Prince Gong was thoughtful, this time Zi Baojun was not there, and he didn't know who to discuss, so he was not happy, so he only poured a few glasses of wine on his head, his head was slightly dizzy, and his face was red, Jing Lian only appeared at this time, and said to Prince Gong, "This time the wine is enough, why don't you call the imperial dining room to burn a bowl of decanting soup?" ”

Prince Gong shook his head, "These foreign wines are not as powerful as our Moutai Jian Nanchun, it doesn't matter, wouldn't it be a ruin if I left?" "At this time, the dance party is lively," Qiu Ping," he shouted Jing Lian's words, "this is not a straight room in the military aircraft department here, let's say something, it will reach my ears, even if I have heard it—you are talking about the reform of the Eight Banners, should it be changed?" ”

"Since the prince asked me, he will tell me the truth," Jing Lian thought about it slightly and said bluntly, "The matter of the Eight Banners must be changed." ”

"Do you also think that the Eight Banners system is not conducive to my Qing Dynasty?"

"Let's not talk about the system for the time being, let's talk about this person's terrible words." Jing Lian said, "It's true that the people of the Eight Banners don't do anything about production, but there aren't many people, it's only two or three million people, and our population in the Qing Dynasty is 40,000!" Among these two or three million people, how many Ding Zhuang are there besides women? Among these Ding Zhuang, in the old years, he was an errand boy, a soldier, a group of people were reduced by studying, and there were originally errands, and they were reduced a little, so deducted a little, and there were always more than a million people, just a little bit of people to raise, if it was about Renxuan, it would naturally not be successful, but now that foreign affairs are widespread, taxes and silver are collected like a sea of water, and more than one million people are fed, to be honest, it is simple, but why do I have to change my meaning? It's just such a sentence, people are terrible, don't suffer from widowhood, such a little silver is red when others look at it, but it is not useful to get it, it is better to cut the mess quickly. With such an excuse, the common people will not listen to these benevolent morals or things left over from the honor of their ancestors. ”

"But this is avoided, I'm afraid it's too turbulent." Prince Gong shook his head,

"You're right. Although there have been many fewer rebels in recent years, there are many discussions in the market, although they are funny, but they have to admit that they can really incite people's hearts. I think about it again, if this matter can be properly resolved, it doesn't hurt if I agree, let's take a look at Lao Qi's methods first. ”

Prince Gong was happy to see everyone playing, but the Empress Dowager Cixi and Edward didn't know where they went, and said to Jing Lian: "You are staring here." I'll go out for a drink and I'll be back later. ”

He walked out of Chonghua Palace, his entourage wanted to follow, he waved his hand back, he walked towards the east alone, Chonghua Palace was the place where Emperor Qianlong lived when he was the prince, it was already the northernmost position close to the palace wall, and there was no scenery to see further north. Prince Gong thought that when he lived in the palace as a child, he often played on the edge of the big stage in Shufangzhai. Where there is a huge plum tree, this time should be the best time to bloom, taking advantage of the snowy night, it is better to visit at night, it is also an elegant thing.

He wore no lantern and a hood, and his hands were on his sleeves. Slowly walked into Shufangzhai, on a snowy night, the guards stationed here were lazy to roast the fire, and there was no one in the silence, which was exactly what Prince Gong wanted. At this time, he stepped into the atrium, the snow covered the entire courtyard, Prince Gong was a little drunk, did not find the plum tree that had been played, so he went to the second floor of the verandah side hall of the stage, looked around, the snow was shining, the cold air rushed Prince Gong's nose, the smell of wine that originally lingered around him was scattered, he actually smelled the faint fragrance of plum blossoms, looked down, and sure enough, under the verandah in the northwest corner of the big stage there was a plum tree covered by heavy snow, which was slowly exuding its fragrance, Prince Gong turned around and wanted to go down to enjoy the game closely, when a few laughs suddenly came from his ears.

The laughter was heroic, but it was very clear, obviously a female voice, Prince Gong turned around, squinted at the atrium downstairs, the main hall opposite the stage, ran out of a figure in a stone blue auspicious suit, the diamond earrings in the ears were shining even in the snow and dark night, it was the Empress Dowager Cixi.

She seemed to be a little drunk, her face was flushed, although Prince Gong couldn't see her expression clearly, but he must know that she was in a good mood, the corners of her mouth must be slightly raised and smiling, the Empress Dowager Cixi stepped on the bottom of the flower pot, but she didn't see the slightest stumbling and swaying, she ran steadily to the front of the stage, picked up a handful of snowflakes, and threw them forward, and a man also came out of the main hall, Prince Gong saw this person, and his originally comfortable and soothing body suddenly stiffened, and the person had red hair, a blue dress, and a red ribbon draped obliquely, It was Crown Prince Edward who came from afar.

Not to be outdone, Edward grabbed the snow from the ground, crumpled it into a ball and threw it towards the Empress Dowager Cixi, Cixi screamed and dodged, but the flag head was a little crooked, she simply pulled off the fixed hairpin with the flag head, and threw it on the ground, scattered long hair, wearing the bottom of the flower pot and Edward had a snowball fight.

Prince Gong just silently watched the two people below playing regardless of the physique, his expression was indifferent, but his eyebrows twitched slightly, the Empress Dowager Cixi threw a snowball on Edward's face, Edward's entire head was stained with snowflakes, like a polar bear, Cixi laughed, who knew that Edward's sneak attack also hit the snowball on Cixi's shoulder, in the end he was wearing the bottom of the flower pot, the center of gravity was a little unstable, and he fell to the ground with a bang.

Prince Gong was shocked and was about to go downstairs to help people, but saw Edward help the Empress Dowager Cixi up with an arrow step.

Empress Dowager Cixi hurriedly took a few breaths, "Oh, thank you, Eddie." ”

Edward smiled, "I didn't expect you to be such a character, it's rare for me to have such a good time." ”

"Yes, me too," the Empress Dowager Cixi nodded, and the two looked at each other in the snowy night, seeing each other's shining eyes, and the two were silent, "Eddie, we are good friends, right?" ”

"Of course, of course we are good friends."

"Then let's do another dance," said the Empress Dowager, putting her hand on Edward's shoulder, "just like that time in London." ”

"I'll sing you another song."

Edward put his hand around Cixi's waist and slid out to the left, there was a lot of snow, and it was not suitable to waltz at all, but the two of them stood on tiptoe and paced slowly, and the Queen Mother sang the classic "Friendship Lasts Forever" in English:

"How can you forget your old friends

I can't think about it in my heart

How can old friends forget?

Friendship lasts forever

We used to wander all day long

On the green hills of my hometown

We've had a lot of hard work

Wandering around

Long live friendship, friendship, friendship

Long live a toast

Singing in unison, friendship lasts forever

Singing in unison, friendship lasts forever"

The two of them were slowly spinning and slowly turning, the snow was falling, and the Empress Dowager Cixi's long hair was covered with snow, but the two of them didn't care at all, just turning and jumping like this, as if they could grow old in the wilderness. (To be continued.) )