Eunuchs who traveled through the Qing Dynasty

Zeng Guofan coughed lightly, and said: "This time, the old man came to Beijing. He was favored by the emperor's family and the queen mother. He was appointed as the governor of Zhili, and he was in charge of the capital. (Zeng Guofan's word) Great trust. It's just that the job of the governor of Zhili is really difficult! The position is high and the responsibility is heavy, and the old man is a newcomer, and his eyes are dim. How to deal with this job, you still have to rely on you, brother Just make more points!"

Zeng Guofan's words were obviously asking for advice, but secretly he was trying to figure out what Xiao Ran was up to, to see what his plans were in the future.Xiao Ran suddenly realized that this Zeng shaved his head, obviously he was worried about me!It's no wonder that he is extremely respected now, not to mention he is a Han Chinese. If he touches the foundation of the Qing Dynasty, then Zeng Guofan will become a catastrophe.

Although there was a little worship for you in the previous life, but idols belong to idols, and you can't be ambiguous about major matters.Xiao Ran laughed loudly, and said: "My lord, this is just a joke! I think I am just a mere head of the inner court, how dare I make false statements about government affairs? What's more, I only spent nineteen years in vain this year. Although I have fought two battles, I am at the bottom of the well How big a sky can you see! My lord is different. He has been immersed in government affairs for decades, guarding a side of water and soil, and he can be called the pillar of the country. To be honest, I just want to ask your lord for advice on the current affairs of Gyeonggi. What are you going to do?"

In a word, he kicked the ball back lightly.This attitude made Zeng a little unhappy, but he didn't dare to show it, so he hurriedly said, "You are joking. After all, we are all slaves, and what we think about in our hearts is how to serve our master well." , take good care of the emperor and the queen mother, and the masters are at ease, so that we, the courtiers, are happy. Brother Xiao, do you think this is the truth?"

What this said was very different from the last time the two met, they cared about the country and the people, and devoted themselves to one another.Of course Xiao Ran knew that this was not what he had in mind, but was expressing his own attitude. As long as the court is safe and sound, everyone will live in peace. The key is that no one should come up with any tricks.At the same time, they were testing Xiao Ran's reaction, to see if he would show any different emotions.So when he said this, his eyes stayed on Xiao Ran's face.

It's a pity that Xiao Ran's old face has already been cultivated to be rough and fleshy, and he had a premonition of what kind of attitude Zeng Guofan would have, so he kept his face completely calm, and instead acted like he was relieved, saying: "My lord's words are indeed true. Speaking of my heart. Seriously, I, Xiao Ran, was just a little-known little eunuch back then. To have the glory I have today, to own such a big house, to eat well and to dress warmly, I am not all masters. A reward? Besides, Xiao Ran has no brothers inside and no long-term support outside. To put it bluntly, as long as he can sit safely and securely in the position of chief internal officer, what else can he ask for?"

The implication was that it was reminding Zeng Guofan that he was only a chief executive of the inner court after all.It is impossible to get rid of the place name of the eunuch for a lifetime.If any troubles are caused, it will become a catastrophe and a taboo in the world.What kind of person is Zeng Guofan, doesn't he understand the meaning of this?At the moment, he repeatedly jaws and heads, which has the meaning of confiding his heart.

In the final analysis, this is the fundamental difference in the concepts of the two worlds.From Zeng Guofan's point of view, if Xiao Ran wants to shake the foundation of the Qing Dynasty, he must be doves occupying the magpie's nest.usurped the throne.But even if he was killed, he would not believe that even though Xiao Ran was determined to overthrow the Qing regime.But he didn't want to be the emperor.These words of Xiao Ran just scratched the unresolved itch in his heart, and finally let go of a burden that had been hanging for a long time.In other words, Xiao Ran finally read "The Biography of Zeng Guofan" as a guiding ideology in his previous life, and he can basically guess Zeng Guofan's general thoughts and intentions, but Zeng Shuai is different.How could anyone guess what kind of thoughts Xiao Ran was thinking?Such a contest is really unfair.

The two seemed to have untied the grievances in each other's hearts, and their conversation became more and more carefree.It was through this night's conversation that Xiao Ran was finally able to confirm that Zeng Guofan's current thoughts were basically consistent with his own guess, and he felt that he had no intention of turning his back on Qing.With a clear attitude, what he has to do in the future is how to play this game with this idol from the previous life.

Immediately pushing the cups and changing the cups, it was not until Haishi that Zeng Guofan bid farewell and went back to the post house.Xiao Ran was too strong to drink.At this time, the soles of the feet that had already drunk were fluttering.But still insisted on sending Zeng Guofan out.Watching the carriage go away, Xiao Ran's drunken eyes suddenly lit up, and a playful look appeared on the corner of his mouth.He muttered: "Want to find out about me? Hehe, Zeng Shuai, the contest between us is about to begin!..."

If Zeng Guofan was one of the two important people he wanted to meet, the other one was none other than Xiao Ran's father-in-law—Shengjing General Nayan Xinduo.Xiao Ran had already sent a message to Shengjing Pegasus asking his father-in-law to come to Beijing secretly.Nayan Xinduo was originally an ambitious landowner, and at the beginning he recognized Xiao Ran as his son-in-law, thinking that one day he would achieve great things, he hadn't seen Xiao Ran for a long time, and he was still muttering in his heart.At this time, when I received a popular flyer, I immediately changed my outfit, and only brought my personal escort, and rushed to Wangjing City.

Shengjing was the birthplace of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and it has been regarded as the rear area by the Manchu Qing Dynasty for many years.What Xiao Ran has to do now is to light a fire in the backyard.Because he was afraid that there would be too many eyes and ears in the city, he didn't dare to let Nayan Xin enter the city, and only met each other at a relatively remote inn outside the city.

After the ceremonies were over, Xiao Ran and his father-in-law roughly explained his plan. If they provoked a war with the foreign barbarians, the foreign devils would inevitably land from Tianjin and press hard on Beijing. Great plans can be achieved.Na Yanxin Duo heard it, and was stunned. Originally, he only wanted to usurp power, but now he understands that what this fake eunuch son-in-law wants is not simply power, but to overthrow the entire Manchu regime!

After all, he is also a bannerman himself, so he hesitated immediately.It's not that he doesn't know Xiao Ran's style of doing things. Basically, as long as you say it, you must be fully sure, and you are not afraid that you will not agree.But if you want to overthrow the foundation created by your ancestors, you have to carefully weigh it in anyone's hands.

Of course Xiao Ran had thought of him long ago.

, without saying anything, reached out and took out a roll of cloth from his bosom, and laid a map on the table.Among them, from Shanhaiguan, along Jianchang and Chifeng all the way to the north, marked with a scarlet cinnabar line, dividing the entire northeast.Nayan Xinduo, as the commanding general, couldn't understand the reason why he couldn't read the map. He immediately ate it up and said, "My son-in-law, you are... this is to divide the country?! I, I read it right, right?" ..."

Xiao Ran smiled slightly, and said word by word: "Why, is Mr. Yuezhang willing to be a general for the rest of his life, instead of claiming the title of king and achieving a hegemony?"

"This this……"

Nayan Xinduo completely fainted.As far as his ambition is concerned, he has naturally fancied it in his mind countless times. One day he will be able to sit on the throne of the emperor, face south and face north, and accept the worship of his subjects. What a happy life it will be!But this is only limited to YY, he really doesn't have the guts to really want to be the Son of Heaven.The reason why he wins over Xiao Ran is at best that he hopes to gain more power for himself through his superior position.

But now, Xiao Ran has turned such a real dream into a hope that is within reach, and put it in front of him.In an instant, Nayan Xinduo could only feel the hot blood rushing to the top of his head, and every inch of his skin was trembling. He could not stretch out his trembling palms, caressing the vast land marked by the red line on the map, his eyes were shining, The expression was greedy like a very hungry beast staring at its prey, so excited that he couldn't speak a word.

Xiao Ran was watching his actions with a half-smile and didn't speak.After a while, Nayan Xinduo suddenly woke up from the infinite obsession, put aside the map, stepped back a few steps, and said, "No, no! The country and the mountain are one, there is no reason to divide the country! My son-in-law , this kind of joke can't be taken!"

"What, Mr. Yuezhang thinks that I am trying to test you on purpose, or do you not have confidence in my own strength?" Xiao Ran picked up the map and spread it on the table again, and said slowly: "The current situation in China, although Changmao in the south has been calmed down, but the local The armed forces also rose accordingly, and most of the power of commanding the army fell into the hands of the Hanchens. Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, Luo Bingzhang, etc., these gangs of officials in Xinjiang, plus Zeng Guofan who was transferred to the governor of Zhili, the Hanchens all over the world. The momentum is already unstoppable. The foundation of the Manchu regime has been shaken fundamentally, and it is only a matter of time before it collapses. May I ask the current Eight Banners forces, General Jilin, Monk King Cavalry, including your father-in-law, which one is there? Can the forces compete with Jiangnan Hanchen?"

Nayan Xinduo's expression froze, he was speechless.Xiao Ran said again: "There is a way of life, and it must be taken. In the whole north, there is only one Jilin general who can do his best. The others are under Yue Zhang's control. No one can compete with you. As long as the court can Move the capital to the south of the Yangtze River, and the situation there will be controlled by your son-in-law. If the north and the south join hands, great things will happen! In the northeast region, I will help my father-in-law establish a Manchurian regime, which is completely your own world. Thousands of people worship. What does Yue Zhang think?"

Nayan Xinduo's face was flushed with excitement, he held back for a long time before he said, "This...it's just that my second son has died, how can I inherit the inheritance?"

Xiao Ran smiled and said: "How did Yue Zhang forget, didn't I promise at the beginning that as long as Zi Qing gave birth to a second son, the surname would be Na Yan?"

Na Yanxin dazzled with joy, hesitated for a moment and said: "Yes, yes, the virtuous son-in-law has indeed said it! This... I am afraid that the virtuous son-in-law has been wronged!"

Xiao Ran knew that his grievance was a pun, and he was obviously still worried about himself.After pondering for a while, he smiled and said, "Master Yuezhang, what my son-in-law said always counts. How about this, I will make an oath in front of you today: If I, Xiao Ran, become emperor someday, I will definitely draw out Manchukuo and father-in-law, and enshrining their sons as successors, will cultivate forever, if they break their vows, Xiao Ran will be punished by the heavens and die under ten thousand swords!"

After the vows were made, Nayan Xinduo immediately felt relieved.Of course he didn't expect that Xiao Ran didn't intend to be the emperor at all, so this oath was nothing at all.The Northeast is also China's land, how can it be easily split off?It's just a big pie.It's just that this pancake painting is too round and too big, let alone Nayan Xinduo, even if it is replaced by Nayan Xinduo, no one can refuse it.

At that moment, Weng and his son-in-law discussed in detail, how to start an incident, and what kind of actual action to choose, every detail has been finalized.Gaining confidence, Na Yanxin rushed back to Shengjing on a fast horse, and began to dispatch troops and generals, preparing to plan for the future territory.

Everything is OK, now everything is ready, only the east wind is owed.God, it's really about to change...

♂ Volume 8 in the harem ♀

→Chapter 167 - The Third Opium War←

While Xiao Ran was secretly planning, the British, French, and American coalition forces dispatched troops and actively prepared for the war.In mid-February, more than a dozen British three-masted troop carriers and two medium-sized steamers arrived on Hong Kong Island.After supplementing supplies, they headed north along the coastline and arrived in Zhoushan waters on February 26.At the same time, the United States also dispatched the "Sea Lion" fleet consisting of two battleships, three steam ironclad ships and other large and small ships, and cooperated with the French First Mixed Fleet, a total of more than [-] warships, aggressively blocked the Bohai Bay. Cruising back and forth on the sea, showing off its might.

The rain is about to come, and the situation at sea is tense.This time, the troops and warships dispatched by Yangyi were almost equivalent to the sum of the previous two Opium Wars. The news spread to the capital, causing panic among the ministers of the DPRK and China.Zeng Guofan, the new governor of Zhili, advocated using the barbarians to control the barbarians and went to the imperial court, hoping to repair the relationship with the United States. He promised to use the railway rights in Shandong and Hebei to unite the United States to resist Britain and France, but was rejected by the imperial court.

On the first day of March, the consuls of Britain, France, and the United States jointly wrote to the Zongli Yamen, hoping to revise the Sino-British and Sino-French "Tianjin Treaty" and the "Sino-American Treaty of Wangxia", add commercial ports, and open inland water routes.The next day, Wang Yi, who was discussing politics, also applied for the reciprocal trade policy of the three countries, as well as the proposal to re-establish the Chinese Customs.The consuls of the three countries were inexplicably surprised, and they negotiated overnight but failed.The next morning, the envoy Galo sent an accompanying doctor to the Chancellor's office, hoping to make Yiwen feel normal.

The third day of March.Queen Mother Pan Peach Festival.On this day, a case occurred in Shandong Bo. In a smoking den under the British East Love Company, someone overdosed on opium and died suddenly.In anger, his family went to the den to ask for an explanation, but they were severely beaten by thugs, including the father, wife and an infant son who were all beaten to death.The local people were extremely indignant and besieged the smoke house.But he was shot by foreign gunmen hired by the smokehouse.Dozens of casualties.The local yamen negotiated with the tobacco shop.Hope to hand over the murderer, failed.

The next day, the situation quickly intensified.The angry crowd rushed into the opium den desperately, and after beating the murderer to death, they smashed up the Dongai foreign company, burned the goods and opium, hung the foreign merchant on the top of the wall and burned them to death.Some foreign firms in Bo and surrounding towns.were also affected to varying degrees.

On the fifth day of the lunar new year, the news reached Jinan, and it was quickly telegraphed to the capital.The imperial court issued an emergency edict, mobilized pro-military guards to Beijing, and secretly blocked the consulates of Britain, France and other countries.The Military Aircraft Department sent an urgent telegram to the Yamen of Zhili Governor of Daming Mansion, ordering Zeng Guofan to quickly assemble troops, prepare coastal defenses, and prepare for war with the foreign barbarians.

at the same time.The British Consulate also received a telegram from Shandong foreign merchants.the next day.The British envoy, together with the consuls of France, the United States and other countries, lodged a written protest to the Zongli Yamen, with strong words.Request the Qing government to immediately send troops to suppress the mobs in Shandong, protect the interests and safety of foreign businessmen, and severely punish the murderers.For the dead foreign businessmen, the government is required to immediately draw up a compensation regulation, and lists N items such as sky-high pensions, dismissal of government officials, etc., in addition to the use of force.There is no mention of the sale of opium.

The Qing government also quickly responded to the written protests from the consulates of various countries, and immediately organized commissioners to go to Shandong to find out the truth of the matter.The interests and life safety of legal foreign businessmen in China will also be fully guaranteed. If any officials involved in the case are involved in dereliction of duty, once investigated and dealt with, they will be punished by the three divisions.However, foreign companies in various countries are required to immediately stop selling opium in China, close all opium dens, and hand over all opium stocks to the local government.

This paper notice shocked the ambassadors of various countries, including the British consul.It is no wonder that the second Opium War has just ended for more than two years, and the Chinese government has taken such a "rebellious" move and turned a deaf ear to the terms proposed by the consuls.The French consul Galo once again made a shocking statement, thinking that the officials of the Qing Dynasty must have been infected with some unknown plague, and collectively burned their skulls to make such an "inexplicable" move.

But the problem now, whether you have a fever or not is irrelevant.On the seventh day of March, the British consul took the lead and "angrily" led his troops to withdraw from Beijing, but they were detained by the guards of the garrison.Although the consulate was equipped with its own guards at the time, but with the lessons learned from the previous massacre of the Russian consulate, no one dared to act rashly. Facing the murderous pro-military guards, they could only obediently surrender.

The capital was under martial law, and after eleven days, the foreign fleets cruising in Bohai Bay only got the news.British warships and troop carriers also quickly headed north from the waters of Zhoushan, bypassed the Shandong Peninsula, and approached Dagu Port in Tianjin.At noon on March 29, the fleets of Britain, France, and the United States jointly sent a courier to demand that the garrisoned Qing troops surrender their arms and surrender.

The Beijing side immediately released the detained hostages, but was interrupted by the Qing army.

At the beginning of the afternoon of the same day, the British battleship Melville brazenly fired at the Dagu Fort, firing the first shot of the third Opium War.From this moment on, a war planned by the time-traveling elements and marking a historical turning point in China finally kicked off.

Today's Dagukou Fort is no longer the era of shotgun artillery in the past. It is equipped with all standard 140mm large-caliber breech-loading cannons and breech-loading howitzers, and the longest range can even reach six kilometers.Roadbed naval battles are different from simple naval battles. Instead of sacrificing range to increase the explosive power and accuracy of shells like a ship-to-ship exchange of fire, heavy shells and multi-point salvos with large ranges are used to achieve saturation attacks and carpet-like attacks with intensive firepower. The effect of bombing.The range of the heavy artillery of the foreign devils' warships does not exceed 800 meters at most. The first shot of the British ship's overreaching, even fantasized that it would scare the Qing army away like before, but it was like a signal flare. There was a roaring sound from the mountain, and the entire sea shook, and then the sharp and dense whistling sound of shells was heard. Starting from the Melville, which was at the forefront, huge waves were set off, like landslides and tsunamis. After the image has been tiled over!

The Dagukou Fort is now reinforced into a delta wing formation, divided from the main fort in the middle to the two sides. There are 46 side forts densely packed, with a total of 62 cannons, 100 howitzers, and many light ones.The establishment of the Artillery Brigade, the salvo of firepower of more than [-] cannons, is more than shattering!All of a sudden, the calm sea just now was suddenly filled with turbulent waves. Layers of huge waves looked like countless giant beasts drilled from the bottom of the sea, rushing towards the warship of the foreign devils with claws and teeth.

Such a cool artillery battle was the first time for every Qing soldier.How many years have passed since the first Opium War, and how many times have you seen such a spectacular scene?Everyone was so excited, the gunners wore special earbags, loaded, aimed, and fired desperately. Holding the shells was like holding a big ingot, so beautiful that their mouths cracked to the base of their ears.Seeing countless foreign devil warships dying in the turbulent waves, they laughed so hard that they couldn't even see their eyes. I guess I let out a bad breath in my heart: Damn it, make fun of our gunners, who only hold guns (smoking guns) Fire the cannon, now let's see if the man is a dick!

It was the infantry garrison who couldn't catch the cannons. According to the plan, they were ambushing on both sides of the fort to prevent the enemy from landing.But look at this posture now, let alone landing, after a while, won't they all be beaten and disappeared?Seeing the gunners having a good time there, I couldn't help but feel anxious. The anxious ones jumped out of the bunker holding their guns, looking up at the sea, looking forward to the enemy like a wives looking forward to a lover.

In the concept of naval warfare at that time, there had never been such a dense artillery attack, and there was no such concept as carpet bombing and saturation attack.Given this unusually violent artillery fire from the Qing army, the Three Kingdoms Fleet was immediately beaten dizzy, so why bother to fight back?

The British ship Melville fired the first shot since the first Opium War, leaving a notorious mark in the humiliating history of China.But this time it obviously wanted to play such a role again, so it rushed ahead excitedly.Unexpectedly, the Qing army's artillery fire was so exaggerated. As soon as they fired a cannonball, they saw rows of artillery shells flying over in black, and they were completely dumbfounded at that time.It wasn't until the hull of the ship was hit that the foreign devils came back to their senses, screaming strangely and running around on the deck.However, it was too late. First, the guns on the rear deck caught fire, and then the mainmast was blown off in the middle. The dense shells blew up the huge ship.The last shot was a heavy shell, which pierced through the light armored deck and landed in the ammunition warehouse impartially. There was a loud rumbling sound, and the ship jumped violently on the sea surface a few times, and then The whole thing broke in two. ←

The warship at the back saw this shocking and terrifying scene unfolding in front of its eyes, and the three souls were frightened out of their bodies. They hurriedly hung up the sails, turned around and ran away.It was also lucky, the southwest wind was blowing that day, and the sailors were desperately shaking their oars, and the nearly [-] ships that had been showing off their might before were running around like bereaved dogs.Also in a panic, a heavy battleship went straight onto a troop carrier while escaping. The poor troop carrier was "shocked", and a big hole came out of the side of the ship, and the sea water rushed in. Seeing that the ship was full of hundreds of foreign devil soldiers, those who went on to the bottom of the water went to support China's seafood farming business.

The wide sea seemed so narrow at this time, more than a hundred ships of the foreign devils were huddled together in a mess.The Qing army was enjoying the fight, the artillery fire extended all the way, until the shadow of the boat could not be seen, and they refused to stop.The entire artillery battle lasted for less than half an hour, and the smoke cleared away. Looking at the sea from near to far, there were dots of wreckage of warships that had not yet sunk, most of which were burning, and black smoke columns slanted. point to the sky.

If you use a binoculars, you should be able to see at this time that apart from the shattered ship board fragments scattered everywhere on the sea surface, there are also small waves, these are the foreign devils who fell into the water and survived for a while, going to the sea. Facing the last flutter on the journey of life.The setting sun shines, reflecting sparkling waves, which makes this picture look strange and poignant.All the Qing soldiers came out of the bunker, set up a pergola, and watched the sea.

It was quiet.

"Roar!……"

Suddenly, a cry sounded from the main fort of Dagukou, and then spread rapidly, like a pile of hay being ignited by sparks, it spread throughout the entire Qing army's position in an instant.The roar was higher than the last wave, like a volcano that had been smoldering for centuries, spewing out in an instant, gathering into a storm that swept everything!Years of forbearance turned into this moment of indulgent catharsis, surging and surging, resounding across the four fields, resounding in all directions!

……

In this battle, 21 warships were sunk in the Three Kingdoms Fleet, [-] were seriously injured and lost their combat effectiveness, and most of the remaining ships were damaged to varying degrees. The combat effectiveness of the entire combined fleet dropped by one-third.Such a result was never expected by the foreign devils.If you hadn't experienced it yourself, you wouldn't believe it even if you were beaten to death.Over the years, I have been used to the cowardice and uselessness of the Qing army. In the eyes of Westerners, this is a typical soft persimmon that everyone saw. How could it suddenly become so powerful that it is outrageous?Could it be that the soul is possessed at this moment?

The commander of the Allied Forces of the Three Kingdoms and the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Wen Gemeili, looked at the remnants of the defeated "ship" who escaped from the artillery fire of the Qing army in front of him, and became furious.As the supreme commander of the imperial army that rampages around the world without any disadvantage, he certainly couldn't swallow this bad breath no matter what.If you just go back home in such a disgraceful manner.It is estimated that the rest of my life will be drowned by spittle stars.But let's talk about attacking the Qing army.Undoubtedly, an egg hits a stone.