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Today, the Empress Dowager Cixi is reviewing the recitals as always.

"Liu Chengyin, is there an excerpt from the shipyard today?" Empress Dowager Cixi asked.

Hearing the words of the Empress Dowager Cixi, Emperor Tongzhi couldn't help but raise his head and look at his mother carefully.

"If you go back to the Queen Mother, there is a copy, and the slave will find out for the Queen Mother." Liu Chengyin said, took out a notebook, and respectfully handed it to Cixi.

The Empress Dowager Cixi took it and opened it to look at it, and as expected, it was Lin Yizhe who came.

"In order for the shipwright to be completed, I would like to prepare for the aftermath, and I ask you to decide the matter and steal the establishment of the shipmaster, and the original construction of eleven ships of one hundred and fifty horsepower, five ships of eighty horsepower, six ships of one hundred and fifty horsepower, five of one hundred and fifty horsepower of reconnaissance ships, and two gunboats of two hundred and fifty horsepower, according to the superintendent's estimate, the quantity of work is huge, and the horsepower of one hundred and fifty horsepower is doubled by zeroOn the 6th day of August this year, the 10th "Sea Mirror" tried the ocean, and on the 28th of August, the 10th "Chenhang" tried the ocean, all of which were at a rate of 80 miles, and the agility of the engine and the firmness of the hull were roughly the same as those of the "Yongbao" and other ships, and on September 19, the 11th of the ' Daya's launch, counting the year can go to sea, the twelfth steamer can also be launched within the year, but the thirteenth must wait for the next spring, but the Chinese craftsmen, can let go of their own manufacturing, and the dismissal of foreign craftsmen, two no obstacles, five years of planning, three and a half years of success, this shipwork will be completed in the real situation, after that, if for the sake of saving money, then stop shipbuilding, except for repairing ships and raising ships, everything can be saved, but it is difficult to continue, inevitably abandon the previous work, and the magpie's nest dove, the coveted of foreign races, especially worrying, if the age is still shipbuilding two, it has become a thread, not to be obedient, and foreigners hard work, the age can save more than 100,000, but the Chinese craftsman, can be already a thread and familiar, can not expand the unfinished thread and refinement, Although the ship has been completed for many years, there is no entry into the country, and the will of our emperor to strive for self-improvement, can not return, the courtiers think that they want to be successful and meritorious, step by step and gradually, will peek into its subtle mysteries, should be placed in the leisure of Zhuang Yue, the former academy to learn the Chinese language and writing, the selected students of the different talents, the study of the roots, still go to France, to study its shipbuilding methods, and its theory of innovation, after the academy to learn the English Chinese language, elected to its students of different talents, those who have learned roots, still go to England, to study the way of sailing, and the reason for winning in military trainingThree years at the earliest, five years at the latest, will be half the work and twice the result, cover to ascend to the hall to ask for its entry into the room, different from the door of the people, its students have excellent learning, and the body is weak, not able to enter the factory on the ship, should be ordered in the school to take over the teaching, stretch out the instruction to the later into astronomy and arithmetic and other books, three or five years later, there are those who have returned from foreign studies, then to the school backward can make up for it, the talent is a steady stream, the court is not lacking in use, if it is feasible to go to a foreign country to study, then tens of thousands of miles away, the sudden test is not undoubtedly afraid, after the order, It is still necessary to discuss the constitution in detail with the Japanese and children, and everything must be reasonable, and then everyone will have something to worry about. The minister is not presumptuous, respectfully attached to the post Chi Chen, and begs the Empress Dowager to be the emperor's holy judge. ”

"The three of the shipmasters, Dashibo, Gatlin, and Ha Qi Kaisi, are sincere, admire Wang Hua, and are willing to enter the Qing Dynasty.

The Empress Dowager Cixi finished reading Lin Yizhe's fold, closed it and thought for a while, then ordered: "Liu Chengyin, go and invite the sixth master over." ”

Liu Chengyin hurried away in response, and after a short time, Prince Gong came with him.

"The minister knocks to see the queen mother."

"Sixth Master, get up. Come on, Liu Chengyin, show the sixth master. ”

Liu Chengyin moved an embroidery pier for Prince Gong, and Prince Gong thanked him and sat down, and Cixi asked Liu Chengyin to hand over Lin Yizhe's fold to Prince Gong.

"The sixth master thinks that he has already seen this excerpt, what does the sixth master think of studying abroad?" Cixi asked.

"This is a very good proposal, and the minister thinks it is feasible." Prince Gong said respectfully, "This is a long-term solution. ”

"It's just that someone else is going to talk about it." Cixi snorted, "You and I can't clean our ears again." ”

"There's a problem right now." Prince Gong knew that Cixi was still angry about Wang Jiabi's excerpt, and couldn't help but sigh, "I don't know how to handle it yet." It also needs to be shown by the Queen Mother. ”

"Oh? What's the matter? Cixi asked.

"The Minister of France has just sent an invitation letter, and the Dharma Lord will hold a ceremony to congratulate the envoys of various countries." Prince Gong carefully worded his words, "The General Administration doesn't know how to reply, and it's being discussed." ”

"Talking? No one went to the General Administration to make trouble, right? Empress Dowager Cixi sneered, "I guess, this has been a lot better in the past two days, right?" ”

"What the Queen Mother said is that the General Administration did not send the invitation letter, because she was afraid that she would leak the news and make trouble." Prince Gong knew, "Ignorant scholars, if they take the opportunity to coax them, it will be another big storm." ”

"The envoys of foreigners have been stationed in the capital for ten years, so what's the big deal about sending someone to France? These scholars are ignorant of the general trend of the world, and they are so hateful that they can use what Yixia defense to hold the court hostage! Empress Dowager Cixi said angrily.

Although foreign diplomatic envoys had been stationed in Beijing since 1861, the Qingliu were vehemently opposed to foreign envoys meeting the young Tongzhi Emperor. For this reason, Prince Gong had to receive them as semi-regents, and told them that the emperor was still in his prime and that it was not appropriate to meet them. Although foreign delegates agreed with him that there was no reason to have to meet an emperor under the age of 20, foreign envoys nevertheless considered the repeated postponement of the visit by the Chinese emperor to be an unfriendly act.

In fact, the reason why the Qingliu resolutely opposed the visit of foreign ministers was because foreigners refused to bow to their heads, which was incompatible with the sacred theory of China as the "co-lord of the world" and the ancient system of "paying tribute"!

As early as 1867, when discussing the issue of amending the treaty, Prime Minister Yamen consulted several major feudal officials on this issue. The vast majority of people advocated that the question should be avoided until the emperor came of age. Li Hongzhang believed that contact with Prince Gong was enough to reach the heavens, and a direct audience would not lead to other gains from foreign diplomatic envoys. As for the etiquette of the emperor's coming-of-age audience, he argued that foreign ministers should be allowed to follow the etiquette of meeting their own lords. Zeng Guofan argued that the Kangxi Emperor had regarded Russia as an equal state, rather than a subordinate vassal, so the imperial court could also treat foreign ministers as envoys of countries with equal status, exempting them from Chinese customs. The suggestion of Zeng Li's master and apprentice was undoubtedly met with fierce opposition from conservative officials, who insisted that "the laws of the ancestors are immutable" and that "the Chinese ritual system must not be changed from foreign customs."

Even foreign ministers were opposed to this kind of meeting, and until now, this issue has not been resolved, let alone sending envoys to foreign countries to congratulate them. According to their theory, the Celestial Empire, when encountering this kind of thing, all send envoys to foreign countries to announce the canonization, how can there be any reason to congratulate them?

The more the Empress Dowager Cixi spoke, the more angry she became, "The French lord returned the national treasure, and I still want to send someone to thank it, by the way, to see if I can negotiate, and the rest of the national treasures will also be returned, they are against it, saying that they would rather not have the national treasure, and they can't show weakness to the law, and send someone to negotiate, how can it be called showing weakness?" I want to repair the garden, they said there is no money, well, do not use the money from the treasury, use the service of overseas merchants, and they said that this money is not used, and if you use it, it will be a summer of Yiyi! How unreasonable! ”

Prince Gong listened to Cixi roaring there, and knew in his heart that the Empress Dowager Cixi had made up her mind, and a hanging heart gradually relaxed.

Now that the Queen Mother has agreed, the following matters should not be difficult to do. It's just that I'm going to have to fight with those conservative and stubborn guys again.

"What does the sixth master think, what should I do about this?" Empress Dowager Cixi asked.

"Back to the Queen Mother, the minister thinks that this makes the minister still have to be sent, and he must not hinder the friendship between the two countries for the sake of fame." Prince Gong thought for a moment and replied, "It's just that the name of this envoy can't be said to be a congratulation, it has to be replaced." There is also this candidate, which also needs to be carefully considered. ”

"Well, let's get up and talk about this to the meeting." The Empress Dowager Cixi got up and said, "The envoys must be sent, there is no need to discuss this, what needs to be discussed is the name of the go, and the candidates." ”

"Command!"

When all the ministers gathered in the Qinzheng Palace, many people were surprised to find that not only the Tongzhi Emperor and Prince Gong were all there, but behind the curtain, the Queen Mother of the two palaces was also all there.

Seeing that the Empress Dowager Ci'an, who does not often appear, also appeared at the court meeting, all the ministers had a premonition that today's court meeting was extraordinary.

Soon after the death of Emperor Xianfeng, Cixi and Prince Gong Yixin made a plan to launch the Qixiang Coup (Xinyou Coup), executed Su Shun and other eight auxiliary ministers, and seized the supreme power of the Qing Dynasty. On the surface, the Empress Dowager Ci'an and Cixi are called sisters, and they listen to the government together and hold the supreme power of the country. However, the Empress Dowager Ci'an generally lived in a simple house, and political affairs were basically handled by the Empress Dowager Cixi. So much so that outsiders have come to the impression that Ci'an is "superior to virtue" and Cixi is "superior to talent".

In fact, Ci'an is not only a deep city, but also a wise woman. In fact, if you compare her with Cixi, you can find that the Empress Dowager Ci'an is by no means useless. decided to make a big deal about the government, and many of them were Ci'an's final decision. It's just that Ci'an is not interested in power, so the daily government is mostly handled by Cixi. And Cixi "was afraid of the distinction between the concubines and concubines, and did not dare to be rude." When encountering major events in the court, Cixi did not dare to make assertions, but still had to consult Ci'an's opinion. Therefore, the Empress Dowager Ci'an also has a very good set of methods in controlling the situation and controlling power.

"Today, the minister of France presents his credentials, saying that his lord will pass on the throne to his son, and at that time invite the envoys of all countries to congratulate him and go to the ceremony of the crowning of the new king." Prince Gong said, "According to the general practice of all countries, our country should send an envoy there, this envoy is related to the friendship between the two countries, in what name the envoy is sent, the selection of the envoys, and the suggestions of the ministers, should be carefully played in the Empress Dowager and the Emperor knows." ”

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