Chapter 57 King Qi Gong was dismissed, Zeng Guofan fell into the abyss of fear

Zhao Liewen's method of coaxing, defrauding, and buying three times worked. Except for more than a hundred of the 8,000 mutinies who escaped with Shen Mingbiao, the rest were brought back to the old camp in Fuzhou by Zhao Liewen and Teng Raoshu.Not long after, Bao Chao rushed back from Fengjie, Sichuan, scolded these rebels severely, and forced them to confess more than 100 Gelaohui members by torture.Bao Chao beheaded them all for public display.The mutiny ended in disastrous defeat.Zeng Guofan rewarded Zhao Liewen and Bao Chao heavily, and informed all battalions of the Hunan Army about the mutiny of the Ting Army.

Since then, there have been no more mutinies, but extortion and disturbances have occurred from time to time.There was no other way to think of it for a while, Zeng Guofan had to implement the method of the old nine, and announced to the generals of the Hunan Army: The matter of disarmament will not be mentioned for the time being, and we will talk about it later.In this way, the anger of the Hunan Army was gradually calmed down. At this time, Zeng Guofan was busy deploying and repairing the city walls, rebuilding the city, and personally supervised the restoration of Jiangnan Gongyuan.On the day when the Gongyuan started construction, Zeng Guofan invited more than a hundred highly respected scholars from inside and outside Jinling City to the former site of the Gongyuan on Gongyuan Street by the Qinhuai River.Among these scholars, ten of them, including Wang Zengfu and Qian Mizhi, were Confucian scholars of the Song Dynasty. They were known as the Three Sages and Seven Sages in Jiangnan. Zeng Guofan treated them very politely.You can see that in the huge Jiangnan Examination Institute, except for the Zhigongtang, Hengjiantang, and Mingyuan Building, which have not suffered major damage, other rooms such as supervisors, chief examiners, house officials, promotions, supervisors, transcriptions, readings, and seals The tiles of the supply houses and the supply houses are gone, and the slabs of the 16,000 rooms are gone. These senior Confucian scholars all lamented the tragic scene.Zeng Guofan told them that no matter how large the project is, they must rush to repair the Gongyuan before November. Not only will the current township examination be held, but also the three subjects of Wuwu, Xinyou, and Renxu will be admitted together this year. And build 4,000 additional houses, reaching an integer of 20,000.Also considering that northern Anhui was still under the control of the Nian Army, and its candidates for examinations could not come to Jiangning, 40% of the places were specially reserved for Anhui Province.

Zeng Guofan's words aroused great gratitude from the old Confucians, who all praised this act as the greatest good deed done for the scholars in the south of the Yangtze River, and its merits are immeasurable.An old man knelt down tremblingly in public, kowtowed to Zeng Guofan, and said with tears in his face: "Master Zhongtang, you are a living Buddha and Bodhisattva. I kowtow to you for three generations of my grandparents and grandchildren. I have been looking forward to it since the third year of Xianfeng. Thirteen years, I have finally come to this day. In November, I will bring my son, grandson, and three generations to take the exam. Lord Zhongtang, from tomorrow onwards, I will burn incense three times a day and bow to your longevity tablet. Thanks to you, old man, I, old man Li, can still live to see this day come." The old man lay on the ground, babbling a lot, which made Zeng Guofan both happy and sad.

These hundreds of old Confucians spread the word after returning home, making the officials in the two provinces in the south of the Yangtze River very happy. Hundreds of letters of gratitude flew to the governor's office, which made Zeng Guofan, who had been in depression for a long time, feel a little relieved.This morning, Zeng Guofan came to the signing room as usual to approve the piles of documents on the desk.First of all, I opened several court mails delivered last night. As soon as I read the first sentence, Zeng Guofan was stunned. As usual, "the fire ticket of the military department is handed over to the king of the deliberative government and the Minister of military affairs". three words.He was so surprised that he didn't even want to read the following, so he opened the second one, and there was no word "Yizhengwang", and he opened another one, still nothing.None of the three court mails he received last night contained the words "king of political discussion". He felt that this matter was no small matter, so he hurriedly recruited Zhao Liewen, Yang Guodong, and Peng Shouyi, three confidantes and aides, who were also deeply puzzled after reading it.

Zeng Guofan said worriedly: "Since the first year of Tongzhi, there has never been such a thing in the documents issued by the Military Aircraft Department. Even when King Gong was ill, the word 'Deliberative King' was also listed first. , there must be something very big.” "It happened suddenly." Zhao Liewen said thoughtfully, "However, I have long heard people say that Cai Shouqi's impeachment was not aimed at Zhongtang, Jiushuai and other Hunan Army commanders, but at Prince Gong. It is said that Prince Gong is the backing mountain and protective umbrella of the Hunan Army."

"I've heard that too." Yang Guodong said. "Cai Shouqi is such a small censor, how can he have such courage, someone must instigate him behind." Peng Shouyi said these words thoughtfully, resting his cheeks. "Chang Geng's words are very reasonable." Zhao Liewen said, "This person is probably the Queen Mother from the west." There are no taboos in Zeng Guofan's secret room. Up to the empress dowager, the emperor, and down to the governors and governors, everyone can speak out, but they can't speak a word when they go out, and only a few confidants enter this secret room.Listening to their analysis, Zeng Guofan felt that the matter was much more serious than he thought.If Prince Gong was deposed instead of sudden death, it must be because of him and the Hunan Army.Thinking of this level, Zeng Guofan became terrified.He was sitting on the grand teacher's chair, his right hand was constantly stroking his long beard, his face was solemn, and he didn't say a word.

"Zhongtang." Zhao Liewen called softly, "We discuss here, like a blind man touching an elephant. Such a major event has shocked the world. There will be a Beijing newspaper in the next two days. We will talk about it after we see the Beijing newspaper." While talking, Jing Qi held a lot of letters from the capital, and Peng Shouyi hurriedly selected the Beijing News from them.found it!The Beijing News published the decree in the first place: "The decree is read equally by the king and ministers of the court: I follow the orders of the empress dowagers of the two palaces, and today, according to Cai Shouqi's performance of Prince Gong, he will act in accordance with the situation, be greedy and greedy, be arrogant and seize power, attract more opinions, be arrogant, and many other things." Arrogant, relying on the high authority of the nobles, having no ruler, seeing my age, many coercion, often secretly causing separation, you can't ask carefully, if you don't declare it early, how can you use people to govern when you are in charge. Prince Gong's work is not necessary The Military Aircraft Department discusses government affairs, dismisses all errands, and is not allowed to interfere with official affairs. Special order!"

After reading the special edict, Zeng Guofan was speechless for a while, and waved his hand lightly, motioning Zhao Liewen and others to withdraw.Sitting alone, he seemed to be in a daze.After an unknown amount of time, Jing Qi whispered in his ear: "My lord, it's getting dark, do you want to light the lamp?" "What? It's dark, how long have I been sitting?" Zeng Guofan woke up as if from a sleep. "It's been an hour." Jing Qi said softly. "Okay, after turning on the lights, tell the kitchen not to deliver food tonight, just ask them to cook a bowl of fresh vegetable soup and crack two eggs." After Jing Qi went out, Zeng Guofan's mind began to turn. .

The palace affairs are secret, and the details are unknown, but one thing is very clear, Prince Gong was indeed deposed because of Cai Shouqi's impeachment, and the imperial edict clearly stated that it was ordered by the empress dowagers of the two palaces.The so-called Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces is actually synonymous with the Empress Dowager of the West, Zeng Guofan already knew this.The matter was exactly as analyzed by Zhao Liewen and others. The Empress Dowager ordered Cai Shouqi to go up and personally ordered all the errands of King Gong to be dismissed. The tone of accusing Sushun three years ago.

The weather was still only early autumn, and Zeng Guofan was already shivering from the cold.He asked Jing Qi to find out a cotton jacket and put it on, it was still too cold, so he asked Jing Qi to simply light a pot of charcoal fire.Zeng Guofan knew that since he left the capital and founded the Hunan Army for more than ten years, Prince Gong has always been his most powerful pillar in the court.When Wen Zong was in Japan, King Gong urged Wen Zong to trust him and reuse him because of his brother's relatives. Although he was hindered by many parties, he was full of suspicion, and even Wen Zong himself was not at ease. However, Zeng Guofan was always highly valued. Of course, there was also Sushun's strong support at that time.After Wenzong's death, Sushun was executed, but King Gong supported him with great merit and was the king of politics.Prince Gong introduced Zeng Guofan as his confidant and gave him full trust until he restrained the troops of the four provinces and became the first Han with the largest military power after the San Francisco Rebellion.Later, Zeng Guofan gradually saw that the Empress Dowager Yehenara was a woman with a strong desire for power, a lot of scheming, and a ruthless method. Disagreement made the people of insight in the court worry about it, and Zeng Guofan, who was at the forefront of the military, was even more uneasy.

Now, Zeng Guofan finally understands that all the unpleasant things that happened after the conquest of Jinling, such as the unannounced visit of Fu Ming'a, the impeachment of the three censors, and the heated discussion among the population, are likely to have happened on the line of the Queen Mother. .Was it because the Empress Dowager was afraid that King Gong would use the Hunan Army as a tool for the Xinyou coup in the future?Or is it that the Empress Dowager hates Prince Gong's overuse of Han people, making the Hunan army bigger and becoming the biggest hidden danger to the Manchus?In any case, the dismissal of Prince Gong, in Zeng Guofan's view, was the most fatal blow among the blows he had received in the past ten years. The emperor's relatives and uncles played a role in turning the world around in the year of Xinyou. In recent years, the king who has pacified the barbarians and pacified the war internally, no matter in terms of relatives, nobles, and merits, is the number one in the world today. A minister.It was him who was taken down by the Queen Mother, one can imagine how cunning this person is!Zeng Guofan thought of Lu Zhi and Wu Zetian in the previous dynasty. Could it be that the Qing Dynasty also wanted a heroine to come to court.The rooster is in the morning, the country is in bad luck, Prince Gong has been cut first, and then it is probably himself and his brother. Zeng Guofan slowly turned from fear to despair, and sat on the chair numbly, as if his body was being pushed into a dark abyss. Early the next morning, he called Zeng Guoquan and Zeng Jize into the inner room, closed the doors and windows, and talked to them about his analysis of the current situation.He told his son to leave Jiangning immediately and return to Heyetang, canceled the original plan to move the whole family to Jiangning, and told the fourth uncle to be careful in everything and not to cause trouble again.I also want my younger brother to be mentally prepared for the opening of the vacancy.If the empress dowager stays with warm words, don't insist on asking to preserve your strength at this time; if the empress dowager agrees to open a vacancy, you must accept it calmly, and leave immediately after receiving the order to recuperate at home and study, without involving Hunan officialdom at all.Zeng Guoquan, who has always gone his own way and defied the fate of others, was also greatly shocked by this sudden change, and he couldn't help feeling a gloomy mood.