On this night, when the bright moon was in the sky, the Empress Dowager Cixi sat on the chair of the Taishi covered with yellow cushions, holding her cheeks with her hands, and staring sullenly at the round moon in the sky. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Li Lianying, who was standing on the side, saw the Empress Dowager Cixi look like this, as if she had neglected her duties, and her face was full of anxiety.

I thought, what's going on these days, the tea is not fragrant? hurriedly started his thirty-six reels and seventy-two heart eyes, and it was also thanks to him that he had served the Empress Dowager Cixi for so many years, and he had a clear understanding of the Empress Dowager Cixi's temperament, and as soon as his mind turned, he had an idea.

I thought she must have done it for this.

From the twelfth year of Tongzhi, she wanted to rebuild the Old Summer Palace, and instructed the Tongzhi Emperor to repair the Old Summer Palace in the name of "raising the two palaces", but because the treasury was empty, Prince Gong, Prince Alcohol and other princes and ministers were discouraged, and the matter of repairing the garden had to be shelved.

Now she is tired of living in this cold and stuffy palace. So he broke the silence and said, "Master, according to the slaves, it seems that this big palace is too cold. ”

The Empress Dowager Cixi sighed and said, "It's colder, but what can be done?" ”

"The slave thinks about it, and in his heart he is really unhappy for the master. The imperial court is provincial everywhere, and everywhere is for the sake of the locality; What's the matter, master, you have also taken out your body and rewarded it. But what happens in the end?

They are still crying poor everywhere and stretching out their hands upwards, how can they think that it is not easy to get money? How much hard work does the court have?

Let's just say that those adults who run foreign affairs, for more than ten years, have spent a lot of money, what kind of factory can they run? What kind of soldiers are you training? What boat to buy? The foreigners still paid compensation when they came in, and millions of dollars of silver were spent like this, and the slaves were really distressed. ”

"What are you doing by saying that?" The Empress Dowager Cixi listened to it for a long time, but she didn't understand what he meant.

Li Lianying hesitated for a moment, and then said: "The slave said that if you throw money in the water, you can still hear a sound, and it is a pity that millions of white flowers of silver are thrown away in vain!"

Instead of letting them spend, you might as well spend it! Galeries Lafayette has a long life, if he didn't dare to spend money, could he live so lonely? The minion feels uncomfortable when he thinks about it! …… But who can save it? Li Lianying sobbed as she spoke.

"Say no more!" The Empress Dowager Cixi sighed and said, "Are these all for our Qing Dynasty?" ”

Seeing the Empress Dowager Cixi's demeanor, Li Lianying knew that she had guessed correctly, so she boldly said: "The master only thinks about our Qing Dynasty, and thinks that half of our Qing Dynasty is not protected?" It's almost over; If you hadn't been able to hold it down, what might it be like now? But who down there will be any sympathy for you?

The master forgot to sleep and eat for the sake of state affairs, and his heart was broken, and he wanted to build a garden, but they all spoke to dissuade him, and the slave was a little unfair about it! ”

After going around for most of the circle, I finally got to the point, and as Li Lianying expected, these words were in the heart of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and I saw her say excitedly: "It's really rare that you have this filial piety!"

Hearing this, Li Lianying's courage became much stronger, and she saw him say: "According to the slaves, now we might as well build another garden, and see if the foreigners can move it?" ”

Hearing these impassioned words, the Empress Dowager Cixi's heart was surging, and her eyes couldn't help but be filled with tears of excitement. However, recalling the uproar caused by the construction of the Old Summer Palace in the last years of Tongzhi, I couldn't help but feel palpitations again, and hesitated: "It's just ......"

"There is a saying that 'no example cannot be prospered, and no example can be abolished', the master has worked hard for so many years, according to the rules of the ancestors, the emperor should also repair a country to honor the master! Since there are ancestral rules, what is the master afraid of? ”

Cultivating a garden is not just a matter of talking, it takes money! Although the Empress Dowager Cixi was quite tempted, she couldn't do it without money, so she said: "Forget it! Now the situation is tense, to run a navy, an ironclad ship is one or two million silver, and in the end, it will cost tens of millions, how can there be money to repair a garden? ”

"Running the navy is a major national affair and should not be wasted." Li Lianying said in a very powerful voice: "But it doesn't necessarily cost so much money, as long as you talk to Li Zhongtang and let him tighten his hands a little." ”

In one sentence, the Empress Dowager Cixi was overjoyed and smiled. That's right, quietly use some silver, and repair it secretly, once the raw rice is cooked and matured, what else do they have to say?

The Empress Dowager Cixi listened to Li Lianying's words and made up her mind to build the Summer Palace. But it is not so easy to secretly let Li Hongzhang squeeze some silver out.

Li Hongzhang, as the governor of Zhili, sits in Tianjin, and cannot leave easily, even if he is summoned to Beijing, it is inevitable that the news will leak; I want to send someone, but there is no good reason.

Just when there was no way, who thought that Li Hongzhang's excerpt was presented, the Empress Dowager Cixi couldn't help but secretly rejoice, now there is a way!

Immediately, Li Lianying was ordered to pass on Prince Yiyun to enter the palace.

However, it was said that when Prince Alcohol heard Li Hongzhang say that the Beiyang Fleet had been slightly larger, and asked to send someone to review it, he couldn't help but wonder in his heart, although he didn't know much about naval affairs, but the prime minister's naval affairs yamen, could he not know how much silver the imperial court had allocated and how many ships could he buy?

Hearing that the Empress Dowager Cixi had summoned him, he hurriedly entered the palace and prepared to talk to the Empress Dowager Cixi about this matter.

"Lord Alcohol," the Empress Dowager Cixi said with a happy face, "Have you seen Li Hongzhang's excerpt?" ”

"The minister has seen it."

The Empress Dowager Cixi couldn't hide the joy in her heart, laughed twice and continued: "This is so happy. I didn't think that Li Hongzhang really had two times, in just a few years, he built a decent fleet for our Qing Dynasty, see who would dare to bully us in the future! ”

"Queen Mother", Prince Alcohol listened to her words, and said with a flat face: "This matter is indeed gratifying. However, in Yichen's opinion, this matter may be ......"

"How?"

"The Queen Mother, the minister feels that this matter is a little strange. Since last year, the aim has been to train sailors in Beiyang, although it has been quite effective, but the funds given are really limited. It is not easy to build a decent navy with such a small amount of money. ”

When the Empress Dowager Cixi heard this, she said unhappily: "No! Li Hongzhang has always been safe and reliable, how can he lie? Besides, this is the first major matter of the imperial court, and he will never deceive, if he wants to deceive, why do he still ask to send someone to review it? ”

"The minister is just not very relieved."

"Since that's the case, then you can take Shanqing, Enyou and others to see for yourself."

"Obey."

Prince Alcohol thought that this was the end of the matter, who would have thought that the Empress Dowager Cixi would speak again:

"Lord Alcohol, the mourning family wants Lianying to go too, what do you think?"

Hearing this, Prince Alcohol couldn't help but wonder, thinking to himself who was not good to send here, why did he send a eunuch, could it be that the Queen Mother was afraid that I would be deceived and wanted him to be his eyes and ears? But the eunuch went out of Beijing to parade the army, it was too ostentatious, so he cautiously replied: "Queen Mother, I'm afraid this is not very convenient." (To be continued.) )