Zuo Zongtang is undoubtedly a very strong-willed and stubborn person. This kind of person has a very strong self-esteem and is difficult to be influenced by others. It is really difficult to negotiate with this kind of person.
This kind of person can fight with Li Hongzhang with his fists over political differences. Others call Zeng Guofan "teacher", but he refuses to call him "teacher" and instead calls him "brother".
Even he is not that servile towards the imperial power!
According to historical records, after Zuo Zongtang returned to Beijing to retire in Xinjiang, Emperor Guangxu celebrated his birthday a year later. Logically speaking, all ministers should pay their respects to the emperor at the Qianqing Palace.
But I don’t know how it happened. Zuo Zongtang didn’t even kowtow, he just walked around in a circle and left!
This angered the officials of the Ministry of Rites. The Minister of Rites directly wrote a letter to impeach Zuo Zongtang for being disrespectful and even said that he has no king and no father!
What happened to this last thing? The imperial court actually left the impeachment details undisclosed and treated it coldly. I didn't accept your opinion, didn't refute it, and just brushed it aside without reviewing it.
It can be seen that Zuo Zongtang's status in the court at that time was even Cixi and Yixin wanted to protect him.
However, the Minister of Rites at that time was also a stubborn person. When he saw that he was not allowed to leave, he continued to impeach him. In the end, the court had no choice but to give fifty votes to each of them.
Zuo Zongtang was fined for one year, and the Minister of Rites was dismissed from his post because of his violent and disrespectful words. The hat was taken off but the errands were returned to you.
The fact that the situation was so harmonious showed on the one hand the chaos in the political arena of the late Qing Dynasty, and on the other hand, Zuo Zongtang's bad temper was well known to everyone in the court.
Both Cixi and Yixin knew that Zuo Zongtang had a bad temper, but this man had a bad temper but would never rebel. This was proven throughout his life.
For such a hero, a few kowtows is not a big deal. If he can maintain the face of the Qing Dynasty without rebelling, he is a loyal minister!
King Shang Tai's response today was too correct. If he really made Zuo Zongtang kowtow, then this negotiation would not be easy to proceed!
After three rounds of wine and five tastes of food, Zuo Zongtang had almost figured out the details of this expedition team.
"Your Majesty... I'm afraid you have a lot of tasks to do this time, right?"
"You regard Xiao Letian as your father-in-law, and the fate of the country is entrusted to that prime minister... I think only Xiao Letian can invite you to come here. You must have a political mission!"
"This shopkeeper Fan Jin is the nephew of Fan Caishen. He has also practiced in the Lion City of Singapore for many years. He must be a genius in business... I guess he came here with the mission of making money!"
"This great minister on the left can actually bring back the cultural relics of the Yuanmingyuan that were lost to China from Europe... I'm so disrespectful! I'm so disrespectful! Xiao Letian did a great job in this matter. I'm so proud!"
"But I don't understand. What is your mission, sir? Could it be that Xiao Letian is interested in the treasure of the ancient city in the desert?"
"Haha, I have to remind you that thieves are rampant in the deserts of the Western Region. No place is safe. Be careful!"
He revealed three things with just one mouth. His guess was pretty good. King Shang Tai came to Lanzhou secretly this time with three tasks.
King Shangtai smiled and said, "This piece of flawless jade was smuggled from southern Xinjiang. It is very beautiful... As the gentleman on the left said, it is quite good to carve a hidden dragon statue..."
"When the carving is finished, I will send someone to deliver it to the commander... Don't worry, the Hidden Dragon will not show its power, and don't worry that we are here to encourage you to rebel!"
This sentence was to the point. Zuo Zongtang was afraid that these people were coming to surrender to him. If they really encouraged him to rebel against the Qing Dynasty, that would be troublesome.
"That's very good. Since Your Majesty is not here to instigate rebellion against me, then I can't even imagine what your purpose is in coming to see me..."
"The purpose is simple! Here comes the gift..."
Fan Jin immediately smiled and took out a leather folder from his sleeve, opened it and saw that there were ten cashier's checks of various colors inside.
"I heard that the commander-in-chief is worried about military resources... Here are ten bank checks, all of which are dragon-patterned silver coins discovered by the Chinese and stored in different banks..."
"There are Chinese banks, foreign banks, and Qing bank notes... Each ticket is worth 100,000 yuan, a total of one million. Please accept it, Commander-in-Chief!"
Hiss...Liu Jintang took a breath of air, "Is this...a loan? Or..."
"Haha, it's either a loan or a meeting gift for the commander-in-chief... The head of state knew that the commander-in-chief was struggling with military resources, so he specially asked me to send the money!"
When they met, they were given a gift package of one million silver dollars. Even though Zuo Zongtang was a first-rank official in the imperial court, the officials in the border areas were also stunned by Xiao Letian's handiwork.
Suddenly the room fell into silence!
"Gifts can be overwhelming..." It took ten minutes for Zuo Zongtang to say, "Xiao Letian and I have no kindness or friendship at all. I can't afford such a big gift package!"
Zuo Zongtang refused, and everyone present showed embarrassed expressions on their faces. Liu Jintang's face turned slightly red, and he was a little anxious at the time and couldn't help shouting, "Commander..."
"Shut up!" Zuo Zongtang glared angrily, "Although our Western Expeditionary Army is short of money, we won't ask ambitious people for money. Xiao Letian's money is all with hooks. You dare to ask for it? I don't dare!"
This sentence was so hurtful that all the caravan guards had weird expressions.
King Shangtai didn't expect that Zuo Zongtang had such a bad temper. He even ignored the etiquette in officialdom and was a little angry.
"Commander, what do you mean by this? It is already known to everyone in the world that you are short of military funds. Hu Xueyan broke his legs and mouth in Jiangnan trying to raise military funds for the commander..."
"Now we kindly send the money, but we say that the money has a hook. I don't understand how many hooks this money can have?"
"Haha... Then I don't know what kind of character Xiao Letian is?" Zuo Zongtang picked up a large piece of stewed beef, and the soft tendons melted, and he threw it into his mouth.
"Do you think I'm one of these ignorant people from the northwest? I was in Jiangnan watching Xiao Letian's power grow day by day!"
"The white wolf with empty gloves is the one he's talking about! Back then, we talked about setting up some kind of industrial zone, but in the end, Tanggu turned into a country within a country!"
"He went to Ryukyu to get some prime ministership, but in the end he killed a lot of people... Didn't the Japanese, the French, and the ancient Ryukyu Kingdom all let him fool him in the end?"
"He went to Europe to play the foreign devil again, and let him succeed! What now, following the Prussians and showing off their power, it's time to return home and torment me?"
"If we let him get involved in the Western Region, I'm afraid this guy will be able to secede the country directly. I know him too well... His money has hooks, and they are all bloody hooks!"
"No, I just don't want it!"
Note: The third update is coming!
