Chapter 26 The weight of the two tripods seems to be questionable

It turned out that the Ministry of War report reported a cataclysmic event: Emperor Xianfeng had driven to Yanrehe Palace on July 16, and the eldest son Zaichun ascended the throne as the new lord.Before the death of Emperor Daxing, he entrusted him to eight ministers who took care of his life. They were Prince Yi Zaiyuan, Prince Zheng Duanhua, Liu's concubine Jingshou, co-organizer of the university, Shangshu Sushun, minister of military affairs Mu Yin, Kuang Yuan, and Du Han. , Jiao Youying.According to the decree, the generals, governors, and governors of all provinces all follow the established rules and do not come to Rehe to pay homage to Zigong.

After a while, Zeng Guofan came to his senses and ordered his ninth younger brother, Mandi, to decorate the mourning hall overnight, and ordered all the officials in the city to wear their uniforms tomorrow morning and gather at the governor's office to weep and worship the emperor Daxing.After the two brothers left, Zeng Guofan closed the door of the room, quietly thinking about the sudden and major change. The emperor was only 30 years old, in his prime, although there were rumors that he was frail and sick and often coughed up blood, Zeng Guofan never thought that the emperor would die so quickly.Although the emperor has been suspicious of himself over the years, he still trusts and relies on him in general, especially last year when he was awarded the governor of Liangjiang, which shows that the suspicion has been greatly eliminated.Having such an encounter, I am very fortunate in my life, and I am about to ride the wind and go far away. Unexpectedly... Zeng Guofan felt very painful in his heart, and lamented his unlucky fate.He picked up the message from the Ministry of War and carefully read the names of the eight Gu Ming ministers.The new master is only six years old, and the country's major plans will be in the hands of these eight ministers from now on. His own fate, the fate of Xiangyong, and even the overall fate of the southeast will all be subject to the arrangements of these eight people.Among the eight ministers, Zaiyuan and Duanhua are princes who inherited the title. They are very famous, but they are mediocre. Jingshou is a son-in-law. .He is capable and upright, and has been known to the government and the public for a long time. He especially advocated the use of Han people to quell the chaos, which is enough to prove that he is a man of insight among the relatives and nobles of Manchu and Mongolia.Zeng Guofan will always remember that it was because of Sushun's recommendation to Emperor Daxing that he came out of the mountain back then, and the fact that he was appointed Governor of Jiang last year was because of Sushun's persuasion to Emperor Daxing.

Without Sushun, maybe there would be no commander-in-chief of the armed forces today; without Sushun, maybe he is still in the embarrassing situation of being alone.Zeng Guofan was grateful to Sushun.But Sushun was too authoritarian, too domineering, with many grievances and enemies. Zeng Guofan had always maintained a relationship with him that was neither far nor close, neither close nor close.The other four all follow Sushun's lead.Duanhua is Sushun's half-brother, and Zaiyuan and Duanhua are as close as brothers.From this point of view, except for one Jing Shou, the other seven people belong to a party, and the leader of this party is Sushun.Minister Gu Ming, who were far away like Fu Liang and Xu Xianzhi in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and who were close like Oboi in this dynasty, did not end well.Minister Gu Ming's status is too high and his power is too great. He is hated by others, but it is difficult to follow the new master's wishes.Once the new master has full wings and a solid foundation, he will dislike the shackles of the minister.And Minister Gu Ming often relied on his high merits and did not respect the new master very much, so it was easy to create excuses for the new master to do harm.Zeng Guofan has a thorough understanding of these complicated relationships between monarchs and ministers.What's more, the leader of the Minister Gu Ming is so self-willed and unpopular, and he is so obviously forming a clique and self-isolation. Can he "care" for a long time?Zeng Guofan was sweating for Sushun's future.

Early the next morning, all the civil and military officials in Anqing City came to supervise the office together. Zeng Guofan, who was dressed in plain clothes, led them, kowtowed three times and nine times in front of the tablet of Emperor Daxing, and then burst into tears.Thinking of Emperor Xianfeng's kindness to him, Zeng Guofan was really moved, and tears flowed from the corners of his eyes.Zeng Guoquan and most of the officials just had a gloomy face and shouted a few times. While weeping and praying, Hu Linyi rushed over.He came here to celebrate his coming to An. After entering the city, he saw plain lanterns and white flowers. He was surprised and asked why.Hu Linyi hurriedly drove his horse to the governor's yamen, before he could say hello to Zeng Guofan and others, he cried loudly at the tablet of Emperor Xianfeng.At the end of the crying, Zeng Guofan bought vegetarian wine to clean up Hu Linyi.After eating, the two went to the signing room hand in hand.Zeng Guofan ordered Jing Qi not to see any guests today, and he wanted to talk freely about the current situation with this old friend who is like-minded and resourceful.

"Emperor Daxing passed away. I was both surprised and not surprised." Hu Linyi said calmly.He didn't have as many worries as Zeng Guofan, and he was suffering from hemoptysis and needed maintenance. His crying was purely acting. "In the past year, Yingfu and Renqiu have mentioned in their letters that the holy body is not healthy. People in the capital said that the emperor's illness is difficult to recover. However, after all, he is only 30 years old, and it is too early. I am surprised .” "Emperor Daxing has been on the throne for 12 years, and Chang Mao has rebelled for 12 years. There has not been a single day of peace. Last year, foreigners came to the capital and were forced to fall. !” Zeng Guofan was still in grief.

"Originally, the capital had Prince Gong there to deal with it, and the affairs of the foreigners subsided. Emperor Daxing took a good rest in Rehe, and his health would gradually improve. However, Emperor Daxing was young, he let himself go, and he didn't know how to cherish, and finally he became better and better. It's getting worse." Hu Linyi was not sad, but ruthlessly exposed the truth behind Emperor Xianfeng's death.He was born in a family of officials, and he was also a prodigal son when he was young.When he was 20 years old, Hu Dayuan, who was the son of Youchunfang Youshu in Zhan Shifu at that time, beat his son ruthlessly. This beating turned Hu Linyi around. Jiezhong Jinshi points Hanlin.Although Hu Linyi restrained himself and cultivated himself in the future, it was a pity that the chronic illness he suffered from when he was a young man spoiled him all his life. Not only was his body weak, but what made him regret was that his three wives and four concubines did not give birth to half a child for him.Because of this reason, Hu Linyi could clearly see the cause of Emperor Xianfeng's death.

Zeng Guofan, who has always been cautious, never talks about the emperor's affairs in front of others, let alone the emperor's disgraceful private life.He intentionally changed the subject: "The name of the new year will be Qixiang." Hu Linyi thought for a while and said: "These two words seem to come from "Song History·Lezhi": 'Never dry up and never be a child, but give birth to auspiciousness.'" "Exactly, exactly!" Zeng Guofan admired Hu Linyi's erudition and ambition very much.When he just received the message from the Ministry of War and saw the year name "Qixiang", Zeng Guofan thought about it for a long time, but couldn't remember where it came from He Dian. In the end, the staff around him looked through the books in the middle of the night to find out. Unexpectedly, Hu Linyi answered casually. come out!

"The success of this year name is undoubtedly the result of the hands of the eight ministers. Although the country has undergone major changes, with these experienced ministers at the helm, it seems that there will be no trouble." Zeng Guofan said this intentionally, and he wanted to use this to test it out. Hu Linyi's attitude at this time. "Dasheng, today it's just the two of us. Let me tell you something from the bottom of my heart. I'm not as optimistic as you about state affairs." Hu Linyi's city mansion is not as deep as Zeng Guofan's. He is willing to open his heart in front of his old friends who have been with him for many years. of.

"You have always been better informed than I am about matters above." Zeng Guofan poured tea for Hu Linyi himself. "Gu Ming's eight ministers lead the charge named Zaiyuan, but it's actually not him." "Which one is it?" Zeng Guofan asked knowingly. "Sushun." Hu Linyi said.He has been in poor health recently, and he often coughs up blood. His face, which was already slightly elongated, now looks narrow and elongated because of his thinness and slack. "Sushun is smart, capable, and daring. He is one of the best people in the imperial court, but his methods are a bit too ruthless. In Xianfeng's eight years, he killed Bai Yan for the case of the imperial court, which still makes people feel cold. Baochao dealt with the case severely and dealt with a group of high-ranking officials, and there was a lot of discussion in the capital. Sushun has too many grievances."

"Yes, it's easy for those who are too upright to be resentful." Zeng Guofan recalled the repeated setbacks in Hunan and Jiangxi during the period from the third year to the sixth year of Xianfeng.He has now fully understood that if he hadn't insisted on forcing it like that back then and had been a little more forgiving, things might have gone much smoother.Or Lao Tzu said it well, "If you want to take what you want, you must first give it." The key is to achieve the goal in the end, and the way to go may be a little detour.Haste makes waste, showing weakness against strength, this is how things are in the world!It's a pity that Sushun didn't understand this truth.

"Disheng, there is another person, you may not know his details." Zeng Guofan has been away from Beijing for nearly ten years, and the people in Beijing are also unfamiliar. He doesn't understand who Hu Linyi is talking about. "Guan Xiufeng drank too much wine once, and on a whim, he told me about a person. This person is Jinshang's biological mother." "You mean Concubine Yi?" When Zeng Guofan left Beijing, Concubine Yi Yehlana was just a low-ranking nobleman, not to mention foreign ministers, and even the palace didn't treat her as a person.But later it turned out to be this noble man whose nickname was Lan'er, who was greatly favored by Emperor Xianfeng and gave birth to the emperor's only son.The mother regards her son as the most precious, and soon she was promoted to Concubine Yi, and later promoted to Concubine Yi.Now that her son has succeeded him, there is no doubt that she is the queen mother.This is all Zeng Guofan knows about the biological mother of the only prince in the past and the real dragon emperor today. "We who are foreign officials don't know about the affairs in the palace, but Guan Xiufeng knows it very well." Hu Linyi said. "Of course he knows, he is a Manchu, and there are many eyes and ears in the palace." Zeng Guofan asked with great interest, "What did Guan Zhongtang say?" "He said that this woman is very important, not to mention that there was no such concubine in the Qing Dynasty, and there were few people in the previous dynasties who could compare with her." "Ah—" Zeng Guofan was taken aback. "Guan Xiufeng said that this person is beautiful, needless to say, he is also extremely alert, that's all, this person has another hobby, which is greed for power!" "Greed for power?" Zeng Guofan was quite surprised that a woman was also greedy for power. "Disheng, who do you think approved Zhu's approval on the memorial sent back by Rehe this year?" Hu Linyi's question made Zeng Guofan very strange: "Who else is Zhu Pi pretending to be?" "It's not a counterfeit either, Emperor Daxing entrusted Concubine Yi to approve it." "Is there such a thing? You can't just talk nonsense about this kind of thing." "I also questioned Guan Xiufeng in the same way. Guess what happened to him? He put down his chopsticks, laughed and said, 'Look at you, you made such a fuss, this is no longer a secret in the capital.'" Zeng Guofan thought: It is not a good thing to have such a queen mother in the court, but he said: "With such a great queen mother, the new master can rest assured even though he is aging." "Because of this, I can't rest assured." Hu Linyi said something strange. "Why?" "If the Empress Dowager and Sushun are of the same mind, then you can rest assured, but now it is precisely the empress dowager and Sushun who are at odds with each other. Both want to seize power and make their own decisions, and the emperor's aunt is a cowardly and incompetent person. From now on There is a play to watch." "Oh, that's right!" Zeng Guofan stood up, shook his hands twice, and paced back and forth in the room.Foreign aggression and internal strife, doubts about the master and the country, disharmony in the temple, and difficult times, he already had a premonition that something big might happen in Rehe or in the capital soon! "Tisheng." After a while, Hu Linyi said with a serious expression, "There is one more thing that worries me." "Runzhi, you can speak up. What you just said has benefited me a lot." Zeng Guofan sat down across from Hu Linyi again, and said, "I have been leading troops abroad for the past few years, and I have very little contact with Beijing officials. Yunxian, Yunong, and Renqiu also don't write often, and they are very ignorant about the affairs of the court." "Before the death of Emperor Daxing, he appointed eight ministers to support the government affairs, but he didn't mention Prince Gong who was in charge of barbarian affairs in the capital. A brother like Emperor Daxing who is indifferent, capable, virtuous, and widely respected, I'm afraid he will Hence the trouble." "Yes, Prince Gong, how can you ignore Prince Gong?" Zeng Guofan admired Hu Linyi's shrewdness very much, "Hey, it seems that the knot between Emperor Daxing and Prince Gong is still unresolved!" What is the animosity between Xianfeng Emperor Yi Ning and his younger brother Prince Gong Yi Xing? It turned out that when Yi Ning was ten years old, his biological mother, Empress Dowager Xiaoquan, passed away, and since then he has been raised by Yixing's biological mother, Empress Dowager Xiaojing.Xiaojing loves and cares for Yi Ning, and treats her as her own. In addition, Yi Xing is only one year younger than Yi Ning. The two brothers study and play together every day, and they are like brothers.After Yi Ning came to the throne, he also looked at Yi things differently, and his relationship was far closer than that of the fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth younger brothers. In the fifth year of Xianfeng, the Empress Dowager Xiaojing was seriously ill. Yi Ning visited her every day and served her decoctions and medicines herself.One day, Yi Ning went to visit again. The Queen Mother was lying on the bed with her face facing the wall. When she knew someone came to the bed, she thought it was Yi Xin and said, "What are you doing here again? I gave you everything I have. He Temperament is not easy to know, don't arouse his suspicion." Turning his face, he saw that it was not Yixin but Yi Ning, with an embarrassing expression on his face.Yi Ning said Weiwei in his mouth, but he didn't like it in his heart.After Xiaojing's death, Yi Ning posthumously titled her "Xiaojing Kangcibi Tianfusheng Empress", not Xuanzong's posthumous posthumous posthumous title, not consecrating the temple, but intending to reduce the funeral ceremony.On the second day after Empress Dowager Xiaojing was buried, in the name of handling the funeral ceremony of the Empress Dowager, he resigned from his post as the foreman of the military aircraft in Yixin and ordered him to go back to the study to study.Brotherly feuds became public. Later, when Yi Ning was in the Rehe palace, he heard many times that Yixin had a good relationship with Yi, and outsiders were convinced. There was a saying in Beijing that Yixin was the emperor, so he was even more wary of Yixin, and Lian Yixin was about to come. All reports and discussions in the palace are prohibited.However, Yixin has a broad bureaucracy and enlightened insight, and has long been admired by the government and the public. Zeng Guofan is especially appreciated by him. "In the future, maybe there will be a three-legged situation in the imperial court, where the queen mother, the assistant ministers, and the prince Gong stand together, and the country's affairs will be even more difficult!" Hu Linyi finished speaking and picked up his teacup.He talked too much tonight, his chest was already aching, his cheeks were flushed, and he coughed gently. He took small sips of tea and slowly stroked his chest with one hand.Both fell silent.After a while of silence, Hu Linyi said: "The day before I came to Anqing, I received a letter from Zuo Zongtang. The letter said that he visited Fuliang Shending Mountain a few days ago and got a couplet by chance. He sent it specially for me to read and hand it over to you." Look, please change it for him." As he spoke, he took out an envelope from his cuff. Zeng Guofan took out a neatly folded piece of rice paper from the envelope. The handwriting of the couplet language on the rice paper was sharp, and it was Zuo Zongtang's own handwriting.Zeng Guofan read softly: "God relies on virtue, and the weight of the tripod seems to be questionable." The word "Shen Ding" happens to be embedded in the prefix of the couplet.Zeng Guofan blurted out his praise: "What a beautiful couplet with neat battles!" Hu Linyi smiled and remained silent. "God relies on virtue, and the weight of the tripod seems to be questionable." Zeng Guofan read it again in rhythmic rhythm.Suddenly, a strange brilliance shot out from the two triangular eyes. Looking at Hu Linyi intently, he felt that there seemed to be infinite ingenuity hidden in Hu Linyi's peaceful and morbid smile. The implication of the language has been realized.But is this possible? Can Zuo Zongtang have such inappropriate thoughts?About Zuo Zongtang's courage, there is a legend among Sanxiang scholars. That year, Tao Shu returned to Hunan, and after seeing the couplet written by Zuo Zongtang in Lujiang Academy in Liling, "Chun Dian Yu Cong Rong", he specially invited Zuo Lai to meet him.Zuo carelessly came to Tao Shu's side, and when he bowed, he happened to break the bead string hanging on Tao Shu's chest.Beads fell immediately and scattered all over the ground.If it was ordinary people in their twenties who ran into such disasters, they would have been frightened and lost their behavior, but Zuo Zongtang bent down as if nothing had happened, picking up beads while talking to Tao Shu, he didn't care at all.Tao Shu was also surprised by his courage. He is such a courageous man who has been suppressed for more than 20 years. In recent years, he has become more and more ambitious. Although he now has his own Chu army, Zeng Guofan knows that the left's ambition is definitely not in one direction.Does he want to aspire to the top?Thinking of this, Zeng Guofan trembled unconsciously.With only ten thousand people in hand, it would be too arrogant to think like this.Zeng Guofan shook his head subconsciously.He wants to test me? Zeng Guofan immediately remembered Wang Kaiyun's words on the eve of Hengzhou's dispatch of troops, "Who will win the deer is not yet predictable. How could Duke Ming have any intentions?"To be honest, the country is in chaos and the people are in danger. Someone has already raised the pole first, and the throne is occupied by the Manchus. How can people's desire to compete for the throne be stopped?At the beginning of Xiangyong's founding, Wang Kaiyun said that. Now Xiangyong has nearly 100,000 soldiers and is so powerful that it is not surprising that others have some guesses about him.Although Zuo Zongtang said he looked down on everything, he was not a reckless person. How could he come to test me like this? "Runzhi, Ji Gao's subtitle Shendingshan's joint language is good, but there are some inappropriate points, let me leave it here for now, let me think about it, and I will help him to correct it." "Okay!" Hu Linyi took out another envelope from his cuff, "Here is another couplet, which is a gift from me to Lao Jiu." Zeng Guofan was about to open it, but Hu Linyi held it down with his hand: "Don't open it yet, I'll check with you first." "What's the matter? Tell me!" "On my way to Anqing, I heard people say that Lao Jiu used a trick to divide the 100 long-haired people who surrendered into groups of 100, and asked them to enter the house in turn to collect the toll. Hands were bound, they were escorted out from the back door, and their heads were beheaded for a whole day and night, killing 10,000 people. Is there such a thing?" "There is such a thing. It was Li Chendian's idea. Afterwards, Lao Jiu felt a little regretful, and he still feels a little unhappy." "Okay, you can take it apart." Hu Linyi said with a smile, "My couplet is the prescription for his heart disease." Zeng Guofan tore open the envelope, and there were only ten words in the couplet: "Use the method of thunderbolt to show the heart of a Bodhisattva." He immediately laughed from it, and said loudly: "Runzhi, it's wonderful. With your prescription, Lao Jiu's heart disease will be cured immediately." It will be better." The next day, Bao Chao sent someone to ask for instructions on how to hold a memorial ceremony for Emperor Daxing in the barracks.From this, Zeng Guofan remembered that most of the generals in the Hunan Army were high-ranking officials who had risen rapidly in the past few years and did not understand the country's custom, so he ordered his staff to immediately draft an order in his name and send it to all the troops leading the country. General, tell them: the rules of the military camp are different from those of other places. During the great funeral, the military camps will not lose their bravery or grow their hair. It's only three days of plain clothes.Each battalion and each sentry must strictly abide by it, and the battle must not be delayed due to the great funeral. There are too many military and political affairs, and in addition to major changes, Hu Linyi cannot live in Anqing for a long time.Two days later, Zeng Guofan personally sent him to the wharf outside the South Gate.It was still early, and the two came to the Wangfu Rock by the river side by side, looking at the scenery of the Yangtze River.Zeng Guofan said softly: "Runzhi, Zuo Jigao's inscription Dingshan, I changed a word for him, so he can write it out boldly without causing gossip." Return it to Hu Linyi.When Hu Linyi took it out to look at it, Zeng Guofan clicked a little next to the word "si", and added a word "no", which became "God depends on virtue, and the weight of the tripod cannot be questioned." After Hu Linyi read it, he burst out laughing: "Disheng, you really deserve to be Mr. Jinghai's virtuous disciple. The change of this word pushed Zuo Jigao down from the clouds of Nine Heavens and fell into the Hongbo of East China Sea!" "He is going to take a bath in the sea, so he should be sober!" Zeng Guofan also laughed easily. A gust of river wind blew by, and Hu Linyi felt very comfortable.He looked eastward, and saw a large wooden boat on the river, full of sails, slowly moving upwards. There were seven or eight big men paddling together at the bow and stern, and there were rhythmic chant sounds from time to time. Jiang Ou chased the undulating waves beside the boat, sometimes leaned down to cling to the water, and sometimes flew high in surprise, cheerful and vigorous, full of fun.This landscape is inlaid under the blue sky and white clouds and above the mighty Yangtze River, which is very poetic and picturesque. Hu Linyi sighed and said: "It's no wonder Dongpo said 'the mountains and rivers are picturesque'. He has no leisure time at ordinary times, so he really can't understand the beauty of this phrase! Disheng, I am Efu, you are the governor of Jiang, and I live in Jiang At the waist of the river, the king lives at the end of the river, we will work together to sweep away the vicious atmosphere, and make the Wanli Yangtze River always peaceful and picturesque!" "Runzhi, what you said is good, I hope Haiyan and Heqing will be clear soon, and the country will be safe and peaceful!" The two were talking to each other, when suddenly there was a loud siren, and a ship flying the British flag chased the wind and waves, and came from the downstream like an arrow. In a blink of an eye, the wooden boat was left far away. behind.Hu Linyi's eyes widened, feeling dumbstruck.Suddenly, he yelled loudly, spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes went dark, and he fell down from Wangfuyan...