Chapter 29 Four lifetime glory to reach the pole day

In a blink of an eye, the end of the year is here.The eunuchs of the inner court sent ten sheets of "Fu" written by the Empress Dowager Cixi herself, forty sheets of silk paper of various colors, and thirty lake brushes.There is a title called Spring Post Reward, and only ministers of the inner court, ministers of military aircraft, Hongde Palace, Shang Study Room, South Study Room, and University Scholars are eligible to receive it.Each of the ministers who received the award had ten sheets of "Fu", which were written by the empress dowagers of the two palaces. In fact, the empress dowager Ci'an never held a pen to write. A ghostwriter for a bachelor from the Hanlin Academy or Shangshufang.The eunuch who presented the award said to Zeng Guofan: The Queen Mother said that if you give it to others, you can ask someone to write it, but if you give it to Zeng Guofan, you must write it yourself.

Zeng Guofan hurriedly ordered Ji Hong to reward the eunuch with one hundred taels of silver, and asked him to convey his gratitude to the Queen Mother for her extraordinary kindness. On New Year's Day, Zeng Guofan entered the Forbidden City early, and together with all the officials, first accompanied the emperor to celebrate the empress dowager ceremony.The emperor saluted at the Cining Gate, and Zeng Guofan and other first- and second-rank ministers saluted outside the Changxin Gate.Then he congratulated the emperor in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.On the day of the Lantern Festival, Zeng Guofan accompanied the emperor to entertain the princes of Mongolia and Korea.The sixteenth day of the first lunar month is the day when the emperor entertains his courtiers.This is the day when Zeng Guofan's life's glory reached its pinnacle.

The newly decorated Qianqing Palace is more solemn than before.In the history of the Qing Dynasty, two famous banquets were held here.The first time was in the 61st year of Kangxi. Emperor Kangxi, the longest reigning emperor in China, held a banquet for thousands of seniors. More than 1,000 elderly people over the age of 60 were hosted.The second time was in the 50th year of Qianlong, and Lord Qianlong, known as the old man of Shiquan, was 76 years old.He was very elegant, and he held a banquet for thousands of seniors. There were more than 3,000 people in attendance. In addition to ministers and small and medium-sized officials, ordinary people and even craftsmen participated.After the banquet, each person was given a walking stick.Although it cost a lot of money, it also won the reputation of respecting the elderly, respecting the virtuous, and having fun with the people for the emperors of the two dynasties. At the same time, it also greatly improved the banquet status of the Qianqing Palace.Every year on New Year's Day, Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, Winter Solstice, New Year's Eve, Longevity and other festivals, Qianqing Palace has a big banquet as usual, and the participants feel very honored.Since Xianfeng, the country has been troubled, and most of the big banquets in the palace have been cancelled, only the Lantern Festival and the Longevity Festival are kept twice.Therefore, the banquet on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month was even more grand.Zeng Guofan had attended many banquets in the Qianqing Palace in the past, but at that time he was only a servant, just chatting with the last seat.Today, he attended the grand banquet as the foreman of the bachelor of Han University, which is the highest courtesy that a minister of the Qing Dynasty can enjoy.Although Zeng Guofan had already warned himself to look down on fame and fortune, he still couldn't restrain his excitement, because after all, this is an honor envied by thousands of people, and it is also a position he has dreamed of for decades.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the emperor came out, Shao Le was played, and all the officials knelt down, shouting long live.After the emperor walked into the Qianqing Palace from the main entrance surrounded by a large group of court ladies and was ascended to the throne, the deacons and eunuchs came out to guide the officials.The full members are led by Woren and enter from the left door; the Han members are led by Zeng Guofan and enter from the right door.All people entering through the left door sit on the east side, facing west.Wu Ren sits first, Wen Xiang is second, Bao Yun is third, Quan Qing is fourth, Zai Ling is fifth, Cun Cheng is sixth, and Chong Lun is seventh.The six people after Woren are all six full ministers, and after the ministers sit the ministers of each department.The Han officials who enter from the right door all sit on the west side, facing east.Zeng Guofan sat first, Zhu Fengbiao second, Shan Maoqian third, Luo Dunyan fourth, Wan Qingli fifth, and Dong Xun sixth.Tan Tingxiang ranked seventh.The six people below Zeng Guofan are all six Han ministers, and the ministers below are all Han servants.The table is a long strip table, one foot and two inches high. Those who take the seat first raise the mat in a predetermined order, then turn around and kowtow to the emperor, and then turn around and sit cross-legged.

The eunuch began to serve the food.First to the emperor.A long line of eunuchs each held a bowl of food, walked up respectfully, put it gently on the table, and then tiptoed away.The dishes were so dazzling that everyone was dazzled and didn't dare to look at them carefully.It didn't stop until the huge table was full, a total of 108 bowls.Serve the dishes to the courtiers. Everyone can see these dishes clearly. The first to be served are four tall cloisonné enamel dragon pattern bowls, which contain four rare things: Changbai Mountain Bear's Paw, Simaoting Peacock Meat, and Dajian Stove Yak meat, Dunhuang hump.Next came eight large bowls, one color yellow glazed double dragon peony bowls, containing chicken, duck, fish, meat, bird's nest, sea cucumber, square cake, and haw jelly.Then there is a small bowl of white rice and a bowl of miscellaneous rice for each person.There are poached eggs, pig offal, vermicelli and so on.After all these things were done, Wu Ren and Zeng Guofan turned around on the east and west sides, facing the emperor.At this time, all the officials receiving the banquet in Qianqing Palace also turned around, kowtowed first, and then shouted together: "Thank you for the grace of the emperor, and I wish the emperor long live and long live." The little emperor nodded slightly on the throne. head.Everyone turned back and began to eat the small bowls of rice and miscellaneous meat that were distributed to each person. As for the twelve large bowls of vegetables in front of them, everyone knew that they were just for show, and no one touched it. .At this time, the actors of the Sixi Troupe came to the hall to perform.During the silk and bamboo song and dance, the emperor sat upright with no expression, and the jade chopsticks and gold bowls on the table did not move; the Manchu and Han officials sitting cross-legged on the east and west sides lowered their heads in fear, chewed their food and drank soup, and tried not to make a sound.This is the Lantern Festival where the emperor spends the Lantern Festival with all the officials.Although it is extremely nervous and boring, it is far inferior to sharing family happiness with wives, concubines and children in your own home, but if you are lucky enough to have a meal with the emperor, all the banquet hosts in the Qianqing Palace will feel supremely honored and glorious!

The eunuchs began to come in to change dishes.Eight eunuchs stepped onto the stage and came to the emperor. They removed the 108 bowls of dishes in turn, and replaced them with 108 plates. There were countless dishes and fruits on the plates.In front of all the officials, every two eunuchs carried out the long table and replaced it with the same long table. There are five fruit dishes and ten vegetable dishes on the table.Zeng Guofan took a closer look, and found that the items on the plate were very ordinary, nothing more than pear, jujube and orange cakes, smoked roasted and stewed.The temple music was played again in the verandahs on both sides, the actors went down, and the foreman was about to receive wine from the emperor.

Usually, it is led by the first scholar of the Manchu University, but today, as an exception, the Empress Dowager Cixi ordered Zeng Guofan to lead it alone.Zeng Guofan got up and took off his outer coat, holding a small silver jug ​​in his left hand and a jasper jug ​​in his right hand, walked up to the emperor respectfully, put the jug and jug on the table, then stepped back and walked to the hall. Center, kneel down.A high-ranking eunuch next to the emperor poured wine into the silver jug ​​instead of the emperor, and then poured wine into Yujue from the silver jug, and then walked to Zeng Guofan with the silver jug ​​and Yujue.Zeng Guofan stood up, took the jade jue from the eunuch with both hands, took a sip, then knelt down, kowtowed, and said aloud: "Thank you, the emperor, for giving me the wine!"At the same time, a small jug and a small wine glass filled with wine were placed in front of each official on the long tables on the east and west sides.

Zeng Guofan came to his seat, turned to face the emperor, and led all the officials to chant again: "Thank you, the emperor for giving me the wine!" Everyone took a sip of the wine in their glasses.The actors from Sixi Troupe came up again.Everyone watched the show and drank alcohol.The eunuchs successively served each person a bowl of milk tea, soup yuan, and camellia drink. Outside the palace gate, the emperor's rewards were piled up on the table.On each pile is a red note with the name of the recipient.This means that the banquet is coming to an end.Wo Ren and Zeng Guofan looked at each other, then got up together, and led the officials from East, West, Manchu and Han to file out.The eunuch brought the rewards, and after receiving the rewards, everyone knelt down facing the emperor's throne and kowtowed three times.Zeng Guofan's rewards were: a Ruyi handle, a porcelain vase, a boa robe, a bottle of snuff, and two pieces of river silk gown and gown material, which were the same as those given by Woren and other Manchu and Han ministers.

When he returned to Xianliang Temple, his whole body was scattered, and he sat slumped on the chair and couldn't get up for a long time.It is indeed the highest honor to be the foreman of the Han University to attend the Qianqing palace banquet, but the excitement brought by this honor disappeared in the middle of the banquet, and what made him deeply disturbed was the emperor's expression.The emperor was still silent, indifferent and dull.When sending Jiujue to the emperor, he took the opportunity to take a closer look.This time he could see very clearly: the emperor was not only thin and thin, but also had melancholy eyes.At the time, he couldn't think too much about it, but when he recalled it now, he felt a chill in his heart: This is definitely not a wise and wise sage master, and he may not live forever.He thought of the historical lesson that the several emperors under the protection of Empress Zetian were weak and incompetent, and the state affairs were determined by the queen, which finally made the world uneasy. He sighed sadly in his heart: the broken ship of the Qing Dynasty survived the wind and rain. In the future, where will the empress dowager who is greedy for power but have no talent, and the emperor who is weak and ignorant of worldly affairs go?

Soon after the Lantern Festival, Zeng Guofan came to Baoding office. The biggest civil issue in Zhili is the flooding of the Yongding River.The "Jifu Water Conservancy" sent by Tang Jian more than 20 years ago played a role. Zeng Guofan followed the map and made a field survey of the main mountains and rivers in the territory, and strictly supervised the dredging and embankment of the river.He also transferred Peng Chuhan, the commander of the Yangtze River Navy, to Zhili to train recruits. At the beginning of summer, Zeng Jize came to Baoding with his mother and family.Zeng Guofan saw that his wife's eyes had become dim, and he could hardly see anything in broad daylight, so he asked with concern, "I haven't seen you for half a year, why are your eyes so bad?"

Mrs. Ouyang shed tears and told her husband, sobbing, "Ji Jingchun died of illness in Xiangtan, and her eyes were ruined by crying." "Big sister, she..." Zeng Guofan was so startled that the book in his hand fell to the ground.How could he believe that this was true? How could his daughter, who was under thirty, leave before her parents?He sat slumped, filled with guilt.The father is responsible for the untimely death of his daughter. When Ji Jing was less than three years old, her father made the decision and promised Yuan Bingzhen, the eldest son of Yuan Fangying in Xiangtan, the editor of the Imperial Academy.Yuan Bingzhen was five years old at the time, and he looked lively and cute.Mrs. Ouyang, who had just entered Beijing, was suffering from the fact that the capital had no relatives, so she readily agreed.Ji Jing got married at the age of 21, and only after she got married did she find out that Yuan Bingzhen had already married a concubine at home, and Ji Jing cried like hell.Marrying a concubine before getting married meant that the Yuan family did not take him, the in-law of the governor of Liangjiang, seriously. Although Zeng Guofan was angry, it was irreversible.When returning home, Ji Jing refused to go to Yuan's house again. Mrs. Ouyang took pity on her daughter and did not urge her to leave.After Zeng Guofan found out, he wrote several family letters back, urging his daughter to go back to her in-law's house, saying that asking for a concubine is not a bad thing, and that from now on, as long as the concubine knows how to behave, she should return to her in-law's house to serve her aunt as soon as possible; In the world, there are people who are greedy for the wealth and honor of their natal family and forget about their husbands and aunts, and there will be no good in the future.Ji Jing had no choice but to return to Xiangtan.Yuan Bingzhen became angry from embarrassment, and simply stayed with his concubine all day long, leaving Ji Jing aside. Later, when Mrs. Ouyang saw that their husband and wife were at odds, she was anxious and took her daughter and son-in-law to Jiangning City while Zeng Guofan was out fighting against the Nian Army.Unexpectedly, Yuan Bingzhen was vicious by nature and didn't want to repent. He used the name of the governor's son-in-law to borrow money to swindle money everywhere in Jiangning, and he went to prostitutes to gamble.In order not to be supervised, he rents a house outside, does not live in the supervisory office, and does not even enter the office to pay New Year's greetings to his mother-in-law during the Chinese New Year.After Zeng Guofan learned about it, he wrote a letter from his family, severely reprimanding Yuan Bingzhen, and ordered the police to drive him out of Jiangning and no longer recognize this son-in-law.Mrs. Ouyang has no objection to her husband's decision, but just hopes that her daughter will not leave and live with her in Jiangning.Zeng Guofan firmly disagreed with this request.He wants his daughter to follow the ancient precepts of three obediences and four virtues, and if she marries her husband, she will follow her husband, and if her husband is not good, she will persuade her.He insisted on forcing his daughter to leave Jiangning crying and live in Yuan's house in Xiangtan.Ji Jing was weak by nature, and Yuan Bingzhen intentionally abused her in the future. She pitied a daughter of the Hou family, so she was tortured to death by the Yuan family, leaving a three-year-old daughter untouched! Thinking of this, Zeng Guofan shed tears sadly, regretting that he should not have forced his daughter to leave that year, but he pushed her daughter to a dead end arbitrarily.To express his remorse for his daughter, Zeng Guofan immediately wrote a letter to Yuan Fangying, asking him to send his granddaughter to Baoding.The grandfather should use double love to raise the little grandson who lost his mother to make up for the past debt. From then on, Zeng Guofan's right eye was completely blind, his left eye was only dimly lit, and his energy became weaker. He often dozed off during the day, and his brain would suddenly appear dizzy for no reason.Ding Richang, Governor of Jiangsu Province, learned about it and entrusted someone to send something specially for the treatment of eye diseases. It was called Kongqing.It is a black stone the size of an egg. When you shake it, you can hear the sound of water in it. Take out the water in it and apply it to your eyes. As long as the eyes are not completely closed, your eyesight can be restored.Zeng Guofan and his wife used this water to dot their eyes every day, but there was no effect.Helpless, he asked for a one-month leave of absence in order to take medicine and recuperate with peace of mind.The court agreed.At this time, a major event that shocked China and foreign countries broke out in Tianjin.