After all, the ancestor was an old slave who had served in the Forbidden City for three dynasties, and his special status had made great contributions to the royal family. When the ancestor's private message reached the palace, Cixi was sitting on her son's bedside weeping secretly.
For the first time, she discovered that her child was so stubborn. He knelt for an entire hour and a half last night and didn't get up. He looked like a scumbag who would not be able to afford it if he didn't agree.
How could Cixi agree to his rude request and actually go on a study tour with Xiao Letian? How is this possible? He is an enemy of the royal family. Besides, the outside world is so scary. There are traffickers and enemies of the Qing Dynasty. The emperor What should I do if my child has an accident? This child is too worrying.
Emperor Tongzhi was stubborn, but Cixi was even more stubborn than him. Mother and son became more energetic, and the little emperor knelt for more than an hour. Cixi would not let go, and Li Lianying and others next to him did not dare to persuade him, until finally Emperor Tongzhi was so sleepy that he couldn't stand it anymore. , I ended up sleeping on the floor.
There is no mother in the world who does not feel sorry for her children, and Cixi is no exception. After Tongzhi fell asleep, she sat by the bed and cried until dawn.
Li Lianying behind him brought a bowl of Tremella Fungus and Lotus Seed Soup, "Your Majesty, please rest for a while. It would be nice if you let me keep you company here." Seeing Cixi shaking her head, he sighed and said, "The news just came from outside the palace that our ancestor died. Well, it was Sister Wu who did it, and this cheap maid has disappeared..."
"Damn slave, you dared to escape after getting into trouble. I ordered the Ministry of Punishment to conduct a strict investigation. The Ai family is still using her head to trade. If you dare to die, I really think this is a small country like Japan." Cixi said fiercely. .
Li Lianying hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Queen Mother, that ancestor died for the imperial court, does the imperial court need some reward..."
"Shut up." Cixi was already in a bad mood, but how could she stand up to Li Lianying being so talkative? It seemed that only Andehai in the entire Forbidden City could serve him, and the rest were all idiots.
"If a slave dies, he dies. Let the Ministry of Internal Affairs reward him with some money for burial and a cemetery. You still want to bother me with this kind of thing."
When Li Lianying heard this, she shrank her neck and stepped back quickly. At this time, Cixi spoke again, "Wait a minute, Ande Hai is fine now."
"Fortunately, I have asked someone to take care of Eunuch An in the jail of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Eunuch An just kept crying and said that he was sorry to the Queen Mother and that he had not done a good job..."
"Hey... I don't blame him. Xiao Letian has already used Tianhuo. He is a eunuch with insufficient yang energy, so he is no match for Tianhuo. Xiao Anzi, tell us how we can rescue him."
Li Lianying was slandering her heart again. How good is this Ande Hai? She is still thinking about him. The Kirigakure kid has escaped. Now the only scapegoat is Ande Hai. He doesn't need his head to calm down Xiao Letian's anger. What are you waiting for?
But he didn't dare to express his curse in his heart, nor did he dare to show it on his face. He could only smile and said, "Isn't this just a matter of the Queen Mother's words? Although Xiao Letian was very powerful at the time, his behavior was unacceptable. Those who dare to rebel, if they dare not rebel, then it is for profit. We, the Qing Dynasty, are in control of the world. Just a little bit between our fingers is enough for Xiao Letian..."
"Well, that makes sense. You go down and arrange some light meals for the emperor. The emperor has been feeling angry these past two days..."
At this time, the little emperor Tongzhi on the bed suddenly twitched his eyelids and said softly, "Eniang is wrong, this Andehai must die. According to Er Mao, Andehai once sent troops to bring trouble to the countryside, raped and robbed several Zhuangzi. , If such evil slaves don’t take care of them, what will happen to the people’s hearts?”
Tongzhi sat up from the bed, "Mother, if Xiao Letian doesn't kill a group of people ruthlessly, the anger in his heart can be dissipated. You said that I have anger in my heart, but do you know how much anger is in Xiao Letian's heart?"
"Nie Zhan, what do you want the Ai family to do? You have to give Xiao Letian to kill such a caring servant. How filial of you."
"Killing an evil slave in exchange for the reputation of the people, Eniang can't understand this, right? What the court has to do now is to win the hearts of the people..."
"That's enough. You are a child who has no pro-government. You know what government is. Do you want to piss the Ai family to death..."
The enemy mother and son began to quarrel again in the Forbidden City. Cixi did not know that a big net had already rushed towards her, and what this net wanted to catch was her most beloved son, Emperor Tongzhi.
The eight kings' political discussion proposed by Xiao Letian was not a complete copy of the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty. It was actually the prototype of the aristocratic parliament. This was a bold attempt to decentralize power. The previous Xianfeng's appointment of eight ministers was actually a kind of decentralization. try.
Although Xianfeng was an incompetent emperor, he was still very sensitive to politics. He knew that when the emperor was weak, power was not conducive to protecting the young emperor, because young children holding centralized power could easily be stolen by people with ulterior motives.
If the power is dispersed, there will be mutual constraints between the eight ministers of Gu Ming, and the two sides may even conflict due to the struggle for power.
Tongzhi was only 5 years old when he ascended the throne. The power given to him was a hot potato and could easily be stolen by someone or a small group. This was also the case. After the Xinyou coup, the power-grabbing group headed by Ci'an Cixi successfully eliminated Gu ordered eight ministers to concentrate the power of the empire in a small circle.
In real history, Cixi eventually eliminated all the decentralizers in this small circle, and she became the actual ruler who controlled the entire late Qing Dynasty.
Centralization and decentralization run through the entire history of Chinese civilization. No dynasty has ever been purely centralized, but the relative degrees vary. Even when the Manchus and Qing Dynasties reached the peak of centralization, they still had to give a lot of power to the Mongols. Princes, Tibetan living Buddhas and Uyghur leaders.
What they can really achieve centralization is to rule the Han people. That is a centralization suppressed with blood and killing, and there are countless cynics among them advocating it.
Today Xiao Letian came with a strong army. The Qing Dynasty's butcher knife could no longer do anything to him, and the set of ethics advocated by cynical literati like Weng Tonghe had no market in front of Xiao Letian.
This is definitely a good time to set up a noble council.
If you use force with Xiao Letian, you can't beat him. If you start a verbal war with Xiao Letian, you can't play with their industrialized propaganda machine.
The centralized rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty has now reached its most dangerous moment. The cornerstone of centralized politics that it has been working hard to build since the Kangxi period has finally been loosened today.
The news that Er Mao released instantly shocked the entire high-ranking Manchu aristocracy. None of them believed their ears, and they couldn't understand why Xiao Letian would do such a thing. Would it be good for him?
But one thing is certain, decentralization is a poison to all the forces in the court, and its temptation is even greater than that of Da Yantu.
No one will think about the benefits of this matter to the court. The first thing they think about is what benefits their family can get. In Xinyou's coup, Yi?, Yixuan and the two empress dowagers reaped the benefits. But others have to live, and you can't get promoted and make a fortune. Let's just watch from the sidelines.
What's more, after Xinyou's coup, cracks gradually appeared in this small circle, and power is always distributed unevenly.
Prince Gong Yi? and Prince Chun Yixuan stayed up all night. The study room was filled with the bitter smell of dry tobacco, and their eyeballs were covered with red bloodshot eyes.
"Brother, brother, let me just say what I have to say. The Qing Dynasty has really been leaking from all directions and all directions... It is really impossible not to change. Xiao Letian only has a new army of 2,000 people. We can break through the Four Nine Cities and force the imperial court to this point."
"I've seen it through. In fact, what Xiao Letian said is right. There has been a telegraph line to communicate intelligence. Why did we cause such a thing? Even if the garrison in the capital has more firepower, it will not be able to defeat Xiao Letian. .”
Prince Chun Yixuan had seen the fighting power of the New Army with his own eyes. The battle outside Guangqumen completely shattered all the persistence in his heart. People often never look back until they hit the wall. What they saw with their own eyes was always more shocking than what they heard. People's hearts.
Prince Gong had nothing to say at this time and had no sleep all night. When he heard Er Mao reveal that Xiao Letian's navy had already begun preparations, his heart sank to the bottom.
After all, he is the Prime Minister and Minister Wang, and he still knows some details about the foreigners. If Xiao Letian really has a navy, then all the prosperous places along the coast will be under the threat of his artillery.
In particular, the Qing Dynasty relied heavily on river transportation. There was no problem at all for some small warships sailing on the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal. Prince Gong shuddered when he thought about the scene of Xiao Letian's warships sailing on the Grand Canal and the Yangtze River waterway.
"But...but Xiao Letian wants to take His Majesty on a study tour. This is unprecedented in thousands of years. How can we start this?"
"But what can we do if we don't open it? How can we withstand this turmoil? How can we pacify Ci'an, how can we pacify the Han governor, including the turmoil caused by the Eight Kings' Discussion."
"Xiao Letian is pushing us to death. They have mobilized all the forces. The Qing Dynasty's court has been torn apart... people's hearts."
Prince Gong finally made up his mind, "Let's contact the princes secretly first to see what the nobles of the Eight Banners mean. This burden is not something we can shoulder."
In fact, there was no need for Prince Gong to speak. At this time, Sijiu City had already fallen into the whirlpool of rumors and could not extricate itself. After the night of gunfire subsided and the red sun shone on the capital, the frightened city of Beijing came to life again.
Each household cautiously opened the door, only to find that the entire alley was extremely quiet. When they walked onto the street with vigilance, they discovered that all the intersections in the capital were covered with notices for peace of mind, and there were five or six people at all intersections. The new army is maintaining law and order.
Not a drop of blood could be seen in Sijiu City. This was simply a miracle.
