The secrecy of the military information of the Heilongjiang Mutiny was one of the best secrecy efforts carried out by the Manchus in the past ten years. The news had been conveyed to the Forbidden City for three days, and not a trace of it had leaked out. Even Li Tuo and other military officials None of the errands caught wind of it.
Only some powerful forces with deep roots in the entire Forty-Nine City could know this news in advance, such as important princes and leaders of Qingliu and only a dozen or so people. His own housekeeper didn't dare to tell, let alone anyone else.
But Li Tuo is obviously not an ordinary person. After all, the fifth master of the capital is also the biological son of Emperor Daoguang, and he has access to many secrets. In addition, the current fifth master Yi Pei is assisted by Li Tuo, Yang Zhi and others, and Jiangnan has A secret consortium loyal to him is collecting money for him. Now the Fifth Master already has a team of about 500 strangers in the martial arts, hiding on the grassland outside the mouth to complete a new military training.
The Fifth Master, who has money and guns, has exposed his political ambitions. How could he not be concerned about such a big change in the court.
Yi Pei's house is in the northwest corner of the capital. Li Tuo was led by the housekeeper to change his clothes at the front door, and left on horseback through the back door. Then he entered three more houses on the way and changed his clothes three times before dressing up like an ordinary prostitute. Sneak into Yanzhihu's half-open door in the red light district of Bada Hutong.
When he arrived, Fifth Master and Yang Zhi were drinking together, but it was obvious that they were not paying attention to the food and wine, let alone the little beauty behind them who was squeezing her shoulders. When they saw Li Tuo coming, they immediately stepped away and stepped away. He made room for Li Tuo.
"Your Majesty! Our opportunity has come..." Li Tuo, who looked excited, raised his head and took a glass of wine, and he let out a sigh of relief.
"The 200,000 taels of silver that the prince used to bribe the servants were really not in vain. The sixth prince and the seventh prince were not on military duty at all, but went to discuss matters in the north..."
"Oh! What was the result of their discussion?" Yi Pei asked with his eyes shining.
"My lord, why are you so anxious? Not to mention our spies for this kind of meeting, even Li Lianying and Zhou Daoying have to guard the door. But the little eunuch saw Guizi Liu slamming the door and leaving, and there was a fierce quarrel before leaving. See It seems like the Sixth Prince has given me no face at all!"
Yang Zhi sullenly turned the empty wine glass between his fingers, "Are you making a quarrel? If I were Guiziliu, I would also make a quarrel. Not only would I make a quarrel, but I would retreat and throw the golden seal of the Xishan Recruitment Camp out. … Let’s have a big show!”
Li Tuo laughed loudly, "What a brilliant idea! What a brilliant idea!"
Yi Pei was not a quick-witted person, so he asked eagerly, "What's going on? Can you please stop showing off..."
"Retreating in order to advance is now the best way for the Japanese Six to deal with it. Since the little emperor dares to use the banner of the imperial party, this is to unite these uncles and ladies in the court, just to see what they will do about this matter. What’s the reaction…”
"The court is now in chaos. Each of these princes hopes that the country will return to the era of the emperor's autocratic power like the three dynasties of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong. But on the surface, they cannot express this idea. They still have to make a show of respecting the emperor. Attitude……"
"Yi? Of course he understands this. He can't give people an excuse to carry out his role as a royal party, so he has to hand over his military power to avoid suspicion. After all, there are people in the court who are guarding the soldiers in his hands. Woolen cloth!"
Now Yi Pei suddenly realized it. Not only did he understand that Yan Zhihu, who came over to refill the wine, also understood it. This woman leaned next to Yi Pei and gave the prince a glass of wine and gently squeezed the prince's shoulder.
"My lord, you are confused, aren't you? When you talk about government affairs these days, even I, a woman, understand half of it... Don't you all say that all the factions in the court are now fighting with two ends? Who has it? Soldiers, even strong soldiers are so scared that they can’t even sleep peacefully..."
"Don't talk about the Han people. Even if someone within the Manchus seizes military power, other people are not happy. Can Prince Gong not pretend to be suspicious?"
With a snap, Yi Pei gave Yan Zhihu a big slap on the butt, "How dare a girl get involved in this man's affairs? Go and wash yourself off and wait for me to pamper you tonight..."
After a few jokes, Yi Pei's face became lonely, "Hey... After all, I am also the son of Emperor Xuanzong, and the country has become like this..." The rest of the words could not be said.
The weakness of the late Qing Dynasty was not only due to backward technology and industry, nor to the fact that there were no passionate men in the court who were willing to risk their lives, but because the political system of the Manchu Qing Dynasty had great flaws from the beginning.
To put it bluntly, the Manchu and Qing dynasties were a military-tribal alliance that dominated the Central Plains with its ruthlessness and willingness to learn from the Han people. However, the primitive tribal system and the advanced and developed Han civilization were soft and soft together, just like two skins that were basically glued together. Not together.
The primitive tribal alliance pays attention to whoever has the biggest fist is the leader. To maintain the wolf nature of the tribe, you must pull it out and practice.
The Han nation does not rely on military courage to govern the country. The rulers must learn to balance the forces within the empire, and they must also know many cultural methods.
To govern a huge empire covering tens of millions of square kilometers, it is absolutely impossible to rely on the decentralization system of primitive tribes, because once power is dispersed, there will be constraints.
A big empire needs big projects, and the promotion of big projects requires centralized power and the authority of the emperor.
Modern people seem to have an aversion to centralization. However, in human history, centralized countries can accomplish great things. Without centralization, there would be no Great Wall, without centralization, there would be no Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and without centralization, there would be no Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong dynasties. The major projects of regulating the Yellow River in the Three Dynasties appeared... A simple example is that it is difficult for ancient countries without centralized power to carry out national wars that mobilize the whole country.
During the late Qing Dynasty, there were several activities to control the Yellow River. The emperor even established a special yamen for water control. The highest officer was the governor of the river. This special governor was usually appointed by the emperor's trusted imperial envoy, who had the power to communicate directly with the emperor. This was already a very prominent official position in ancient official circles.
To regulate a Yellow River, from Gansu in the upper reaches to downstream, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Zhili, Shandong... a total of six provinces need to coordinate and carry out tasks at the same time, and millions of people must be mobilized for each major project.
In the Middle Ages, how could such a large project be completed without a centralized government? It would be difficult to coordinate food, drink and supplies for millions of people.
This was the greatest advantage of centralized government in ancient times. However, in the late Qing Dynasty, the authority of the government began to decline. Many national-level large-scale projects could not be promoted at all, and people's livelihood projects could not be completed. How could we still count on large-scale military industry? Still want to strengthen the army? Still want to build a big navy? These are all delusions.
