Wu Chaoyue said that the Qing court may not know what happened in Shanghai, but this somewhat underestimated the speed of the news transmission of the Qing station, in fact, on the sixth day after the Wu family's ancestors and grandchildren were rescued by foreigners, the Qing court had already received the first report on the matter in Shanghai.

It's just a pity, because Wu Jianzhang's excerpt had to be sent to Jiangning and handed over to Lu Jianying, the governor of Liangjiang, and asked him to replay it to the Qing court on his behalf, which was a long distance and a waste of time, so the first urgent report received by the Qing court about this matter was that the minister Weng Xin slandered Wu Jianzhang and was preparing to sell Shanghai to foreigners.

Weng Tongyi also regarded the pulse of the Qing Dynasty and the Xianfeng Emperor this time, and sent Weng Xincun to Shanghai to investigate the case, originally because someone impeached Wu Jianzhang for conniving at his grandson to help foreigners preach and buy land, but it was okay not to investigate, and after a check, those impeachments were not only completely true, but also found that Wu Jianzhang instigated the foreigners to attack the Qing Dynasty and prepared to dedicate Shanghai to the foreigners! Therefore, after Weng Xincun's excerpt was forwarded to the Military Aircraft Department by the General Administration, not to mention that Mu Yin and Lin Kui and other xenophobic military aircraft ministers roared like thunder and roared to the sky, even the chief military aircraft minister Qi Liaozao, who took Wu Jianzhang last time, was also scared out of a cold sweat, for fear that this would really happen, forcing the Qing Dynasty to start a war with the foreigners without exterminating the Taiping army.

Shocked to shocked, but after calming down a little, Qi Liaozao quickly found that something seemed wrong, first, Qi Liaozao knew some of Wu Jianzhang's past and felt that Wu Jianzhang would not do this; Second, for such a major and important matter, why didn't Weng Xincun send the excerpt directly to the Military Aircraft Department, but instead handed it over to the General Political Envoy Department for transmission without sealing? - Don't look at Qi Liaozao's character, it's definitely good, but after decades of officialdom, how can the old and refined Qi Liaozao have to wonder if this is deliberate?

Weng Xincun's luck was quite good, and Qi Liaozao didn't have a chance to express his suspicions at all, when Emperor Xianfeng was still stunned and repeatedly read Weng Xincun's chapter and didn't have a chance to be furious, Jiangning had already sent an urgent military situation, and the report said that the foreigners' warships bombarded Wusongkou and forcibly drove into the Huangpu River! As a result, Weng Xincun's report was not even submitted as evidence, and the preconceived Emperor Xianfeng immediately decided that this matter was related to Wu Jianzhang's Tongyi betrayal, so under the anger, Emperor Xianfeng not only overturned the dragon case on the spot, but also roared loudly with handsome goldfish eyes............

"Message! Arrest Wu Jianzhang's family immediately! Arrest his whole family and bring him to the capital, and Ling Chi will be executed! Destroy the Nine Clans! ”

Seeing that Emperor Xianfeng was angry like this, and saw with his own eyes the urgent report of the military situation that seemed to be ironclad, Qi Liaozao, who was still somewhat suspicious, dared to have half a sentence of nonsense, and hurriedly wrote for Emperor Xianfeng in person, and urgently ordered Weng Xincun and the Guangdong government to immediately arrest Wu Jianzhang's family and not let half of it go. However, our Xianfeng Emperor still didn't relieve his anger, and he was still roaring, "Wu Jianzhang, traitor!" Traitor! If I don't cut you with a thousand knives and break your corpse into thousands of pieces, it will be difficult to eliminate the hatred in my heart! It's hard to get rid of the hatred in my heart! ”

At this time, Mu Yin, who originally disliked Wu Jianzhang's comprador status, also stood up and fell into the ground, suggesting that Xianfeng allow Weng to act expediently, and if necessary, he could execute Wu Jianzhang's family on the spot, and hang the head at the Shanghai city gate, so that the foreigners would know that their internal should have been ambushed, and they would not dare to peep at Shanghai again. As a result, although Xianfeng agreed, he was reminded by Mu Yin that he should strengthen Shanghai's military defense, so he could only quickly discuss with several military ministers how to transfer troops to reinforce Shanghai and strengthen the defense of the Liangjiang River.

As Weng Tongyi expected, the day after Weng Xincun's impeachment was sent to the capital, those idle imperial historians in the capital who were itching all over their bodies really began to act, and all the imperial historians who had a little way to know about this matter, there was no one who did not hurry up to impeach Wu Jianzhang on this matter, and scolded Wu Jianzhang for being reckless and reckless, such as being corrupt and bribing Tongyi to betray the country, and it was better to follow the example of Wu Sangui's pigs and dogs, and it was recommended that Wu Jianzhang's house be raided and destroyed, and there were countless people who volunteered to strangle Wu Jianzhang's family to death, and it was only one morning. There were more than 20 similar pieces sent to the military aircraft, which also made Emperor Xianfeng sigh that the Qing Dynasty still had many loyal ministers and few traitors.

The most wonderful thing is in the Hanlin Academy, received a family letter sent by his younger brother with the song, Weng Xincun's eldest son Weng Tongshu didn't even blink an eyelid, and immediately ran in tandem in the Hanlin Academy, instigating colleagues and colleagues to impeach Wu Jianzhang, and the result also received a very satisfactory effect for the Weng family father and son. Please ask Wu Jianzhang to immediately clarify the canonical law and destroy his family!

Of course, not all of them were on the book, at least one editor of the Hanlin Academy, who looked as thin as Wu Chaoyue, refused to write such an impeachment excerpt - not only did he not write it, but even urged a few colleagues who were familiar with him not to rush to the table, but those colleagues were puzzled, and they all asked the thin editor: "Weng Tangguan of the Ministry of Works, isn't it your teacher?" His eldest son persuaded you to go to the table, why didn't you even give this face? ”

"It's too big." The thin editor replied solemnly: "Since the foreigners' warships bombarded Wusongkou and forcibly sailed into the Huangpu River, this shows that the foreigners are ready to meet our Qing Dynasty soldiers. At present, the main army of our Qing Dynasty is again pinned down in Hunan by the long hair, and it is difficult to say whether the emperor can make up his mind to go to war with the foreigners again, so it is best for us not to mix casually in this matter, otherwise once we stand on the wrong team, it will be too late to regret it! ”

After all, the thin editor who was still too young couldn't help but lower his voice and added, "Also, this matter is still just the words of Weng Tangguan's family, and it has not been fully confirmed. The situation is complicated and difficult to understand, so it is best for us to be calm and take a look at the situation first. ”

It was precisely because of the persuasion and refusal of this thin editor that Weng Tongshu failed to make all his colleagues in the Hanlin Academy impeach Wu Jianzhang, but it was a pity for the thin editor that his words were deliberately leaked to Weng Tongshu's ears, and Weng Tongshu was furious, and immediately recorded the name of this thin editor in the little black account book, vowing to take revenge a hundredfold!

Three days later, when the saliva of the imperial historian was about to drown the ancestors of the Wu family, Lu Jianying, the governor of Liangjiang, suddenly sent a fast horse to send Wu Jianzhang to explain what had happened and impeach Weng for abusing his power to anger the foreigners. After reading Wu Jianzhang's excerpt, although Mu Yin and Lin Kui and other xenophobic representatives felt incredible, they still did not dare to detain this excerpt, and obediently submitted Wu Jianzhang's excerpt to Xianfeng under the suggestion of Qi Liaozao, and asked Emperor Xianfeng to make a holy judgment.

This time it was the turn of Emperor Xianfeng to be dumbfounded, Weng Xincun impeached Wu Jianzhang Tongyi for betraying the country and leading foreigners into the Huangpu River, Wu Jianzhang told Weng Xinxin to abuse his power to anger foreigners, causing foreigners to open artillery demonstrations and submit a note to threaten to go to war, the content of the two twists and turns contradicted themselves, diametrically opposite, Xianfeng Emperor is no matter how wise and powerful he is, at this time it is really not clear who is a traitor and who is a loyal minister.

Although almost all of Xianfeng's close ministers felt that they should believe in Weng Xincun, and could not believe in Wu Jianzhang, the second devil comprador who relied on foreigners to eat, but from the position of loyal ministers of the Qing Dynasty, Qi Liaozao said a good word for Wu Jianzhang, "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that the arrest of Wu Jianzhang's family should be suspended, and another Qin messenger should be sent to Shanghai to re-investigate the matter thoroughly to see who Weng Xincun and Wu Jianzhang told the lie and who is the culprit of this matter." ”

Coincidentally, when Emperor Xianfeng was still hesitating to adopt Qi Liaozao's suggestion, Weng Xincun's second recital was sent to the military aircraft, and on this recital, Weng Xincun finally reported the fact that the ancestors and grandsons of the Wu family had been rescued by foreigners, and at the same time, he finally attached a diplomatic note that the ministers and consuls of Western countries forced Weng Xincun to forward.

Things have become more complicated, although Xianfeng has some doubts about whether Weng Xincun's performance is true, but at this time, if you choose to believe Wu Jianzhang, it is undoubtedly to admit that the imperial court sent to Qincha is a bastard, and Wu Jianzhang, who almost wears a pair of pants with foreigners, is a good person, not only hurts the face of Emperor Xianfeng, but also has to consider negotiating with foreigners to build a factory and preaching, and admitting that the ancestors of the Wu family are not guilty of helping foreigners to preach and build factories, so Emperor Xianfeng hesitated for a long time and couldn't make up his mind. He could only decide to call Daqi to discuss this matter the next day, kick the ball to the minions in the court, and let them think about how to deal with it for Emperor Xianfeng.

Weng Xincun has already become the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and the old Weng family naturally has a certain amount of power in the Qing court, so before the four officials in the capital received the will of Emperor Xianfeng to call Daqi, Weng Tongshu already knew the news that Wu Jianzhang impeached his father in turn. Shocked and angry, Weng Tongshu simply asked everyone in the Hanlin Academy to jointly sign a petition with him to impeach Wu Jianzhang again, so as to put pressure on Emperor Xianfeng when the Great Dynasty was convened.

For the sake of Weng Tongshu's face, almost all Hanlin signed their names on the excerpt, but last time, the thin editor still refused to sign, and tried his best to encourage several colleagues who were kind to him to refuse to sign. And Weng Tongshu finally couldn't bear it anymore this time, and directly asked the thin editor: "So, do you think that Wu Jianzhang, who betrayed the country, is innocent?" ”

"Definitely." The thin editor shook his head resolutely and said, "I just can't judge the truth of the matter yet, so I can't sign it, and I don't dare to sign it!" ”

"So, do you suspect that your teacher and my father are lying and deceiving the king?"

As soon as Weng Tongshu's words were shouted, one of his subordinates rushed to the front, nodded and said: "Eldest prince, according to the news from the Military Aircraft Department, just now Lu Duxian used six hundred miles to expedite and forwarded another Wu Jianzhang's recital. ”

"What's the content?" Weng Tongshu hurriedly asked.

"Wu Jianzhang said that he was loyal to his duties and was still collecting Shanghai tariffs for the imperial court, and after his persuasion, the merchant ships of foreigners were also paying taxes to Shanghai Customs as usual, so Wu Jianzhang asked the imperial court and the emperor not to worry about the loss of Shanghai's tariffs."

Although the voice of the subordinate who reported the news was very small, the thin editor who happened to be standing next to him could hear it clearly, but as soon as the next person finished speaking, the thin editor immediately patted his chest happily and said to himself: "Thank God, fortunately, I didn't impeach Wu Jianzhang last time." ”

The distance was too close, and the words of the thin editor were also heard clearly by Weng Tongshu, and then Weng Tongshu naturally became angry immediately, and yelled at the thin editor: "Li Hongzhang, what are you talking about?!" ”

"I said, it's a good thing I didn't impeach Wu Jianzhang last time." Li Hongzhang, the thin editor, was not afraid, smiled and said to Weng Tongshu: "Also, Brother Zu Geng, for the sake of Teacher Tai, I advise you, don't do this joint song, otherwise it will only harm you, and maybe it will also affect many of our innocent colleagues in the Hanlin Academy." ”

"What do you mean by that?!"

Weng Tongshu was shocked and angry, and opened his mouth to question again, but Li Hongzhang ignored him, just turned his head to look in the direction of the Forbidden City, and said secretly in his heart: "Such a simple truth, the emperor should be able to see it immediately, right?" But it doesn't matter, even if the emperor is a fan of the authorities and can't turn this corner for a while, there will definitely be someone next to him who understands it. ”

…………

At almost the same time in the Forbidden City, Wu Jianzhang's loyalty to his duty and continued to collect tariffs for the Qing Dynasty was also sent to Xianfeng with a smile from Qi Liaozao, and to Emperor Xianfeng, who was chatting with a favorite concubine. As a result, after Qi Liaozao roughly introduced the content of the excerpt, Emperor Xianfeng was immediately pleasantly surprised, and blurted out: "Are you still collecting tariffs for me?" Wu Jianzhang, that dog minion, was even picked off by Weng Aiqing, and he was still collecting taxes for me? ”

"Wu Jianzhang has always been loyal to his duties, which Weichen has long made clear to Long live." With the bottom in his heart, Qi Liaozao was no longer stingy to say a few more good words for Wu Jianzhang, and said with a smile: "There is also good news, Wu Jianzhang, Shanghai Customs has only collected tariffs in the first half of this year, which has reached more than 230,000 taels, if it goes well, the tariffs of Shanghai Customs this year will inevitably exceed last year, ranking first among the five major customs again!" ”

"This dog thing is kind of worry-free in this regard."

Emperor Xianfeng was very happy, but the favorite concubine next to him quietly sat down and left, kneeling to Emperor Xianfeng and playing: "Your Majesty, the Qing Dynasty has an ancestral system, and the harem is not allowed to interfere in politics, but for the long-term peace and stability of the Qing Dynasty, the concubine must say a word today - Weng is a fool of the king, and in order to protect himself, he does not hesitate to slander the Qing courtiers and betray the country, and the crime is unforgivable!" ”

"Lan'er, what do you mean by that?" Emperor Xianfeng asked in surprise.

"The emperor forgives the sin, when the emperor was chatting with his concubines just now, he mentioned that Weng Xincun and Wu Jianzhang impeached each other." The favorite concubine said solemnly: "At that time, the concubine didn't know the truth of the matter and didn't dare to say anything, but the concubine can now be sure that this matter is a deception in Weng's heart!" Wu Jianzhang is really innocent! ”

"Lan'er, if you can be sure?" Emperor Xianfeng hurriedly asked again.

"It's very simple, since Wu Jianzhang is determined to betray the country for glory, and even sacrifice Shanghai to foreigners, then why does he continue to collect tariffs on foreigners for the imperial court?" The favorite concubine asked rhetorically, and said: "Your Majesty, do you pay the customs duties collected by the customs of Hong Kong and Macao to our Qing court?" Since Wu Jianzhang insisted on continuing to collect tariffs on behalf of the imperial court to foreigners, and foreigners also obediently paid tariffs, this is enough to prove that Wu Jianzhang did not have any traitorous behavior, and the foreigners had no intention of capturing Shanghai at all! Otherwise, why do foreigners still have to pay taxes to our Shanghai Customs in the Qing Dynasty?! ”

Speaking of this, the favorite concubine paused for a moment, and then said: "Based on this alone, the concubine can conclude that this matter must be that Weng abused the power of the Qincha and acted perversely to anger the foreigners, causing the foreigners to bombard Wu Songkou and threaten to go to war, and then Weng was afraid that the emperor would blame him, and he beat a rake to slander Wu Jianzhang and betray the country, in a vain attempt to make the emperor think that all this was caused by Wu Jianzhang, and then he took the opportunity to get out, but he did not hesitate to pull my Qing Dynasty into the dilemma of fighting with the long-haired rebel and the Western Yangyi on two fronts at the same time!" ”

It was indeed impossible to turn a corner for a while, and after finally turning this corner under the reminder of others, our Xianfeng Emperor finally came to his senses, and quickly gritted his teeth, "Weng Xincun, old thing, you wait for me!" ”

"Brother Erming, I can't save you this time, you can carry it yourself."

Qi Liaozao also muttered in his heart, and then glanced at the favorite concubine who was still kneeling in front of Emperor Xianfeng, and continued to secretly say in his heart: "I have heard for a long time that the noble Lan is very smart, and he is not inferior to his eyebrows, and today I know that the rumors are true." ”