The conflict between Cixi and Ci'an is still inevitable. This time they are not competing for power in the court, but for the right to decide on the candidate for Emperor Tongzhi's wedding.
Zaichun is getting married. According to ancient Chinese ethical concepts, people must start a family first and then start a career. If you don't get married, the whole society will not recognize you as an adult.
Correspondingly, you will no longer have the rights of a normal adult, such as being an official, in charge, or even an emperor!
If you are not married, even if you are thirty or forty years old, in the eyes of others, you are still an immature child, not enough to take on important responsibilities!
Therefore, Zaichun must get married before taking office. This is a folk power that even the emperor cannot resist!
The queen Ci'an chose for Zai Chun was Chongqi's daughter, Arute!
This Chongqi is incredible, she is the only bannerman number one scholar in the Qing Dynasty! Originally affiliated to the Mongolian Zhenglan Banner, it was later upgraded to the Xianglan Banner!
This Chongqi's father was Sai Shang'a, a bachelor and minister of military aircraft, and his daughter-in-law was the daughter of Prince Zheng Duanhua, one of the eight ministers of Gu Ming.
It can be seen that this Chongqi family is considered a well-established and well-established family in the Eight Banners system, and its influence is very broad!
Moreover, this Chongqi was of good character, not as dandy as the Eight Banners of the late Qing Dynasty, but very practical and loyal to the emperor and the country... Ci'an only took a superficial look at this, and did not understand it deeply.
But in Xiao Letian’s previous life, Chongqi hanged herself when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded! It can be seen from this that this person can be regarded as a rare alternative among the Manchus!
The daughter educated by such a person is naturally good. Dignity, grace, quietness and virtuousness are the biggest images of Ci'an. Zai Chun is certainly a good candidate to marry and become the queen.
The queen chosen by Cixi was the Fucha family, the daughter of Fengxiu, a member of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Fengxiu's family was also very prominent. Her ancestor was Ma Qi, an important minister of the Kangxi Dynasty, and her family had always been on official business in the Ministry of Household Affairs!
Of course, the Fengxiu family's reputation at this time is not as good as that of the top scholar Chongqi, but the buns have meat but not in the folds! The Fengxiu family has been working in the Household Department for many years, and they have worked hard to build a wide network of contacts. It can be said that all the secrets in the Household Department cannot be hidden from them!
Cixi chose Fucha, the daughter of Fengxiu's family. On the one hand, she liked Fucha's beauty and intelligence, and she looked very similar to herself when she was young. On the other hand, she also liked the money bag of the Ministry of Household Affairs!
To give her son a strong support in the Ministry of Household Affairs, Fengxiu will naturally be the best choice to be the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs in the future. Controlling the money bag does not mean controlling the country of the Qing Dynasty?
The two queen mothers had their own plans, but when they met each other, neither one wanted to let them go, and they started to quarrel!
"Hey...I also sent someone to inquire about the Fucha family of Fengxiu's family. She is indeed very beautiful but has a bad temper!"
"Scheming, clever and cunning...if such a woman enters the harem and gets associated with Cixi, God knows how many things will happen."
"Third Master! This is the urgent need at hand, and this is the foundation of the country!"
Mr. Qing did not expect that a candidate for queen would already be in such trouble. "What about His Majesty's attitude?"
"This matter hasn't even had time for Your Majesty to make a choice! I've only been back to Beijing for a few days, and all the things are coming up one after another. What Your Majesty learned in Europe is too domineering and fierce, and it's not at all what our Qing Dynasty should do. There are some tricks!"
"I'm going to talk to His Majesty tomorrow to see who he wants to choose. The final decision lies with the Emperor!"
"Then... let the airship matter go?"
"Let's put it aside for now... If you don't think about it, Yi Xin has suffered several hidden losses at the hands of His Majesty. How can he not retaliate? Now I have to see how the other party will act!"
"There is also Cixi, who is probably working for her son at the moment. It depends on whether Long Live Master can hold on!"
Fu Qing wanted to persuade Ci'an to purchase new weapons, but he didn't expect to hear so many new secrets. He needed to digest each one carefully. It was a headache to deal with so many things!
Just when Third Master had a headache, Zai Chun also had a big headache. E Niang had been pestering him for an hour and a half since the morning!
"My son... think about it carefully. The Fucha family is of good character and appearance. Can E Niang still deceive you? Moreover, his father Fengxiu has been running the Ministry of Household Affairs for many years, which is a part of the Qing Dynasty. Money bag!”
"Oh...my benefactor, can we discuss this matter later? How many taels of silver do you still have in the purse of the household department? It's all gone, and you still say it's just a piece of cake?"
"You kid, what are you talking about? The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of the world's money and food, so why is it all empty? We spent some money on wars in the past few years, but haven't we saved it all in the past few years?"
"Ouch... How can you treat a surplus of 10 million yuan a year as a treasure? What can you do with this little money? There is so much money..."
"You..." Cixi was speechless in anger, "Have you ever seen big money in Europe? Even ten million won't be able to attract your attention?"
At this point, Cixi's expression changed, and she waved the eunuchs and maids to go down. The two of them were the only ones left in the palace!
"I have to tell you the truth to my mother. There are rumors that you received money from the British. Is this true?"
Zai Chun's expression turned strange, "Well...it's a little bit...why do you ask?"
"You child, why don't you answer my mother's question? Aren't you two one? What should I do between you and me? How much money is it?"
"Don't ask, it's not much money...it's just a little military aid given by the British royal family to their son, and it will be repaid in the future!"
"Then there must be a number! Wuwuwu... I really hurt you for nothing, hiding it from my mother? You crawled out of my intestines, and in the end you didn't even say the truth... "
Ci Xi was a real drama queen, her tears came at every turn and kept falling down!
What Zai Chun asked her to torture was a hundred claws scratching her heart, and her heart was in a state of anxiety and numbness. "Okay, okay... Mom, please stop crying, six million... The British gave me six million in interest-free military aid, This is from the royal family!”
"Shit! You still dare to lie to me?" Cixi stretched out her hand and pinched Zai Chun's ear, "Do you think the Ai family are fools? You can't even look down on the Ministry of Revenue's annual surplus of more than 10 million, you say your hands Just six million?"
"It hurts... it hurts, it hurts... Mom, don't pinch me... I'll be honest, it's fifteen million taels... I'm not going to lie to you, the British are not fools, and they won't give me too much for nothing." Money!"
Hiss... Cixi took a breath of air, "Fifteen million taels? Just give it to your child?"
Historically, Zuo Zongtang spent a total of 20 million taels of silver to pacify Xinjiang, while Li Hongzhang spent 30 million taels of silver to build Beiyang!
Now Emperor Tongzhi actually had fifteen million taels of silver in military aid, which shocked Cixi!
"Child! Why do the British give you so much money? Tell me the truth, what's the matter here?"
Seeing Zai Chun's submissive and silent expression, Cixi was so angry that she stretched out her magic hand to twist her ears.
"Don't...mother, please don't twist it. I said it's not okay?"
"This money is not given for free. It was lent to me by the British and it was just free of interest...I signed a secret agreement when I borrowed the money!"
"Within ten years... I must open up the Qing Dynasty's railway construction plan... The British must invest in building our Qing Dynasty's railways!"
"You!" Cixi's face changed greatly and she raised her hand and was about to slap her son in the face, but in the end she did not slap him.
"Are you going crazy? Do you know what the hell that railway is? It will stir up the earth's anger and disturb the tombs of our ancestors! You are trying to break the Feng Shui of our Qing Dynasty!"
"No, absolutely not... We can't build railways, otherwise the gods and ghosts will be uneasy!"
