The thick dark night has enveloped the entire city of Beijing. In Jing'er Hutong in the north of the inner city of Beijing, the east wing of a three-entry courtyard house is still dimly lit. There are three scholars who look like sitting in the room. The characters are all bald and without hats, two of them are particularly tall, they are Li Wenxuan, Li Hongzhang and his son, and one is Huang Shijie who escorted "Zeng Linshu" northward.
The courtyard where these three people are now located is not something that just anyone can own. This courtyard is located in the inner city of Beijing on a site with yellow flags - when the Qing Dynasty established Beijing, it did not follow the example of Li Zicheng and Dorgon Doa. Marco couldn't do such a dishonorable thing, Doama just used a combination of encircling the land and occupying the house.
The land enclosure was to encircle the land outside Beijing and give it to the Eight Banners disciples. It was about two to three hundred miles of good land and fertile fields around Beijing that were all enclosed!
The house occupation is the entire inner city of Beijing, which is probably the area within the second ring road in later generations. All are occupied. The original owner is evicted... and he has a deadline to leave. He can only carry limited luggage. The remaining house, household items and burial All the money in the ground belongs to the Eight Banners disciples.
For more than 200 years after this, the inner city of Beijing was a "banner city". Only the children of the Eight Banners, including slaves, could settle down in Beijing. They could not live anywhere, they had to live according to the banner to which they belonged. The entire inner city of Beijing is divided into nine sections, one for each of the Eight Banners, and the Forbidden City in the middle.
The courtyard where Li Wenxuan, Li Hongzhang and Huang Shijie are now located is on the site with a yellow flag, which was allocated by Xianfeng to Zeng Linshu, Zeng Guofan and his son.
The three of them have been busy these days, helping Zeng Linshu go to the Yamen to complete the formalities, go to the outer city to buy furniture, hire people, and buy all kinds of miscellaneous things. Only now have they finally settled down. It’s noon today He also booked more than a dozen banquets from "Dejuquan" outside the city and invited the bannermen neighbors in Jing'er Hutong. "Zeng Linshu" was a country boy and a bit greedy. Huang Shijie was afraid that he would tell the truth after drinking, so he had to Taking Li Wenxuan and Li Hongzhang together to help "Zeng Linshu" deal with these bannermen neighbors, they were busy until the evening.
So Li Wenxuan and Li Hongzhang stopped going back to their "rented houses" in the outer city, and Yu Jian stayed in the Sanjin residence of "Zeng Linshu". This was the first time that they spent the night in a courtyard in the inner city. !
Huang Shijie did not rent a house in the outer city of Beijing. After arriving in Beijing, he first stayed with "Zeng Linshu" for two nights in Seng Gelinqin's palace, and then moved into this house with "Zeng Linshu" It's only a quarter of an hour's walk from the Forbidden City.
"The courtyard of Sanjin is so close to the Forbidden City. Although Brother Di Sheng became the minister in eight years and had a prosperous official career, if he had not raised the flag, even if he became a bachelor, military minister, and Zeng Zhongtang, he would still be in trouble. I can’t live in a house like this!”
Li Wenxuan's words were full of envy.
But Huang Shijie shook his head and said with a smile: "That's not necessarily true! Those were the rules of the past. It's hard to say what will happen in the future! Maybe the teacher's residence in Beijing can be moved a few miles south in the future!"
Li Wenxuan laughed: "Ziying, what you said...do you know where Jing'er Hutong is a few miles south? The Forbidden City! How could Zeng Disheng live in the Forbidden City? Is it possible that he can still come to Beijing to work as a guard?"
There was a strange look on Li Hongzhang's face. He looked at his junior brother and asked in a low voice: "Ziying, what does the teacher think of the situation? Is there any hope for salvation in the Qing Dynasty?"
Huang Shijie smiled coldly: "Teacher, I think today's world is similar to the late Yuan Dynasty!"
"The end of the Yuan Dynasty?" Li Hongzhang's face was filled with uncertainty. But Li Wenxuan was startled: "The end of the Yuan Dynasty? That's not it?" Li Hongzhang stared at Huang Shijie, seemingly in disbelief: "Teacher...really said that?
Huang Shijie smiled: "Shaoquan, do you think the teacher is still as cautious in words and deeds as he was in Beijing? Now there are more than 30 training camps under the teacher...the heads of these camps are controlled by the teacher's clan, township party, fellow disciples, In the hands of the students! And these people who are attached to the teacher are pulling their friends and classmates from the clan, and they are all integrated into one body. They are both prosperous and destructive... All of our followers like the teacher hope that the teacher can be promoted step by step, straight up. Qingtian! The same is true for Zuo Jigao and the people under Jiang Min and Qiaomen!
Li Shibo, Shaoquan, things have changed these days! The men of my generation were born in troubled times, and they hold a three-foot sword in their hands. How can we not do something good at the right time and fortunately?"
"Okay!" Li Hongzhang clapped his hands and said, "Listening to my junior brother today is better than ten years of reading books!" Then his expression dimmed again and he smiled bitterly: "But the monk king recommended me to go abroad... I originally We have agreed with Lu Shilang from the Ministry of Industry that he and I will go back to Anhui to organize group training, but this overseas trip has been delayed. I really don’t know when I can start organizing group training at home? If I can find a reason to organize this trip Just give it a push."
"No, don't push it!" Huang Shijie quickly waved his hand and said, "This opportunity is rare! Shaoquan, do you know why Luo Xueyan was able to rise to the top in one step, from a seventh-grade candidate to become the governor of Jiangnan Yanfa Road and Jiangning? "
"He can train troops and handle foreign affairs." Li Hongzhang said.
Huang Shijie said: "This is only part of the reason, but it is not the most important reason."
"Then what's the most important reason?"
"They are foreign guns and cannons!" Huang Shijie said with an envious look on his face, "He really got thousands of foreign guns and more than a dozen foreign cannons, they are in stock! In fact, the easiest part of running a regiment training is recruiting troops. Shaoquan, you are from Huaihe , Lianghuai has many Jewish people since ancient times. Moreover, the Huaihe River has flooded year after year in recent years. There are many poor people in Lianghuai who cannot survive. It is easy to recruit soldiers. What is really difficult is to get enough foreign guns and cannons... without foreign guns. Foreign artillery, we can't beat Changmao. You don't know how fierce Changmao is in fighting. If we can't beat them, we will be over sooner or later!
With foreign guns and artillery, it is best to hire some foreign generals and soldiers, so that our military training can truly compete with Changmao, so Shao Quan, you must not push back this foreign mission!
As for the matter of returning to Anhui for team training, your father and some of your brothers can go and open a meeting first. Shaoquan, if you are worried, you can write a letter to the teacher and borrow one or two battalions of Xiangyong to Anhui. With them Take it with you, your Li family's team training is definitely better than other people's. As long as you are careful, it can't be broken. When Shaoquan comes back from overseas, he buys foreign guns and cannons, and recruits foreign generals and soldiers to make it bigger.
When the time comes, even teachers will have to rely on your method to buy guns and ammunition from foreigners... Now that you have this method, are you still afraid that you won't be able to run the regiment training? If you do, you are still afraid that you won't be able to become a marquis or even a king!
"
Li Hongzhang really learned a lesson this time. He is not Li Zhongtang now, but Li Hanlin who has been "sitting in an office" in Beijing. He only saw the scenery of those military leaders, but did not see these regimental training leaders facing the Taiping Army brigade.
How cowardly I was when I was there.
"I have learned a lesson, Hongzhang has learned a lesson," Li Hongzhang, who already knew what path he wanted to take, gratefully handed over to Huang Shijie, "Then I will concentrate on preparing to go abroad!"
When Huang Shijie saw that Li Hongzhang had made up his mind to go abroad, he knew that his line of "connecting to foreign countries" should be established, and he felt a little more at ease - he had never heard of the Luo Xueyan in Shanghai, but he was certain that it was Luo Bingzhang
, a person of Zuo Zongtang’s lineage. If the Zuo Clan has an endless supply of Xiang’s brave foreign guns and cannons in the future, the Zeng Clan’s people will be annexed by the Zuo Clan sooner or later. As a figure who surrendered to Zeng Guofan from Zuo Zongtang, I’m afraid he will suffer
Life would not be easy for those who turned around. However, the purchase of foreign guns and cannons was urgent. Huang Shijie couldn't wait for Li Hongzhang to return from his overseas trip, so he asked him again: "Shaoquan, where are you planning to go overseas this time?"
"Shanghai!" Li Hongzhang said with a smile, "Master Su said that he wants to go overseas, meet Luo Xueyan and the foreign consuls in Shanghai, and then order a batch of foreign guns and cannons from foreigners... I also want to take this opportunity.
Let’s get close to that Luo Xueyan, and learn from him how to run foreign affairs.”
Huang Shijie sighed: "It's a pity that I can't go to Shanghai with you, otherwise I would also like to meet this Westernization wizard."
"Ziying, what's important to you?" Li Hongzhang asked.
Huang Shijie nodded and said with a smile, "The Monk King sent someone to give me a message today, saying that the Emperor will summon me in a few days!"
Li Hongzhang said happily: "The emperor has summoned you? Isn't it going to be of great use?" Huang Shijie said with a smile: "Now the world is in chaos, the Qing Dynasty is declining, and the Taiping Army is rising. But we, who read the books of sages, command tigers and wolf soldiers, have the ambition to conquer the clouds, and the emperor
If you don’t use me, who else can you use?”
..
"Kill the demon and go to heaven!" "God bless us!"
Outside the Yifeng Gate of Jinling City, cheers like a mountain roaring and a tsunami suddenly sounded!
Standing on the Lion Rock inside Yifeng Gate and looking out of the city, I saw only outside Yifeng Gate and between the dense buildings around Jinghai Temple that had no time to be demolished, there were densely packed "red-headed people" cheering loudly!
The Yangtze River north of Yifeng Gate was covered with thousands of wooden boats sailing from the upper reaches. The decks of all the wooden boats were also filled with "red-headed men", who also cheered endlessly.
Even on the north bank of the Yangtze River, on the beach belonging to Jiangpu County, there was a scene of red flags fluttering, soldiers gathered, and faint cheers could be heard.
In a wilderness to the west of Jinghai Temple, a large sedan carried by sixty-four people, surrounded by tens of thousands of male and female Taiping soldiers, slowly appeared on Lion Mountain. The desperate Governor of Liangjiang, Lu Jianying, and Jiangning General Xianghou
in sight.
"Yes, it's Hong Xiuquan! He's outside Jiangning City... We're finished!" Jiangning General Xianghou, who was already old, with flabby skin and gray hair, and completely lost his energy, looked at the big sedan with dull eyes. He said with a trembling voice.
Next to him, Lu Jianying, who had a sallow complexion and a thin body, and looked sick at first glance, looked like he was about to cry without tears: "Alas,... we are just looking for a piece of land in Aisin Gioro to die!"
After saying this, he closed his eyes and stopped looking at the desperate scene outside the city.
Chapter completed!