c_t; From the resolute announcement to Zhang Yi's handover of Fengtian's affairs and his return to Beijing, half a month passed.

Zhang Yi met Li Hongzhang and Prince Gong first, and the two of them comforted Zhang Yi, so as not to be disheartened, and to devote themselves to state affairs, and when they had an opportunity on a different day, the two of them would naturally continue to recommend Zhang Yi to more important positions, Yunyun,.

Zhang Yi thanked him repeatedly, for Prince Gong and Li Hongzhang, he was still full of respect and gratitude, these two people were in the center, a Xinjiang minister, echoing each other from afar, for the development of China's modern industry and Westernization, it was indispensable, and he was born to maintain it in every way, especially Li Hongzhang wanted to take over Beiyang by himself, and after a hundred years, he continued to carry the banner of Beiyang, Zhang Yi knew it, but Zhang Yi also understood that Li Hongzhang's Beiyang had fallen behind, and if he did not advance against the current, he would retreat, Moreover, in such an era of rapid change, it is difficult to change the world without a thorough change.

Zhang Yi thanked the two elders and began to enter the palace to ask for guilt, after all, he looked at the heads of dozens of Eight Banner magnates, which was a major crime of overstepping his authority.

Zhang Yi saw Cixi and Emperor Guangxu, and pleaded guilty to the two of them, Cixi, and said with a smile: "Jianzhi, in order to rule by the heavens, although you have excesses, but it is also a helpless move, and the mourning family and the emperor do not blame you, as long as you are not discouraged." ”

Zhang Yi hurriedly thanked him.

Cixi said: "Jianzhi, you are twenty-two years old this year, right? ”

Zhang Yi bowed down and said: "Lafayette, indeed, after the New Year, Wechen is already twenty-two years old. ”

Cixi sighed and said: "Time flies so fast, in the blink of an eye, a year has passed like this. This time I recruited you to return to Beijing, on the surface, someone co-signed to impeach you, but in fact, it is not the mourning family and the emperor who miss you, the country is in trouble to think about the general, you are too young now, your blood is strong, and you are sharp. I summoned you to the capital, in fact, it is also to sharpen your temperament, you are a piece of jade, but the experience of magic is still too little, the jade is not cut, and it is not a weapon. At your age, you have to sharpen it a little more. There is a Qing generation, like you, who is only twenty-three years old, and has become a vassal of a frontier, after all, there are too few, and it is estimated that only Dolgon, who led the army into the customs, can be compared with you, if only people praise you, it will not benefit you at all, what you need is more to beat ......"

Zhang Yi said: "Lafayette taught us. Weichen is young and ignorant, this time in Fengtian is eager to rectify the rule of officials, made a big mistake, if it were not for the grace of Lafayette and the emperor, I am afraid that Weichen's top has been taken off, Weichen is really terrified. ”

Guangxu said: "Jianzhi, I heard that you opened a martial arts academy in Fengtian. Hundreds of moral officials were hired to teach, what is the effect? ”

Zhang Yi replied: "Your Majesty, the year before last, when the minister followed the former marshal General Nie Lao in Korea to fight against the Japanese invaders, he was deeply touched by the comparison of the combat strength of the Chinese and Japanese armies. The physical fitness of the Oriental devils seems to be inferior to us Chinese, but the combat strength of the Japanese army has to be said to be much higher than that of the Huai Army at that time, even if the Lutai Lian Army at that time was claimed to be the first elite of the Huai Army, and Nie Tidu was claimed to be the first of the three famous generals, it was still slightly inferior. Because, the training of our army is still stuck in the era of cold weapon warfare for hundreds of years. Japan, on the other hand, has sent a large number of students to Germany to learn about Germany's advanced military training system, and at the same time has opened a Japanese army non-commissioned officer school to train a large number of military generals. Therefore, when he was in Korea, he decided that after the end of the war, he immediately began to open military academies, hire foreign instructors, and train military generals. ”

Guangxu asked, "So what, what level have the students of the Martial Arts Academy reached now?" ”

Zhang Yi replied: "Your Majesty, it's not that the minister is arrogant, when the minister formed the new army, he once went to the Tianjin Martial Arts Academy to select talents, and he has some understanding of the talents of the Tianjin Martial Arts Academy. Now dozens of senior generals of my Fengtian Senior Command Department are about to graduate, and now they are no longer the generals who only know how to charge into battle like before, it can be said that their quality has undergone a comprehensive change, each of them can be independent, and after a little baptism of war, they can become the commander of an army and defend one side. ”

Cixi said with a smile: "Jianzhi is a good skill, in just one year, you have driven out such a powerful career, and besides, you paid 1.5 million taels of silver to the imperial court in one breath some time ago, this, in the remote corner of Fengtian, you can afford to pay such a large sum of money at once?" ”

Zhang Yi replied: "Lafayette, in fact, the potential of Fengtian Province is far more than that. Last year, the minister vigorously rectified the rule of officials, rectified the officialdom, so that the following yamen, dare not cheat anymore, random greed for ink, almost eliminated, without these moths, Fengtian's tax has naturally been greatly improved, and a year, many local businessmen have come to Fengtian to do business, set up shops, so last year, Fengtian's tax from the previous year's two million taels of silver, suddenly surged to five million taels, from the minister to pay 1.5 million yuan into Beijing, it is not a difficult thing! Galeries Lafayette, the way to secure the country, lies in agriculture; The way of a rich country lies in commerce, and now we have a great Qing Dynasty and a peaceful country, because we have always been based on agriculture, but if we want to strengthen the army to a rich country, we must take the road of developing commerce and factories, we have money, we can buy weapons, we have technology, we can build naval guns, we have these, with a population of 40,000, 30,000 miles of rivers and mountains, how can we still be afraid of the Western powers led by England! They robbed our Qing things, and sooner or later, we will have to snatch them back! ”

When Emperor Guangxu heard this, his face was excited, and he applauded repeatedly, and said excitedly: "Jianzhi, you are worthy of being my thousand-mile horse, and you are worthy of being the pillar of our future in the Qing Dynasty, work hard, as long as you live up to me, I will never live up to you, this thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, I will share with you!" ”

Cixi's eyes flashed brightly, and her face changed again and again, cloudy and uncertain.

Zhang Yi saw Cixi's face from the corner of his eye, and was shocked, knowing that it had aroused Cixi's suspicion, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, you are serious, and Weichen is terrified." The Qing Dynasty still depends on you and Lafayette to take the helm, we only hope to be able to do our best for Lafayette, for the emperor to work hard, the minister is difficult to repay Lafayette and the emperor's grace to the ministers, the minister to the age of the weak crown, on the center, completed the others, decades to achieve the high-ranking officials Houlu, are caused by Lafayette and the emperor's grace, the ministers dare not bow to the end, and then die! ”

Cixi nodded and said: "Jianzhi, these days, you have carefully prepared for this visit to Europe, the matter is very important, do not lose the majesty and etiquette of our Qing Dynasty, you must work hard." There is nothing else, and later, the mourning family and the emperor will hold a banquet for you, and wash the dust for you, the emperor's thousand-mile horse, ......" (to be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )

...