Xianfeng, the ninth emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, finally ascended the throne of the emperor with the help of his teacher Du Zhitian and Zeng Guofan, the most intelligent contemporary emperor, and was the seventh emperor after the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs.

He won with loyalty, filial piety and love, and of course he could not help but maintain this reputation to the end. In fact, his nature is indeed in line with this, and the two heroes who gave advice did guide this student in the right way. This student is also counted as a true performance.

For the failed competitor Sixth Elder Brother Yixun, he was named Prince Gong according to the old emperor's will, and he was "hereditary replacement". The key here is the four words "hereditary replacement", which reflects the particularity of this title.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty determined from the beginning of the twelfth rank of the imperial title, all of which are hereditary, and those that are not replaced must be granted by the emperor after special approval. In the entire 12 Manchu Qing dynasties, a total of 12 royal families who enjoyed "hereditary replacement" were sealed, of which 10 were princes and two were county kings.

If there is no replacement, the hereditary line is still hereditary, but every time you inherit it, you have to be demoted to inherit the title. It will remain the same until it is lowered to the prescribed level, and it will continue at this level.

What's even more powerful is that this downgrade is not a first-level downgrade, but a skipping downgrade, as long as it reaches the third generation, it will be lowered to the last level. For example, the title of prince, which is a first-class title. When his son inherited it, he was demoted to the rank of Bongeun Town, which was the fifth-class title.

When the grandson inherits, he will be demoted from this fifth-class title by four levels to the Duke of Feng'en Town, which is the ninth-class title. Then the descendants will inherit the title of Duke of Feng'en Zhenguo forever.

In contrast to the hereditary prince and the prince of the county, their descendants will always be the prince and the prince of the county. It can be seen that it is also hereditary, and the difference between whether there is replacement or not is too big.

Because of this unshakable characteristic, people also call such a hereditary prince "Prince of the Iron Hat". There are only ten such princes in the entire history of the Manchu Qing Dynasty who have the honor of wearing iron hats, which shows how important their status is. It was even more scarce than the emperor, because there were as many as twelve official emperors from the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

For example, that Dolgon, who is simply the emperor. In fact, Prince Gong is also a member of the royal family who has experienced three emperors and served as prime ministers.

In addition to conferring the title of the sixth brother Yixun as Prince Gong according to the old emperor's wishes, the new emperor also benefited other brothers. Even the fifth brother Yi Cheng, who had already passed out, was also named Prince Xuan. The ten-year-old seventh brother Yiyun was named the king of alcohol county, and the six-year-old eighth brother Yixuan was named the king of Zhongjun. Even the ninth brother Yiyi, who was just five years old, was also named the king of Fujun.

This Tongfeng King settled the royal family, and then it was time to rectify the dynasty and deal with the mess left by the old emperor. Of course, this is inseparable from his mentor Du Zhitian. Emperor Xianfeng first rewarded him for his great merit of support, and promoted him to a co-organizer of the university, from the original highest official rank from the second rank, directly from the first rank, and crossed the second grade.

Scholar Du is even more energetic, not only forgetting to sleep and eating, but also not forgetting Zeng Guofan, who helped a lot. After taking the opportunity to mention it a few times, the new emperor understood that he had succeeded in ascending to the throne and that there was such a great hero behind him.

Especially when he heard that his cautious teacher praised him as unparalleled in ancient and modern times, and was a great help for him to consolidate the throne and change the status quo, he couldn't wait for the teacher to summon him to inquire and discuss important matters in person.

The place where the three of them met was the Emperor's Imperial Study. The choice of this location also shows that the new emperor regarded Zeng Guofan as an absolute confidant, because the imperial study was not only a place for the emperor to read and write in his spare time, but also a place for him to keep secrets. Only people with a particularly close relationship are allowed to enter.

Of course, Zeng Guofan knew the importance of this summons and the closeness of the new emperor to him, so he was especially grateful to his old friend Du Qitian. If he hadn't sent a message to the new emperor, who would have known about these secret schemes?

When I went to the emperor's imperial study, Lao Zeng was also the first time that the eldest girl sat in a sedan chair, and I couldn't help but be a little nervous. Fortunately, Lao Du and Lao Ma knew the way, and while guiding the way, he introduced him softly.

After a while, the two came to a large house. Zeng Guofan raised his eyes and looked at it, only to see the upper and lower floors, a plaque hanging horizontally in the middle, with three big characters on it: "tired and diligent fasting". Lao Zeng knew that this was the Imperial Study.

A young father-in-law with red lips and white teeth greeted him and said that the emperor had ordered, and you should go in directly when you come.

The two entered the imperial study, and Lao Zeng's eyes traced it, only to see a thin young man sitting there. He hurriedly bowed his head, so as not to commit the great crime of "stealing the king's face". Although it was only in a trance, he was still deeply impressed in his heart, "The new emperor is inevitably a little too thin." ”

After Du Zhitian told the new emperor that this was Zeng Guofan, Zeng Guofan hurried forward and bowed three times to the emperor. The latter accepted it, and then said, "Mr. Zeng, please get up and sit down." ”

This is a double special treat. Guan Zeng Guofan called Mr., obviously treated the same as Du Zhitian. It is also an additional grace to give him a seat, and the ministers generally speak on their knees.

Zeng Guofan was grateful, which further inspired the will to repay the emperor's kindness loyally. I didn't push it, my body was straight, and I sat on the brocade pier that my little father-in-law brought.

When the emperor saw that the two were seated, he opened his mouth and explained the purpose of summoning the two today.

"I already know Mr. Zeng's great achievements. I will trust in you as a servant of the humerus. When I first ascended to the great treasure, I was waiting to be revived, so I specially summoned two gentlemen to come, and I hope to give you advice. The first is to rectify the dynasty, and the second is to sweep away the chaos, I don't know what the two gentlemen have to teach me?"

Of course, Zeng Guofan came prepared, and he has been seeking solutions to these two problems, and he has a lot of ideas. It's a pity that he didn't have the conditions to do it before, and he didn't even have a chance to speak. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be consulted.

However, he will not take the liberty of snatching words and messing up the order. After all, Lao Du and the emperor had a closer relationship. And he also knows better what the emperor thinks. Therefore, he waited for Lao Du to speak first.

Lao Du was really steady and persistent, and expressed his opinion.

"When the emperor first ascended to the great treasure, a qiē was mainly stable. For the court, the emperor selected one or two capable people to secretly investigate foreign officials. After the evidence is conclusive, the officials in question will be removed from their posts and dealt with strictly. ”

The Emperor said, "Sir is right, steady dìng is the best. I can send a messenger to do something like this. Once corrupt officials are cleaned up, the situation will be greatly improved. He turned his face to Zeng Guofan and said, "What does Mr. think?"

Zeng Guofan listened to the conversation between the two people, but he was unimpressed. Of course, such a countermeasure cannot be said to be wrong, but the timing is not right. Zeng Guofan knew that the rebellion of the people below was imminent, and with the current imperial court, it would definitely not be able to deal with it in the current way.

It is true that there are many problems at all levels of government below, but the key problem is in the center of the imperial court. If we do not solve the problem at the root, there is no way to overcome the difficulties in the future. The problem of this imperial court is not that the institution is bloated and inefficient. That's too light.

Rather, it reverses right and wrong, confusing black and white. Especially some royal officials with great power in their hands are simply perverse, and everything is getting worse and worse. When these people are in power, the situation will not only not get better, but will get worse and worse. Not only could the rebellious people not be suppressed, but the Manchu rule would soon be at a dead end.

Lao Zeng pondered the words for a while, thought about how to express his worries, and then proposed his own measures to deal with these concerns. In the end, he decided that it was better to dry the problem directly, open his heart, and propose to build yì. If I accept it, I will make it happen, but if I don't listen, I can only see it perish, and there is nothing I can do.

"Enlightening the saint, the minister thinks that the end of the chaos should be re-enacted. If the traitorous party is still allowed to seize power and disrupt the government, the ministers are worried that it will not be long before the country will not be a country. Wei Chen recently returned to Hunan to visit his mother's illness, and heard that the chaotic party in the southern provinces was surging, one after another. Officials at all levels deceived their superiors and subordinates, concealed and did not report.

What is even more worrying is that Christianity has spread, and many foolish people know and agree with the Christian faith with tenacity and perseverance.

What's more, many of the fallen talents are also involved. The rebels and Christianity are interconnected. Once this mixture forms a chaotic situation, and the DPRK and China control each other, the overall situation will collapse and there will be no help!"

Then, Zeng Guofan told the information he had collected indirectly from Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangguang, as well as the Christian knowledge and current situation that he had heard directly from Mai Ke, to match his previous answer.

"There was also Christianity in the former Pilgrimage, which was strictly forbidden by the former pilgrimage. It doesn't seem to have a big impact. Is it really so strict now?" Du Zhitian knew more about what happened in the early Manchu Qing Dynasty, and knew that in the early days of Kangxi, he was quite lenient about Christianity, so when he heard Lao Zeng's introduction, he felt that it was hard to believe that there would be such a big danger.

"The danger is far from detailed. Entanglement with our Qing Dynasty and foreign countries are all based on Christianity. It is inevitable that they will also think the same thing about my Daqing. It's better to plan ahead than to sharpen your guns. Lao Zeng explained to the emperor. Although Lao Du asked, he couldn't put the emperor aside and talk to others. Moreover, these issues are probably also of concern to the Holy One.

"So what is Mr. Zeng's countermeasure?"

"There are two strategies. The former quickly cut through the chaos and resolved the disorder of the DPRK, while the latter established a foundation to fight against the chaotic party.

"If you want to revive the dynasty, you must remove the scholars of the Wenhua Palace. Mu Zhang'a was affected by the grace of the court's knowledge, did not think about its difficulties and prudence, and was of the same heart as morality, which was to protect the position and be greedy, hinder the virtuous and sick country, be loyal and faithful, and be feminine and feminine to help the traitor;

"In the past, when the affairs were prosperous, Mu Zhang'a poured out dissidents, and he was deeply hated. If Da Hong'a and Yao Ying's loyalty and power are in the way, they will want to fall into it; It seems that there are those who steal power, and they cannot be enumerated.

"Mu Zhang'a deceived the emperor and acted unscrupulously, if he made the saint commit adultery in the morning, he would set up a heavy ceremony and never tolerate it. It is hateful that the member has always been indulged in favor and benefit, and has never been ashamed, and he has relied on his old ministers and deceived the saints. If you are so obedient to heaven and go against heaven, it will lead to accidents. The beggar saint is clearly aware and decisively punished. ”

After Lao Zeng finished speaking, Lao Du added some specific content. The emperor also inquired further about some details.

At this time, Zeng Guofan also recalled some of his past with Mu Zhang'a again. Speaking of Mu Zhang'a, it still has a lot to do with himself. Whether it is his own fame or ten promotions in ten years, his influence is at work.

As the chief secretary general of the Daoguang Emperor, Mu Zhang'a was responsible for handling all matters related to the emperor. One of the most important was to manage all officials, that is, to be the head of the organization of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Therefore, Zeng Guofan can be said to have been pulled up by him.

Not only Zeng Guofan, but all officials are like this. Therefore, objectively speaking, Zeng Guofan can be regarded as a disciple of Mu Zhang'a. If it weren't for life and death, even if Mu Zhang'a was very mediocre and bad, Lao Zeng would not oppose him.

And at this time, the risk is still very high. What if the new emperor relied heavily on this important minister of the imperial family? After all, Mu Zhang'a was the minister entrusted by the previous emperor to take care of his life, and he was in the first place.

However, for the sake of the overall situation of the Qing Dynasty and the vital interests of his family, Lao Zeng couldn't take care of it so much. Not to mention the relationship between the general promotion and the person being promoted, even if it is a close relative, when necessary, it is necessary to destroy the relatives in a righteous manner! At this time, it is tantamount to self-destruction to protect oneself.