In the Yuxi Palace in the West Garden of the Imperial Palace, several cups of tea are exuding a refreshing and fragrant aroma. Empress Dowager Zheng had already changed into court clothes, and Prime Minister Bao was sitting solemnly on the throne. She was receiving the homage of Zheng Guozhong, the left prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, and Lin Zexu, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Zhuge Weidao and Zheng Guoxian were standing tall in the main hall of Yuxi Palace wearing Jin Yiwei's flying fish uniforms. Contrary to Zhuge Weidao's expectation, his close friend Yu Hui also appeared in the Yuxi Palace with Lin Zexu.
However, Zhuge Weidao didn't pay much attention to Yu Hui. All his attention was attracted by Lin Zexu who appeared with Zheng Guozhong! There are not many historical celebrities in China who have survived the "Zhuge Wuzhong King's Rebellion"! As far as Zhuge Weidao knew, there was Wei Yuan, the ambassador to Petersburg, He Zhongtang from the Jin Empire, and the third one was Lin Zexu... Oh, and there was also Fat Daoguang, who didn't look like the original. , so it doesn’t count.
So now Zhuge Weidao looked at Lin Zexu carefully. He was a middle-aged man in his forties. He was not tall, had a broad forehead, was a little fat, had a goatee, and had bright eyes. , he looks like a high official.
According to Zheng Yuhuan, this Lin Zexu is also a noble queen. My ancestor joined the army when Zheng Chenggong regained Fuzhou, and followed three generations of kings, Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Jing, and Zheng Kezang, to conquer the east and west. Finally, he was awarded the title of Viscount, returned to his hometown in rich clothes, and settled in Zuoyingsi, Fuzhou, Fujian. The generation passed down to Lin Zexu is already the fourth generation. . However, he was able to become Minister of Foreign Affairs at the age of forty not entirely because of his ancestor's title, but because of his own outstanding ability and the promotion of his college classmate Zheng Guozhong.
"King Cheng, Shangshu Lin, and Ambassador Yu, please take a seat."
Seeing that Zheng Guozhong and Lin Zexu had finished bowing to each other, Empress Dowager Zheng politely asked Zheng Guozhong, Lin Zexu, Yu Hui and others to take a seat.
"I invite you three to enter the palace today. I have two things to say." Seeing that the three of them were already seated, Queen Mother Zheng began to speak. As she spoke, she took a look at the guards standing beside her. Zhuge Weidao said, "The first thing is that Grand Duchess Natalie failed the examination by the female doctor in the palace... Her body was broken!"
It turns out that Queen Mother Zheng summoned Zheng Guozhong, Lin Zexu, and Yu Hui to Yuxi Palace through Natalie's incident. According to the current "Ming Dynasty Covenant", the emperor is a rubber stamp of the constitution, not to mention the Empress Dowager Zheng? She wanted to invite people to come in the name of discussing and promoting the hostility between Jin and Britain. Zheng Guozhong, Lin Zexu, and Yu Hui would definitely not come. But Natalie's matter was both a state matter and a private matter of the emperor's family. Empress Dowager Zheng definitely has the right to speak, and she can also call relevant people into the palace for discussion.
"What?"
"Is this happening?"
"The Queen Mother, can you find out who did it?"
Although Zheng Guozhong, Lin Zexu, and Yu Hui had already known that Natalie had let someone sleep with her, they all looked surprised at this moment, and Lin Zexu wanted to investigate with a serious look on his face.
However, Zhuge Weidao, the culprit of this matter, was not panicked at all and still stood there with his chest out and his belly protruding.
When Queen Mother Zheng heard Lin Zexu's question, she said seriously: "I want someone to check it out... It's just that Natalie is a princess of a great country after all, and our Ming Dynasty is a country of etiquette, so we can still treat others..." Failure to use torture? If Natalie only wants to protect her husband, what can we do?"
Zheng Guozhong sighed: "What else can I do? Give me the gold and let it be paid back! There is a precedent for this. When the princess of Siam got married, she was also found to have lost her virginity. In the end, I didn't give the gold and let it be paid back. Already?"
Lin Zexu said: "The Queen Mother, even if the traitor is found, it is impossible for us to punish Grand Duchess Natalie... It's just a pity that so many years of planning and so many people's work have been done. If we can catch that Mr. J, you can be punished more severely!"
After listening to Lin Zexu's words, Empress Dowager Zheng nodded slightly, then turned to look at Zhuge Weidao: "Taozi, it was you who protected Grand Duchess Natalie from the Rakshasa Kingdom. Do you know which man she was with along the way? Have you ever had a close relationship?"
Zhuge Weidao quickly bowed and said: "Your Majesty, forgive me, I was negligent... After I escorted Grand Duchess Natalie to Yingxian Pavilion, I was summoned by He Shen to see Emperor Daoguang in Wuji Palace. , it’s been two days since I came out of Wuji Palace.”
He actually picked himself clean.
Lin Zexu frowned and asked, "What did Emperor Daoguang call you to do?"
"Reporting to Lin Zhongtang, Emperor Daoguang summoned his officials to Wuji Palace to tell his fortune."
Yu Hui, who came with Lin Zexu, added on behalf of Zhuge: "In the middle hall, the Jin Kingdom has always been superstitious about fortune telling, and they also claimed to have inherited the inheritance of Nalan Mingzhu, a disciple of King Wuzhong, so they believed in Zhuge very much. That Daoguang, Heshen He is especially superstitious about fortune telling, so Zhuge Daozi settled down in Yingxian Pavilion, and He Shen came to invite him on Daoguang's order."
They are indeed good brothers!
When Zhuge Weidao heard Yu Hui's words, he cast a grateful look at him.
Lin Zexu did not bother anymore about Grand Duchess Natalie sleeping with someone, but continued to ask about Daoguang's fortune telling, "Major Zhuge, what did Daoguang ask you to do?"
"In the middle hall," Zhuge Weidao said, "Where is Daoguang asking his subordinates to calculate his military and financial fortune?"
"Have you calculated it?" Zheng Guozhong asked with a smile.
"Figured it out."
"Where is Emperor Daoguang's military and financial fortune?"
"In the south, in Tianzhu."
Lin Zexu's eyes twitched: "Major Zhuge, are you inciting Emperor Daoguang to go south to India to rob?"
"Zhongtang," Zhuge Weidao said, "the lower official just said what Emperor Daoguang was thinking, not to mention inciting him."
Lin Zexu asked: "You mean that Emperor Daoguang only wants to go to India to steal money?"
Zhuge Weidao smiled and said: "Zhongtang, among the kings who dominated Central Asia in history, who wouldn't want to go to India to grab some? Now the Jin Kingdom has strong soldiers but a poor country. Apart from grabbing money, they will only suffer poverty."
"But India is a colony of the British Empire!" Lin Zexu frowned, "Emperor Daoguang really dared to touch the British Empire's tiger butt?"
"So what if you touch it?" Zhuge Weidao smiled and said, "If you win the Lord Tianzhu, you will never be short of money in the future. If you lose, can the British Empire still enter the Wuji Valley? The foundation of the Jin Empire cannot be damaged, and it is still If you can ask for money and food from the British Empire through diplomatic channels, you won’t suffer any loss.”
"Oh?" Lin Zexu seemed to be interested, "According to your statement, as long as Emperor Daoguang sends troops to India, the British will suffer anyway?"
Zhuge Weidao glanced at him and thought: "As expected of Lin Zexu, he was happy to hear that Daying was going to be in trouble."
"Zhongtang," Zhuge Weidao said, "Daying is like a rich bully, and he has taken over the wealth of this rich woman in India, and his life is so carefree. Jin Guo is a barefoot beggar, and he will not die. Said, Daying can’t take it away yet. If the evil beggar from the Jin Kingdom breaks into the rich Indian woman’s house occupied by Daying and causes trouble, what can Daying do? What can this so-called world ocean hegemon do? Drive an armored ship to Wuji Valley? "
"I'm afraid things are not as easy as you said, right?" Lin Zexu stroked his goatee, looking at this little Zhuge who had an extraordinary relationship with the Queen Mother, and murmuring in his heart.
Didn’t you say that this little fox was stupid? Now look at it, it’s okay, you’re not stupid! And what he said about the evil beggars from the Jin Kingdom harassing the bully Daying is quite reasonable... This bully Daying is annoying to look at! Relying on the advantages accumulated in the Age of Sail and its position as the leader of Europe, it went from a small country to the status of an empire on which the sun never sets.
What’s even more hateful is that since the fall of Napoleon’s France, the British have been talking about the Yellow Peril every day, saying that the Ming Dynasty is the biggest threat to their European Christian civilization, and they must unite the European Christian civilizations to contain the Ming Dynasty... Although by then... So far, it’s just empty shouting, but it also sounds harsh!
And no one knows when they will actually take action to cut off the East-West trade in the Indian Ocean! If there is a chance to repair the British Empire without having to mobilize troops in the Ming Dynasty, that would be great.
"Lin Zhongtang," Zhuge Weidao had already seen something from Lin Zexu's expression, and immediately said with a smile, "The official feels that Emperor Daoguang needs someone to push him before he will really rush to India to find the British. Trouble."
"Who will push?" Lin Zexu asked.
Zhuge smiled and said nothing. Zheng Guozhong took over the conversation and said with a smile: "Brother Shao Mu, besides you, who else is more suitable to push Dao Guang to the battlefield?"
