“…… In recent years, foreign ministers have been reckless in their own affairs, and there are many traitors who are more than others. www.biquge.info The reason why Lin Yizhe and Li Hongzhang dared to do this was that the queen mother of the two palaces listened to the government, and the emperor was chong ling and practicing Zuo, and the big politics were not in time for the personal judgment, so they confused Shengcong, and their hearts could not be asked. The ministers asked the Empress Dowager to be furious, and issued an edict to thoroughly investigate the matter, severely punish Lin Yizhe and Li Hongzhang for the crime of embezzlement and deception, and punish the ministers to be impartial and strict, according to the law, and not to be a little indulgent. Let the foreign ministers know what they are afraid of, so as to revive the discipline of the imperial court......"

After the Empress Dowager Cixi finished reading the recital, her two brows had already twisted into two black bumps. She closed the fold and raised her hand slightly, "Liu Chengyin, send the fold to the emperor." ”

Liu Chengyin responded, stepped forward quickly, bowed down and took the fold with both hands, and sent it to Emperor Tongzhi.

Emperor Tongzhi's heart was excited, and he quickly put down the other folds in his hand and folded this book.

"The emperor takes a look, how should this matter be handled?" The Empress Dowager Cixi looked at the golden finger sleeve in her hand, and her demeanor returned to calm and calm.

Emperor Tongzhi carefully read this book of the Hanlin Academy's compilation of He Zihuan's impeachment of Lin Yizhe and Li Hongzhang's collusion with greedy ink, and after thinking for a long time, he still didn't dare to say anything, but handed the excerpt to his teacher Weng Tongyi.

"The emperor is about to be judged in person, and he can't come up with an idea about this matter, do you still want to ask others?" The Empress Dowager Cixi glanced up at Emperor Tongzhi and said.

Although the Empress Dowager Cixi's tone was very calm and gentle, Emperor Tongzhi still heard it like thunder, and he couldn't help but shudder.

"The son thinks that this matter should be ordered to be inspected in detail by the Ministry of Works, and if there is indeed corruption, it should be severely punished to set an example, and if there is no such thing, then the person who framed it should be severely punished, otherwise no one will dare to do anything if this is opened." Emperor Tongzhi thought for a moment and replied.

"The Emperor said well." Empress Dowager Cixi nodded appreciatively, "What does Master Weng think?" ”

Weng Tongyi was taken aback by Emperor Tongzhi's last sentence, and when he heard the Empress Dowager Cixi ask, he couldn't help but be stunned, attracting the surprised eyes of several other emperors.

"Does Master Weng think this is appropriate?" The Empress Dowager Cixi saw that Weng Tongyi did not answer, so she asked again.

Weng Tongyi realized his gaffe at this time, and he subconsciously followed the emperor's meaning and said: "It is very appropriate for the emperor to deal with it like this, but it is just ......"

Before he could say the words behind this "just", he was interrupted by the Empress Dowager Cixi: "Just do what the emperor says." ”

"My son obeys." Emperor Tongzhi said respectfully, not noticing Weng Tongxi's stunned gaze.

The Empress Dowager Cixi roughly flipped through the rest of the folds, and after finding that there was nothing important, she asked Liu Chengyin to send all the folds to Emperor Tongzhi's table.

"I'm tired, so I'll go and rest first." The Empress Dowager Cixi got up and said, "The emperor will work harder today!" ”

"My son sends off the emperor's mother." Emperor Tongzhi hurriedly saluted.

Seeing the Empress Dowager Cixi disappear at the door of the main hall with the support of Liu Chengyin, Weng Tongyi said to Emperor Tongzhi: "Your Majesty, that incident is ...... just now."

"What? Master Weng thinks it's inappropriate? Emperor Tongzhi asked with some dissatisfaction.

"Six Roads and Thirteen Disciplines Rectify the Bullet Discipline, and the Wind Rumors Perform, this is a matter of duty, even if there is a slight mistake, it seems that it is not appropriate to be heavily responsible...... Weng Tongji reminded the Tongzhi Emperor, "If the condemnation is too heavy, the official does not dare to say anything, I am afraid that the road of speech will be blocked!" ”

"Then let the Ministry of Officials and the Metropolitan Procuratorate also check together! If there's a mistake, let them decide what to do! Emperor Tongzhi said impatiently, "That's it!" ”

"Yes." Weng Tongyi thought that since it was the emperor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate who had mixed in, he would never embarrass his own people, so he made up his mind a little, so he didn't say anything more.

It's just that Emperor Tongzhi's subsequent self-talk surprised Weng Tongyi again.

"Humph! They just look at Lin Yizhe unpleasantly, and they always want to find fault with him! If this is not investigated, they will have to suffer! ”

Weng Tongyi heard that Emperor Tongzhi's words were obviously biased towards Lin Yizhe's side, and couldn't help but be stunned.

He couldn't figure out how Emperor Tongzhi could suddenly speak to Lin Yizhe.

And Weng Tongyi didn't expect that just a few days later, the development of events would be beyond his expectations.

Shichahouhai, Prince Gong's Mansion.

In a warm pavilion, the two are fighting against each other.

Prince Gong and Wen Xiang sat in front of the carved rosewood chessboard, and put black and white chess pieces on the chessboard, and the chess pieces made of agate knocked on the surface of the chessboard from time to time, making a crisp sound of "popping".

Prince Gong Yixin's face sank like water, looked at the chessboard intently, and held a son, which did not fall for a long time.

Wen Xiang on the other side chuckled and said, "Lord Wang, ...... you are"

Prince Gong smiled bitterly and put a black chess piece into the chess jar: "I don't have the heart to play chess!" He leaned back in his chair against his hot head. The two maids behind him walked over and gently pressed his forehead.

"What is the prince worried about?" Wen Xiang asked with a smile.

"I didn't expect that, I didn't expect those rotten scholars to come to such a hand!" Prince Gong sighed, "No wonder Li Shaoquan is so anxious. ”

Just yesterday, he had learned that the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Officials, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate had begun to check Lin Yizhe's shipping accounts on the excerpts on He Zihuan.

"The prince is worried, Lin Yizhe is really greedy for ink there?" Wen Xiang asked.

"I'm not worried about this, the price of this shipmaster, he has reported it clearly, and it is on record. Besides, the shipmaster's funds have been insufficient all these years, and he just wants to be greedy for ink, and he has to have oil and water to fish. Prince Gong said, "I'm worried, from now on, he will not be tolerated in Shilin, this **** bullet, impeached night and night, can he do anything?" ”

Wen Xiang quietly twisted the chess pieces, but a pair of deep-set eyes gave out light: "I'm afraid that it may not be ......"

"What do you mean by Wen Zhongtang?" Prince Gong asked.

"With the Queen Mother helping him block, he will be safe!" Wen Xiang smiled and said.

"But I look at the emperor's strict investigation, it should have been the queen mother's will!" Prince Gong's voice was full of deep worry, "I didn't see that the Queen Mother meant to protect him!" ”

"The louder the thunder, the smaller the rain, the emperor put on such a battle, which just shows that the emperor is also interested in protecting him! This battle is used to plug the mouth of that clear stream! Wen Xiang smiled, "Just take a look!" There's going to be a good show! ”

"I hope it's as you say, but I also have to be prepared to help him say a few words in case anything goes wrong." Prince Gong said, "I have asked the Military Aircraft Department to send him a document to explain the details of the new ships. I think it's time for an article these days. ”

"The prince will put his heart in his stomach!" Wen Xiang couldn't help but laugh when he heard that Prince Gong actually kept his back hand, "I am willing to gamble with the prince on this matter, is the prince willing?" ”

"Bet on it!" Prince Gong smiled, "You are obviously worried about my pot, so I will use it to make a bet with you!" ”

Seven days later, the Forbidden City, the Palace of Nourishing the Heart.

"Emperor, how did you find out about that incident last time?" The Empress Dowager Cixi glanced at Emperor Tongzhi and several important ministers such as the Military Aircraft Department and the Six Shangshu, and asked.

"Back to the emperor's mother, after the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household verified the report, the ship built by the shipmaster has clear accounts, and there is no false report and greed." Emperor Tongzhi replied, "My son also asked foreign shipyards and made comparisons, and the price of ships built by the shipmaster of the same type is still cheaper than that of foreign countries. ”

"Then He Zihuan said in the excerpt that the price of the newly built clipper is more expensive than the previous ship, but why?" Empress Dowager Cixi asked.

Emperor Tongzhi listened to his mother's questioning, and his heart habitually hung up, but after all, he had the bottom of this matter, so he still replied in an orderly manner: "My son asked the shipmaster in a special letter from the minister of the king, and the price of the later fast ship is higher than that of the previous ship, because the later ship uses a new type of steam turbine. ”

"Oh? Is there any benefit to using this new machine? The Empress Dowager Cixi asked again quietly.

At this time, Emperor Tongzhi was a little dumbfounded, he glanced at Prince Gong as if asking for help, Prince Gong understood, coughed slightly, and said: "Empress Dowager, this newly built fast ship uses a new steam turbine with 2,400 horsepower, which is more powerful than the 1,700-horsepower turbine of the previous shipbuilding, and the speed of the ship is faster, and the fastest can reach sixteen and a half knots. It was because the price of the ship was higher than that of the first three, and the ship's funds were insufficient, so Lin Yizhe had a request for Beiyang to subsidize the price of each ship with 80,000 taels of silver. Combined with its total price, it is much cheaper than building a ship from outside. ”

"That means that Zhang Yuzao and He Zihuan's participation in the relationship is not true?" The Empress Dowager Cixi's voice habitually rose high.

Emperor Tongzhi glanced at Mao Changxi, the left attendant of the Ministry of Officials, who was the acting secretary of the ministry, and Mao Changxi lowered his head at this time and did not say anything at all.

"Exactly." Emperor Tongzhi was a little annoyed, so he replied himself, "Such an impeachment of ministers and obstruction of state affairs should be severely punished!" ”

Seeing the emperor behaving like this, Weng Tongyi was surprised.

As for the handling of this matter, he had already used the wind to blow in his ears when he was giving a lesson to the emperor, but the emperor still said that he would be severely punished!

What surprised him even more was that the Empress Dowager Ci'an, who had been sitting silently next to the Empress Dowager Cixi, suddenly spoke.

"What the emperor said is that if it is not punished, if everyone dares to impeach ministers in the future, then Chinese and foreign ministers will not dare to let go of things."

The voice of the Empress Dowager Ci'an was not loud, but as soon as the words came out, no one in the hall dared to say another word!

"Shipping administration and Beiyang coastal defense are both important tasks of the country, and people who need to work with peace of mind are needed. We must not mislead the country's plans because of a single word. The Empress Dowager Ci'an said again.

"Son's command." Emperor Tongzhi said respectfully.

"Commandment." Prince Gong also responded.