After Guan Zhuofan went to the United States, she had to watch it almost every day. Although the "map of the United States" in front of me is quite different from the "Shijie map", the shape of the United States is the same. I also memorized the names and locations of more than a dozen large cities marked on the map. Therefore, among these people in the palace, except for Libin, there is not necessarily any one who is more familiar with "America" - the United States on the map than her.

Wen Xiang continued to explain: "Guan Zhuofan's idea is not only to take Atlanta, but also to fight all the way to the southeast, until you can see the sea, so that the rebels will be completely divided into two pieces, and they will not be able to take care of each other, and the rebels on the eastern front will no longer be able to get ammunition, food, and grass, and there will be few days left." ”

"Then turn around and go north, and the troops led by Grant in the east, flank the north and south, gather and annihilate the remnants of the rebels under the city of Richmond, and finally determine the victory."

What a great strategy! Cixi's eyes burned when she heard this, and she couldn't help but think: This man is really amazing!

Zuihou was a little suspicious: "When the rebels see that the situation is not good, will they flee and wander around like bandits?" ”

Wen Xiang motioned to Libin, and Libin said: "The Queen Mother of Qi, Guan Zhuofan said in the telegram that Richmond is the pseudo-capital of the southern rebellion, and if it is discarded, the rebels will inevitably disperse, and the soldiers will return to their hometowns and will never be able to gather again." Therefore, the rebels did not dare to withdraw their troops, and if they did, there would be nowhere to go, because by that time, the hinterland of the rebels had been restored. ”

It was this truth, Cixi breathed a sigh of relief lightly, smiled, and there were no more questions.

Since there are no more problems, all that remains is to pay for it.

Most of the Qing system rewarded mediocre military exploits before they were officially promulgated after the war was completely settled. But there are also many rewards in the course of the war. Guan Zhuofan has it. His first-class lieutenant and Jiangsu Domain's division were obtained after the First World War in Shanghai, and the battle was not completely completed when he was awarded the dazzling feather.

Now, the domestic public opinion is boiling, and the imperial court cannot help but admire; Abroad, the US president, a "commander" on the left and a "lieutenant general" on the right, according to Cixi, cannot "be compared." This is indeed the case, otherwise the inside and outside are reversed. Front-line soldiers will inevitably have ideas. Therefore, it is appropriate and necessary to reward merit now.

Of course, now the merit is rewarded, and Zhuofan can be paid alone, which can be regarded as a representative; The other soldiers, after returning to China, were played by the coach and calmly recounted their achievements.

Although it is said that "grace comes from above". But it is always necessary for the ministers of military aircraft to discuss it first. King Gong then played: "Guan Zhuofan, the former second-class marquis of Yi Yong, has now won this great victory. Ying Jiaen is a first-class brave marquis. ”

This is at the same level as Zeng Guofan.

But Cixi didn't think so, she said: "Guan Zhuofan's original title was a third-class marquis, because he wanted to release the ocean, he added one level, and he didn't fight a battle at that time. Now that you have won such a big battle, is it a little thinner? ”

Prince Gong said: "Yes, the ministers are thinking left." ”

Cixi said: "The sixth master and the military aircraft are old enough to seek the country, and they can't say that they think left. It's just that last night, the firecrackers in the whole city of Beijing went off all night, which shows the weight of this credit in people's hearts! Our sisters thought that this position, one is to give justice, and the other is to really arouse the heart of service. ”

This was said thoroughly and solidly, King Gong was convinced, and said: "The Queen Mother of the Two Palaces has given great instructions. Then please note: Guan Zhuofan will be added two levels to the third-class resolute and brave duke. In addition, is it possible to add grace to Guan to reward the three-eyed dazzle, and grace comes out from above. ”

The third-class Yiyong Gong is also okay, this three-eyed dazzle is the supreme glory of the Qing Dynasty, one level higher than Guan Zhuofan's original double-eyed dazzle, since the Qianlong Dynasty so far, only Fukangan and other five people have had this honor. King Gong has done enough for this favor!

Cixi was quite surprised, pondered for a while, and said, "I'm afraid that the intention of the sixth master is not haode?" But I think there is always a little room for improvement for Guan Zhuofan, let's put this three-eyed dazzle here first, it can be regarded as a reward in advance, and when Guan Zhuofan receives all the credit, ask him to go back to Beijing to get it himself! He turned his head and asked Ci'an, "Sister, what do you say?" ”

Ci'an smiled and nodded: "Very good, it should be like this." ”

This arrangement is both fair and inspiring, and the ministers in the palace not only admire, but also warm in their hearts, so they sang in unison: "The Queen Mother Shengming!" ”

Next, how to recount the merits for Guan Zhuofan in the edict. This is a small trouble, because after all, it is not a rebellion that fights the Qing Dynasty. Doesn't it always say that "friends are happy, and Te Kaen Xi gives a third-class brave and brave man"?

Zuihou took Cao Yuying's opinion as the standard, and only said that Guan Zhuofan was "loyal and courageous, with outstanding meritorious service, small and intimidating at home and abroad, and the country relied on the dry city", and did not mention the word "United States" throughout the article. Anyway, all shijie knows what's going on.

Cixi felt quite unhappy with this message, but she also knew that this "hedgehog" still had to be in a group, and it was not really time to blow up the thorns, so she had to ignore it.

Cixi said: "There is one more thing, if people send troops to release horses outside, behead and drain blood, we have to take care of them at home." ”

King Gong replied: "Yes, Guan Zhuofan's family, the military aircraft, the military department, the commander of the Nine Gates, and the Shuntian Mansion are all taken care of. ”

Cixi suddenly had a whim, so she discussed with Ci'an in the palace: "I heard that Guan Zhuofan has two widowed sisters-in-law and sisters-in-law in the family, shall we take them into the palace for a few days?" ”

Ci'an naturally applauded. But the situation in Guan Zhuofan's house, King Gong and several ministers of military aircraft all knew about it, and they had to explain it, so as not to make jokes in the two palaces.

King Gong smiled and said to Cao Yuying: "Yuying, you go back with the two queen mothers." ”

Cao Yuying responded with a "yes", and said with a smile: "The two sisters-in-law of the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother, and Guan Zhuofan, one is the widow of his eldest brother and the sister-in-law of his in-laws; The other is the widow of one of his brothers who died in the battle of Bali Bridge, and entrusted his wife and children to Guan Zhuofan before his death. Guan Zhuofan crawled out of the pile of dead people, lived up to the trust of the old man, and took the mother and son to the sister-in-law's house to support them. ”

The Queen Mother of the Two Palaces couldn't help but be moved: This is a good story that only exists in a play! Cixi thought even more in her heart: I knew that he was such a loving and righteous person!

Cao Yuying continued: "Guan Zhuofan's second brother still lives well, but he is a villain and despicable, and he once murdered Guan Zhuofan. Although Guan Zhuofan did not count his past suspicions and repaid his grievances with virtue, the two families had no contact. "Because he briefly said that Guan Er broke into the seat, was detained first and then released.

The two queen mothers were fascinated by it, which was more interesting than what they sang in the play!

Ci'an said indignantly: "Sister, you see, Guan Zhuofan carried into the Zhenghuang Banner, and his second brother naturally followed, isn't this a villain taking advantage?" ”

Cixi's attention was not on this, what she thought about was this man's revenge and happiness, which was really heartwarming! The strange feelings in my heart became stronger and stronger.

She smiled slightly: "Yes, but what can be done?" We can't chase him back, otherwise it will be too petty. After a pause, he said: "That is to say, we can only take Guan Zhuofan, the sister-in-law, into the palace." ”

Cao Yuying said: "Yes." There is another matter, please pay attention to the two queen mothers, Guan Bai's family is still white, and if the queen mother wants to take her into the palace, she needs to reward her with a grace first. ”

The two queen mothers both remembered that only the wife could enter the palace to stay overnight.

This is easy to do, and this is also Cixi's favorite thing to do. She said with great interest: "Guan Zhuofan is now a third-class duke, and he is already a super grade, and his sister-in-law, of course, is a first-class fate." ”

Ci'an also smiled: "In the future, Guan Zhuofan will marry, and there will be two first-class ladies in the house, which is a good story of our Tongzhi Dynasty." ”

Several military planes showed embarrassed smiles, not that the sister-in-law couldn't be sealed, but how to phrase it in the holy decree? If this sister-in-law is older Guan Zhuofan, and the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother, it can be said that "the upbringing is meritorious". But this Guan Bai and Guan Zhuofan seem to be much different in age, and they definitely can't talk about "upbringing" Guan Zhuofan, and they can't say "there is a way to run a family" in the edict?

Cixi noticed the strangeness of the ministers of military discipline and asked, "What, is there any difficulty?" ”

King Gong smiled and said, "No, the ministers are in charge." ”

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