Amidst the chaotic buzzing, the courtiers and the new scholars bowed out of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, leaving Prince Gong Yixin, Li Hongzao and Li Guolou alone. Li Guolou changed into a brand-new five-piece suit in the side hall next to him. While trying on his official robe, I saw that there was a blue feather on his official hat and a court bead hanging around his neck. He was about to go to Yangxin Hall to meet the emperor and the empress dowagers of the two palaces. He looked at the floor-length mirror with great satisfaction and looked at his whole body. Brand new look.
The great eunuch Liu Deyin watched Li Guolou change his clothes and said with a smile: "Congratulations, Mr. Tanhua."
Li Guolou quickly took out a two-hundred-tael silver note from his wallet, handed it to Liu Deyin, and said in a low voice: "We are all happy together. Please come to Baozhifang for a wedding drink, Mr. Liu."
The eunuch Liu Deyin, who was over forty years old, took the bank note and said with a casual smile: "Tanhua Lang, you are really a good person. I am optimistic about Tanhua Lang's future. Oh;;;;;;Tanhua Lang, this is The official robe is a high-quality item bought by the father-in-law of the library. According to the rules, you can give it four hundred taels."
Li Guolou glanced at Liu Deyin and felt a little dissatisfied. According to the rules, a set of official robes can be purchased for two to three hundred taels of silver. Sometimes it is even cheaper to let the officials buy it themselves. In the world, it is custom-made. There is no need for a hundred taels of silver. When you come to him, it becomes four hundred taels of silver. A set of "official robes" that should be regarded as a reward from the emperor, and the eunuchs directly share the stolen 400 taels of silver.
With 600 taels of silver notes in his arms, Liu Deyin left the side hall with satisfaction and went to the minister's house to deliver the imperial edict. He was only rewarded with two silver ingots. Li Guolou was very generous and a friend worth making. It seemed that the territory of the Ministry of Internal Affairs , the matter of opening several "invite banks" should be implemented as soon as possible. Next time, we will invite some "brothers" from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to have a wedding drink together at Baozhifang.
Li Guolou came to the Yangxin Hall, beating a small drum in his heart. The Queen Mother of the two palaces sat behind the bamboo curtain to listen to his performance. Sure enough, the emperor began to ask about his resume: "Li Guolou, now tell me I would like to know more about your experience of studying abroad and your experience as a clerk in the Ministry of Justice."
Li Guolou looked at Prince Gong Yixin who was sitting in the Jinluan Hall. He saw that he looked calm and motionless, as peaceful as an old monk in samadhi. He knew that this time only good things would happen. So he used his eloquent skills to nourish his heart. The palace was used as a place for storytelling. First, he described London, England as useless. The squalor of the smoggy city made people breathless. But in such a difficult environment, he was barely hanging on his buttocks. He was still able to strive for self-improvement and learn a lot. I returned home. Then I started to say all the good things about the Minister of Punishment, Bao Yi. Anyway, he was brave and loyal. He obeyed the orders of his superiors and charged forward. He also never forgot the ideal of serving the motherland and studied the "Four Books and Five Classics" well. No matter where he went, They would tirelessly "learn and practice". Finally, they stood out in this scientific examination and won the third place in Yidingjia.
Li Guolou spoke affectionately, interspersed with many sad vignettes, remembering his dead colleagues, sometimes sobbing, and his eyes turning red unconsciously. When he talked about the joy of success, he would sometimes smile at Emperor Tongzhi. , letting people see that he is a promising young man with a true temperament.
Time passed quickly. Li Guolou grasped the situation carefully and saw that the emperor on the dragon throne did not appear impatient, and the two good ladies behind the curtain did not say a word, so he continued talking, ready to pull the reins of the horse at any time. If he was not careful, he would be killed. After talking for an hour, I felt strange, why no one interrupted him?
Li Guolou's mouth was dry as he spoke, and he couldn't go on, so he finished his concluding remarks. His stomach growled with hunger, and he felt annoyed. Just when he was changing clothes and waiting, both Prince Gong Yixin and Li Hongzao had eaten pineapple. It was so bad, but he had been hungry since Wu Gu time. From now on, he knew that when he came to the palace, he must hide two biscuits in his sleeves.
Emperor Tongzhi has not heard enough, and Li Guolou's romantic story has not been mentioned yet? Well;;;;;;next time, I will let Li Guolou talk about it in the study room. When he thought of this idea, he couldn't help but laugh and said: "Well, Li Aiqing has been talking for such a long time, and her voice is still so loud and full of energy. Prince Gong and Li Taibao have praised you, and I will praise you once. I have an errand for you to do." After saying this, Emperor Tongzhi turned to look at Prince Gong continued: "Prince Gong, last time we talked about opening a recruit school in the Zhili area, I decided to let Li Aiqing run it. Li Guolou's errands as a doctor of the Hanlin Academy include the chief bookkeeper of "Xinwutang". As for Let Weng Tonghe hold the post of principal concurrently."
How could Emperor Tongzhi let Prince Gong intervene? He wanted to take the military power of training the new army into his own hands. Although it was just a battalion at the beginning, everything from now on will be handled by Weng Tonghe and Li Guolou. How many will there be? Xinjun, at this time he didn't feel sure.
Prince Gong Yixin was overjoyed. With Emperor Tongzhi as his signature, the two queen mothers would not think about disarmament. The Hunan Army trained by Zeng Guofan was disbanded, and the Huai Army trained by Li Hongzhang could not escape the fate of being disbanded. The Han army, capable of conquering and fighting, was corrupted by the ancestral rules set by the Manchus, while the Eight Banners Battalion, which hated iron but failed to make steel, squandered its pay and silver, and its arrogant soldiers only served as facades to stand guard. Today, "Xinwutang" is wearing the emperor's personal bodyguards title, this army has a great future, and a channel for establishing a new army has been discovered at this time. This is because the sky has vision.
Prince Gong Yixin pretended to be unwilling and slowly accepted the order to express his gratitude. This would allow the empress dowagers of the two palaces to see how devastated he was about the loss of power, and he could only swallow his anger and carry out the emperor's imperial edict. .
Although Li Guolou received the order to thank him, his gratitude was beyond words. But standing in the Yangxin Hall, he was surprised and happy. He had been given so much, so how could he be so busy? What on earth was going on? Superiors The leaders of the "Westernization faction", "Qing faction" and even "conservatives" have also taken a fancy to him. How to deal with so many Bodhisattvas who need to pay tribute and burn incense? Behind them are a bunch of greedy "dog slaves" (eunuchs). These days How should he live? It seems that the feat of handing over "ten million silver" for the cause of national defense has attracted all the factions in the court to focus on him, and even the "conservatives" want a piece of the pie.
Although Li Guolou made a promise on his lips, he was frightened in his heart. What kind of situation would it turn into in the future? Originally, in his plan, no one else came to take a share of the pie. The greedy Manchus rushed to let him pay for it first. Emperor Lianzhi was also thinking about this idea.
Emperor Tongzhi said: "Li Guolou, since you are confident to complete the task, I will give you another official position as the supervisor of the Longevity Mountain Project. This job belongs to you."
"Thank you Lord for your kindness! I will definitely handle this job well." Li Guolou didn't understand and couldn't help but look at Prince Gong. Where is the "Longevity Mountain"? Why has he never heard of it?
The faces of the eunuchs standing in the Yangxin Palace changed. They never expected that Li Guolou had become the empress dowager of the two palaces and that the most important job in the palace would be taken by Li Guolou. The empress dowagers of the two palaces only thought of ten thousand things. The Longevity Mountain project requires millions of taels of silver every year. This is a thankless position. They need a money-making master to take the job and complete the Longevity Mountain project as soon as possible for them, so that they can live a long life in the Old Summer Palace and enjoy the splendor. Who knew that the throne of "Wanshoushan Project Supervisor" was worth a thousand dollars and was more desirable than the throne of the General Manager of the Two Palaces?
The eunuchs looked at Li Guolou with more kind eyes. We will be our own people from now on, and harmony will bring wealth.
Prince Gong Yixin resisted laughing loudly and did not look at Li Guolou's searching eyes. The silly boy was so lucky. From now on, 900,000 taels of silver would be allocated from the Beiyang Navy to the Longevity Mountain Project. Li Guolou would then receive The Wanshou Mountain project earned a 10% commission, which is at least 200,000 taels of silver.
Prince Gong stood up, bowed and said: "To inform your Majesty, I believe that the Li Guo Tower is a material that can be built, and it is appropriate to raise the flag."
After the Qing Dynasty established the capital as the capital, the main force of the Eight Banners of Manchuria was stationed in and outside Beijing according to the flag, which was called the "Eight Banners Forbidden Travel". Except for Zhengyang Gate, Eight Banners soldiers were stationed at the eight city gates of Beijing. At that time, the Qing Dynasty ruled The author believes that the biggest threat to Beijing comes from the north, so the Desheng Gate and Anding Gate in the north are the top priorities for defense. They are garrisoned by Zhenghuang and Xianghuang banners under the personal command of the emperor, and the remaining city gates are guarded by the remaining The Six Flags soldiers guarded each other according to their respective positions. In the early Qing Dynasty, the inner city of the capital was all Manchus, and the Han people only settled in the south city. By this time, Manchus and Han people already lived together, and many people had Manchu and Han ancestry, purebred Manchus. There are fewer and fewer people, and with the flag-raising system, the Manchus have no idea what a Manchu is based on their flag status, and they don't care whether the person is a pure Manchu.
Raising the flag is to let Li Guolou join the Manchus. He will no longer be Han Chinese. All the rules in the family must be made according to the practices of the Manchu nobles. This is also a system of rewards for slaves, and Han ministers cannot raise the flag. Therefore, Prince Gong proposed to let Li Guolou carry the flag, which meant that Li Guolou should not be treated as a Han minister, but as a personal slave.
Of course Li Guolou understood the truth, but at this time he was no longer shameless and thought silently in his heart, "Great unity of the whole nation, great integration of the whole nation." He looked at Emperor Tongzhi with an eager look in his eyes, thinking that he was a Han. Should he be trained by ministers or used as Manchu slaves? It doesn't matter to him. In the future, it is not a bad idea to be among the Manchu ministers on the left in the imperial class, but they must learn Manchu and write Manchu, otherwise they will be punished by the two queen mothers. . He can speak some Manchu, but his Manchu is much worse. He can speak many Manchu languages but cannot write them.
Emperor Tongzhi looked at the empress dowagers of the two palaces beside him. From the direction of the dragon chair where he was sitting, he could see Empress Dowager Cixi and Empress Dowager Ci'an whispering.
Empress Dowager Cixi and Empress Dowager Ci'an listened to Li Guolou's speech for an hour and immediately regarded him as superior. He could speak sonorously and beautifully, which was comfortable for the eyes and enjoyable for the ears. The emperor put the important task of training the new army in "Xinwutang" 》The chief academic officer was also handed over to Li Guolou. This important position should be held by a Manchu nobleman alone. Han people were worried about it. In addition, Li Guolou was now a blank slate, and he did not interact with the ministers. It has been used in court and can be used as a personal servant.
After some discussion, Empress Dowager Ci'an whispered: "Sister, I see Li Guo Louxing. He is upright and has clear eyes. You see that he has not wavered since he stood now. He stands like a soldier. I see After that, he didn't move at all for more than an hour."
"Yeah;;;;;;" Cixi couldn't help but nodded slightly and showed an expression of approval. If she didn't promote the man she personally appointed as Tanhualang, why should she promote Han people? A sweet voice came from behind the Ci bamboo curtain. : "Well, Prince Gong's heart is exactly what I want. Go ahead! Li Guolou is allowed to carry it under the yellow flag, and his family members are also allowed to carry it under the blue flag."
The Xianghuang Banner belongs to the upper three banners and is led by the emperor himself. There is no governor, only assistant leaders. Empress Dowager Ci'an is also a person who Xianghuang Banner. Xianglan Banner is the lower five flags, and Cixi was originally a person who Xianglan Banner did. Concubine Yi raised the flag to join the Xianghuang Banner. Li Guolou was raised to be a Manchu nobleman by raising him to the Xianghuang Banner.
Li Guolou turned over and paid homage, kowtowing: "Thank you so much, the Queen Mother. I will definitely be able to handle errands for my master in the future."
Li Guolou seemed to be in the Qionglou Immortal Pavilion, and everything in front of him seemed to be an illusory fairyland. He could not remember how he walked out of the Yangxin Hall. He stood blankly on the stone steps of the hall, in a daze, looking up at Yangxin Hall. Looking at the plaque on the Heart Palace, I have a question mark in my heart, is this true? The dream-like experience of the Forbidden City lingers in my heart and I can't get rid of it.