It was the rainy season and the roads were muddy. Xianfeng's coffin returned to Beijing from Chengde, walking very slowly all the way, stopping and stopping.

The size of the Qing army is more than 100,000, but it looks like a defeated rooster and listless.

Su Shun, Zaihuan, Ruihua and other eight ministers gathered in a tent again to discuss matters.

"Is there any news in the capital?" Su Shun asked first.

"It's still the same, Li Weiguo's Shanghai army controls the entire capital, and the original Eight Banners of the capital garrison are either withdrawn to Chengde, or they are under house arrest in the barracks by the Shanghai army." Ruihua replied.

"It seems that Li Weiguo may not let us go back to Beijing!" Zaihuan sighed.

"Then it depends on whether he has the ability to see something, we have an army of more than 100,000 people, and we are afraid that he will not succeed?" As soon as Su Shun heard Li Weiguo, he would be angry for no reason, envy, jealousy and hatred, and all the values instantly exploded.

Zai Huan said worriedly: "If possible, we had better not clash with Li Weiguo, after all, the combat effectiveness of the Shanghai army is too strong, they can annihilate 200,000 British and French troops, and we are not sure enough to win him." ”

Su Shun said unhappily: "That was in Shanghai, and now Li Weiguo only brought troops from two towns and 20,000 people." ”

At this moment, the guards came in a panic.

"Report, the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces and the Little Emperor are gone!"

"What?"

Su Shun and the others were suddenly shocked, and hurriedly went to the camp tent of the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces and the Little Emperor to check, and sure enough, it was gone.

"Get someone back for me right away!"

The whole camp was in chaos, all the Qing troops were looking for people, and all signs indicated that the empress dowager of the two palaces had fled with the little emperor.

Su Shun and the others suddenly became nervous and realized the seriousness of the problem.

Since the little emperor Zaichun ascended the throne in Chengde, Su Shun and other eight ministers have controlled the government, and they don't take the little emperor in their eyes at all, and even the queen mother of the two palaces was loudly reprimanded by them. Now the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces has run away with the little emperor. Obviously, he went to defect to Li Weiguo.

"What can I do? If the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces and the Little Emperor fall into the hands of Li Weiguo, then I am afraid that our lives will not be guaranteed! Zai Huan suddenly worried.

Su Shun's face was black, he didn't know what was going on.

Xianfeng ordered their eight ministers to assist the government, but only when they returned to Beijing could they be officially recognized by the imperial court, after all, most of the civil and military officials were in the capital, and only these civil and military officials could be recognized. to be justified.

But now the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces has run away with the little emperor, which makes them dumbfounded, because if the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces does not prove it to them, then their so-called Eight Ministers and Auxiliary Ministers are a joke, and no one will believe it. What's more, in the past half a year, Su Shun and others have been carried away by power, and the relationship with the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces has deteriorated, if the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces retaliates against them. Then they'll be dead.

"The cavalry battalion has already gone after it, but we'd better think of a countermeasure."

"What else can be done? If the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces falls into the hands of Li Weiguo, then we will definitely die! ”

"Don't be so pessimistic, Li Weiguo is a Han after all, this world is the world of our banner people, when will it be the turn of the Han people? I think the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces is also a smart person, and she will not easily use Li Weiguo as a gunman, and they are most likely to go to Prince Gong Yixin. ”

"I hope so!"

Except for Su Shun. Several of the other ministers were a little disheartened, regretting that they should not be carried away by power. Now I regret dying.

Cixi and Ci'an escaped from the camp with the little emperor, but were soon taken away by the rescue team of the Shanghai army, who came to meet them, and finally returned to Beijing safely.

Li Weiguo deliberately lined up at the city gate to greet him, causing the city to be full of wind and rain, so that everyone knew that he Li Weiguo was going to meet him, and many people thought that the rumors that Li Weiguo was going to rebel were self-defeating.

The ceremony was solemn. This made the two queen mothers Cixi and Ci'an breathe a sigh of relief, they were still a little worried about whether they had just escaped from Su Shun and asked Li Weiguo for help if they had just come out of the wolf and entered the tiger's den, but now they saw that Li Weiguo was still a courtier, much better than the eight ministers of Su Shun, and they were relieved.

Li Weiguo met Cixi for the first time. I was a little excited, not because of Cixi's beauty, but because Cixi was once an old witch who ruled China for nearly half a century, bringing disaster to the country and the people, and Li Weiguo was purely admired and excited.

It's just that Li Weiguo's excitement, Cixi didn't know, and thought that Li Weiguo was affected by her identity and appearance, so she suddenly became narcissistic and said to Ci'an: "Sister is relieved now!" ”

Ci'an nodded, she was not as assertive as Cixi, as long as Cixi felt that it was okay, then she would have nothing to say.

However, Ci'an still looked Li Weiguo up and down, and saw Li Weiguo's eyebrows and eyes, and his eyes showed a majesty that made people want to surrender, and his heart couldn't help but tremble.

Outside was not the place to talk, Li Weiguo took them back to the Forbidden City, settled the little emperor to sleep first, and discussed important matters with them.

Cining Palace, Ci'an and Cixi sat down and invited Li Weiguo to enter.

"The two queen mothers, now that you are safe, I don't know what to do with them."

Li Weiguo is still pretending, and he needs to use the identities of Cixi and Ci'an to complete the plan, so he is very cautious in his words.

Cixi was shrewd, she would not easily believe Li Weiguo, and asked: "It is rumored in the market that Lord Li has been staying in the palace recently, and I don't know if there is such a thing. ”

Ci'an suddenly became nervous when she heard this, she quietly stabbed Cixi, not understanding why she asked this, what if Li Weiguo was angry.

Cixi didn't pay attention to Ci'an, but just stared at Li Weiguo.

Li Weiguo said with a smile: "Yes, when the minister first came to Beijing, he had no place to live, so he stayed in the palace for a while. ”

Seeing Li Weiguo's direct admission, Ci'an immediately closed his eyes, and his heart was finished.

Cixi was also stunned, she thought that Li Weiguo would quibble, so she would push the boat down the river and pretend not to believe the rumors, but she never thought that Li Weiguo would admit it directly, this is a big crime of the Nine Clans, isn't the other party afraid of death?

Yes, Li Weiguo is going to rebel, so he is going to have a showdown directly.

Cixi was shocked in her heart, and she regretted asking this question. However, she still forced herself to calm down, and said angrily: "Bold Li Weiguo, you dare to stay in the palace overnight, ** court, can you be guilty?" ”

Li Weiguo said with a smile: "The minister is naturally guilty, but he was also forced to do helplessly. ”

Cixi saw that Li Weiguo still claimed to be a minister, and secretly said in her heart that there was still room for maneuver. So he asked rhetorically: "Where did you come from being forced to be helpless?" ”

Li Weiguo replied: "I'm afraid the two queen mothers know about the affairs of the ministers and the emperor, right?" ”

Cixi and Ci'an glanced at each other and nodded, how could the two of them, as the two most important women in Xianfeng, not know about the matter between Xianfeng and Li Weiguo. Xianfeng has been jealous of Li Weiguo for not a day or two, and it has not been a day or two since he wanted to kill Li Weiguo. This is almost all known to the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty.

Li Weiguo continued: "The ministers are loyal to the imperial court, resisting the rebellion of the Taiping Army at home and the invasion of foreign powers. However, the first emperor misheard the villain's words, and the Sushun faction had always been mortal enemies of Yu Chen, and framed Weichen in front of the emperor, so that the emperor wanted to kill Weichen. ”

Cixi asked: "The grievances between you and the Sushun faction are also known to this palace. But what does this have to do with your overnight stay at the palace? ”

Li Weiguo replied: "Of course it matters!" The emperor has already made up his mind to kill Weichen, so it is impossible for Weichen to sit still. I heard that the emperor was seriously ill, so Weichen stayed in the palace overnight in order to kill the emperor. ”

"You-"

"It's a big rebellion!"

Cixi and Ci'an shouted at the same time, glaring at Li Weiguo. It's just that the former doesn't have much anger, just expected surprise, and the latter is pure anger.

"You're telling us this, are you planning to rebel?" Cixi was still young after all. She is only in her twenties, but she has not yet evolved into an old witch. Suddenly asked in a comuffable breath.

Li Weiguo nodded and said: "I was indeed preparing to rebel before, the first emperor wanted to kill me, I only have one way to rebel!" Because I don't want to die! ”

Cixi and Ci'an suddenly became nervous, and the former asked a little tremblingly, "Then what do you want to do now?" ”

Li Weiguo saw that it was enough to scare them, so he smiled and said, "Now the first emperor is dead." I wonder if you're still trying to kill me? ”

Cixi asked rhetorically, "Does this make any difference?" ”

Li Weiguo said: "Of course, the first emperor wanted to kill me, so I stayed in the palace overnight to plan to rebel." If you still want to kill me, then I can only kill you first and then rebel? ”

"Bold!" Ci'an was terrified and subconsciously shouted.

"You're just two women and a six-year-old. Do you think I dare? Li Weiguo sneered.

Ci'an was suddenly frightened and bloodless, and subconsciously shrank back.

"You do have the ability, there is no doubt about it." Cixi felt that Li Weiguo had no killing intent, but calmed down and asked, "You mean that as long as we don't want to kill you, you won't rebel?" Is that so? ”

Li Weiguo nodded and said: "Of course, I am still very loyal to the imperial court, you don't want to kill me, so why should I rebel?" ”

Cixi looked skeptical and asked, "Really?" ”

Li Weiguo smiled: "Of course! ”

"You should be conditional, right?" Cixi continued to ask.

Li Weiguo nodded and said: "That's right, give me a king, Liangjiang and four provinces as my fiefdom, only I have to say in the future, and the court must not interfere." ”

Tearing the earth and sealing the king, this is Li Weiguo's decision after consulting with Chen Jingnan. Since you can't swallow the whole world in one bite, let's take it step by step, first seal the king and tear the soil, and then eat it step by step. In this way, the officials of the other provinces will not resist so fiercely, killing them one by one like boiled frogs in warm water.

Cixi and Ci'an wanted to discuss, so Li Weiguo retreated and waited outside for the result.

Inside the house, Cixi said to Ci'an: "Sister, now it seems that Li Weiguo is also afraid, if he rebels, the chances of victory are not great, because there are also the imperial army, Zeng Guofan's Hunan army, and Li Hongzhang's Huai army, he may not win." ”

Ci'an said: "Since he has objections, then he can't be left, otherwise won't this Qing Dynasty be buried in the hands of our sisters?" ”

Cixi then said: "Sister, you have to see the situation clearly, now the Qing Dynasty is not in our hands at all, either Li Weiguo or Su Shun will take it." Comparatively speaking, Li Weiguo is a Han Chinese, and he will definitely not be able to sit firmly in the Qing Dynasty, because now the military and political power in various places is in the hands of the banner people, and it is impossible to listen to a Han person. On the other hand, Su Shun was different, as soon as the first emperor left, they dared to shout at our sisters, which shows that they want to follow the example of Aobai. Su Shun and they are all banner people, once they take power, others may not object, Jiangshan is not Aixin Jueluo. ”

Ci'an nodded and said, "According to what my sister said, it really makes sense." Even the strategy of driving the tiger and devouring the wolf is very dangerous. ”

Cixi said with a smile: "Sister forgot, when Li Weiguo and Su Shun are both defeated, we can unite Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang again, they and Li Weiguo are by no means of the same mind, and because of Hu Xueyan, both of them are actually enemies." Internally, we used Prince Gong to fight against Li Weiguo, and externally used Zeng Guofan's Hunan army and Li Hongzhang's Huai army to counter Li Weiguo's Shanghai army. ”

Ci'an didn't understand politics, so he asked, "Is this okay?" It feels too complicated. ”

Cixi said confidently: "Sister, don't worry, this plan is absolutely feasible." And I really feel that what Li Weiguo said is true, think about it, if he is determined to rebel, why bother with us and directly hold us and the emperor hostage? ”

Ci'an thought for a while, and suddenly nodded: "Sister is not good at this kind of thing, it's all up to my sister to decide!" ”

After the discussion of the two palaces, the empress dowager called Li Weiguo back again.

After bargaining between the two sides, Cixi and Ci'an finally agreed to crown Li Weiguo as the king of Wu and temporarily serve as the governor of Zhili to protect the safety of the capital. At the same time, in order to contain Li Weiguo, the second daughter made Prince Gong Yixin serve as the regent.

Li Weiguo had no objection to this, but Cixi and Ci'an were immediately relieved, believing that Li Weiguo really didn't want to rebel.

In fact, Li Weiguo knew very well the intentions of Cixi and Ci'an, and he did it on purpose, because the entire other provinces of the Great Qing Dynasty were basically the children of the Eight Banners who held the military and political power and had huge power, and if Li Weiguo took charge of the government, he would inevitably be attacked by the children of the Eight Banners, which would be very unfavorable to Li Weiguo. In turn, let Yi Xin be the regent, even if the children of the Eight Banners are not satisfied, they can only endure it.

What Li Weiguo wants is real interests, such as the king of Wu, so that his territory can no longer be subject to the control of the imperial court, and he can develop as he wants. When he became the king of Wu and usurped the world in the future, it would be easy for the common people to accept it, and the resistance would be greatly reduced.

In addition, Li Weiguo deliberately did not ask to remain as the governor of Zhili, which was to confuse Cixi and Ci'an and make them believe that Li Weiguo would really not rebel. But the actual situation is that there is indeed no Li Weiguo to manage Zhili, Cixi and Ci'an can't fight the eight ministers of Sushun and their hundreds of thousands of Qing troops, so Li Weiguo retreats into advance, and finally gets the governor of Zhili, and the Shanghai army can take over Zhili in name.

As for whether to go or stay in the future, it is not a matter of Li Weiguo's words, when all Li Weiguo's deployments and plans are completed, it will not be too late to force the palace.

On October 3, 1861, the day after Cixi and Ci'an returned to Beijing, they launched a palace coup, announcing that eight ministers, including Sushun, Zaihuan, and Ruihua, had deceived the emperor and the empress dowager of the two palaces to rebel, and ordered Li Weiguo to lead a large army to exterminate Sushun's army.

Three days later, Li Weiguo led the fifth town of the Shanghai army to engage the Sushun army in Tongzhou, and the battle lasted only three hours, and Sushun's army of more than 100,000 was defeated, and Sushun was captured and escorted to the capital to be beheaded. Zaihuan, Ruihua and other seven ministers were all killed on the spot by the rebels.

This incident caused a sensation throughout the country, but the common people believed in the words of Cixi and Ci'an, and Li Weiguo's reputation was skyrocketing, and it was the desire of the people, so the Sushun faction really became a rebel and was scolded by tens of thousands of people.

Later, Cixi and Ci'an listened to the government, changed the name of the year to Tongzhi, and sealed the vassals. Yi Xin was the regent, Li Weiguo had meritorious service in destroying foreign armies and rebels, and was named King of Wu and Governor of Zhili.

When the news came out, the world was in an uproar. (To be continued.) )