Guangxu himself is not a murderous person, and the minister thinks so too. But there hasn't been a year in the years that hasn't killed anyone.

Your misappropriation of the treasury to run your own factory seems to solve the problem of more people's employment, but embezzling the treasury is a capital offense. Now give you time to make up for the embezzled treasury, it should be said that the emperor's grace is immense, but you think that if you can't find out, you will be the way to death. If these people are killed, they will be killed, and there is no way to find death by themselves. But how guilty his family is, they have to be implicated in this, so that the border of the distribution of the delicate wife and weak daughter is the border of the country.

"The old minister plays my emperor Shengming." At the morning meeting, Li Hongzhang came out of the class and said: "The prefect of Chongzhou embezzled the treasury silver for his own personal gain, and he was punished for violating the laws of the Qing Dynasty. However, his parents, wives and children were to be sent to the frontier by the decree of my emperor, and Weichen thought it was inappropriate. According to the investigation, the prefect of Chongzhou embezzled the treasury silver, and his family members dissuaded him, but the prefect of Chongzhou insisted on going his own way and was finally punished. Wechen thought that punishing his first offender and confiscating his illegal gains was the dignity of the laws of the Qing Dynasty, but asked my emperor to remember his past exploits in the prefect of Chongzhou, and leave a hut to accommodate his family to live, so as to show my emperor's heart. Please enlighten my emperor. ”

No one likes Zhu Lian, from Prime Minister Li Hongzhang to the youngest Congjiupin Xiaoshi, no one likes it. In addition to honoring the ancestors, he also thinks that he can use his official position to make his family live a better life and save more for future generations. This is all human nature, and the most that can be done by killing the main culprit is to confiscate the illegal gains. Once the frontier is distributed, will this family still have a way to live? No one can do anything wrong if he is not a saint or sage, not to mention that officialdom is like a big mud pit, how can anyone who enters it really have an innocence. Otherwise, there would not be such a thing as "three years of Qing Governor's Mansion, 100,000 snowflakes of silver". Besides, if they make meritorious contributions, they don't just think that one day they can save their lives through their merits, and at the very least, they can save the lives of their families. Otherwise, who would have to spend this effort. But the emperor did this again and again, and the ministers were not happy. No one wants to see a rule in the Qing Dynasty: one person who violates the law will be punished by the whole family. Such provisions.

"The minister seconded the proposal." Yan Fu, who has been promoted to vice premier, also stood up.

"The minister seconded the proposal." "The minister seconded the proposal." …… For a time, the court was full of voices seconding the proposal.

Many people believe that the emperor is the son of heaven who holds the power of the world. Do whatever you want. In fact, the high imperial power does not mean that you can do as you like, and the biggest restriction on imperial power is the power of the subject. If the imperial power is too much, no one can advise the emperor, and the emperor is easy to do as he pleases. Where can the emperor, who is blocked by the tall palace walls, know the needs of the common people, so it is easy to become a tyrant if he thinks of himself. No matter how wise the emperor was, in his old age, all of them had too much imperial power, and an empire was weakened from then on. And the power of the ministers is even more harmful, they set aside the imperial power, arbitrarily depose the emperor, and finally replace him. And so it goes. It's often chaos in the world. Therefore, the imperial power and the vassal power are always in a game with each other.

For a case of embezzlement of treasury silver by the prefect of Chongzhou, the minister stood on the opposite side of the emperor, which was a challenge to the imperial power of the ministers. Because the emperor's imperial power has seriously threatened the status of the ministers, the prefect of Chongzhou is dead, and he will not protect him. But if the family of the prefect of Chongzhou cannot be kept, the status of the subject will plummet. Therefore, no matter what grievances there were between the ministers, they all put down this time and pointed the finger at the emperor together.

In this situation, the emperor must not back down, and as long as he retreats a little, the emperor's authority and trust will be greatly reduced. But in the face of the collective coercion of the ministers, the imperial power also had to make certain concessions. How can we not compromise the authority of the emperor, but also make the courtiers satisfied. This is the test of the political wisdom of those in power.

"What is the treasury? It's the people's fat and the people's ointment. As the king of a kingdom of the Son of Heaven, I have not dared to embezzle the treasury, nor have I evaded taxes. As a courtier, he acted even more than the royal family, which was a provocation and blasphemy against the royal family. Guangxu slapped the table heavily and scolded angrily: "Who does he think he is?" What I didn't dare to do, he was happy to do. Does he think he is more powerful than me? As for his family, what kind of food is not the people's fat and people's ointment, I didn't kill them because of the emperor's grace, and I dare to stay in the local area? I have made up my mind. Needless to say. ”

This is not good, the emperor really did this, but everyone in the courtiers is in danger, and no one's butt is clean. Don't wait for Li Hongzhang to play again. The emperor retired from the court and ended the court meeting. Li Hongzhang looked at the angry courtiers around him and said, "The old man is a little inexplicable when he sees the emperor's anger today. Don't worry, the old man will ask the emperor again. ”

"From a small individual to an emperor and a court. The reason why we can gain a foothold in this world is nothing more than two words - credit. If people have no faith, they will not stand, and if the court has no faith, it will change the dynasty. The misappropriation of the treasury is to lead the head of the accomplice to travel 3,000 li, which is clearly stipulated in the law. The reason why I want to list the family members as accomplices is that I hope that this will serve as a warning to all officials. I dare not violate the law, how can they dare to be worse than me. I know that you all have concerns about listing your family as accomplices, for fear that one day you will also be in trouble. I know that if I had to investigate closely, my factory would be able to find out the problem, let alone you, and no one would do anything about it. "Since Li Hongzhang wants to ask for clarification, Guangxu convened a ministerial meeting to make it clear.

"Since ancient times, it has been said that the prince is guilty of the same crime as the common people, but this is always just a statement. But Europe is not bad, people are really doing the same crime as the common people when the Son of Heaven breaks the law. So let Wu Tingfang go to Europe and the United States to study the law, just to see how people do it, can we implement it in China? Of course, I also know that there are very few people in the imperial court. I want to feed more than 1,000 people in the palace, and the population of Li Xiang's family is more than 900, so what can so many people do with the court? Some people say that it is okay to have fewer people? Yes, of course, your own family can also get started. But officials and nobles want to be face-saving, and glory to the ancestors is to take out money. Since the court is not enough and often deducts fines, it is natural to think of something else. There is nothing wrong with this, people have to live. What should officials do if they don't produce and have a source of money? Then you can only loot. In the past, the officials of all dynasties looted their own people, and in the end, the officials forced the people to rebel and change the dynasty. My idea is to raise the salaries of officials, so that officials can live a decent life without looting the people and relying on their salaries alone. The reason why I want to be strict with the law is to make a posture to pave the way for the new laws formulated by the imperial court in the future. They all want to rule their family property for their own children and grandchildren, no problem, as long as they don't loot their own people, other people don't have to worry about them. Naturally, officials should be treated favorably by the imperial court. Otherwise, who will be an official? ”

There was no one talking in the whole room, everyone was thinking about things. After a long time, Li Hongzhang still asked: "What ......about the family members of the prefect of Chongzhou?"

"I heard that there are many ministers in the DPRK who are friendly with the prefect of Chongzhou, and I will send their families to Xinjiang, so you colleagues must not help but help. Doesn't the prefect of Chongzhou have a younger brother? Let him go to Xinjiang to farm or open a factory. There was too much loss on the way to send supplies from the Central Plains to the border army, and if he could get the items needed by the border army in Xinjiang, the army there could purchase them on the spot. The court saved money, and they profited from it, so wouldn't it be the best of both worlds? ”

Li Hongzhang smiled: "Weichen understands. Let's do it. Guangxu also smiled, got up and left.

"Li Xiang, what does the emperor mean by this? Please also ask Li Xiangci to teach. A bunch of officials got up and asked.

Li Hongzhang didn't speak, and asked Yan Fu, who was thinking on the side, to answer. Yan Fu thought for a while and then said affirmatively: "Your Majesty, this is preparing for large-scale immigration to the border. ”

When the ministers heard this, they suddenly realized. The purpose is just to send the family members of the prefect of Chongzhou to Xinjiang, which means that there is no sin when they arrive in Xinjiang. If you get the younger brother's family of the prefect of Chongzhou, this is dozens of people. It is profitable to build a few more factories, and there will always be merchants willing to go to the profitable places. Besides, the northward expansion plan was about to begin at the end of the year, and no one in the Qing court, which had been preparing for more than five years, thought that the Qing Dynasty would lose the war. The whole of Eastern Siberia is bigger than the Qing Dynasty. It's not okay to hit such a large piece down. So the ministers took their leave one after another to arrange affairs. Weng Tongyi is gone, Sun Jianai is gone, Prince Li Shiduo is gone, and Zhang Zhidong is also gone. But Li Hongzhang didn't leave, Yan Fu didn't leave, and Lin Qizhao, Tang Shaoyi, and Wang Shizhen didn't leave.

Li Hongzhang sighed: "In recent years, the imperial court has vigorously developed industry, and everyone has made a fortune. Now the emperor is still wary of the great cause of our family. Today's words are full of warnings—"

"Then Li Xiang, what should we do?"

"What else? The number of servants in the palace has been reduced again and again, but the number of servants in the palace has increased to nearly 1,000 as the prime minister, and will there be more than the royal servants in a while? Will it be more important to replace it in the future? Since the emperor said it. As a courtier, you must always show that it is the way to be a minister, and the old man will go back and dismiss some of the servants. The old man is already old, and his health has been getting worse and worse in recent years, and he will wait for the end of the northward expansion plan. The old man said goodbye and returned to his hometown. None of the children in the family are successful, so in the future, please look at the old man's face and add one or two more protections, and the old man is also grateful in the spirit of the sky. After speaking, he bowed a long way.

"Li Xiang is serious. All the Qing Dynasty can have today, and Li Xiangju has made great contributions. As long as the Jingfang brothers don't make mistakes, this rich life can still be expected. Yan Fu hurriedly helped Li Hongzhang up: "The student thought that the emperor had said it thoroughly today." The emperor intended to raise the rank of Yulu and supplement it with strict laws to completely rectify the officialdom. Okay, let's not talk about it for the time being, at least the emperor gave us a place to make a fortune that is not illegal, that is, a foreign race. Plundering the foreign tribes can weaken the strength of the foreign tribes, and it can also make the officials rich in name only. Isn't this where the wisdom of our emperor lies? ”

Yan Fu said that everyone laughed, a few of you have no property in China, but not necessarily abroad, at least Yan Fu's family has several rubber plantations of more than 10,000 acres in Nanyang.

"Not really." Lin Qizhao was still a little worried: "Before today's meeting, the students heard a piece of news. The prefect of Chongzhou was found to have money abroad, so it was found out that he could not make up for the loss of the treasury for a while, which was the fundamental reason why the emperor distributed his family. ”

Li Hongzhang's face suddenly changed, Huo stood up and asked, "Is this serious?" ”

"The news from Yang Du shouldn't be wrong. I heard that the emperor had ordered the CIA to secretly investigate the matter. ”

"If this matter is serious, it is the whole family of the prefect of Chongzhou. As an official of the imperial court, putting the money earned at home abroad is a blatant enemy, and this is treason. Li Hongzhang slapped the table heavily: "No matter who is in charge of the court in the future, this point must be held firm, if the officials of the Manchu Dynasty do this, then the Qing Dynasty is still the Qing Dynasty?" That's working for foreigners. The prime minister immediately issued an order to investigate the matter, and three months later, this matter will happen, and the old man will ask the emperor to punish his three clans to set an example. Li Hongzhang's words are not insignificant, and as prime minister, he has this right.

"Li Xiang asked to calm his anger, and the students thought it was inappropriate." Lin Qizhao, who is in charge of the national finance, immediately stepped forward to dissuade him: "Nowadays, more and more Chinese people are doing business abroad, and if they don't keep their cash in foreign banks, this business will not be easy to do." ”

"What about Daqing Bank? Isn't it already in the South Seas, then it's going to be opened all over the world. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately began to negotiate with other countries on the establishment of Daqing banks in other countries. In the future, the funds involved in the foreign trade of domestic merchants in the Qing Dynasty. All transactions must be made through Dacheong Bank. This is not a discussion, this is an order, they all take money abroad like the prefect of Chongzhou, does the Qing Dynasty still have money for development? Should the people's livelihood in the Qing Dynasty be improved? Immediately began to remove the property of officials abroad, and those who dared to transfer money abroad. Once discovered, it was charged with treason. The old man told him to be in a dilemma of life and death. ”

"But Li Xiang." Wang Shizhen asked cautiously: "There are some things that are inconvenient to go to Daqing Bank for the sake of secrecy." ”

"Then report to the court in advance. All funds abroad must be subject to the supervision of the imperial court. ”

"What if someone flees the country and applies for political asylum?"

"What does the imperial court do with so many scout agents? Anyway, if the money doesn't come back, then go and kill it cleanly, and if you have a life to make money, you have to have a life to spend it. ”

Everyone looked at each other, they really didn't expect Li's reaction to this matter to be so fierce, and the emperor would definitely agree. The first thing everyone does when they return home is to take stock of their possessions. Anyone who has property abroad shall immediately register it for possible inspection by the imperial court. Li Hongzhang is no exception, everything in the family is handled by chrysanthemum root, and this matter must be explained clearly. Li Hongzhang believes that the officials of the Qing Dynasty are bastards, even if the money is always copied into the treasury and eventually used for construction, it cannot be forgiven if it exists abroad. If they are not severely punished, then the officials will not be able to send the children away in the name of expatriate and stay abroad, and they can make money in the country, and run away as soon as the limelight is not right. Run away and reunite the family. can't run away, at least the children and grandchildren don't have to worry about food and clothing. In this way, isn't the wealth at home transferred abroad? The Qing Dynasty went to great lengths to enrich the country and strengthen the army, just to let officials transfer their property abroad? What is this not a capital enemy? Seniority has always been a felony for the whole family and even the whole family, and this is not negotiable.

What they didn't know was that when Li Hongzhang slapped the table heavily, Guangxu in the study of Chunhui Garden was so frightened that he almost threw away the phone in his hand. Just talk well, shoot any table. Guangxu put down the listening phone and thought, when will Tesla be able to get the wireless monitor out?

Spring is coming to summer, and it's graduation season again.

Since the Lianyungang incident caused by the students of the first Beijing Normal University, a school system called social practice has been added to the university hall. Students are required to participate in various tasks during their studies at the school. For example, those who study agriculture have to go to the university hall to farm their own land, those who study breeding have to go to the pigsty to raise pigs and herd cattle in the cattle pen, those who have studied industry have to go to the factory to work in machine tools, and those who have studied medicine have to go to collect medicine and become a nurse. The most tiring thing thing about studying liberal arts is not only to do a good job in the propaganda newspaper column in the school, but also to participate in the work of the newspaper office, and even sell newspapers on the street in person. No way. As long as you can't pass the social practice subject, you won't get a graduation certificate even if you have full marks in the major. Four years of study is not over. Although there is no need to attend classes again in the fifth year, there are many affairs assigned by the imperial court that need to be handled by them, and if they do not get a qualified assessment this year, they will not have a graduation certificate. Of course, if you can get an excellent one, you will have the opportunity to directly enter the court as an official, and after three or five years, you will have the opportunity to go home and become a county magistrate. This is a great glory.

This year, all the civil engineering students in the University Hall were detained by the emperor. When the child is older and reaches the age of playing with water, it is natural to build a swimming pool. Guangxu thought, anyway, to build a swimming pool in Yingtai, simply turn the water of the Central and North Seas into living water. It's only been a few years since the water was changed, and it was green.

A waterway is not a big deal, but this waterway is a resting place that passes through the palace, the State Council, and the military generals. How do I divert water? How is it discharged? How to prevent flooding? How to conserve water in the dry season is a big project. So the students began to draw with the map.

When the imperial concubine Bai Fumiko saw that the dynasty was going to carry out such a big project, did she also repair the pool in the imperial garden in the Forbidden City by the way? Although the Forbidden City has not been lived in for many years, it is also a royal residence, and it can always be too dilapidated. The emperor doesn't care about these things, the queen is busy assigning students and is not available, and the imperial concubine needs to arrange for the students to go in and out to inspect the students and discuss the safety of water diversion with them, so she doesn't have time to care about this trivial matter. Although the harem is headed by the queen, everyone is busy with their own things, in fact, the real person in charge of this harem is her Bai Fumiko, since this is the case, then decide for yourself - renovate the Forbidden City house and the imperial garden. But as soon as it was renovated, there was a big problem.

Guangxu and several chief officers of the household department have stayed in the staff headquarters for three days at the moment and have not gone out, and there are still less than four months before the time to launch the northward expansion plan. The gathering of all the generals of the navy, army, and air force at the General Staff Headquarters was the last time to confirm the plan. The first wave of attacking forces has been deployed, and they will arrive at the attack position when the first heavy snow falls this winter, and follow-up troops and supplies are being transferred. In order not to attract the attention of the Russians, most of the supplies and troops remained far from the front line.

"I don't understand military affairs, so you can discuss how to fight the war." Guangxu pointed to the map and said: "But I know that fighting a war is not only about soldiers, but also about a country's logistics support capabilities. In order to prevent accidents, I have secretly ordered the provinces south of the Yangtze River to transfer materials to cities along the railway. As soon as the frontline is insufficient, I guarantee that the field warehouse will be filled within five days. All that's left is how you get the land back. ”

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, the ministers will not fail in their mission."

Just when everyone was promising to return victorious, the guards at the outer gate came to report, and Kou Liancai urgently asked to see him with three tokens from the concubine at the same time. The General Staff Headquarters is the command center of the Qing Dynasty's operations, and generally as long as Guangxu enters the General Staff Headquarters, the affairs of the Inner Palace will never be reported at this time. Now that Kou Liancai is holding three tokens of the concubine at the same time, it means that there must be an inner palace affair that the three concubines dare not call the shots.

"Your Majesty, you better hurry up and go to the Imperial Garden, something is wrong." After speaking, Kou Liancai stepped forward and whispered in Guangxu's ear. As if he was afraid of being heard, the voice was so small that even Guangxu couldn't hear it clearly.

"Rare. Didn't you dig up a human skeleton in the pool of the Imperial Garden. How big is it to be so frightened, the royal face makes you lose everything. Guangxu thinks that this is not a matter, let alone the pool in the imperial garden, and even the well in the palace does not often drown people.

"The emperor's servant, please take a look-" Kou Liancai hugged the emperor's feet who had just turned around, and kept kowtowing.

Kou Liancai kept kowtowing, and the hard cement floor made the blood on Kou Liancai's forehead flow to his face without stopping, and the frightened expression on his face told Guangxu what happened to him that even he didn't dare to ask. Guangxu frowned and said, "Okay, I'll just go with you." After saying that, he told the guards to tell the generals, and he would come as soon as he went.

Outside the Imperial Garden, the guards unsheathed their swords and spears were raised, tightly sealing off the entire Imperial Garden. In the Imperial Garden, the students and eunuchs who had just drained the water in the pool were tied to the ground with their mouths gagged, and the spears were held behind the heads of these people, threatening to kill these people at any time. Next to the pool, the three concubines unexpectedly did not greet the arriving emperor, but looked at the pool and were fascinated.

There was a skeleton lying in the pool, and Guangxu trembled when he looked at it. On the Grange platform, Guangxu has killed people with his own hands, and he has also seen corpses everywhere, and it is not the bones that scared Guangxu to tremble, but the tattered clothes on the bones, and the jade pendant hanging on the belt.

The dragon robe on the skeleton was already tattered, but it was undoubtedly a dragon robe at a glance. Especially the jade pendant engraved with the five-clawed dragon pattern is exactly the same as the jade pendant that Guangxu is wearing now, and no one dares to hang such a jade pendant except the emperor. If such a skeleton is found among the people, it can be said that someone intends to rebel and replace it, but where is this? This is Ouchi! Then the identity of this skeleton will be revealed.

Guangxu trembled and pointed to the bones, and asked in horror: "If he is the real Guangxu, then who am I?" (To be continued.) )