectfully, it is called "benefit without cost", how dare you ask for credit?"

Having confessed his words, Li Guangzhao took out a scripture from the boot leaf and gave it to Guibao. When he opened it, all the items on the list were the uncompromising Xiangnan camphor, cypress cedar, etc. Gaogui Muzhi, Guibao, Cheng Lin and the others kept whispering "Oh, oh" while watching, and their surprise was overflowing with words. "Excellent, excellent, the beams and pillars of the main halls are all gone." Guibao said again, "I bought it on the mountain and it cost more than a hundred thousand silver, and I'm afraid it's not worth much when I transport it to Beijing." One hundred thousand?"

"Yes! I will pay you all." Speaking of this, further action should be taken. Guibao took him to see Cheng Ming, Minister of Internal Affairs.Li Guangzhao had been prepared for a long time, he first went to the Dongheyan inn, brought two bags of soil instruments, presented his sincerity, and then respectfully said hello. To prepare for the large project of restoring the Old Summer Palace, among the ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he agreed on the duties, and Chengming was responsible for the survey, evaluation and procurement of Mu Zhi.Guibao had also recalled beforehand that Chengming already knew about Li Guangzhao's intentions for coming, so after the ceremonial ceremony, if you don't want to bother you, let's get to the point.

"Brother understands righteousness, and I admire it very much." Cheng Ming said politely, "However, once everything is in play, it is very difficult to change it, so I would rather we spend more time in private, and then talk to the superiors after we have negotiated. , and things went well.” To understand these words deeply, it is because some people don't believe Li Guangzhao, Guibao is afraid that he may not understand the habit of people in the banner who like to talk around twists and turns, and cannot understand the deep meaning, so he made a special point. "Brother Li, where do you store your wooden plants, and tell Master Cheng in detail."

"Okay! Let me tell Mr. Cheng." Li Guangzhao counted his fingers: "Let's start with Hubei, at the 'Jiudaoliang'." Chengming didn't know the first place name, and Li Guangzhao mentioned a series of mountain names below, which Chengming was almost unheard of.But seeing that he is like a treasure in the family, he is very familiar and familiar, and it is true, Cheng Ming's doubts have disappeared for the most part. Then Guibao made supplements for him, and then said: "The difficulty is that it is not easy for Muzhi to get out of the mountain. After the survey is completed in the future, it will be the Ministry of Internal Affairs who will initiate official business. Please ask the higher-ups to recruit workers to open the way. It's time to think about it."

"Hmm, um." Chengming asked again: "According to my brother, how many years can these wood plants be shipped?" "Then..." Li Guangzhao thought for a while and replied, "The mountain road is rugged and the material is huge. It will take ten years to transport it." "Ten years? It's too late!" Cheng Ming was rather disappointed, "Although this big project will take several years, it can't be said that the wood will be used after ten years." "Of course!" Li Guangzhao quickly explained, "I mean it will be shipped in ten years. The first batch will be shipped to Beijing after three years."

"Is it going to be shipped in three years, or will it be shipped to Beijing in three years?" "It will be transported to Beijing in three years." Li Guangzhao said with certainty. Cheng Ming nodded: "That's about the same." Guibao saw what they were talking about, so he interjected, "It's one thing to transport down the mountain, another thing to transport it to Beijing, and it's very troublesome here!" He raised his face to Li Guangzhao, "What can I say? Brother Li, you can tell me sooner." "I think, of course I have to take care of this matter personally. Please send someone to handle it, so that you can pass through the checkpoints along the way."

"Of course, of course! Of course it's duty-free." "For the convenience of reporting, it is best to ask Mr. Cheng to give you a name to publish the customs defense. That can save a lot of trouble and save a lot of shipping costs." Cheng Ming thought it was right, and was about to say yes, when he suddenly thought of what happened to An Dehai in Shandong, so he changed his mind. "I can't promise this. I have to ask for it." Asking the emperor for an order will not yield definite results for a while.The emperor didn't dare to act arbitrarily, so he had to report to the two empress dowagers first.Finding an opportunity to spend the summer in the Royal Garden, he leisurely mentioned it. "The British and French envoys handed over their letters of credence, so they are reconciled, but the garden is still deserted." The emperor said, "We must find a way to repair it, and the two empress dowagers also have a place to relax." Empress Dowager Cixi was delighted when she heard this, "It's no wonder he still has such filial piety!" She said to Empress Dowager Ci'an. The Empress Dowager Ci'an responded with a smile of unknown meaning.This attitude is very strange, not only the Empress Dowager Cixi, but even the emperor is a little uneasy. Of course, the Empress Dowager Ci'an could see the eager look of their mother and son, but she didn't dare to speak easily.She had thought about this matter countless times, and every time she thought about it, she always regretted that she should not have made that idea with the emperor: to find something for the Empress Dowager Cixi to entertain.When the emperor summoned the minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to talk about repairing the garden, she had already heard a little about it, but she didn't know where the money would come from?At the same time, I don't know how much it will cost to fix it?But she knew one thing, the project cost would never be small, and when it came to repairing the garden, many people would oppose it. Prince Gong might still be able to discuss it, but Wen Xiang would definitely not agree.Then, it would be impossible to live a peaceful life! What the Empress Dowager Ci'an seeks is the word "tranquility". As soon as a woman reaches middle age and has been a widow for many days, she has a peculiar mood. In front of the lamp and under the moon, suppressing the indescribable melancholy, and concentrating on meditation, only then did I realize what is called "the heavy wave of the ancient well"?My heart is already chaotic enough, and if I find some troubles, how will I live this day? But she also knew that, like Concubine Ligui and many other concubines and family members in the harem Yongxiang, she hoped that the weather would be good, that she would have a leisurely meal and tea, that she would be on the porch in summer, on the Kang in winter, and under the window during the day, Under the lamp at night, use the five-color silk thread to kill the gloomy days.The Empress Dowager Cixi is different. What she fears most in her life is "loneliness". If you want to be lively, you don't want to be leisurely, because leisure is loneliness.In order to imagine for her, the Empress Dowager Ci'an couldn't bear to say anything disappointing. After thinking for a while, she asked, "How much does it cost?" The tone finally loosened, and the emperor also heaved a sigh of relief, and replied smoothly: "It won't cost much." This showed that he lacked sincerity, and the Empress Dowager Ci'an was quite displeased, and said in a scolding tone: "Such a big garden doesn't cost much? It costs hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to repair a palace gate!" "That's the House of Internal Affairs' nonsense!" The emperor said calmly, "I've already asked them to estimate the value. Of course the cost of the work is not a decimal, but they have another way to raise funds." "Is it a donation by the mu again?" "No, no! How can I do that?" The emperor shook his hands vigorously and said, "You must not do such a stupid thing." "Then, let me listen," said the Empress Dowager Ci'an, "how brilliant are the wise people's ideas?" "The matter is still under discussion. If I'm not sure, of course I don't dare to be rash. What the Ministry of Internal Affairs means is that they are willing to repay themselves, and they have discussed and set a charter. Those who have money will get more, those who don't have much money will get less, and those who have no money will take less." If you don’t take it, it’s not difficult to make up a whole sum.” "Hmph!" The Empress Dowager Ci'an sneered slightly, "It's easy to say! Who would take it?" "Yes!" the emperor said very seriously, with an air of argument, "Not to mention our subordinates, there are Han people who are willing to serve." So the emperor told about Li Guangzhao's situation. The Empress Dowager Ci'an was a little skeptical, but the Empress Dowager Cixi was very excited. "This surname is Li," she said. Well, those who do their best are of course gracious. Could it be that the higher-ups use his Mu Zhi in vain? So it’s a little more beautiful now.” "Yes!" The emperor was reminded, and said generously: "As long as he really repays his service with sincerity, and reward him with a real lack in the future, even the Hanyang Mansion will be nothing." Hearing their mother and son talking so enthusiastically, the Empress Dowager Ci'an was also encouraged, and her mind became active, thinking that it would be a very honorable thing to restore the old Summer Palace that had been burned. comfort.And so she, unknowingly, joined in. This afternoon's discussion, the news quickly spread to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, except for one Gui Qing, everyone was very excited. "This is amazing!" Guibao said to the officials and pen posts under his supervision, "Do it well! As long as the Old Summer Palace can be repaired, this achievement will be the same as that of Zeng Zhong's cousin who restored Jinling." Naturally, the Zeng brothers did not dare to have such an extravagant hope that the Zeng brothers conquered Jinling, made them marquises and paid homage to their prime ministers.But in the sixty-four years of Qianlong's reign, Yuanmingyuan was being built almost every day. It would take ten or eight years to build such a garden into a decent shape. Created every day, sold out every day, countless "golden rice bowls" can be produced in the "golden pot", and the good days are really endless. Therefore, the ministers and officials in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs re-assigned the duties of the garden repair masters. Guibao and Wenxi were actually in charge. There are presentations and instructions. "Listen to what they say, how, how, I don't know." The emperor said to Xiao Li like this: "I have to go and see for myself." "Yes!" Xiao Li didn't know how to answer, so he could only agree first. "Go and discuss with them to see how to get there?" The emperor said again, "I think it's better to go for a walk quietly. Once the decree is issued, it will make the six gods feel uneasy!" Xiao Li was startled again, but after thinking about it, he was ordered to discuss with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If the sky falls, there will be an elder to support him. If it is not his turn to be unlucky, then it doesn't matter. So he replied with a smile: "Yes! The servant will go to discuss with them immediately." After finding Guibao, after explaining the story, Guibao was very courageous and agreed: "Since there is a decree, I will naturally follow it. I will make arrangements first, and please report to the emperor, which day will I go?" "You have made arrangements for that day, so go there on that day." Xiao Li asked, "What is your arrangement? Tell me." "Of course there can't be a 'study room' that day. When the court is over, please ask the emperor to change into plain clothes and go out of the corner gate of the Zhongzheng Hall. I will bring a car and wait there." When he went back and found out, the emperor was overjoyed, but he wanted to ride a black horse named "Iron Dragon Colt" by General Jilin. This time, Xiao Li didn't dare to agree. "Long live Lord, please spare this servant!" Xiao Li knelt down and said, "There is no 'Horse Pressing Minister', the slave dare not let Long Live Lord ride a horse. If a piece of oily skin is broken or something, the slave has eight heads and it is not enough to chop off." .” "Then," the emperor relented, "in the manor, I must ride a horse." Xiao Li inherently feared that the emperor would fall off his horse and be injured, but the main thing was that he was afraid of riding in the street and being seen through by others.Riding a horse in the garden is not galloping anyway, leading the horse and walking slowly, there is absolutely no accident, so he agreed. On the third day, the wind was sunny and the autumn was pleasant. The emperor felt more excited, changed into plain clothes as planned, and quietly left the palace.A brand-new rear-end car in Guibao's cross-shaft transported the emperor safely to the Yuanmingyuan. When he got there, the emperor knew that riding a horse was not suitable, because he could not listen to people's explanations, so he inspected various places on foot. Due to the vast area under its jurisdiction, not to mention walking all over the garden, just enter the "Grand Palace Gate" and "Xianliang Gate", and take a look at the "Zhengda Guangming Hall", "Qinzhengqinxian Hall" and "Qianhu Lake" west of "Fuhai". It took two hours to see the abandoned site of "Qingyan of Kyushu" between "and "Houhu". Looking at the shadow of the sun to the west, Xiao Li repeatedly urged him to return. After staying for a long time, he was still escorted back to the city by Guibao, and entered the palace through the gate in the northwest corner of the Forbidden City. The first thing he did when he returned to Qianqing Palace was to ask Zhang Dexi, the chief eunuch, what happened in the palace?Zhang Dexi and Xiao Li had a tacit understanding, they knew that the emperor was doing very little, so he didn't want to tell the truth, so they just reported "nothing happened". Nothing is a blessing!A stone fell to the ground in Xiao Li's heart.This night when I was serving the emperor under the lamp, I had to talk about Yuanmingyuan again. The conversation got late at night, and I wanted to sleep a little longer the next day, so I told Xiao Li to preach: "There is no study room." The weather in autumn is cool, it is time to work hard, but the emperor let his master and Wenda take leave for no reason. First of all, Li Hongzao was very disappointed and quite dissatisfied. Is it time to make a discount?Some remonstrance. As soon as he left the Hongde Hall, he saw Gui Qing hurrying over, Li Hongzao called to him and said, "Lianfang, don't go in, there is no study room today." Hearing this, Gui Qing was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head and said sadly: "It's not a good sign!" "Why did you say that?" Li Hongzao asked in surprise, "What is the omen?" "Come here, please," Gui Qing pulled him aside, and whispered, "There are rumors outside that the emperor did not walk around yesterday." "No way!" Li Hongzao was skeptical. "I don't really believe it either, but now I have to be suspicious." Gui Qing asked, "Why did you 'withdraw' the study suddenly?" "No...!" Li Hongzao whispered softly, "There is a reason for the incident!" Then he hurriedly asked: "What do you say outside? Where is Weixing?" "I went to Haidian to look at the garden. There are people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs following me." "Then, Lianfang, why didn't you know in advance?" "Hmph!" Gui Qing smiled wryly, "Am I still the Minister of Internal Affairs?" "This is really not a good sign!" Li Hongzao thought for a while, and found a Sura, "I ask you to go and see, has Master Rong entered the palace? Is it at the inner left door?" Lord Rong refers to Rong Lu. He enters the palace every day and always sits in the guard's duty room at the inner left door.Su La rushed to visit, but did not see Rong Lu, but heard about Rong Lu, saying that he was summoned by the "Seventh Master" and rode to Prince Chun's Mansion in Taiping Lake on horseback. Li Hongzao's intention was to inquire about this matter from Rong Lu, and it was true, Rong Lu had to know.Because he was in charge of the left wing of the yamen as the infantry commander, although he was only in charge of the security of the east city, but the spies of the Shenji camp were all over the nine cities, and they knew all the news, big or small, let alone the one who traveled quietly.Now that we can't find Ronglu, we have to put it aside for the time being, so as not to go around and ask around, so as not to be shocking. When I got back to the military plane, I met Wen Xiang first. Seeing that he was thin and coughing profusely, I found out that the old disease of hemoptysis had recurred yesterday after asking.At this moment, a report came from outside, saying that King Chun had arrived, and he was here to see King Gong. This obviously has an urgent matter, otherwise, the brothers often have the opportunity to meet in the private residence, so there is nothing to talk about, so why rush to the military plane at this time? When Prince Gong heard the news, he naturally felt abrupt, and welcomed him out of the house. The first thing King Chun said was: "Sixth brother, let's find a place to talk." "Come here!" Prince Gong pointed to an empty room. So Su La lifted the door curtain, and the two brothers walked in one after the other.That room is where Prince Gong usually takes a nap, it is very quiet.King Jin looked around and saw that there was no idler, and then said solemnly: "Yesterday, the emperor slipped to Haidian! Does Brother Six know about this? " "I don't know!" Prince Gong was very surprised, "Why didn't Zai Cheng tell me?" "Zaicheng asked for leave yesterday." Prince Gong became more and more confused when he said this, the matter of the emperor's Weixing has not been clarified yet, and he found out that his son asked for leave without telling him, and naturally he was fooling around outside, he was confused for a while, and he stood there speechless. "Sixth brother," Chun Wang didn't understand what was on his mind, but when he heard that the emperor had sneaked into Haidian, he was so horrified that he slowed down his voice and said, "This is the first time. Let's discuss it and see how we can make it better." The emperor knows that this is not a joke, but it doesn't hurt the emperor's face." "Oh!" Prince Gong collected himself and wanted to ask from the beginning, "Who did you hear that from?" "Someone came to tell me; I asked Rong Zhonghua to ask, and it was really good." King Chun said again: "It was a rear-gear car, with Guibao crossing the shaft, and it went before noon, and it didn't return to the palace until four o'clock in the afternoon. " "Damn it!" Prince Gong paused. "Yes, it's abominable! I have to take Yan Shen." "Slow down!" Prince Gong pulled him to sit on the kang, leaned over his head and asked in a low voice: "Do you know that you are planning to repair the garden again?" How could King Alcohol not know?However, it is inconvenient for the Empress Dowager Cixi to express her objection on this matter, so she just nodded without commenting. But Prince Gong couldn't let him go, and asked urgently: "I heard that there is such a charter, which requires everyone to donate money to pay for service. If the higher-ups explain it like this, will you pay for it?" This question stopped King Chun, shook his head and said, "It's hard! I can't say it right now, I'll see it later." "Yes!" Prince Gong nodded, "That's what he said. Whether the emperor slipped out and read it, or listened to the nonsense of the people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, we have a principle, 'Don't be surprised if you don't blame it, the blame will defeat you!' At this moment, I pretended not to know, and got rid of this matter in the dark." King Jin didn't like to take this method of doing nothing and letting it go away naturally, but for things like this, you must get the support of King Gong before you can take any action, so you have no choice but to obey for the time being. "However," he felt that there was something he had to say, "The Ministry of Internal Affairs is making too much trouble! It's better to kill their prestige." "It depends on the opportunity." Prince Gong sighed slightly, "It will be difficult if the two queen mothers are in the way of everything." The King of Alcohol was speechless, he came in high spirits, and returned in disappointment.Just go back and tell Rong Lu that if you encounter the emperor's insignificant behavior in the future, you must report it immediately.There is no need to take care of this, Rong Lu will do the same.Immediately, more spies were sent to investigate around the Shenwumen area day and night. Fortunately, more than a month has passed, and the emperor has never been found to act rashly again.