Spring March.
Spring is gradually getting stronger in Beijing, and the usually dry and cold weather has finally become slightly humid and warm. The banner men in the inner city who have no worries about food and clothing have all taken off their thick leather waistcoats and put on neat clothes. The little coats were flaunting on the streets. The teahouses and restaurants were filled with the chirping of birds that only open in spring. Coupled with the wind and sand that have been a regular occurrence in spring for more than a hundred years, everything was just like the spring of previous years. The weather was the same, except for the indelible gloom that enveloped the hearts of all the Eight Banners disciples.
The Qing Dynasty is in danger!
The current Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is different from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom that was still a rogue bandit at the same time in history. The current Taiping Heavenly Kingdom occupies Changsha, and Wuchang, the two provincial capitals, is gone! It also controls the four prefectures of Hengyang, Chenzhou, Yongzhou, and Yuezhou in Hunan. The Fucheng and the prefecture city of Guiyang Prefecture, the Hanyang Fucheng in Hubei, and the Taiping Fucheng in Anhui still surround the governor of Liangjiang, the residence of General Jiangning, Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty, and today's Jiangning Fucheng.
At this time, the crisis of the Qing Dynasty really reached the point where it could not be concealed at all costs.
Now, after losing the county seat, we really lost the prefecture city, after we lost the prefecture city, we lost the provincial capital, after we lost the provincial capital, we lost Nanjing, after we lost Nanjing... where should I lose it?
The Eight Banners disciples in Beijing, as well as those Han officials loyal to the Qing Dynasty, shuddered when they thought about what they would lose after Nanjing was lost!
Of course, not everyone feels that disaster is imminent, and some people feel that opportunity is rare!
Outside Yongding Gate, a tall father and son, wearing navy blue mandarin jackets, melon caps on their heads, and shiny braids on the back of their heads, looked expectantly at the official road extending to the south. It seemed as if their future had no future at all. Not in the gray city of Qing Dynasty in the background, but in the endless vast land in front of us.
This father and son are well-known Jinshi scholars in the Han official circle in Beijing. It was not easy to pass the Jinshi exam in the Qing Dynasty. There were more than 100 Han Chinese in one subject! It is not just about picking one out of ten thousand. So it is not the case that both father and son won the Jinshi. There are many cases, and there are even fewer cases where a father and his son became Jinshi with a difference of only nine years. It is even rarer for a father and his son to become officials in Beijing together after high school.
The "father Jinshi" of this pair of father and son Jinshi, whose surname is Li and whose given name is Wenxuan, was a Jinshi in the 18th year of Daoguang's reign. He is in the same subject as Zeng Guofan, and his ranking is also very close. They are both "Tongjinshi" in the top three, with only a dozen points difference. However, Zeng Guofan was the "Secondary Minister for eight years", while Li Wenxuan is still the head of the Criminal Department today, with no hope of promotion...
And Li Wenxuan's son is very powerful. His surname is also Li and his given name is Hongzhang! Later generations will call him "Li Zhongtang"! Not only was he only 24 years old when he won the Jinshi, but he also did much better than his father, with 13 in the second and third grades, and after the imperial examination He was a concubine of the Hanlin Academy, and after he was dismissed, he was appointed editor and editor of the Hanlin Academy. If nothing unexpected happens, it is possible that Li Hongzhang will follow the steps step by step and climb to the position of minister and minister. In a few decades, he will hopefully be honored by others. For "Li Zhongtang".
However, this step-by-step "road to the middle hall" of working hard to be a slave is a bit too conservative in the eyes of Li Hongzhang today!
The person he wanted to see was Huang Shijie, the junior brother who escorted his mentor Zeng Guofan's father Zeng Linshu to Beijing to serve as a bannerman. However, due to his reputation as a scholar, he is now an alternate county magistrate. According to reliable information, he will be promoted to an alternate magistrate before he goes to Yuanzi. .........That's from the fifth rank! Thinking of this junior brother, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but touch a strange book in his arms - "Anti-Jing"!
Today's world is in troubled times. If you want to achieve great success, you must "do something opposite"!
"Father," Li Hongzhang whispered to his father Li Wenxuan next to him, yesterday I heard from my colleagues in the Hanlin Academy that another Luo Xueyan appeared in Shanghai. It turned out that he was also from the Hunan Army, and he brought 800 elite soldiers. Shanghai bought foreign guns and artillery. Su Songtao and Wu Jianzhang paid a large sum of money to help organize regiment training. The training of 800 people was quickly expanded to several thousand people. They also hooked up with foreigners and bought many foreign guns and artillery. ...The strength suddenly increased!
I heard that yesterday, after the emperor received the information from the governor of Jiangsu, Su Songtao, he even praised Xueyan in front of several adults from the Military Aircraft Department for the rare talent... That man didn't even have the reputation of being a scholar. I heard that he still came back from Nanyang. After being a scoundrel, he had never been qualified for the imperial examination in the past! Looking at the current situation, at least one prefect might be able to be a fourth-rank official!
Father, it seems that the scripture is right. In troubled times, only when you have soldiers and territory can you be an official... This is the right way to be an official in troubled times. It is much better than our qualifications in the capital!"
Li Wenxuan nodded lightly and whispered: "Then you will have to be more intimate with Mr. Zeng and Huang Ziying later. The reason why Luo Xueyan can get so many benefits in Shanghai is not only because of his own ability, but also because he learned from Luo Ruzhai , Zuo Jigao got 800 elite soldiers as capital. With these 800 elite soldiers, he could get the support of foreigners. If you want to be Luo Xueyan's second, you have to borrow a capital from your mentor Zeng Disheng! Once you have the capital, go Contact the foreigners and things can be done!"
"My child understands!" Li Hongzhang nodded.
At this time, someone suddenly shouted: "Young master, the prince is back!"
The caller was a slave from the Monk Palace. Boyan Namohu, the son of Seng Gelinqin and a young prince who was only sixteen or seventeen years old this year, was riding a horse and leading a large group of strong men from the Horqin grassland to wait outside Yongding Gate. Where is Armament Gritchin!
Hearing this shouting, outside Yongding Gate, Li Hongzhang and his son, several commanders and deputy commanders of the Han army with yellow flags, several adults from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and several Hunanese who were officials in the capital, They all cheered up, straightened their clothes, and were waiting to greet Zeng Guofan, his Ama, Zengjia and Linshu.
Li Hongzhang also stretched his neck to look at the official road. After a while, he saw a group of people approaching in a mighty manner. They were led by two strong men wearing black coats and riding horses. One of them seemed to be Seng Gelinqin. Compared with When the prince went south a few months ago, he looked much sluggish and seemed to have lost weight. Walking alongside him was an old man with a gray beard, who looked bigger than Seng Gelinqin. , riding in high spirits on the horse - he must be a general under Seng Gelinqin, right?
When he was guessing who the old man beside Senggelinqin was, Senggelinqin and the old man suddenly accelerated their horses and galloped together. In just a blink of an eye, they arrived in front of a group of people who came to greet them outside Yongding Gate. Less than ten Only if you step forward can you rein in the horse.
The two horses seemed to be still unsatisfied. They bounced a few times before settling down.
Seng Gelinqin laughed loudly on the horse, turned to the old man with a gray beard and said: "Zhuting, no wonder you never pass the examination as a scholar, all your abilities are in martial arts! You should join the army!"
The gray-bearded old man smiled and said: "Your Majesty, being a civil servant is nobler than being a military general. Of course I want to be a civil servant. But it's a pity that being a civil servant is easy, but writing eight-legged essays is difficult!"
"Actually, it's not that difficult. You've raised the flag now..." As he spoke, Seng Gelinqin spotted Li Hongzhang and Li Wenxuan, both of whom were taller, so he waved to them, "Master Li, come here. Come here quickly!"
Li Wenxuan and Li Hongzhang quickly picked up their robes and went up, and together they made a bow to the prince.
Seng Gelinqin smiled and said to the old man with a gray beard beside him: "Zhuting, these two are the same year as your son, Li, the head of the Criminal Department, who is Li?" "Your Majesty, the lower official Li Wenxuan, Zi Shihe." Li Wenxuan. He quickly introduced himself, then pointed at his son, "This is Li Hongzhang, the son of a dog, whose courtesy name is Jianfu."
Seng Gelinqin smiled and nodded: "Zhuting, this Li Jianfu is a student of your son Zeng Tusheng. He is learned and belongs to the Imperial Academy! If you ask him to teach you, you will not be guaranteed to be a Jinshi, but you will definitely be promoted!"
Chapter completed!