In March of the seventh year of Guangxu, Song Xiaofei was busy training troops in North Korea, and Li Hongzhang's aide Ma Jianzhong came to Seoul late at night and brought him a secret letter written by Li Hongzhang.

Song Xiaofei picked off the sealed wax and opened the letter, but there were only three short words on it: "Return to Beijing quickly."

Song Xiaofei asked Ma Jianzhong: "Something big happened to the imperial court?" ”

Ma Jianzhong replied: "Lord Zhongtang didn't say it, he just asked you to return to China secretly. ”

Song Xiaofei pinched his fingers and calculated, at this point in time, the major event in the court should be that the forty-five-year-old Empress Dowager Ci'an died of illness.

The history books say: "On the ninth day of the seventh year of Guangxu, Ci Gong occasionally violated the harmony, and when he entered the decoction medicine for treatment, he thought that he could be safe, but he did not mean that he was seriously ill and died on the tenth day of the first month", that is, within one day, the Empress Dowager Ci'an died of illness. Because Ci'an died too suddenly, her death has become one of the historical mysteries of the Qing Palace, and the official version is that she died of illness, and there are many rumors that she was killed by the Empress Dowager Cixi.

Song Xiaofei is not interested in how the Empress Dowager Ci'an died, what he cares about is why Li Hongzhang urgently recruited him to return to China at this juncture, and not to return to the Zhili Governor's Mansion in Baoding, but directly to Yanjing.

Ma Jianzhong urged him to return early, but Song Xiaofei didn't have time to think about it, so he arranged for Zhang Jian's military training in North Korea overnight, and told him to beware of Yue himself and send someone to keep an eye on the embassy in North Korea. Then, he followed Ma Jianzhong's ship back to Tianjin Port overnight, and then rushed back to Yanjing by carriage and went straight to Li's Mansion on Wenhua Street.

Li Hongzhang summoned his staff to the living room overnight to discuss, he sat on the big wooden kang in the middle of the living room, a layer of tiger skin mattress was still spread on it, and a short coffee table was placed in the middle, Zhang Shusheng, Liu Mingchuan, Sheng Xuanhuai and others were all sitting on the two rows of Taishi chairs under the kang.

After a few people finished saluting, Song Xiaofei took a look, all the people present were the backbone members of the Huaijun Group, Yuan Baoling also sat on the Taishi chair, Song Xiaofei walked over and sat next to his uncle, after greeting for a while, Yuan Baoling handed Song Xiaofei a letter, saying that the staff of the embassy in the United States returned to China to visit relatives and brought it back, Song Xiaofei's heart trembled, and when he opened it, it was indeed written by Rong Rong from the United States, and the letter introduced Song Xiaofei to the life of Chinese children studying in the United States, saying that this group of children wearing satin robes and dragging long braids like American life very much, and a man named Mark. Twain's writers were neighbors, they were received by US President Grant, and some went to church on weekends... Rong Rong said in the letter that she had always wanted to see him, and she dreamed that the two of them were reading together, and she still remembered that morning when he was napping under the old locust tree in Yuan's mansion. Song Xiaofei couldn't help but think of that carefree and simple time, hey, the young bird never came back, fate made people, I don't know when the two will meet again.

Everyone chatted about the recent situation, Li Hongzhang coughed twice, the living room was quiet, Li Hongzhang first introduced Liu Mingchuan and Zhang Shusheng's new positions, and said: "The Empress Dowager of the East Palace died of sudden illness, you already know that the Empress Dowager of the Virgin Mary is afraid of changes in various places, so she transferred the third province back from Taiwan, appointed the governor of Zhili, and guarded the gate of Gyeonggi. Zhenxuan was also promoted to the governor of Liangguang, and the bigger the official position, the heavier the burden on his shoulders. ”

Provincial three is the word of Liu Mingchuan, Song Xiaofei just wondered why Liu Mingchuan also came, it turned out that he was transferred to the governor of Zhili, and the official was reinstated; Zhenxuan is Zhang Shusheng's word, he is also Li Hongzhang's Hefei hometown, the veteran of the Huai Army, one year younger than Li Hongzhang, he has a meritorious service in the imperial examination, belongs to the immediate killing of the enemy, the compound talent who reads under the horse, has been in a hundred battles, successively served as the governor of Jiangsu, the governor of Guizhou, this time promoted to the governor of Liangguang, became one of the nine highest-level feudal ministers of the Qing Dynasty, and it is well deserved. So, Song Xiaofei and Sheng Xuanhuai congratulated Liu Mingchuan and Zhang Shusheng on their promotion. Liu Mingchuan jokingly said to Song Xiaofei: "Brother Xian is not bad, he was a minister in North Korea at a young age, but he has to take care of the princess and sister-in-law for me." ”

Song Xiaofei knew that everyone here was an old friend, so he quipped: "Don't worry, the princess and sister-in-law are taking good care of Brother Liu now, she is still fair-skinned, thin waist and fat buttocks, and when I have time, I will also learn from Guan Yunchang, ride alone for thousands of miles, and send her back to the eldest brother, I don't know if Sister-in-law Zhanru will cook for you?" ”

Everyone present knew that Liu Mingchuan was afraid of his wife, so he laughed, Li Hongzhang changed his words, and said business with a serious expression, and the scene was silent. Li Hongzhang said that now the situation in the imperial court has changed, and there are internal and external troubles, so the old man urgently convened everyone to discuss countermeasures. In China, the Empress Dowager Ci'an died, Prince Gong and Weng Tongyi, Li Hongzao, and Zuo Zongtang got closer and closer, and the Empress Dowager Cixi could no longer trust the Military Aircraft Department; Abroad, the British in Burma and the French in Vietnam are all ambitious, and there is about to be a storm at the imperial court.

Li Hongzhang asked everyone to discuss domestic affairs first, and Song Xiaofei asked Li Hongzhang: "On the way back, the students heard some rumors about the contradiction between the Empress Dowager of the West Palace and the Empress Dowager of the East Palace, saying that the death of the Empress Dowager of the East Palace was a conspiracy, I wonder if the court is also quarreling about it?" ”

Li Hongzhang said that the Empress Dowager of the East Palace died of illness, and the Empress Dowager Cixi immediately ordered Prince Gong, Prince Alcohol, Weng Tonggong, Yuqing Palace, Minister of Internal Affairs Rong Lu, Minister of Military Aircraft Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzao and others to pay respects to the remains of Zhongcui Palace, the dormitory of the East Palace. However, a cadre of Qingliu ministers headed by Weng Tongyi, recently approached Prince Gong, they were deeply afraid of the death of the Empress Dowager of the East Palace, and the power of the court was all vested in the West Palace, and the Empress Dowager Cixi was the only one who respected and dictated the state affairs, which would endanger the pro-government of the Guangxu Emperor. On the grounds that the Ministry of Internal Affairs was derelict in his duties in the death of the Empress Dowager of the East Palace, the Minister of the Interior Rong Lu was dismissed. It is estimated that the next target they will attack is the old man and you.

Song Xiaofei listened, it seems that the letter is not as good as no book, some modern historical brick families who do not learn and do not know how to say that as soon as the Empress Dowager Ci'an died, the Empress Dowager Cixi was a one-man dictatorship and had nothing to fear, it was complete nonsense, and now that the Empress Dowager Ci'an has passed away, the Empress Dowager Cixi can't even keep Ronglu, it seems that the complicated surname of politics is far from being understood by the lazy historical brick family, and he will have to act at the opportunity in the future.

When Liu Mingchuan heard that "Qingliu" was going to deal with Li Hongzhang, he slapped the table and said: "These bird scholars, we are dying on the battlefield, and they talk about it in the court every day, saying what to do for heaven and earth, for the people, for the peace of all generations, purely standing and talking without backache." Can they still turn against the sky and defeat the Lord in the middle hall? Then I, Liu Liumazi, will be the first to quit, and it will be a big deal to resign and go back to Liu Laowei to farm. ”

Li Hongzhang smiled slightly and said: "Although they have the support of Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzao, if they want to bring down the old man, they are still a little tender, but they have a way to stab them in the back." Recently, Zuo Zongtang also entered the military plane, attacking coastal defense everywhere, Weng Tonggong was also in charge of the household department, the money for the purchase of warships was delayed in the account, and the development of the Beiyang Naval Division was suppressed. Call everyone here today, and once I come, I will give you a thorough understanding. Second, let's see how to fight back. This is a critical moment for our survival, and I hope you can work together to tide over this difficult time. ”

Sheng Xuanhuai heard Li Hongzhang say that Zuo Zongtang is now in trouble everywhere "coastal defense", and said: "The controversy between coastal defense and fortress defense has been a long time, and recently Zuo Zongtang recovered Xinjiang Province and became the minister of military aircraft, and the momentum is flourishing, and we should avoid its edge. To hit him, it is best to cut off his arm first, starting with Hu Xueyan. ”

Li Hongzhang did not speak, Sheng Xuanhuai continued: "Row left first row Hu, reverse left first pour Hu." The reason why Zuo Zongtang was able to recover Xinjiang Province was that Hu Xueyan, the businessman behind him, raised grain and equipment and borrowed foreign money, which contributed a lot. I heard that he is now setting up Fukang Qian Zhuang all over the country, establishing the 'Huqing Yutang' Chinese medicine store in Hangzhou, and also setting up a silk reeling factory, sitting in the village to increase the purchase price of silk, and the foreigners also have opinions on the other side, so they can talk to Prince Gong. ”

Li Hongzhang said: "I have also heard of Hu Xueyan, this businessman is not simple, although he is ruthless and unjust, but he is very smart, good at flattery, colluding with officials, and can give away his beloved concubine in order to do business." I heard that Zuo Zongtang also took him to meet the Empress Dowager Cixi recently, and the Empress Dowager also rewarded him with a red top and a yellow coat. Raising the purchase price of silk is beneficial to silkworm farmers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and can also enrich the treasury and crack down on him. Now the most important person is Zhang Peilun, he is now the left deputy capital of the imperial history, I heard that Weng Tongyi intends to recommend him to be the main examiner of the next general examination, and then the candidates all over the world will call him 'teacher', which will be even more unfavorable to us. ”;