Yanjing, which has just entered the wax moon, is still cold and cold. A sedan chair was surrounded by guards and quickly marched on the official road, rushing in the direction of the Summer Palace.

In the sedan chair, Shiduo reclined in the soft chair and closed his eyes to recuperate. The thick stack of folds was firmly grasped in his hands, and his overexerted hands were a little pale. And his frowning brow showed that not only was he not recuperating, but he seemed to be thinking hard about what decision to make.

No, he had already made his decision the moment he decided to go to the Summer Palace to meet the Empress Dowager Cixi. And what he was thinking about at this time was how to persuade the queen mother.

Since the emperor returned to Beijing in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Empress Dowager Cixi behaved as if she had truly let go of all the power in her hands. The affairs of the imperial court are all decided by the emperor, although the emperor still asks Cixi from time to time, but Shiduo can see from the emperor's strategy that the influence of the Empress Dowager Cixi on the emperor is getting smaller and smaller. If it is said that when the emperor first took office, there was still some shadow of the Empress Dowager Cixi in his governance strategy, then after more than a year, this shadow has become weaker and fainter. Not only that, in recent months, the emperor has almost stopped asking the Empress Dowager Cixi about politics, and all the governance strategies have been deeply imprinted by the young emperor. The new monarch of the Qing Dynasty has been established.

The emperor got rid of the influence of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and whether his pro-government was good or bad for the Qing Dynasty did not matter for the time being, but it was very bad for the courtiers who were close to the Empress Dowager Cixi's party. The most obvious is the loss of rights, and the feelings of Priest, who is the head of the military aircraft minister, are even more obvious.

Since its establishment, the Military Aircraft Department has always been in charge of the imperial court's secrets, not only has the power to recommend officials to the emperor, but its authority is even more than the cabinet and the six ministries. The concerts of various places were signed by the Military Aircraft Department and submitted to the emperor for approval. The emperor's edicts, all of which are confidential, are drafted by the Military Aircraft Department, which is called "secret edicts", and are sent to local governors through the Military Aircraft Department through the Ministry of War, which is called "court mail", and the cabinet has no right to intervene. The Military Aircraft Department also has a "record book," which is equivalent to the duty file of the Confidential Military Aircraft Department, and "all journalists who have a purpose to keep them in the book are kept in the book, and if they should be kept secret, they are sealed and recorded." The Military Aircraft Department was ordered to handle all major military and political affairs and became the political center of the country.

And as the foreman of the Minister of Military Aircraft, Shi Duo has even more power, that is, the prime minister under one person and above ten thousand people. The folds must be passed through before they are handed to the emperor, and his opinions on the affairs of the court and politics can affect the emperor's judgment even more. Successive dynasties have had two to three phases to check and balance each other. But since there was a military aircraft department, there has only been one phase.

But since the emperor came into power, Shi Duo obviously felt that the power in his hands was getting worse day by day. First of all, the military department can directly present the performance, and then the general staff can also go directly to the heavens, and the military aircraft department loses its military power. The emperor changed the Prime Minister's National Affairs Yamen to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Li Hongzhang became the Minister of Foreign Affairs. But only a month later, Li Hongzhang was promoted to prime minister by the emperor, prime minister of state affairs. And Tang Shaoyi, who took over as foreign minister, came out of the emperor's secretariat, and he directly dumped the military aircraft department and reported it alone. Later, the governor of Liangjiang (although he was still acting) Yan Fu, except for the excerpt of the regular affairs will be sent to the military machine, he has never seen an excerpt of something important. Could it be that something important has not happened in the huge Liangjiang for more than a year? Of course not, what about the excerpts? Naturally, Liangjiang directly reported to the emperor. And after the emperor moved to Yingtai now, the secretariat also moved to Xiangluan Pavilion, and Yang Du, a student who had just graduated from the university hall, served as the secretary general. The emperor's edicts were drafted and issued by the secretariat, and they were not handed over to the Military Aircraft Department for archiving.

The role of the Military Aircraft Department is getting smaller and smaller, with Li Hongzhang as the prime minister, and the emperor has a will that he can dispatch the Military Aircraft Department, and the following ministries can also directly present the emperor, and the emperor also has the ability to read the secretariat to deal with state affairs. Now rumors have begun to spread that the Military Aircraft Department is a pension department. Since the Qing Dynasty, although each ministry has set up two military planes of the Manchu and Han dynasties, they are all headed by the Manchus and supplemented by the Han people. Well, now the Han people have overwhelmed the Manchurians. And take a closer look at the courtiers around the emperor, they are all Han people.

Although there are more Han people who have the ability than Manchus, the court is the court of Manchus, and the emperor is also Manchu. Shi Duo was shouting in his heart, but the emperor and Ben couldn't hear it and didn't want to hear it. And the emperor's public speech on the stage this time made the rebellion even more infuriating, and Shi Duo had already contacted the old ministers in the court, for the sake of the Manchurian world and the Qing Dynasty, he wanted to advise the Queen Mother to train the government.

Because every New Year's Day, the emperor will hold a royal New Year's dinner. Before the dinner, it was necessary to decorate it as soon as people came and lived, and the queen mother of the two palaces, who had been living in the palace, moved to the Summer Palace because it was too noisy. The queen mother of the two palaces often talks together, and some things that want to be persuaded are not easy for Shi Duo and others to say. But today is a great opportunity. Because the Empress Dowager Cihui heard that the emperor made a public speech about rebellion, she left the Summer Palace and went to the palace to reprimand the emperor, but the Empress Dowager Cixi did not accompany her. As soon as Shi Duo received the news that the Empress Dowager Cihui was leaving the Summer Palace alone, he made a detour to the Summer Palace.

"Nonsense!" Before Shiduo finished speaking, Cixi became angry: "What is there to argue with the thief, does he still want to be the emperor?" ”

The anger of Cixi in the Ningshou Palace in the Summer Palace not only frightened the Shi Duo who came to report, but even the eunuchs and palace maids who all went out outside the palace gate were frightened and did not dare to speak out. Cixi is angry, you Guangxu don't want to be the emperor, then let Xian. Everyone wants to revolutionize you, the emperor, and instead of cutting off his head, you go to debate with the thief?

There were only two people in Ningshou Palace, Cixi and Shi Duo, and Shi Duo knelt on the ground and didn't dare to speak for a while. After a long time, Shi Duo saw Cixi's face and said: "Although there is nothing to say about the rebellion this time, everyone who knows about this matter is indignant. Regarding the emperor's move, it was said that the emperor had lost the majesty of the court, and the emperor's move was really child's play. With that, Shidor bowed deeply.

"Oh?" Cixi glanced at Shi Duo meaningfully, and slowly sat back in the chair: "The emperor is a little messy in doing this, and I want to see if the emperor has another meaning." What is the emperor doing here? ”

"The emperor has a deep meaning, but the slaves don't know." Shi Duo cautiously glanced at the expression of Cishe: "It's just that all the students who participate in the debate have been carefully screened by the emperor. The selected students are all loyal to the emperor and aspire to serve the imperial court. ”

"That's a good thing." Cixi said tepidly: "The emperor is the lord of the world, and it is the righteousness of the world for the students to be loyal to the emperor and serve the court." There's nothing wrong with that. ”

"The Queen Mother knows that there has been a war of words between the two rivers and the northeast recently. The first batch of three-year students of Jingshi University Hall will officially graduate next year, so Liangjiang and Northeast China have asked for the first batch of graduates to be sent to them first. In recent years, many of the recently appointed Yamen officials in Liangjiang and Northeast China were not from the imperial examinations, and most of them came from the early years of studying abroad and were directly appointed after half a year of intensive study at the Beijing Normal University. If it is said that the people who these officials are engaged in the industry of foreigners, the scholars of the imperial examination do not know their reasoning and can also say the past. But as far as the minions know, some of the students who will graduate next year will directly serve as the Qipin County Commander. In this way, court officials can become court officials without going through the imperial examination. As soon as this mouth is opened, where will the scholars who have been studying hard for more than ten years go in the cold window of the world. Lafayette, please. ”

To Shidor's surprise, Cixi did not answer immediately, but stared at Shiduo for a while. Shi Duo didn't know what the Queen Mother meant, so he could only kneel there in silence and wait for the Queen Mother to speak.

After a long time, Cixi spoke: "You are so confused that you are talking about the mourning family. Prince Li, you are also an old minister in the court. There are only you and my master and servant here, so you can say whatever you want. Why bother with the mourning family. ”

Shi Duo suddenly kowtowed a few heads: "Queen Mother Lafayette Mingjian." The emperor is now vigorously pursuing new policies, especially in Liangjiang and Northeast China. The Northeast is vast and sparsely populated, and it has just experienced the war, so there is little resistance to its implementation. However, when the emperor's new policy was implemented in Liangjiang, it was not implemented effectively because local officials violated the new policy. For this reason, Yan Fu, the governor of Liangjiang, suggested that the emperor directly send students from the university hall to serve as local county magistrates, so as to facilitate the promotion of the new policy. The slave thought that the emperor's move was called the implementation of a new policy, but the actual resumption of power. ”

"Collecting rights? Isn't the right of the emperor to reign over the world enough? If you want to take power, you should also start from the imperial court, and what is the matter with this appointment place. ”

"The emperor is bent on implementing the new policy, not to mention whether the new policy is good or bad, and the ministers in the court alone are constantly opposed. However, in order to implement the new policy, the emperor dismissed the ministers who opposed them from the court and the central government and returned to their hometowns or sent them to other places. If the emperor takes out all the old courtiers in the court, at most a year, the queen mother will not see a few familiar faces like slaves in the court. ”

"It doesn't matter if it's familiar or unfamiliar. As the saying goes, once a son of heaven is a courtier. He is the emperor, who he wants to dismiss and who he will use, and who can stop him. If the new policy is beneficial to the country, why not. ”

"If you really want to talk about this new policy, it is not without merit, the most obvious is that this year's imperial court tax is 20% higher than in previous years, and it has been 10,000 taels. It's just that the minions all think that the emperor is young and vigorous, and he is too eager to act, and how can a big country like the Qing Dynasty be revitalized overnight. The disadvantages of the New Deal are that the fault lies in the haste of the new policy. Where prosperity is a benefit, there will be a disadvantage, the emperor disregards the law of his ancestors, blindly imitates the foreigners, and now the government and the opposition have long been a harsh voice. If the dynasty is corrupted and the people's hearts are in turmoil, the queen mother, the country's chaos is just around the corner. "Fight, whether it's for the court or for yourself, this time you can only fight once. After speaking, Shi Duo knelt on the ground and kowtowed, and a few old tears were squeezed out of his eyes.

"Well, that sounds like some truth to what you're saying. The mourning family also often told the emperor that governing a big country is like cooking a small fresh. Such a big country can come out in a hurry. Get up. Cixi nodded and looked at Shi Duo and said unhurriedly: "I understand what you mean, I am worried that the emperor will make the situation out of control in a hurry, and you are also an old man seeking the country." You are the prince, the old minister of the court, and the foreman of the military aircraft. You must have a mind and a sense of responsibility, and when you are free, you will also talk to the emperor about these things to the mourning family, and the emperor understands the truth. ”

"Queen Mother, you don't know. The emperor did not listen to the advice of the minions and others, and only knew how to forcibly promote the new policy. Now the court is like a situation, and the emperor no longer discusses the affairs of the imperial court at the military aircraft, but is decided by the emperor's secretariat. Sedor sighed.

Cixi's words were about the left and right, but Shi Duo had already heard the deep meaning. And Shi Duo didn't want to talk about any new policies at this time, but just used the new policies as an introduction. At that moment, Shi Duo explained in detail the various new policies implemented by the emperor, regardless of the pros and cons. It not only mentions the chimneys everywhere in Liangjiang, Northeast China, and Zhili, and the disputes between the government and the opposition, but also mentions the Boxer organization that is emerging in Shandong. At the end, Shi Duo focused on mentioning the Fengtai First Division, which would be transferred from the capital to participate in the drill in ten days.

"This is nearly a year old, how can the emperor transfer his first division of his henchmen out of the capital to participate in what drills? Then where is the Fengtai camp so empty, what about the defense of the capital? Cixi was inspired and asked with a slight smile on her face, "Shiduo, is this also related to the current situation?" ”

Seeing the smile on the Queen Mother's face, Shi Duo knew that this time he would not run in vain: "The Fengtai camp will naturally not be empty. Some time ago, it was said that when the banner people were defeated by the Han people in the group battle in the Beijing University Hall, the emperor was furious and ordered the banner soldiers to reorganize in the Fengtai camp. The first division went south to Nanjing to practice with the reading division for three months, and these three months were just used for the first flag player. Shi Duo continued complacently: "The bannermen of this ** performance are all officers from the Manchu battalion in the original Fengtai First Division, and the Manchu battalion did not participate in the battle of Liaohe with the emperor last year. Now that the Eight Banners in Beijing have been assembled, they are waiting to enter the camp. After the first afternoon, the queen mother had to return to the emperor, and the slaves endured humiliation and painstaking efforts, and finally waited for such a great opportunity. The Queen Mother, after five days, waited for the first division to be transferred out of the capital, and there was no emperor's army around the capital. If you miss it this time, I am afraid that there will be no more opportunities, and the slaves will ask the queen mother to train the government on behalf of the old ministers in the court. With that, Shi Duo knelt down again, and took out the minister's fold in his arms and raised it to the Queen Mother.

When she heard the ministers of Shiduo admonishing her and taking out the excerpt of the exhortation, Cixi stood up violently, and her face changed three times in an instant. After a long time, Cixi, who was originally staring at Shiduo, suddenly shook her head, sighed and slowly sat down again: "Prince Li, do you know what you said? The transfer of garrisons is an ordinary thing, so why should it be involved in the court situation. As far as the mourning family knows, this first division was originally going to be transferred to the northeast, why was it transferred to Jiangnan? ”

"That's because there is only one reading division in Jiangnan and there are many emperors in the northeast, so the first division was transferred to Jiangnan for training. The slave is also in charge of the military department, and he is also the minister of the military aircraft foreman. Although he did not have military power in his hands, the changes in the city's defense could not be clearer. At this time, Shi Duo couldn't think too much, and he had been in the Summer Palace for a long time. He didn't know when the Empress Dowager Cihui would come back, so he couldn't care about it much: "The Empress Dowager, since the emperor came into power, he has blindly imitated foreigners, and some new policies have already touched the fundamentals, and the ministers of the DPRK and China dare not speak out." The whole country has long been complaining about the new policy, and it has reached the point where it is on the verge of breaking out. The Shandong Yihequan proposed to help the Qing and extinguish the foreign is the proof. At present, the defense of the capital is empty, and there are the expectations of the courtiers inside, and the Jiumen Guard, Fengtai Battalion and Xishan Ruijian Battalion of Ronglu outside. As long as the disadvantages of Kuang Fu Emperor's new policy are used, the emperor will be advised to return to the queen mother. At that time, the overall situation of the world will be in the hands of the Queen Mother, and the emperor will not be able to display his great ability. I also asked the Queen Mother to think of the Wannian Society of the Great Qing Dynasty, and to train the government to correct the program. With that, he knocked his head a few times again.

Cixi still flipped through the folds unhurriedly, and the folds were as Shi Duo said, and the ministers she had single-handedly selected were named and played, and asked the Empress Dowager to train the government. Cixi sighed faintly: "What do you say about righteousness and fist to help clear and destroy foreigners, what can the people understand, but they are not willing to be bullied by foreigners." The general trend of the world is not the word profit. Just because the emperor's new policy touched the interests of hundreds of officials, the change of the imperial examination cut off the road to officialdom for scholars. You guys, saying that you want to let the mourning family discipline the government is actually trying to abolish the emperor through the hands of the mourning family. You're trying to mourn your family. ”

Shi Duo was shocked in his heart, and the Queen Mother said what they thought in one sentence. The soldiers admonished the emperor to return to the queen mother, which is easy to say. But everyone knows the danger here, one carelessness is a catastrophe, and how many heads and blood must be in it. Although the Queen Mother said that the ministers were forcing her, the tone was soft, and Shi Duo understood that the Queen Mother was moved. Shi Duo cried and admonished: "Please let the Queen Mother know clearly, the ministers will never have the heart to abolish the emperor." The whole country is centrifuged by the government and the opposition, and if the Queen Mother does not come forward, the Qing Dynasty may really fall into chaos and strife. Please think of the inheritance of the ancestors. ”

"If you really don't have the intention to abolish the emperor, you can rest assured, the emperor can't be abolished at this time. Not to mention who the emperor is looking for to be the emperor, once the emperor is abolished, he will give those emperor's henchmen and generals the excuse to raise troops. With those soldiers in your hands, how can they be the opponents of these tiger and wolf armies? Only when the emperor is in the middle of the court, these emperor's generals can listen to the will of the court. The key to the situation lies in a stable word, and we must think of the overall situation. You go back and tell them that it's better to discipline the government. (To be continued.) )