"The Queen Mother... Your Majesty... Your Majesty... is going to die..."
No one expected that Zeng Guofan would say such an unlucky word. Everyone quickly tried to persuade him, "What did the commander say? You still have a long lifespan..."
Zeng Guofan did not mean to joke at all but said with a serious face, "I have self-awareness. There are all immortal people in the world, let alone the humble ministers... Even the emperor who is ninety-five years old can't live long, can't he?"
This is what Zeng Guofan can say. If another person said it, he would be dragged out and beaten to death. But Marshal Zeng said that no one in the entire palace dared to refute.
Ci'an sighed, "Why did the commander talk about such a sad topic... When Long live the Lord comes back, you can take a good rest and recuperate... Just find a place with beautiful mountains and clear waters that you like near the capital, and take good care of yourself..."
"I thank the Queen Mother for your kindness, but no matter how beautiful the scenery of this capital is, it is still not as good as my hometown... I'm afraid I won't be able to go back..."
"I don't have much time, so I don't want to waste my words talking in circles... Forget all the polite words, let's get down to business now!"
All the topics today revolve around one central idea, that is Emperor Tongzhi's return!
The empress dowagers of the two palaces and several princes looked at each other, and it was the honest Prince Chun Yixuan who spoke first, and came up with a detailed list of instructions for welcoming the emperor in the capital.
It describes in detail all the process of welcoming the driver and the expenses required, how many troops to use, how many civilians to use, how many colorful sheds to set up, how many fireworks to set off, how many people to organize to greet the driver along the street... everything is included down to the smallest detail.
After only listening for a quarter of an hour, Zeng Guofan started coughing, "Cough cough cough... cough cough cough... Prince Chun, your nine-door admiral's control is too lenient... Are you also responsible for the affairs of the Ministry of Rites?"
"There are many things here that old men should do. You come up with it and say...this is inappropriate!"
"Ah..." Yi Xuan's face turned slightly red, "Is this old man going on a business trip... I mean to tell the Queen Mother first..."
Little Fifth Master Yi Pei couldn't stand this roundabout probing anymore. He stood up and said, "Commander...please say a few words. Please be direct. I'm impatient to hear these trivial matters..."
"Okay... then Wei Chen will stop talking nonsense. The first thing I want to ask... Who among the royal family will pick you up?"
With one sentence, the whole room fell silent. Zeng Guofan went up and hit Yixin and Yixuan with one shot. In fact, this matter was directed at these two princes.
The little emperor is back from his study tour. He is back from Europa, which is thousands of miles away and half a world away. This is a big event that has not happened in China for thousands of years!
The scene of picking up the driver must not be small. This means that Zeng Guofan is not in good health. If he is in good health, he will have to go to Shanghai early to wait!
Although it is not stated explicitly, there are unspoken rules in the court. With so many forces, no one can be successful without one! Within the Hunan Army, Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guoquan, Hu Xueyan...all the big guys went to greet him.
Among the Qingliu Confucian officials, Weng Tonghe also took action, and even the foreign devils in Dongjiaominxiang sent counselors to Shanghai to greet Zai Chun. When Zai Chun returned to Sijiu City, the envoys had to personally greet him.
Now the ball is at your feet. Your Aisin Gioro emperor is back. Who is going to pick him up? Why hasn’t anyone been elected until today?
This shot hit the two red princes. Prince Gong and Prince Chun were the most powerful among the Manchus. One of them had to go out to pick him up.
No other prince can replace him, and it would be disrespectful to replace him with anyone else.
But it’s very interesting, neither of these two princes want to go!
The bottom line is that it is a waste of time to pick up the driver. It will take three or four months to go back and forth... In such a long time, the errands you two are doing cannot stop!
At this time, the court can add sand!
Who will supervise Xishan Camp temporarily? You can't let Guiziliu say whoever it is, the Queen Mother also has to appoint someone to go in.
Who can take over the job of the nine admirals? God knows who the imperial court has packed in!
The capital is the power center of the empire, and it is taboo to leave easily!
Zeng Guofan didn't waste any time and directly smashed the window paper: "You two princes, let's say something... It would be inappropriate for you two not to come forward in this matter... Ahem, cough, cough..."
Guiziliu and Yi Xuan looked at each other, but Yi Xin spoke in advance, "Oh... It stands to reason that as an uncle, I should take a trip, but this summer I got cold during the military training in Xishan, and my legs really hurt... …”
"To go to the humid land south of the Yangtze River and build a sea ship...I'm afraid...my legs and feet are not good..."
After saying that, she even beat her legs. Cixi was almost angry to death when she heard this. She said in her heart that your legs and feet are still weak. If Zeng Guofan said no, then you really couldn't. How dare you pretend to be sick?
Yi Xuan saw this posture and said, "Oh, the job of the nine admirals is too important... Before Long Live Lord comes, I have to crack down on a group of people first, and I have to clean up the place!"
"Without me personally in charge, many big thieves would not be able to deal with it...especially some stubborn elements in the Eight Banners. Without me in charge, they would definitely not be able to handle it. They won't listen to others either..."
"How about... Fifth Brother, you can go pick him up..."
Emperor Daoguang gave birth to many sons. The eldest son died in his twenties, and the second and third sons died of illness when they were young. After old age and death, he became the later Emperor Xianfeng.
Next up is the uneducated Lao Wu Yipei, and the famous Xia Wang Xiao Wu Ye in Beijing.
The sixth child is Liu Yixin, the Japanese prince, the seventh child is Prince Chun Yixuan, the eighth child was frail and sick and died of illness the year before last, and the ninth child Yizhen is still alive but not in good health. He is also an idle prince who eats, drinks, plays and does not understand politics and economics.
Now it is impossible to count on Lao Jiu. He is not qualified to discuss politics. Even Lao Wu has only gradually become popular in the past two years. The real power lies with Lao Liu and Lao Seven.
Unexpectedly, the two red princes retreated and refused to leave the capital, the center of power. This kind of political vigilance is really admirable.
Zeng Guofan didn't say anything after seeing through it. He just sighed in a low voice and said, "It's not impossible for the fifth master to go...but the fifth master doesn't have any serious errands until now!"
"When the time comes to pick up the driver, the foreigners will be embarrassed when they see it..."
Yi Xin breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Zeng Guofan was not chasing after him and said, "This matter is easy to handle. The Prime Minister's Yamen will add a deputy general minister, and Yi Xuan's concurrent post as the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will also be released... How can these two identities be different?" He is worthy of fifth brother!"
"Ah? Me? This, this, this..." Yi Pei was stunned at that time. He never thought that he would become an official after entering the palace today!
There are many idle princes in Beijing, and there are also many red princes, but there are not many princes with errands. A deputy general manager of the Prime Minister's Yamen and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have all given way?
"How can I still be an official? Are you kidding me, brothers?" Yi Pei has not been liked by Emperor Daoguang since he was a child, because this kid doesn't like reading so much and is not good at reading at all.
It is precisely because of this that the four Xianfeng emperors are not afraid at all, because there is no threat at all, so they have always been rich but not powerful.
I didn't expect to ask Zeng Guofan to make up for this shortcoming today!
Ci'an is such a clever person. She immediately figured out Zeng Guofan's subtext. She quickly hit the snake and followed it with a stick!
"Uncle, don't refuse...what can't you learn...Besides, there are so many relatives helping you, just in name..."
