Originally, according to the meaning of the imperial court, the pseudo-young lord and the loyal chief were to be sent to the capital and sacrifice their captives, but before the court arrived, the two of them were killed in the court outside the Jizi camp. And Li Xiucheng's confession was also erased before it was presented to the imperial court - Zeng Guofan's reason was that in the confession, "there were many disrespectful words" and had to be crossed out.

This reason is very grandiose, and there is no way to accuse him of anything, but the elder in Beijing has many doubts, thinking that this is Zeng Guofan covering up the truth about the sacking of Jiangning for his ninth brother.

Now that the Empress Dowager Cixi asked this sentence, it seemed to be unintentional, but Guan Zhuofan knew that there was a deep meaning in it. Regarding Li Xiucheng's death, he heard a saying that Li Xiucheng had the intention of surrendering, but Zhao Liewen's words made Zeng Guofan finally make up his mind to do it - "This thief is very cunning, and it is not appropriate to enter the capital."

Zhao Liewen's meaning is naturally that dead people will not speak, and the imperial court will not know the details of Jiangning. In this case, the "grand occasion" of the Hunan army's sacking of Jiangning City naturally must not be said from its own mouth.

"The minister is in Jiangning, and he has always been stationed in Suoshu, and he has transferred troops and horses from his headquarters to intercept the periphery, so he has never entered the city." Guan Zhuofan's words did not leak, "After the city was broken, a total of 2,000 and seventy-three fleeing long-haired people were captured, and in the east and south directions, none of them were confidently escaped. The seized property was converted into 380,000 taels of silver, and according to the previous precedent, it was planned to hand over to the household department in 30 percent, and then received an order on 17 June, so that there was no need to release the capital, and it was allocated to the treasury to replenish the military expenses, and the minister had not yet thanked him. ”

This remark sounds like an official article, and it is unremarkable. But Cixi has been in power for two years, and this twenty-seven-year-old young woman. The scheming has become more and more sophisticated. Think for a moment. From Guan Zhuofan's words, I heard two meanings.

One is Zeng Guoquan's Jizi battalion, after breaking through Jiangning, his mind was not used to besiege the city, otherwise how could he escape more than 2,000 long hairs? Not to mention that even giant thieves like Hong Fuyu and Li Xiucheng escaped.

The other is that more than 2,000 people have only found a total of 380,000 taels of gold and silver treasures, that is. If there were really mountains of gold and silver in Jiangning City, they would not have been taken away by these long hairs who fled in a hurry.

Since he understood, he didn't need to say anything more, so he nodded, put down this topic first, and turned to ask foreign affairs.

"You are running a telegram in Jiangsu, and you are very competent when you hear about military affairs." Cixi's voice turned soft, "Last time." We're wrong about you. ”

"Don't dare to be a minister!" The queen mother said such things on the top of the palace, and of course the ministers could only express their fear. "It turned out that it was only two short lines of foreigners in Shanghai. Fortunately, the emperor's edict allowed the trial of the telegraph, which was successfully set up in Soviet Province. However, the minister got the power of the telegram in military affairs, this is the truth, when Ding Shijie attacked southern Jiangsu, blocked by the long-haired Taihu Lake army, sent a telegram, the minister learned that this was Ding Ruchang's Taihu Lake victory. ”

"By the way, those two gunboats that I bought, are they really good?"

"It's a great weapon. At that time, the fleets of the two sides circled the island to meet each other, and Longhair thought he was invincible with the big turtle ship as the vanguard. When the Jintai fired its cannon, it smashed the largest turtle ship of the long-haired Sun Sixi to pieces with just one shot. ”

"Oh? So powerful! The empress dowager of the two palaces was moved together, Ci'an's face showed a slight look of horror, but Cixi's face was a little disappointed, "It's a pity that the Aspen fleet was brought back by Li Tai!" ”

"Yes, that Li Taitai is too ambitious, but fortunately, the Queen Mother and the King of Yizheng saw through his tricks."

"By the way, at that time, when I was handling the "Aspen Fleet Retreat Case", when it came to your two ships, I asked Dong Sui of the Prime Minister's Yamen to tell Li Taitai to let him go to Shanghai to find you by himself! Did he go? ”

"Go," Guan Zhuofan said as he recalled, "He found the minister in Jiangyin and said that he wanted to go back to those two boats." ”

"Then why didn't Zuihou let him take it?"

"The minister is messing with him," Guan Zhuofan said honestly, "saying that the boat is in Taihu Lake, please ask him to find Ding Ruchang by himself." He didn't have the courage to go, so he had to go back to England in disgrace, and when he was leaving, the minister promised him that when the whole territory was cleared and the world was peaceful, he would send the ship to England and return it to him. ”

The two empress dowagers laughed when they heard this, and the Empress Dowager Ci'an asked, "Are you talking foreign to that Li Tai?" ”

"Sometimes they speak Western, sometimes they speak Chinese. Although Li Taitai is British, he also speaks Chinese very well. ”

"Then you and Wall and Forrest are also speaking Chinese," said Ci'an assumedly, "otherwise you won't understand them when they speak American." ”

"This ......" Guan Zhuofan was stunned for a moment before picking up the conversation, "Empress Dowager Qi, British and American are the same. ”

"Really? That's a coincidence! The Empress Dowager Ci'an said in surprise, turned her head to look at Cixi and said with a smile, "You see, the foreign devils even talk the same." ”

Whether the foreign devils speak the same way, Cixi doesn't know much, but the focus of her concern is not on this.

"Guan Zhuofan, you have been in Shanghai for a long time, and you must have had a lot of dealings with the consuls of various countries in the concession. When you come back this time, I want to hear your views on foreign affairs. Cixi talked about it, "In your opinion, what about these foreigners?" ”

The question was general, but Guan Zhuofan was already waiting for this opportunity to take the opportunity to sell illicit goods.

"The British and the French, are the most domineering." He said solemnly, "The Russians are also ill-intentioned!" ”

Cixi agreed with Guan Zhuofan's words in her heart - needless to say, the British and French had only fought with them, and the Russians had fought in the north since the time of Shunzhi Kangxi. However, looking at Guan Zhuofan's meaning, he only said that these three countries are not good, could it be that the rest are all haode?

"What about other countries?"

"There are two other big countries, one United States, one Prussia, and the rest of the small countries, all of which have to act according to the eyes of these five great powers." Guan Zhuofan took out the preparatory words and said, "Prussia is a latecomer, and now the benefits of Shijie have been taken up by Britain and France, and Prussia is inevitably not convinced." As for the United States, the minister and their consul Charles were good friends, and the foreigners in the Xuan army also accounted for more than half of the Americans, and Ding Ruchang's sailors also studied on American warships at first. ”

"You mean, among foreigners, there are also good and bad?"

"The Queen Mother Shengming! Foreigners are not monolithic, and there are many intrigues between them. Guan Zhuofan thought about it and gave an example, "For example, the United States hates the British the most. ”

"Oh? What's the reason for that? ”

"They have fought, and the capital of the Americans has been burned by the British."

"Oh, so there is such a deep hatred!" Cixi muttered, "But in the end, they are all foreigners, can they still be sincere to us?" ”

"Whether it's sincere, the minister doesn't dare to say, but according to the minister's little knowledge, as long as I don't let the foreigners conspire with me, it's haode. The minister has a sentence that he doesn't like - Qin Hui also has three friends, not to mention my dignified Qing Dynasty? ”

This sentence is really "unpleasant words", how can it be compared with Qin Hui and the imperial court? Although it is said that Qin Hui is a fund, and the Manchurians are Houjin, everyone is in the Jurchen lineage, but after entering the customs, the Manchurians are very sinicized, and until now, everyone regards Qin Hui as a traitor, and there is absolutely no good feeling.

However, this sentence left a deep impression on Cixi, and she felt that if she could "divide and rule" the foreigners, it would be really good, and it would be better than letting the foreigners "conspire with me".

Having said that, it has been a long time. In terms of rituals, all the ministers who saw His Majesty were almost unable to play for such a long time, and even the Minister of Military Aircraft was postponed. Although Cixi was not satisfied, she weighed it and had another opportunity to ask for training before he left Beijing, so she looked at the Empress Dowager Ci'an and made a conclusion first.

"Today's words, you can also talk to Prince Gong. When you go to Beijing this time, Jiangsu's military affairs and government affairs, if you have anything to do, you can discuss it with Prince Gong, and you will write an excerpt at any time. Among today's flag officers, you are outstanding, and now that the official is bigger, you must always do your best in everything, don't learn the temper of those uncles! ”

"Obey."

After saying this, seeing that Cixi and Ci'an were speechless, they knew that it was time to kneel, so they bowed and withdrew. He knew that he should call the Minister of Military Aircraft next, so he didn't have to go to the Military Aircraft Department to see King Gong, anyway, he had already reported to his palace yesterday, just wait for him to summon him.

After leaving the palace, I went back to the Jiangsu Hall first, and reviewed the situation in the sedan chair along the way, and felt that there was nothing wrong, so I put my mind at ease and thought about the next step.

When I arrived at the door of the hall, I got off the sedan chair, and I saw a military attache standing by the door rushing up and kneeling down to say goodbye.

"Boss!"

Looking at the five-grade official uniform on his body, wearing a crystal top, Guan Zhuofan couldn't help but smile.

"Mu Zoling, it's been a long time since I've seen you."

*(To be continued......)