In the back garden of the Ryukyu Prime Minister's Mansion, Xiao Letian and Wang Huaiyuan sat together, holding wine glasses and admiring the waning moon. The huge glass windows blocked the cold air in the middle of the night. They were drinking with a few plates of side dishes and a jar of flower carvings.
"Master Weng came to see me yesterday. He talked a lot in roundabout ways, but I understood what he meant. I hope the CIA will share information with him..."
"Oh, the old man also noticed that something was wrong... That's right. If he couldn't even see this, he would be wearing his hat of being a famous official."
Xiao Letian looked towards the direction of the Ryukyu Rites Hall. He knew that tonight the old man would have a showdown with the young emperor. The truth about the cruel and dirty court would be revealed in front of Zai Chun. Now it depends on whether his heart is strong enough. Stronger.
"Zaichun, do you know that emperors are the most at-risk group in the world. The abnormal mortality rate is frighteningly high. There have been unexplained monarchs who died in every dynasty."
"In the face of power, human life is of no importance at all. It may be a sudden illness, a red pill, or a group of beauties draining your blood... There are many ways to kill people, many of which are unavoidable."
"Power is something that can never be given by others. It is something that is snatched by oneself. Even if you inherit the throne from your father, you still have to snatch it... snatch it from civil servants and military generals, snatch it from foreign enemies, Zai Chun, are you mentally prepared?"
Wang Huaiyuan sighed, "I didn't do intelligence work before. I thought being the emperor was the greatest job in the world. Now I see it's really not a job for humans."
"Haha, if it wasn't done by humans, it would be done by beasts. Common people think that being an emperor is the most beautiful job in the world. You have good food and drink, there are countless beauties, and you use yellow silk to wipe your buttocks..."
"Yes, yes, I used to think that the emperor ate raw ginseng, and I could eat fried dough sticks every day. It was so delicious." Wan Huaiyuan picked up a piece of pig ear and threw it into his mouth. "Later, my secret line in the palace Report the information to me, and I know that the emperor can’t even have a satisfying meal..."
"Did you know that the food in the Forbidden City looks good, but in fact it is all warm-fired food. The food cooked in the imperial kitchen is afraid of getting cold, so it will constantly use a warm soup pot to heat it. In the end, there will be no delicious food... Moreover, the emperor had to eat the eunuch’s saliva, and every dish had to be tasted by the eunuch before it was served, which makes me sick just thinking about it.”
"Sir, you have always said that you will never be an emperor. Are you afraid of eating the eunuch's saliva?"
Xiao Letian retched, ate a piece of pineapple and lowered his throat. "If I become the emperor, I will abolish the eunuch system first. It is too inhumane..."
"It's great to be an emperor. He stands on the cusp of the storm and takes the blame on others. He offends his own edict when there is a natural disaster or a man-made disaster. How many people enjoy their blessings by hiding under the emperor's banner, and then all the responsibilities are passed on to the emperor."
"Just think of the emperors at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Could it be that the emperor was responsible for the demise of the Ming Dynasty? Those ministers were all innocent. This is obviously nonsense, but they were able to hide behind the emperor and take most of the responsibility. He was pushed away, and finally he was hanged on a coal mountain in Chongzhen, which took all the blame away..."
"Poor Zaichun, it is his destiny to be the emperor, a destiny that cannot be escaped..."
Xiao Letian suddenly fell silent. He recalled the unofficial death of Emperor Tongzhi in his previous life, and a feeling of horror suddenly flashed in his heart. After Tongzhi came to power, he had conflicts with Yi? and many Eight Banners nobles. Could it be that he was murdered.
It is very possible that those people could bribe the eunuchs, and then take advantage of Emperor Tongzhi's young man's lust for sex and deliberately lure him to leave the Forbidden City and sleep in flowers and willows.
It is not difficult at all to secretly find a few sick women. In the 19th century, there was no AIDS, and the mortality rate of common leucorrhea was not high. It was nothing more than torture.
The death of Emperor Tongzhi was strange, absolutely strange.
"Now I kind of understand Weng Tonghe's plan..." Xiao Letian took a sip of Huadiao wine. "I feel that Weng Tonghe and other masters are monitoring all of Zaichun's education subjects. To put it simply, there are Then a group of people or a force, I hope they will educate a pedantic emperor."
"That's right, those people don't want Weng Tonghe to teach a wise king, or a strong monarch, because that would conflict with their interests, so Weng Tonghe has been pretending to be confused. He is not a corrupt scholar in the true sense. , he is completely different from Wang Shizheng and others..."
"Those people are really stupid, and Weng Tonghe has been pretending to be stupid and protecting Zai Chun." Xiao Letian stood up and walked back and forth in the room. "Has the situation become so serious? The struggle for power within the Qing Dynasty has been cruel. It’s come to this.”
Wang Huaiyuan nodded, "I'm afraid, yes, the Manchus have had the habit of fighting among themselves since ancient times. When Kangxi was old, several sons were still fighting over each other. Yongzheng did not hesitate to execute one of his sons in order to protect Qianlong, and Qianlong passed the throne. I even gave in to Jiaqing..."
"After the Xinyou Palace Incident, the centralized power of the Manchus had actually been broken. Local governors and Manchu dignitaries had divided up all the rights of the entire empire. From the moment Emperor Tongzhi ascended the throne, those people never thought of Return the power to His Majesty."
"It wasn't until the Prime Minister took the young emperor away to study abroad, and His Majesty also began to form his own personal army of the Emperor, that it touched the bottom line of those people. Some of them have gone crazy. They were driven crazy by you, Prime Minister..."
Wang Huaiyuan sneered and said, "So they want to train their troops and secretly print bonds. They just want to have an army and a fortune in their hands, and finally use it to fight against us. Just wait and see, there will definitely be chaos in the bond printing within ten years. As long as those people feel that their wings are stiff, they will definitely cause trouble."
Xiao Letian scratched his head. "Within ten years, that's enough. Time is enough. Ten years is enough for us to initially industrialize and form a modern navy. As for the domestic struggle for power, I have other plans."
Wang Huaiyuan had a deep understanding of Xiao Letian's strategy, so he did not continue to ask further, "What about Emperor Tongzhi? What are the Prime Minister's plans?"
Xiao Letian sighed, "I don't want to force him. It's up to him to choose the path of his future life... If he chooses stability, then send him to Beijing and let him be a puppet emperor with our side help." Well, I think life safety is not a problem."
"If he wants to try his luck and become a real emperor...then I will take him to Europe and North America to see the world. The choice is always in his hands."
Unconsciously, Xiao Letian and Zai Chun were no longer a simple alliance of politicians. After more than a year of contact, the two gradually developed a complex emotion similar to that of a father and son.
The fatherly love that Zai Chun lacked was found in Xiao Letian, and Xiao Letian was happy to watch Zai Chun grow up little by little. Maybe this was good luck.
Note: I don’t know when it started. The book club group has turned into a red envelope group. You guys are so cruel.
