late Qing Dynasty arrest

Emperor Tongzhi was very clever, so he withheld Prince Gong's memorial and presented Weng Tonghe's memorial to the empress dowagers of the two palaces.He thinks very well, and he will be able to take charge of the government in another month, and he can do it according to his own ideas.But sitting next to him, Weng Tonghe had already made up his mind, how could he break the ancestor's rules if he wanted to disclose this matter to the queen mothers of the two palaces?If there was a big debate in the early court, Li Guolou's rank was low, and he didn't even have a chance to speak. Who would win?

Li Guolou's zhezi actually said the same thing as Weng Tonghe. Weng Tonghe's zhezi started from the big picture, that is, the rectification of the defense of the Eight Banners and Six Armies.But Li Guolou started from a small point, mainly talking about the preparation and training of a battalion military system.In addition, Li Guolou is asking the emperor for leave. He wants to return to his hometown with a fine clothes.Although he is now a Manchu with a yellow flag, he still has ancestors.

Scholars and degree holders have to go back to their hometown once, and there are institutional holidays, which is also a happy event in life.Emperor Tongzhi immediately granted permission, and said with a smile: "Well;;;;;; Li Guolou! The empress dowager admires your ability to handle affairs very much. In this way, I will give you another errand while I am going back to my hometown. Play the news for me, do the job of "Winning Messenger", and report to me what I have seen and heard along the way."

"Thank you, Lord Long En!" Li Guolou was overjoyed. A low-level imperial envoy was awarded to him by the Emperor Tongzhi. The privilege of "Winning the Envoy" was given to the imperial doctor (central discipline inspection cadre), which was presented to the emperor. The memorial can attack other officials at will, and the hearsay can also be written in the memorial. The imperial court will not reprimand the "Winning Envoy" for false accusations.The person who sits in this position must be an upright official to be qualified.That is to say, the Emperor Tongzhi regarded Tanhua Lang Li Guolou as a scholar with high integrity and full of knowledge, or he regarded Li Guolou as his own slave and let Li Guolou make small reports casually.

Li Guolou took a secret box from the great eunuch Liu Deyin and held it in the palm of his hand. This is the tool for exchanging news with Emperor Tongzhi in the future. There are two locks in total, one is placed with Li Guolou, and the other is locked by Tongzhi. The emperor saves.The emperor of the Qing Dynasty knew the folk news through this gadget, and the officials with the "secret box" were all the emperor's cronies and confidants.

Li Guolou left the upper study room holding the "secret box" wrapped in yellow brocade silk, but he smiled wryly in his heart. The method that Emperor Yongzheng came up with is still in use, and Emperor Tongzhi still regards this kind of thing as a treasure.Such an old-fashioned secret box can be regarded as an antique for a long time. He only needs to use a hairpin to open the "secret box".There should be a copy of the book presented to the emperor, and the empress dowagers of the two palaces should have a backup.

After leaving the palace gate, Prince Gong tugged at Li Guolou's sleeve and said, "Li Guolou, go to the Yamen of the Prime Minister's Mansion. I have something to see you."

Li Guolou smiled sweetly and said, "Okay! I just want to eat the pork belly there."

With a treacherous smile on Prince Gong's face, he lowered his head and stepped into the green official sedan chair.

Li Guolou stepped into the carriage, waved his hand and said, "Battle, hurry to the office of the Prime Minister's Mansion. At noon, I will treat you to the most delicious pork belly in the world."

Battelle smiled and said, "Okay, Master Li, sit down."

The carriage started and went straight to the Yamen of the Prime Minister's Mansion. Li Guolou shouted: "Battle, surpass Prince Gong's official sedan chair, and don't bother with their guard of honor."

Li Guolou became impatient when he saw it. Why are there so many rules? Eight people carry a sedan chair, and there is a guard of honor of 24 people, which is a waste of time.He doesn't care about official etiquette, officials want to follow behind the prince.The person sitting in front is Prince Gong, so he will not be blamed for not following the etiquette.

Li Guolou first came to the Yamen of the Prime Minister's Mansion, had a good lunch in the cafeteria, and then came to the Chrysanthemum Hall, waiting for Prince Gong to summon him.Drinking afternoon tea, watching the beautiful scenery in the courtyard outside the window, enjoying a short leisure.

After 01:30, Prince Gong Yixin, Zhili Governor Li Hongzhang, and another middle-aged Jiangsu Governor Ding Richang walked out from behind the screen.

Ding Richang, courtesy name Yusheng, also known as Yusheng, nicknamed Chijing, was born in Fengshun, Guangdong, and was a 20-year-old scholar.At the beginning, he served as magistrate of Wan'an and Luling counties in Jiangxi. In 1861, he served as Zeng Guofan's staff and was a fellow student of Li Hongzhang. In May 1862, he was sent to Guangdong to supervise the administration of government affairs and firearms. In the summer of 5, he was appointed as the military commander of Susong Taibing, and in the autumn of the following year, he was transferred to the post of the Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy.He is currently the governor of Jiangsu, but was retained by Li Hongzhang in Tianjin to take charge of the preparations for the Beiyang Navy.

Ding Richang looks very similar to Li Hongzhang, with a rectangular face and a three-strand beard, but he looks old. He is in his 40s, and his beard and hair are already grey.He has a nickname called "Ding Guinu" or "Little Devil". He is very flattering to foreigners, has a good relationship with foreigners, and has many foreign friends who are very personal.

Now "Ghost Six", "Little Devil" and "Fake Foreign Devil" gathered in the Chrysanthemum Hall, and the three of them not only pursed their lips and snickered.

The four of them watched tea again and sat down, Prince Gong sighed: "Guolou, I called you here in such a hurry to tell you something. The Fujian Shipping Bureau is about to close down."

Li Guolou held his breath, and was stopped by Prince Gong's words, what does the matter of the Fujian Shipping Bureau have to do with him?He wants to run a shipyard, and he also invests in the "Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau" opened by Tianjin Beiyang Navy to make more contributions to Beiyang Navy.Li Guolou still understands the rules, so he can only follow the topic and ask: "Prince Gong, the Fujian Shipping Bureau is not running well, why can't it go on?"

"Hey! Isn't it just for the money? The Fujian Shipping Administration spent nearly 200 million taels of silver before and after, but up to now, not even a decent iron-clad ship has been built. Prince Qing Yikuang, Xu Tong and others jointly signed the two palaces. The Empress Dowager wrote a few papers, saying that the Ship Administration Bureau should be shut down. The Empress Dowager asked me what to do, so I wanted to ask you guys, do you have any good ideas to make the Ship Administration Bureau continue? And to make the court It doesn’t lose money, and it can build iron-clad ships like foreigners.”

Li Guolou looked at his uncle Li Hongzhang. He was already furious when he heard it, but he still held back his words.

Li Hongzhang said: "Prince Gong, Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau both use foreign funds to maintain their operations. Fujian Shipping Bureau might as well try this method? Xiaolou, do you have any good ideas? "

Prince Gong frowned and said, "Shaoquan, I've thought about what you said, but it's not a long-term solution. Not to mention the high interest rate of foreign money, when foreigners turn against each other and refuse to borrow money, what are we manufacturing bureaus doing?" How to do it? Isn’t it more expensive? It’s hard to explain to the Queen Mother. Guolou, you have the most ideas, and you can think of a good way for me.”

Prince Gong, Li Hongzhang, and Ding Richang, the three of them had discussed this issue long ago, they brought Li Guolou to question, and Li Guolou was already aware of their hidden schemes.

Li Guolou stood up, bowed and said: "Prince Gong, I am an official and do business for the purpose of making the country rich and the people strong, and I should serve you. But the first time I told you about the ideals and ambitions in my heart, I said , The country's thieves must be eradicated. The 200 million white money is so happy to get it so happy. If you can't do something, you can slap your ass and leave. How can it be so cheap. Let this kind of thieves escape the punishment of the law, and the people behind will also have Follow the same example, and spend another 200 million silver, and it will still be a pile of scrap copper and rotten iron. This kind of person who does not know the kindness of the king, the emperor, and the emperor will not be killed! There is no reason for the lower official to say something worrying."

Prince Gong never expected that Li Guolou would come up with such a bad idea, talking about the fallacy of the last time, "Use corrupt officials to fight against corrupt officials!" Cut off your arms and kill the Westernization faction.Raise a sentence, saying: "Guolou, your ideas are too radical. The leadership of the Shipping Bureau needs to be adjusted. If it doesn't work, they will replace a group. The matter of discussing crimes should be brought up. The family has family rules, the state owns the law, and it is not a matter of atonement." Is it the silver system? Let them spit it out then."

Li Guolou lowered his head and said, "If I'm an imperial envoy, I'll kill them first, copy the homes of those gnats, and even demolish their ancestral graves. This kind of person is not worthy of being a member of the Westernization School, let alone a prince." A student, a person who can't do anything, what use is he."

Li Hongzhang couldn't listen any longer, and angrily said: "Li Guolou, don't speak out of your temper. If the prince asks you, even if you are angry in your heart, you can't come up with bad ideas."

Li Guolou was also filled with righteous indignation for a while. With "200 million silver", he couldn't even build a decent iron-clad ship, and it was not for the Shipping Bureau to build cruisers. Li Hongzhang ordered two cruisers from the UK for 135 million taels of silver.It's just an iron-clad boat, it's just an iron-clad boat running around in the river, and it doesn't need to cost so much to learn the strange skills of the Westerners.

Li Guolou calmed down, his eyes became red, and he said: "My lord, Li Zhongtang, Mr. Ding, don't blame the officials for talking nonsense. Now that the country is in a state of rejuvenation, if we grasp it, we will be the heroes of the Qing Dynasty. If we don't cherish it, Our generation is a sinner through the ages. Others are making progress, but we are committing suicide. Even if the lower officials risk their lives and pay out money, and all the people under them do things like this, even if I can make money again, it will be hard to satisfy my desires. Nothing happens."

Prince Gong coughed and said, "Don't worry about Guolou, I don't think about eating and drinking, and I want to find someone to turn the tide, no! I called Mr. Ding here, just to recommend him to be the Minister of Shipping in Fuzhou, and to clean it up again." Going over the matter of the Shipping Bureau, things always come one by one, if you are so eager for quick success, I can't keep you."

Li Guolou was submissive and refused to say another word. Everyone has self-interest, and he was also thinking about his one-acre three-point land. "Xin Wu Tang" is his main direction of attack, Fujian is thousands of miles away, no matter what he does, even if he has money, he is not willing to give it to the "little devil".Crabs have their own ways, and each shows his own abilities. If he can't make money, who will pity him.

Prince Gong gave a wink, and Li Hongzhang sighed and said: "Guolou! New things always have to be explored slowly. The Fujian Shipping Bureau has reached this point. How can the conservatives in the court succeed in their plot to abolish the Shipping Bureau?" Absolutely not. Nowadays, foreigners rely on the power of guns and ships to run rampant in the Qing Dynasty, causing our people to suffer greatly. I just signed a treaty with Little Japan, and even such a tiny country dares to be at the negotiating table Threat to the dynasty. After being bombarded by American gunboats, Japan added steel factories, built more ships, and the army also used foreign guns and cannons. All of them are ahead of us. And our country? Only a few manufacturers The factory has spent so much money to take shape. It is not easy! Xiaolou, you have a patriotic heart, and now you have so many important positions. "

Li Guolou remained silent and maintained his demeanor. He was not in a hurry and was waiting for the good news.Benefits are mutual, what is not beneficial?Always give him a reason to serve.

Prince Gong took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Guolou, Shaoquan and I have also done the calculation for you, please come to the bank business, you can make sure you don't lose money. That's good, Fujian is your third pilot province , Cooperating with Master Ding will do you no harm, it depends on how you behave."

Li Guolou said with a sad face: "Prince Gong, Lord Ding, this chicken hasn't laid eggs yet, so I can't kill the chicken to get the eggs. You have to give me time to spend a few years of development."

Ding Richang said: "Guolou, you open a bank in Fuzhou first, and leave it to me to save money, and to you to make money. That's fine."

Li Hongzhang also said: "Xiaolou, you must help Prince Gong. Whether this paper can be successful or not depends on your words."

Li Guolou was heartbroken, and said, "Okay, I will do my part first, first give Mr. Ding 50 taels of silver, so that the Fujian Shipping Bureau can operate normally, and we will talk about other things next year."

The light and fluffy words made Prince Gong, Li Hongzhang, and Ding Richang a little unbelievable. The bank, please come in, hasn't opened yet?Li Guolou has a huge amount of 50 taels of silver by his side. It seems that this golden rooster still has a lot to offer.

"Hahahaha! Guolou is really a great horse of the Li family! Old man, I like to deal with you, and drink leather wine with you at night (skin wine is beer). OK!" Ding Richang only knows a few foreign words, and he likes to show off.

How to tap the potential of Li Guolou?Prince Gong couldn't help thinking, and looked at his new disciple with a smile, letting "Xi Shi" Zhen Yuhuan lurk beside Li Guolou, this move was the right move.