late Qing Dynasty arrest

The Empress Dowager Cixi was waiting for Prince Qing Yikuang to come out to refute Li Hongzhang's proposition, but no one from the conservatives who waited left and right for Prince Qing and other conservatives came forward to speak. Strange, why is this?

The Empress Dowager Cixi listened to the Qing School and the Westernization School's quarrel, and after a few rounds, she could hear the general idea, and she couldn't help but smiled and said: "Since you are all talking about Tanhualang Li Guolou, Li Guolou, you also take a step forward to talk. .”

"Blade! The servant complies with the order!" Li Guolou responded in a crying voice, stepped forward, and knelt on the gold brick floor, he felt so wronged!Those of the Qing school even said in the court, "The lack of personal morality is because of returning from overseas!" In the upright Jinluan Hall, the people of the Qing school are really shameless. Expose his background?These things are all in his files. Didn't the empress dowager still appoint him to be the prostitute.

Li Guolou said in a loud voice: "My Majesty, the empress dowagers of the two palaces, the slaves have to argue a few words first, how can they talk about private virtues in the open and upright court? Privateness is a secret. Can a gentleman be in the court?" Come on, do you talk about private life? Even if you have opinions on the character of slaves, you can go to the court and let the emperor and the two queen mothers be judged. The country's selection of scholars first depends on this person's ability, just like Chen Ping, the founding hero of the Han Dynasty, history books It is also written that he owes his personal morality, but it still cannot cover up the great achievements he has established. In the end, Chen Ping devoted himself to the Han Dynasty and died in the post of the prime minister. What an admirable person, the slave is based on the example of Qu Nihou , To build an inexhaustible achievement for the Qing Dynasty, I am willing to be named a Marquis, endure humiliation and endure hardships, and ride the wind and waves in the future, and the blue sky will shine in the east."

Li Guolou was really quick-witted. His remarks not only made princes and ministers look at him with admiration, but also made admiring "hmm" sounds of approval from behind the Cizhu curtain. Even the Empress Dowager Ci'an had a good impression of Li Guolou. .

Li Guolou showed gratitude, and continued: "I have read the books of sages and sages, and I have also learned foreign languages. It is meaningless to talk about which is better. If there is a big debate, it should be placed in the Imperial Academy, not in the Imperial Academy." Talk freely during court meetings in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, because this truth is too profound, and whoever starts it will not be able to finish it in a day. I am not trying to educate the people with the culture of foreigners, but need to master some things that are not written in our sage theory practical skills. As the saying goes, teach apprentices to starve the master to death. Therefore, those senior foreigner technicians hired in my Qing Dynasty will have reservations in order to keep their jobs. Everyone has selfishness, and it is by no means Because those technicians are foreigners, but because of human nature. If you want to break this pattern, you have to go out, learn all the skills of foreign technicians, and start from laying the foundation. Only in this way can you build a tall building. Let Smart The schoolchildren learned Western skills from an early age. This is like the sage theory we have learned. It takes ten years to gain something. How can a half-baked person become a second-ranked Jinshi. The servant also presented a booklet, which wrote The content is the actual experience of the slave. Who can explain clearly what is called looking at flowers in the fog? Avoiding many detours, the Qing Dynasty relies on a group of people like Li Guolou who are useful for China, and can integrate them well. The ultimate goal is to make Neo Confucianism flourish and spread to the world. The future Qing Dynasty can stand on the top of the world. At the peak, the grand occasion of all nations coming to congratulate is just around the corner. I also hope that the emperor and the empress dowagers of the two palaces will fulfill this slave's wish."

Li Guolou is so thick-skinned that he brags about himself so much that the Qing school can't do anything about him for a while, because what Li Guolou said, everything comes back to the source, but in the end it falls on the sage's Neo-Confucianism.

"Well;;;;;; Li Guolou is a loyal and patriotic person, and I appreciate your courage and confession. Peaceful life!" The Empress Dowager Ci'an, who rarely spoke, spoke out, and her words were solid.

The historian next to him immediately recorded in the record, "Li Guolou is a man of loyalty and patriotism." This sentence is the highest praise given to Li Guolou by the Empress Dowager Ci'an of the Eastern Palace, and it will be recorded in the annals of history forever.

Even the Empress Dowager Cixi was delighted when she heard this, and she and the Empress Dowager Ci'an nodded at each other, praising Li Guolou for being eloquent and worthy of being their favorite Tanhua Lang.The words were so loud that the Westernization School and the Qing School were silent, and the flags and drums died down.Those princes and ministers were all entangled by Li Guolou's words. For a while, no one could grasp the reason for his words.

Li Lianying found Li Guolou's booklet from the stacked slips and handed it to the Empress Dowager Cixi to read it, which made her happy again. Li Guolou was written in both Manchu and Chinese. Such a slave is a caring person. minions.The Empress Dowager Cixi smiled happily and said: "Well! The truth is that the more debates become clearer, today's court meeting came out with a debater Li Guolou, who made a lot of sense. The imperial court approved Prince Gong's book "Students to Study Abroad". Yes. But those who fail the exam are not allowed to go to the Prime Minister’s Office to learn some foreign language. If they fail the exam, they can become an official. Isn’t Zuo Zongtang the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu? Besides, they can take the exam again after two years. The truth, don't you understand?"

"Thank you from the commandment! I send off the emperor and the empress dowagers of the two palaces to drive!" Prince Gong complacently glanced at the group of ancient Qing schools. The early dynasty ended with the victory of the Westernization School, and those who make small reports will not end well.

From the beginning to the end, Emperor Tongzhi didn't say a word, and kept flipping through the booklets, no emotions could be seen on his face, and finally said: "To appreciate Li Guolou, one look at one flower feather!"

"Slave, thank God! Long live my emperor!" Li Guolou knelt on the ground and kowtowed, the jealous eyes of the ministers beside him turned green.There is a "blue feather" on the cap of a fifth-rank official, and the "flower feather" is worn by a third-rank official. In the eyes of Emperor Tongzhi, it is equivalent to treating Li Guolou as a third-rank official. , Li Guolou climbed to the top, making those princes and ministers dumbfounded, "Heshen" rose like this, and they all described him as "Heshen" next to Emperor Tongzhi behind Li Guolou's back.

Li Guolou just stepped out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Li Hongzhang whispered: "Guolou, go to Tianjin with me tomorrow."

"Take it! The lower officials are willing to accompany you." Li Guolou muttered, but he didn't dare to object. He had a lot of wives and children, so he had to separate and leave. He was a widow and worked hard for the country and the people.

Ministers are not allowed to whisper to each other after the morning court, this is to avoid suspicion, the so-called cliques are gathering together to form cliques.Therefore, no matter what the relationship between princes and ministers is, after the morning court, they will walk dully, those who sit in the sedan chair directly, and those who get in the carriage get into the carriage, and each go home, and some even have to go to the government office to do errands.

Li Guolou went straight to the House of Internal Affairs. The Yamen of the House of Internal Affairs is not far from Xihua Gate. He has an official hat "Supervisor of the Longevity Mountain Project". There is his office there. The office always has to go several times.Rong Lu, the minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, is also one of his immediate bosses. In the future, he will contribute 10% of the funds allocated to the Longevity Hill Project from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to Rong Lu.

Rong Lu always appeared in Li Guolou's mind. He looked like a gentleman, and he was radiant.It was to win him over and to show his favor, and the bank note of 50 taels was delivered to him the next day.But he played tricks on him and allocated ten official slaves to him at once. I don't even think about how many spies from the Ministry of Internal Affairs there are, but I got five pretty girls to seduce him.

Why!Rong Lu is too rich, and he is the most famous official in the capital who loves to show off his attire. He is extremely particular about clothes and decorations.Every winter from November to the Lantern Festival of the next year, the mink coat worn by Rong Lu was not repeated for two and a half months. There was a new style every day. In order to facilitate wearing and identification, he put hundreds of mink fur coats Coats are numbered and sewn into the clothes to avoid repeated wearing. This is how Ronglu flaunts his taste and worth.Thinking about Rong Lu, whether he is an enemy or a friend, I can't figure it out!Li Guolou came to the residence of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with his hands behind his back.

Next to Xishiku is the magnificent courtyard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the seal still needs to be checked at the gate. Li Guolou took the big seal of "Supervising the Longevity Mountain Project" from his personal accomplice Cheng Kun, and after checking it, he led a group of people Enter the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

If the Ministry of Households is likened to the "Department of Silver Households", then the Ministry of Internal Affairs is a golden mountain. The normal annual treasury income of the Qing Empire is 4000 to 1000 million taels of silver.The Ministry of Internal Affairs needs at least 5000 million taels of silver to be responsible for its own profits and losses, so that the palace can operate normally. If the general account is clear, the annual fiscal revenue is at least [-] million taels, and a quarter of the country’s finances are spent by the emperor. In a feudal society , the money left over by the country was eventually spent by the emperor.The manpower and material resources required to maintain a huge royal family are terrifying. This is a state secret, and outsiders can only use their imagination to describe the scenes of royal life.

Rong Lu did not come to the House of Internal Affairs, Li Guolou was led directly to a courtyard by two eunuchs, and there were two brand new signboards "Wanshoushan Project Office" and "Wanshoushan Project Preparatory Office" on the left and right of the door.

"Hahahaha! This is really nice, it is the most luxuriously decorated office room I have ever seen." That bastard crossed the threshold first, he has already turned into a phoenix, and Li Guolou is the first to think of him in terms of benefits, here From now on it will be his domain.

"What's your name?" Now Li Guolou could straighten his back and speak to eunuchs.

"Hey hey! Master Li, my name is Yan Meier, and his name is Smiley. We are the book office here." Eunuch Yan Meier warmly entertained the new master Li Guolou and a few of his followers, and the eunuch Smiley Busy pouring water and tea.

Li Guolou sat behind the large desk, and the chair was a sofa chair. It seemed that the eunuch knew that he was a fake foreign devil and brought him a foreigner chair. Li Guolou tried the elasticity of the sofa chair and nodded in approval. Said: "Yan Meier, Smiley, I won't treat you two badly when I work with this official in the future. You have to work diligently and understand the rules. You can't do things with bad rules. If you stretch your hands out of bounds, this official can't keep you. Understand." ?"

"Understood, understood! Master Li, don't worry, we are also promoted step by step, how can we break our own rules." The eunuch Yan Meier handed over a stack of bank notes with a smile, this is the rule, the new chief When you arrive, Feng Yi offers you a little heartfelt gesture.

"Well;;;;;; Eye-catching, smiling faces have a bright future, I won't move the seats of you two. From now on, listen to the words of Mr. Caijin, and you will get the first share." Li Guolou did not hesitate. He politely asked the bastard to accept it, and he didn't even look at how many bank notes there were. This was just the beginning, and his hand would become weak when he received the money in the future.

"Thank you, master, for your kindness!" Yan Mei'er and Smiley'er, with tears streaming down their faces, knelt on the ground to kowtow to Li Guolou and Na Bazi respectively, they were their main master and second master.

Yan Meier brought the account book and handed it to Li Guolou for viewing. This is not a journal account book, but an income ledger. The two eunuchs have just been promoted to the Wanshou Mountain Project Preparation Office. This is also the rule in the palace. After working for a few years, you will have to resign, and there is a limit to reaching out for money.If you continue to fish indefinitely, you will be hated, and if your subordinates have no hope, then you will not sell the chief.

When Li Guolou saw it, he also heaved a long sigh. The country has been fighting all the time, and the Old Summer Palace can only maintain the annual repair cost, which is slightly more than the previous year, but it still does not exceed 60 taels of silver. The life of the two empress dowagers is very hard. , This amount of money can only maintain the normal operation of the Old Summer Palace.

"Well;;;;;; I know, I will deal with Lord Rong, and the money allocated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs will not be less than 100 million taels. As for the shortfall, I will replace the empress dowagers of the two palaces. Share your worries. In the future, all the funds for the Wanshoushan Project will be kept in the bank, and the interest will be used to celebrate the birthdays of the two queen mothers. . " Li Guolou made a move to make the empress dowagers of the two palaces have a good impression of inviting them into the bank.

"Zha!" Yan Mei'er and Smiley'er knelt on the ground and were still laughing. In the future, the Longevity Hill Project will earn at least 200 million taels of silver every year, and the future will be even more terrifying figures. They finally made it through.