In the Forbidden City, in the square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the young emperor Tongzhi was riding on the back of an adult eunuch, excitedly playing a game of horse racing. Opposite him, the young eunuch Ermao was his opponent, also riding an eunuch. An adult eunuch wielded a wooden sword and killed the emperor happily.
Tongzhi is nine years old this year, a naughty age, and his favorite thing is riding horses and fighting. However, since Tongzhi was thin and weak since he was a child, he was not ready to learn martial arts at all, so the two mothers absolutely prohibited him from practicing martial arts on horseback. With no other choice, the little emperor could only enjoy playing this horse-riding and fighting game.
Surrounded by two groups of people, the little emperor and Er Mao were fighting inextricably. Suddenly, Emperor Tongzhi's ears moved as if he heard something.
"Er Mao... Listen, why is there so much chaos in the south? There seems to be some noise coming..."
Er Mao tilted his head and heard that something was indeed different. There were actually bursts of shouting in the night wind. Emperor Tongzhi quickly turned his horse's head and urged the eunuch on his crotch to rush towards the south.
"Fight...fight...run quickly!" The little emperor and his party rushed out of the Gate of Supreme Harmony and headed straight for the Meridian Gate. To the south of the Meridian Gate is Duanmen, from which you can overlook the southern part of the capital. The whole picture.
"Your Majesty, you can't. You don't dare to leave the city in the middle of the night. The Queen Mother will skin us..." Zhou Daoying and other eunuchs chased after each other like crazy, but Emperor Tongzhi ignored this problem at all, and the Imperial Guards guarding the city He didn't dare to stop him, and actually watched the emperor rush out of the Meridian Gate and run straight away.
When they got here, even if Tongzhi was the emperor, the imperial guards did not dare to open the door. They knelt on the ground and let the little emperor kick and beat them. They did not dare to open the door even if they were chopped on the head with a small wooden knife.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Please calm down, Your Majesty. This palace door has been locked. According to the rules, it cannot be opened. We want to behead..."
"Damn slave, you dare to stop me. I'll ransack your house and kill your whole family..." Tongzhi was so angry that he stepped up and pushed his black shoe soles into the face of the imperial guard.
"Haha, I thank your majesty for the kick, but I still can't open the door. I beg your majesty to have mercy and spare our lives!"
Er Mao, who was standing next to him, saw that the emperor was really angry, and quickly tried to persuade him, "You fools, you can't open the city gate, why can't you let the emperor go up to the city to see the scenery? A bunch of dead people, they don't know how to serve..."
After saying that, he smiled and said to Emperor Tongzhi, "Your Majesty, if you force your way in, these slaves will not dare to stop you, but the two queen mothers will not have a good time. What do you think? Let's see if there is any excitement first. It really can't be done. Let’s go out of the city for a private visit tomorrow…”
This is how one thing defeats another. Emperor Tongzhi listened to Ermao's advice, thought about it, turned around and ran up the stairs to the city wall without saying anything else.
When he reached the city gate tower, Emperor Tongzhi heard it more clearly. There was really a lot of noise coming from the south. At that time, the square was much smaller, and it was a semi-enclosed area. There was also a Qingmen Gate in the south, which blocked the young emperor's view.
Listening to the intensifying noise in Nancheng, the little emperor walked back and forth angrily, "What a piece of shit, door after door, sooner or later they will all be demolished by you..." Just as he was cursing, a sudden sound appeared in the darkness. A small team of people hurriedly came from outside. From a distance, they turned out to be the servants of Shuntian Mansion.
"Hey... what are you doing? What happened in Nancheng?" Tongzhi yelled, pulling his neck, but no one running on the long street dared to answer.
Er Mao was smarter and quickly said secretly, "Your Majesty, it seems that the messenger from Shuntian Mansion came to the palace urgently. They came to deliver a message. According to the rules, they cannot be disclosed to outsiders..."
"That's it!" Emperor Tongzhi rolled his eyes and started shouting again, "You slaves, stop here. I am the emperor. If you have anything to say, just say it here..."
This voice almost frightened these officers to death. While they were hesitating, the imperial guards on the city gate tower roared, "How brave are you? His Majesty is here, how dare you not kneel down? Do you want to die..."
Now the several officials who reported the news did not dare to neglect and knelt outside the Jinshui Bridge. They held up their waist badges and responded loudly, "Long live your Majesty! We are the servants of Shuntian Mansion. We have urgent information coming into the palace... Hundreds of officials in Nancheng have gathered to make noise. , they set Xiao Letian’s house on fire in Daliushu Hutong… They want to kill Xiao Letian!”
When the cause of the incident was truthfully reported to Emperor Tongzhi, the little emperor was not afraid or angry. He actually became unusually excited.
"Is there a fight? Are all the people in the Qing Dynasty taking action? Hahaha, it's so beautiful. Open the city gate quickly, I want to see it... If you don't open it, I'll jump out of here..."
This sentence frightened everyone in the city and outside the city to kneel down. Everyone begged the emperor to stop messing around. Two young eunuchs hugged the emperor's legs and cried at the neck. Tongzhi angrily hit them with his fists, "Go away, go away, let me go out and have a look. You don't let me see this unprecedented excitement. I'll raid your home..."
The two sides were at odds with each other. The little emperor wanted to leave the palace, but the eunuchs and the imperial guards refused to let him go. After struggling for half an hour, they were still in a stalemate. At this time, a river of bright lanterns rushed over from the palace in the north. Inside the two warm sedan chairs were the empress dowagers of the two palaces.
Countless maids and eunuchs surrounded the Queen Mother, and the light of the palace lanterns was as bright as day. When the two Queen Mothers walked onto the tower, the little emperor hit them with his fists.
"Your Majesty, what are you doing? You were having a good time in the Palace of Supreme Harmony, why did you come here? Outside is where the common people live. There are a lot of troubles in this place. What if something unexpected happens..." Cixi If you are anxious, move forward.
But I don’t know what’s wrong with the little emperor today, and he doesn’t even give his mother the respect he deserves. “Is it the king’s ministers in the world? Is it the king’s land on the shore of the land? This is my world. If I go out for a walk, will someone kill me?” No? What's the use of trapping me in this cage?"
"Let go, you guys let go...Kings who don't follow the folk fireworks are useless kings, and emperors who don't dare to be close to the people are useless..."
This sentence was so outrageous that the two queen mothers broke into cold sweats. "Your Majesty, who told you this? Who taught you this fallacy?"
"Who else do you need to teach? All the kings in Europe are trapped in the palace. They can go out among the people, see the people in the world, and see the great rivers and mountains. Why can't I? I want to leave the palace, I want to To Jiangnan, I want to go to Sichuan, I want to go to Guangdong... I also want to sail out to sea to see where my vassal states are..."
Cixi shed tears at that time. Just when she was about to speak out to refute her son, a large crowd suddenly came from the direction of Daqing Gate in the south. Countless lanterns and torches formed a bright river of fire, and they walked quickly forward.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Please listen to the voices of the students all over the world, and please give justice to all the students in the world..." The crowd knelt down outside the Jinshui Bridge with a roar, kowtowing like garlic.
The leader was none other than Wang Mian. Dressed in sackcloth and wearing filial piety, he stood out unusually in the crowd. He cried loudly and shouted, "Your Majesty, Queen Mother, I am Wang Shizheng's eldest son Wang Mian...my biological father was killed by Xiao Letian." I’m so angry that I beg the court to make the decision!”
This was good, Emperor Tongzhi stopped making trouble, and the two queen mothers were dumbfounded. No one expected that Wang Shizheng was dead, and they insisted that Xiao Letian was the one who was so angry.
"Your Majesty, Queen Mother... all the candidates who came to Beijing to take the exam have gathered here. Please give us a clear explanation from the imperial court. Do you want to suppress Western learning and support Western learning? Please give us an explanation from the imperial court so that we can stop it." Because of the scientific examination... we can die here today to show our loyalty!"
Now things are getting serious. Less than half of the candidates who came to Beijing to take the exam have arrived. There are more than a thousand candidates in the world. Let alone a thousand people, even a hundred people will not be able to die.
"You are all the future pillars of the country, why do you say this? When did the imperial court suppress the famous scholars? Why should we change the rules of our ancestors? You must not think wildly, and must not believe the rumors..." Cixi's words As soon as he landed, the people below started asking questions.
"The Queen Mother is wise... Since the Queen Mother is unwilling to abolish our Xianxue, then please kill Xiao Letian, the traitor, and ban Western books throughout the country. The people of our Qing Dynasty cannot be disturbed..."
Listening to the roar of the tsunami coming down the mountain from the city tower, the people on the city wall were feeling dizzy. Is this forced into the palace? Is this forced to have a baby? What happened to the Qing Dynasty? Even the literati jumped up and made trouble. Who can we suppress?
"A man who is determined to die will try to mend the cracks in the sky with just one hand... We, the scholars, should show our strength and save the Qing Dynasty..."
There was a lot of wailing outside the Jinshui River, and all the scholars knelt down facing the tower, shouting, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty... I can't believe the devil's deception. The sky of the Qing Dynasty cannot be changed! Save the sky of the Qing Dynasty... …”
When the sound of forcing the palace resounded through the sky, Prince Gong Yi? finally arrived with more than a thousand soldiers sent by the nine admirals. The most powerful prince in the Qing Dynasty, his nose became crooked when he saw this scene.
"It's nonsense, it's nonsense! There are rules for writing letters. How can you force the emperor to go to the palace? Does the emperor still need to listen to you on how to govern the country? He has forgotten his duty... and he went back to study to prepare for the scientific examination. Watch out for me. Lose your reputation!"
Yi? As soon as these words were spoken, even if cold water dripped into the hot oil pan, the crowd was in an uproar.
"That's him. Guizi Six is also an accomplice... He started the Industrial Zone. He and the Second Guizi wear the same pants... Don't be afraid of him, catch him and ask him clearly..."
Yi? He really underestimated the courage of this group of crazy scholars. At this time, they had no reason to speak. Their blood had already rushed to the Tianling Cap. Many people’s foreheads were bleeding from the kowtow just now, and they were as red as imps.
This group of crazy scholars swarmed up and dispersed all the soldiers of the nine admirals. Countless hands dragged Yi? on horseback to the ground and dragged him into the crowd.
"Give us an explanation, why do you want to build an industrial zone? Why do you collude with the Japanese devil Xiao Letian? Do you want to eliminate our Xianxue? Do you even want to abandon your ancestral family law? I'll beat you..."
This group of scholars were really crazy. They punched Yi? on the forehead with one punch. Even though they were penmen, they couldn't stand up to the crowd. After three or five punches, Yi?'s eyes turned into panda eyes.
"Rebellion, really rebellion, you are simply unreasonable... Come here, drive them away..." Yi? He felt so aggrieved that he almost cried.
