"The Crescent River surrounds the house like a dragon, and the Western Mountain looks like a tiger crouching in the distance." Experts who are familiar with the ancient architecture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties will definitely be familiar with this sentence, because it refers to the famous Prince Gong's Mansion in the late Qing Dynasty.
Prince Gong Yi?, nicknamed Guiziliu, basically monopolized the diplomatic affairs of the Qing Dynasty before Li Hongzhang became famous. In the end, the diplomatic power was handed over to Beiyang because his health was getting worse day by day. Otherwise, Li Hongzhang would not have been able to take over. this class.
"Prince Gong's Mansion is half of the history of the Qing Dynasty. The diplomatic center of the empire is here now. When Guizi Liu was extremely powerful, this opponent was difficult to deal with..." Xiao Letian parked in a borrowed foreign carriage. More than a hundred meters away from the gate of the palace. In front of the carriage, a row of official sedans had blocked the street, and the palace steward was leading people to sort them step by step.
"Oh! Isn't this the Ninth Commander? I'd like to pay my respects to Mr. Zeng..." The butler of the outer gate of the palace bowed down with a thousand words. He couldn't be more low-minded.
The various officials around had never seen the housekeeper of Prince Gong's Mansion so respectful. They were all whispering to each other. Who knew the details and whispered, "You don't know this man? Ouch, you officials are quite useless." , Ninth Marshal is Marshal Zeng’s ninth brother..."
"Zeng Guoquan!" I don't know who was so heartless that he actually shouted out, "It turns out it's him. Didn't the court ask him to go to Zhejiang to be the governor? Why did he come to Beijing again..."
"Shut up, are you crazy? You have such a donkey voice... Let Zeng Shatou hear you calling his name, be careful of your head. What kind of governor? He single-handedly raised the Jizi Camp of the Hunan Army to attack Tianjing City The Ninth Commander has to step forward to lead the army... Also, I heard that this time the Ninth Commander came to Beijing to serve as a frontline for Marshal Zeng, and Zeng Guofan will come to Beijing in a while..."
People were talking a lot, and they were all talking about the Ninth Commander and his brother. The two famous brothers of the Zeng family in history had just wiped out the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. At the height of the sun, the 500,000 Hunan Army in their hands made the entire Qing Dynasty The military power that the dynasty was afraid of. Historically, the top management of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties spent a lot of effort to guard against these two brothers. Update as soon as possible
Zeng Guoquan acted as if he didn't hear people's comments, and smiled and helped the housekeeper, "You old dog, you can be regarded as a master by running errands under the prince, you are so talented that I have to make my body hurt... Come on, please reward the housekeeper." Three thousand taels..."
"Thank you, Ninth Marshal for the reward! Come here, open the middle gate to welcome Ninth Marshal... Don't refuse. Opening the middle gate is the prince's personal order. The prince also said that when Ninth Marshal comes, he will stand inside the second gate to welcome him... …”
Oh, what a huge face. The officials waiting in line started talking loudly. It was a great honor for the Zeng brothers to be able to open the middle gate to greet Prince Gong and even stand at the second gate to welcome him.
The Ninth Commander just declined a little and then walked into the main gate with great swagger, making all the officials around him envious. Xiao Letian sneered and said, "A bunch of idiots, just looking at this kind of flashy face. It's useless if you can't open the middle door. These days, it's the most economical to have money and soldiers. When the British and French allied forces were parading in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, everyone was You don’t need to open the door... Okay, after Zeng’s haircut, it’s my turn, go around these sedans, let’s get in first!”
The foreign carriage borrowed through Lewis's relationship nimbly bypassed the group of sedans and began to stuff them inside, earning a group of people's accusations: "Hey, hey, what do you mean, foreigners can jump in line? Go behind the line... Eh. ? The person sitting in the car is not a foreigner, but a Japanese devil? Oh, isn’t that Xiao Letian, a lonely overseas traveler!"
One stone stirred up a thousand waves. All the officials at the door and the servants waiting in front of the palace were all dumbfounded. They watched the black carriage drive into the first one, and then a man in a dress jumped out of the car. When the Japanese came, they were holding a foreign cane in their snow-white gloves, and their steps were somewhat graceful.
"Butler? Butler!" Xiao Letian shouted twice before he woke him up. "This is my invitation." After saying that, he stuffed the invitation into the butler's arms and strode forward.
"Hey, hey, Mr. Xiao, wait, please wait first..."
"What do you mean? Oh... Did I forget to give the door bag? I blame my negligence. Please come to more and faster chapters." After saying that, he stuffed two eagles used by foreigners into the butler's hand. How could the housekeeper of Prince Gong's Mansion care about such a small amount of money? He stood there in embarrassment and his face was almost green with anger.
"Thank you, Mr. Xiao's reward... Come here, open the middle door to welcome Mr. Xiao, and the prince will welcome you at the second door..." This voice shouted, and the whole street in front of the mansion was in an uproar. People were shocked for a long time and said Even Xiao Letian was speechless.
Is this considered Corporal Lixian? Is this helping me make a comeback in front of Qingliu? No wonder Guiziliu can be in charge of the entire empire's diplomacy. He has really good eyesight. Can you tell the treasure from my book? Xiao Letian looked up and looked at the creaking main door slowly opening, as if the empire was opening up to him. Please come to more and faster chapters.
The ancients said that the Hou family is as deep as the sea, let alone the palace. When Xiao Letian walked into Prince Gong's palace, the aura of wealth created purely by people almost knocked him out.
There were eunuchs and servants standing respectfully everywhere, maids walking on tiptoes going back and forth, and every room was buzzing with people. When Erjiizi in a suit walked past them, everyone stood up and pointed.
Xiao Letian saw that this was very good. The Japanese dared to treat me like a monkey and call me over to show them as a peep show to these officials. After a while, the second gate has arrived, but not only Guiziliu is greeting him, but the ninth commander Zeng Guoquan is also standing next to him with a smile and staring at him.
"This is a lonely overseas traveler who moved the capital with his wonderful works, Mr. Xiao Letian Xiao. I have been fascinated by him for a long time. When I saw him today, he was really in high spirits. Please..." Yi?, who is the noble prince, actually stretched out his hand to signal Xiao Letian to come in. Updated immediately. Ninth Commander Zeng Guoquan was even more enthusiastic. He actually walked down the steps and grabbed Xiao Letian's hand.
"Only a strange man can write such a wonderful article. Since Mr. Xi's Journey to the West became famous in the capital, I have read it four or five times in a row without missing a word. I am really enlightened. I met the real author today. I am not drunk without saying anything. Go back..." After saying that, he took Xiao Letian and walked to the back garden, which is the famous Cuijin Garden.
Xiao Letian admired the beautiful scenery of the famous garden while carefully thinking about the secret behind the banquet. Now is the time for Prince Gong and Prince Yi to wear a pair of trousers together with Cixi, and the two of them are working together to reveal the truth to the outside world. The peasant uprising within the Qing Dynasty must be suppressed, and the Han officials who are too powerful must be on guard. Even the royal opposition represented by Ci'an must keep a close eye on it.
In Xiao Letian's memory, the alliance between the two was not dissolved until Guangxu came to the throne and the generals of the Hunan Army gradually grew old and no longer had the ambition to rebel. In addition, Ci'an was killed and Cixi completely surrendered to the royal family. There must be Cixi's instructions behind Yi?'s action today. This opponent is not easy to deal with.
There is also Zeng Guoquan, not to mention a fuel-efficient lamp. According to unofficial historical records, this brother encouraged his brother to rebel more than once. In reality, after the Hunan Army pacified the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it had 500,000 elite troops and a large number of foreign guns and cannons. On the other hand, the Manchu and Qing Central Committee, the last bit of their elite foundation was wasted by Seng Gelinqin in Beijing. Judging from the overall strength alone, it is really no match for the Hunan Army. Update as soon as possible
According to legend, Zeng Guofan returned to the capital for the first time after pacifying the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The first thing Cixi said when she saw him was, "How many troops did you bring to Beijing today?" This sentence scared Zeng Guofan and broke into a cold sweat all night. It can be seen how great the suspicion between the two sides was at that time.
"Damn it, these two people are completely hostile factions. They actually came to see me at the same time while laughing. What are they doing? It smells so strong of conspiracy."
Yi? Today's so-called buying a theater troupe to invite everyone to listen to the show and drink is completely an excuse. When the gongs and drums were beaten in the theater in the back garden, the prince did not appear. Instead, he was in a small and quaint study room, where the three of them were sitting. We actually had a table of wine together.
Xiao Letian looked at the exquisite dishes in front of him, but he couldn't name any of them. Each time, the eunuchs and maids only served four dishes, and the distinguished guests could only use three chopsticks. They were immediately removed and replaced with four more dishes. This is serious. Running water mat. The first update and the two maids behind him, one on the left and one on the right, were waiting closely, which made Xiao Letian's hair all over his body. Modern people are really not used to this kind of personal service. They have no place to put their hands. Even picking up food is done by the maid, as long as you open your mouth.
After three drinks and five dishes, Guiziliu and Jiu Shuai looked at each other and smiled. Zeng Guoquan spoke first, "Mr. Xiao really grew up in the West. I just looked at Mr.'s right hand and found that only the left side of the front end of the middle finger has calluses, which means that You grew up holding foreign pens, and we Qing scholars all hold pens with four fingers, so it’s impossible to have such calluses..."
Xiao Letian's heart skipped a beat, it was amazing, who said the ancients didn't know it? The ancients only had less natural science knowledge than the time-travelers, and they also had an unknown period of historical knowledge. But which of the big names who could leave their names in the history books did so for free?
"Mr. Xiao, Wang Hanlin of Baihualou was once rude to you. I'm here to help him. He's already old and can't understand new things. Why do you have to be like him? For my sake, just forget it. Come on..."
When Xiao Letian heard this, there was something in his words. Guiziliu was indeed a famous diplomat in the late Qing Dynasty. What he said was really comprehensive and full of bones. On the surface it is to persuade him to make peace, but the subtext is to tell Xiao Letian that we already know the details of Taibai Tower and we know very well what tricks you used. It is too easy to deal with you.
Xiao Letian met a real opponent this time. In the past, such as Fu Qing, Magistrate Liu, and Second Master Lian, these small characters were simply incomparable to the people whose names were recorded in history books. The power they now hold in their hands is beyond Xiao Letian's imagination. It is really easy to crush him to death.
Now I have to hide my clumsiness. "What did the prince say? How dare I hold grudges against the old Hanlin. But you also know that I grew up in the West, and people there respect women. Master Wang is scolding me, but he can scold my wife." No, I am a man who is upright and upright, but if I can’t protect my own woman, wouldn’t it be too cowardly!”
"Haha, forget it, it's not a big deal." Zeng Guoquan picked up his glass and began to smooth things over. "After all, Mr. Xiao grew up overseas. Foreigners have such an extroverted personality. If Xiao Xiao can be restrained and tolerant, I really don't dare. I believe you grew up overseas... Your Majesty, let’s get down to business!”
Prince Gong put down his wine glass, "Mr. Xiao, I want to ask you a question. If the Qing Dynasty wants to carry out reform and reform, what do you think should be the appropriate change?"
