Devil Six is actually far more hypocritical than Su Shun, on the surface, he talks and laughs with Wu Chaoyue, ridicules and jokes, but in fact, the words are far less frank and direct than Su Shun's to Wu Chaoyue, let alone Su Shun's direct inquiry about Wu Chaoyue's real purpose of coming to the capital, just in the name of understanding Wu Chaoyue's tenure, he constantly knocks on the side to test Wu Chaoyue in the discourse, and the main thing is to test whether Wu Chaoyue's initiative to come to Beijing is related to the foreigners' request for revision.

Devil Six is purely a waste of effort, Wu Chaoyue took the initiative to ask to come to Beijing and the foreigners to ask for a revision of the treaty is completely happened to be in a period of time, people are not afraid of the shadow crooked, Wu Chaoyue of course has something to answer, Devil Six and three times deliberately mentioned the foreigners to Beijing, and once tentatively asked Wu Chaoyue about the foreigners' request to revise the treaty, Wu Chaoyue replied calmly, "The prince forgives the sin, when the lower officials were in Shanghai, they had contact with the British and French foreign envoys, and once feasted and drank together, in order to avoid suspicion, On this matter, the lower officials did not dare to express any opinions. ”

"Comfort Pavilion is so careful?" Devil Six asked with a smile.

"The lower officer has to be careful." Wu Chaoyue replied with a wry smile and said, "Lord Wang, I don't know if you still remember the last time the lower official accompanied you to Tianjin to sign the Dagukou Treaty?" At that time, after the signing of the treaty, Xiaguan was immediately notorious and notorious in the Zhili area, and was spit on from behind and scolded behind his back. Since then, Xia Guan has vowed not to be involved in the treaty again, fearing that he will repeat the mistakes of the past, which will make Xia Guan's already bad reputation in this regard even more insignificant. ”

Listening to Wu Chaoyue's frank answer, and seeing that Wu Chaoyue's attitude was sincere and not fake, he was still worried that Wu Chaoyue was a foreigner lobbyist, so he completely relieved his heart and said with a smile: "That incident is not your own bad luck, after this king signed that treaty, doesn't he have a bad reputation of a devil six among the people?" ”

Wu Chaoqiang couldn't help laughing, and said in his heart that you were originally a devil six, at most, this infamy was just a few years in advance. But Devil Six laughed at himself, and then waved his hand and said, "Forget it, don't mention those sad pasts, let's talk about something else." By the way, Weiting, when did you enter Beijing? Did you report to the Ministry of Officials? ”

"Xiaguan arrived in the capital at noon today, and the first thing he did after entering Beijing was to report to the Ministry of Officials first, and then immediately went to Suzhongtang's mansion, and then came here to greet the prince."

Wu Chaoyue's honest answer made the muscles on Devil Six's face move, and after thinking about it for a while, Devil Six smiled and complained: "Running back and forth, you are not too tired to panic." Maybe it's rare to come to the capital once, so don't go, just stay with me tonight. Come on, arrange a courtyard for Lord Wu. ”

The subordinate next to him agreed, but Wu Chaoyue panicked, and immediately understood that Devil Six wanted to pull himself onto his thief ship - although Wu Chaoyue didn't mind leaning on the big backer of Devil Six, but if Wu Chaoyue dared to live in Devil Six's palace, Su Shun, who had been bringing his own dry food to Wu Chaoyue as a backer for the past two years, would definitely have to turn his face with Wu Chaoyue!

But fortunately, Wu Chaoyue still had a high-sounding excuse to excuse himself, so he hurriedly saluted and said: "Thank you for your kindness, but Xiaguan's entourage has already arranged a place for Xiaguan in the Guangdong Guild Hall, and Xiaguan will go to visit Uncle Lin Ruzhou Lin in a while, and kowtow to Lin Wenzhonggong's spiritual seat, so Xiaguan will not disturb the prince." ”

Disappointment flashed in the eyes of the devil six, but there was no way, Wu Chaoyue's excuse was too good - he wanted to give Lin Zexu, a famous minister who was very related to the old Wu family, incense, affection, righteousness, loyalty and filial piety, even the devil six couldn't find fault. There was no way, Devil Six just nodded, and said with a smile: "Then whatever you want, bring a good one for Lin Jingfeng for this king." ”

Wu Chaoyue hurriedly agreed, and hurriedly offered Wu Lao comprador and his own generous gift to Devil Six, Devil Six accepted it calmly, and said to Wu Chaoyue with a smile: "Comfort Pavilion, although you and Master Wu have heavy gifts, you know best what this king likes." ”

Wu Chaoyue complained bitterly in his heart, knowing that Devil Six had extended an olive branch to him again, but Wu Chaoyue didn't dare to take it, just nodded resignedly, and quickly changed the topic, saying: "By the way, Lord Wang, there is something that the lower official wants to ask for a favor, and the lower official's teacher Zeng Guofan sent his second brother Zeng Guohuang to come to see you, and he has been queuing for two days and has not been able to see you. I wonder if the prince can ......? ”

Of course, the little face devil six would not give it, and casually ordered, and the next person immediately went out to ask Zeng Guohuang to come in and kowtow to the devil six, Wu Chaoyue took the opportunity to hurriedly ask for his farewell, and the devil six did not keep it, but just casually called someone to lead Wu Chaoyue out. And looking at the back of Wu Chaoyue's departure, the six eyes of the devil flashed with a strange light, and he secretly said in his heart:

"In the past, I really looked away, so Su Shun chose a big bargain, such a talent can't be used for this king, it's a pity. I have to think of a way to make him and Su Shun turn their faces, and let him obediently roll back to the feet of this king and kowtow. ”

It was also after walking out of the living room where Devil Six met him that Wu Chaoyue remembered that he forgot to beg Devil Six to help him in serving as the governor of Hubei, but Wu Chaoyue did not run back to mention this matter to Devil Six, but said in his heart: "It's better to have less to deal with Devil Six, not to mention that Su Shun is really interesting enough to me, just a bad name for changing the court is enough to disgust me." Fortunately, when the Wild Boar Skin IX was alive in history, Su Shun had been mixing quite well, and the devil received a heavy gift from me today, even if he didn't support the matter of the governor of Hubei, at least he would not oppose it. ”

"As for the future, after the return of Wild Boar Skin IX, Devil Six has been in power for a while, but he seems to have relied on a coup d'état to oust Su Shun, as long as his coup is not successful, or I hug the thigh of Cixi's eldest niece again, I still don't need to be afraid of him!"

Thinking about the way out, Wu Chaoyue met Zeng Guohuang who was led into the six mansions of the devil by his subordinates, and thanked Wu Chaoyue in a low voice, Zeng Guohuang hurriedly asked Wu Chaoyue where he lived, Wu Chaoyue truthfully said that he lived in the Guangdong Guild Hall, Zeng Guohuang was busy and said that he was going to find Wu Chaoyue at night, Wu Chaoyue knew that he was going to borrow silver, and guessed that he borrowed silver to be for Zeng Guofan's activities, but he had promised to borrow money before, Wu Chaoyue could not be untrustworthy, he could only agree with a smile.

In order to avoid continuing to stimulate the devil six, after leaving Prince Gong's mansion, although the time was not early, Wu Chaoyue still hurried to Lin Ruzhou's house, but although he was warmly received by Lin Ruzhou, he was also habitually trained by Lin Ruzhou, and was forcibly instilled with a feudal decadent idea of loyalty to the monarch and love the people.

Zeng Guohuang was also very patient, it was almost three watches, when Wu Chaoyue yawned and returned to the Guangdong Guild Hall, Zeng Guohuang was still waiting for Wu Chaoyue in the guild hall, Wu Chaoyue had no choice but to quickly invite Zeng Guohuang to his room, while explaining the reason why he came back late, and at the same time asked his soldiers to bring 120,000 taels of silver in cash and hand it to Zeng Guohuang. Zeng Guohuang, who had already borrowed a lot of silver from Yinhao Qianzhuang these days, breathed a sigh of relief, and then said to Wu Chaoyue inch by inch: "Weiting, I heard that Sushun Suzhongtang has always been good to you and regards you as a confidant, my uncle wants to ask you to do another favor and lead me to meet Suzhongtang." ”

"Uncle, when you see Prince Gong and you want to see Su Zhongtang, what do you want to do?" Wu Chaoyue asked knowingly.

Zeng Guohuang was also very frank, truthfully said that Zeng Guofan wanted to make up for the lack of the governor of Hubei, and introduced the importance of Hubei's financial resources to the Hunan army, and finally Zeng Guohuang said more frankly: "Uncle has found out in the past few days that the emperor had the intention of letting his brother act as the governor of Hubei, but it was only because of Qi Zhongtang's strong opposition that he withdrew his order, but Su Zhongtang was supportive of this matter. So the uncle wanted to go and thank Su Zhongtang for his brother, and see if he could ask Su Zhongtang to fight for his brother again. ”

Wu Chaoyue hesitated, and after thinking about it for a long time, he decided to directly pick out this matter, shook his head and said: "Second uncle, it's not that the little nephew doesn't want to take you to see Su Zhongtang, it's useless to go." When the little nephew went to meet Su Zhongtang today, he also talked about the issue of the governor of Hubei, and Su Zhongtang directly told the little nephew that he had also changed his mind and wanted to recommend another person to the emperor to make up for the lack of the governor of Hubei. ”

"Who?" Zeng Guohuang hurriedly asked.

Wu Chaoyue smiled bitterly and arched his hand and said, "Uncle forgiveness, it is my little nephew." ”

Zeng Guohuang's mouth was so open that he could stuff two eggs, and he looked Wu Chaoyue up and down in disbelief, and only after a while did he mutter: "You? Nephew, you look like you're only nineteen years old this year, right? Su Zhongtang actually wants to recommend you to be the governor of Hubei? ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded with a wry smile, and said simply: "Uncle, rest assured, if the little nephew can get promoted, then on the issue of money, food, and military salary, the little nephew will definitely fully support the teacher." ”

One of the advantages of directly picking out the words is that Wu Chaoyue doesn't have to hide it, and he doesn't have to worry about stimulating the Zeng brothers after the sudden success, and in turn pushes the problem to Zeng Guohuang, so that Zeng Guohuang can't cope with this sudden change - no matter how thick-skinned Zeng Guohuang is, it is impossible to ask Wu Chaoyue to give up the opportunity to be promoted to Zeng Guofan, right? After thinking about it for a long time, Zeng Guohuang could only force a smile and said, "If it can be like this, of course it is the best." By the way, I forgot to congratulate my nephew, hoping that my nephew would be able to succeed and be promoted again. ”

Hearing the reluctance in Zeng Guohuang's words, Wu Chaoyue couldn't say anything, so he could only fake his gratitude to Zeng Guohuang. Fortunately, Zeng Guohuang is also quite knowledgeable, seeing that Wu Chaoyue yawned and was tired enough, he said goodbye and went out after a few polite words, and he also lived in the Guangdong Hall at night, and all he thought and prayed in his heart was to hope that Emperor Xianfeng would not be confused, and gave Wu Chaoyue the real shortage of the governor of Hubei, wasting a lot of silver that he had sent out before.

Wu Chaoyue knew that Zeng Guohuang must be uncomfortable in his heart, but he didn't have time to care about him, the next morning he went to the ministry to order a mao, and after learning that Emperor Xianfeng did not issue an order to summon him on the same day, Wu Chaoyue hurried to Zaiyuan's house again, although he was also warmly welcomed by Zaiyuan, and he happened to meet Duanhua and Renshou two ********, and he was very recruited to accompany the three ******** to listen to the play and drink together, but Wu Chaoyue was very depressed and suddenly found that he was determined to oppose the Qing Dynasty. A few right-hand men in the capital turned out to be the descendants of wild boar skins with red seedlings!

sighed that after making people and seizing the opportunity, Wu Chaoyue quietly told Zaiyuan that he wanted to make up for the lack of the governor of Hubei, and begged Zaiyuan, the minister of the guard, to also help him with good words. And after Zaiyuan looked Wu Chaoyue up and down with a surprised face, he still said with a smile: "Cheng, it's definitely no problem to help you say a few good words." However, this king has said first, but he is not sure, and it is like becoming a governor before the age of twenty, which is not only a general difficulty. ”

"Lord, this matter is a little difficult, but with your status in front of the emperor, no matter how difficult it is, it is not your words?"

Zaiyuan's side is done, although Wu Chaoyue on Cixi's side can't go directly, he has already asked Jingshou to send Hui Zheng's handwritten letter into the palace and hand it to her, if it goes well, Cixi may be able to blow the pillow wind to Emperor Xianfeng tonight at the latest, and Wu Chaoyue's rest of the matter, that is, to meet with Emperor Xianfeng, pat his fart and reach out to the official. The result was also okay, Wu Chaoyue received the news on the same day, asking Wu Chaoyue to go to Jingyunmen the next morning to deliver the sign and wait for Hou to summon him.

Prepare all the preparations that should be made, and clean up and dress up to show the jade tree in the wind, early the next morning, Wu Chaoyue rushed to Jingyunmen to hand over his identity nameplate, but he didn't wait much, the early dynasty was just dispersed, and the inner court came with a will, asking Wu Chaoyue to go to the Yangxin Palace to meet the Xianfeng Emperor. Wu Chaoyue didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly followed the guards to the Heart Cultivation Palace, which he had already been to once, and finally saw the Wild Boar Skin IX who was thin and ugly compared to himself again after a lapse of two years.

Emperor Xianfeng obviously attached great importance to this summons, in addition to Su Shun and Zaiyuan, the two hardcore backers of Wu Chaoyue, who were present in the Heart Cultivation Palace, the half-backer devil Liuhe and the chief Qi Liaozao of the Military Aircraft Department were also present, and there were also a few people that Wu Chaoyue had not seen. But Wu Chaoyue turned a blind eye to these situations, just brewed emotions and slowly walked in front of Emperor Xianfeng, knelt down on his knees and saluted with great solemnity, and then his mouth opened, Wu Chaoyue's two lines of tears had already burst out of his eyes, and the tears were rolling and crying, and he couldn't say a word for a long time.

"Wu Chaoyue, this is the Palace of Heart Cultivation, you must not be rude in front of you!" A middle-aged man wearing the color of the county king's uniform couldn't stand it, and directly scolded him.

"Yes, the minister is guilty...... Wu Chaoyue choked up and agreed, wiped his tears again, and then forced back his tears and said: "Weichen Wu Chaoyue, long live my emperor, long live my emperor, long live my emperor, long live ......, long live ......." ”

Speaking of this, Wu Chaoyue couldn't help crying again, and the county king before was even more unhappy when he saw it, and scolded again: "Wu Chaoyue, what are you crazy about?" Meet the emperor, what are you crying about? ”

"Lord Hui, Lord Wu hasn't seen the emperor for more than two years." Su Shun couldn't stand it, and said for Wu Chaoyue: "It's normal for people to be attached to the master, and I hope that the prince will forgive Wu Chaoyue's loyalty to the emperor." ”

Mianyu hated to shut up, and the somewhat strange Emperor Xianfeng over there also got Su Shun's reminder, and hurriedly smiled at Wu Chaoyue and asked, "Wu Aiqing, do you miss me so much?" ”

"Yes." Wu Chaoyue cried and nodded, choked up and said: "The last time Weichen was hit by a long-haired bullet in Suzhou, he almost thought that he would never see the emperor again, but today he was lucky to see Long Yan again, and when he saw that the emperor's holy body was healthy and sound, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion, so he couldn't help ...... ...... it." ”

Saying that, Wu Chaoyue cried again, Emperor Xianfeng heard Wu Chaoyue say pitifully, his nose couldn't help but be a little sour, so he ordered: "Come on, pick up Wu Aiqing for me, let me take a closer look, how much Wu Aiqing has changed in the past two years." ”

The left and right guards agreed, and immediately came up to help Wu Chaoyue get up, so that Emperor Xianfeng could carefully see Wu Chaoyue's current appearance. Seeing that although Wu Chaoyue was a lot stronger, he was still as thin and ugly as he was, and Emperor Xianfeng was also very happy, and said: "Come on, give Wu Aiqing a seat, and also set up a seat for other Aiqing, sit down and talk slowly." ”

Everyone thanked each other and sat down, and Emperor Xianfeng asked Wu Chaoyue at this time: "Wu Aiqing, not long after you became the envoy of Jiangsu, why did you urgently request to go to Beijing to report on your work?" Could it be that something big has happened in Jiangsu's criminal name? ”

"Back to the emperor, there is no major incident in Jiangsu's criminal name." Wu Chaoyue replied respectfully: "But Weichen must enter Beijing, and he must meet the emperor at the right time." ”

"What's the right time for the noodles?" Emperor Xianfeng asked.

"Please ask the emperor to immediately strengthen the military strength of Hubei, and don't give the long-haired thieves a chance to spread!" Wu Chaoyue arched his hand and said: "Previously, in order to pacify Changmao, the imperial court transferred the official army of Huguang to the air, and even the main force of the official army of Henan, Sichuan, Guizhou and even Yunnan were transferred to Jiangsu and Anhui to quell the rebellion and suppress the thieves, so that the southwestern provinces were almost without a fight. ”

Although Wu Chaoyue's description was critical, most of the people in the Heart Cultivation Hall looked relaxed, and Mianyu couldn't help but scold again: "Alarmist! Wu Chaoyue, you are a Jiangsu prosecutor, you don't care about the criminal cases and long-haired bandits in Jiangsu, what do you care about Hubei? ”

"This prince, the rise and fall of the world is still the responsibility of the husband, and the lower officials are the courtiers of the Qing Dynasty and care about the Qing Dynasty, isn't this a mistake?" Wu Chaoyue asked unceremoniously: "If the officials in Jiangsu only care about the bandits in Jiangsu and turn a blind eye to the provincial governor Mao who is close at hand, is it doing their duty as a courtier?" ”

"You're ......!" Mianyu was furious, and finally understood why his sworn friend Monk Greenqin hated Wu Chaoyue so much.

"Fifth uncle, save your energy." Emperor Xianfeng smiled and said, "Don't fight with Wu Aiqing, you can't fight him." ”

After laughing, Emperor Xianfeng turned to Wu Chaoyue again and said, "Wu Aiqing, although your words are reasonable, they are not necessarily right, you probably don't know yet, right?" Your teacher Zeng Guofan Zeng Aiqing has not only recovered the provincial capital Wuchang, but also broke the long hair in Tianjia Town, and has almost driven the long hair out of Hubei, and the long hair in the whole province of Hubei is about to be completely wiped out. ”

"Your Majesty, it's not enough, Weichen thinks it's far from enough!" Wu Chaoyue replied categorically: "Hubei is still in crisis, and we must continue to strengthen the strength of the official army!" (To be continued.) )