"You still have the nerve to cry? Hypocrite... There has been news in the city for a long time that you, Weng Tonghe, have defected to Jaap Six. You even gave me the letter to persuade you to join. You still have the nerve to cry?" Ma Ming and other new troops The generals were also furious and couldn't help but cursed!
However, he never expected that Zai Chun lost any anger at this moment. He weakly raised his hand and waved it to signal everyone not to be angry.
"Master Weng... I guess you have your own reasons... When the tree falls and the monkeys scatter, you are just a scholar, and you don't have a murderous sword in your hand... You have your own difficulties..."
"Long live my lord...wuwuwu..." Weng Tonghe lay on the edge of the bed and cried loudly.
"Long Live Lord... Sir, I have no ability... I don't have the ability to change the world... The capital is fighting this civil war, but I can't help Long Live Lord at all. I am incompetent..."
"Now that Prince Gong is powerful and the capital has fallen... I have no other option. I can only do everything I can to stabilize the situation and reduce the number of deaths in the court!"
"I don't want this to be the case. I just hope to awaken some of Prince Gong's conscience... to save the life of Lord Long Live!"
"With justice and conscience? Does he have a Japanese traitor? If he had, he wouldn't have rebelled..." Cixi shouted hysterically from the side, "With justice and conscience, are you, Weng Tonghe, stupid in your studies?"
"Are you engaged in moral kidnapping with Guiziliu? Are you trying to set him up and present him as a saintly and wise king? He is not that thing. He is a born bad guy!"
Cixi's scolding was very unpleasant, but the truth she said is also the current reality!
The problem with Confucian scholars like Weng Tonghe is that they have been using thousands of years of traditional habits to balance imperial power!
This is the helplessness of Chinese politics, and it is also a characteristic, because the ancient Chinese emperors were different from those in Europe. The monarchs here had very strong centralized power.
China has a strong feudal thought that the whole world is not the king's land, and the land that leads the land is not the king's ministers!
Before the Song Dynasty, there were examples of civilian politics competing with the imperial power, but generally speaking, the imperial power had the upper hand, especially after the Song Dynasty!
This forced Confucian scholars to use another way to check and balance the imperial power! That is moral kidnapping, trying every means to push the emperor into a saint and a gentleman.
Because scholars really don’t have a knife in their hands, and they don’t have any ability to fight against the imperial power, so the only thing left is the power of public opinion!
And to what king does the right of public opinion bind? Of course they are emperors who are moral, understand shame, want face, and cherish reputation!
If the emperor is really shameless and still has a loyal army in his hands, then the Confucian scholars will be helpless!
The emperor must be praised as the Holy Son of Heaven and a saint, so that he can cherish his feathers and not do more violent things, and the edge of the imperial power can be somewhat restrained.
This method of making peace with the mud is neither good nor bad, but the Confucian scholars have no choice. What else can they do besides this method? If you don't have a knife in your hand, you just don't have it. If you go head-to-head, only one of you will die!
The old man is like this at the moment. He can only use the methods he can think of to solve the current crisis. He cannot stop this damn civil war. There is no way!
But he can't be like Wen Tianxiang and accept death as home, or simply abandon the ten clans like Fang Xiaoru. He doesn't want to do that yet!
If he doesn’t want to, he just doesn’t want to, he’s cowardly! I can’t bear to lose my family’s life! Or live quietly and wait for the opportunity! These are all complicated considerations in his heart, so he just doesn't want to die!
So what to do? I can only bear the infamy! But it doesn't matter to him that thousands of people insult him!
Because he really believed that he was not wrong, he used a series of methods such as kowtowing, persuading people to make excuses, flattering the Japanese soldier Liu Yixin, and praising him as a saint... and he did achieve a relatively good result. the result of.
That is to reduce the intensity of the war and allow the powerful monarch to get some spiritual enjoyment. He will kill less people and save some people in disguise!
Therefore, when these Confucian scholars surrender, they will not feel too much shame in their hearts. Instead, they will faintly reveal some moral advantages. Anyway, if they feel that they have saved people, then it is just!
It is not an exaggeration for Xiao Letian to describe them as paper painters, putty scrapers! After the civil war, a thick layer of white ash was scraped off, and no one could see the blood inside.
The new king lives in a clean palace and can no longer see the blood, so he will naturally kill fewer people!
This is what Weng Tonghe and others really think. They use morality to kidnap Emperor Guangxu and finally find a way for Emperor Tongzhi and his forces to survive. This is their strategic goal.
For this kind of people, Xiao Letian once commented in the book, "There is no way... They just have their historical limitations. They only have a few tools in their pockets, so naturally they can only make do with them!"
Zai Chun was weak today but his mind was unusually clear, and he was no longer as angry as before. He reached out and held the old man's hand and said weakly, "I understand... I understand the master's difficulties... The situation is like this, you also want to Save my life..."
"Loyalty...is not just an expression! I don't blame you...you can survive countless people...it is also a merit...ahem..."
The old man was really impressed by his apprentice at this moment. After he got rid of the previous anger, Zai Chun actually showed the qualities of a wise and benevolent gentleman.
But taking a closer look at Zai Chun's physical condition, it was really bad. Starting from his neck, there was a layer of red bumps near his chin, which were very small and thin.
My face is flushed which is very unhealthy, my speech is weak, I will cough when I talk too much, and there are red bumps on the back of the hands I hold.
The old man had a very bad premonition in his heart. Could it be that Zaichun had smallpox? No, Zai Chun had already been vaccinated against cowpox when he was a Chinese. Everyone said that the Chinese method of growing beans was countless times better than that of the Qing Dynasty, and it was extremely safe!
Xiao Letian wouldn't plant fake beans for Zaichun, would he? Not likely!
Is it really like the imperial doctor said that this is a heat poison in the body? It's not impossible. Think about a distant brother in your family. Even the heat and poison brought from his mother's womb can't be dissipated even if the decoction is useless.
In the end, he died when he was in his twenties. The old man still remembers this incident!
Zai Chun looked at the master with tears on his face and said with a smile, "My sixth uncle asked you to negotiate? Tell me...what's the price? I want to hear it too..."
The old man wiped his tears and said, "Your Majesty! You must take care of your dragon body... Emperor Guangxu... no, no, no... Prince Gong said that as long as your Majesty stops resisting and is willing to return to the capital to accept... the current situation..."
"Prince Gong swore to his ancestors to protect His Majesty's life and safety... Not only that, but also His Majesty's loyal subordinates. As long as they put down their weapons, he will never do any harm..."
