PS: If you want to hear more of your voices and receive more of your suggestions, search for the WeChat public account "qdread" now and pay attention to give more support to "Rising New Empire Era"!

Hearing the last words of the Empress Dowager Renxi, Prince Jing understood in her heart that she was giving herself the truth.

With her assurance, Prince Jing was sure in his heart that he had already made up his mind to let go of his hands and feet.

After talking for a while, the Empress Dowager Renxi signaled the end of the visit, Prince Jing retired, and the Empress Dowager Renxi ordered the second chief Li Jintai to send Prince Jing out of the park, and Li Jintai took the order and led Prince Jing to the small railway station in the park.

After sending Prince Jing on the train, Li Jintai's heart also breathed a sigh of relief.

He heard the conversation between Prince Jing and Empress Dowager Renxi just now.

He has also been worried about Lin Yiqing's situation these days, and the answer between Prince Jing and Empress Dowager Renxi just now completely dispelled the doubts in his heart and made his mood extremely happy and comfortable.

After sending off Prince Jing, Li Jintai remembered that the Empress Dowager Renxi had instructed him to go to Chuxiu Palace to check on the newly elected palace girls, pay attention to which ones were going to enter the garden, and then report back, so he went to the Forbidden City by the way.

The palace maids selected into the garden are responsible for the palace maids in charge of Chuxiu Palace, Li Jintai, as the head of the eunuchs, is only in charge of the eunuchs, and it is normal that the palace maids can't control the heads of the palace maids, but although the palace maids and eunuchs are two systems, they are all people who are waiting for the emperor and the queen mother, and they need to cooperate with each other, and many things are discussed by both sides, and the Empress Dowager Renxi naturally knows these unwritten rules of her subordinates, so she asked Li Jintai to do this. The purpose is, of course, to make her subordinates serve her better.

Li Jintai arrived at Chuxiu Palace. The palace maid in charge came to greet her with a smile. She knew Li Jintai's intention, and did not specifically call the new little palace maids to let Li Jintai watch, but directly led Li Jintai to the residence of the little palace maids and asked him to watch in the dark.

There is a traditional rule in the Daqian court, that is, the eunuchs are all from the Central Plains, and the palace maids with heads and faces must be Bo people, and they must be Bo people from the upper three Qinglong, White Tiger, and Vermilion Bird Departments. There is no palace maid from the Central Plains. All the palace maids who serve the queen mother, queen, concubine, and Gege, the Central Plains people are not on the side. The palace maids of Chuxiu Palace are even more upright and upright, and the rules are also very strict. After meeting the queen mother's bedroom, it is time to meet the "aunt" (the common name of the palace maid). There is a saying among the palace maids: "The old queen mother is easy to serve, but the aunt is not easy to serve." ”

There is a system in the Qiangong Palace, that is, palace maids have been in office for four or five years, and when they are old, when they are seventeen or eighteen years old, they must be sent away so that they can go out and marry. This is the grace left by our ancestors. After the new palace maids entered the palace, the palace maids of the previous generation were collectively referred to as "aunts". In addition, there are also "aunts" who are in charge of them, that is, the palace maids, and the new palace maids have to learn the rules from her. The power of the palace maid in charge is very great, she can be beaten and punished, and she can be considered to be unproductive and unable to recuperate, so she is sent to be a miscellaneous servant. But when they are generally in charge, they are all people who are about to be on an errand, and they are anxious to find a substitute, so that they can go home and marry, so that they will also do their best to teach the new palace maids, and they will also say a few good words for them, and hold them to the stage so that they can replace themselves. The palace maids in charge are very angry, and they take out their anger at the palace maids at every turn, and often beat and punish them first without explaining the reason. It's easy to endure the beating, but after a while, the pain has passed, and I am afraid of punishment, and I kneel in the corner, not necessarily when I will kneel. All the affairs of the palace maids are served by the palace maids, washing their faces, combing their hair, washing their feet, washing their bodies, and using more than a dozen buckets of hot water a day. Not to mention the daily needlework, the palace ladies in charge are all beautiful and good-looking people, robbing the sun everywhere, and they are very particular about clothes, shoes and socks, dismantling, changing and doing every day. The palace maids get up as soon as the day dawns and sleep late at night, and life is actually very hard.

"These new children are very smart, and their skills have been adjusted, how does Manager Li look at them?" The palace maid in charge pointed to the little palace maids who were doing needlework, and asked Li Jintai with a smile.

Li Jintai carefully looked at these little palace maids, who were mostly about twelve or thirteen years old, and at this time, a little palace maid seemed to notice that someone was watching them, and when she raised her head, her eyes just met Li Jintai.

Normally, if there is a new little palace maid who encounters such a situation, she will look very flustered and hurriedly turn her head, but the little palace maid in front of her just quietly glanced at Li Jintai, and then lowered her head and was busy with her female popularity.

Somehow, her gentle glance made Li Jintai's heart move.

There is a good tradition in the Qiangong that those who are palace maids should be simple, and they are not allowed to be frivolous in their words and actions. It is required to have a palace style, like a gem and jade, from the inside to the outside to reveal the moisturization, not like a glass ball, the surface is smooth and dazzling. Therefore, the palace maids are not allowed to draw eyebrows and sideburns, nor do they wear red and green. Throughout the year, they are given clothes by the palace. From spring to February, the eunuch led the people outside the body and hall, in the room in the east porch, to measure the size of the clothes, from the head to the feet, including shoes and socks. It is prepared for summer wear. In the future, it will be the last season and the next season. Because of the young age, it must be measured once a quarter to grow fast. Each time the palace ladies are rewarded with four sets, consisting of a bottom, a shirt, an outerwear, and a vest, which is counted as one set. The clothing is spring silk and Ning silk, and there are also spun silk in summer. Except for the longevity month (the month of the queen mother's birthday), they can wear red, rub rouge, and wipe red lips, they almost wear two-color clothes a year, green in spring and summer, light green, dark green, and old green can be casual, but they can't be out of style; Autumn and winter are purple-brown, and the only thing that can compete is the cuffs, neckline, trouser hems, upper and embroidery, but it is also mainly elegant and light, not excessive. There are two kinds of hairstyles for the palace maids, the palace maids of the Central Plains are generally big braids with black oil, the roots of the braids are tied with a two-inch long red velvet rope, the braids are tied up with peach-colored seeds, leaving an inch-long braid tassel, combed evenly with a comb, fluffy, and wearing a red velvet flower with cut down on the sideburns, while the Boren palace maids have shoulder-length short hair and are tied up in the middle with a red velvet rope. They all wore white silk socks under their feet, and their green shoes were embroidered with a full pile of shallow flowers, revealing joy, looking neat and refreshing.

The little palace maid just now, with short shoulder-length hair, is delicate and lovely. At a glance, you can see that it is the Boren palace maid.

"How? I don't know which ones Mr. Li has hit? The palace maid seemed to see something. Smile slightly. "Could it be that Manager Li has taken a fancy to Xiangyun? It's really a coincidence, she is also from Hejian Mansion in Zhili, and she is a fellow villager with Mr. Li. ”

"Oh? Hehe, my aunt said and laughed, I just came to take a look, and in the end, the queen mother will decide. Li Jintai smiled and replied, pretending to be inadvertently glancing at the little palace maid named Xiangyun again.

At that moment, Li Jintai pointed out a few little palace maids. deliberately didn't include Xiangyun, but he knew that after the palace maid in charge came up to the garden to wait for the Empress Dowager Renxi's new palace maid, her name would definitely be there.

At this time, Li Jintai didn't know that his fate would be connected with this little palace maid named Xiangyun until the end of his life.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

Qianguo, Fuzhou, Ship Administration Yaxia.

In the study, the Minister of Shipping, Ding Yusheng, was writing hard. Prepare a recital.

Today is the day of the outfitting of the two armored cruisers "Chaoyong" and "Yangwu", but it is different from usual. Ding Yusheng did not go to the shipyard, but concentrated on preparing the draft.

And what is different from the past is that the content of the draft he proposed this time is no longer related to shipbuilding, but about the content of the navy's protection of overseas Chinese!

In the general impression of people at the time, Ding Yusheng, known as the "Ding Ghost Slave", was a politician with a reforming spirit in modern China and a doer of the Westernization Movement. What is not known to the public, however, is that in handling foreign affairs and in dealing with foreign affairs, he gained a new understanding of overseas Chinese compatriots, and put forward a series of proposals and measures for attaching importance to, showing concern for, and protecting overseas Chinese compatriots at an early stage, many of which were adopted by the Qianting court, and he was a pioneer in protecting overseas Chinese who made indispensable contributions.

Ding Yusheng's idea of protecting overseas Chinese first stemmed from his understanding of the rapid growth of the economic strength of overseas Chinese, which was conducive to "self-improvement and prosperity" in China and Turkey. In modern times, the development of the capitalist economy in the whole world has provided the conditions for the development of the industrious and shrewd overseas Chinese, and the estrangement between the Western colonizers and the indigenous people has given them a good opportunity for development. The first to realize the strength of overseas Chinese were some coastal local officials related to "foreign affairs." In July of the fifth year of Tongzhi, Jiang Yifeng, the governor of Guangdong, said, "In the inland provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, there are not many people who go to foreign countries to do business. There are about 100,000 people in Singapore, more than 200,000 in San Francisco, and tens of thousands in Penang and Galabad. "I asked the imperial court to send envoys to various places to contact the guards, so that the upper and lower levels could communicate with each other, and the internal and external qi would gather." Subsequently, Ding Yusheng, who "came from a poor background, came from a prefecture and county, knew the people well, and grew up in the hometown of overseas Chinese in Guangdong," pointed out that "there are about 30,000 people in Siam, 230,000 in Luzon, more than 20,000 in Galaba, hundreds of thousands in Singapore, and 890,000 in Penang." There are about two or three hundred thousand people in San Francisco, both old and new. It was suggested that the imperial court "choose envoys and send them to each country, or send one envoy to several countries, or one envoy to each country." He also said that the role of the envoy can "pass through the love of Middle-earth", so that those who go abroad in Middle-earth will love their hometown, so that "Middle-earth will have more help".

Although a small number of local governors expressed their opposition to the dispatch of envoys, due to the strong approval of the leaders of the Westernization faction, Zeng Bohan, Zuo Jigao, Li Shaoquan, and others, as well as the pressure and persuasion of the Western powers, Premier Yamen finally decided to send envoys to the foreign countries, but the question of the selection of personnel was quite difficult. At that time, traditional ideas still deeply influenced most Celestial officials. Most of them disdain diplomacy and even regard it as a daunting way to go abroad. In the thirteenth year of Tongzhi, Guo Yunxian was appointed as the minister of the Qianguo State to Britain, and his friends Li Henian and Feng Yuji strongly advised him not to go to the "barbarian state". Westernist officials feared that Middle-earth lacked personnel to serve as envoys. Ding Yusheng has a unique view on the issue of candidates, and he said in the "Coastal Defense Regulations" that foreign-related talents, "as long as they can handle the arduous situation of the times, there is no need to recount the qualifications or not." In the seventh year of Tongzhi, Ding Yusheng had a unique vision, and recommended Li Danya, who was born with a talented background, to Zeng Guofan, the governor of Liangjiang, and suggested that Li Danya be sent to go to foreign countries with Rong Hong. In the first year of Guangxu, Ding Yusheng recommended Li Danya to envoy to foreign countries. Li Danya successively went to France and Britain, and later became the acting minister to Germany, and also served as the minister of Austria, Italy, and the Netherlands, becoming a leader in the diplomatic circles at that time. In addition, Ding Yusheng's attention to the selection of talents is also set on overseas Chinese, "Now the Russian consul in Singapore, that is, the surname Hu (Hu Xuanze), a native of Panyu in China, and more than 100,000 Chinese in Singapore all obey the command of the surname Hu. It is suggested that the cadre government contact Hu Xuanze, an overseas Chinese consulate in Singapore, to serve as a consul and concretely propose a plan to borrow local overseas Chinese consulates as consuls stationed abroad, so as to resolve the contradiction that there is a lack of people who are "worthy of this choice." Later, Chen Shanqian (the first acting consul of Luzon Jr.). Teo Chin Hun (Vice Consul of Penang and Consul General of Singapore). Teo Yu Nam (Penang Vice Consul) and other overseas Chinese leaders of the local overseas Chinese community have become consuls.

Ding Yusheng is very concerned about the fate of overseas Chinese abroad. At that time, there were millions of overseas Chinese. The distribution area ranges from the South Seas to North and South America, Africa, Australia, and all over the world. At that time, "the expatriates living in foreign countries were often discouraged by their loneliness and were despised by people from other countries", and they eagerly hoped that the imperial court would send officials to protect them. The imperial court not only did not care about the overseas Chinese, but also took precautions. Ding Yusheng broke the stereotypes and directly expressed the idea of protecting overseas Chinese. In reply to Premier Yamen's question on the dispatch of envoys, he suggested that the Qianguo government "set up a city department to go to various countries to manage the Chinese" and protect and liaise with overseas Chinese. For the first time, it was explicitly proposed to set up an institution similar to a Western consulate overseas to manage the Chinese. Ding Yusheng's suggestion to establish a consulate was not immediately adopted by the imperial court. It was not until the third year of Guangxu that Ding Yusheng echoed Guo Yunxian, who was serving as minister in London, and finally urged the Qianting court to set up the first Chinese consulate in Singapore, so that the Chinese government acted in accordance with the international practice of the 19th century and set up consulates in places with a large number of overseas Chinese to protect the interests of overseas Chinese. Since then, Qianguo has set up 45 consulates in more than 20 countries.

In the first year of Guangxu, Ding Yusheng became the Minister of Shipping in Fuzhou, and proposed to send ironclad ships to patrol the ocean to comfort and protect overseas Chinese. It will come from the ability to create very few Thirty Numbers, to defend Haikou and travel to the five continents to protect the people of Middle-earth. "The first warship of the Chinese and Turkish Navy to tour the South Seas was a self-built warship from the Fujian Shipbuilding Bureau. It arrived in Singapore at the end of the following year and provoked an enthusiastic response from the Chinese community. In the past two years since Guangxu, the Beiyang Fleet of the Qian-Dynasty has visited Nanyang Chinatown five times, and wherever the motherland's warships went, they caused a sensation in the overseas Chinese society. ”

The first time that the imperial court conscientiously engaged in diplomatic protection of overseas Chinese began with the negotiation of the migrant workers in Cuba and Peru. Overseas Chinese in Cuba and Peru have constantly complained to the government of the dry country and described the tragic situation of abuse. In the first year of Guangxu, the Qianguo Prime Minister's National Affairs Yamen sent Chen Lanbin, Rong Hong and others to Cuba and Peru to investigate the abuse of Chinese and Turkish migrant workers, collect various testimonies and complaints, and then negotiate with the Peruvian and Spanish governments. On the issue of selecting candidates for negotiation representatives, Li Shaoquan played "Ding Yusheng...... is familiar with foreign affairs, and the operation is appropriate" and "is always respected by foreigners", and strongly recommends Ding Yusheng as the representative of the contract exchange. Ding Yusheng negotiated with the Peruvian government representative Ellemore on the seventh day of the seventh month of the first year of Guangxu, and Ding Yusheng sent a note to the Peruvian government, "properly eradicate the previous malpractices of mistreating Chinese and Turkish migrant workers, and handle them in accordance with the special articles and peace treaties." It is strictly ordered that the net worth and assets of the migrant workers in China and Turkey be protected to show their trustworthiness. Peru replied: "The Turks of China are the servants of their own country, and their country is determined to protect their strength, and they cannot be compromised in the slightest...... In order to eliminate all the drawbacks for the migrant workers in China and make them all live in peace. Subsequently, the Qianguo Government signed the "Clause on Migrant Workers in Cuba" with Cuba, the "Special Article of the Conference of Secretaries of Foreign Affairs" and the "Treaty of Trade with Foreign Secretaries" with the Peruvian Government.

In the course of dealing with the Cuban incident, Ding Yusheng gained a deeper understanding of the plight of overseas Chinese, and during his tenure as governor of Fujian, he said: "Fujian and Guangdong provinces have a large number of people and few places, and all the unemployed and poor people come to Peru, Cuba, and Luzon to sell foreign servants as domestic workers, not to mention tens of thousands of people every year. However, foreigners regard overseas Chinese as dogs and horses, and once they enter the cage, they will forever fall into a sea of misery. About 100 people went to sea, and about two-tenths of them died of hunger and cold on the way, and about five-tenths of them were tortured and destroyed by them after they arrived on the ground. Even the living also returned home for tens of thousands of miles, and there was no news, and their parents and wives could only see it in their dreams. Those who speak are sad, and those who hear them shed tears." His feelings of concern for overseas Chinese workers and businessmen living abroad were vividly displayed on paper, and in line with this, he actively adopted countermeasures; on the one hand, he severely cracked down on abduction and deception activities, and suggested that the Qianguo government prohibit outsiders from setting up recruitment bureaus (commonly known as "piglets") in various coastal areas, and demanded that local governors and gentry draw up regulations to eliminate malpractices in accordance with the treaty, and strictly prohibit luring Chinese and Turkish migrant workers to go abroad. On the other hand, he also realized that the contradiction between land and population was becoming increasingly acute, and that the migration of Chinese people to overseas had formed an irresistible historical trend, and that the Chinese people who had gone abroad could only take measures to protect them. In view of the fact that overseas Chinese workers were oppressed but had no way to complain, Ding Yusheng proposed the establishment of a "newsprint hall" at the treaty port,...... The people of Middle-earth who are bullied by foreigners can be written in newsprint, announced to all countries, so that they can be heard and returned to them. "Mobilize public opinion and disclose the suffering of overseas Chinese.

Ding Yusheng's idea of protecting overseas Chinese can be said to be an objective reflection of the formation and development of the overseas Chinese society, and it was from this time that the growth of the economic strength of the overseas Chinese society itself and the call for protection from the motherland gradually attracted the attention of the Qianguo government, both inside and outside the government, and the people of insight inside and outside the country. (The novel "Rising New Age of Empires" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lucky draw for everyone!) Open WeChat now, click on the "+" sign in the upper right corner to "add friends", search for the official account "qdread" and follow, hurry up! (To be continued......)

PS: Ask for collection! Ask for recommendations! Ask for a subscription! Click! Ask for a commuter pass!