At this moment, in the Baohe Hall in Beijing, a tense "Enke" exam is being held.

According to the convention, the imperial examination in the Qing Dynasty should be one subject every three years. The last scientific expedition was just completed in 1903, and the next one should be held in the third year (1906).

This time, the reason for this is that this year, that is, the 30th year of Guangxu, is the 70th birthday of the Empress Dowager Cixi.

Empress Dowager Cixi held a very grand "longevity celebration" for herself in the Qing Imperial Palace in Beijing, which was celebrated by the whole world.

In order to reflect the emperor's grace, this year, an additional subject is examined, called "Enke".

At 10 o'clock in the morning of the same day, 273 tributes selected in the examination of the Ministry of Rites entered the Baohe Palace, and went through various ceremonies and etiquettes such as roll call, scattered scrolls, praise and salutes, and participated in the palace examination presided over by the emperor.

The chief examiners Wang Wenshao, Lu Chuanlin and others presented the selected ten excellent candidates to the Empress Dowager Cixi for review.

Cixi sat on the top of the main hall, opened the test paper listed as the first place by the examiner, and saw the paper, the words were smooth and gorgeous, and she was quite happy in her heart, but when she saw the payment, her heart suddenly clouded.

Seeing that the Queen Mother was displeased, the examiners hurriedly knelt down in panic for some reason, waiting for the Queen Mother to scold.

It turned out that the winner was Zhu Ruzhen, a native of Guangdong, and when Cixi saw this name, she was immediately irritable.

Because, this name reminded Cixi of Hong Xiuquan of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao of the Restoration, and Sun Yat-sen who held high the banner of anti-Qing Dynasty...... These people are all from Guangdong, and in Cixi's view, Guangdong and Guangxi are both places of rebellion.

In addition, Zhu Ruzhen has the word "Zhen" in her name, and "Zhu" is the same as "Zhu".

At that time, Concubine Zhen strongly supported Emperor Guangxu's reform and reform, and was pushed into a well and drowned.

Therefore, the three words "Zhu Ruzhen" touched Cixi's sensitive nerve at once. So, she threw Zhu Ruzhen's test paper on the ground.

Wang Wenshao, Lu Chuanlin, etc., who were kneeling under His Royal Highness, saw Lafayette throwing Zhu Ruzhen's test paper on the ground, and they trembled with fright, and they didn't know where they angered her.

During this time, Cixi wanted to have a happy birthday, but never thought that today the Japanese and Russian wars in the northeast of the Qing Dynasty were reported, and the British invaded Tibet tomorrow, and the British also took the "Lhasa Treaty" to ask for the signing of reparations and land cedes.

In the meantime, Cen Chunxuan, the governor of Liangguang, sent a report that the Qing army in the seven provinces dispatched by the imperial court was unfavorable for encirclement and suppression, and that the rebel armies of Dong San and Lu Yafa in Guangxi still occupied Nanning, Liuzhou and other places, and a small army of the king of Hainan also took the opportunity to rush to Guangxi and launch a rebellion.

The Empress Dowager Cixi suddenly put down the examination paper in her hand and asked: "Wang Wenshao, Lu Chuanlin, this palace asks you, can the army of the seven provinces of the Qing Dynasty put down the rebellion in Guangxi in the near future and get rid of the traitor King of Hainan?" ”

Lu Chuanlin said: "Lafayette, the minister thinks that with the current situation of my Qing Dynasty, it is not appropriate to encircle and suppress the rebels in Liangguang and Hainan, and now, the foreign situation is also changing rapidly, and my country's treasury has been stretched thin for years of reparations. In particular, during the First Sino-Japanese War, China's strength was sharply reduced. At present, Japan and Russia are engaged in large-scale fierce battles in the three northeastern provinces of our country. European countries are wrestling with each other for resources, and Wei Chen thinks that our dynasty should Taoguang and raise obscurity, replenish the treasury, maneuver in many ways, and make plans when the time is ripe. Weichen thought that it was still mainly to appease and negotiate peace. ”

"Hmmm! What Aiqing said is extremely true, and this palace also thinks so, and now it is not too necessary to increase military spending to encircle and suppress the rebels in Guangxi. He quickly drafted a document and ordered Cen Chunxuan and the other armies of the six provinces to gradually withdraw from the war situation in Guangxi, with peace as the mainstay and fighting as a supplement. ”

After Cixi finished speaking, she lowered her head and saw a handsome Xiaokai exam paper on the dragon case, the candidate's name was Liu Chunlin, and his face was happy, and His Royal Highness Baohe's Wang Wenshao and Lu Chuanlin saw this, so they breathed a sigh of relief.

Cixi looked at this exam paper, and liked it more and more, and she couldn't help but admire it again and again.

It turned out that this candidate named Liu Chunlin was good at small Kai, and there was a saying in the calligraphy world that "Dakai learns Yan (Zhenqing), and Xiaokai learns Liu (Chunlin)".

It just so happened that Cixi liked sparse and fresh fonts, so after opening the test paper of Liu Chunlin in Suning, Zhili, she greatly appreciated it.

This year, there is a great drought, anxious for a spring rain, and the word "Chunlin" contains the meaning of spring breeze and rain, Ganlin Pu falls, and its hometown is directly Suning, located in Gyeonggi, "Suning" symbolizes the peaceful scene of tranquility and tranquility, which is a "auspicious" omen for the Qing Dynasty that is full of flames and crumbling.

So Cixi put a little vermilion on the name of Liu Chunlin's palace examination paper, ranking first in the list, and he was a great man in the world. Liu Chunlin became the last champion in the imperial examination.

At this moment, Li Lianying reported to Prince Qing and asked to see him. I saw Prince Qing come to the main hall, finish the courtesy of the monarch and ministers, and said: "Lafayette, the Foreign Affairs Office has something important to report." ”

Cixi was happy for the champion she had just hand-picked, and when she heard that the Foreign Affairs Office had something important to report, her mood immediately turned sharply.

Because, over the years, there has been no good news from the Foreign Affairs Office, either war or land reparations, Cixi thought to herself: Grandma is a bear, the old lady can't be happy if she wants to, what do these foreign devils want to do all day long!

"What's the matter? Bengong is just in a good mood, and I have made you reconcile! Cixi said unhappily.

"Weichen damn it! It's just that the situation is urgent, please forgive Lafayette. ”

"Say it!"

"Hay Lafayette, the consul of the French Consulate, Auguste François (Fang Suya), has made representations to our Qing government, and they say that the Hainan army has attacked their army in Vietnam and lost more than 20,000 people, and now they are asking us to compensate for the damage."

When Cixi heard this number, she convulsed and asked, "They are too exaggerated, will the rebels in Hainan run to the territory of Vietnam to fight them?" ”

Prince Qing said, "Lafayette, have you forgotten?" When the French consul was here last month, Cen Chunxuan talked about the counterinsurgency in Guangxi, so the French consul Auguste François himself sent troops to help encircle and suppress the rebels. ”

"What's the matter today, they haven't finished helping to pacify the rebels, and they have been pacified by the rebels themselves! What kind of loss is this?! Cixi was displeased, and continued: "You tell those foreigners in France that you will find the rebels to compensate yourself!" ”

"Galeries Lafayette, this? ......" Prince Qing said embarrassedly.

Cixi thought for a while, and said: "The palace has ordered the armies of the seven southern provinces to step up the encirclement and suppression, forget the compensation, you can deal with them!" ”

Prince Qing Yixuan was very embarrassed when he heard Cixi's words, but since he said so, he should find a way to deal with these foreigners.

Cixi actually wanted to use the hands of these rebels to extinguish the prestige of foreign devils, you know, how miserable the Old Summer Palace was burned back then, and 20,000 people were wiped out before they applauded! We will also compensate, compensate your sister!

Now that France was competing with Germany for hegemony in Europe, they had no time to take care of the affairs of their Asian colonies, and in that year they signed the Anglo-French Entente with Britain, which clearly defined the sphere of influence of the two countries in Siam (present-day Thailand) on the question of Southeast Asia; Bounded by the Mekong River, the western half is the British sphere of influence, and the eastern half is the French sphere of influence. Vietnam is already extremely unstable, and rebellions are raging everywhere, and it is unlikely that the number of troops will increase in Asia.

Therefore, their demand for compensation from the Qing government was only a bluff, and in fact, France's power in Asia was already declining.

Cixi pondered for a moment, sighed and said, "Wang Wenshao, draft another decree and send it to Guangxi immediately!" will suppress the armies of the seven provinces in Guangxi, sweep away the rebels in Guangxi and Hainan as much as possible, and give an explanation to the French! ”