Prince Gong's carriage passed through the streets of the capital, and there were guards on the left and right, and the guards who opened the road rode on tall horses to drive away those who dared to block the road, and the pedestrians on the whole street stood on both sides of the road. At this time, the weather was very hot, and the curtains on both sides of the carriage had been lifted, and Prince Gong saw that there were no people on either side of the street, but the number of beggars had greatly increased.

Since more than half a year ago, the trade with foreign devils at sea has been completely cut off, and cheap rice, grain, and various daily necessities have never been able to enter the capital again. Prince Gong originally thought that this kind of trade was endlessly absorbing the money of the imperial court, but after the trade was interrupted, he found that he could not collect enough materials by relying on the imperial court's own ability. Before the interruption of maritime trade, although the capital was scarce, the prices were not outrageous. Now the prices in the capital are soaring, especially the price of food, not to mention the livelihood of the ordinary people, even the palace is feeling the heavy pressure.

The imperial court has begun to crack down on the profiteers who hoard Juqi, but the effect is basically equal to zero. There are grain merchants, but hoarding is impossible to talk about. The grain that can supply the capital is now completely from Zhili, and the wars in Henan and Shandong are raging, not to mention the grain transported to the capital, and the grain in the two places is not enough to eat.

There are hundreds of thousands of Eight Banners and their families in the capital, and these people have to eat and drink, but where is there enough food in the capital. This matter has been quarreled in the court, but quarrels are quarrels. The Manchus did not produce for hundreds of years, and the Manchus did not even have few grassroots officials, and mainly relied on the landlords and bureaucrats of the Han people to be responsible for taxes. Those capable Han officials have run clean, and even in Zhili, the official government system has basically been in name only.

The latest Han Enke has created an unprecedented miracle, and all 300 Han Jinshi have run clean in two months. The proportion of Han Chinese officials in the imperial court plummeted from one-tenth to less than one-thirtieth. It is estimated that this proportion can be compared with Nurhachi's time.

It was not only officials and meritorious officials who fled Beijing, but even Han Chinese residents began to flee in large numbers. The reason for their flight may be because of the approaching war, but more importantly, the materials in Beijing are completely used for the bannermen, and they are afraid of starving to death if they stay in Beijing. When you go to the countryside, you can find a way to live.

The once bustling city of Beijing is becoming more and more deserted, and the city is becoming more and more full of people. As the son of Emperor Daoguang and the younger brother of Emperor Xianfeng, Prince Gong strongly supported the strengthening of the status of the Manchus. The fact that Beijing is now almost full of people scares him again. Zeng Guofan's Hunan army was driven across the Yellow River by the Guangfu army, and saw that the Guangfu army was about to cross the Yellow River and launch an attack on Beijing. If there really is a siege, what will happen after the city is broken?

The Manchus used to have "Mancheng" in other big cities in China, and they were also inhabited only by Manchus. Now those "full cities" have become full of beheadings, and I have never heard of those full people......

Thinking of this, Prince Gong couldn't help but shudder, and the dog days seemed to have turned into the middle of winter, which made Prince Gong feel a biting chill. He suddenly understood why after the fall of the Eight Banners of Mongolia that had just been obtained by Seng Lingqin, the court was initially a voice to severely punish Zeng Guofan, but after Zeng Guofan escaped from the Yellow River, the attitude in the court took a 180-degree turn. The voice of severe punishment was gone, and the Manchurian ministers agreed with Ci'an's opinion of "good life to appease Zeng Guofan". Even Tiyì, who promoted Zeng Guofan to a third-class duke, easily got the tongguò.

When the Liberation Army was about to reach Beijing, the Manchus had to realize that they had neither the ability to defeat the enemy, nor the courage to stand up. With this understanding, the attitude towards Zeng Guofan naturally became realistic. These Manchurians are not stupid, they know that they really dare to send the will of severe punishment to the Hunan army, but they are afraid that the Hunan army will dare to rebel on the same day. With the current situation of the complete collapse of the local government in Zhili, the Guangfu Army can swagger until the city of Beijing.

With this fear of seeing the annihilation, Prince Gong went to the palace. At this time, the Manchurian ministers no longer had the indescribable anger of the previous paragraph, and everyone looked gentle and respectful one by one, and honestly arranged according to their status. It can be said that since the coup d'état came to power, these ministers have really not been so tame.

This kind of taming represents inaction, and the ministers are only waiting for Ci'an and Prince Gong to speak, and there is no rebuttal, regardless of whether the specific implementation will actually be delayed, but these people verbally obey immediately.

After discussing it for a while, Ci'an and Prince Gong Yixun completely sang a one-man show. After leaving the court, Prince Gong returned home with a sad face and just entered the house. His Great Fu Jin anxiously greeted him, "Lord Wang, I heard that several princes have begun to arrange for their families to go outside the Guanwai!" ”

Prince Gong was stunned for a moment, and he hurriedly asked, "Which ones are they?" ”

Dafujin said seven or eight in a row, all of which were high-ranking officials from the Manchu Dynasty and the banner master. Prince Gong was stunned when he arrived, the prince was better, they finally went to the court. Those high-ranking officials from the banner owners actually took leave due to illness, and Prince Gong originally thought that they were worried. Now they are also preparing for the end of Beijing.

The Manchus often said that Guanwai was the foundation of the Manchus and the land of Longxing, but this was only one of the many lies of the Manchus. If the prisoners in the customs are not enough to commit capital crimes, they are not the most heinous crimes, and they are often sentenced to "being sent to the people outside the customs and enslaved by people in armor". In the eyes of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, compared with the world of flowers and flowers in Guannei, Guanwai is just a bitter cold place, and no one really thinks that Guanwai is important.

Now not only did the Han people begin to flee, but even the Manchus began to prepare for their own way back. Prince Gong stood in the courtyard in a daze, not knowing what to say. Da Fu Jin looked at Prince Gong's appearance, she thought that Prince Gong was thinking about how to follow the trend, she said anxiously: "Lord, we have to send someone to prepare outside the customs first!" ”

Although these words sounded extremely harsh, Prince Gong did not angrily reprimand his great fortune. Da Fu Jin is also thinking about Prince Gong's family, martyrdom is theoretically a very heroic thing, but the more important the court, the less such a plan there is. Finally climbed to such a high position, what high-ranking officials and important ministers were looking forward to was enjoying the power that would bring, and the intention of martyrdom was never on their list of considerations.

Prince Gong suddenly shook off Da Fu Jin's hand that grabbed his arm, and strode towards the door. As he walked, he shouted: "Prepare the car, enter the palace!" ”

There was no longer any need for any more ambiguity, and Prince Gong told the Empress Dowager Ci'an frankly what he knew. Ci'an still opened his eyes slightly as usual, and his attitude was dignified and calm. Prince Gong Yixun could see that in the past few years, there was something that was slowly consumed from Ci'an. It's a grit from the heart. When he heard that the princes and important ministers of the court were preparing to escape from the customs, Ci'an's whole person seemed to be evacuated. The Eastern Empress Dowager Ci'an, who was in power, now sits on the throne like a white porcelain doll with an empty inside.

Looking at Ci'an's appearance, Prince Gong's heart also sank. He formed an alliance with Ci'an, and staged a coup d'état to eliminate the eight ministers and take control of the government. After that, Prince Gong Yixun was certainly hard, but Ci'an also resisted the huge pressure to fulfill what the Queen Mother should do. The actions of the Guangfu Army broke this qiē, and when Wei Ze began the Northern Expedition with an army of more than 100,000 troops, the end of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was clearly displayed in front of him. But Prince Gong Yixun did not complain in his heart, Ci'an has been fighting with the Manchu ministers for several years, if it wasn't for Ci'an's best efforts, I am afraid that the Manchu Qing Dynasty would have been in chaos long ago. Looking at Ci'an's rare weak appearance at this time, Prince Gong Yixun suddenly had an uncontrollable impulse to protect in his heart.

Falling to his knees, Prince Gong stared at Ci'an and said loudly: "Queen Mother, the slave will keep the Queen Mother safe no matter what!" ”

Ci'an's body was for a while, her eyes were slightly red, but she quickly regained her previous composure. Empress Dowager Ci'an said slowly: "Prince Gong, if the imperial court starts to arrange the withdrawal from the customs now, who in the imperial court will object?" ”

Seeing that Ci'an was still thinking about the major affairs of the imperial court at this time, Prince Gong Yixun felt even more pain in his heart, and he replied loudly: "Returning to the Queen Mother, there will definitely be many people who will oppose it. The minions thought that whoever opposed it would let them go to the gate first, and what these people said was not credible. The Queen Mother asked them to go outside the gate first, but I was afraid that these people would die of joy in their hearts! ”

Prince Gong Yixun is no longer twisting, with the current situation that Beijing has become a city full of people, the Guangfu army will definitely slaughter mercilessly after killing under the city of Beijing. Rather than die together at that time, it is better to retreat outside the pass now. Prince Gong Yixun has actually felt that a certain kind of Cheng dù in the flowery world of Beijing has become a curse, as long as he is still entrenched in Beijing, the Manchu court, the Eight Banners will only hope that their life will continue to be maintained for more than a hundred years, and all they have to do is to make this kind of life last forever. Only by escaping from Beijing and regrouping outside the border did these people know that the world had undergone terrible changes, and that they should be cheered up.

So when Ci'an was thinking about it, Prince Gong continued to say loudly: "Please also ask the Queen Mother to take the emperor to move to Chengde first, if the Queen Mother doesn't leave, these people will definitely not move!" ”

"This is not possible!" The Empress Dowager Cixi, who had been in the air by Ci'an and Prince Gong beside her, finally couldn't help but speak.

Prince Gong Yixun moved his gaze from Ci'an, who had a sharp face and phoenix eyes, to Cixi's face with a round face and triangular eyes, his attitude towards Cixi was not as respectful as Ci'an, Prince Gong Yixun asked bluntly: "Why?" ”