Since Guangxu recovered from his illness, the situation has changed three times overnight.

First, it was rumored that the emperor and the queen mother were like mother and son, which had puzzled the ministers.

Then the words of the court made the ministers turn from a few simple pages to a thick dozen when they wrote the recital. Those who want to write people's names must be cautious, and in the current situation, who is not making money from top to bottom, and how many people are doing things sincerely. It's okay, if there is something to do, if the emperor is convicted according to the person on the fold as the court said, no matter how good this fold is, he doesn't have to take the responsibility of protecting the unfavorable.

The next one is even more overwhelming. On the selection of the commander of the new army, the emperor personally led the new army in a fit of anger, and directly dismissed Sun Jianai, who was the emperor's teacher, said that the revolution was reformed, and he was thrown out of the palace, and now he is disgraced. On the issue of the New Army, the ministers collectively lost their voices.

But I didn't think about it until the night, because of the meal. The second head of the inner palace said that he would kill him, and how many people he copied.

Now the emperor has thoroughly investigated the internal affairs office, and even the commander of the forbidden army has been imprisoned. Such a big move in the inner palace has made many ministers unable to understand the night, and who is not a little implicated in the inner palace. And the vacancy of this position in the palace is also eye-catching.

The most important thing is that the attitude of the Queen Mother Lafayette is more or less supportive of all incidents. This is what puzzles the ministers the most.

Prince Li's Mansion was originally the residence of Zhou Kui, a relative of Emperor Chongzhen, with a grand pattern and majestic momentum. Nowadays, because the current Prince of Li, Shi Duo, is the foreman of the Military Aircraft Department and the prime minister's status as a military priority, and he is more and more prominent, and every time there is a lot of traffic.

The April wind has warmed up, but Prince Li's head is full of lawsuits. Lying on the easy chair, my heart seems to be confused.

Since the emperor summoned Li Hongzhang for the matter of the new army, Li Hongzhang came every once in a while to ask for food and salary. Now that the weather is about to enter summer, there are many excerpts in various places to urge river workers to pay for them. The money for the military academy has not yet been settled, and the emperor is thinking about running a Western school, saying that he wants to complement each other with literature and martial arts. But the money is not enough, so it has to come out of the household. Lafayette's garden asks for money, officials of all sizes ask for money, the expenses of the imperial court, the silver allocated to the internal affairs office, and the food and salary of the banner people...... The matter of money has not yet been settled, and the inner palace vibrates in order to vacate large and small positions, and it is not uncommon for people to come to him to intercede. This is not just sending one away, and another is coming.

"Sun Zhongtang, why do you have the time to come to the old man?" Shiduo asked with a smile, but he didn't get up.

Seeing this, Sun Yuwen also sat down with him: "The prince is so Yaxing, he is here alone to rest and raise his surname." ”

"Why do you want to talk darkly, I'm just idle. Why did Sun Zhongtang have such an expression, he had seen the Queen Mother Lafayette? ”

"It's because I've seen it like this, lord, tell me, what does the emperor mean by this?"

"A few days ago, Weng Tongyi saw that the emperor wanted to ask for a favor for Sun Jianai, who was also the emperor's teacher, and I heard that he was scolded. Do you know this? Shi Duo did not answer Sun Yuwen's words, but asked a rhetorical question.

"I know about it, but does it matter?" Sun Yuwen really didn't take the emperor seriously. Now the queen mother suddenly attaches importance to the emperor, which makes him at a loss.

"Sun Jianai was dismissed for admonishing the emperor not to lead the new army in person."

"So what, you haven't seen it for more than a month, every time the emperor sends the approved recital to Cining Palace and then sends it to the military plane, this court can still hide the Queen Mother Lafayette."

"Your Majesty, this is retreating as advance, Taoguang is obscure!" Shi Duo sat up slowly, and looked at Sun Yuwen with bright eyes: "The emperor has taken many measures in a row, which is exactly what he meant. Sun Zhongtang, think about it, the emperor has always had some life with Lafayette, and at this time, the emperor is deliberately repairing the relationship with the queen mother. On the one hand, the emperor handed over all matters in the court to the queen mother to decide, and on the other hand, Sun Zhongtang didn't see that many Qingliu Hanchen, who were originally very close to the emperor, were dismissed for various reasons. This is clearly the emperor telling the queen mother that he doesn't want to seize power. ”

"As the prince said, the emperor should be in a foreign life. However, the emperor has recently been very concerned about the affairs of the new army, and has already appointed several co-organizers. Recently, I also run to the construction site of the military academy whenever I have free time. The prince still said it directly. ”

"As long as there are soldiers in hand, this government is not a matter of course. It's just that there is one thing I haven't figured out, is the emperor doing this, is the emperor thinking it out by himself, or is there a master around the emperor? Sedorth smiled bitterly.

"The emperor's surname, if it is said that the emperor figured it out by himself, it seems unlikely. If it is said that there are high-ranking people around the emperor, but the emperor even Weng Tongyi and these people are cold, this is too much to say? Sun Yuwen said, shaking his head in confusion: "The Queen Mother asked me to pay attention to selecting some available people among our banner people to put into the new army, it seems that the Queen Mother Lafayette understands it." ”

"With those people around the emperor, I dare to assert that there is no such master. I have paid attention to the emperor's governance, and I don't have much experience in government affairs, let alone any opinions, everything is only the will of the Queen Mother, and the power of the court is actually in the hands of the Queen Mother. But in the past month, the emperor suddenly seems to have changed people, not to mention what the reason is, to say that the emperor came up with these things by himself......" Shi Duo stood up a little irritably, and slowly paced: "Since ancient times, the emperor's mental skills have always been difficult for courtiers to guess. To put it mildly, if the emperor really has any thoughts, everything was a trick in the past, and the battle between the emperor and the queen will become more and more unpredictable in the future......"

"After all, the emperor is only 22 years old, how much mind can he have? Young people are always more impulsive when they want to do something, don't look at the emperor now, he is focused on this new army, and when the emperor is tired, he may not care anymore. After all, the emperor was brought up by the queen mother. Sun Yuwen thought about finding a reason for the emperor.

From the removal of those ministers who took care of their lives in Sushun to the withdrawal of Prince Gong from the military plane, the situation in the court was turbulent. But the Queen Mother has listened to politics for decades, and she is as stable as Mount Tai. The Queen Mother's methods of Lafayette, Shi Duo understands very well.

"Sun Zhongtang said this difference, and he didn't hear of 'I haven't eaten pork and haven't seen a pig run'. The emperor entered the palace at the age of four and grew up beside the queen mother. How can he be an incompetent person after hearing and witnessing. Don't forget that the Holy Ancestor Emperor Kangxi captured Aobai when he was 16 years old. ”

Since the signing of the Sino-British Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, Britain, the United States, France and other countries have also forcibly established concessions in Shanghai, and Shanghai at this time has been plundered by imperialism as a "paradise for adventurers". However, at the same time, because the existence of the concession provided a relatively free and safe environment for the citizens to be free from the invasion and disturbance of reactionary political axes, warlords and wars, coupled with the convenience of being a free trade port, Shanghai's various national industries have developed rapidly. After the opening of the port, Shanghai quickly became the most prosperous international metropolis in Asia, known as "Ten Mile Ocean Field", "Oriental Paris", and "the first city in the Far East". and enjoy the status of practical reading power and full international connections.

In April, Shanghai was already in full bloom, and in an ordinary two-story building next to Jing'an Temple Road in the Anglo-American Public Concession, a group of people who were not ordinary gathered in the world.

At this time, Sun Jianai stood at the front, facing a group of Qingliu who had been dismissed by the emperor, and said: "Maybe you are still worried about the dismissal of the emperor's generals, and the old man was thrown out of the palace by the emperor." At that time, the old man was also angry in his heart, and he ended up like this for the emperor for more than ten years. I'm sure you'll be here today and want to check it out. ”

Sun Jianai paused, took out a manuscript and read: "Since Daoguang, I have fought with foreigners several times in the Qing Dynasty, and I have been defeated repeatedly. Why? Everyone in the world thinks that it is the strength of the foreigner's ship. Therefore, we should run foreign affairs and train the new army in order to improve ourselves. But I think that defeat is not the fault of war, but defeat is defeat in thought. No matter how good the horse is, no matter how good the archery is, no matter how strong the martial arts, can it withstand the firearms of foreigners? Defeated in the era when we thought we were living in the era of riding and shooting the world 200 years ago. Defeat is defeat in the whole country like a frog at the bottom of a well, I don't know that the world is already changing, and I still cling to the face of the Heavenly Empire, stick to the old ways, rest on my laurels, and don't want to forge ahead. None of you see how many constraints I have given to the many ministers of the court to train the new army. Even Master Sun disagreed. still holds the so-called 'Son of Heaven Majesty'. Speaking of this, Sun Jianai's old face was also red.

"I have been weak for a long time, and I am weak because I don't know where the country is backward. Yes, for 2,000 years, China's Chinese civilization has been ahead of the whole world, and papermaking, printing, gunpowder, and compass are known as the world's four great inventions. Without these, those foreigners might not be able to find the north at sea. But now, who else in China can make this invention. ”

"If the country wants to strengthen itself, it must first open up the wisdom of the people and change the current rotten thinking. I want to follow the example of Western newspapers, so that people in the world can know about the major events in this world, and know that China is only one of the many countries in this world. The kingdom of heaven is long gone. You are all carefully selected by me, and I want you to be my mouthpiece by dismissing you. I am above the court, and I hope you can wave the flag and shout for me. This newspaper is different from the "Beiyang Official Daily" in that it focuses on science and technology, people's livelihood, national government affairs, Chinese and foreign news, and humanities accounts, and covers many things such as agriculture, industry, commerce, learning, military affairs, and politics. Introduce new ideas and knowledge, comment on the deficiencies of the Qing Dynasty, and propose innovative measures. Let the Chinese people know why the foreigners are strong, and let the foreigners know the breadth of China. I named this newspaper "Wu Shibao", which means less empty talk and more pragmatism. Second, it is necessary to keep pace with the times and take care of current affairs. ”

"You have all lived in the court for a long time, but I still remind you that you need to be careful with your words. Once something happens, I'm afraid I won't be able to help. ”

"I hope that you can wake up the people like spring thunder and melt away the three feet of ice. I thank you. ”

When Sun Jianai finished reading, everyone present knelt down and whispered to the emperor. After only a while, Xu Shichang stood up: "The emperor wants to revitalize the country, but most of the ministers in the court only think about their own wealth. and even more so on the west. Since ancient times, those who win the hearts of the people win the world, and no one dares to go against the hearts of the people in the world, so let me and others fight for the hearts of the people in the world for the emperor. to repay the emperor's kindness. ”

;