At the end of the banquet, farewell guests, some distinguished guests directly stayed in the upstairs guest room of the Taylor's Hotel, and had a big meal at night, Li Guolou and Yelia, Xie Liya, Chu Xiangyu, and Mayuko returned to the bank counter, and there was no business on the counter, but they didn't care, they already had a proud sense of achievement, this was an era of money and wealth, as long as they caught the high-ranking officials and lords, and controlled the pockets of these people, rolling silver came one after another.

Please come in Huang Yousheng, the general manager of the bank, was slightly drunk at noon, sat beside Li Guolou with a drunken face, sighed bitterly, worked hard for more than two months, and now saw some results, there are 78936 taels and 5 yuan on the books, which is not enough to show merit, Li Guolou didn't hear what he said in his ears, and the drunk didn't say it clearly, just looked at the income ledger.

Li Guolou did not return to the governor's office in the past few days, stayed in the British concession, and the negotiations with the foreigners came to an end for the time being, and the Qing negotiation team wanted to make clear the conditions of the foreigners to the Yamen of the Prime Minister's Office.

Yelia sat on the sofa and saw that Li Guolou was idle and bored, as if he didn't have a little pressure, so he couldn't help but ask: "Xiaolou, aren't you worried, the outside is heavily guarded, and it will go wrong at any time!" ”

Li Guolou looked at the account book unhurriedly, and said: "What is there to worry about, the heavy troops of the imperial court have been pressed, and now there is no Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to add chaos, and the Seven Kingdoms will be called fierce, how dare you fire the first cannon, you must know that as long as the French dare to fire the first cannon, no matter what, they will fight a war, in case the French lose the war, isn't it worth the loss, I want the French parliament to be a member, and I will not vote for the war, I can obviously make a lot of money at the negotiation table, can I fight an uncertain war!" ”

Huang Yousheng hiccuped and echoed: "Lord Li is right, now we also have foreign guns and foreign cannons in the Qing Dynasty, we can't beat this sea, everyone on land is half a catty and eight taels, our township is worthless, those foreign soldiers are worth a lot of money, and ten fights are also worth it!" ”

Mayuko sat on the sofa and nodded, "Hi, Manager Huang Takami, I think so too!" ”

Seeing that Yelia, Xie Liya, and Chu Xiangyu also agreed with Huang Yousheng's proposition, Li Guolou sighed, how to calculate this account in a war, the front is defeated, and there will be no morale in the rear, this is not a small-scale encounter, you can use the number of people to judge the victory or loss, a large-scale war, it is to look at the comprehensive strength, the agrarian society of the Qing Empire, where may be the opponent of the capitalist powers in the industrial society, and the Qing Empire has no stamina, it is like a paper tiger, piercing a layer of window paper, it will fall apart.

"Bad points, bad points, good points." Xie Liya spoke pidgin Shanghainese and was greeted with a burst of laughter.

Li Guolou closed the account book, handed it to Huang Yousheng, and said: "General Manager Huang, I hope you don't call me bad, the Qing Dynasty will control your hands in the future, and your success or failure is related to the future of a nation!" ”

"Wow······" Huang Yousheng was drunk and crazy, kneeling on the ground and salivating all over his face, and hissed exhaustedly: "I, Huang Yousheng, swear to die for my confidant, I will never be looked down upon by outsiders, if I can't complete the task of the lord, I will never steal my life, and I will never marry a concubine again!" ”

Li Guolou was made to cry and laugh, shook his head and said: "General Manager Huang said it well before, it makes me feel that I have entrusted the burden to the national capitalists, and the latter sentence has been revealed!" ”

"Hey, hey." Huang Yousheng smiled embarrassedly and treacherously, he didn't bother for a year, he was already worthy of his eighteenth generation ancestors, and after June next year, he wanted to let all those peers in the Qianzhuang Association close their stinky mouths, a full "Huang Yousheng" will be a legend in the banking industry, what is Hu Xueyan, there is a Zuo Zongtang behind him, he is the powerful Prince Gong of the Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili, and Li Guolou, the hope star of the Qing Dynasty, success is within reach.

Li Guolou stared at Huang Yousheng, he would not look at the wrong person, people would change, profiteers can indeed become national heroes, Huang Yousheng has already been reborn in front of him, the Qing Empire has a master of financial management and a national capitalist with a conscience.

At this time, in the study of the Forbidden City in Beijing, Tongzhi Emperor Zaichun listened to his teacher's teacher Xu Tong, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, as usual, attend class, but listened to the Tongzhi Emperor intoxicated with the sage's quotations, shook his head and recited Mencius's quotations: "The filial piety is greater; Respect for relatives is nothing more than raising the world; For the Son of Heaven and Father, he is also respected; Raise it in the world, raise it to the top! ”

An article of Mencius's "Ten Thousand Chapters", which was read aloud by the Tongzhi Emperor twelve times, was able to recite it, and it was catchy as if immersed in a trace of joy.

Xu Tong sat in front, also shaking his head and intoxicated by the famous works of the sage, stroked his beard and nodded: "Your Majesty, do you understand the meaning of this Mencius article!" ”

Emperor Tongzhi couldn't wait to kick Xu Tong to the ground, and sure enough, as Li Guolou said, he gave him a trick, but his face still maintained a graceful demeanor, and he was overjoyed, clapping his hands and saying: "Teacher, I understand, Mencius said: 'With gratitude, filial piety to parents, with gratitude, with the world in mind,' I want to be filial to the two mothers when I want to be in power, and the first holy decree will be announced to the people of the world, repair the Old Summer Palace, so that the two mothers can live for the rest of their lives, this is the filial piety as a son, thank you for the teacher's teachings to the students, I like Mencius very much, filial piety is great, great respect for relatives; Respect for relatives is as great as raising ······ in the world"

After Emperor Tongzhi finished reciting, Xu Tong shouted: "Historian of the Hanlin Academy, record the emperor's words!" ”

"Pierce." A historian next to him wrote down the words and deeds of Emperor Tongzhi, "The saint said: After the pro-government, the first holy decree will be announced to the world, rebuild the Old Summer Palace, and be filial piety!" ”

Xu Tong didn't know that Emperor Tongzhi had the intention to kill him, and he hated to eat his flesh, Emperor Tongzhi walked straight to Kunning Palace, the residence of the Empress Arut, the country was being humiliated, and he was going to be laughed at by the whole world, Shi Ke could not be killed, Xu Tong, you wait and see, see how I clean you up.

When Empress Alut saw Emperor Tongzhi walking in, her face was unhappy, and she asked, "Your Majesty, what's wrong with you!" ”

Emperor Tongzhi said angrily: "Empress, have you asked the two Eniang to say goodbye today!" ”

Queen Alut said in a coquettish voice: "Oh, Your Majesty, I am not feeling well today, I have a terrible headache, I just called the imperial doctor to come and see it, and Cui'er is decocting medicine for me!" ”

Emperor Tongzhi smelled a smell of medicine, so he didn't hold back his anger, and turned to concern: "Empress, since you are not in good health, don't blow the wind outside the house, it's not good for your health, come, I will help you in, and I will go to ask you for peace at Eniang." While talking, the two of them entered the palace, the little couple whispered, and the little eunuch outside the door pricked up his ears to eavesdrop.

The Empress Dowager Cixi of Chuxiu Palace sat on the chair of the princess, copied the Buddhist scriptures with a brush, and said to the door: "Has the emperor gone to see the queen?" ”

came to report to the queen Alut's personal maid Cui'er, knelt on the ground, and said: "Queen Mother, here, the emperor asked the queen to lie on the bed, and the emperor sat for half an hour before leaving Kunning Palace!" ”

The Empress Dowager Cixi asked, "Is the empress really uncomfortable!" ”

The maid Cui'er lowered her eyebrows and said: "The queen mother, the queen refused to get up in the morning, and then sent the imperial doctor to see it, but the queen didn't drink the medicine, so let the slave and maid pour out the decoction medicine!" ”

The corners of the Empress Dowager Cixi's mouth twitched slightly, and she sneered: "Well, this palace knows, tell this palace what the emperor and the queen say!" ”

Another little eunuch kneeling next to him, with a pair of tailwind ears, can hear others talking through the door panel, with this ability, was arranged by the Empress Dowager Cixi to be next to the queen Arut, made a close eunuch, and hurriedly said: "The queen mother, the emperor endorses the queen, the slave can't remember, what filial son, what the son of heaven, what the world, the slave deserves death, I can't remember these classical Chinese, and I hope the queen mother will spare the slave." After speaking, the little eunuch kowtowed, afraid that his life would not be guaranteed, and even his bones would not exist in the world.

The Empress Dowager Cixi was happy when she heard this, her expression did not move, and she said unhurriedly: "Reward! ”

"Thank you, Queen Mother." The little eunuch with the ears of the wind and the two servants named Cui'er were holding two silver ingots with a smile on their faces.

"The emperor, the queen, what else did you say?" How could the Empress Dowager Cixi believe that Emperor Tongzhi had been reciting Mencius's good sentences, and she must have said something else.

The little eunuch still knelt on the ground, and said respectfully: "The queen mother, the slaves listened to the emperor and the queen talk about the Tianjin lesson plan, they all sighed, the queen asked the emperor what to do, the emperor said that everything is in charge of the queen mother, the emperor believes that the queen mother can grasp the scale, and then the queen mother smmmmed and stopped talking!" ”

The Empress Dowager Cixi's heart was full of anger, and the Empress Alut clan was dissatisfied with her, so she deliberately pretended to be sick and did not come to ask for peace, gritted her silver teeth and said, "What else did they say?" "It turns out that the Empress Dowager Cixi even knows the boudoir between Emperor Zaichun and Empress Arut, and even the emperor and the empress come to talk about it several times a night, she also knows it clearly.

The little eunuch with the wind ear told little by little that he heard the words of the boudoir: "······"

Next to Li Lianying and Xiaode stood with their heads down, without any expression on their faces, the eunuchs are the best in the world in forbearance and kung fu, of course, they will not react physiologically, but the eunuchs also have desires in their minds, otherwise why would a rich eunuch marry three wives and four concubines.

"Oh······ The servant also heard the emperor talk about Tanhualang Li Guolou's knowledge of foreign languages, saying that Lord Zhongtang was right to let him negotiate with foreigners, and also said that he could speak a little French and could communicate with the French minister Luo, but unfortunately he was too young to be used as a translator. The little eunuch said everything he had heard, and he didn't dare to hide it a little.

Xiao Dezhang raised his eyebrows slightly, and immediately buried his head again, and kept calm without caring about himself.

The Empress Dowager Cixi slowly lifted her pen and concentrated, wrote a few lines of words, looked at the Juanxiu font with satisfaction, and issued an instruction: "Well, let's go down, it's a good job!" ”

"Zha, the minions are retired." The little eunuch and the maid Cui'er bowed down and walked backwards step by step, never lifting their heads once from beginning to end.

There are thousands of spies like them in the palace, the Empress Dowager Cixi controls the words and deeds of the Tongzhi Emperor Zaichun and the Empress Alut, of course, the Empress Dowager Ci'an Zhongcui Palace in the East Palace, she still has no courage to care, maintain rationality and live in harmony, the two keep their distance, and enjoy the power together to bring them the joy of life.

The Empress Dowager Cixi stopped and asked, "Little Lizi, has that Li Guolou been presented to the emperor in a secret fold!" ”

Li Lianying said in a low voice: "Empress Dowager, the slave will go to the upper study to have a look, if there is, the slave will present it immediately!" ”

"Hmmm······" The Empress Dowager Cixi lifted the wolf pen and began to learn the words again, "The Vajra Prajnaparamita Sutra" must be calm in order to write a good talented woman just like her, written on white paper:

The Buddha told Subodhi: The Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas should subdue their minds in this way, all sentient beings and the like: if oviparous, if viviparous, if wet, if incarnated; If it is colored, if it is colorless; If there is thought, if there is no thought, if there is no thought, if the bodhisattva has the appearance of self, the appearance of people, the appearance of sentient beings, and the appearance of the long-lived, that is, he is not a bodhisattva.

The Empress Dowager Cixi relied on the ministers and tens of thousands of eunuchs to control the Qing Dynasty, and when she reached the age of pro-government, her own son Zaichun was also calculated by the Empress Dowager Cixi, the Empress Dowager Cixi smiled, the Qing Dynasty still needs her to control it in the future, the peony chicken Si Chen, but the prosperity of the family,