Eunuchs who traveled through the Qing Dynasty

Today's eyebrows are no longer as ignorant of political affairs as they were in the past, and soon understood the reason.People like Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang are all big officials in the frontier, with heavy troops in their hands, they are obviously defending the court.Generals in troubled times and peace thieves have been this way since ancient times.When there is a battle, the Jinluan guards of honor are boundless; once the world is at peace, the generals will become lackeys and good bows, and their existence will instead become the biggest threat to the ruling class.There is a saying called "Taiping is originally determined by generals, and generals are not allowed to enjoy peace", which is nothing more than this truth.

As for people like Zeng Guofan, this battle was indeed fought a little too quickly.Not only did Changmao and Nian bandits disintegrate, but even non-governmental groups such as Mingtuan, Hongmen Tiandihui, Bailianjiaojiao and Quan gradually disappeared.As a result, the governors have no more battles to fight, and they are directly faced with such a serious problem: what should they do with the heavy soldiers in their hands, including themselves?

Since Zeng Guofan founded the Hunan Army, it not only changed the military system of the Qing Dynasty, but also created the situation of "soldiers as generals", and also affected the evolution of the political situation, forming a "dictatorship of the governor" at the local level. As a result, the military power was transferred from the Manchus The hands of the nobles were gradually transferred to the hands of the Han governors, and the centralization of power sank to the power of local warlords

It is also the underlying reason that led to the ultimate demise of the Qing Dynasty.

The military power group headed by Zeng Guofan is like the shogunate of the Qing Dynasty. Its military power and huge connections will control China's political situation for many years to come.From Zeng Guofan's Hunan Army, to Li Hongzhang's Beiyang forces, to Yuan Shikai's seizure of power after the gunshots of the Wuchang Uprising, basically they all come down in one continuous line.

Since the Eight Banners of the Qing court and the Green Camp were weak and decadent, they had to rely heavily on local forces such as the Hunan Army, Huai Army, and Chu Army.But with the gradual formation and continuous expansion of local warlords, they finally threatened the centralization of the Qing government.The relationship during this period was very delicate. During the entire historical process of the late Qing Dynasty, the control and anti-control between the Qing government and Zeng, Li, Yuan Shikai and other warlord forces continued throughout. Although the Qing government tried its best to prevent it, the regime, military power Downward movement, rise of warlords, emphasis on the outside and light on the inside, the trend of being too big to lose has been entrenched, and the foundation has been wiped out.In the end, the Beiyang warlords dumped the century-old foundation of the Qing Dynasty, which is already a historical necessity.

It is precisely for this reason that Zeng Guofan and others calmed down the current situation in the south of the Yangtze River, and the heart of guarding against the imperial court was born accordingly.They are all afraid that the imperial court will find an opportunity to cut off the military power in their hands, and then the family business for so many years will become a bamboo basket to fetch water, a waste of time.Even if a high-ranking official has a generous salary, how can it be worth living a nourishing life when he dominates the land and water?Therefore, the imperial court urged everyone to return to the imperial court several times, and promised generous rewards, but none of them dared to go back. Instead, they were busy suppressing the bandits desperately.

Mei has been in contact with political affairs for a long time, and she was not Wuxia Ameng long ago. For this matter, she even discussed with Lan'er.Regarding the authority of the Qing government, they all feel that the local government has made a big discount, but they have no choice but to make up for it.

The memorial received this time was submitted by Zuo Zongtang, governor of far Zhejiang. Because of his outstanding military exploits in conquering Jinhua and Shaoxing at the beginning of the year, he has been appointed governor of Fujian and Zhejiang.The official accepted it, but he still refused to go back to the court. On the pretext that the long-haired bandits were wandering at sea, colluding with pirates and plundering merchant ships, he asked the whole navy to go to conquer them.

After reading this memorial, his eyebrows are not in the same place.After a pause, he said again, "What about Li Hongzhang? The Jianghuai area is very peaceful now, what excuse is he looking for?"

"This..." Wo Ren shrank his neck, not knowing how to answer.It was still Wen Xiang who said: "The Empress Dowager, Huaishang Westernization has just started, the Machine Weaving Bureau and the Telegraph Bureau have recently been established, and there is also a foreign contact for the Tongrantang Shanghai branch. In addition, Li Hongzhang is preparing for the Shipping Merchants Bureau..."

"Shipping Merchants? Why didn't I know?" There was visibly more vigilance in the eyebrow's voice.

Wen Xiang hurriedly said: "Well, well, this Shipping Merchants Bureau is led by Director Xiao, and entrusts Tongrantang to handle it with private capital."

As soon as he heard the word "Xiao Ran", Mei's tone softened immediately, and he said, "Well, let's go on, what does the Shipping Merchants Bureau do?"

Wen Xiang said: "It's like this. A while ago, the situation in the south of the Yangtze River was calm, and the trade in Shanghai also became more frequent. In addition, in the Qing Dynasty, the sales of local woven cloth were booming, and we are also preparing to develop foreign trade..."

Mei said: "This is a good thing. We have been buying foreign devils' cloth all these years, and a lot of money has flowed out. If we can sell it overseas, we can also earn money from those foreign devils!"

Wen Xiang bowed and said: "The empress dowager is sage, that's exactly what Director Xiao meant. But there is another thing, the ships of the Qing Dynasty are backward, not as safe and reliable as the foreign devils, and they can't carry as much cargo as them. Few merchants turned to buying or renting foreign ships. In view of the imperial court's explicit prohibition, merchants simply put their names under the names of foreign merchants at various treaty ports, and the prohibition order was in vain. In this way, the shipping industry of our Qing Dynasty could It is equivalent to falling into the hands of foreign devils. In the long run, I am afraid that the military supplies and food funds will be controlled by others. Therefore, it is imperative to establish our own shipping business investment bureau. The sixth prince also said that the ship must be owned by the Chinese. The way the government supervises the merchants is to let the officials generalize their outlines, check their advantages and disadvantages, and let the merchants make their own proposals to please all the merchants. In this way, the shipping affairs are also in the hands of the government, and at the same time, the shipping problems are also solved. Li Hongzhang advances day by day I made a memorial, but the specifics have not been prepared yet, the sixth prince and his ministers discussed it again, and it is estimated that it has already arrived at the internal memorial office, and it will be presented to the Queen Mother in the afternoon."

"So that's the case. Forget it, we'll discuss about Li Hongzhang later." There was a hint of joy in Mei Mei's voice, and there seemed to be an indescribable anxiety, and he said, "Where is the sixth master? Didn't he go out of the city to pick up Xiao Ran?" , why haven't you come back yet?"

Prince Huafeng bowed slightly, and said: "Return to the Queen Mother: The sixth son started to pick it up yesterday, so he should have picked it up now, and he will be back at the end of the night."

As soon as Xiao Ran was mentioned, eyebrows became hot and heartbeat for no reason.It has been more than four months since we parted, and the longing for more than 100 days is really tormenting.At this time, remembering that we will meet soon, I just feel like there are many small bugs crawling in my heart, numb and itchy, I can't tell whether it is nervous or excited, maybe both.As soon as he thought of this, his whole body became hotter and hotter, his face flushed, and he suddenly realized that this was in the East Nuan Pavilion of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and there were several important court officials outside.Fortunately, there was a curtain covering the front, otherwise, I would be ashamed to death with my appearance!

When my mind is in a mess, I can't calm down anymore, and I can't help but think wildly: I don't know what he will do when I meet that enemy?The matter of playing Chen Zhengwo is certain, so what then?Will he go home to see his wives first, or will he stay in the palace with me... Hmph, this heartless guy must go home to see his son first, how can he remember me!Alas, there are so many beautiful wives in his house, they don't know that they fell into the gentle village, and it will take a few days to get back up.How much should I have if I can also bear him a son?In this case, maybe he will spend more time in the palace with me! ...

Baolu stood beside the gauze curtain, although he lowered his head, he would occasionally look sideways at the expression on his eyebrows.Seeing two blushes on her cheeks, her pretty face is full, sometimes angry and slightly angry, and sometimes smiling, she looks even more charming.Baolu is clever and obedient, and knows what it means.He hurriedly turned his face away, almost couldn't hold back his laughter, took a deep breath, at least to cover it up.

The sound of Mei giving him a gasp suddenly woke him up: Hey, what are you thinking about!I am a majestic mother of the country, how can... how can I want to have children or something!Mei was annoyed and funny at this muddled idea of ​​her own, and couldn't help but secretly said: Bah!Is this glib guy nice?Who cares about giving birth to him!

The East Nuan Pavilion fell silent for a while, and the ministers outside were muttering in their hearts: What's the matter.Could it be that the sentence was wrong?They exchanged quick glances with each other.I don't know what it means.Zhou Zupei is older because of his qualifications.Boldly said: "Queen Mother, dare to ask Zeng, Zuo and others for their notes..."

Mei was also a little undecided at this moment, but as soon as Xiao Ran came back, things would be easy to handle.This guy is very clever and can always come up with some crooked ideas.After pondering for a while, he said: "Let's put it on hold for now, and wait for Li Hongzhang's notebook to be presented. I will review it together."

However, at this time, Xiao Ran led his troops to Qingyi, and met Jing Shou, the former minister Jing Shou, the scholar Gui Liang, and Lin Meigu, the imperial envoy of the right capital, to greet the local government king Yi, and performed a kowtow ceremony first.Jing Shou is a sincere person, he really treats Xiao Ran like a real brother, he has not seen him for a long time, at this time he met with a courtesy first, and then embraced him.Ask long and short.It made Xiao Ran feel warm in his heart.

Mounted and returned to Beijing, Xiao Ran and Yi Yi guarded the way.The hairpins and gongs are so majestic.While walking, Xiao Ran suddenly sneezed three or four times, feeling quite upset, turned his face and glanced at Yi and muttered to me. "

Yi hoped that he could show his filial piety to Xiao Ran, but unexpectedly he got such a sentence.Trembling with fright, he hurriedly said: "How could it be! You have both ability and political integrity, and you have contributed to the country. Sincerity is a pillar of our dynasty, a role model for the world, and it is too late to be admired. How can anyone disrespect you?"

"Really?" Xiao Ran stared at Yi Zi with a half-smile, his mouth was much sweeter! "

Look at Brother Xiao.My brother, you have been on the expedition for half a year. Like my brother, I often miss it and mention it occasionally. "

Xiao Ran smiled and said: "That's it, are you afraid that I won't come back! By the way, the sixth prince, I heard that if you sneezed once, someone missed him; if you sneezed twice, someone was talking about him." Bad words; what if you sneezed three or four..."

Yi said: "Don't be nervous. If you keep sneezing and sneezing, then you have a cold."

Doctor Yi is here to show you. "

Xiao Ran sighed: "Oh, we children from a poor family can't compare to rich people. Look at this cold day, and we can't wear a warm robe. Hey, Sixth Prince, the robe you are wearing Not bad, it must be very warm, right?

Yiyin fox fur cloak.This cloak is a tribute from a foreign land, it is made of silver fox fur and is very precious given to Yi by Emperor Daoguang.Silver fox, also known as Xuanhu, has a black base of guard hair, white near the tip, and pure black tip.Because the white hairs are set off between the black hairs, an extremely rare silver mist is formed. From a distance, it looks like a faint layer of smoke is wrapped around the black cloak, which is extremely gorgeous.

The black fox fur is soft and dense, light, tough and beautiful, very rare.There is a saying that the first grade is black fox, the second grade is mink, and the third grade is wearing fox raccoon. You must know that in the modern fur market, black fox fur is called soft gold.Such a big cloak made of pure black fox fur is so rare, even if there is money, there is no place to buy it, of course Xiao Ran has his eye on it at a glance.Yi really knew what to do, and he wanted to disagree with him, but he was also afraid that Xiao Ran would take revenge.

Coughed, and said: "My brother is considerate, this robe was bestowed by the late emperor, I dare not give it to anyone casually..." Before he finished speaking, Xiao Ran's expression changed, he hurriedly took off his cloak, and came over to hold it with his own hands Putting it on Xiao Ran's body, he said: "However, my brother went out to fight against the Japanese slave country. He has worked hard and made great achievements. How can he catch the wind and cold? So, you should wear it first. When you don't need it, it's not too late."

If this thing is used every year, doesn't it mean that you don't have to pay it back for the rest of your life?Xiao Ran said in his heart that this devil has a good eye, yes, I will promote you some other day!It was necessary to pretend to refuse, and Yi accepted it.

It was snowing heavily and the wind was chilly, and it was Yi's turn to sneeze non-stop.Xiao Ran is heartless and doesn't care about him.

The two walked slowly together.Xiao Ran wore a "sable", he felt very decent, so he couldn't help looking around.Yizheng has something to do and wants to ask his brother for help.Now that the war in the south of the Yangtze River has been peaceful, Zeng Guofan and Zeng Guo led the Hunan army to conquer Jiangning, and the imperial court should reward them.What Empress Dowager Ci'an meant was to grant Zeng Guofan the honorary title of Governor-General of Liangjiang, and his younger brother, Zeng Guo, to be conferred the post of Inspectorate of Zhejiang Province.It is appropriate to do so, but compared with the achievement of exterminating Changmao, it is always considered light, and I am afraid that it will give people a full and false statement.I wondered if there should be some exceptions, such as conferring titles, in order to show that I am gracious to the sky and understand my courtiers? "

Yi is very sensitive about things.Moreover, the Qing Dynasty was founded with martial arts, and since it valued martial arts over literature, Zeng Guofan was ennobled as a civil servant. This is indeed the first time in the history of the Qing Dynasty.Xiao Ran couldn't help but glanced at Yi, thinking that this guy is also a guy who can't afford it early. During the Xinyou coup, Zeng Guofan had made a secret agreement with me, but Yi spent such a large amount of money. I don't know what kind of medicine is sold in the gourd. ?

When you think about it carefully, you will wake up.Yi, who belongs to the Han Dynasty and is conferred with literary titles, is superficially favored by the imperial court and has unlimited glory, but in fact it is equivalent to being generalized by an army.Because in this way, it is inevitable that you will return to Beijing to receive favors. Think about it, you have been knighted, and if you don't return to court, you can't justify it to anyone.And once he returns to the court, it is estimated that the first order issued by the court is to disarm his Hunan army!

Remember to read "The Biography of Zeng Guofan", it is true.After the Taiping Army was wiped out, the imperial court exerted pressure to force Zeng Guofan to lay off 5000 troops.If it weren't for the fact that the Nian Army was still everywhere at that time, the number of disarmament would be far more than that.But now that the Quartet is pacified, Changmao, the Nian Army, including uprisings and riots in various places, what should be suppressed should be suppressed, Zeng Li and others are also facing the embarrassment of "the birds are exhausted, the good bows are hidden, the cunning rabbits are dead, and the lackeys are cooked" situation.Once disarmament, how much wealth will be left is really unknown.

Yiren, but the expansion of local forces must be guarded against and restricted.After all, he is of Manchu blood, and in order to maintain the ruling authority of the Qing government, this is a matter of course.

But Xiao Ran was different. To deal with the rule of the Qing court, it was undoubtedly whimsical to completely kill this centipede by relying solely on his Daxingshan troops and the Oroqen tribe.Even including Jingshou's pro-army firearms battalion, Ziqing's Youfeng battalion, and even the power of old man Nayan Xinduo, it would be a drop in the bucket to bring down a regime.So at this time, it is a great opportunity to win over the local forces of the Han people such as Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Li Hongzhang.

After thinking about it, Xiao Ran looked up to the sky and made a haha, and said: "Sixth Prince, I will go to the Queen Mother to ventilate for you?"

In front of Yihou, you are the one who can talk the most, so you are the only one who can handle this big event! After a pause, he said again: "Brother Xiao, with your ingenuity, you can understand some things without me talking about them."After all, the world is still ruled by the Qing Dynasty, and those of us who are courtiers all rely on the blessings of the emperor and queen mother.Now that the world is peaceful, the country is safe and the people are safe, it is time to reward meritorious deeds and enjoy the glory, brother, do you think this is the truth? "

Of course Xiao Ran could hear the subtext in these words.Although he has a high position and authority, unlimited scenery, and can swing his arms sideways in the Forbidden City, all of this is after all relying on the Queen Mother and the feudal dynasty of the Manchu Qing Dynasty to climb to the pinnacle of power.In a sense, the Qing Dynasty is the cornerstone under its own feet.Once there is a real crisis in the cornerstone, what will you do, Xiao Ran?

If there is no skin, how will the hair be attached?It makes sense.Moreover, Xiao Ran could also see that Yi's relationship with Zeng Guofan seemed to be very delicate about the potential pressure on the imperial court brought about by the wanton expansion of local powers such as Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, and he dared not make mistakes, so he tried to hit the sidelines.But Xiao Ran has always been a slanted sword, not taking an unusual path.Whether he will agree with his proposition, Yi himself has no idea.

Xiao Ran patted him on the shoulder, and said: "Success, no problem. Sixth Prince, which one of us will talk to whom! If you have something to say, I, Xiao Ran, will definitely use both sides!"

It would be good if Yi didn't stab me twice.It's not that it hasn't been plugged in!But anyway.After all, they agreed.Busy and overjoyed, he said: "Brother really understands people, with your help, the world will really be peaceful!"

Because it is a triumphant expedition, according to the rules, you can't sit in a sedan chair, you can only ride a horse.In the snowy weather, a layer of snow fell on everyone's bodies in a short while, only Xiao Ran was wearing a silver fox cloak.The snow does not stick to the body, so beautiful.Back in Beijing, enter the city along the east gate.The people in the capital heard that the imperial court had won a great victory in the Japanese slave country. This was the first time in many years that they were proud, and rushed to tell each other.

Although it is against the wind and snow, there are already crowds of people on both sides of the street.Beat the gongs and drums.Setting off firecrackers is more lively than the New Year.At the beginning of the Northern Expedition to Russia, when he returned to Beijing, the imperial court signed the humiliating "Sino-Russian Peace Agreement" under the oppression of the British and French powers.The common people were outraged, and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were all overwhelmed, so they didn't have the heart to hold any welcome ceremony.This time it was different, seeing the common people happily greet the triumphant team, Xiao Ran couldn't help but think of the scenes of the People's Liberation Army entering the city that he had seen in movies and TV dramas.

Although the conquest of the Japanese was carried out in secret, with the tentacles of the great powers in the Far East, at most it was concealed for a while.It is estimated that the foreign devils have already received the news, but it is too late to intervene.Xiao Ran asked Yi

It's too late, and the foreign devils can't help it.What I am worried about now is that these guys will trouble us in the future. "

With such a big commotion under the noses of the British and French powers, the foreign devils certainly would not let it go.Xiao Ran sneered, and said: "Of course we have to look for trouble, but it's not necessarily who is looking for whom!"

奕

Xiao Ran smiled but did not answer.After entering the Forbidden City and going straight to the East Nuan Pavilion of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, it was time for Shen Shi.The little emperor Zai Chun followed him to court today. After a busy day, he was exhausted, so Zhang Wenliang took care of him and went to Xinuang Pavilion to rest.He only waited for Xiao Ran's arrival with raised eyebrows, and asked Baolu the time over and over again.

An Dehai received Xiao Ran at the door, and rushed to flatter him, but was kicked aside by Xiao Ran with a shadowless kick.Tong Yimei vaguely saw the familiar figure through the gauze curtain, but felt like a deer was pounding her heart, her mind was buzzing and she couldn't listen to anything.Under the excitement, even his voice trembled slightly, for fear that the ministers would see a gaffe, and he could not say a few words, so he said he was tired, and ordered everyone to kneel down.

Yitian was thinking about the war situation in the Wonu country, now that he is back, he doesn't care about it anymore!