Chapter 41 Jade Seat Bead Curtain (8-2)

The next day was still the time to enter Zhihongde Hall, so Weng Tonghe went to Jingyunmen and sat in the Zhilu of the imperial guards.After a while, Woren and Xu Tong came together, and they couldn't talk for three or five words. A Su La from the Military Aircraft Department said that Prince Gong invited them to meet under the corridor of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.As soon as they arrived, Prince Gong, Bao Jun and Hu Jiayu came to get rid of Wen Xiang who was suppressing the horse bandits outside the pass. Li Hongzao was in mourning at home, and all the ministers were here. Everyone stood in the corridor and talked, "The two empress dowagers said that it is the emperor's homework to keep Li Hongzao, and there are unavoidable difficulties, so I will discuss it with the ministers on the military plane." Prince Gong raised his hand when he said this. Take the document and hand it to Woren:

"Look, Gen Weng, I asked them to find this from the old file." Two are edicts about seizing love, one is the fourth year of Yongzheng, the worry of Zhu Shi, a scholar of the Wenhua Palace, Ding's father;Woren knew the history of these two cases, and he replied immediately: "Yu Minzhong's father was worried about his biological father, and he returned to the clan to serve him. Over the past year, he returned to serve as the Minister of the Department of Punishment. He returned to his hometown to attend the funeral because his stepfather died of illness. Soon. , and Ding Bensheng's mother was worried, and Yu Minzhong hid and did not report it. He was impeached by Yu Shi Zhu Ji, who blamed him for two funerals, and confused him into one. The situation is different. Moreover, Yu Minzhong was greedy for selfishness, Gu En neglected his duties, Chunmiao was in his later years, and deeply regretted the wrong use of him, which was a stain on Shengde. In the fifty-first year of Qianlong's reign, Yu Minzhong was withdrawn from the Xianliang Temple, and in sixty years He also cut his position as the captain of the light car. The ancestors had the courage to make up for their mistakes, and they looked up to see the holiness as high as the sky. What's the point of a villain like Yu Minzhong, who is keen on profit and wealth?"

"What about Zhu Wenduan?" Bao Jun questioned, "The virtues of the Qing Dynasty are so great that there is no difference at one time. In the pure temple imperial poems, it is called 'Mr. Keting Zhu' but not famous. Is it not enough for the law?" Zhu Shi was posthumously named Wenduan. He was not only a famous minister, but also a master of the Book of Rites.There is indeed a reason why he had to "take away" his "love" for following the imperial edict to seize his love and stay in office to handle affairs. "Zhu Wenduan is really a great Confucian!" Wo Ren replied slowly: "He was in a difficult situation in the fourth year of Yongzheng. At that time, he was assisting Prince Yixian to manage Jifu water conservancy. It is a different matter to transfer filial piety to loyalty."

"Isn't it a big deal for the Emperor's classics to become a holiness?" "Of course it is a major event. But this major event is different from the situation that Zhu Wenduan had to do at that time. At that time, Zhu Wenduan governed the water conservancy of Jifu. If he followed the perfunctory and gave up halfway, the nine cities would be surging and the imperial capital would be transformed into a state of Ze. What is the system?" When Ren said this, he turned his face and looked at Xu and Weng: "Yinxuan and Shuping, why don't you express your views!"

"The ancient Mofu joined the army." "Ah!" Xu Tong just started, but Bao Jun interrupted.For him, Wo Ren is the senior, and Xu Tong and Weng Tonghe are the juniors. At this time, he can use the wording of the juniors to refute the seniors with more straightforward words: "The pedantic and strict habits of the Ming Dynasty are often unreasonable. I think you will come here!" He paused for a while, and said simply, "What kind of etiquette is impolite, it is just empty talk. Today I only ask you what you want, whether you want it or not?" His attitude is arbitrary, and his language is ambiguous. Who does "willing and unwilling" refer to?Could it be that the three people in front of them did not want Li Hongzao to walk in Hongde Hall?

Isn't this slanderous? Just as he was hesitating like this and didn't know how to express his attitude, Bao Jun deceived himself and said to King Gong: "Okay, the three of them have no objection, and we can play!" After this entry, another edict was issued. In addition to repeating that the emperor's homework is important, and "the maintenance is busy, and you Zi praises the painting", it is also a warm edict: "The servant of the second thought, the sorrow is not forgotten. , I have to show a little difference. There was a decree before that the court meeting does not have to be listed, which is not enough to show sympathy. Li Hongzao followed the decree of Emperor Sejongxian during the Yongzheng period, not to wear court clothes within 27 months, and not to have banquets with the court meeting; There is nothing unnecessary in the place where the ceremony is gathered. The servant should deeply feel the affection of the imperial court, restrain his grief, and show filial piety and loyalty, so he should not ask for a second appointment."

How could Li Hongzao stop "reporting"?But if you still come forward by yourself and ask the officials to play on your behalf, the meaning of not obeying the imperial edict is too obvious, and I am afraid that the empress dowagers of the two palaces will feel even more unhappy.So I asked Weng Tonghe to discuss it. What he meant was that he wanted to invite colleagues from Hongde Palace to make a statement on his behalf, which would be more appropriate. "Of course I am obliged to do so." Weng Tonghe replied, "I don't know what happened to Mr. Wo and Mr. Xu? Mr. Bao Pei has a lot of prejudice against the three of us."

"Let's not talk about this level for now. Shuping, I would like to thank you for a large sum of money, first draw up a draft and then talk about it." So Weng Tonghe drew up a draft in the tone of Woren's leadership. The two of them considered it properly, and Li Hongzao put it away, and asked Woren and Xu Tong for help. The excerpt on behalf of the petition was carefully considered by Woren, Xu Tong, and Weng Tonghe. The aphorism in it is, "If you want to say goodbye, you will be close to Gu En, and if you want to suppress your feelings, you will feel guilty." "This sentence turns into preferring to be "gracious" and unwilling to "guilty".So this article was really not done well, but after repeated revisions, it became more and more fragmented. In the end, the original manuscript was still used, and the copy was being handed in.

The next day, after the pre-dinner homework was over, the eunuch from the Hall of Mental Cultivation came to deliver an order, and the empress dowagers of the two palaces summoned him. Outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, King Chun was still leading the class. His expression was very ugly, and he seemed to have suffered a great dumb loss. Everyone understood why he was dissatisfied. When they were summoned, it seemed like a confrontation before the imperial court.The Jade Seat with the Curtain, originally sitting in Dongnuange facing west, was summoned together with the Minister of Military Aircraft at this time, to the south were Prince Gong, Bao Jun and Hu Jiayu, and to the north was the three ministers walking in the Hongde Hall.The expressions of the empress dowagers of the two palaces were also very different from usual, so serious that there was no smile at all.

A memorial was unfolded in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi, she pointed and asked: "Why is there such a memorial? Do you not understand the difficulties of the above, or is there another reason?" "The minister waits according to the etiquette." Wu Ren replied. "Where can everything be respected?" Empress Dowager Cixi said, "Like a curtain, is it also a ritual?" Taking the curtain as an example, this statement is quite frank, and it shows the sincerity of the two empress dowagers to keep Li Hongzao. Woren was so dumb that he couldn't say a word for a long time.

"Don't we sisters know how to be polite? But power is the most important thing. If you just cling to the word "li" desperately, things will be difficult." "Yes!" Prince Gong turned his face to the north and said: "You three always have to look up to your body, why do you say things differently before and after?" This accusation was unreasonable, it was originally Bao Yun's wishful thinking and the trouble caused by Fei Yang's impetuousness, but above the palace, it was not the place to make such accusations, when Wu Ren was hesitating, Bao Yun jumped ahead and spoke. "This matter always needs to be persuaded by people in the game." He said, "If you still sneer back, wouldn't it be embarrassing?" This is especially arbitrarily false. He means that Wo Ren and the others are not considerate of Li Hongzao, and deliberately use some famous teaching principles to force him to do this. , I was angry in my heart, and my words became more and more difficult to speak clearly. "The ministers don't want Li Hongzao to go straight as usual, so that the ministers can lighten the burden." Xu Tongyi argued, "But Li Hongzao is very determined, and he refuses to persuade him. There is no intention of ridicule." "So, how do you play for him?" The Empress Dowager Cixi's words were so powerful that Xu Tong was speechless when asked.Wuren then followed Xu Tong's meaning and said: "The relationship between sacred and academic studies is very important. Li Hongzao is quite effective in serving as a student. The ministers also hope that Li Hongzao will change his mind. They just saw that the servant is in dire straits and is in dire straits. Nothing else." "You should also imagine for the court, isn't the court also in dire straits?" When the queen mother asked in such a tone, the ministers had nothing to answer, and a stalemate formed for a while, so the queen mother Ci'an said in a gesture of relief: "Well, you still persuade Li Hongzao, take care of the late emperor, and let him feel wronged!" "Yes!" Woren replied, "I will wait for Yi's order to handle it." Kneeling up, King Jin took him out of the hall, and he finally couldn't help saying: "You should also discuss with me, no matter what, I will always lead the inspection of the Hongde Hall. Like this I don't know anything about it, you put yourself in my place and think about it, can you make it through?" Woren was sulking and ignored his words at all. He returned to Maoqin Hall and said angrily: "Bao Peiheng is hateful, but he is still Hanlin!" "What should we do now?" Xu Tong asked. "You two, please go to Lansun's place!" Wo Ren said, "I can't speak." "That's right!" Xu Tong said, "Back to what you promised, now we outsiders are at a loss." Everyone has a cavity of depression that they can't tell, so we didn't talk about it any further.At night, Weng Tonghe always felt uneasy. After thinking about it carefully, he still had to tell Li Hongzao what happened that day, and if he called again the next day, he would have an explanation when asked. When he arrived at Li's house, Li Hongzao first expressed his apology. From this, we can know that he had already got the news of the empress dowager Cixi's censure, and then he took out a "six elements".I saw the question from the above: "since Wuren and others regard seizing love as indecent, why not report it according to the facts when they were summoned last time, but there was no objection at that time. Incomprehensible!" Then he quoted what Wo Ren and Xu Tong said in the morning: "It is Wo Ren and others who also know this act of seizing love, and the subordinates have no choice but to handle it. I think that Chinese and foreign ministers and workers will be able to work together. Forgive me for this. Li Hongzao thinks that the sages and studies are being updated day by day, and there are many reasons in the world. To be loyal is to be filial. The previous decree has been detailed, and he must strictly abide by the previous decree, so he should not stick to common sense and act earnestly." "So," Weng Tonghe asked, "what are your plans now?" "It's inappropriate to make any more presentations at this time. Fortunately, there are a hundred days to go, so we'll talk about it when the time comes." Weng Tonghe thought to himself, at present, the only way is to shelve it.With a wry smile, he handed back the edict. "Shuping!" Li Hongzao apologized again, "It's a disaster for me to involve the three of you. I really don't know what to say. But I'm thinking, if I did what Anxi Xiangguo did, you must not Will you consider me a friend again, won't you?" It's not obvious what he said, but Weng Tonghe just followed his intention and nodded seriously. "That's right—I did the right thing." He did the right thing, Weng Tonghe felt that what he did was too wrong. The big mistake was that he should have expressed decisively to Bao Yun's arbitrariness that day in the corridor of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.It is strange to blame Woren for not being good at eloquence. It seems that the four subjects of Confucianism, "language", are really important. "Bao Peigong is indeed a little unreasonable, no wonder Mr. Gen Feng has criticisms of him." "What did Mr. Gen Feng say?" Li Hongzao asked very attentively. Weng Tonghe thought for a while, and finally said: "It's hateful to call him, and he is actually an Hanlin." Li Hongzao smiled deeply, "Now...," he said, "you can see the weight of Wen Bochuan, right?" It was true, if Wen Xiang was here, things would never have gotten so bad.Weng Tonghe thought about the situation before and after, and felt unbelievable.The ministers of the Handing Kingdom behaved so absurdly and recklessly, and the ministers who are upright and standing in the court look at it like that, and when they encounter such a thing, they can't argue with reason.It seems that Li Hongzao is the most powerful. The courtiers' arguments were also similar to Weng Tonghe's thoughts. The uselessness of Woren was clearly expressed in the three edicts before and after. The reputation of "Mr. Gen Feng" was greatly reduced in everyone's minds. On the contrary, Li Hongzao's integrity and filial piety were quite praised by scholars, and his reputation increased. When Li Tangjie and Qi Junzao passed away one after another, amidst the laments of the old generation's withering, he became a master of "orthodox learning". Prince Gong and Prince Chun were both worried that after Li Hongzao served for a hundred days, he might not be willing to dismiss the fake as the imperial edict indicated.But Shen Gong didn't know the situation outside, so he didn't think about it. Fortunately, the little emperor has gradually become more comfortable with Weng Tonghe, especially in writing, and he is more interested in writing, so the empress dowagers are relieved. ※ ※ ※ The Empress Dowager Cixi, who likes to be lively and busy in the palace, thought of having a happy event to choose a match for the princess and the daughters of the kings.In the system of the Qing Dynasty, the marriage of princes and children was decided by the queen mother, which was called "finger marriage".Her first wish was to choose a good son-in-law for Princess Dagege Rongshou, followed by Princess Rongan, who was born out of Concubine Ligui, and then the eldest daughter of King Chun and the two youngest daughters of King Dun. It's time to get married. The minister in charge of the House of Internal Affairs received an order from the empress dowagers of the two palaces to draw up a list of the noble children of Manchuria and Mongolia who met the conditions of "forehead consorts". After the approval of the empress dowagers of the two palaces, they were summoned regularly.As soon as Yi's decree was passed on, some families were happy and some were sad. The happy ones hoped to take advantage of this opportunity to hope for prosperity and solid favor, and the sad ones were Qi Dafei's marriage, and the Lord's marriage was never a good match. On the third day of September, the empress dowagers of the two palaces summoned them in the Qin'an Palace in the Imperial Garden.There were twenty-three people in total, all around fifteen years old, some were handsome, some were stupid, led by the imperial ministers, each of them reported their resumes, and waited for the empress dowagers of the two palaces to search for inquiries. A few of them were known to the empress dowagers of the two palaces, or they had long liked them.One is Yipin Yinsheng Zhiduan, the son of the sixth concubine Jingshou. He is the sister of the same mother of Prince Gong and born of Princess Shouen.One is Dorobel Narsu, the grandson of the Monk King, who is the opposite of Zhiduan, a general who is very heroic. After being summoned, the empress dowagers of the two palaces avoided secret discussions and first talked about Princess Rong An's marriage. The Empress Dowager Ci'an has already made a mark on the list, "I think this Ruiyu is quite promising." She said, "I don't know what background?" "He is the descendant of Taizong's ten-head consort Huisai." Empress Dowager Cixi said, "He came from Fei Yingdong, who was the first hero under Taizu's grandfather." "Then, let's assign it to the eldest princess!" Cixi has no objection to this, in fact, she deliberately let the Empress Dowager Ci'an be the master, she took a fancy to Zhiduan and Naersu, and wanted to ration Da Gege and the eldest daughter of King Chun.Zhong Zhiduan is a talent, and Naersu is half of her family background. King Chun is married to the first Mongolian family, which will help her career in the future. "It's just that the name is hard to pronounce." The Empress Dowager Ci'an repeated it twice: "Ruiyu, Ruiyu, not loud." "That's okay, tell him to change his name." So the empress dowagers of the two palaces discussed changing Ruiyu's name, and asked An Dehai to take a copy of "Book of Rites", chose a dozen or so words suitable for the name, wrote them into squares, and pieced them together for a long time to form "Fu" The word "Zhen" made the empress dowagers of the two palaces very satisfied. Speaking of Zhiduan, Empress Dowager Ci'an asked, "Do you want to ask Liu Ye what he means?" "Then do you still have to ask?" What the Empress Dowager Cixi meant was that they were close cousins, and they were gentle and refined, and they were very good at reading. There was absolutely no reason why Prince Gong would like such a quick son-in-law.Empress Dowager Ci'an also knew about this, she felt that Zhiduan was good in everything, the only fly in the ointment was that his body was thin.But at this time, it is natural to think in a good place. The thirteen-year-old Da Gege is already slim and looks like a big girl, but the sixteen-year-old Zhiduan is still developing and will turn around in the future. Weakness becomes strong. The two marriages have been decided, and the third is to refer to Naersu as the forehead of the eldest daughter of King Chun.Next, two sons-in-laws will be selected for King Dun, one is Duke Kun Lin, who is the descendant of Tong Guogang, the ancestor's maternal family; the other is Baron Enming, the descendant of the founding hero Subai. The assignment is complete and the encyclical is issued.The next day, the nobles who were involved brought their sons to the court to thank them. The princes and ministers who were walking in the inner court came to congratulate them one after another when they heard the good news.The eunuchs and Su La, the deacons of each palace, came to see the forehead son-in-law with the mood of watching the groom's official, and crowded the prince's court room full of joy and excitement. The same is true in the deep palace. Both King Dun and Prince Chun's Fujin brought their daughters to thank the queen mothers of the two palaces. Prince Gong Fujin also came, happy on the surface, but disapproving in his heart. In the same way, I feel that Zhiduan's body is thin and has secret worries.But the deal was done, so I had no choice but to say nothing, and I didn't even dare to ask Da Gege, did she feel satisfied with the arrangement of Empress Dowager Cixi?I'm afraid that if I ask, I will get into trouble. She is really a "knowledge girl like a mother", Da Gege doesn't appreciate her cousin, and thinks he is thin and unmanly, but she is very sensible, feels wronged in her heart, and refuses to show it on the scene, only weeping in secret. The little emperor didn't know what was on her mind.He has a very good relationship with his two older sisters, but their attitudes towards getting along are different. He sometimes bullies and quarrels with Princess Rong An, but he is obedient to Da Gege. Gossip, get comfort from her.So when I heard that the Ministry of Rites was already preparing for the "Princess Rongshou's surrender" and she was going to leave the palace to get married soon, I felt panicked as if I had lost something, and hurried to see Da Gege. The eleven-year-old little emperor was also quite sensible about human affairs. Although he was reluctant to part with him, he also knew that it was not appropriate to say those sad words.Seeing Da Gege embroidering, he laughed and said: "Hey, dowry for yourself?" Da Gege ignored him, his face was as tight as the soft satin on the embroidery frame, he stood up and called out: "Your Majesty!" He sat down and said, "Look, who used this color?" ?” That piece of soft satin is bright yellow, and only the empress dowager and the emperor can use it.The color of Da Gege's clothes was golden, the little emperor knew it, and when he took a closer look at the embroidered pattern, it was a fiery red dragon, which became more and more obvious, and he exclaimed in surprise: "Ah, it's mine!" He was born in Bingchen, the sixth year of Xianfeng, and his zodiac is a dragon. He also heard from Master Xu that Bingding is fire, so he asked Da Gege to make a schoolbag for him, embroidered with a fiery red dragon.After talking about this for several months, he had already put it behind him, but Da Gege never forgot. "Don't mess with me!" Da Gege picked up the needle and said, "The work is almost finished!" "I don't make trouble." The little emperor asked, "Is it okay if I sit next to you?" "Then you just sit down obediently!" The little emperor listened to her words, sat obediently on the side, stared at Da Gege for a long time without speaking, his heart was empty, he couldn't say anything, it was the first time he experienced the feeling of parting sorrow, but he didn't know it was called parting sorrow. Big Gege ignored him at first, just lowered his head and embroidered on his own. When he realized that there was no movement for a long time, he couldn't help being surprised. When he raised his head and saw the little emperor's eyes were fixed in worry, he became more and more surprised, "What's the matter?" ask. "Say you're getting married! Don't you?" He answered irrelevantly. Da Gege was a little embarrassed and annoyed: "Why do you think of asking such a question?" She asked, "Who said that?" "Zhang Wenliang." "Listen to his nonsense." "Didn't the sixth son-in-law come here with Zhiduan to thank you? The Queen pointed him out to you. Zhang Wenliang said that the wedding was about to happen, and said that the mansion was all found. It was behind the Great Buddha Temple, and the Great Buddha Temple was there. what?" "Who knows where it is?" Da Gege frowned and said, "Don't ask! I don't like to hear it." "why?" "No reason! I just don't like to hear it." "I see," the little emperor suddenly became clever, "It must be because you don't like Zhiduan." Big Gege let him speak out unintentionally, the more he felt aggrieved, and he was a little anxious, fearing that his casual remarks would cause trouble in the ears of the two queen mothers, so he quickly stopped him and said: "My little ancestor, don't worry about it." It’s okay to be a little busy! Who told you these things? When I find out, I must punish the empress dowager.” "No one told me." The little emperor said, "I figured it out myself." "Wrong idea!" "Then do you like Zhiduan?" "The more you talk, the better it sounds!" Da Gege, who has always been the best at treating the little emperor, felt very troubled at this moment and couldn't deal with it, so he had no choice but to scare him. He stood up and pretended to be angry and said, "I want to go to the Changchun Palace." Go back and play, saying that the emperor doesn't study hard, and bullies me here with nonsense!" This was very effective, the little emperor hurriedly grabbed her and said, "No, no! I won't say anything. Talk about something else." "Okay!" Da Gege sat down now, "It's okay to say something else." "Eldest sister!" The little emperor remembered something, "Tell Uncle Six to ask Zai Cheng to study with me." "I won't tell." "why?" "If Zaicheng doesn't learn well, we can't let him be with the emperor." Da Gege said again, "And it's useless to say it, there must be a decree for it." "Then, then, please ask the Queen Mother." "Why should I ask? It's not my business." The little emperor felt that what she said was wrong, but he didn't know how to refute her?At this time, a court lady said: "Please drive the emperor! Changchun Palace has passed the meal." So the little emperor went to the Changchun Palace in a car seat, had dinner with the Empress Dowager Cixi, and at the same time had to give an account of the day's homework.Empress Dowager Cixi also often asked many questions. Every time he was asked about his homework, the little emperor felt flustered at first. There was too much homework, and he often couldn't figure out what to do. If he answered slowly, the Empress Dowager Cixi's face would darken.The more flustered the heart is, the more dull the mouth will be.An Dehai often fawned over the Queen Mother, pretending to be extremely loyal, and tried hard to persuade the little emperor to remember the Queen Mother's words, play less and work harder, and in these persuasions, many naughty things of the little emperor were revealed. This action turned into fuel to the flames, making the Queen Mother even more angry.Therefore, the little emperor hated An Dehai very much, and said to Zhang Wenhao more than once: "When I grow up, I must kill Xiao Anzi!" These words were not only Zhang Wenliang, but all the little eunuchs who served the emperor knew.It's just that Zhang Wenliang and the chief eunuch knew that once the words reached An Dehai's ears and let the Empress Dowager Cixi know, there would be a series of investigations and a wide-ranging accident, so they sternly warned against talking nonsense. Otherwise, you will be beaten to death with a board!It was because of such pressure that An Dehai had to be kept a secret. On this day, when asking about homework at the dining table, the little emperor first recited a few Tang poems taught by Weng Tonghe, and the Empress Dowager Cixi was very satisfied.It is not quite right to ask about other things, she knew in her heart that the key lies in the master's teaching method.Counting the days, Li Hongzao's 100th day of filial piety is almost over, and he needs to send an order early to let him follow the order to sell the leave. That's what I was thinking in my heart, but when I summoned the military plane the next day, I didn't have time to discuss this matter. There were so many major events these days, and the main ones were military affairs.Yang Yuebin didn't handle the rebellion in Shaanxi well, so he specially transferred Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang who had just cleared the remnants of Hong Yang in Guangdong, to take over. The vacated vacancy was filled by Wu Tang.However, like the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, he still cannot take office.Because Zeng Guofan suppressed and suppressed the Nian Army, although he had already set the purpose of stopping the Nian army, he stationed troops in the four towns of Linhuai in Anhui, Zhoujiakou in Henan, Xuzhou in Jiangsu, and Jining in Shandong. The river was defended in sections, and this "long enclosure system" made the Nian army run into walls everywhere, and could not whirl around like a whirlwind like before, but they were erratic and difficult to extinguish.Wu Tang's governor of water transportation, when the defense was tight, was unable to hand over for a while, so he couldn't go to Fujian to pick up the governor who had sealed borders. For this reason, the Empress Dowager Cixi felt very unhappy, and with some censors, she continued to impeach Zeng Guofan's teachers for their ineffectiveness, so she once mentioned to Prince Gong that she might as well change the coach.However, the Nian army was fighting a trapped beast. They fled from Shandong along the south bank of the Yellow River to Henan.But at last a big victory was won, the four major forces of the Nian Army were defeated, Zhang Zongyu fled into Shaanxi, Ren Zhu and Lai Wenguang fled back to Shandong, and Niu Laohong died in the rebellion. In the middle, the divisions are scattered. Now is the time for Yi Shuai.The imperial court thought so, but Zeng Guofan also had the same plan. He wrote a memorial to complain about his illness, asking for the vacancies of co-organizers and governors of Liangjiang, and asking another imperial envoy to take over military affairs. "At the same time, there is an attached piece, which says, "The suppression of twisting is invalid. Please ennoble the minister's income and cancel it temporarily." Between the lines, it can be seen that there is a lot of complaints.At this time, Zeng Guoquan, who was transferred to the governor of Hubei, impeached the governor of Huguang, a scholar, with extremely harsh words. At that time, he accepted bribes from officials, and the bribes given by officials were the public funds on the grain table. Although the Empress Dowager Cixi has never met the Zeng brothers, she knows their temperament very well.Although Zeng Guofan lost his way slowly, he was sincere in seeking the country, humble and cautious, and only occasionally complained. Zeng Guoquan was not as cultivated as his brother. Outside of that booklet, it seems that one can hear such a sentence: "An idiot like Guan Wen hasn't fought a good day's battle, so why should he get an earl?" Realizing this, Empress Dowager Cixi felt apologetic.At the same time, I also understand that this is a trouble that cannot be ignored. If it is not handled well, not to mention stirring up mutiny, it will at least affect morale.So when sending Zeng Guoquan's paperwork, he specially sealed it with his own hands, and wrote the words "opened by Prince Gong", indicating that it was a confidential document that he had to handle personally. On this day, the military plane was summoned, and the order was sent in advance, and only Prince Gong was called to visit.This is the so-called "single pair", Prince Gong knew it well, and with Zeng Guoquan's memorial, he also calculated two ways, depending on his intentions, he chose one to play. "What does Zeng Guoquan's excerpt mean?" Empress Dowager Cixi asked first. "It's hard to guess now." Prince Gong replied very cautiously, "Although the official documents are made by people, they can still be generally maintained. However, there are some lax controls." "Why is it not strictly controlled?" "He dotes on..." Prince Gong wanted to say: He dotes on a concubine and let her decide everything.When the words came to his mouth, he remembered the taboo of a big offender, immediately stopped, and changed his words: "Doting on a doorman and a cook, these two people can't help showing off." "Zeng Guoquan was in the official document, saying that he is a member of the Sushun Party." Empress Dowager Cixi asked seriously, "Is there such a thing?" "That cook was recommended by Su Shun." "No wonder his cook is so nasty! This has to be investigated." "Yes." Prince Gong replied: "If the governor and governor are not on good terms, we must send officials to investigate and deal with it." "Who should I send?" According to the normal rules, because the official title is extremely high, at least one co-organizer should be sent, but this way it is clear that the official document must be investigated, which will cause a lot of disturbance.Therefore, King Gong explained the reasons and suggested sending Miansen, Shangshu of the Ministry of punishment, and Tan Tingxiang, minister of the Ministry of household affairs, to Hubei.Empress Dowager Cixi agreed. "Where's Hu Jiayu? What's going on?" "The minister has asked him to ask. He admitted that he accepted the two thousand taels of Cheng Yi from the official document, saying that he refused to accept it at first. Later, the official document told him that it was not a private gift, but a public fund, so that he Hire chariots and horses along the way, and reward husbands and servants." "Whether it's private or public money, it's bribery anyway! He's like this, and people look down on him on a military plane." "Yes!" Prince Gong looked at the attitude of the Empress Dowager Cixi and immediately replied: "I request that Hu Jiayu withdraw from the military plane first?" The Empress Dowager Cixi nodded, and turned to ask the Empress Dowager Ci'an for her opinion. She also thought that Hu Jiayu's withdrawal from the military plane was appropriate, and said: "This is also a face for Zeng Guoquan. However, don't go too far. He should understand the answer— — After all, it’s only two thousand taels of silver.” With the result of this case, let's talk about the memorial that Zeng Guofan asked for a vacancy. At this time, it was the Empress Dowager Ci'an who spoke first, "I don't understand why Zeng Guofan didn't even want his title?" She said in a slightly worried voice, "I always feel that what he said this time It's different from before, as if I feel quite uncomfortable. Liu Ye, don't you think so?" "The empress dowager is wise!" Prince Gong replied in a praising tone, "Zeng Guofan is a little angry." "It doesn't look like him! Let's think about it carefully. Is there anything wrong with him? If you push a good man into a hurry, there will be trouble!" What Empress Dowager Ci'an said made Prince Gong terrified, but Empress Dowager Cixi didn't take it seriously.It wasn't because of the words "trouble": "It can't be said that the court forced him, let alone wronged him! Several provinces in the southeast are entrusted to him, and he can do whatever he says. Can this be called wronged him? " Seeing her angry look, Prince Gong felt uneasy, fearing that the two empress dowagers would disagree, and he would be caught in the middle.So he quickly diverted the conversation, "The minister asks Yizhi," He said, "Zeng Guofan's request to cancel his knighthood should be beyond dispute." "Of course." The Empress Dowager Ci'an showed great demeanor, looked at the Empress Dowager Cixi calmly and said, "Let's discuss it calmly while there are no outsiders here." "Yes!" The Empress Dowager Cixi also realized that she had lost her composure, and smiled shyly. "I think, let's think about it first, can Zeng Guofan still be used?" The Empress Dowager Ci'an immediately added: "I mean leading troops to fight. If he can't do military affairs anymore, he can do other things. Zeng Guofan's strengths Isn't it a lot?" Prince Gong admired her opinion very much, and was quite surprised, he never thought that mothers-in-law and mothers, who seemed to be ignorant of foreign affairs, would outline and grasp the key points of the situation. "It's this level that's difficult," he replied while nodding deeply, "I can't tell whether Zeng Guofan can still lead troops to fight? Let's say his teacher has no merit. Now the 'long enclosure system' The method also worked.” "That's right!" Cixi interrupted him and said, "If Zeng Guofan can stand still, he needs someone to help him. He used to be his younger brother, but now he is his disciple. Since he is trying to protect Li Hongzhang, let Li Hongzhang take over the imperial envoy's guards." gone." "What about Zeng Guofan?" The Empress Dowager Ci'an quickly said, "Let him come to Beijing! I want to see him, what kind of person is he?" "That's a good idea!" Empress Dowager Cixi readily agreed. "Yes!" Prince Gong thought in his heart, if Zeng Guofan can use it internally, it can offset the stagnation of Japanese benevolence, and it will be of great benefit to the development of Westernization. According to this plan, it is not appropriate to let him return to office, so he replied like this He said: "Since Zeng Guofan came to Beijing to see His Majesty, it is inconvenient to open the vacancy of the imperial envoy for a while, can you let Li Hongzhang act temporarily?" The empress dowagers of the two palaces agreed with his approach.Prince Gong withdrew, and immediately planned to submit an edict. At the same time, he approached Bao Yun, and told him about the decision to send Miansen and Tan Tingxiang to Hubei to investigate the case, and to ask Hu Jiayu to withdraw from the military aircraft. Bao Yun was startled!One is a bachelor and the other is a minister of military aircraft. It is unavoidably appalling to be dealt with so harshly. Therefore, it is suggested that there is no need to issue an edict.Prince Gong always listened to his words the most, and played according to his words, so did the empress dowagers of the two palaces.But the paper couldn't contain the fire, and Guan Wen and Hu Jiayu were immediately talked about. The next day the empress dowagers of the two palaces summoned the military aircraft, and there were only two people, Prince Gong and Bao Yun.The Empress Dowager Cixi first explained that Li Hongzao will be on the verge of a hundred days, so he should enter the value as usual.Then discuss the vacancy of the Minister of Military Aircraft that Hu Jiayu vacated, who can he find to fill it? Since the queen dowagers of the two palaces have drawn the curtain, an unwritten rule has been established. The two Han military ministers are distributed according to the region, one north and one south. At first they were Li Tangjie and Cao Yuying. Li Tangjie was from Henan, so he was from the north. Li Hongzao of Li.Cao Yuying was from Jiangsu, and Hu Jiayu from Jiangxi filled his gap.Now that something happened to Hu Jiayu, it was still necessary to find a southerner to fill his vacancy. It is difficult to find such a person, he must have sufficient prestige, good conduct, and he must be cautious. Like Pan Zuyin, someone who smells like a celebrity, is always full of guests, and has a lot of friends is not suitable for joining the cardinal.Therefore, after discussing for a long time, there was no result. After retiring from the imperial court, Prince Gong personally went to Li Hongzao's residence to preach the decree. The prince came, and the ceremony was very grand. Li Hongzao had been prepared for a long time.He specially pretended to be haggard to receive Prince Gong. Since he was distressed and distressed, he was in a trance, his heart was beating and he was short of breath, and it was difficult to overcome.However, when it came to Hu Jiayu's lack, Li Hongzao recommended another person. This person was Zuodu Censor Wang Yuanfang, styled Xiao'an, a native of Yuhang, Zhejiang, a Hanlin in the 13th year of Daoguang, a long-term official in the capital, and mediocre.But precisely because of this reason, the guarantee is approved, and the issuance of the edict is all accidental. The empress dowagers of the two palaces really gave a lot of face, but Li Hongzao insisted that he must not be greedy for his position and forget his relatives like Li Guangdi, so he still complained about his illness. After a while, but Li Hongzao was unmoved, so Bao Jun had no choice but to repeat it truthfully. "Fortunately, Weng Tonghe is also very capable." Prince Gong persuaded, "Let Li Hongzao rest at home!" "The arrogance of these people is really a headache!" Empress Dowager Cixi suddenly asked, "Sixth Master, do you know that Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang also have opinions?" Prince Gong only knew that the newly trained Huaiyong and the still-disbanded Hunan Army were in a state of incomparable power. This was also one of the reasons why Zeng Guofan had a hard time dispatching Zhoujiakou. "Zeng Guofan's family members have moved out of Jiangdu's Yamen since April and went back to Hunan." The Empress Dowager Cixi said, "When the boat arrived in Wuchang, Zeng Guoquan left his sister-in-law there to spend the summer. Zeng Guofan married Guo Songtao, and married his daughter from the boat There is only two hundred taels of silver in compensation, Zeng Guoquan didn’t believe it, so he opened the dowry himself to see, isn’t it just two hundred taels of silver at the bottom of the box?” King Gong was very surprised, one didn't know about it, and the other didn't know how Empress Dowager Cixi knew about it?When she was stunned and unable to answer, the Empress Dowager Ci'an spoke. “这些话都不假。唉！也难怪曾国藩心境不好。又封侯、又拜相、又是两江总督钦差大臣，谁知道境况这么窘！” “我就不明白，曾国藩为什么把家眷搬出衙门？他以为朝廷不会叫他回任了？还是李鸿章急于想接他老师那个缺，逼得他师母待不住了呢？六爷，”慈禧太后断然决然地说：“朝廷不能待功臣这个样子，让曾国藩回两江！叫李鸿章去打仗，由曾国藩替他筹饷，这才是正办！”