In the early morning, the genius was bright, and Wang Minglang, who was in his early forties, got up early and left the house after packing up his ropes, and walked out of the alley all the way to Xuanwumen Outer Street.

Xuanwai Street is also one of the few prosperous streets in Beijing, all kinds of shops on the street, guild halls, taverns, teahouses, pharmacies, silver horns, carriage shops, etc., because it is adjacent to Xuanwu Gate, it is convenient to enter and exit the imperial city, it has always been favored by officials in Beijing, and there are many official mansions and guild halls nearby.

Wang Minglang is not an official, he is a well-known businessman on Xuanwai Street, running a grain, salt, tea and timber business, and he also has an unknown identity - a secret agent, who is responsible for collecting news from the Jingli alleys of Jingshi City, and making teahouses is his hobby and his job.

The sky is still not bright, the sanitation workers on the street are busy cleaning the street, after the reconstruction of the Beijing Division, the streets and alleys of the Beijing Division have been hardened by the road surface, either paved with the oil road or the newly built cement road is not good is also a stone road, and a lot of sanitation workers are hired to be responsible for the sanitation of the street.

Walking slowly with his hands behind his back, Wang Minglang was also quite emotional in his heart, the changes in Beijing in recent years have really not been small, before going out was gray on sunny days, muddy feet on rainy days, and it was stinky, all kinds of horses and mules and livestock defecated everywhere, and the sewers also emitted a bad smell.

Today, however, the road surface has been hardened, the sewers have been completely renovated, the streets are covered with thick cement pipes that are hugged by two people, and the sidewalks on both sides of the street are paved with bluestone slabs of the same color, not to mention rows of evergreen trees.

The original endless flow of horse-drawn carriages, mule carts, and donkey carts are also being replaced by bicycles and rickshaws, and as for the four-wheeled car, it is still a novelty, although there are but not many, only those high-ranking officials and dignitaries and rich businessmen and magnates who have a relationship with Yuanqi can buy it, and ordinary people can't buy it even if they have money.

From time to time, bicycles with crisp bells passed by, and he knew that these were workers who rushed to work in the factories on the outskirts of the city early in the morning, and that more and more workers like this were leaving early and returning late.

Located in the inner moat, the 'Tiantai' teahouse is a newly built three-storey western-style house, the seats in the teahouse are wide, the windows are bright and clean, the furnishings are fashionable, the tea set is elegant, the tea guests can taste the tea, they can also drink and eat, it belongs to the tea house that is both tea and rice, because the geographical location is good, the scenery is also good, and the business is very prosperous.

When Wang Minglang arrived at the 'Tiantai' teahouse, it was already dawn, and there were more than ten tables sparsely seated in the lobby on the first floor.

The Jingshi teahouse industry has always been prosperous, in the past, the flag people were full of food all day long, idle, making teahouses is an important way for the flag people to spend time, up to the dignitaries, down and the peddlers and pawns are often mixed in the teahouse and gossiping, the flag man of the official residence of three or four grades of the Beijing official and the peddler pawn sit down and talk is also commonplace.

After the abolition of the privileges of the banner people, especially with the rapid industrial development of Tianjin and Jingshi, a large number of banner people in Jingshi either moved to Tianjin or entered the factory, and the Jingshi teahouse industry was once neglected.

However, with the implementation of constitutionalism in the Qing Dynasty, advocating freedom of speech, encouraging officials, gentlemen, businessmen and ordinary people to care about state affairs, and advocating active discussion of current affairs, the atmosphere of Beijing has also changed.

With the gradual increase in the number of tea guests, the lobby is gradually lively, there are familiar tea guests come in to see Wang Minglang, naturally came over to say hello around the table and sit down, soon, a few tea tables around him gathered a group of tea guests, everyone chatted for a while, and someone whispered: "There is a big incident in the northwest, have you heard?" ”

Someone immediately answered, "Could it be that Zhu Shanhai telegraphed in Gongning and announced the establishment of the two northwestern provinces?" ”

"What's that big deal? I heard that the emperor decreed that he recognized the independence of the two northwestern provinces and canonized Zhu Shanhai as the king of Kokand. ”

"Don't talk nonsense about this, how big is the territory of the two northwestern provinces, how can the emperor issue such an edict?"

"The officialdom of the Beijing division has been spread all over the world, and there are noses and eyes to say it, and you don't want to think about it, who dares to spread this kind of thing?"

"Obediently, if this thing is true, I'm afraid it will stab Lou Zi, King Zhennan was still saying in the newspaper a few days ago that every inch of rivers and mountains is an inch of blood, and he will defend the integrity of the country's territory at the expense of fighting the country, but the emperor has issued such a holy decree ........"

"Some time ago, didn't the queen mother send a telegram, saying that she was trapped in Gongning, and Zhu Shanhai coerced and lured the emperor to canonize her as the king of Kokand? Even if this is true, the emperor is probably forced to ....... ”

"In my opinion, it can't be persecuted." Wang Minglang, who had been listening quietly, couldn't help but speak, his task today was to guide public opinion and clarify for the Empress Dowager, "Don't forget, the emperor is by the side of the Empress Dowager, what wind and waves have the Empress Dowager not seen?"

Even if she is persecuted, the Queen Mother, who takes care of the overall situation everywhere, will not allow the emperor to make such an edict to split the country's territory, there is only one possibility, the edict! ”

"Edict? Zhu Shanhai dares to deceive the world? ”

"Zhu Shanhai dared to assassinate the king of Zhennan, dared to put the queen mother under house arrest, and dared to plan the establishment of a country in the northwest, it can be described as bold, what did he dare not do?"

"The question is, what is the need for Zhu Shanhai's edict?"

"Why is it not necessary?" Wang Minglang laughed and said: "Jiaozhao, you can disrupt the Qing Dynasty internally, and you can gain the recognition and support of all countries externally, do you think it is necessary?" ”

Before the words fell, a newsboy trotted into the lobby, raised the newspaper in his hand and said loudly: "Sell newspapers, sell newspapers!" Big news! Zhu Shanhai and Gongning telegraphed to announce the establishment of the two northwestern provinces. The emperor made it clear to the world, recognized the independence of the northwest, and canonized Zhu Shanhai as the king of Kokand! ”

The lobby was quiet, and the newsboy who was waiting for him repeated loudly again, and all the tea guests were stunned, this thing was too unbelievable, how could the emperor explicitly tell the world to recognize the independence of the northwest?

Soon, the newsboy was surrounded by three layers inside and three layers outside, and the newspaper in his backpack was snatched away.

The lobby was full of "buzzing" discussions, and on the one hand, the "Beijing Daily" truthfully reported the Gongning telegram and Guangxu's edict, and on the other hand, it also analyzed from many sides and directly concluded that this was Zhu Shanhai's edict to deceive the world.

Listening to all kinds of discussions in the lobby, Wang Minglang looked at the newspaper and read the articles on it carefully, others didn't know, but he knew that Yuan Qi did not approve of clarifying this matter, but advocated free public opinion debate.