No matter how much Cixi resisted in her heart, she could not refute Yi?'s words, because that was the reality of the political situation in the late Qing Dynasty. People's greed is unimaginable. Maybe the mythical imperial power can scare some people and low-level officials, but for the high-ranking nobles within the Eight Banners and the officials of the Han Dynasty, the imperial power is not that big at all. threats.
In the final analysis, the current emperor of the Qing Dynasty has no soldiers. Without military power, there is naturally no threat. In such a political situation, decentralization of power has become inevitable.
But once this power is dispersed, it will be difficult to take it back. How can the high-ranking officials and dignitaries who are seeking rent with their power watch helplessly as their power is taken away in vain? When black eyes see white flowers, crazy thoughts will grow like weeds.
They will definitely fight, especially when the opponent is just a fifteen or sixteen-year-old child, which increases the courage of those people. If they are really pushed to the juncture, what can they do even if they kill the king? In the thousands of years of Chinese history, have there been many monarchs who were killed?
Cixi could understand this truth, and so could Yi? and Yixuan, so no one could refute Prince Gong's proposal. And Cixi knew very well that Yi?'s decision was definitely a kind of protection for Zaichun.
"Yes, not everyone can become the second Emperor Kangxi. It is really dangerous for Zai Chun to want to take charge of the government at the age of sixteen! Let Zai Chun keep a low profile for five or six years and slowly support a group of people in the court. After criticizing loyal ministers, it is also good to carry out reforms..."
"But I'm afraid of Zai Chun's stubborn temper! Do you still remember the look in his eyes when he was determined to leave with Xiao Letian? How stubborn he was, that glare made my heart hurt... You guys said this Will the child listen to the advice? If the wings are hard, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to control him..."
"It must be managed even if it is difficult! While protecting the emperor, we must also protect the Eight Banners as a group, and we must also protect the livelihood of the entire Manchu people... If it doesn't work, I will have no choice but to remonstrate with you!"
The murderous words made Cixi and Yizhen shudder. Suddenly, a picture flashed in the mind of the Queen Mother of the West Palace. It was actually a picture that he had never seen before, because she had not entered the palace at that time.
In the first month of the thirtieth year of Daoguang's reign, when Emperor Daoguang was seriously ill and on his deathbed, he ordered his ministers to open the secret box of the posthumous edict and officially announce the candidates for his succession.
What is unexpected is that this posthumous edict not only wrote the sentence "make the emperor's fourth son the crown prince", but also said "make the emperor's sixth son Yi? the prince Gong". This is a special case that has never been seen in a posthumous edict.
Yi? After all, it was his biological father who gave him the reward, and it was written in the edict at the same time. This has already shown his attitude to the whole world. Among my children, the fourth son is the eldest son who will inherit the throne, and the sixth son is the second most famous son. , the second most noble man in the world.
In fact, this is not only a kind of protection for Yi?, but also helps Yi? win the political status of the future court, that is, the emperor is first and he is second.
This is a very precious political heritage. Look at Prince Yixuan of Lao Qichun, Prince Wu of Lao, Yira of Laoba, and Prince of Jiu. The thrones of these brothers were all awarded to them by their brother Xianfeng. This status You can immediately see the difference between high and low.
To put it bluntly, in the Qing Dynasty, as long as he does not rebel, no one can touch him.
Thinking of this, Ci Xi quickly shook her head and rubbed her temples. She kept giving herself psychological hints: "Don't think wildly, don't think wildly. You can't live without Yi? Without him, you can't do anything..."
He hinted three times in his heart, and then there was a little color on his face. "Since his sixth uncle said so, we orphans and widowed mothers will have someone to rely on, so we will do as uncle said. After taking charge, we will also have to A handful of Fuyi, you can’t let him act like a fool when he comes up, and you can’t let him go until you have him for five or six years..."
Finally, a big stone fell to the ground in Yi?'s heart. He knelt on the ground to thank him. "Sister-in-law, I swear that I will live up to your majesty and the Qing Dynasty. If you violate the oath, you will be punished by heaven and earth!"
Cixi rushed up and covered his mouth, "What are you doing? What kind of oath are you making? Who among our Aixinjueluo family can't trust anyone? The meat will always rot in the pot..."
Yizhen on the side didn't care at all about the physical contact between the sixth brother and the fourth sister-in-law. His eyes were a little scattered now and he muttered, "If you're not afraid of good things, you're afraid of not being good people! The biggest variable is Xiao Letian. If he continues What about deceiving Your Majesty? What if his new army personally escorts Your Majesty back to the capital to seize power?"
"You have to be on guard, you have to be on guard..."
Yi? sneered and said, "If you really want to go to that point, then let's start a war! Xiao Letian wants to trick Your Majesty into completely dismantling our Eight Banners, so just go with them as the Queen Mother said..."
"The land does not distinguish between north and south, and people do not distinguish between old and young. Even if we cede land and borrow money to recruit foreign soldiers, we cannot be soft! We are trying to give foreigners several houses of land, and we cannot let Xiao Letian succeed!"
Cixi also narrowed her eyes, showing a ruthless light, "You're right, although foreigners have a big appetite, what they want is money. Except for the Rakshasa Kingdom who wants land, the rest of the Western Yi people want a few small Small ports...we, the Qing Dynasty, don’t care, give them ports and let them make money!”
"But people like Xiao Letian must not be allowed to succeed. What they want is the Qing Dynasty's thousands of miles of land. If Xiao Letian is allowed to succeed, all the Manchus in the world will be slaughtered..."
Yi? Subconsciously patted the back of Ci Xi's hand and comforted him, "This is the worst plan! It's not the worst yet! At least judging from Xiao Letian's actions at the moment, he hasn't shown too much ambition..."
"What we have to do now is to keep an eye on Xiao Letian. One is to see when he will expand his army, the other is to see if he will form a cavalry regiment, and the third point is to see if there is any change between him and the Hunan Army... "
"Last point... It's true as Yang Zhi said, you have to keep an eye on the belly of Xiao Letian's woman! Xiao Letian with a son and Xiao Letian without a son are not at the same level of threat!"
Yixuan watched his sixth brother squeezing his fourth sister-in-law's hand from the corner of his eye, and cursed in his mind, "Can you not let me see it? Can you not let me see it! What is going on with this country? It happens every year." Evil things..."
"My brother, please leave first. I have always been responsible for the line where Tanggu is watching Fuhui. I have to go down and arrange more manpower. If anything happens, my brother will report to the Queen Mother and Sixth Brother as soon as possible!"
At this point, in the late summer of 1868, not only did Ryukyu Xiao Letian formulate a strategic plan for the future, but at the same time, in the Yangxin Hall of the Forbidden City, the powerful conservative forces of the Manchu Qing Dynasty also made a strategic plan for the next five years.
Everything is waiting for three years later, in 1871 AD, when Zaichun takes charge, all the trump cards of all forces will be revealed. The future direction of China is really full of fog.
