"I think," Cixi said slowly, "this time, on the Tibetan side, there is still sincerity, that regent Dezhu, didn't he say anything, well, he strongly agreed with the imperial court to implement the 'lingua franca', and the Dalai Lama went to Beijing to meet him, just to 'invite famous teachers, teach Chinese, and lean learning'?" ”

Guan Zhuofan thought to himself, the strength of my entire division is just watching from the sidelines, and "the Tibetan side" is naturally "sincere."

The mouth said, "Yes! The ministers will prepare carefully, so as not to disappoint those who are far away. However, learning Chinese, learning for a long time, and a few months, well, is far from enough. The 12th Dalai Lama is still young, if he can stay in Beijing for a few years, and the famous teacher will teach him day and night, he will study hard, achieve great success, and achieve perfection! ”

After a pause, he said: "In addition, the emperor's age is not too old, the monarch and the ministers live with each other, and after a long time, the relationship is naturally deep. This, after the emperor is in power, Enlun will be widely spread, and Tibet will greatly benefit. ”

This passage is very profound, but even if he is as honest as a benevolent person, Guan Zhuofan's true intentions can also be implied. The queen mother's heart of the two palaces shook slightly, exchanged a look with each other, and nodded slowly.

"Good," said Cixi, "you can do it with your heart!" ”

"Yes! Obey the decree! ”

"Well," said Tzu An, "the little Dalai Lama, who is only a little over six years old, has to walk so far—thousands of miles, right?" Strange and pitiful! I heard that the climate in Tibet is very strange, and it is very different from ours here. ”

This is a very real concern. At that time, Tibet went to Beijing. It's a long way to go. Climate change. Even healthy adults can't guarantee everything, let alone a six-year-old child?

"The Queen Mother and the Queen Mother are very worried!" Guan Zhuofan said, "When the Fifth Dalai Lama entered Beijing for an audience, he took the road of leaving Qinghai first and then entering Mongolia, stopping and stopping, leaving in March, and arriving in Beijing at the end of the year. It took ten months, which was indeed too much for a six-year-old child. ”

After a pause, he said: "The minister thinks that the 12th Dalai Lama should first leave Sichuan, then take the Yangtze River waterway, and go down the river until Shanghai. Then transfer to the sea boat and go north to Tianjin. From Tianjin to Beijing for a pilgrimage. In this way, no matter how slow you go, three or two months will be enough; And you don't have to suffer from the wind and sand, it's much more comfortable. ”

"Well, this route is indeed more thoughtful."

"And," Guan Zhuofan said, "Tibetans are not tolerant of heat. However, when the 12th Dalai Lama enters Beijing to meet him, he must make a lot of preparations, and it will always take a month to make the trip. When I arrived in Sichuan, it was already late autumn, and the climate in the mainland was very cool at that time. When we arrived in Beijing, it was already Mengdong, and it was also a very suitable climate for Tibetans. ”

"Makes sense."

"The Minister's Steamship China Merchants Bureau," Guan Zhuofan said, "sent the largest and best river and sea vessels to be carefully arranged for the 12th Dalai Lama; At the same time, the best doctors, including foreign doctors, were also sent to serve on the ship. Although the 12th Dalai Lama is young, he heard that he is strong and strong, well, this way, there will be no serious problems, please the two queen mothers and worry. ”

The queen mother of the two palaces bowed their heads in unison: "Okay, very proper." ”

With such an arrangement, Ci'an really thought it was "very proper", another layer of deep meaning in Guan Zhuofan's plan, she couldn't comprehend it at the moment, but Cixi knew it:

The 12th Dalai Lama's visit to the Hajj and not asking him to take the route of Qinghai and Mongolia was to weaken the Dalai Lama's influence in Qinghai and Mongolia. This situation happened to be reversed from the beginning of the country: at that time, in order to appease Qinghai and Mongolia, the imperial court must vigorously borrow the Dalai Lama, and the fifth Dalai Lama entered the Hajj.

Of course, reducing travel time is also an important consideration. After all, a six-year-old child, no matter how strong his body is, is also delicate compared to adults. The less time you spend on the road, the fewer surprises you have.

It's just that even Guan Zhuofan didn't expect that on the health of the 12th Dalai Lama, the thoughts of the Dezhu Living Buddha are not the same as those of the monarchs and ministers in Beijing - this Hajj, not to mention the "health" of the 12th Dalai Lama, even his "life and death" is not what the Dezhu Living Buddha really cares about.

Although he is the sutra teacher of the 12th Dalai Lama, in terms of the personal relationship between master and apprentice, it is still very deep.

However, in the eyes of the Living Buddha of Dezhu, the 12th Dalai Lama is not his disciple of Dezhu alone, and he cannot even be regarded as a "person". He is the Dalai Lama of all Tibet, and since he accepts the worship of all Tibet, he has the obligation to dedicate himself to the whole of Tibet. Even if there is something unspeakable, it is also his duty to "cut meat and feed eagles" - here in Tibet, it is enough to "reincarnate" a Dalai Lama, what's the big deal?

The key is, can the "sacrifice" of the 12th Dalai Lama be exchanged for the maximum benefit of Tibet?

These are the last words, so let's not press the table for the time being.

"Since the Twelfth Dalai Lama has entered the Hajj," Cixi said, "Xuan Jun...... Is it not necessary to go into storage for the time being? ”

"Yes." Guan Zhuofan smiled slightly, "However, there is no need to withdraw in a hurry." ”

"Well," Cixi nodded, "I know that I'm going to 'change the land and return to the stream'." ”

*

*

"Change the land and return to the stream", that is, the waste soil division, set up a flow officer.

Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty opened up the southwest, nearly 2,000 years, the Central Plains Dynasty persevered in the southwest, but until the Qing Yongzheng Dynasty, the central government only had suzerainty over a large area of land in the southwest, and had no real administrative power, or in other words, only very incomplete administrative power.

The central government's rule over these areas was achieved through the Tusi system of "local officials governing the local people". Tusi are all hereditary, a Tusi is a Tu Emperor, under his rule, rampant expropriation, life and death, the court can basically not interfere. The taxes paid by the Tusi to the imperial court were only symbolic.

The Tusi system began in the Tang Dynasty, became in the Yuan, and in the Ming Dynasty, its drawbacks have been exposed.

Under the rule of Tusi, it was like an independent kingdom, and the longer the time passed, the longer Tusi's arrogance grew, and the more he despised the authority of the imperial court. Internally, Tusi became more and more tyrannical, and externally, he became more and more arrogant, attacking each other at every turn, fighting hard, not only did not listen to the moderation of the imperial court, but even the imperial court did not make a mistake if there was an inflated ambition.

The rebellion of Sinan Tianchen and Tian Zongding of Sizhou in Yongle Dynasty, the rebellion of Yang Yinglong in Banzhou in Wanli Dynasty, and the rebellion of Lu'an in Tianqi Dynasty, these Tusi rebellions were quite large, especially the rebellion of Yang Yinglong and the rebellion of Lu'an, although they were cramped in the southwest corner, they all had a national impact, and the huge manpower and material resources consumed to counter-insurgency played a direct or indirect role in the decline and fall of the Ming Dynasty.

Qing Shizong ascended the throne, learned from the pain, and was determined to completely eradicate the tumor of the Tusi system.

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