Just when Ci'an completely fell to the reformists, in the East Nuan Pavilion of the Yangxin Palace in the Forbidden City, Cixi and two conservative officials, Prince Gong Yixuan and Prince Chun Yixuan, were sitting together and sulking.
"Okay, okay, they are all good. It has been half a month and not even a single Jingshan has been captured. What use do I need from you? Prince Chun, you are the door god of the Four Nine Cities and the Admiral of the Nine Gates. Who are you?" How did you lead the troops?"
"And you, the dignified Prince Gong, the dignified Prime Minister Wang, how did you inspire morale, and how did you negotiate with the foreigners? Except for the French who secretly supported us, there was no one else who supported us. , Americans also jumped out to be seriously concerned."
"You are all useless..." Cixi's roaring voice echoed in Dongnuan Pavilion.
The two men in front of her were both descendants of the Aisin Gioro family. They were supposed to have very noble status, but one was her brother-in-law and the other was having an affair with her. She yelled a few words and these two men were really incompetent.
Cixi shouted for a long time and her mouth was a little dry. Prince Chun who was next to her quickly got up and picked up a pot of ginseng soup from the Tang Pozi and filled a cup for the Queen Mother.
"The weather is getting cooler on autumn nights. Let's warm up with a bowl of ginseng soup..."
Cixi was so angry at Prince Chun, "Haha, do I still need warmth? I'm full of anger now, and you still let me drink ginseng soup... Andhei, bring a bowl of ice to Aijia, I want to cool down the anger." gas."
"Oh, it's necessary. You still use ice in autumn. Be careful if you hold back the cold air in your body. You will suffer in winter. The Queen Mother must take good care of her body..."
"I..." Cixi looked at Prince Chun Yixuan's honest and honest face, and was so angry that she wanted to pinch her. She was suffocated and speechless.
Prince Gong, who was standing by, chuckled, "Forget it, Queen Mother, please spare my seventh brother. The city in his heart cannot be destroyed by just a few words..."
"I think this palace upheaval is pretty much over now. Let's have peace talks. I've read through history books and I've never heard of a palace upheaval lasting for half a month. If the fight continues, you won't be afraid of the Han officials becoming suspicious. .”
"I know that you have contacted Li Hongzhang, but Shui Da can't hide it from Bodhisattva. As long as Zeng Guofan is around, Li Hongzhang can't jump very high..."
Prince Gong Yixi tasted the fragrant tea in his hand and looked cynical: "Now that the peace talks, you will not suffer any loss. The late Emperor's secret decree has also been burned. Your last concern is gone. Talk to the Queen Mother of the East, sisters." If you divide the rights, why bother making trouble like this?"
"Bah... Damn, what kind of slave is serving this? Why is the tea stem still in there? Ande Hai... drag out the tea maker and whip him ten times. How can he serve this..."
Prince Gong Yi? was far more flamboyant than Prince Chun, and his personality was more outgoing. Once this behavior was revealed, Cixi's nose felt so hung up and crooked.
"Peace talks, let's talk about it... we've already broken our faces, what else is there to talk about? Now we have to attack with force, we have to attack with force, we have to watch her die..."
Cixi's face turned ferocious, and the temperature in the hall suddenly dropped sharply. However, Cixi could not scare him today. He only saw Yi? He chuckled and said, "Okay, my good Queen Mother, you have to eat the food in one mouthful. We have to go step by step, why should those who are in court care about their face?"
"There are only so many rights in the imperial court. You take this opportunity to grab more, and then arrest a dozen eunuchs and guards at will, and lie to report military intelligence. If you alienate the Queen Mother's friendship, you will naturally tear her face to pieces. Now, what are you afraid of?"
Having said this, Yi? suddenly put away his careless attitude, sat upright and said, "Your Majesty, the Ninth Commander Zeng Guoquan sent me a secret letter last night. The words in it are extremely strong..."
"Brothers from the Zeng family have given you an ultimatum. The meaning is very obvious. We Han ministers can stay out of the housework among you Manchus, but the housework cannot disrupt the state... To put it bluntly, we cannot let foreign enemies take advantage of Confucius. , we, the Qing Dynasty, have not yet truly co-administered the ZTE."
"One month, the Zeng brothers have made it clear that one month is the limit for us Manchus to solve the problem behind closed doors... After one month, I'm afraid the Hunan Army will come to intervene."
The words in Yi?'s mouth were so cold that Cixi's palms became cold as she listened, "Okay, okay... This is a good minister of the Qing Dynasty. He is so loyal."
Yi? He took another sip of fragrant tea. "Don't be sarcastic. You handled this matter improperly. Xinjiang Aguba is about to become the king. We can't defeat it even with one soldier. The Central Plains Nian Army has arrived." The Hunan Army has not been completely pacified yet, but the Hunan Army is still behind and another Huai Army appears..."
"There are also the return tribes from Gansu and Shaanxi who are ready to fight against the government. God knows when they will raise the flag of rebellion. There are also foreigners and Xiao Letian... The Qing Dynasty is in trouble everywhere. You are still doing this. What do you think? Is it appropriate?"
With a bang, Cixi slapped the table, "What can I do? What can we orphans and widowed mothers do? Wuwuwu... The late emperor, why are you so partial? If there was no such secret decree, why would I be like this?" .”
This cry was not fake, Yi? and Yixuan could hear it. It was the cry made by Cixi when she was extremely frightened. Since ancient times, once entering the palace, the gate is as deep as the sea, and the pressure endured by women in the deep palace is unimaginable to ordinary people. Not to mention that they are all perverts, as the environment has already shown.
After crying for a while, Prince Chun Yixuan handed over a handkerchief, "Okay, I know the Queen Mother is crying in her heart... But the current situation is like this, we have to look forward."
"My brother is incompetent and cannot control the Eight Banners athletes who are besieging Jingshan, but Queen Mother, you should also think about it. If the attackers really go to death in this battle of Jingshan, will the Eight Banners still be the Eight Banners?"
"How many Manchus are there in this world, and how many Han people are there? If we Manchus, relatives and relatives, kill each other to the death, how long can this country survive?"
Yixuan's words were like a flash of lightning in the dark night, illuminating everyone's hearts. Cixi was also stunned when she heard it, but she didn't expect that Yixuan could actually say such a truth.
What exactly is the Eight Banners? To put it bluntly, it is a large family of relatives who come together to rule the Han people. If these Eight Banners brothers really start killing their own people, it can only mean that the system of the Eight Banners is coming to an end.
Cixi stopped crying, and Prince Gong began to persuade again, "Stop making trouble, we brothers will take the lead and ensure that you can get the most rights after the negotiation. Isn't that enough? Life is still long. You will have the opportunity to display your talents in the future... …”
Just when Cixi was feeling shaken, a gust of wind suddenly came from outside Dongnuan Pavilion, which was also mixed with the screams of the palace maid being whipped and the sound of window lattice being slapped. It looked like things were about to change.
"Lafayette... Lafayette." A miserable cry sounded outside the hall. After a while, a meat ball rolled in from outside the hall door. When people looked closely, it turned out to be Li Lianying.
"Lord Buddha..." Li Lianying knelt on the ground, holding a long silk ribbon in both hands. At first glance, it was the kind of thin white silk used only for homing pigeons.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" After saying that, his forehead hit the ground.
"Ah." The three nobles jumped up immediately. "What are you talking about? Xiao Letian is still alive."
This is really the biggest piece of bad news. Cixi dared to send troops to attack Tanggu, and her biggest reliance was on the news of Xiao Letian's death. Without the information given to her by the Kirigakure kid, Cixi would never have attacked Xiao Letian so early.
Recalling Xiao Letian's set of tactics to deal with the imperial court, the imperial court had no countermeasures, whether soft or hard. The new army was so powerful that it could defeat a hundred people, and the overwhelming large-character posters and leaflets could make all the scandals of the imperial court public.
The most frightening thing is that Xiao Letian has an irreconcilable relationship with foreigners, and the Manchu and Qing court's fear of foreigners is beyond words. The habit of fearing foreigners in the late Qing Dynasty has become a terminal disease after the Second Opium War.
"Bring me the Kirigakure kid, bring me that bitch... bring me harm to the country, this evildoer to the country." Cixi jumped up and cursed.
"Damn Xiao Letian, why didn't the sky thunder and take you away?"
After all, Prince Gong came from a background engaged in Westernization. His understanding of Xiao Letian was far better than that of other senior Manchu and Qing officials. He slammed the table and said, "We can no longer hesitate. We must reach a settlement with Ci'an before Xiao Letian takes action." ...The storm is coming, and we Manchus must unite."
At this time, Prince Chun Yixuan was also anxious, "But...but Li Hongzhang's troops are already approaching Sijiu City. Are we going to let him go all the way in vain? Isn't this enmity? He came here with his head in hand and cut off the Huai River." How can we control the army's dream of wealth and honor in the future?"
The entire Dong Nuan Pavilion was in chaos, and emotions of regret and self-blame filled everyone's hearts. At that time, everyone only thought of the wealth in Lotte Matheson, and forgot that these wealth were protected by a group of ligers.
"Where is that witch who brought disaster to the country? This Japanese girl can't believe it. Now she can throw us all into the pit... Those Han governors more or less expected that the imperial court would not publicize the civil strife in the capital. But will Xiao Letian consider our face?"
"If he makes such a fuss about this matter that even the traffickers and lackeys know about it, and everyone in Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan knows about it, what dignity will our court have? How can we manage such a huge empire."
"A disaster, that woman is a disaster..."
Just when Prince Gong was scolding, Andehai rushed in holding another silk roll. The domineering eunuch's face was now full of tears: "Queen Mother, two princes, something serious has happened. Xiao Xiao said this morning Lotte's warships are heading straight for Tianjin Wei along the Haihe River...The rebels have already opened fire on Tianjin Wei's walls."
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..."The city wall of Tianjin Weidong has been blasted with a five-foot-long gap by artillery. All the defenders of Tianjin Wei have fled and fled for their lives..."
"Ah, I am going to die too..." Cixi shouted, her eyes blackened, and she fell down on the soft couch.
