In the second year of Guangxu, after Song Xiaofei rushed back to the capital, the power struggle between the Empress Dowager Cixi and Prince Gong Yixin was heated again, and Li Hongzhang once again faced the problem of standing in line.

This time, Song Xiaofei's idea was to uproot Prince Gong and Qingliu and bring them all down.

Of course, this needs to enlist the support of the Empress Dowager Cixi, fortunately, at this time, the Empress Dowager Cixi's desire to overthrow Prince Gong and Qingliu is obviously much stronger than Song Xiaofei.

Cixi and Prince Gong, the "lovers" who have opposite goals, do not have any deep hatred, in the final analysis, it is still a struggle for power.

After Emperor Guangxu ascended the throne, the political power structure of the Qing court changed: the empress dowager of the two palaces still listened to the government, the empress dowager Ci'an was still the nominal number one, Cixi could only be regarded as the "female number two", Prince Gong continued to be in charge of the prime minister's yamen and the military aircraft department, and the power was still very large, especially the military aircraft department, which basically remained unchanged, and it was still Prince Gong's territory. Cixi openly said that the Military Aircraft Department was the "Hades Palace" where "needles could not be inserted and water could not be splashed", and Prince Gong, the "Devil Six", was the "Lord of Hades".

The military aircraft in the Qing Dynasty has a special status, from the Yongzheng period, although the military aircraft department is part-time, but the overall military and political power, above the six ministries, the status is equivalent to the current state affairs. Courtyard plus middle school. Yang Jun. Committee, so the status of the Minister of Military Aircraft is equivalent to the current one. Central Government. Govern. Fixture. The committee, together with the empress dowager of the two palaces, was the highest decision-making organ of the Qing Dynasty.

Cixi has always wanted to get her hands on the Military Aircraft Division, but to no avail. Although Li Hongzhang won the trust of Cixi and was a first-class official, he was also a figure standing aside in the Military Aircraft Department. The Military Aircraft Department in the first year of Guangxu was composed of five people, namely Prince Gong Yixin, Wu Yingdian University Shi Wenxiang, co-organizer of the University Shi Baojun, co-organizer of the University Shen Guifen, and Li Hongzao, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry.

The Empress Dowager Cixi co-opted the Empress Dowager Ci'an to act arbitrarily on the issue of the Guangxu Emperor's accession to the throne, bypassing the Military Aircraft Department, which was also a great stimulus to the orthodox Qingliu ministers, who believed that Cixi had violated the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty. Guangxu ascended the throne, and although Prince Gong was caught off guard, he quickly stabilized his foothold and united with the "Qingliu" minister to start a counterattack.

Not long after Guangxu ascended the throne, Guang'an, a cabinet scholar, was instructed by Prince Gong to play a fold, requesting that the Guangxu Emperor's accession to the throne be set up an "iron coupon", which will never be changed. What made Cixi even more unacceptable was that Guang'an asked to convene an enlarged meeting of the princes, the six ministries, and the nine Qings to discuss, and Cixi was furious and exiled Guang'an and sent to the frontier.

However, there is one thing that Prince Gong and the world value "Qingliu" very much, that is, he is "not afraid of death" and dares to "die".

Cixi finally suppressed the public opinion created by Guang'an, Wu Ke, the head of the ministry, jumped out, he was more radical, at that time Empress Arut did not die, still pregnant, he asked Emperor Guangxu after his death, must be established as the heir of the Tongzhi Emperor as the heir to the throne, in order to create a sensational effect, he did not hesitate to choose to commit suicide near the tomb of the Tongzhi Emperor.

For thousands of years, the minister's death festival was the most appreciated by the Chinese, and regardless of whether his demands were reasonable or not, Empress Dowager Cixi immediately became very passive.

After Wu Ke's death, the government and the opposition were shocked, Prince Gong not only did not suppress public opinion, but also discussed the matter in the Military Aircraft Department, this time even Li Hongzao felt that as a courtier, he should be on Prince Gong's side. Cixi was isolated and in a precarious position, and she was keenly aware that if she could not control the Military Aircraft Department, she would not be able to become a veritable "No. 1 person" in the Qing Dynasty.

There is another important reason why Cixi is determined to deal with Prince Gong Yixin and Minister Qingliu, she has a long-term vision and sees the "ten years" later. She watched Emperor Guangxu grow up day by day, if she didn't bring down the powerful Yixin and the unwanted minister of Qingliu, once Emperor Guangxu reached the age of pro-government, Ci'an would definitely take a position to withdraw from the curtain and listen to the government.

And the opportunity to strike at Prince Gong soon came.

In the second year of Guangxu, Wen Xiang, a scholar of Wuyingdian University and Minister of Military Aircraft, died of illness. Wen Xiang was the old minister of the Yenjing coup in 1861, he and Baojun had been Prince Gong's right-hand man for many years, and as soon as he died, the position of Minister of Military Aircraft was vacated, and the Empress Dowager Cixi first thought of her handsome uncle Li Hongzhang.

In the evening, when Li Hongzhang and his staff were discussing the matter in the courtyard, Sheng Xuanhuai, Li Fengbao, and Zhang Shusheng all suggested that he join the military aircraft, after all, it was a rare honor and opportunity for Han Chen to be the minister of military aircraft.

Song Xiaofei looked up at a faint moon and did not speak. Li Hongzhang asked him for his opinion, and Song Xiaofei said: "Last time, my teacher criticized me for not understanding the situation of the imperial court, so I made up my homework. Now the situation in the imperial court is as dark as this night, and the position of the minister of military aircraft is like a faint moon overhead, looking hazy and beautiful. Actually, the teacher will be very embarrassed at that time. ”

Li Hongzhang nodded: "This is also where the old man is worried."

Song Xiaofei said: "Prince Gong has served as the foreman of the military aircraft minister since the Xianfeng period, although he was deprived of the title of king by the Empress Dowager Cixi, but he is deeply rooted in the military aircraft. If the teacher goes in and gets too close to him, it is easy to be suspicious of the Empress Dowager Cixi; Prince Hegong is too far away, and the westernization and coastal defense led by his mentor will inevitably not be supported. In this dispute between the ministers of military aircraft, Prince Gong and the Empress Dowager Cixi will definitely not give in to each other, so we might as well remain neutral, so that both of them will come to fight for their mentors. ”

Li Hongzhang stroked his gray beard and said, "You have a point. I've always liked to get things done, and the railroad and navy I wanted to build were just getting started, and I couldn't give up halfway. Moreover, it is inevitable that the military plane will fall into empty discussions, which is not what I want. But the meaning of the Queen Mother, the old man is not easy to disobey. ”

Song Xiaofei said: "It is better to recommend a person, and the Empress Dowager Cixi will be satisfied." ”

Li Hongzhang asked, "Who?" ”

Song Xiaofei said: "Rong Lu." ”

Li Hongzhang smiled and nodded: "You want to go with me." ”

The next morning, Li Hongzhang recommended Rong Lu, who was then the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to be the Minister of Military Aircraft on the grounds that he was still busy dealing with the British Minister of Wittoma over the "Margaret Case".

Of course, this is what Cixi wants, not only to promote Ronglu, but also to continue to play a pillar role in the Westernization faction. But at that time, Rong Lu's qualifications were not enough, and in order to transfer Rong Lu to the military machine department, Cixi promoted him to one level and became the imperial history of the left capital and the secretary of the Ministry of Industry.

The Empress Dowager Cixi used to endure riding on herself, but this time, she still had to pee and go to her "backyard" to install her cronies, of course Prince Gong did not agree, and the two sides were deadlocked, Prince Gong went to find the Empress Dowager Ci'an, and Ci'an suggested that he go to meet Prince Alcohol.

At that time, although Prince Alcohol became an "idle king", he was the father of Emperor Guangxu after all, and he had just retreated to the second line, and his connections still existed, so he came out to be a "peacemaker", and asked Shen Guifen to propose that Wang Wenshao, the governor of Hunan, enter the military aircraft, and he went to persuade Rong Lu to take the initiative to give up the position of the minister of military aircraft, so that the Empress Dowager Cixi also saved her face, and Rong Lu was also promoted.

Prince Gong agreed, saying that this method would work.

Prince Alcohol felt that he was really a talent, and such a good idea was actually thought up by himself, so he went to find Rong Lu excitedly, he thought that Rong Lu was the person he promoted, and he would give himself a little face. But Rong Lu felt that he was nearly forty years old, and it was the time to do great things, and it might be this opportunity to join the military for the rest of his life, plus with the support of the Empress Dowager Cixi, his attitude was ambiguous.

Prince Alcohol thought that he had promised himself, so he asked Shen Guifen to go to Hunan to find Wang Wenshao, but as a result, Wang Wenzhao finally agreed, and Rong Lu jumped out and tried his best to fight for the position of Minister of Military Aircraft.

Prince Alcohol and Shen Guifen were very angry, feeling that Rong Lu was a capricious villain. Prince Alcohol couldn't swallow the evil anger in his heart, and said that the Empress Dowager Ci'an needed to find the Internal Affairs Office for everything in the imperial mausoleum of Emperor Tongzhi, and that he was old, his legs and feet were not good, and it was inconvenient to run between Yanjing and Hebei, and he urgently needed a young and powerful Minister of the Internal Affairs Department like Rong Lu as an assistant, and hoped that Rong Lu would participate in the major project of repairing the mausoleum.

So, under the attack of Prince Gong and Prince Alcohol, Rong Lu stole chickens and rice, not only failed to enter the military plane, but also accompanied Prince Alcohol to Hebei to repair the mausoleum.

This struggle ended with the victory of Prince Gong, and Wang Wenshao, the governor of Hunan, successfully entered the military plane. Prince Gong also discussed with the Empress Dowager Ci'an, and added a minister of military aircraft, Emperor Guangxu's teacher Weng Tongxi, Weng Tongxiao's thinking was more "clear" than Li Hongzao's, which angered the stubborn Cixi even more, and felt that Prince Gong was preparing for Emperor Guangxu's personal government ten years later, and increased her determination to remove Prince Gong's stumbling block. The Empress Dowager Cixi was born, and she was the kind of woman who did not achieve her goal and vowed not to give up.

In the third year of Guangxu, the situation of infighting in the imperial court became more and more intense, and even Song Xiaofei behind the scenes smelled the smell of gunpowder, and Li Hongzhang's railway plan ended in vain due to the opposition of Prince Alcohol, the reason was to destroy Feng Shui, the earliest railway built in China, the Wusong Railway, the imperial court spent 280,000 taels of silver to buy from the British, and the railroad tracks were dismantled and thrown into the Huangpu River to feed the fish. The entire Qing court is going to be noisy about big things, like a big powder magazine, as if as long as there is a spark, it will explode violently.

And the fuse of the powder magazine was about to be lit by himself and the French.