"The minister worked for the Qing Dynasty and was willing. The brawl the day before yesterday was a bold act by the minister's soldiers, and it should indeed be punished. It's just that those Hunan soldiers don't know etiquette, and they still need to be educated. If they are all punished, I am afraid that the morale of the army will be unstable! Zeng Guofan knelt in front of the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces, his thin and elegant face was already full of tears.

Prince Gong sat next to him, and under Prince Gong was several Manchu princes and ministers. Prince Gong Yixun was better, and the other princes were full of malice, and they looked at Zeng Guofan's eyes as if they were looking at an enemy with deep hatred. After Zeng Guofan finished speaking, the Minister of Military Aircraft Guerjia Wenxiang immediately said angrily: "The Hunan army is still unstable, can the Hunan army not be built?!" The generals of the anti-Eight Banners are saying that if the Hunan army is not severely punished, the children of the Eight Banners will never agree. Manchu and Han are different, and Manchu is noble! The Hunan army beat the Eight Banners, what kind of system did this become. ”

After scolding Zeng Guofan, this Wen Xiang got up and knelt down for the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces, "Queen Mother! The Eight Banners are now making noise, saying that if they don't punish the Hunan army severely, they won't send troops to fight! ”

Ci'an looked at the shouting Guerjia Wenxiang, and there was no anger on her delicate face. Being watched so closely by the Empress Dowager of the East Palace, Wen Xiang, who had made great contributions in the coup, couldn't help but bow his head.

Seeing that Guerjia Wenxiang didn't dare to make another mistake, Ci'an looked at the other Manchu princes and high-ranking officials, these people were all "heroes" who supported the coup and killed the eight ministers, since they pushed Ci'an out to be the regent, they ordered the division of master and servant. Looking at Ci'an, who looked calm, the gang also lowered their heads.

"Prince Gong, last time I asked you if Baqi was ready to send troops, how did you do this?" Ci'an asked.

After hearing this, Prince Gong lowered his head even deeper. He originally wanted to deal with the Hunan army, not really what to do with the Hunan army, but he was afraid that someone in the Eight Banners would take advantage of the hole to get maggots and find a reason not to be able to fight. Of course, the Eight Banners are reluctant to fight, and Prince Gong is very clear about this. But at this time, if the Eight Banners were still like before, waiting for other armies to fight for them, the situation would only be incomparably worse.

However, they were afraid of what would come, and the commanders of the Eight Banners were facing the menacing Eight Banners Army at this time demanding that the Hunan Army be severely punished, so they could only push the contradiction to the Queen Mother.

Obviously, the Empress Dowager Ci'an saw through this, so she asked about the Eight Banners sending troops. The Empress Dowager Ci'an understood it, and Prince Gong was sad. In fact, Prince Gong Yixun knew very well that the Eight Banners Army didn't really want to do anything to the Hunan army, all their purpose was just to drag it down. Even if all the Hunan army was dismantled and Zeng Guofan was cut by a thousand knives, the Eight Banners Army could still find a new reason not to send troops.

Looking at Prince Gong's appearance that he didn't dare to speak, Ci'an did not overly persecute her, she said: "Dealing with the Hunan army is one thing, and fighting the Eight Banners is another. If the Eight Banners Army can win a big victory, let the Hunan Army be disposed of by the Eight Banners. At this time, the Qing Dynasty did not have so many soldiers and horses, so the Hunan army was temporarily guilty and meritorious. ”

Listening to this high-sounding flicker, Prince Gong's heart completely fell into his stomach. In fact, he had the same idea as the Eastern Empress Dowager Ci'an, and the top priority at the moment was to let the Eight Banners go to the battlefield to win the battle first, and not to force the Hunan army to the point of rebellion. If the war could not be won, and the Qing army would kill each other first, then the Qing Dynasty would really come to an end.

Prince Gong hurriedly knelt down for Ci'an, and he said loudly: "Queen Mother Shengming! ”

Ci'an also ignored Prince Gong Yixun, she turned to several other princes and high-ranking officials, and asked in a cold voice, "What do you think?" ”

Seeing that Ci'an had grasped the crux of the problem and knew that Ci'an's opinion would not change, they also knelt down and said, "The will of the Empress Dowager." ”

Ci'an first asked the prince's ministers to go back and quickly rectify the Eight Banners Army, and when they all went out, Ci'an asked Zeng Guofan to get up and speak. Zeng Guofan is fifty-four years old this year, and he has been kneeling for most of the hour, and he tries to get up, but his two legs do not obey the call at all. Ci'an gestured with his eyes, and the two eunuchs hurriedly stepped forward to help Zeng Guofan.

"Throne!" Ci'an said.

Zeng Guofan didn't know if it was because of his grievances at this time, or if he was moved by Ci'an's generosity, and tears burst out of his eyes again. He trembled and knelt down again, kowtowed to Ci'an, choked and said, "Empress Dowager Xie!" ”

Waiting for Zeng Guofan to sit down, Ci'an said: "Zeng Guofan, you have always been loyal to the imperial court, and you have also explained the fight with the Eight Banners, so there is no need to mention this matter." But what do you do about marching and fighting? ”

"Queen Mother!" Zeng Guofan had already wiped away his tears at this time, "If the Eight Banners send troops, firearms cannot be lacking. The broadsword and spear are no longer able to win the battle at the moment. These firearms must be in place before they can be dispatched. ”

After hearing this, Ci'an nodded slightly, and she looked at Prince Gong Yixun, "Can you have firearms?" ”

Prince Gong said embarrassedly: "Queen Mother, the slave has already contacted the foreigners. The foreigner just said that 20,000 guns could be sold to us, but a gun was only 20 taels of silver, but it could not be less. And one hand of money, one hand of guns. They also have to deliver by sea. The minions are incompetent, and they can't even delay it. ”

20,000 guns is 400,000 taels of silver, which is not a small amount. At this time, even Zhili had a large number of twisting army activities, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty could still collect taxes. The Northeast has always been the "self-reserved land" of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and only Manchu people need to live. Although the Tohoku region is vast, there is no possibility of making money. Ci'an pondered for a moment, and finally spoke: "Since this is the case, the palace has issued this money. ”

After listening to Ci'an's words, Cixi's face changed. But she didn't dare to speak, so she could only look at Ci'an. Prince Gong got the news, and his heart finally fell back into his stomach, and he hurriedly kowtowed: "The slave will do it immediately!" ”

Ci'an was optimistic that it was not easy to promote the dispatch of troops by the Eight Banners, and turned back to ask Zeng Guofan about the matter of clearing and suppressing the Twisted Army. Zeng Guofan still took out his method of training and turning the local regiment into a fortress. After speaking, Zeng Guofan concluded: "The Queen Mother, the traitors come and go like the wind, and every time they come, they are wantonly plundered. And then it flows through the grain. If the localities can protect themselves, the traitors will have no food, and it will be difficult for them to act. When the officers and troops were pursuing, there was local news, and there were places where they could be stationed, and the battle would get twice the result with half the effort. Although the time may be longer, it should be possible to defeat the bandits. ”

Zeng Guofan was about to speak at length, when a eunuch outside sent documents in. Zeng Guofan forced his mouth and waited for Ci'an to finish watching the recital. Ci'an carefully read the folds a few times, and asked with a smile: "Zeng Guofan, is there a general named Bao Chao in the Hunan army?" ”

Zeng Guofan immediately replied: "There is such a person." Bao Chao is a fierce general! ”

Ci'an said with a smile: "Taqibu and Bao Chao jointly performed a concert, broke a twist bandit in Vortex Yang, and beheaded three thousand. Won the battle. ”

This news is tantamount to a long drought for Zeng Guofan, and he hurriedly got up and knelt down: "Congratulations to the Queen Mother!" ”

Prince Gong came out of the imperial city and immediately convened a meeting. The ministers of military aircraft are basically full of people, and they are all overjoyed when they hear that the queen mother is willing to pay for firearms from the palace. Many of the Eight Banners still use broadswords and spears, or play mounted archery. They fought against the British army a few years ago, and they were beaten to a mess, and they knew the power of firearms. The Eighth Banner Army refused to send troops, largely because the weapons and equipment were not in place.

After the deal was confirmed, Prince Gong went home. When I arrived at the gate of the palace, I saw the prince's carriage parked at the door, and the porter's attendant Prince Gong Yixun said when he entered the door: "Prince Rui is waiting for you." ”

Prince Rui Dechang and Prince Gong Yixun have a good relationship, and when they learned that Prince Rui asked to see him, Prince Gong Yixun did not refuse. As soon as they met, Prince Rui said very bluntly: "I want to ask Prince Gong for your business." ”

"What?" Seeing Prince Rui's expression, Prince Gong Yixun felt a little drumming in his heart.

Prince Rui said: "I heard that foreigners sell grain at sea, but I don't know if I can take on the errand of buying grain from foreigners? ”

Prince Gong was stunned, the Manchu Qing Dynasty would never shy away from suspicion in the use of princes, but such an errand that had to deal with heavy money was a very important matter. Does Prince Rui really want to serve, or does he want to make a profit from it?

Prince Rui Zhengse said: "Prince Gong, at this time, the price of grain has risen to this point, and there is a group of big profiteers who have already bought grain from the sea and sold it in the city. They made a lot of money, but the imperial court did not gain the slightest. I think the current plan is for the imperial court to control the grain trade. The money earned will give the imperial court an income, and the eight banners will have food to eat. ”

Now the treasury is empty, but the expenditure for the Eight Banners is not at all. The Empress Dowager Ci'an gritted her teeth and took out 400,000 taels of silver to buy weapons in order to fight. Now all financial resources must be taken seriously. Thinking of this, Prince Gong said: "This matter still has to be discussed again." ”

Looking at Prince Rui's disappointed expression, Prince Gong said encouragingly: "But if there is really a total, I will not forget Prince Rui." ”

When Prince Rui returned home, many princes with imperial villages were already waiting at his house, and when they asked about the progress of the matter, the princes were all overjoyed. Recently, grain prices have skyrocketed, and the prince of Huangzhuang has made a lot of money by selling grain. But after the grain from the sea began to enter Beijing, the price of grain began to fall. Prince Rui's family is a descendant of Dolgon, because he slept with the Empress Dowager and suppressed Fulin, and was later hit very hard. In the past 100 years, it has slowly regained its status. But there is no royal village. So it's more appropriate for him to come forward and get this. As long as they can cut off the trade in private grain and keep the price of grain at a high level, the princes will be able to make a lot of money.

Of course, the princes will not talk about this without plain zhì, and the high-sounding words will naturally have to be said. After saying something about plugging loopholes and saving money for the imperial court, the princes have negotiated how to deal with Prince Gong Yixun. In the end, they dispersed satisfied. R1058