Opening the rope buckle of the sapphire blue fan cover, when the Xiangfei bamboo fan bone was exposed, Zeng Guofan's hand shook involuntarily, he had recognized it!
Taking out the fan cover, Zeng Guofan seemed to have taken out the box of old memories; opening the yellowed fan, Zeng Guofan seemed to have unfolded his young life!
Scene after scene flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern, but in just a short moment, I have recalled all the ups and downs of 60 years of life!
Zeng Guofan looked at the little shrimp on the fan. It was glaring at Zeng Guofan, and Zeng Guofan was also looking at him... At that moment, the commander seemed to hear the shrimp talking to him.
"It's been so many years! When I first saw you, you were still a young man with black hair? Why are you so skinny and black now?"
"Brother Xiami...it's been more than thirty years. We haven't seen each other for more than thirty years. You are not old, but I am really old!"
"Young man! You bought me from Sichuan, and I heard that I got a big official in exchange for me? Are you worthy of your official salary?"
"I don't dare to say I'm sorry, but I'm trying my best!"
"That's good... that's good... the Dragon King of the East China Sea sent me to Sichuan to wait for you, just to give you a boost at a critical moment in your career!"
"Now that you are successful and have done your best...what else should I do? Let's go back!"
As he spoke, the shrimps on the fan suddenly came alive, swam on the fan, and disappeared into the empty water world with a pop.
"Brother Xiami...Brother Xiami..." Zeng Guofan still wanted to chat with it, but there was no shrimp waiting for him on the fan.
"Commander...Commander!" Suddenly, the voice of the guard, the old farmer, woke up Zeng Guofan, who was deep in thought. At this time, Marshal Zeng realized that he had just been distracted!
Returning to reality, Zeng Guofan looked at the fan again. Xiami was still there...but...but strangely lost the agility of the past!
To be honest, if this fan were placed in Liulichang now, Zeng Guofan would never think it was genuine when he looked at it again, because how could Tang Bohu draw such a lifeless shrimp with his skill.
Li Tuo was very patient and had been waiting quietly for Zeng Guofan to speak. The commander-in-chief had been meditating for ten minutes just now. Isiha outside the lobby was yawning a little while waiting.
With a snap, the fan closed, and Zeng Guofan smiled and said, "Why did the Queen Mother remember to reward me with a fan? By the way... This lord looks very familiar, but I haven't asked for advice yet..."
The old farmer lay down quietly in the commander's ear and whispered a few words. Zeng Guofan suddenly realized, "Ah! So you are Han Zhangjing from the Military Aircraft Department. No wonder you look familiar... I heard that it was you who ransacked Salonga's house last night?" Because of what..."
Li Tuo did not dare to neglect and hurriedly told the ins and outs of the matter. However, he did not talk about his contribution. Instead, he said that when Salonga stole the gold seal, he had already told him about it. Reported to Manager Li Lianying.
What Li Tuo meant in his words was that all the plans were arranged by the Queen Mother and Manager Li, and I just happened to meet them by chance. It was considered an unintentional report!
The commander nodded, "I see, that's it... Salong'a is really brave enough! Is it possible to steal the fake gold seal of the Tianping Heavenly Kingdom? If it's ordinary gold and silver jewelry, it's easier to say. This is a token of the Changmao regime!”
"If it falls into the hands of someone with ulterior motives, God knows how much trouble there will be... By the way, how does the Queen Mother intend to handle this case?"
Li Tuo squeezed the sweat from his palms and said cautiously, "The Queen Mother's intention... of course is to strictly investigate... To be honest, if you lose a little money, you can at most get fined with a salary or something... But this Golden Seal of Heaven It’s really shameful!”
"Salon'a's life is definitely not saved. It depends on whether he will be hanged or beheaded. If he is hanged, the whole body will be preserved! As for the seventy members of Salong'a's family..."
"Either we die together, or else Ning Guta will definitely be a slave... Sooner or later, we will die!"
Zeng Guofan was silent for a long time and sighed, "I know... He is looking for death himself and no one else can blame him... Let the court sentence him as he pleases!"
Li Tuo's heart skipped a beat. He never expected that Zeng Guofan would just stand back and do nothing! This is not his style!
No matter how bad Mu Zhang'a's historical reputation was and how fierce the public scolded him, Zeng Guofan never said anything bad about this teacher!
In fact, this is human nature. Common people like to scold people. They always want to find a scapegoat for things that don't go well with them, and the white-faced and traitorous officials in China for thousands of years will always be scolded.
But in real history, how much of the blame did Mu Zhang'a, the capitulationist, hold? This is really debatable!
In fact, everyone in the official circles at that time knew that the root of the capitulation faction was actually Emperor Daoguang. It was because the emperor did not want to fight that Mu Zhanga understood the situation and went on errands.
And why didn't Emperor Daoguang want to fight? In the final analysis, the British invaded Zhenjiang and cut off the Grand Canal, which was the economic lifeblood of the Qing Dynasty!
It can be said that since the Tang Dynasty, China's economic activities have relied heavily on the North-South Grand Canal. If this life channel was blocked, ancient China's economic system would definitely collapse.
The Manchus and Qing Dynasties saw this very clearly. This is more terrifying than losing some islands to dead people in a war!
Therefore, in the eyes of people such as Zeng Guofan in the Manchu officialdom at that time, Mu Zhang'a was just bringing infamy for Emperor Daoguang. Mu Zhang'a himself did not commit any heinous crimes.
Because of this, the officials promoted by Mu Zhang'a took good care of the descendants of this teacher. Salong'a wrote New Year greetings to his senior brother Zeng Guofan almost every year, and Zeng Guofan also gave this incompetent brother Certain care.
Today Zeng Guofan actually turned his back and allowed all the descendants of his teacher to die without caring about it. This was beyond Li Tuo's expectation.
"Commander... this... this case shocked the government and the public... Could it be, Commander..."
Zeng Guofan waved his hand and smiled, "Master Li... I already know your purpose of coming... This must be your first time coming to my place, right?"
Suddenly, Zeng Guofan's words took a turn, which caught Li Tuo a little off guard, "Ah... yes, the commander-in-chief is in the capital's house. This is the first time for Xiaguan to come..."
"Haha... this is not my house, I just rent it..."
"The commander-in-chief is incorruptible, and the subordinates admire him... but it is indeed aggrieved for him to live in such a house as a commander-in-chief!"
"Wronged? I think it's good... I can smell the smell of crop fields here. Is it possible in the inner city? Besides, this is the place where I made my fortune. People will miss the old days!"
Zeng Guofan took the initiative in the conversation in a few words, and the topic was brought into his orbit in just a few words.
"I was in Beijing during the twelfth year of Daoguang's reign. At that time, I had no merit and I lived in the guild hall in Changsha to study and prepare for the imperial examination. However, I failed the imperial examination in the fifteenth year of Daoguang's reign and could only leave the capital with regret..."
"Three years later, in the 18th year of Daoguang's reign, I took the imperial examination again in Beijing. Only then did I successfully get on the list. I ranked among the top 42, and was granted the same background as a Jinshi!"
"Do you know what year in the Western calendar that year is?" Zeng Guofan asked.
Li Tuo blinked and calculated, "It should be 1838 in the Western calendar..."
"Yes, it was 1838. Do you know what happened that year?" Zeng Guofan asked again.
Li Tuo was confused now. There were many things that happened in 1838. God knows what the commander was asking about!
"Hey... let me tell you! It was that year that Emperor Daoguang sent Lin Zexu as an imperial envoy to go straight to Guangzhou to ban opium! I had just entered the officialdom that year, and Mr. Lin had already started to go out to fight in Beijing..."
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