"Prince Gong, please think about it carefully. What do you want? Do you want to be the emperor yourself? Or do you want to hold the Eight Kings Council?"
"Or do you just want to drag the Qing Dynasty, which is still on its last legs, to grow old step by step until it reaches the grave?"
"Once you think about what you want, you will know how to do it!"
After giving the last words to Prince Gong, the Marshal watched the forty-year-old prince leave Nanheng Street step by step with his waist bent. Prince Gong, who was in his prime, was very tired at this moment!
"Little brother! This is the last piece of advice I, my old brother, will give you in life. Whether you can understand it or not depends on you..."
After Zeng Guofan whispered this sentence at the door, his face suddenly turned purple and he coughed violently, "Cough cough cough... cough cough cough..."
"Commander..." All the surrounding soldiers gathered around him.
The old farmer rushed in to tackle Zeng Guofan and ordered his subordinates to "close the door immediately. Don't let outsiders see the commander's fatigue! Quick, close the door immediately..."
The black wooden door was closed in the surprised eyes of the neighbors, and the soldiers standing guard outside glared angrily. If an ordinary person looked here again, he would be glared hard, and the frightened people hurried back to their homes.
"What's wrong with the doors of the Marshal's house? They are usually nice-looking, but today they all look so menacing that it scares you to tremble when you pass by the door..."
"Can't you just go around? Didn't you listen to the men in the inner city? The imperial court and foreigners are fighting again!"
"What do you mean? Why are you starting a fight when everything is fine? I haven't seen any movement from the Ministry of War!"
"No, it's not really a war. It's said that all the foreign merchants in the Qing Dynasty rebelled and started a lawsuit with the court, which made Prince Gong very worried!"
"Forget it, we ordinary people don't understand the twists and turns here, go buy some noodles quickly, and make noodles with soybean paste later... Fourth brother, please do as you please, go to my house to get some noodles later!"
"Come on, I won't fire for a while if you're busy!"
The lives of ordinary people in Shengdou are limited to a bowl of noodles and a pot of dumplings. This is their happiness. Things happening overseas have nothing to do with them!
As long as three people are full and two people are fed in a day, it will be a day like a fairy!
But those wealthy people who are well-off and well-off in their eyes are suffering every day. The more you get, the greater your responsibility. This is true!
Zeng Guofan has now become the focus of many forces in the capital. He is aloof from the outside but has been secretly controlling the situation!
As the governor of Zhili, he had the right to station the troops in Zhuozhou. Even if this transfer was suspected of being illegal, no one dared to say it. The Queen Mother and the Emperor even approved of him stationing troops in the Gaobeidian area of Zhuozhou!
The little emperor has even been hinting at the commander-in-chief to increase his troops. There are currently a total of three thousand Hunan Army cavalry in Zhuozhou!
Compared with the major battalions in Forty-Nine City, this number is really pitiful, but no one dares to underestimate these Hunan Army veterans who have fought in hundreds of battles. If you offend him, you will offend half of the Hunan Army group in the south of the Yangtze River!
If they really fall out, two to three hundred thousand troops can be brought out from the Huguang area in minutes!
It is precisely because of Zeng Guofan's huge influence that there was chaos in the capital, but it never reached the point of shooting. This was controlled by the commander's prestige!
Everyone in the world knows that the Marshal is in poor health, and many people are speculating on how many years the Marshal has left to live, but no one dares to say for sure, because this old man in his dying years, this old man who has been drained of all his energy by the war, every time When the oil is exhausted and the lamp is dry, it can miraculously be rejuvenated!
Once, twice, three or four times, it is the repetition that makes people unpredictable. It is this sense of mystery that makes many forces dare not act rashly!
The commander-in-chief doesn't ask for peace in the world right now. What he wants is that Emperor Tongzhi can take over the power safely and civil war should not break out again!
That's all, don't use weapons, just have a private fight. I'm too old to care about it!
It is such a sea-calming needle that stabilizes the bottom line of the struggle in the capital. If the commander-in-chief has three strengths and two weaknesses, once this stabilizer of the court loses its effect, the ambitions of those people will not be suppressed!
After closing the door, everyone carried the Marshal back to his bedroom. The old farmer secretly used his energy to help the Marshal open his lungs and help him breathe. A soldier took out a pipe and wanted to help the Marshal take a puff to calm the pain.
But a maid waved her hand. The soldier respected the maid very much and quickly put back his cigarette, saluted and exited the room!
The maid said calmly, "Except for Mr. Nong, everyone in the room should leave. Turn your back to the window and don't peek!"
A woman could speak so easily. All the staff and soldiers dispersed, turning their backs to anyone and no one dared to take a peek.
The maid actually took out a first aid box common in Chinese field hospitals from the cabinet. She took out the key and opened the box. Inside was a lot of first aid medicine!
A needle of pure liquid was in the syringe. The maid's hands were trembling and she whispered to the commander in a low voice, "Commander...this is Chinese-purified morphine, and its purity is higher than that produced in Europe!"
"Now the pain in your chest can only be relieved by this... opium has no effect anymore!"
"But with this kind of purity... once you use it, you won't be able to quit it for the rest of your life!"
Marshal Zeng smiled and said in a weak voice, "I...I still have a few days to live! Just...just let me leave this world with a bad habit!"
After receiving an intravenous injection, Dashuai's breathing calmed down within a short while, and the chest tightness and pain that had been bothering him for a long time disappeared!
"Hey... I used to use traditional Chinese medicine, but it didn't work in the end, so I used opium ointment... Now it doesn't work anymore, so I have to use new stuff purified by foreigners..."
"Why bother! You said the Lord of Hell told me to leave, so why am I still holding on?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the old farmer's eyes turned red. "Commander... go home. The folks on both sides of the Xiangjiang River miss you too! Why are you doing this!"
"They will kill everyone if they want to. Why are you risking your life?"
Zeng Guofan shook his head, "Let me be a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty again! My heart has betrayed the Qing Dynasty, and I am so ashamed!"
"I always feel that I owe His Majesty! The Qing Dynasty treats me...in fact, it is not bad..."
"But there's nothing I can do about it, I'm a Han... I always have to plan for the Han people's centenary plan!"
"Xiao Letian's fortress plan is a century-long or thousand-year plan to save the lives of the Han people... I have to protect him..."
"And Your Majesty...he must mature quickly! Before I die, he must be able to protect himself..."
"Cough cough cough... cough cough cough... I am a descendant of the Han family, and I must be filial to my Han ancestors!"
"But I am an important minister of the Qing Dynasty... and I have to be loyal to this country!"
"It's hard for me! I can only crawl forward with difficulty... until I die..."
