When the cold snap in Siberia ceases to bite, when the snow begins to melt. The generals gathered in the Jinzhou General Staff Headquarters to review the problems that arose during the exercise and put forward their own suggestions for improvement. There was a cry in the barracks.

The standard three-horizontal and two-vertical backpack has been packed, and all personal belongings have been packed. The three-foot man sitting on the simple marching bed kept wiping his tears. He joined the army after the First Sino-Japanese War, not for the emperor's idea of building the army and defending the country, not for galloping across the battlefield to show his true qualities, and still less for the sake of being a colonel, captain, and general in the future.

Once the birthplace of the Han people, the Guanzhong Plain that fed the prosperous Han and Tang dynasties. Thousands of years of farming have already made the land barren, and no matter how hard your hands can cultivate the barren land, you can make a family happy. Looking at his elderly parents, he, like most young people in the township, resolutely took up his burden, bid farewell to his parents, and embarked on the journey to live in the army.

Hard in the barracks, brutal in the barracks. Day after day of training, thunderous drills, every day can only drag the tired body back to the camp bed. Military law is strict, and military law is ruthless. He had been beaten with a military stick, he had been locked up in a small black house, and his military achievements were only inferior in the company. Just to make his family's life better with three taels of silver a month, he gritted his teeth and persevered. He didn't understand anything before he had ever been on the battlefield, why he wanted to toss people to death, he cursed the company commander, the battalion commander, the regiment commander and the higher officers. Sweat more in peacetime and bleed less in wartime. He has shouted this sentence countless times, but it is only a shout. "What is reasonable is training, what is not reasonable is testing." I heard that this sentence was invented by the emperor, and this also made him curse the emperor secretly: Don't let people go home for the New Year, but they have to go to this ice and snow to play a fart trick.

From today, he can finally be freed, and half of the army that has completed the exercise will be disbanded today, and he is also among the retired because his grades have always been inferior. When the news came, he looked at the soldiers of the same battalion who were crying and crying with tears in their eyes. He also had infinite contempt in his heart. If you have this time to cry, you might as well think about it, and it's only right to buy something to go home with the dismissal fee of five taels of retirement.

Today was his last day in the barracks, and he got up as usual in the morning without the military horn. Habitually three horizontal and two vertical backpacks, habitually flushed to wash. When he was about to go to the playground to assemble, he suddenly found that there was no longer the annoying assembly sound that he was used to. He had hated the pig-like meal, but the last meal in the barracks was hearty today, but he could not eat it anymore. He remembered the company commander who whipped him during the day and covered him with a quilt at night, and he remembered the soldiers in the same battalion who only teased him but took the trouble to explain the essentials of training to him. He thought of the gentleman who beat him in the palm of his left hand but taught him to write by hand, he thought of the cold eyes of the doctor who treated his wounds and the little lady nurse who changed his dressing with a red face......

In the icy and snowy forest, he didn't want to drag down the company and finish the task, so the company commander let go of the injured him. Anyway, the logistician who sheltered the wounded soldiers in the back will come over soon. "Fart. It's a drill, yes, but if you go to the battlefield and leave you behind, you're dead. We have never left a living brother behind. Thinking of carrying his company commander on his back in person, he suddenly understood the meaning of the word "brother". Look at the familiar barracks that are about to leave. He realized that his heart had been lost here a long time ago and could never be recovered.

"Assemble—" The order from the playground made him habitually pick up his backpack and rush out as usual.

"This may be the last time you will gather in your lives, and this may be the last time we will stand in the barracks. I just hope that when you leave, you don't forget what you have learned here. Take him back to his hometown. Church more people...... Now, as your company commander, I give you one last order: disband on the spot. ”

Hugging each other and crying can't change the fact of separation, and the company commander quietly explained at the last moment of separation. It turned out that it was not the military department that abandoned them, not because of their poor grades, but because the Queen Mother did not allocate silver taels to the Royal Army after her training. The military headquarters could not afford to support so many soldiers, so it could only lay off half of the troops. With the scolding of "damn old woman". Wearing the uniform that had removed all the markings, he tearfully waved goodbye to the man he had never known but was wearing the same clothes at the sound of the train's whistle.

At the same time that the winter military exercise of the Great Qing Dynasty, which lasted for a month and a half, officially ended, it was also the moment when the troops were disbanded. More than 10 trains entering the customs from Shanhaiguan every day took away nearly 40,000 retired soldiers from seven divisions of the imperial army of the Qing Dynasty in Northeast China. In the northeast, the largest reductions were made by Nie Shicheng and Liu Shengxiu, who were stationed in Korea, and both divisions could only retain one artillery regiment and one battalion directly under the division, but they were given the requirements of the C-level local garrison troops. Recruit one division of Koreans each according to their establishment. All other divisions were abolished in a down-to-earth manner, but the Second Division, which was stationed in Tongliao, was reorganized without a single person being laid off, and a cavalry regiment directly under the military headquarters was also reorganized. In Jiangnan, only the independent artillery division was retained intact, and only a third of the strength of the 1st Division and the Independent Division were retained.

The 10-division Royal Qing Army Division has reduced more than half of its strength this time. This took the entire court by surprise. Shi Duo trembled and handed the news that had been verified three times to the Empress Dowager Cixi, and repeatedly assured the accuracy of the news. However, Cixi's brow furrowed even deeper. Everyone believes that if the emperor wants to regain power in the court, these ten divisions will be the top priority. Even the German instructors believed that maintaining a strong military force was the cornerstone of the Guangxu Emperor's return to power. However, why did the emperor cut more than half of the troops with great fanfare?

On the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the emperor who threatened to rule the world and to be dictatorial and dictatorial, without these ten divisions, what kind of confidence did he have that people would not know? Cixi couldn't figure it out and didn't think about it deeply, because she had to face the same problem again - the finances of the imperial court.

The income from the New Year's dinner was only 3 million taels, but the balance after the dinner was less than 100,000 taels. The other 23 million taels were only transferred to the northeast for mining, railroad construction, and military port construction, while all the money from the emperor's electricity sales was transferred to the scientific research institute. Although Cixi intended to withhold the money transferred from the Inner Palace to the University Hall, she did not dare. Because the university hall has now become the second way for scholars to enter the imperial court, she is really not sure whether doing so will trigger a backlash from the scholars against the imperial court.

"Empress Dowager Qi, Daqing Bank's Beijing head office only has less than 30,000 taels of silver in deposit reserves. The rest had been exchanged by the emperor for gold from foreigners and deposited in the vault in preparation for the future issuance of banknotes. Sheng Huaixuan, the newly appointed president of the Daqing Bank, started in the hall.

After paying the three million taels of silver for the first month of the Pacific Fleet, the Pacific Fleet had to go for the second month's two million taels. In addition, after the New Year's salary, the six million taels that were sent only a year ago have bottomed out. Wu Deren didn't ask for much, and it was so much when he was in the emperor's court. Cixi couldn't figure it out either. Why does the cost of a Pacific Fleet cost as much as 26 million taels a year?

"Let's take out 500,000 taels from the inner house of the mourning family and deal with it this month. He sent an edict to Wu Deren to reduce the training of warships, lay off some personnel, and stop the construction of military ports. Tell him that the court will only be able to pay half of the money next month. He managed such a large fleet by himself, and he should also share the worries of the imperial court. Other than that. Sheng Huaixuan: You let the Daqing Bank hand over the deposit to the head office. The two rivers and the northeast branch will not move, and other places can always support it. If that doesn't work, use the gold in the Daqing Bank. Cixi sighed, she now understood, it turned out that the emperor's confidence was this wealth. A year is both short and long. The emperor did not touch the officials in the court much, but he replaced the Daqing Bank with his own people, and after changing the Daqing Bank to collect taxes from various places, he took the seven inches of the imperial court. Cixi of the Inner Palace stared at the situation of the imperial court, but did not notice that this new thing in the bank had such a great impact on the imperial court.

"Empress Dowager. I'm afraid I won't be able to get out this gold. After Sheng Huaixuan explained, Cixi understood that although the bank treasury of the Daqing Bank was in the Daqing Bank, it was managed by a special cashier's treasury. They only care about the quantity and accounts in and out of the warehouse, and they do not recognize the people. In order to use this gold, it is necessary to have the signatures of the emperor, the prime minister, the head secretary of the household department, and the head office of the Daqing Bank. Otherwise, if you storm the vault, you will be shot dead on the spot by the officers and soldiers guarding the vault. And these people are not under the control of the governor.

Will the emperor agree to use the gold? Of course not. Cixi could only grit her teeth and wait to see how much silver the Qing banks in various places could pay. The emperor is really a good means, and he quietly forced the mourning family to this one.

Isn't it forced? The cost of a Cining Palace is more than 30,000 taels a day, and the entire palace is only 3,000 taels a month. Guangxu frowned and looked at the financial report that was secretly sent in. The 100,000 troops were reduced to 40,000, and the Pacific Fleet, the largest gold-swallowing beast, was also lost to Cixi. The following meaning has been made clear: it is necessary to retain sufficient military strength to escort economic construction. To do this, they are willing to slow down the pace of development.

The speed cannot be reduced, but must be accelerated. With roads, goods can be circulated. With water conservancy, food security is guaranteed. But where does the money come from? Guangxu frowned: "Is Tang Shaoyi still in Jiangning?" Spread the message to him, all construction projects cannot be stopped. Let him take out a loan from the British. "How could no one answer? Guangxu looked up: "Eniang? How did you get here? And the old lady let you out? ”

"The emperor can't do this. Anyway, she's your aunt too. The words of kindness came out. I couldn't stop the tears from pouring out. When she received Guangxu's note, she had already wanted to come, but Cixi said that she brought a sick person to the emperor to see it, wouldn't it be heartbroken. So she raised it with peace of mind for a month. She had already come here today, and she didn't let anyone report that she came in alone, just to see what her son was doing. Since she came in, she saw Guangxu frowning and never let go, an emperor who has been placed under house arrest is still so worried about state affairs. How can I reassure her: "The emperor has had a bad body since he was a child, and now he is just going to take care of his body when he is leisurely." Let the queen mother handle the affairs in the court, so why should the emperor worry. When it comes to the mourning family, if the emperor has a favorite woman, he will take it into the palace, and just give birth to an heir to amuse the mourning family. ”

Have a son to amuse you? Guangxu had a black line on his face: "A son must be born." But this is really not a national affair, a local affair. Someone will send my will to Jiangning. ”

"Wow." Kou Liancai came in and answered, but he didn't mean to leave.

"Today, I will only accompany the Queen Mother to talk, and I will talk about other affairs tomorrow. Go ahead. Guangxu waved his hand and personally poured tea for Cihui.

"The emperor has decreed that if there is any business on Guangxu Island, no matter how old he is, he must report to the emperor as soon as possible." Kou Liancai looked at the emperor and glared at him, waved his hand to let him continue: "The artillery triple assembly has been completed, and a test firing has been successful." The scattering distance on the 8 thousand meters is no more than 30 meters. Engineer Pierre said that the emperor was a man of God. He asked the emperor if he could come up with a way to reduce the recoil, otherwise the current triple gun salvo would shatter the deck. ”

Guangxu's face darkened, since he proposed to install a timer on the middle barrel of the triple artillery, so that the middle shell could be fired out for a second and a half at night, the artillery research and development department on the entire Guangxu Island looked at the emperor like a god, and they couldn't solve it for a month, and the emperor said that it was settled. From then on, if there is a problem that cannot be solved, it will be sent back to Beijing for answers as soon as possible.

"Didn't the kidnapped German Hausen come up with a water-pressure gas-controlled retractor that uses gas to absorb recoil? Can't you put that reriser on a ship's gun? The bigger thing also came to ask me, is it that I am raising a group of pigs? ”

Kou Liancai couldn't help but laugh and retreated, and ordered to go down so as not to disturb the emperor and the Empress Dowager Yu Dong. But Cihui looked at the emperor with a panicked face: "The emperor kidnapped a foreigner? Wouldn't this be another dispute? ”

"E-Niang is not worried, I didn't let people kidnap her. Someone kidnapped and sold him to me. Guangxu wiped a handful of sweat, this reason is not enough. If you don't want to buy someone to kidnap you, it's not like you can't find someone, so you put a high price on the black market. No, change the topic as soon as possible: "Eniang, what you just heard is a first-class military secret, and there are only three people in the entire Yingtai who know about it." It is a matter of national survival and must not be leaked out. Whoever wants to be killed. ”

Cihui was shocked: "The mourning family is your mother, do you want to kill your head?" ”

"No one is exempt. However, if I kill Eniang's head for the sake of secrecy, it will be the biggest deterrent for the country. Guangxu smiled, he could only scare Cihui first, otherwise he would accidentally take out the words to Cixi, and the people over there would not have any idea of secrecy: "E-niang doesn't say this, my son has learned to cook when he has nothing to do, anyway, it's time for dinner, let my son cook a meal for you." After a while, Guangxu came back after cooking.

"The emperor learned this?" Cihui said, pointing to two bowls of egg fried rice.

"This isn't your average egg fried rice. E-Niang, please see, there is ham, diced meat, and vegetables are also diced, E-Niang tastes it. "It's good to learn it, I didn't even learn egg fried rice in my last life. Guangxu was ashamed in his heart.

"In fact, no matter what the emperor does, the mourning family is willing to eat." Before the meal had even begun, the tears of mercy began to flow again.

Here in Yingtai, Guangxu accompanied Cihui to gossip and cheer for homely things. In order to solve the problem of court funds, she also thought of borrowing money from foreigners and summoned Li Hongzhang and Shiduo for questioning. Li Hongzhang's meaning is very clear, if he wants to borrow money, foreigners will borrow it, but he wants Daqing to come up with something that can be reached. Li Hongzhang said very carefully: "Now the British want to build the railway from Shanghai to Changsha, why don't they go and talk to the British?" "Li Hongzhang came for the sake of the emperor, and the emperor had already said that it would be done by the queen mother, and it would be a credit to the emperor.

Cixi was right when she thought about it, and the British also mentioned this railway several times, just to cross the two rivers. "Let's talk about it first." Cixi nodded in agreement. But they didn't know that Tang Shaoyi and Yan Fu were discussing the construction of the Shanghai-Hunan Railway and the loan with the British Minister Ogne, who personally sent him to Jiangning, in the name of Liangjiang.

Guangxu pooled the country's money for construction, and the bulk of it was the taxes of the Northeast and Liangjiang, as well as Guangxu's own input. And Cixi, who lost these big heads, was thinking about how to support these local officials who supported her. In order to straighten out the finances of the imperial court, Cixi had no time to take into account the meaning behind the emperor's great disarmament. But some people are interested, and there is more than one person.