"At present, only a few wealthy provinces have handed over, such as Guangdong, Guangxi, Liangjiang, and Fujian and Zhejiang."
"Shaanxi and Gansu are different in saying that they have paid taxes and are still looking for disaster relief from the court. Although they have eliminated the Hui rebellion."
"But this area was severely affected by drought and floods, and was severely damaged by the Hui uprising."
"Currently, Zuo Zongtang wants to regain Xinjiang again. As expected, he will soon write a letter asking for help."
Emperor Tongzhi frowned. It would be impossible to wait for the garden to be repaired.
"Then you should think of a way for me. Wherever there is wealth, you can tax me."
Prince Gong said something fair.
"Nowhere is rich now. A rich country and a strong military are necessary for the national economy and people's livelihood."
"Where can there be extra money if the treasury is empty?"
…
"The Holy Mother Queen Mother is here!"
Emperor Tongzhi was frightened by this sound.
Other ministers immediately prepared to welcome Cixi.
Ci'an was the only one still sitting.
But Ci'an's face didn't look good either. She felt that Cixi's visit this time must be to settle accounts with the Queen of Autumn.
After all, a few of them killed the eunuch chief around Cixi before they passed Cixi.
Prince Gong also had beads of sweat on his forehead. He was the mastermind of this matter.
With a sullen face, Cixi slowly entered the political hall with the support of Xiao Lizi.
Emperor Tongzhi stood up and saluted Cixi.
"My son, I send my regards to my mother. I wish her happiness, longevity and health."
"I would like to send my regards to the Holy Mother Queen Mother!"
…
Cixi: "Everyone, get up. Don't worry. I'm in good health. It won't be that easy."
Ci'an smiled at Cixi: "As long as my sister's health has recovered, it's really worrying these days."
"My sister still cares about me. I'm sorry that I'm worried now. I'm in good health. You see, nothing's wrong."
Cixi sat down next to Ci'an.
"Ignore me and continue the discussion."
"By the way, what are the main things we will discuss today?"
Tongzhi: "After returning to my mother, today we mainly discussed Zuo Zongtang's lack of money to regain Xinjiang."
"There is not enough money to build the garden for my mother."
"The other thing is about Ding Baozhen killing Ande Hai this time and leaving his body exposed for three days."
"Then have you come up with the result of your discussion? How can so many people be stumped by this?"
"After returning to my mother, first of all, this garden must be repaired. This is not only a filial piety from my son and ministers, but also related to the face of our Qing Dynasty."
"It's just money we still have to think of something to do."
"As for Zuo Zongtang's recovery of Xinjiang, we want to slow it down. First, we can repair the garden for our mother, and then we can recover Xinjiang when we have money."
"As for Ding Baozhen's execution of Ande Hai, Ande Hai has done many evil things and deserves to be put to death."
Cixi: "Okay, he deserves to be executed."
"In my opinion, this Ding Baozhen is not afraid of power, has the courage to take responsibility, and can deal with Ande Hai in accordance with the law. He should be rewarded."
"Andehai accepted bribes in the name of working by my side. He also violated ancestral rules and went out of the palace without authorization. He is very courageous."
"Isn't he just a little eunuch, you slave dog? This good life has made him so uncomfortable. If anyone makes me uncomfortable, I will make sure that he never feels comfortable in his life."
"I ordered Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong, to be promoted to the governor of Sichuan for his merits in handling the case."
"As for the matters in the garden, we can slow them down as long as possible. Let Zuo Zongtang and Li Jingxiao prepare money and supplies on the spot, and give them sufficient authority."
"Take back Xinjiang as soon as possible. People cannot poke my sister and me in the back and say that we only care about our own comfort and do not care about the safety of the Qing Dynasty."
"Do you think this is feasible?"
Ci'an: "What my sister said is reasonable. I have no objection. Prince Gong, please take a look."
Prince Gong: "I have no objection."
"I have no objection."
"What do you think, Emperor?"
"If I return to my mother's house, my sons and ministers will have no objection."
"Well, okay, that's settled then."
"Okay, you guys go on, I'm going to hang out in the back garden, sister, do you want to come with us?"
"Well, I won't go. I want to go back and continue chanting."
"Okay, sister, I'll leave first, you continue."
After Cixi finished speaking, she took Li Lianying and left directly.
What Cixi just said was very profound and righteous. In fact, this is not the case at all. Otherwise, there would be no misappropriation of military funds for the purpose of building a garden, regardless of the safety of the Beiyang Navy.
Cixi just wanted to use this excuse to hold the emperor back and prevent him from taking full control of the government so quickly.
As long as she is still in the palace, her power will not be taken away.
Even if the emperor takes charge personally, it is she, Cixi, who has the final say.
After Cixi left, Tongzhi and Prince Gong handed down Cixi's orders.
One is to promote Ding Baozhen.
One is to order Zuo Zongtang and others to prepare military rations.
The other is to start the expansion of the garden slowly.
After Ding Baozhen killed Ande Hai, he thought his life was in danger and had already begun to make funeral arrangements.
Then just wait for Yizhi's arrival.
In the end, Yizhi came, but not to kill him, but to promote him.
Fortunately, he was smart enough to kill Anderhai and then strip him of his clothes and expose his body for three days.
Because there has been a saying among the people that this Andehai is not an eunuch, but a fake eunuch like Lao Ai of the Qin Dynasty.
Ding Baozhen's step directly helped Cixi expose the rumors.
It was also because of this that he saved Ding Baozhen's life.
As for whether Ande Hai is a real fake eunuch, only Cixi and Ding Baozhen know.
Anyway, what the public saw was a real eunuch.
Andehai's matter came to an end. His home was also ransacked, and a lot of money was exceeded. A small half of it was put into the treasury. The rest knew where they were after seeing Wei Xiaobao's raid on Obai's house.
Otherwise, this court would not be so poor.
It has been five months since Gan Hong arrived in Hsinchu County in Taipei.
All the new recruits have completed their training and have completely transformed into a truly strong army.
In addition to the main force of a regiment in each county and department, they now also have a reinforced battalion of reserves and a garrison of 800 people.
The reserve force is mainly used to expand the army later, with 500 people.
The establishment of the main regiment is more than 1,600 people, three battalions and a guard company at the regiment headquarters.
So now every county and department has at least 2,900 people.
In addition, Hsinchu County, Yilan County, and Keelung County all have artillery battalions.
The total strength has reached more than 16,000 troops.
In addition to local garrison and artillery battalions, there are seven to eight thousand people who can continue to expand the territory.
The only problem is that the guards will be much weaker after these people leave Taipei District.
Therefore, Gan Hong transferred his second regiment to Yilan County, continued to expand his army in Yilan County, and prepared to set off from Yilan County to capture Taitung Prefecture.
Taitung Prefecture is very mountainous, so they recruited local recruits in Yilan County.
The guard of Nanya Hall was handed over to the Second Brigade, and Gan Wei was in charge.
From now on, Gan Wei's Second Brigade will be mainly responsible for guarding Taipei's existing territory.
Gan Hong's first brigade is mainly responsible for external operations.
Many bullies and unkind squires in Taipei were investigated.
Taipei adopts the policy of allocating land to local tyrants.
The Han army was deeply loved by the people in the Taipei area.
He never bullied the people, and if he was found guilty of doing so, he would be severely punished.
