Bo Yan grabbed the big hat on the table and buttoned it on his head, didn't speak, nodded to Guan Zhuofan, and walked out first. Guan Zhuofan followed his footsteps, walked out of the courtroom, and came to the door of the Heart Cultivation Palace.

"Jiangsu Governor Guan Zhuofan is waiting to see you." Boyan Nemo bowed outside the door to sign up.

"Come in." It was still the same clean and nice voice that answered.

This time, Guan Zhuofan is very different from the one he came two years ago.

The last time I came, I was the chief soldier of the left wing who had just been promoted to the yamen of the infantry army, and I met with Xie En. As soon as I entered the ninefold, it was like sleepwalking, and when I arrived at the door of the Heart Cultivation Palace, I heard this sound of "come in", and I was even more nervous to sweat and sweat. When I came back today, I had become very calm, and I stepped into the hall, and I took a few steps according to the etiquette, and saw a mat in front of me.

This cushion was arranged for him by An Dehai, and he deliberately placed it forward.

This is the little trick that eunuchs are accustomed to - all officials who are popular and reward well, they will put a little forward for him, so that when you talk to the Queen Mother, you don't need to be loud, you can let the Queen Mother hear it clearly, and at the same time, what the Queen Mother says can be understood at once.

On the other hand, he can't wait to put the mat for him at the door, so the people who meet him will always have trouble - the voice is not loud enough, so that the Queen Mother can't really hear it, and it's okay, after all, the Queen Mother can also ask the former minister to come and ask for an understanding, and then go back. But what the Queen Mother said, if you don't listen to it really, it will be troublesome, and you may not be able to say: "Queen Mother, please be louder"?

Today is Guan Zhuofan's visit, which is naturally very different, and An Dehai specially explained. Place the mat in the "closest" place.

these joints. Guan Zhuofan didn't know. didn't think about it, when he got to the mat, he first took off his big hat and put it aside, and his dazzling tail was facing the queen mother to show his respect.

"Minister, Zhuofan, please Saint Ann!"

"Look up and talk." This sentence is still spoken by Cixi.

"Empress Dowager Xie." Guan Zhuofan put his hat on, so that he could look up.

Sure enough, it was the "closest" place, behind two pale yellow veils. The abundance of beauty is faintly visible. Guan Zhuofan wondered in his heart, should he add a sentence "Guan Zhuofan, the minister under the skirt, respectfully invite the Queen Mother Yi'an"?

As usual, when His Majesty sees him, the Empress Dowager Ci'an asks first, and this time is no exception. Generally speaking, what she said at the beginning was nothing more than that you have worked hard in the past two years and walked on the road for a few days. Seeing that there was nothing or something like that, Guan Zhuofan had already made preparations. However, today the Empress Dowager Ci'an's words came out. Immediately, it didn't look like a right pattern.

"Master Guan, congratulations."

The words were good words, but they made Guan Zhuofan a little at a loss - it was useless to prepare the answer, so he had to lean over and replied: "This is all the grace of the emperor and the two queen mothers." ”

"Hmm," Tzu An said cheerfully. She has always felt that she owes something to Guan Zhuofan, and this time she made up for him by sealing the Hou. "What day did you arrive in Beijing?"

Naturally, it was yesterday, so why ask? Guan Zhuofan thought to himself, this queen mother is really ignorant and interesting sometimes.

"The minister is on a sea ship, arriving in Tianjin on the third day of the seventh month, and arriving in the capital on the seventh day of the first month."

"Is it still too peaceful on the road?"

Taiping is not peaceful, of course, it is not the sea route that is asked. On the land route, although there were no bandits, along the way, the people did not have a good life, but there were many situations, and the word "Taiping" could not be said in any case.

"If you go back to the Queen Mother, it's all too peaceful."

"You have won many big battles in Jiangsu in the past two years, and you have worked hard."

Guan Zhuofan smiled secretly in his heart: It turned out to be this routine, but the order was a little different.

"The ministers are blessed with the grace of the emperor and the queen mother, and they should do their best to be loyal."

"You came this time and brought the two naturalized foreigners," this is the most interesting thing for Ci'an, "one is called Huaer, and the other is called Fu...... Blessing ......"

"Empress Dowager, it's Forrestal."

"By the way, Forrest, Forrest," Ci'an repeated twice, remembering firmly, "how are these two people?" ”

"These two are loyal and brave people, and they think that it is a great honor to be naturalized in China, so they are grateful for the grace of the Queen Mother and the Emperor." Guan Zhuofan is about to say a little big, "With such an incentive, I am extremely brave in fighting." Wall was wounded three times on the battlefield, Forrest was captured, tortured by Longhair, and remained loyal and unyielding, never losing the prestige of the court. ”

These words left a deep impression on the two queen mothers, and they felt that it was very rare for "foreign devils" to be able to do this part.

"Prince Gong is going to receive them," the Empress Dowager Ci'an said movingly, "In addition, you tell the two of them that as long as you serve sincerely, the court will naturally not treat them badly." ”

"Yes."

Ci'an didn't have anything to say, turned his head and whispered, "Sister." ”

*

*

When the Empress Dowager Ci'an asked, Cixi's gaze stayed on Guan Zhuofan.

Her mood is different from Ci'an's. Ci'an was happy, and in addition to being happy, she also mixed a hint of pride and pride.

Cixi's temperament has a sensitivity and vanity in it - when he lost himself to Guan Zhuofan in Ruyizhou, he was just a five-grade leader, an official with sesame mung beans. This time, Zaijian came to him, but he was already a marquis, a red-capped member with a head top. And this man, who is three years younger than her, is now working hard for her son's country.

This fact filled her heart with a strange sense of comfort and satisfaction.

But although his heart fluctuated, he was as calm as usual when he spoke.

"Guan Zhuofan, do you want to apply for reimbursement when you return to Beijing this time?"

"Yes."

"Isn't Xuan Jun going to fight anymore?"

This sentence was asked very sharply, as if Guan Zhuofan's intentions were seen through at once - according to the practice at the time, if you still want to continue to fight in the future, why rush to sell the military expenses?

"Back to the Queen Mother's words, the Xuan Army is the country's financial support, and the minister thinks that the military expenses should be reported to be bright, and it is better to move to Yu for a long time. Yu is difficult. This is ready to answer haode. It's not difficult. "According to the minister's thoughts, the military expenses of the Xuan army in the future must be reported every year."

This statement cleverly evades the question of whether Xuan Jun intends to continue fighting, but it is very beautiful. At that time, the various armies fought wars, and they were always asking for wages, and they often fought for seven or eight years, and when it came to an end. before the reimbursement begins. At this time, the accounts of the past years have naturally become a confused account, and the imperial court can only approve the passage in a daze, so the commanders and generals can rest assured that they are full, and at the same time, they have cheapened a group of stupid officials in the household department in vain.

The Empress Dowager Cixi is the person in charge of the house, but this family is very difficult, not only has no money, but also how the money is spent. I can't figure it out. She felt that Guan Zhuofan said it very well, if all armies could be like Xuanjun. Once a year, how good would it be to give the accounts clearly?

Although she couldn't do this right now, her voice already brought out the meaning of approval.

"This is really a good way, it can be regarded as thinking about the country."

From here, combined with several excerpts from last year to the present, I have asked in detail about several battles since I arrived in Shanghai. At the end of the day, I asked about the foreigner again.

"How many foreigners are there in the Xuan Army?"

"Confessing to Qi Wen and below, foreign instructors, foreign officers and foreign soldiers, a total of 1,346."

"I heard that the Xuan army can fight, and it has a lot to do with these foreigners," Cixi suddenly sighed, "I don't know when, if you don't rely on these foreigners, you can still fight the same, that's good." ”

"Yes, Queen Mother Shengming!" Guan Zhuofan hurriedly continued, "So it's not enough to defeat Long Hair, you have to train the soldiers again." ”

"Well," Cixi behind the tulle thought so, nodded and said, "With this army in Jiangsu, we are all very relieved, but now the twist is very troublesome, and I don't know if it is enough to rely on the troops of several provinces in Henan and Anhui." ”

Of course it's enough, if it's not enough, wouldn't it be that Xuan Jun wants to go up again? Moreover, the commander of the twist is Seng Lingqin, and his son Boyan Nemo is standing aside with his hands down at this moment, which cannot be answered wrongly.

"Enough is sure to be enough," this sentence is the general outline, must be made clear first, and then can be laid out layer by layer, "The twist bandits are roughly rushing between Anhui, Henan, and Shandong provinces, and now the army of twisting is in the banner, there are more than 10,000 Mongolian horse teams and 70,000 green battalions of the monk king, more than 10,000 people in Shengbao, and 8,000 people in Desheng'a. Among the Han soldiers, there were more than 10,000 Yu troops in Li Henian, nearly 40,000 Huai troops in Li Hongzhang, and 20,000 Lu troops in Tan Tingxiang. Bao Chao and Zhang Yunlan of the Hunan army had 30,000 men in Henan, and Liu Changyou's generals Zhang Liangzuo and Tu Renshan had 15,000 men at the junction of Shandong and Henan. In addition, there are nearly 10,000 horse teams from Jilin and Heilongjiang, which is not counting the township brave regiments in various places. ”

In this way, there are 240,000 regular troops alone, and the number is indeed enough, not to mention the most important point that has not been said.

"The monk Wang is famous, and with him in charge of the overall situation, tens of thousands of twisted bandits are nothing more than prolonging and dragging out their days. Another thing, I want to ask the two queen mothers to know clearly, the situation on the battle battlefield, it is not necessarily that the more soldiers, the better, because logistics grain, guns, ammunition and gunpowder need to be supplied and transported, and the command and deployment of troops must also be flexible.

The queen mother in the deep palace couldn't know everything about the military in the first place, and the only time that came closest to the battle was Guan Zhuofan's killing of Le Bao before the royal car. And now, although he is still young, but the great military exploits are there, since he says this, who will he believe if he doesn't believe him? Naturally, they were all convinced, but they couldn't think of his words anymore, in order to take the Xuan army out of the battlefield.

"That's good." Since ancient times, people have always liked to hear good news, and Cixi is no exception, after listening to Guan Zhuofan's words, she was relieved, nodded slightly, and then asked the next thing.

"The only person who came back from Jiangning is you." She said in an understated tone, "Now that Hong Fuyu and Li Xiucheng have been killed, I don't know what the situation was in Jiangning City at the beginning?" ”

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