Hidden Dragon in Qing Dynasty

Chapter 35 - Crown Prince Gong

The experts who were familiar with the ancient buildings in the Ming and Qing dynasties were definitely familiar with these words, because these were the words used to describe the famous late Qing's Gong Wang Manor.

Before Li Hongzhang became successful, he had monopolized the foreign affairs of the Great Qing Empire. And in the end, he had passed the power of foreign affairs to Bei Yang because his body was getting weaker and weaker by the day, otherwise, it would really be impossible for Li Hongzhang to take over this class.

"Half of the history of the Qing dynasty is in the Residence of Gong. Right now, this is the core of the empire's diplomatic service. The six of them have tremendous power and influence. This opponent isn't easy to deal with …" Xiao Letian sat on the borrowed carriage and stopped 100 metres away from the entrance of the Duke Palace. In front of the carriage was a row of palanquins that had blocked off the main street. The steward of the mansion was leading his men to arrange the carriages accordingly.

"Aiya! Isn't this Jiu Shuai? "Greetings to Lord Zeng …" The steward of the outer court immediately kowtowed. His brain was extremely low.

The surrounding officials had never seen the butler of the Residence of Crown Prince so respectful. All of them whispered to each other, and some of them didn't know the details, so they quietly explained, "You guys don't know this master? Ah, hey, you people are such useless officials, Jiu Shuai is Great Marshal Zeng's Ninth Brother ah … "

"Ceng Guoquan!" It was unknown who had the gall to shout out, "So it's him. Didn't the imperial government let him go to Zhejiang to be a patrolling officer?" "Why are you here in Beijing again …"

"Shut up, are you crazy? Donkey, you … Let Ceng Titou hear you call his name, be careful of your head. What patrolling officer? He was the one who raised Xiang Army, and Jiu Shuai was the one who led the troops to attack Tianjing City … I heard that this time, Jiu Shuai is going to be standing in front of the Great Marshal Zeng and he will be going to the capital soon. "

The people talked amongst themselves, talking about Jiu Shuai and his brother, the two famous brothers of Zeng Family in history. They had just destroyed Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and it was right at the peak of time, when the 500 thousand Xiang Army s in their hands were a military force that the entire Qing Dynasty was afraid of.

Ceng Guoquan acted as if he did not hear their discussion, and laughed while supporting his butler, "You old dog, working under the king as a errand boy can be considered to have cultivated to the Exquisite Spirit Realm, you thousands of times make my heart ache … "Someone come, honor your housekeeper with three thousand taels …"

"Thank you, Jiu Shuai, for your rewards! Someone, open the door and welcome Jiu Shuai! You better not reject, the gate was opened by the prince himself, and the prince also said that Jiu Shuai came to welcome you from the second gate … "

Aiya, what a great face! The officials who were waiting in line were all discussing, to be able to get the Prince Kung to open the doors to welcome them, and even to welcome them at the second floor, the Zeng Family brothers were simply too much of a face.

Jiu Shuai only had to decline slightly before he swaggered into the main entrance, causing the surrounding officials to be extremely envious. Xiao Letian laughed coldly, "You bunch of idiots, just look at your flashy face, what's the use of not opening the gates. These days, having money and having troops is the most beneficial thing, when British and French combined forces is at Supreme Harmony Palace training time, he doesn't even need you to open the gates for him … Alright, after Ceng Titou is done, it's my turn, go around these palanquins, we'll be the first one to go! "

Using Louis's relationship with the carriage, they easily avoided the horde of palanquins, and started to stuff everything in it in exchange for a group of people's accusations, "Hey hey hey, what's going on, the foreigners can just cut the line? Line up behind... Eh? The person in the car wasn't a foreigner, but a diabolical? Aiya, isn't that Alone overseas Xiao Letian!? "

All the officials at the entrance, as well as the servants attending the entrance of the palace, were all dumbfounded. They watched as the black carriage was pushed to the first one, and then a second devil in a foreign dress jumped down from the carriage. His snow-white gloves grabbed onto his staff, and he walked with a sense of elegance.

"Esteemed steward?" "Butler!" Xiao Letian shouted twice before waking him up, "This is my invitation card." After saying so, he stuffed the invitation into the butler's arms and walked forward with large strides.

"Hey hey hey, Mr. Xiao, wait a moment, please wait a moment …"

"What do you mean? Oh... If I forgot to give the door bag, blame me for being negligent. " With that, he stuffed two hawks used by foreigners into the butler's hands. How could the steward of the Residence of Crown Prince possibly care about such a small amount of money? He stood there awkwardly, his face turning green.

"Thank you, Mr. Xiao for your reward … "Men, open the doors to welcome the Mr. Xiao, the two royal families welcome him personally …" With that roar, the entire street in front of the Palace turned into an uproar. Everyone was shocked speechless for a long time, even Xiao Letian was stunned.

This was Corporal Li Xian? Is this helping me turn the tables in front of Qing Liu? No wonder General Xie Zi was able to control the foreign affairs of the entire empire. His eye for discernment is quite good, to be able to see through treasures from my book? Xiao Letian raised his head and looked at the creaking of the main door as it slowly opened up, as if the entire empire was opening wide for him.

The ancient people said that the Hou Clan was as deep as the ocean, not to mention the Duke Palaces, when Xiao Letian walked into the Residence of Crown Prince, he felt a wave of wealth that was purely formed by using people, and almost fell over him.

There were eunuchs and servants standing respectfully everywhere, as well as maids who were tiptoeing back and forth. Every room was filled with noise. When the two devils wearing foreign clothes walked in front of them, everyone stood up and pointed at them.

When Xiao Letian saw this, he felt that it was pretty good. The devil was actually playing with me like a monkey, and told me to come over and watch the scenery for these officials. In a short moment, the two doors were already closed, but it was not only General Gui Six who welcomed him, Jiu Shuai, who was standing by the side, was also staring at him with a smile.

"This is the Alone overseas with the mysterious inscription that touched the capital, Mr. Xiao Xiao Letian. This king has been looking forward to it for a long time, and upon seeing it today, I am really in high spirits. Please..." The noble prince actually extended his hand and gestured for Xiao Letian to come in. Jiu Shuai was even more passionate, he actually walked down the stairs and grabbed Xiao Letian's hand.

"Only a strange man can write such a wonderful essay. Ever since Teacher's《 Journey to the West》 shocked the capital, I've read it four or five times without missing a word. What a sudden enlightenment. Today I've met the main character, and I'm drunk without saying anything …" With that, he dragged Xiao Letian and walked to the back garden, which was also the famous Extract Garden.

Xiao Letian enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the famous garden along the way, while carefully thinking about the inner workings behind this banquet. It was the best time to wear the same pants as Ci Xi, the two of them colluding with each other to deal with outsiders. The peasant uprising in the Qing Dynasty was going to be suppressed, and the Chinese Officer s who could not keep up with it, had to be on guard. Even the imperial opposition, represented by Ci An, had to keep a close eye on him.

In Xiao Letian's memories, it was only until Guang Xu took over the throne and the generals of the Xiang Army gradually aged and lost their ambition to rebel, and after Ci An was killed and his complete surrender to the imperial family, that the alliance between the two of them was broken. With Ci Xi's instructions, he definitely wouldn't be able to deal with this opponent.

And Ceng Guoquan, was definitely not an easy target. In the annals of history, this brother of his had instigated his brother to revolt more than once, and in the real world, after Xiang Army was pacified, there were 500 thousand elite soldiers and a large number of Gun s. On the other hand, at the heart of the Qing Dynasty, Seng Gelinqin had destroyed the last bit of her elite ability. In terms of overall strength, she was not a match for the Xiang Army.

Legend has it that it was Ceng Guofan's first time returning to the capital after calming down the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The moment Ci Xi saw him, the first thing he said was: "How many soldiers have you brought to the capital today?" Just this sentence alone made Ceng Guofan break out in a cold sweat for the entire night. It could be seen just how suspicious they were of each other.

"Damn it, these two are completely enemies. What are you trying to do by coming to see me at the same time?" "What a strong smell of conspiracy."

Today's so-called buying a theater team to treat everyone to a drink was just an excuse. When the gong and drums in the theater sounded, the king did not appear. Instead, he appeared in a small and plain study room and the three of them sat together at a table to drink.

Xiao Letian looked at the exquisite dishes in front of him, but none of them could be called by their names. Every time the eunuchs and palace maids served four dishes, the noble guests would use at most three chopsticks and would be immediately removed. The two servants standing behind, on both sides and on the right, served closely made Xiao Letian's hair stand on end. modern man was not used to this kind of personal service. He had nowhere to put down his two hands, even the food was taken care of by the maids, as long as you opened your mouth.

After drinking three rounds of food, General Gui Six and Jiu Shuai looked at each other and laughed. Ceng Guoquan then said, "Mr. Xiao is really a westerner, I just looked at Mister's right hand and found that there is only a cocoon on the left side of your middle finger. This means that you grew up holding a westerner's pen since you were young, and us Da Qing scholars all hold a pen with four fingers.

Xiao Letian's heart skipped a beat. Awesome, who said the ancient people didn't know? The ancients only lacked a bit of natural science compared to the transcenders. They also had an unknown amount of historical knowledge. As long as they could leave their name in the annals of history, who would give them to them for nothing?

"Mr. Xiao, Hundred Flowers Tower's Wang Han Lin has been rude to you before. This king apologizes for him, he is already old and does not understand new things, why do you have to lower yourself to him? For my sake, forget about this …"

Xiao Letian heard that, there was a hidden meaning behind his words, General Gui Zi Liu was truly worthy of being a famous diplomat at the end of the Qing Dynasty. On the surface, it looked like he was trying to persuade Xiao Letian, but the subtext was telling Xiao Letian that he already knew the ins and outs of the Taibai Restaurant. We knew exactly what tricks you were using, it would be too easy to deal with you.

This time, Xiao Letian was facing a true opponent. What previous Fu Qing, what current Fu Qing, what current Liu County Order, what second master Lian Lian, these small characters could not even compare to the people who left their names in the history books. The power in their hands right now was something Xiao Letian couldn't possibly imagine. It would be so easy to crush him to death.

"Now you have to keep your head down …" How can I dare to hold a grudge with Old Han Lin? But you also know, I grew up in the west, where people respect women a lot. Wang Shizheng scolded me but scolded my wife no, I'm just a man who stands at the top of the earth, if I can't protect my woman, then wouldn't I be too useless! "

"Haha, forget it, it's not a big deal." Ceng Guoquan raised his wine cup and started to smooth things over, "Mr. Xiao grew up overseas after all, foreign people are just people who are extroverted like this. If Brother Xiao was to restrain himself, I really wouldn't believe that you grew up overseas … Your Highness, let's get back to business! "

Prince Kung put down his wine cup and asked, "Mr. Xiao, this king will ask you one thing. If our Great Qing is going to undergo a change, how do you think we should change it?"