Chapter 98 History outside the Qing Palace (8-1)

Fast forward to the end of the year.Since Zeng Jize's negotiations with Russia were done very well, not only can it be settled peacefully, but also won back a lot of rights, and Empress Dowager Cixi's illness is also getting worse day by day, so everyone feels that this year should be very vigorous. In the early morning of New Year's Eve, the princes and ministers bid farewell to the emperor, and after finishing their rituals in the Hall of Preserving Harmony, they dispersed one after another.During the year, the Minister of Military Aircraft was the only one who had nothing to do. Wang Wenshao went home early, changed into plain clothes, and was about to take his youngest son to Liulichang for a stroll. Suddenly someone came to deliver a funeral note, saying that Shen Guifen had died.

"Why?" Wang Wenshao was very surprised, "I was fine yesterday. Although I have been ill for a long time, I will not die all at once!" "It happened at ten o'clock, and I was short of breath. When the doctor arrived, it was too late to check the pulse, and I couldn't catch my breath." "So," Wang Wenshao asked the head of the Shen family, "Do you have anything to say at the end of your life?" Adults ask for advice." "Okay, I'll go." Wang Wenshao hurried to Shen's house, and many relatives and friends of Shen's family got the information and came to visit, of course Weng Tonghe was among them.

"Is there any legacy?" "No." Shen Wentao, Shen Guifen's son, knelt on the ground and cried, "It's something you can't even imagine in your dreams." "Brother, please get up." Wang Wenshao supported his hands, "The honorable old man has worked hard without complaint, and all kinds of grievances are known to King Gong and Bao Zhongtang. Li Lansun is also a righteous gentleman, and he must miss the old friendship. This is a pity. Please rest assured, brother. We must work hard, and we must always teach the old man to rest in peace."

"Yes!" The filial son kowtowed again and said, "My father was not very self-reliant, and he still doesn't know what to do with his future affairs?" "Please don't worry about this. You don't have to be too frugal if you use it. The last important thing for the honorable man must be done in a good way. Just use it, just use it, and the Ministry of Education will reimburse you." After all, Weng Tonghe still has some taste of a scholar. He doesn't take Wang Wenshao's generosity as an example. At the same time, he also cherishes Shen Guifen's reputation. Zaifu, it is natural not to be sloppy with the end decoration ceremony, but it should be considered carefully, and the life of the common people is almost called the life of the old man."

"That's right, that's right!" Wang Wenshao saw the opportunity, and immediately changed his words, "The scenery behind him is not about the enhancement of things. In short, funerals come first, and funerals second. The living must be safe and the dead Fang An. The family will have to live in the future, and funerals should not be wasted." Shen Wentao listened to his words, there was some inconsistency, and he knew that this old friend was the most tactful, and he was already speaking for Li Hongzao at this moment, whether he could be relied on in the future was a big question.It's just that there is no one to trust except him and Weng Tonghe, so I have to kowtow twice more and have nothing to say.

Brokering the funeral, he had his own military commander and military plane Zhang Jing, Wang Wenshao discussed with Weng Tonghe, and there was only one thing to do immediately, and that was to hand over the legacy.This matter is very particular. First, we must set a purpose, is it about fame after death, or about immediate interests?If it is the latter, you must not disobey the order, you only need to express a piece of loyalty and love, so as to invite the empress dowagers of the two palaces to pay tribute to them. According to Weng Tonghe's opinion, Shen Guifen was slandered for negotiating between China and Russia during his lifetime, and there should be some excuses in his omissions, but Wang Wenshao thought that talking about the right and wrong of this matter would offend many people, so there is no need for it.In terms of relationship, Shen Guifen is both Wang Wenshao's teacher and his advocate. Weng Tonghe was inconvenient to stick to his own opinion, so the result was Wang Wenshao's manuscript, which purely used the old-fashioned eulogy and deep gratitude and repayment in the next life. After a little modification, someone copied it and sent a special messenger to deliver it to the internal performance office.

However, the empress dowagers of the two palaces could not see this pass.When it comes to New Year's celebrations, it is taboo to hand over folds, and these folds that report the minister's death due to illness must be temporarily suppressed.However, if the Minister of Military Aircraft is vacant, of course it must be reported immediately, so Wang Wenshao took care of Zhang Jing of Military Aircraft and verbally notified Li Lianying to ask him to play the queen mother of the two palaces. Empress Dowager Cixi was very sad when she heard the news. She talked to Empress Dowager Ci'an about Shen Guifen's many benefits of being cautious in her daily work and being able to be stable when things happen, and she shed some tears for him.

The next day was New Year's Day in the seventh year of Guangxu.The emperor received congratulations from the officials, and led the officials to the Palace of Compassion and Ning to congratulate the Empress Dowager.After the routine ceremonies were over, the two empress dowagers went about their business as usual, but they only summoned the three kings, Dun, Gong, and Chun, to discuss the telegram sent back from Russia by Zeng Jize.This is considered good news. Russia has officially agreed to the abolishment of the treaty signed by Chonghou and the establishment of a new treaty that has been negotiated for a long time.

Zeng Jize and Russia agreed on a total of 20 draft treaties, and there were 17 clauses in the Overland Trade Regulations.On behalf of the two empress dowagers, Prince Gong pointed out that Zeng Jize had seven benefits in total, and the most important one was a large piece of land in the south of Yili, along the Tekes River Basin, more than 200 miles wide and 400 miles long. , to return to the territory, and the western border of Ili did not follow Chonghou's original proposal, and the two sides appointed "Ministers of Demarcation" to delineate the New Territories at their discretion.In addition, there are three commercial openings, only Jiayuguan is opened, and Xi'an and Hanzhong are cancelled.The Soviet Russian merchant ships can go to Bodune on the Songhua River. The Soviet Russian consulate only has one office in Tulufan. The Russian merchants trade on the South and North Roads of Tianshan Mountains.Compared with the noble original agreement, the country's rights and interests have indeed been greatly restored.

"However, the compensation has to be increased. It used to be five million silver rubles, but now it has to be added to four million. The Russians reasoned that it cost a lot to guard the southern border of Ili. This is also the truth." "Nine million silver rubles, how much is our money?" asked the Empress Dowager Ci'an. "It's always around five million silver." "Oh, five million silver!" The Empress Dowager Ci'an sighed, "Where did you come from?" "This is already very good." The Empress Dowager Cixi said quickly, "The rights to be won back are more than ten to five million. If there is a war, the military expenditure will be huge, and it will be even more terrible."

These words surprised both King Gong and King Chun.The Empress Dowager Cixi has always been determined not to hesitate to fight, but at this moment she fully expressed her unwillingness to meet with soldiers. Prince Gong felt that it was a great comfort, so he immediately said: "The Empress Dowager is wise. At the beginning, I discussed repeatedly with Bao Jun and Shen Guifen. , I always feel that peace is the most important thing. After Zeng Jize lived up to his orders and was worthy of being a famous minister, when the matter is settled, the minister will ask for a decree and give him a commendation." "Of course." The Empress Dowager Cixi said compassionately: "I didn't expect Shen Guifen to die! How old is he this year? " "sixty-four." "The past few years have been due to him. For Chonghou, he has suffered a lot and can't tell. In conscience, Chonghou has served as the Minister of Trade and Commerce for three times, and has been to France, so he has a lot of experience. It is not the first time that Chonghou has met foreigners. Who would have expected him to be so confused and useless in dealing with each other." Cixi said this in one breath, a little out of breath, took a sip of the herbal tea prescribed by Xue Fuchen, and said calmly: "You take care of his funeral for him, and be sympathetic. " "Yes!" Prince Gong said: "The Shen family will have a big funeral in the middle of the night tomorrow. Naturally, a memorial will be offered. Who is it to send? Please ask for an order." "It's always their little buddies, you can discuss it. There must be a Baylor, or let Zaiyi go." "Yes!" King Dun stood up and agreed, because Zaiyi is the second son of King Dun. "Where are the vacancies that Shen Guifen has vacated?" The Empress Dowager Ci'an asked. This is a major matter that should be summoned to discuss with military planes. With King Dun and King Chun present, it is not appropriate to discuss it.Both the Empress Dowager Cixi and Prince Gong understand this truth, but it is inconvenient to explain it clearly, and they have to be perfunctory, so Prince Gong avoids the important and ignores it, and does not mention Shen Guifen's job as Minister of the Ministry of War, Co-organizer of the Bachelor, and Minister of Military Aircraft, and only mentions the Bachelor of the Imperial Academy And managing the affairs of the Guozijian, two irrelevant errands. "In terms of cultivating talents, Weng Tonghe is the one who is willing to pay attention. However, his qualifications are still low, and he is not ready to be in charge of the academy. The minister wants to assign him to manage the Imperial College first." "Okay!" The Empress Dowager Cixi said in a calm voice, "For other issues, let's discuss it slowly!" ※ ※ ※ On the second day, there was "meat eating" in the palace, and the ministers of military affairs met for the first time in the new year. Zhilu ruled the public, and there was only one thing to do, which was to discuss the affairs behind Shen Guifen.Because the Empress Dowager Cixi has instructed that the gift codes should be favored, the Enclave written by Wang Wenshao himself is extremely grand: "Shen Guifen, Minister of the Soldiers Department of the Co-organized University, is prudent, loyal and diligent, and mature and dunke. Fei, in handling all matters, he was able to work hard and tirelessly. Due to occasional ailments, he was rewarded for recuperation, and he passed away suddenly. He was deeply mourned! He rewarded the Dharani Sutra and sent Belle Zaiyi to lead the guards The ten members will go to the funeral today. Jia Enjin presented the crown prince and Taifu with a gift according to the university scholar's rules, and enshrined in the Xianliang Temple. All punishments during his term of office will be restored. Two thousand taels of silver will be rewarded for funerals, and will be distributed by Guang Chusi Give the deserved sympathy code, and the yamen will check the rules. When the coffin returns home, the local officials along the way will take good care of it. Yizi Shen Wentao rewarded Juren, who was allowed to take a test, and Yisun Shen Xigui rewarded the doctor. When I am old, I will be introduced by the leader to show that I remember the sincerity of the grassroots officials." After death, the most precious thing is "worship to the virtuous temple", followed by "changing names".As usual, posthumous posthumous titles are proposed and delineated by the cabinet, but military aircraft can also put forward opinions.Since Jiaqing, the prime minister conferred posthumous posthumous titles, and the first character was "Wen" as usual. The posthumous posthumous titles proposed by the cabinet to Shen Guifen were Wenqing, Wenqin, Wenduan, and Wenke.After consulting and sending it to the military aircraft department, everyone felt that the drafting was not very clever. "Qing and Qin are not enough to describe Shen Jingsheng's life." Bao Yun commented: "Although Duanzi is good, Jingsheng is not a figure of Neo Confucianism, so it is not a beautiful posthumous title, let alone Kezi." Wen Ke is not a beautiful posthumous posthumous title, and it is not the posthumous posthumous posthumous title of Zaifu.Prince Gong believed that Shen Guifen's most unattainable strength was determination, so he advocated the use of "wending".This is not the best posthumous title. Since Shunzhi, there are a total of eight people with the posthumous title of "Wending", and there are no famous officials.However, it is very appropriate to use the word "ding" to posthumously Shen Guifen, so Bao Yun and Wang Wenshao have nothing to fight for the dead. The next step is to allocate the vacancy left by Shen Guifen, to manage the affairs of the Imperial College, and it has been decided to send Weng Tonghe; the head of the academy, because of Bao Jun's recommendation, sent Dong Xun, who was not from Hanlin; the president of the National History Museum sent Pan Zuyin; Shangshu naturally added Li Hongzao.He returned from service, but returned to the military aircraft with the title of "Former Secretary of the Ministry of Industry", and traveled in the Prime Minister's Office of State Affairs. Later, because the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Wan Qingli, was also in charge of the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture, he did not come to the Ministry often, which was regarded as a business trip. Then Li Hongzao was sent to act concurrently.But this is a very reluctant way to deal with it, so whenever there is a lack of Shangshu, Li Hongzao must be filled. As usual, Wan Qingli, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, should make up for the vacancy of co-organizers, but his reputation is not good. Prince Gong knew that as long as he nominated Wan Qingli as co-organizer, Qingliu would definitely be dissatisfied. He can't even be regarded as his minister.If love is adequate enough to harm it, then one thing more is worse than one thing less, and this deficiency is reserved for Li Hongzao. There was still an important post of Minister of Military Aircraft left. Prince Gong and Bao Jun had already discussed it and decided to leave it to one person: Zuo Zongtang. Zuo Zongtang was called to the pilgrimage, and he didn't leave Lanzhou until December last year. He stayed along the way, walked for more than a month, and arrived in Beijing on the 26th of the first lunar month.The appearance is magnificent, just like the teacher of the triumphant class. As soon as he arrived in Beijing, he still lived in Xianliang Temple. As usual, he greeted him at the gate of the palace. The Military Aircraft Department and the Ministry of War sent people to take care of him. Please An Zhezi immediately approved it and summoned him early the next morning.Then they paid homage to the kings, and finally went to the Jianyuan of King Gong.This was taken care of by Prince Gong in advance, and when he finally arrived at his place, he could stay and accept the banquet.The banquet was extremely grand.Accompanying guests are the two kings Dun and Chun, the imperial ministers and military aircraft ministers, and the other one is Pan Zuyin. During this period of time, Empress Dowager Cixi's illness relapsed again, so only Empress Dowager Ci'an was the only one with the curtain hanging in the Imperial Palace.In order to honor the ministers, the Empress Dowager Ci'an specially ordered the eunuch to help Zuo Zongtang into the palace. After the ceremony, the first sentence of the Empress Dowager Ci'an was to ask his age. "The minister is seventy years old this year." "Seventy is rare since ancient times. You are in good health!" asked the Empress Dowager Ci'an, "On which day did you leave?" "I received an imperial edict in Hami in July last year, summoning my ministers to attend the pilgrimage. At that time, because the deployment was undecided..." So Zuo Zongtang started from recommending Liu Jintang to supervise the military affairs in Xinjiang, how to make an invitation, how to accept it, how to wait for Liu Jintang to arrive in Hami, and then start to enter the customs in October, and how to make the necessary deployment in Lanzhou, and then by Lanzhou set off for Beijing, along the way the people kept talking about how to stay together, so much so that the Empress Dowager Ci'an couldn't even intervene. "Now Yang Changjun is sent to take care of the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. How is his talent?" "Yang Changjun's talent is good. He did a lot of things when he was the governor of Zhejiang Province. Later, he was dismissed because of the case of Yang Naiwu. After being protected by the minister, he was appointed by Tianen, and he became more vigilant. Please rest assured, the Queen Mother." "That's good!" asked the Empress Dowager Ci'an, "Liu Jintang and Yang Changjun, one in Xinjiang and the other in Gansu, are they going to do their own thing, or do they work together?" "They do their own things, but they take care of each other." Zuo Zongtang replied, "In the past, military affairs in Xinjiang, military affairs in Shaanxi and Gansu, and military and civil affairs in Shaanxi and Gansu were handled by the minister alone. The minister can arrange the military salary and government expenses as he pleases. Now Liu Jintang and Yang Changjun Each has its own responsibility, and the various funds should be clearly divided, and this minister has been doing this for the past few months." "How much money does it cost a year there?" "The rates and various expenses outside the customs cost more than 3.7 million yuan a year, and more than 2.1 million yuan in the customs. The provinces and customs co-pays are only five million taels, which is less than 800,000 yuan. Only relevant Its priority is to be economical. From now on, Yang Changjun will preside over the co-payment of the provinces, 60% will be allocated to the outside of the customs, and 40% will be reserved for Shaanxi and Gansu. This charter has been reported." "Oh." The Empress Dowager Ci'an turned to ask Prince Gong, "Do you have this booklet?" "Yes!" Prince Gong replied, "I have played it face to face." The Empress Dowager Ci'an thought for a while before remembering: "Yes, there is such a thing." She asked Zuo Zongtang again: "Now the negotiations with Russia have finally been completed..." "Yes!" Zuo Zongtang didn't wait for the Empress Dowager Ci'an to finish speaking, and rushed to say: "The minister came to Tianjin and met Li Hongzhang, and then he knew the details. Zeng Jize's negotiations were pretty good." "You and Zeng Guofan are very good friends. He has such a good son. Thinking about it, you are also happy for Zeng Guofan?" "Yes!" Zuo Zongtang replied, "I disagree with Zeng Guofan when it comes to business affairs, but when it comes to personal friendship, I have shared hardships with Zeng Guofan and have different friendships." "Now the affairs of the state depend on you old adults. We must always reconcile and discuss everything to maintain the overall situation." This is the Empress Dowager Ci'an hinting that he wants to work together with Li Hongzhang, and Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang have been at odds for a long time.In recent years, on frontier defense and foreign affairs, Li Hongzhang has faced tit-for-tat, and there have been many acrimonious memorials, but the court often adopted Li Hongzhang's proposals, but held a perfunctory attitude towards Zuo Zongtang, so he complained a lot. Hearing that the Empress Dowager Ci'an mentioned it, it happened to be a "imperial petition" in person. Prince Gong had already guarded against him doing this, so he would not allow him to speak, and there were quite a few summons, so he rushed to the front and said: "Zuo Zongtang has just arrived in Beijing, and the journey has been exhausting, please be sympathetic to me, the empress dowager." .” "Oh, oh!" The Empress Dowager Ci'an understood, and immediately said: "Zuo Zongtang, you have worked hard on the road, go back and take a good rest!" So Zuo Zongtang knelt down and withdrew, went to the Military Aircraft Department and the South Study Room, and King Gong sent his sedan chair to take Zuo Zongtang back to the hotel.Then, after discussing with Bao Yun, Li Hongzao and the others, they planned to recommend Zuo Zongtang to enter the plane, and decided to meet in person the next day to obtain an order. The next day was Shen Guifen's hanging day.The spring snow was light and the clouds were gloomy, adding to the sadness, but the atmosphere in the mourning hall was quite different, because Zuo Zongtang arrived very early, and kept sitting there, talking about his success in managing the West Frontier.At ten o'clock, the retired military ministers came one after another. Li Hongzao and Wang Wenshao came hand in hand, and their appearance was quite intimate, which was very eye-catching.Because after Shen Guifen died, Wang Wenshao seemed to inherit the mantle and became the leader of the Southern faction, and was in a hostile position with Li Hongzao.Looking at it now, the two factions, the North and the South, seem to be reconciling hand in hand, which is naturally surprising and comforting. After Lingqian finished his ceremony, Li Hongzao turned around and congratulated Zuo Zongtang: "Congratulations, congratulations! The edict has come down! " Then he took out a note and handed it to Zuo Zongtang. That was the draft of the edict: "By decree: University scholar Zuo Zongtang is in charge of the Ministry of War, walks on the board of the minister of military aircraft, and walks in the Prime Minister's Office of State Affairs." At this moment, the hangers congratulated Zuo Zongtang one after another, and when they were chaotically circling around, the music in the corridor started again, and they shouted loudly: "Baozhongtang is here!" As soon as Bao Yun arrived, before he could salute in the mourning hall, he first handed a colored note to Zuo Zongtang, and said, "It's urgent, please advise." The colored note was written with a poem titled "To the Left Marquis": "Seventy years of Hua Xiong leopard appearance, Hou Feng Ding Yuan Han Guanyi. Ying Zhou's mighty spirit swallows clouds and dreams, Gai Dai's prestige is famous for Zhenyuedi; Sima Wolong should be passed on together, Xiangjiang Hengyue competes for wonders together. The crape myrtle flower province is full of joy. , to receive Yingmou's wonderful posture." "Ziweihua Province" does not refer to the cabinet, but to the military aircraft department. Although there are "yingmou", they are not "wonderful".Zuo Zongtang entered the value on the first day, and everyone had a headache. "Li Shaoquan's excerpt is almost on paper. I will tell the past for you." Zuo Zongtang put aside the topic, and talked endlessly about his use of troops in Shaanxi and Gansu. Prince Gong and others couldn't get in, so they could only listen patiently. It was like this every day, a memorial was discussed for ten days, but there was no result, Prince Gong was really impatient.This memorial was submitted by Li Hongzhang to discuss the defense of Shanhaiguan.Prince Gong thought to himself that the Sino-Russian negotiations can be concluded peacefully, and the defense of Shanhaiguan can be suspended. Moreover, Zeng Guoquan who is stationed in Shanhaiguan has also taken over Zuo Zongtang's vacancy and became the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. It doesn't matter if Li Hongzhang's memorial is not discussed. Therefore, King Gong ordered Zhang Jing, the military plane, to file the original paper.The next day Zuo Zongtang went to the Military Aircraft Department, but there was nothing to discuss about the unresolved case, so he didn't even ask. As soon as he sat down, he scolded Shi Nianzu, the governor of Gansu Province. Shi Nianzu, courtesy name Shengzhi, was born in Liyang, Jiangsu Province, after Shi Yizhi, a famous minister during the Qianlong period.This man is extremely intelligent, but he doesn't like reading very much. At the age of twenty, he donated a general sentence and served as an errand in the Yinghan army, governor of Anhui.This person is used for entertainment, pays attention to food and clothing, and Shi Nianzu is young and handsome, so he is highly appreciated by Ying Han, who was born as the "uncle under the flag".He has his share in every military merit protection case, and he became the chief inspector of Zhili before he was thirty.As usual, such bullets were ordered to be inspected by the governor. Zeng Guofan, the governor of Zhili, thought that although Shi Nianzu was talented, he still had little experience and it was appropriate to postpone his duties, so he was dismissed as an idler. In the early years of Guangxu, because of Dong Xun's citation, Shi Nianzu released the Gansu chief. Zuo Zongtang was also a person who loved talents, and he praised him quite a lot.But Shi Nianzu was proud of his youth, so he couldn't help being arrogant. At that time, he studied hard and had already written excellent ancient prose.Zuo Zongtang has always regarded himself as Zhuge Wuhou, he likes to flatter and hate to be honest, and his military exploits are often exaggerated.Shi Nianzu often made ridicule behind people's backs, not only in words, but also in writing. After a long time, Zuo Zongtang found out and was very displeased. ginseng". At this time, Zuo Zongtang was just about to leave Lanzhou for Beijing. Shi Nianzu thought to himself that on the day of entering the palace, the empress dowagers of the two palaces would of course ask about the administration of officials in Shaanxi and Gansu. , If you don't need to give up, you will ruin your future.Therefore, it is necessary to rush to Beijing for activities. It is exactly three years, and I can play it for your majesty, so I have to ask the governor to play it on my behalf.Zuo Zongtang only thought that he was going to be transferred to an event, and he was invited to play as usual, and it was inconvenient to stop him, so he played for him, and he naturally agreed. So Shi Nianzu went northward, and when Zuo Zongtang arrived in Beijing, he had already left the capital and was waiting for news in Shanxi.He saw very clearly that although Zuo Zongtang wanted to promote Yang Changjun, he planned to recommend him to be removed by the nursing governor, but the court did not seem to agree, so he went to Beijing to follow Dong Xun's connections and inquired, sure enough, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu had already appointed Zeng Guoquan take over.Shi Nianzu was waiting for news in Shanxi, just to wait for the new governor.Soon, Zeng Guoquan got a new appointment, and Shi Nianzu returned to serve as his Gansu governor.When he was proud, he wrote a letter to Zuo Zongtang in Taiyuan. On the surface, he reported his whereabouts, but between the lines revealed the meaning of "returning to the post under the order, what can I do".Zuo Zongtang was naturally very angry, so he made a note, pointing out Shi Nianzu's various misconducts, and asked the "guardian governor" Yang Changjun to investigate the case and participate in the impeachment based on the facts. Zuo Zongtang's memorial has already been handed over and sent to the military plane for review.Prince Gong was in trouble for this, so after hearing Zuo Zongtang's words, he was vigilant and took Bao Yun aside to discuss. "Shi Nianzu returned to his post by decree, and your Majesty has just seen it. If it is not effective, the imperial court should have known about it in person. Now he has approved his paper and handed it over to Yang Changjun for investigation. Is it plausible?" Bao Yun originally had great admiration for Zuo Zongtang, but at this time he was no longer in the mood of admiring Zuo Zongtang. After more than ten days, he realized that Zuo Zongtang was born to be a loner. He only had himself in mind and had no colleagues. Bad.So he agreed with Prince Gong's opinion and nodded again and again. "Of course it has to be refuted..." "Of course I have to refute it!" Bao Yun rushed over and said, "It also frustrates his arrogance." "I'm not finished yet." Prince Gong said, "Refutation is necessary, but it's not appropriate to save his face. What do you think?" Bao Yun thought for a while and replied: "There is a way, but let's make another bad example." "how?" "It's just 'flooding' his notebook." The so-called "flooding" means asking the Queen Mother to "stay in China and not publish it". This is the worst system left over from the Ming Dynasty. State affairs must be corrupted.One of the methods used by Prince Gong to restrain the Empress Dowager Cixi from expanding her power was to try to force the memorial to be sent to the Military Aircraft Office. Now that he is asking to "stay in China", isn't it setting a bad example. But his heroic spirit has almost worn away!After thinking for a while, he sighed and said, "Let's do it this way." "Then, 'pass the sign' first?" "it is good!" Military planes summoned them on a daily basis, and they were only summoned by the eunuchs, and the "green head lottery" was handed over to see them alone.Of course, the Empress Dowager Ci'an "woke up" immediately, and went up to make an agreement in a few words, and then called the whole class of other military ministers to meet. Zuo Zongtang knew that the military aircraft only focused on the first assistant, so he didn't dare to play it right in the class.He was thinking in his heart, when he mentioned his memorial, of course he had to ask for details, and then he would report Shi Nianzu's greedy and cunning situations in detail, and maybe an order would be issued immediately to investigate and deal with it. Just thinking about it, I have already talked about it, "The case of Shi Nianzu," said Empress Dowager Ci'an, "Let's wait and see." "Yes!" Prince Gong quickly agreed, then took the lead and knelt down, and the whole class withdrew.Not only Zuo Zongtang's excerpts were "flooded", but his words were also "flooded". But he himself still didn't understand, so he went back to the military plane and asked Bao Jun, "Pei Gong, how did I get that book?" "Of course it's 'remaining in China'. The higher-ups have no choice but to do it because of your face. Otherwise, you think, Shi Nianzu returned to his post by order... Hey, hey!" Bao Jun laughed dryly twice , hurt him: "Master Hou, you have to save some face for the court!" Zuo Zongtang was silent.Only when I was seventy years old did I realize that the power of the governor is only in the frontier, but in the court, it is not the same thing at all. So, the next day, he took people to see the water conservancy in Gyeonggi. This is also one of the two major events that Zuo Zongtang is scheduled to do.The first thing is to train the flag soldiers. Long before he set off from Lanzhou, he had a memorial to bring more than 2,000 people from the infantry and cavalry of the pro-army into the customs. They will first be stationed in Zhangjiakou and wait for dispatch. , and then train the flag soldiers on behalf of them. The so-called banner soldiers were Jianrui Battalion and Firearms Battalion, because the Shenji Battalion was now under the personal management of King Chun, and there were special trainers, Zuo Zongtang did not dare to take the liberty of overstepping.Even Jianrui and Firearms camps. In his memorial, he first gave a big compliment, saying that "the Eight Banners are forbidden to travel, guarding Shenjing, placing more emphasis on control than lightness, strict and winged", and that Jianrui and Firearms are separate camps. "," is especially called succinct, talented and martial arts, among them, veteran generals and famous ministers, they are invincible", but "after a long period of peace, practice becomes arrogant", so it must be "hardened from time to time".His training method is: choose more than 3,000 soldiers who are over ten years old and under 30 years old and have no top belt, and divide them into ten battalions. , Miscellaneous formations, usually practice hard, and go out with the team in case of trouble. This suggestion was never approved, because it was unprecedented for the Eight Banners to ban travel and be led by Han people, but it was inconvenient to blatantly reject it. The only approval was: "There is another purpose." It has been delayed.At this moment, it could not be delayed any longer. This group of troops, led by Zuo Zongtang's generals Wang Debang and Liu Ao, and his camp affairs chief Wang Shizheng, had arrived in Zhangjiakou. After entering the court, Zuo Zongtang already understood that the Imperial Army of the Eight Banners was in the hands of King Chun. To realize the matter of training the flag soldiers, he must obtain the support of King Chun. big event. The second major event was Zuo Zongtang's decision during his journey to Beijing.He entered Hebei from Jingxing, the "Eight Xings of Taihang", passed Zhengding and went north, passing through Fangshan and Liangxiang in Shuntian Prefecture along the way. In the seventh year of Tongzhi's suppression of the Nian army, what he saw was quite different, so he thought that military industry could be used to dredge the river and open ditches.Zuo Zongtang's management of the Northwest originally adopted the legacy of the generals of the Western Han Dynasty in the frontier reclamation. The officers and soldiers in his department were very experienced in building water conservancy projects, so after some inspections, he returned to Beijing and immediately drafted a draft.