Time is precious, and Master Liang only stayed in Shanghai for one day.

The next day, bidding farewell to the short charm, went to Tianjin, and embarked on a new kowtow journey.

Different from serving as the governor of Liangjiang in Jiangning, Zeng Guofan, who is currently the governor of Zhili, did not bring his family with him, the eldest son Zeng Jize worked in Shanghai Customs, and his wife and children had been sent back to his hometown in Hunan, leaving only the intimate strategist Zhao Liewen by his side; coincided with the New Year, which was supposed to be a time for family reunions, but this year's Spring Festival was quite depressed by Governor Zeng; At the highest level of the Qing Dynasty, he naturally had a keen sense of smell, and the imperial court transferred him away from Liangjiang, and because the Liangjiang River had been managed by him like an iron bucket, he committed the suspicion of the imperial court.

But Zeng Guofan can't help it; After quelling the Changmao Rebellion, although Zeng Guofan, the leader of the Hunan army, took the initiative to dismantle the Hunan army in time, do those meritorious people need to arrange a position for them?

Zeng Guofan's initiative to disarm in exchange for the goodwill of the imperial court, many people from the Hunan army turned into officials of the Qing Dynasty, but in this way, in the entire southern part of the Qing Dynasty, especially in the Liangjiang region, the Hunan military system led by Zeng Guofan gradually became a great force, and in the eyes of the imperial court, there was a tendency to be big; The Qing court has always been wary of the urine of the Han people, so it is natural to see it in the eyes and be anxious in the heart, and want to get rid of it quickly.

Zuo Zongtang, who was also born in the Hunan Army, is a smart man, and after he led an army, he began to scold Zeng Guofan whenever he met people, which was very satisfactory, especially guessing the thoughts of Miss Cixi in Changchun Palace; As a result, the imperial court no longer mentioned that Zuo Zongtang did not take the imperial examination for the Jinshi, and promoted Zuo Zongtang to the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang with a green light all the way. In the future, she will continue to use the strategy of differentiation to build Li Hongzhang into another mountain.

I have to say that this trick is quite effective, and those who have been promoted and supported are naturally grateful to the emperor's grace; In addition, for the imperial court, the following three bosses are safer than one boss, even if you rebel, you will not be united; What's more, Han officials will compete for power and profit, and the internal friction of the Chinese people has always been serious.

But Miss Cixi was still a little anxious, she sent the officialdom rookie Ma Xinyi to take over as the governor of Liangjiang, although this move promoted Ma Xinyi, but raised the horse to the height of equality with Zeng Guofan, as a result, provoked a backlash from the Hunan military system, and the famous horse stabbing case occurred in the late Qing Dynasty: Ma Xinyi, who was the governor of Liangjiang, was killed by the assassin in front of the guards, and the weapon was only a dagger. Miss Cixi's move to vault the horse was broken by the Hunan army's faceless approach, of course, these are all aftermaths, and they haven't happened yet.

Because the occurrence of the horse stabbing case was not isolated, in June 1870, the Tianjin teaching case broke out, and the imperial court ordered Zeng Guofan to deal with it with full authority, but Zeng Guofan's disposal method was deliberately deleted and changed by the imperial court and declared the world, and Miss Cixi gorgeously pushed Governor Zeng to the position of a traitor; Then there was a horse assassination case in Jiangning City, and Governor Zeng mercilessly replied to the court's wanton suppression of him, without caring about the face of Miss Cixi.

But this was just Zeng Guofan's Jedi counterattack, Zeng Guofan passed away in a depressed mood more than a year later, and I have to say that in their contest, the young Miss Cixi had the last laugh.

Due to the birth of Young Master Liang, history has been variable, can Miss Cixi's gossip serial trick succeed?

Master Liang's kowtow journey was really hard, taking a sea ship from Shanghai to Tianjin, and then hiring a carriage from Tianjin to take the official road to Baoding, the provincial capital of Zhili; Since the Liang family has no branch in Tianjin, his identity as a young master will not work in North China, no one will make a trip for him, and his entourage is Cantonese, in 1869, when Mandarin was not popularized, Cantonese people want to hire a carriage in Tianjin to go to Baoding, it is really a very difficult thing, because of the language barrier, the two sides are completely talking in the same chicken.

So the poor young master Liang could only do it himself, when he used fluent northern Mandarin to communicate with the locals, took everyone to eat, stayed in the inn, and then found the coachman to negotiate the price, and hired the carriage to Baoding Mansion the next day, his senior brother has become an omnipotent god in the eyes of Huang Feihong, and Rong Hong, who is a Cantonese, also has to admire Liang Xuedi is a language genius; And in the eyes of the locals, their group naturally thought that Rong Hong, who was wearing official uniforms, was the master, with five bodyguards and two small followers, and Young Master Liang and Huang Daxia could only act as small followers.

rushed all the way to Baoding Mansion, maybe Rong Hong's official uniform played a role, and they didn't encounter any trouble on the road; When the carriage stopped in front of the gate of the Governor's Palace, the coachman respectfully asked them to get off the car, and enthusiastically took the initiative to help them unload their luggage; It seems that the deterrent power of this government is still very strong in the hearts of the Chinese.

"Disciple to meet the teacher, I wish the teacher a happy new year and good health!" Finally arrived at the last stop of the kowtow journey, thinking that Zeng Guofan would die soon, Young Master Liang kowtowed very seriously this time.

Zeng Guofan is older than the last time he met, the wrinkles on his face are deeper, and his face is also slightly gray, this time he saw that Young Master Liang, a closed disciple, came to pay New Year's greetings, Governor Zeng's eyes suddenly brightened a lot, and a rare smile appeared on his face: "Zhenxi, it's difficult for you to come all the way to see me, you don't need to be so troublesome in the future, as long as you have this heart, you will be satisfied as a teacher."

Before Young Master Liang could reply, Zhao Liewen next to him interjected: "Senior Brother Liang came over today, the teacher's mood is much better, I think if we are still in Baoding next year, Senior Brother Liang, you should come to see the teacher again, this northern land is not like Jiangnan, we are tied up here, and even the mood is not happy; Come west of the town, and make us happy, because you can definitely bring us good news."

Well, this time, Young Master Liang didn't know what to say for a while; Good news? Can I say I hit Vietnam? No! Can I say that I have trained a strong army? No! Can it be said that I have built a military factory that is many times stronger than the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau? Neither can it! Can I say that I bought a fleet in the name of your old man, ready to build a navy? Not even more!

"Sihan can't afford to be so praised by Brother Huifu, and Senior Brother often accompanies and serves by his teacher, which makes Sihan embarrassed; Now that the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology has been completed and is ready to start this year, I came here with Senior Rong to report this matter to my teacher by the way; Last year, I built a lot of factories in Guangzhou, and now Guangzhou is full of factories, and many technical schools for training workers have also been built, which is estimated to be the most developed area of the Qing Dynasty, which has led to the employment of a large number of workers, and it can be regarded as indirectly cultivating many skilled workers for our country; Sihan believes that education and industry are the best ways to enhance the country's strength." Young Master Liang can only say what he can say selectively.

Zeng Guofan pondered for a while and nodded and said: "You can have this vision, and you can be worthy of the word Zhenxi that the teacher took for you, but in today's Great Qing Kingdom, there are still a few people who can think like this, but there are very few who can do this, alas, compared with the south, this north is even more unbearable."

Zhao Liewen also said: "The Great Qing Kingdom has reached such a point, there are naturally many people who can understand it, but so what? But the magnates in the capital still take care of that little bit of thought, the state affairs are difficult, and there are still many people who have fun in time, I see, we still can't see it, leave here as soon as possible, and go back to Liangjiang."

Zhao Liewen can be regarded as having completely lost confidence in the Manchu Dynasty.