Every autumn Tongzhi Emperor Rehe autumn hunting, but also to meet with the princes and nobles of various nationalities, religious leaders, to give some rewards to the envoys of the vassal countries, in previous years are the two queen mothers come forward, he only needs to show up, sit on the throne, this year he is pro-government, everything must be pro-government, every day to meet the princes and nobles from afar, at night to find fun, more than a month of hard work before returning to Beijing.

Since he returned to Beijing, Li Guolou's case can no longer be delayed, and the necessary punishment is still needed, Tongzhi Emperor Zaichun sat on the dragon chair in the study, watched the Yamen of the Prime Minister's Office plan to punish Li Guolou, and Prince Gong sat on the porcelain stool, and Li Hongzao and Weng Tonggong sat on the stool.

For the minister Li Guolou did not have a request, he dispatched officers and soldiers to exterminate the case of the Japanese Black Dragon Society in Tianjin, and the Yamen of the Prime Minister's Office wrote a detailed case of the ins and outs, and gave Li Guolou a severe reprimand in the wording, and the later judgment was to pull out the flower feather, demote the official rank to two levels, and hand over 50,000 taels of silver to the household department to atone for the crime, and still have the title of a four-grade civil official, and let Li Guolou as an escort to transport a batch of military supplies to Lanzhou, so that he suffered from the hardships of sleeping in the open air, and was sent to Lanzhou for three years.

This bill is to give Li Guolou punishment after several changes, it is a final case, for Li Guolou's contribution to the Qing Dynasty, the two queen mothers are quite emotional, have spoken, can be knighted, originally waiting for the next year the imperial court to seal Li Guolou as a baron, did not expect to give him a gold medal order arrow, let him cause international disputes, without trial to kill the members of the Japanese Black Dragon Society protected by the Qing government, set a very bad international precedent, so that foreigners are full of righteous indignation, all for the Japanese Black Dragon Society to stand out, to find a legal justice.

Emperor Tongzhi raised the pen and drew a charge on the fold, hooked a red circle, closed the fold, and said angrily: "Li Guolou, as a member of the imperial court, does not want to share the worries and solve problems for the imperial court, and actually does such an outrageous thing, which is really unseemly and makes the court lose face in front of the foreigners. ”

Li Guolou's status is somewhat special, he has carried the flag to join the Manchus, is the Yellow Banner Manchurian, he is not only an important minister of the court, but also the slave of the Tongzhi Emperor, the Qing Dynasty has two sets of national system, one is the court law, the other is the Eight Banners system, sometimes the Qing Dynasty law and the Eight Banners system is in conflict, contradict each other, the two sets of coexistence system, causing many unclear and unclear things, the Tongzhi Emperor as the owner of the three banners, for the life and death of his minions, he can use lynching to punish his minions.

Li Guolou has the Empress Dowager Cixi, the Empress Dowager Ci'an to protect, everyone knows that there will be no big problem, let Li Guolou go to Lanzhou to fill the army for three years, it is also a move to cover up the ears and steal the bell, after a period of time will let Li Guolou return to the court, the Tongzhi Emperor to serve with family law, but also a slight punishment of small precepts, Prince Gong Yixun took the lead in speaking, indicating his attitude: "The emperor Shengming, Li Guolou as an important minister of the court, does not want to serve the country, with his own selfishness, scourge the Japanese Kou, it is really unseemly, but the minister really can't look at it, why did the Japanese government send people to protest, The members of the Black Dragon Society in Japan will be executed or put in prison, it is an illegal organization, and like our Great Qing Twist Army and the White Lotus Sect, it should have been killed a long time ago, and our Great Qing Dynasty will eliminate the Black Dragon Society for the Japanese government, and the Japanese government should applaud. ”

Hearing that Prince Gong called the Japanese people a wolf, Emperor Tongzhi not only looked good, but immediately his face tensed, and said solemnly: "Emperor Meiji took the wrong medicine, and he always troubles our Celestial Empire, last time it was a matter of the Ryukyu vassal state, this time it was a matter of the Black Dragon Society, and the small country dared to run rampant, see how I will clean them up in the future." ”

There is a group of good ministers for the Tongzhi Emperor to plan state affairs, the Tongzhi Emperor seems to have become a majestic monarch, overlooking the Quartet, in the future he will also learn from the Holy Ancestor Kangxi Emperor to conquer the Quartet to expand the territory of the Qing Dynasty, and re-divide the Ryukyus into the territory of the Qing Dynasty.

After several long talks, Weng Tongyi and Li Guolou had an understanding of Japan's moves, and immediately spoke: "Your Majesty, Japan has also taken care of the Ryukyu Empire, purchased two British cruisers, sold many foreign guns and cannons, and also established a modern army, and has the ambition of annexing the vassal state of Ryukyu, the Meiji Emperor sent troops to land in the Ryukyus, stealing our Qing vassal state, and now canonized Shotai as the king of the Ryukyu domain, and will annex the Ryukyus in the future and become the territory of Japan, and then the Qing vassal country Korea is Japan's next target, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's expedition to East Asia, Now it has revived, coveting the Qing Dynasty territorial powers, except for Russia, Japan is a dangerous neighbor, Japan and Russia are in the same line, they all want permanent land, unlike Britain, Prussia they concession a piece of land, after a few decades, or a hundred years, it will be given to us, to deal with Japan we have to learn from the previous dynasty, we must beat them up, indulge the Japanese language, and the future troubles are endless, so there is still a positive side to dealing with the Japanese like Li Guolou, and offending the Qing Dynasty will be punished by thunder and anger. ”

Prince Gong Yixun and Li Hongzao nodded frequently in agreement, which is also the main reason why Li Guolou did not lose the trust of the imperial court.

Emperor Tongzhi showed that he was young and steady, and his thin and fair-skinned face could not see joy, anger and sorrow, and he said slowly: "Well, when Li Hongzhang comes back from his overseas investigation, he will bring back a batch of advanced Western facilities and build a number of advanced factories, and after ten years of catching up, I believe that a strong and prosperous Qing Dynasty is just around the corner, and it is better for Lao Cheng to hold on to people, Li Guolou just lacks a little stable character, so that I have to bear the consequences for him, I don't know how to advance or retreat, and I am not enough to take on the big responsibility." ”

The three important ministers of the imperial court looked at the Tongzhi Emperor on the dragon chair, and did not dare to echo in unison, as if Li Guolou had no errands, and the chief scholar of Wutang, the supervisor of the Wanshou Mountain Project, the chief scholar of Qingzhong University, and the minister of the upper study were still reserved for Li Guolou.

Li Hongzao, as Li Guolou's teacher, when students make mistakes, he will also be implicated, and he has been holding back and not speaking, always showing his attitude, and he is reluctant to say: "The emperor is Shengming, Li Guolou is young and vigorous, and it is not good to have too many errands on his body, it is better to remove Li Guolou from several official positions this time, so that he can concentrate on errands and no longer make mistakes." ”

Weng Tong was anxious, the chief academic and political position of Wutang was only held by Li Guolou, so he could suppress the influence of Li Hongzhang's army, and preemptively said: "Your Majesty, Li Guolou commanded more than 150 school officials and students of Wutang, entered Tianjin City overnight, acted decisively, and eliminated a cancer in the Qing Dynasty. ”

"Yes, I see." Emperor Tongzhi beat a drum in his heart, the empress dowager of the two palaces had her own money, and she wanted Li Guolou to come forward to earn it back, and he didn't want to allocate another amount of money from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Wanshoushan project.

Prince Gong Yixun is also anxious, only Li Guolou, the chief academic administrator of Qingzhong University, can build the first Western-model university in the Qing Dynasty, although this project is nominally funded by the imperial court, and it is also supervised by Prince Qing Yixuan, but what kind of goods is Prince Qing Yixuan, will he not know? If the court does not hollow out the funds allocated by the court for the construction of Qingzhong University, the insatiable Prince Qing will not stop, and he does not want Qingzhong University to be built into an unfinished building, and only Li Guolou will support the overall situation.

Prince Gong stood up in a hurry, and said: "Your Majesty, this position of chief academic and political officer of Qingzhong University, only Li Guolou can of course do all the preparatory work, Prince Qing has also mentioned many times that Li Guolou is good at organizing and coordinating all aspects of the relationship, the position of chief academic and political officer of Qingzhong University cannot be revoked, this position is too important, it needs to be reserved for Li Guolou, and in two years of protecting Li Guolou with the throne, he will be able to build a whole Qingzhong University, if Li Guolou is abolished, the imperial court will invest 300,000 taels of silver in Qingzhong University in advance, and it will be given in vain. The additional amount would need to be at least doubled, and possibly more. ”

"Really?" Emperor Tongzhi is not easy to say, the royal family always has a piece of the pie, this truth he has learned from the mining industry, ginseng, fur and other profiteering industries, the first emperor rewarded several princes in the industry, has become a family heritage, he wants to take it back has become a fantasy, think clearly, dry said: "Well, or Prince Gong's old ministers seek the country, I know, sit down Prince Gong, have something to say slowly." ”

Prince Gong sat down easily, a heart of concern, and finally fell, Emperor Tongzhi pondered for a moment, and said: "The post of Wanshou Mountain Project Supervision and Minister in the study is still reserved for Li Guolou, and the official position of Langzhong in the Hanlin Yuan is nondescript, or dismissed, as for the position of third-class guard, I think it is still reserved for him, without the rank of military attaché, those Qiu Ba will turn to the sky, and it is convenient to go out." ”

"The emperor is sage, and the ministers have no objections." Li Hongzao successfully completed his mission, suffered from the crime, let him say, next to Li Guolou benefited people, you can clear up the relationship, but I didn't expect that this time Li Guolou capsized, no one fell into the well, all the court was sealed, and the quiet scene made people forget Li Guolou, money can make ghosts grind, the wise saying, eternal and unchanged, can put all the forces of all parties to the people, the Qing Dynasty only Li Guolou only.

Emperor Tongzhi spoke: "Weng Tongyi, what has Li Guolou's family been doing recently." ”

Weng Tongyi often went to Li Guolou's house, familiarized himself with the situation, and hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty, Li Guolou reads books every day, learns the doctrine of sages, and uses benevolence, righteousness and morality to improve his character and recuperate, regrets that he has failed the emperor's trust and entrustment, and reflects on his behavior every day. ”

Emperor Tongzhi sat for too long, his legs and feet were numb, he stood up and walked back and forth, here he didn't need to be as formal as the Heart Cultivation Palace, he could casually discuss with the courtiers, and said, "Hmm······ When I saw Li Guolou writing articles, I had a big head, and after a while, I became a knowledgeable reader, and my poetry has improved, and I have been full of writing, hey, a fickle person, with an unstable personality! ”

"In the emperor's words, Weichen also thought that Li Guolou would have to hone more, from the small brocade clothes and jade food to the children of this kind of family, he was used to enjoying it, and he never knew the suffering of the people, so he should let Li Guolou suffer a little in the northwest border, so that he would be stable in the future." Prince Gong Yiyun seems to know the suffering of the people, standing in the position of the common people in the world to speak, no one can say the truth, the Tongzhi Emperor has still trusted him since he was in power, so that he slowly turned back to the past that dared to speak and dare to be Prince Gong, and the night was drunk and dreamed of life, and finally came to an end.

Emperor Tongzhi was in a soothing mood, the Qing Empire was developing for the better, and the country's great cause was thriving, although the Tianjin Black Dragon Society case affected the international reputation of the Qing Empire, corrupted the imperial court program, and was criticized by Westerners that the Qing Empire had no human rights to talk about, but it did not let the Qing Dynasty cede land and pay compensation, and even the Japanese government only protested, and did not ask for compensation. I was afraid that the Qing government would expel the Japanese workers, and the affairs of the vassal state of Ryukyu would not be completed, and when the Beiyang Naval Division was completed, he would win back the lost Ryukyu country, and the Qing Empire would open up territory and open up territory, so he would start from Japan.

Emperor Tongzhi seems to see an unsightly Beiyang Navy Division in the turbulent waves, firing at the scene of two Japanese ironclad ships, countless yellow dragon flags waving in the wind, and there are people standing on the deck of the ship commanding Ruoding, it is he who appreciates the important ministers, Li Guolou, the national hero of the Qing Dynasty, is standing on the deck of a tall and majestic ironclad ship, who can guess the emperor's technique, the Tongzhi Emperor is quite happy Li Guolou dares to act, and undertakes the righteous act of exterminating the Tianjin Black Dragon Society. Expelled the Western powers from the territory of the Qing Dynasty, returned our great rivers and mountains, and restored the spirit of our Eight Banners,