In June in Yanjing, the day is already very hot. It was a cloudless day, the sun was high, but there was not a single wind.

Guangxu was dressed in the emperor's court clothes and waited in Cining Palace from early in the morning. And Cixi has been changing her clothes for almost an hour. It seems that there is a historical origin to the fact that women are particularly slow to change clothes.

Finally, Cixi finally came out. Guangxu and others were already in tears.

Cixi wore a tin on her head, a wide-sleeved and large-sleeved Tuanshou pattern robe, a ruyiyun collar on her coat, a placket with a pinned hem and shoulders, a rosary in front of her, and a gold finger guard. The left and right slits are opened to the armpits, the top of the slit is decorated with cloud heads, and the pattern of the robe is also rich and gorgeous, and the trim is more exquisite. It is not an exaggeration to describe Cixi with grace and luxury. Judging from today's appearance, Cixi must have been extremely beautiful when she was young. However, Cixi's life is not good, she will always encounter war in the year of her whole life, Guangxu vaguely remembers a movie he watched in his previous life that said that Cixi will be Kefu, Kezi, and Keguo, Kemin.

"Graceful and luxurious, demeanor and demeanor are written for you, my father." Don't just say that women are beautiful, that's too vulgar.

"Okay, I know that the emperor's mouth can make people happy." Ci Ning heard Guangxu's comment, and her face was like a flower. Which woman doesn't like others to say that she is beautiful: "Emperor, today is the son of the Eight Banners." Are you ready? ”

"Back to my father, the minister has come to report. A total of more than 5,000 people from all the Eight Banners in Beijing have gathered in the eastern part of the city, waiting for the Queen Mother Lafayette to go to review. ”

"Then let's go."

Li Lianying said, "Let's go-", Guangxu, Cixi and the honor guard, a total of more than 200 people, drove to the east of the city.

At this time, the eastern campus of the city was crowded. The already small school field is even smaller because of the arrangement of the viewing platform of the emperor and the queen mother. The sun hung high in the sky, ruthlessly exuding its due heat, and the children of the Eight Banners who had already received the order and gathered had already been dizzy by the sun.

It turns out that the children of the Eight Banners will have two "trainings" every year, but everyone knows that it is just a formality. Today is different, but the emperor and the queen mother are here. All of them were dressed in formal attire and stood decently. You must know that this costume full of eight flags is very heavy, and it is not very airy. This time I stood for an hour, and even the iron pieces on my clothes, chain mail, and I was scorching hot. Everyone lost their spirits, some sat on the ground, and some even ran to the shade of a distant tree.

"Xue Lao Liu, when will the emperor and queen mother come, I've been waiting for an hour." One of the people in the crowd sitting on the ground asked.

"How can I know that if I don't come to the sun, I'm going to die of the sun. When did you suffer this sin? ”

"That's it, Xue Lao Liu, why don't you go back first?"

"Back? You send me money, and the master will return immediately. I heard that this new army has three taels of silver a month, and do you know who cooks for this three meals? I don't know if I look at it, I tell you. Didn't the emperor take a group of cooks from the imperial dining room a few months ago, and these people all came to the military academy to cook. ”

"No, are you really one of those imperial chefs?"

"That's it, but if the emperor and the queen mother don't come again, the master really can't stand it."

"Wait."

I don't know how long I waited, but I finally arrived.

"Dear Daddy." When everyone was seated, Guangxu stood up and said to Cixi: "I will review it today, and I will ask my father to say a few words to boost morale." ”

"It's better for the emperor to say, what will my wife say. Besides, you are always the emperor, and you are also a pro-government. You can't always let the mourners come forward. In the future, you are in charge of this new army. ”

"Yes." After Guangxu finished speaking, he turned around and walked to the front of the stage, he understood that after the diplomatic turmoil a few days ago, he and Cixi were on the right side. He said that he was in charge of the new army, but that was just talking.

"It has been more than 200 years since Taizu founded the country, and the Eight Banners Iron Cavalry of the past has long been a thing of the past. Today's Qing Dynasty is also an old dragon clock. The Old Summer Palace, the Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens, was also destroyed in the war. Therefore, the new army was trained in foreign affairs, from the Hunan army to the Huai army, from the South Sea to the North Ocean. But there is no figure of the children of the Eight Banners. In the past, it was said that the foundation of the Qing Dynasty was the foundation. Wang'er and others can be majestic from the Eight Banners when they were now Taizu. "There is no invitation to oil and salt, and there is no passion. Originally, Guangxu did not report hope for the children of the Eight Banners, and after more than 200 years of arrogant and leisurely life, he had long forgotten the hardships of the ancestors in fighting the world. Guangxu turned to Shi Duo and said, "Prince Li, let's start." ”

Shi Duo was also very helpless, he knew that if he was assessed according to what the emperor said, it would be good for more than 5,000 people below to pass it. But what the emperor said is also reasonable. It takes arm strength to shoot a bow and arrow, how can you fight immediately This waist and abdomen are weak, and if you don't have leg strength to clamp the horse, this horse can't get on. Cixi said even more clearly: The world of the Qing Dynasty is all under the protection of the Han people, and the new army will do it according to the emperor's wishes.

After two hours, especially when the last will test began, it was already noon, and by two o'clock in the afternoon, only 103 people could still stand on the field. Even the spiritual will of these people has reached its limit. But Duan Qirui, Wang Shizhen, and Feng Guozhang are still in good spirits.

"Prince Li, let them stop."

With the completion of the test, the 103 people who were originally on the field all sat down on the ground, and Duan Qirui, Wang Shizhen, Feng Guozhang and the imperial doctors who were waiting on the side stepped forward to check on everyone. Only four lonely figures were still standing on the field. At this time, Guangxu stood up behind him, only to hear Li Lianying's voice: "Lafayette, you slow down." ”

Guangxu pointed to the audience: "Prince Li, report the names of these four people to me in a while." Although these Eight Banners are no longer useful, there are still some individuals who have some positive skills, and these four people want to be of great use. ”

Guangxu turned around and saw Cixi looking at the audience with a gloomy face, with some anger and unwillingness in her eyes. Guangxu could only accompany him carefully: "Dear father, go back to the palace for dinner." ”

Cixi returned to Cining Palace, and Guangxu got a message and went back to the imperial study first. The one who delivered the news to him was the guard who came to report the news during the last inspection of Cixi.

"Is the news true?"

"Back to the emperor, you can be sure. Three days ago, the slave got the news that Li Hongzhang sent a secret fold to the Queen Mother. But the Queen Mother kept this excerpt by her side and did not show it to others, and the slaves couldn't know the specific content for a few days. Today, reliable news came from Tianjin, and this excerpt is related to the bank. The specific content is not known to the minions. ”

Bank? Guangxu asked him to prepare for the bank's related matters, and especially told him to keep it secret. No one else or even his son could know about it. Guangxu didn't want to repeat the mistakes of history. I didn't expect him to go to the Tao to give the Queen Mother. Li Hongzhang has the ability to do practical things, but his selfishness is too heavy. What does he mean by doing this?

"Got it, you go down first. By the way, what's your name? ”

"The minion is cold."

When Guangxu heard it, the name was good. I haven't smiled all day long, it's cold enough.

Cixi didn't say a word when she ate, and Guangxu could only accompany her to eat quietly. Suddenly, Cixi asked: "Emperor, can these Eight Banners still be used?" ”

Guangxu didn't understand what it meant: "You have to use it, why did my father ask like this." ”

"The mourning family also thought that my Qing Dynasty would also build a soldier by our own people, but now it seems that it will not work."

What does Cixi mean, Guangxu was shocked, could it be that he wanted to trap my words? This time, Guangxu misunderstood, and Cixi actually wanted to train a strong army. Just as the emperor said about the Old Summer Palace, the Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens was also destroyed in the war. This is the pain in Cixi's heart. It's just that the performance of the Eight Flags children today really disappointed her.

"There is no need to worry about my father, there is a cloud in the past: a thousand troops are easy to get, and a general is hard to find. As long as we can train these more than 100 people well, we can build on them. It still has to be used. It's just that Erchen doesn't understand what Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Martial Arts Academy is doing, and Erchen wants to take a look. ”

"Just let Li Hongzhang write an excerpt, the emperor is the lord of a country, and he can't leave Beijing easily."

Guangxu retreated from everyone and others, including Li Lianying, and called out. Wait for the last person to leave to close the door of the temple. Guangxu spoke in a small voice.

"Actually, Erchen wants to bring the Beiyang Martial Arts Academy." Guangxu looked at Cixi and said something that made Cixi afraid: "Since the rebellion of Yang Hong, all the governors in the world have supported their own troops, and gold and fire consumption are their financial sources. And the soldiers of the imperial court, whether it is the Eight Banners or the Green Camp, have long been eroded, and the current imperial court only has the name of righteousness, and the will of the imperial court is not only in Gyeonggi, where else can it really listen to the orders of the imperial court. Seven of the eight governors in the world are no longer Manchurian. Dear father, now these Xianfeng ministers are still loyal, and the imperial court also has Beiyang Town. But what about after these old ministers? ”

Guangxu's words are not groundless. In later generations, after the First Sino-Japanese War, the imperial court could not issue Gyeonggi. By the time the Eight-Nation Coalition Army attacked Yanjing, the provinces in Jiangnan even made a "Jiangnan Mutual Insurance Regulations" and directly disobeyed the imperial court. And this is what Cixi is most worried about. Cixi is engaged in balancing arts, but you don't have the strength yourself, who can listen to you if you really have something.

Cixi put down the dishes and chopsticks and did not speak for a long time.

"If the imperial court can't train an elite division, I'm afraid the world will ...... I'm afraid ......" Guangxu said and stopped.

"Go on, the mourning family wants to hear what the emperor thinks." Cixi said viciously.

Guangxu didn't look up: "I'm afraid this world has nothing to do with Aixin Jueluo." ”

Outside Cining Palace, Li Lianying was not happy in her heart. He originally knew the key points of the examination, thinking that the queen mother would go today, and he specially told to find some people who could ride and shoot, but he didn't expect the emperor to come like this. It took him half a day to think in vain. And now the Queen Mother didn't say a word when she came back from the church, with a gloomy face. He specifically instructed the people below to be careful. The emperor asked everyone to come out, and he didn't know what was being talked about inside, but he heard a "pop", and Cixi shouted: "Do you want to make your own rebellion?" ”

Rebellion, how can you say that you have rebelled? Li Lianying hurriedly went forward, but she didn't think that she had just opened the door of the palace, only to see Cixi standing and pointing at him and shouting, "Go out." ”

Guangxu didn't speak, just sat quietly. How could Cixi not understand the truth of what Guangxu said, but after all, how to do it? There are really not many people who are truly talented and learned. After standing for a while, Cixi had no choice but to sit down and asked calmly, "What is the emperor's charter?" ”

"Train the new army to town the locality, and run a new school to win the hearts of the people. It seems that Erchen can only slowly figure it out. For the way of government, the sons are not as good as their fathers, and they also ask their fathers to give advice. ”

Cixi took a fold from the inner room and handed it to Guangxu: "This is a secret fold from Li Hongzhang to the mourning family, the emperor can take a look." ”

;