As usual, the thirty-year-old Empress Dowager Cixi woke up at Yinchu.There was still more than an hour before dawn, and this was the most difficult time of her day.She usually closes her eyes and sleeps on the dragon bed covered by heavy curtains, among the soft and soft embroidered quilts and quilts embroidered with dragons and phoenixes, imagining boundlessly and unrestrainedly.What I think about the most is the sweet years of love between her and Emperor Xianfeng. With her unparalleled beauty and unparalleled agility, in the few years before and after the birth of the little emperor, the young romantic emperor gathered the three thousand loves of the harem into her.At that time, she was the happiest woman in the world.It's a pity that the good times didn't last long.Later, Emperor Xianfeng turned his love, and was tightly entangled by four famous Han beauties: Xinghuachun, Wulinchun, Zhuangdanchun, and Haitangchun.She was snubbed.However, she has an advantage that all women favored by the emperor, including the empress, do not have, that is, the only son of the emperor is born to her.When Emperor Xianfeng was seriously ill and no longer favored her alone, she even secretly hoped that the emperor would die soon.Otherwise, one day, another concubine's womb will give birth to a prince. The emperor was temporarily bewitched by her, and easily took the country from his son's hands and gave it to others.Therefore, when Emperor Xianfeng passed away three years ago, she was also distraught on the surface, but secretly proud in her heart: From now on, this country belongs to her son, so don't worry about others fighting for it.

However, what the son inherited was a turbulent and broken country.Although no one came to fight for it in the palace, the long-haired rebellion in the south of the Yangtze River has lasted for ten years.In Jiangning, there is clearly a Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which wants to fight against the Qing Dynasty; there is a heavenly king, who wants to sit on an equal footing with his own son.She must not tolerate the existence of this situation.Although she has received unbelievable family education from her father since she was a child, to this day, she has to follow the advice of Prince Gong Yixin and use Zeng Guofan and his Hunan Army.She wants to use the Han people to fight the Han people, and she wants to use the Han people to recover and consolidate her son's country.The days of dread are finally over.More than three months ago, when the news of the six-hundred-mile red flag was delivered from Jiangning to the Forbidden City, she was so excited that tears flowed down her cheeks, her voice choked up, she hugged the nine-year-old little emperor tightly, and repeatedly called her beloved son's baby name...

The son's country was preserved, and her status as the Queen Mother was also preserved.Even so, as a young woman, the years without a husband are lonely after all, especially in the early morning of this day, when all the couples in the world are embracing in mandarin ducks, she is lying alone.She was most afraid of waking up at this time, but every day at this time she had to wake up again.Recalling the sweet days of the past can give her warmth for a while, but soon the widow's worries and depression will prevail.She thought that when she was going to live this lonely life forever, the supreme status and power symbolized by the dragon and phoenix quilt could no longer fill the loneliness and emptiness deep in her heart.At this time, she even regretted that she should not have tried her best to attract the emperor's attention and win his favor.

In the winter of the first year of Xianfeng, Emperor Xianfeng, who had just ascended the throne, issued an edict to the whole country to draft girls: all girls between the ages of 15 and 18 from the families of Manchu and Mongolian civil and military officials with a rank of four or above should all enter Beijing for candidates.Empress Dowager Cixi Nala was seventeen years old, and her father, Huizheng, a Taoist priest living in southern Anhui, was a fourth-rank official. All aspects were within the requirements, so the family had to pack up and prepare to send her to Beijing.At this time, Huizheng died of a sudden illness.The Nala family has no elder brother, no younger brother, only a thirteen-year-old younger sister, a widow and orphan crying to death.At that time, the atmosphere in the officialdom was that when the wife died, mourners would block the street; when the master died, no one would pay attention.Huizheng's residence is fairly clean, his family doesn't have much savings, and he has no relatives or friends in Huizhou City, so everything depends on his wife to come forward and spend money everywhere.By the time the coffin was moved to the boat back to Beijing, there was not much money left on him.

That evening, the spirit boat stopped at Qingjiangpu, Jiangsu.It was late winter, the cold wind was howling, and the river was extremely deserted.The mother and daughter of the Nala family in the boat saw that their family was so unfortunate, and looking forward to the future, it was even more difficult, so they wept bitterly while touching the coffin together.The miserable cries spread across the Hanye River, and people far and near felt sympathetic when they heard it.Suddenly, a well-dressed man stood on the shore and shouted at the spirit boat: "Is this the boat to transport the coffin to the capital?"

"Yes." The boss of the boat replied hurriedly. The man stepped on the springboard, bowed to Mrs. Huizheng, who was wearing a heavy filial piety, and said, "My master is an old friend of your deceased master. Because there are important guests at the house tonight, I can't come to express my condolences in person. I will send three hundred taels of silver as a token of my affection for the deceased, and I would like to express my condolences to my wife." From Huizhou to Qingjiangpu, no one cared for more than a thousand miles along the way. Unexpectedly, I met such a kind-hearted man here. Mrs. Huizheng was so grateful that she didn't know how to thank her. She hurriedly dragged her two daughters and said, "Kneel down. , Kowtow to this uncle!"

Sister Nala was about to kneel down, but the man quickly bent down and said repeatedly: "Don't dare to do it, don't dare to do it! I'll go back and ask my wife to give me a receipt." At this moment, Mrs. Huizheng remembered that she didn't know who her husband's loyal friend was, so she asked, "May I ask your master's name and official position?" The man replied: "My master's surname is Wu, his name is Tang, and his style name is Zhongxuan. He currently lives in the Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy, Si Shanyang Division, Yunjuan." Mrs. Huizheng wondered: she had never heard her husband mention this person.While thanking her, she picked up a pen and wrote: "I would like to accept three hundred taels of silver from Mr. Wu. I am very kind and virtuous, and I will repay you in the future. Widow Huizheng would like to thank you."

The man accepted the letter and returned to the mansion to return his order.When Wu Tang saw the written evidence, he said angrily: "You bastard, this money was sent to Mr. Yin's house, how come there is a Huizheng here! Who is this Huizheng?" The servant panicked: "Didn't the master mean the ship that transported the coffin to the capital? I heard the crying, and asked if I was going to the capital, and I said yes, so I sent it, and they accepted it. " Wu Tang sneered and said, "What a fool, there is no one in the world who doesn't love money! If you gave him three hundred taels of silver, would she not accept it?Did you ask her last name? "

The servant argued: "The villain thinks, how can there be such a coincidence in the world, they all died, they were all transported to the capital, and they all stopped at Qingjiangpu at this time. So the villain thought, don't ask this, it must be There is no doubt about the Yin family." Wu Tang got angry, slapped the table and yelled: "You useless guy, how dare you argue like this? You hurry to the riverside, recover the three hundred taels of silver, and then send it to the Yin family's boat!" "Just go!" The footman agreed, but he was still not convinced.

"Slow down!" A master came out from the side door, waved to the footman, and then said to Wu Tang, "Master, I just came from the riverside, so I know something." "Go ahead." "The family that received the money is Manchu, and the owner was originally a Taoist priest from Anhui. This trip to Beijing, one is to transport the coffin back to his hometown for burial, and the other is to send his daughter to the palace to draft a girl.Master," the master leaned into Wu Tang's ear and whispered, "Who can predict the future of this beautiful girl who entered the palace?If the emperor takes a fancy to her, she will be the imperial concubine.At that time, I'm afraid the master will not be able to curry favor if he wants to!Three hundred taels of silver is nothing to the master, but to the widows and orphans at this time, it is a great favor.Now that the money has been given away, the master might as well just be a favor and go to the boat as Hui Zheng's deceased to visit him in person and reserve a place for the future. "

It made sense for Wu Tang to think about it.Three hundred taels of silver is nothing to a salt transport judge.So, he took his master to the riverside overnight, boarded the spirit boat, comforted Mrs. Huizheng with good words, and encouraged the Nala sisters to take care of themselves and have a bright future in the future.Before leaving, leave a name stab.Thanks a lot to Mrs. Huizheng's family. Nalashi kept this famous thorn in his dowry.The desolation after her father's death gave her a strong stimulus and made her deeply aware of the importance of power.Facing the cold canal water, she gritted her teeth and swore inwardly: This time, she must strive to be elected when she enters the capital; after entering the palace, she must try her best to attract the emperor's attention; if she succeeds in the future, she must also repay her well This Mr. Wu. She was finally selected and arranged in the Old Summer Palace.The beauties in the harem were like a cloud, drowning her beauty and talent.A year has passed, and she is still just an ordinary show girl.However, she was extremely scheming, and within this year, she found out all about the emperor's temperament and hobbies.She knew that the 20-year-old emperor was very lively and loved to play, especially liked to watch operas and listen to music, and he was able to compose new songs by himself. He was a talented emperor.She grew up with her father in the south of the Yangtze River, and learned a lot of beautiful Jiangnan tunes. At this time, she often secretly reviewed them by herself.With a naturally good voice, coupled with hard work, after a year, she has sung Jiangnan ditties very well. On this day, Emperor Xianfeng came to visit the Old Summer Palace.When it was about to reach the depths of Tongyin, suddenly there was singing, and the eunuch wanted to reprimand, but Emperor Xianfeng stopped it.It turned out that Emperor Xianfeng grew up in a deep palace in Beijing, and he only listened to Peking opera, Kunqu opera, and rough northern songs on weekdays, and he had never heard Jiangnan minor tunes.This Jiangnan ditty is the most tactful and tortuous, soft and affectionate, and it is even more beautiful when it is sung from the mouth of an eighteen-year-old girl.The literary and elegant young emperor was immediately attracted. He stood by the lake and listened for a long time in a daze. "Bring the singers to Yanbo Zhishuang Hall!" Emperor Xianfeng ordered. The singer was brought up, she was Huizheng's eldest daughter.Emperor Xianfeng sat cross-legged on the kang in the west side hall of Yanbo Zhishuang Hall, looking at this lowly maid in the Old Summer Palace, he was so surprised that he couldn't speak for a long time, thinking: I didn't know there was such a beautiful woman in the palace, what a disappointment He hurt himself and wronged her. "You sang the song just now?" After watching it for a long time, Emperor Xianfeng managed to utter a sentence. "The words of the Long Live Lord were sung by the servants." The answering voice was clear and crisp, like a silver bell. "Sing me another song." The beautiful Midnight Wu Ge resounded in the empty Yanbo Zhishuang Hall: Spring is full of forest fragrance, and spring outings are unforgettable.The fallen flowers are blowing away, and the weeping willows are still long. Sang Nv Huainan song, golden saddle plug in northern outfit.Walking and walking with small hands, the sun is setting in Weichuanyang. "Okay, good singing!" Emperor Xianfeng slapped the little table on the kang lightly with his hand, staring at the radiant maid, he found that the maid was holding an orchid in her hand. "Do you like it?" Emperor Xianfeng asked, pointing to the orchid. "Going back to Lord Long Live, slaves like orchid grass orchids the most." Emperor Xianfeng smiled and said, "I don't know your name, so I'll call you Lan'er!" "Thank you, Lord Long Live, for giving me the name!" "Come here and let me see your hand." Lan'er walked over and stretched out a pair of slender fingers that were as moist as cream.Emperor Xianfeng touched the pair of jade hands, and felt his spring heart rippling, and said to the eunuch who was waiting on the side: "You all go out!" When Lan'er heard this, her face flushed with shame, and when the eunuch just went out, she was already lying in the emperor's arms... Cixi never forgets her old kindness.At the beginning of listening to the government behind the curtain, Wu Tang was promoted to the Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy, and a year later, she was promoted to the Governor of Water Transport. Recently, the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi was vacant, and she thought about promoting Wu Tang to this position. "It's a blessing to be rewarded if you have a grudge, and to be rewarded if you have a favor." Thinking of this, she felt a little relieved. The window paper has turned white, and it is dawn.Cixi is a person who can take care of herself.She insists on walking twice a day in the morning and evening, which is called walking in circles.Once in the morning after getting up, go out after a little freshening up; once in the evening before the sun sets. "Xiao Anzi, let's go out for a walk!" After her beloved eunuch An Dehai washed her face, rinsed her mouth, and combed her hair, she got up and asked An Dehai to accompany her out for a walk in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. The Hall of Mental Cultivation is located in the second half of the Forbidden City, on the west side of Xiyi Long Street. In front of it is the Military Aircraft Office, and behind it is the West Sixth Palace.The palace was built in the Ming Dynasty and was renovated again during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty.The palace of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty and the Shunzhi and Kangxi emperors of the Qing Dynasty was the Qianqing Palace. When Emperor Yongzheng, because of the new death of his father, Emperor Kangxi, he did not want to live in the Qianqing Palace where his father lived for more than 60 years. So he lived in the Hall of Mental Cultivation to watch his father's funeral.After the filial piety period expired, he did not move again, and the Hall of Mental Cultivation became his bedroom and the place where he handled government affairs.Since then, emperors of all generations have followed it unchanged.Cixi originally lived in Chuxiu Palace in the West Sixth Palace, and Empress Ci'an originally lived in Zhongcui Palace in the East Sixth Palace.After Emperor Tongzhi moved into the Hall of Mental Cultivation, in order to take care of him at any time, the queen mothers of the two palaces who governed the country with him also moved to live in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. The Hall of Mental Cultivation is an I-shaped building, with the front hall and the back hall connected, surrounded by corridors and verandas, and has a compact structure.The front hall is the place to deal with political affairs, and the back hall is the place to sleep.At that time, the little emperor lived in the main room of the apse, Ci'an lived in the east pavilion of the apse, and Cixi lived in the west pavilion of the apse.Because of this, the concubines, eunuchs, and maids all called Ci'an the Queen Mother of the East, referred to as the Eastern Queen Mother, and called Cixi the Queen Mother of the West, referred to as the Western Queen Mother.Accompanied by An Dehai, Cixi walked two circles around the green tiles and red walls, pines and ancient cypresses, and the bitter mood after waking up in the early morning was almost exhausted.After breakfast, she sat down in front of the dressing table again and started her day of formal dressing. Like all women in the world, dressing up is what Cixi is most interested in.She has outstanding beauty and outstanding makeup skills.Flowers are the most used in her beauty materials.Her pillow is empty, filled with dried flowers all year round.She believes that the pistils in these dried flowers can make her look like a flower forever.She asked the eunuch to use fresh red roses as rouge and delicate white peonies as powder.She often sends eunuchs to comb the hair to the streets and alleys of Beijing to carefully observe the women's hairstyles, and show her the selected ones.What she likes is fixed as a hairstyle.Every three or five days, she changes her hairstyle.Every morning, after the hair-combing eunuch combed her hair, she asked a young eunuch with very thin hands and feet to hold a two-inch long jade stick and roll it back and forth on her face like a rolling pin. Fifty strokes.Then put on powder and rouge, put on the golden phoenix crown inlaid with 302 pearls, put on the bright yellow dragon robe of clouds and water, and put on a shawl woven with 3,500 pearls. Wearing embroidered shoes at the bottom of a flowerpot more than four inches high.Whenever she dressed up like this, swayed, and gracefully walked out of the threshold of the West Pavilion in the back hall, all the maids and eunuchs in the Hall of Mental Cultivation would cast admiring glances at her from the bottom of their hearts.In this gaze, she obtained great satisfaction, and the widow's resentment was completely dispelled, and she began to deal with the military affairs of the day with full enthusiasm. Dressing up today, she puts more thought and time into it than usual, and has stricter requirements on the eunuchs who serve her, because this morning she will discuss a very secret matter with the two imperial relatives together with the Empress Dowager Ci'an .These two people, one is Emperor Xianfeng's younger brother Qiyechun County Wang Yixuan, and the other is Emperor Xianfeng's cousin Seng Gelinqin, Prince of Mongolia.Yesterday, when the empress dowagers of the two palaces were discussing this matter, out of nowhere, Cixi suddenly suggested: the seventh master and the king of monks are relatives of the family, and when they summoned tomorrow, they should simply remove the yellow curtain. It will also be discussed in depth. It turned out that since the defeat of the eight ministers headed by Sushun, the empress dowagers of the two palaces and the little emperor summoned the ministers to deal with state affairs every day.When summoned, the little emperor sat in the middle, and the two empress dowagers sat on both sides.In order to strictly guard against men and women, a thin yellow curtain is hung in front of it.In this way, the Empress Dowager can see clearly the ministers who played the role, but the ministers cannot see the Queen Mother.This is the famous listening to politics behind a curtain in modern history.The Empress Dowager Niu Hulu of Ci'an was two years younger than Cixi. She was a peaceful woman who was not interested in state affairs and lacked talent in this area.She thought that Seng Gelinqin was the cousin of Emperor Daxing in name, but in fact he was not related by blood, and had led troops outside for many years, so they were not close to each other. Thinking, it made sense for Shiseng Gelinqin to be kind, hesitated for a while, and agreed again.Because of this reason, Cixi's dressing today is even more unusual. After four or five eunuchs had been busy waiting for an hour, Cixi got up, looked at the large glass mirror imported from the West, turned around a few times, felt satisfied, and then said to An Dehai: "Little Anzi, go to the East Pavilion to see how it's going, and then go to the front hall to see if they've all come." "Cha!" An Dehai turned and went out.After a while, I came back and reported: "Mother, the empress dowager has already finished dressing, and is waiting for news from here. The seventh master and the monk king are also waiting in the court room at the military plane to call." "Okay, let's go!" Cixi said as she went out. The East Nuan Pavilion, which is usually located in the front hall except for listening to the government behind the curtain, is specially arranged in the West Nuan Pavilion today.This is the place where the previous emperors reviewed the memorials. Since the Yongzheng Dynasty established the Military Aircraft Department, it has become the house where the emperor and the military ministers had secret talks.Emperor Qianlong separated a very small room in the west, and hung three rare calligraphy treasures in the palace, Wang Xizhi's "Quick Snow and Sunny Calligraphy", Wang Xianzhi's "Mid-Autumn Calligraphy", and Wang Xun's "Boyuan Calligraphy". and named it Sanxitang.When he was tired of reviewing memorials, he walked into Sanxi Hall to rest by admiring the ink marks of the Three Kings.His descendants Jiaqing, Daoguang, and Xianfeng did not have this kind of elegance, and rarely visited.However, Sanxi Hall is still well preserved. When Cixi stepped into Xinuang Pavilion, Ci'an was already sitting there.After Cixi saluted Ci'an, she sat down next to her.Because today was an informal meeting, the minister on duty was not called to pass the order, but An Dehai was asked to go to the court room of the military plane to pass Yizhen and Seng Gelinqin. Yizhen's Fujin is Cixi's biological sister.Back then, Cixi relied on Yixin's strength to defeat Sushun's group of auxiliary ministers. Later, she found that Yixin was too powerful to control, so she looked for opportunities to cut off Yixin's title of "king of politics" and instead trusted this brother-in-law, Yizhen, who has dual identities as brother-in-law.Yizhen's behavior is very different from that of Qishi.He sticks to the family law of his ancestors, is closed-minded and narrow-minded, and only trusts the Manchus and Mongols at home, and has never been close to the Han people; The Mongolian Prince Seng Gelinqin is brave and brave, and the army he leads has always been known as being able to conquer battles. He looks down on the Eight Banners soldiers and the Green Battalion, let alone those temporarily recruited to practice bravery.But it was just these mobs in his eyes who had achieved a lot in Jiangnan over the years, and finally captured Jiangning and won a complete victory over the Taiping Army. On the contrary, his Mongolian iron cavalry often lost battles with the Nian army. In contrast, his former prestige declined sharply.The descendants of this generation of Tianjiao are full of nameless anger towards the Zeng brothers and the Hunan Army. After the Hunan army entered Jiangning, they plundered wealth, massacred the city and set fire to it, and released the young king. Slander and slander arose everywhere, and there were heated discussions. .Unexpectedly, Zeng Guoquan conquered Fu Ming'a with a threat and a bribe. General Jiang Ning made a false report to Seng Gelinqin after returning. Seng Gelinqin didn't believe it, and sent a few more conscientious staff to Jiangning City secretly. They investigated secretly for ten days, and they had the ironclad evidence that the senior generals of the Hunan Army had stolen gold and silver treasures.Based on this, Seng Gelinqin wrote a secret letter to the Queen Mother and the Emperor, demanding that the Hunan Army's crime of looting Jiangning be declared, that Zeng Guofan's title be revoked, that Zeng Guoquan, Xiao Fusi, Zhu Hongzhang and others be taken to the Ministry of Criminal Justice for strict interrogation, and that the Hunan Army be disbanded immediately.Even Empress Dowager Cixi felt that this secret performance of trying to wipe out the Hunan Army in one go to vent her personal anger was too much. Just a few days after Jiang Ning laid down, Cixi received a dozen memorials.These memorials use different languages ​​to express a common theme: don’t forget the ancient saying that the water that carries a boat can also overturn it, the Hunan army is fierce and greedy, Zeng Guoquan is rebellious, and beware of accidents. To Cixi's surprise, most of these excerpts were written by Han ministers.Soon, Zeng Guoquan asked to open a vacancy and return to his hometown to recuperate. Zeng Guofan reported that the Hunan Army was about to be abolished on a large scale.Cixi finally felt a little more relaxed. She smoothly approved Zeng Guoquan's request to open a vacancy and return home, and waited patiently for Zeng Guofan's specific actions to disarm.She hoped that the hidden danger of the Hunan Army would disappear in the self-restraint process of the Zeng brothers, so that on the one hand, the sanction of the court would not arouse the deterioration of the matter, and on the other hand, it would not leave future generations with the criticism of not being able to tolerate heroes.Unexpectedly, regarding the issue of disarmament, Zeng Guofan had nothing to say about that memorial.Feng Zicai, the admiral of Guangxi who was stationed in Zhenjiang City and supervised the military affairs of Zhenjiang, reported that there was no disarmament in Jiangning City at all. Punishment, even trying to cover up the past. After receiving Feng Zicai's secret performance, Cixi realized that she could no longer take the Hunan Army lightly. Taking advantage of Seng Gelinqin's return to Beijing for vacation, she summoned the Qing Dynasty's Gancheng and entered the palace with Qiye to conduct secret business . Seng Gelinqin and Yizhen entered Xinuang Pavilion one after the other.Seng Gelinqin was shocked when he saw the two empress dowagers sitting on the kang, without yellow curtains in front of them, he knelt down and kowtowed, not daring to look up.Yizhen also knelt down. "Please get up, today is our own family gathering, don't be so polite." Cixi smiled at the two bearded men kneeling at her feet, and said, "Look, our sisters didn't set up a curtain, they are all brothers and sisters of our own family, what do we need this curtain for!" Seng Gelinqin and Yizhen had a warm current rolling through their bodies, and sat opposite the empress dowagers of the two palaces.Ci An kindly ordered: "Give tea to Monk Wang and Qi Ye." Two court ladies served two cups of tea on gilt copper trays.In front of Seng Gelinqin was a blood-red agate cup, and in front of Yizhen was a pine flower jade cup, both of which were brewed with southern Fujian oolong tea as a tribute from Fujian governor Xu Zongqian.With a wave of Cixi's hand, all the eunuchs and court ladies quietly exited Xinuang Pavilion. "Sister, tell me first." Although Ci'an was younger than Cixi, her status was higher than that of Cixi. Cixi had no choice but to call her elder sister and call herself younger sister.Like every time she summoned her ministers and workers, Cixi had to say this sentence before speaking.Just like every time, Ci'an replied as usual: "What kind of politeness do we sisters talk about? You should talk about it first." "Since my sister wants me to speak first, I will say a few words first." After Cixi said this cliché, she began her main topic in a soft and pleasant female voice, "The master of Hongde Palace asked the emperor to recite the "Book of Songs" The emperor will not come. Today, our sisters invited Monk Wang and Qi Ye to hear your views on the Hunan Army in the south. Everyone knows that Zeng Guofan’s Hunan Army has made great achievements in overcoming Jiangning. However, after the Hunan army entered Jiangning, they set fire to Chang Mao’s fake palace, and the wealth accumulated by Chang Mao over the years became the private property of the generals of the Hunan Army. The brothers Zeng Guoquan have high expectations of the imperial court. A few days ago, Zeng Guofan said to cut Xiangyong, but he has not acted so far. The two princes talked about how the imperial court should deal with the Hunan army." As soon as Cixi finished speaking, Seng Gelinqin couldn't wait to play: "Empress Dowager, the slaves have already seen that the Hunan Army is not a good thing. When Anqing was captured three years ago, someone reported to me that the Hunan Army took Anqing City. They looted everything. The attack on Jiangning was even more crazy this time, not to mention the looting of gold, silver and treasures, even the women in Jiangnan were robbed by them. The common people said that the Hunan army is all robbers and animals, which are much worse than long-haired. Queen Mother, The slave is still the same as before, cut off the titles of the brothers of the Zeng family, took Zeng Guoquan and others to the Ministry of Criminal Justice for interrogation, forcibly disbanded the Hunan Army, and sent my Eight Banners soldiers to garrison Jiangning City." Ci'an smiled and said: "What the Monk King said is reasonable, but Zeng Guoquan has no signs of rebellion. If he is taken to the Ministry of Punishment, others will say that the court has treated heroes badly." "Why is there no sign of rebellion? The Hunan Army was originally a regiment training, and it had to be disbanded after the battle. If you don't want to rebel, why didn't you disband for so long?" The aunt's adopted son, Emperor Xianfeng was very polite to him during his lifetime, which further contributed to his arrogance and domineering. Even in front of the empress dowager, he seemed presumptuous.The empress dowagers of the two palaces knew his temper, they looked at each other, smiled slightly, and neither made a sound. Yizhen said: "Queen Mother, according to my slaves, Zeng Guofan is the most hypocritical person. When Anqing was conquered, Zeng Guoquan transported all the property of the Puppet British Prince's Mansion back to his hometown in Hunan, and used the money to buy it for each of his brothers. Because of this, Zeng Guofan knew it clearly, but kept silent. He gained wealth and a reputation for integrity. This time he captured Jiangning. He said in the memorial that the rumors that gold and silver are like seas and wealth are like mountains are all false. Yes. This is something that even a three-year-old child can't coax. Since there is no gold or silver goods, why set fire to burn down the long-haired fake royal palace? Why don't you follow Cao Bin's example and seal up the treasury, waiting for the court to send people Come to check and accept it? No wonder others say that Zeng Guofan is a hypocrite. The Queen Mother will never believe him when he said last time to disband the Hunan Army. I think he will not take the initiative to disband the Hunan Army." After Yizhen finished speaking, there was a long silence in Xinuang Pavilion.Cixi asked: "According to Qiye's intention, is the imperial court ordering the forced disbandment of the Hunan Army?" Yizhen thought for a while, and said, "I don't mean that the servant wants the court to order a forced dissolution. Let's see if there is another way to force Zeng Guofan to fulfill his promise." "There is a way to force him." Seng Gelinqin said confidently. "What good idea does Monk King have?" Ci'an turned his face and asked. "Send the Mongolian iron cavalry of the slaves from Shandong to the south of the Yangtze River, station them around Jiangning City, and use force to force him to disband the Hunan Army." Seng Gelinqin is majestic, as if his cavalry is a heavenly soldier who can subdue a hundred demons. Ci'an nodded slightly, as if approving.Cixi sneered in her heart: Can your iron cavalry match Zeng Guoquan's Jiziying?He said in his mouth: "The monk king's idea is good, but it's too revealing." Yizhen said: "What the queen mother said is true. The Mongolian iron cavalry drove across the Yangtze River and stationed outside Jiangning City. It is indeed too revealing. After all, there is a difference between not withdrawing the Hunan army and rebelling. But the king's idea can still be used. In the banner of suppressing the Nian bandits in Anhui, the troops will be sent to the Jiangsu and Anhui areas. In this way, it will not only put pressure on the Hunan Army in Jiangning City, but also prevent future disturbances." "Qiye's method is the safest." Ci'an immediately expressed his opinion. Cixi looked at the 27-year-old brother-in-law, and secretly admired him: he has made progress in the past few years, and with more practice, he will be a good helper in the future.Then he smiled and said, "Qiye's idea is good. But in this way, the pressure becomes indirect. It's better to force Zeng Guofan to fulfill his promise of disarmament as soon as possible, as Qiye said. Otherwise, the Hunan Army will always A heart disease of the imperial court." There was another silence in the Xinuang Pavilion.Several Western clocks placed around made a clicking sound, which further brought out the tranquility outside the cabinet.The four uncles and sisters-in-law of the first family in the world are racking their brains to think about how to get rid of this confidant disease of the Qing Dynasty as quickly as possible.Suddenly, Seng Gelinqin slapped his thigh violently, and the empress dowagers of the two palaces were startled.He realized his gaffe, and hurriedly said: "The slave is rude, please forgive me, the Queen Mother." Cixi smiled and said, "The monk king must have a good idea in his heart." Ci'an also smiled and said: "It's okay, it's like being in your own home, the monk king doesn't mind." Seng Gelinqin said: "When a slave fights, he often uses the method of luring the enemy into a trap, luring the enemy from a distance. After being trapped, he has to be at the mercy of the slave." Yixuan became excited: "The slave understands what the king of the monk means. He wants to introduce the Hunan army into the trap set up by the court, and then come to deal with it in a legitimate way. Okay, that's a good idea! But, what kind of trap should we set up?" "Yes, what a good trap to set up? Zeng Guofan is a very scheming person!" Ci'an looked distressed, she had no idea in this regard. "There is the simplest way." Seng Gelinqin said, "The emperor ordered Zeng Guofan to come to Beijing to meet His Majesty, and the Queen Mother will reward him face to face. The slaves will send a few people to kill him halfway, and then kill two people to make up for the dead ghost. Zeng Guoquan has already opened a vacancy, and with the death of Zeng Guofan, the Hunan army will have no leader, so it will naturally disintegrate." After Seng Gelinqin finished speaking, he glanced at the two queen mothers, thinking that this was the best idea.Zeng Guofan was originally an enemy he had hated for a long time, but now he is getting rid of him through the hands of the Queen Mother, wouldn't it be very pleasant!He didn't expect that Cixi had her own thoughts.She didn't want to kill Zeng Guofan yet, because the Nian army in the Anhui and Henan areas and the Hui people in the Shaanxi and Gansu areas were making a lot of trouble. Her son's country has not yet been fully consolidated, and it is likely that he will have to rely on Zeng Guofan to pacify the Nian and return.However, the hundreds of thousands of Hunan troops in his hands must be dismantled on a large scale in order to ensure that there will be no more accidents in the south of the Yangtze River.At that time, Zeng Guofan needs to be on the front line again, and then let him go to Hunan to recruit new troops.This is called coming at the call and going away at the wave.The imperial court must establish such authority in order to be able to control hundreds of thousands of regiments all over the country. If Zeng Guofan, who built the No. , had to obediently follow suit.Conversely, if Zeng Guofan did not abolish the Hunan Army, Zuo and Li would follow suit in the future.With these hundreds of thousands of Hunan, Chu, and Huai troops who have fought tough battles for many years and made great achievements, it is like a few robbers with swords and knives in the Forbidden City. Unexpected disasters may happen at any time. Can the throne in the temple of the heart still sit securely?Therefore, the best way is to quietly force Zeng Guofan to disarm himself. After thinking hard for a long time, the two military ministers were at a loss for what to do, but an idea popped up in Cixi's heart.She asked Seng Gelinqin: "It is said that there are Gelaohui in the Hunan Army. Has King Seng heard of it in Shandong?" "Yes, there are a large number of Gelaohui in the Hunan Army. Some people say that the last time Bao Chao's Tingjun mutiny was instigated by the Gelaohui." Seng Gelinqin replied.He has a team of Han Chinese under him, led by Chen Guorui who surrendered from the Taiping Army a few years ago. Chen Guorui had contacts with many generals of the Hunan Army, and there was a Gelaohui in the Hunan Army. He was the one who told Seng Gelinqin. "It is said that elders will oppose the imperial court, is it true?" Cixi asked again. "As far as I know, the Gelaohui is a gang formed by a group of rogues in the Hunan Army. They win people's hearts under the banner of sharing blessings and sharing disasters, and form cliques in the Hunan Army. However, I haven't heard of it yet. Guo Ge Lao will oppose the court's words, but they cannot guarantee it." Seng Gelinqin said. Yizhen said: "I heard that there are also members of the elder brother's association in the green camp. It's scary." Cixi frowned Liu Yemei, an idea suddenly matured in her heart. She said to Ci'an in a blink of an eye, "Sister, it's getting late, and Monk Wang and Qi Ye are tired, so let's stop here today. What do you think?" Ci'an said: "It's been a long time, but the idea of ​​forcing Zeng Guofan to disarm the army has not yet been discussed. Will you invite Monk Wang and Qi Ye to come to the government tomorrow?" "Let's talk about it in a few days." Cixi stood up while talking, and Ci'an also stood up.Seng Gelinqin and Yixuan hurriedly left their chairs and were about to kneel down. "No need." Cixi's soft voice was obviously a bit rigid, and her beautiful Danfeng eyes focused on the two dignified men, and said: "Today, our own family members are here to chat casually. After we go out, who I can't talk about it anymore!" "I understand." Seng Gelinqin looked up at Cixi after finishing speaking.This was the first time he saw the Queen Mother clearly. "It's so beautiful!" the rough Mongolian prince admired in his heart.At this moment, he found that Cixi was also staring at him with a strange look in his eyes, so he quickly lowered his head. "Let's go back after eating here!" Cixi waved to the door, and An Dehai immediately walked over lightly and quickly. "You go to the imperial dining room in front to say hello, and prepare a table of good food and wine for Monk King and Qi Ye." After returning to the West Pavilion of the back hall, after having some snacks, Cixi took a peaceful nap, and when she woke up, she remembered the secret conversation in the morning.She was a little disappointed. After talking for a long time, the two imperial relatives didn't give her a good idea. In the end, she came up with an idea on the spur of the moment.She remembered a sentence her husband said to her with great emotion before his death: it is the Han people who can really do things.She really wanted to find some old and prudent ministers of the Han Dynasty, such as Jia Zhen, Zhou Zupei and others, and ask them.But such a major decision to deal with Zeng Guofan and the Hunan Army cannot be known to them.She was not very satisfied with her own design, and felt that it was still lacking, so she sat in front of the dressing table, admiring her beautiful face, while continuing to think, trying to make it more complete. Seng Gelinqin's majestic body often interfered with the young queen mother's thinking about state affairs. For a long time, her plan did not make much progress.At this time, An Dehai sent a large stack of memorials from the internal office.She flipped through a few copies at random, and saw the note that Xiao Fusi, the newly appointed baron Fujian land admiral, invited him back home to attend his father's funeral.She suddenly turned her head and had a new idea. Early the next morning, two young and strong men from the Ministry of War rushed to Wuchang and Nanchang respectively at a speed of 500 miles per day, carrying two top-secret orders on their backs.