The intention of opening the port and exchanging gold immediately caused an uproar throughout the capital, and there was a lot of discussion in teahouses and wine shops. Without exception, all of them were opposed. There are many discussions among the people, and there are also many ministers who have been on the fold, and Guangxu has all looked sideways. If there is something, it will be surprised that the foreign weapon is strange and magical, thinking that it cannot be learned, and if there is nothing to do, it will be ridiculed as a foreign weapon as strange and ingenious, thinking that there is no need to learn. What is so good about these people's opinions, for this kind of excerpt, Guangxu only approved a "know" and sent them back.

The ministers saw that the emperor was determined not to change, so they sent their minds to the Empress Dowager Cixi Lafayette. The Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces was on the side of Cining Palace, and summoned Prince Gong Yixin, the foreman of the military aircraft Minister Shi Duo, and the Prime Minister Li Hongzhang for questioning.

Weichen thought that since the beginning of this year, the emperor first changed the military system, then changed the agricultural system, and then carried out large-scale industrial matters. Although the emperor never mentioned the New Deal, what he did was still a New Deal in the final analysis. It's just that the opposition of the whole court has never stopped. It's just that the emperor is bent on implementing the new policy, and he doesn't listen to the advice, and the promulgation of the edict has not been discussed with the Military Aircraft Department. As far as Weichen knows, before the emperor issued the edict, he only discussed it with Tang Shaoyi, Lin Qizhao and a few others. After saying this, Shidor sat quietly on the side.

"No, when the emperor discussed this matter, Weichen was also present." Li Hongzhang stood up.

You can't figure out what you're doing with such a big deal. Cixi couldn't help glaring at Shi Duo, looked at Li Hongzhang and said, "Oh! So tell me what you think. ”

"In the First Sino-Japanese War, Beiyang was defeated by land and water. If it weren't for the emperor's efforts to turn the tide, I am afraid that I would be in danger. Therefore, Weichen thinks that the time has come for my Qing Dynasty law to change. Weichen followed the emperor on errands, and every will of the emperor was clear to the ministers. Regardless of the good or bad gains and losses of the new policy, just talk about this court tax. So far this year, the tax collected by the imperial court has exceeded 90 million taels, and it is believed that the total tax amount will exceed 10,000 taels by the end of the year. This year's imperial court tax is 20% higher than last year's, which is caused by the emperor's establishment of industry. Not only some, because a large number of factories were built. so that the people can have something to work and eat every day. After such a long time, there will be no more Yang Hong's rebellion. This alone necessitates the implementation of this new policy. After speaking, Li Hongzhang flicked his sleeves and fell to the ground: "Please also ask Lafayette Mingjian." ”

"Listen to what you say, that's the reason. Get up, sit down and talk. Cixi nodded expressionlessly: "In this case, then let's run our own factory in the Qing Dynasty, so why bother opening a port to foreigners for no reason, and why do we have to exchange any gold with foreigners." ”

"The port was opened to foreigners because the emperor was discussing this commercial tax issue with foreigners. Lafayette Mingjian, at the time of the Pingyanghong Rebellion, various places set up centigold for raising military salaries, but this centigold was only collected from our Qing merchants and not from foreigners. Therefore. The price of foreign goods will be much lower than that of our local goods. On the contrary, it is beneficial to foreigners and not to Chinese businessmen. And there is only a levy and there is no levy in the market. Generally, wealthy businessmen and magnates were wealthy and profit-making but did not pay taxes, so that the imperial court lost taxes. Therefore, the emperor has ordered Tang Shaoyi to negotiate with the foreigners to cancel the centigold and collect their commercial transaction tax. In the future, foreign businessmen can pay the commercial transaction tax together with Chinese businessmen. It's just that the tax rate to be paid is still under negotiation. In this way, if the commercial transaction tax is levied next year, the tax of the Qing Dynasty will increase by at least 20%. Li Hongzhang talked about it: "As for exchanging gold, it is really a last resort. ”

Why exchange for gold? This matter Guangxu has also explained many times for the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces, and has also used foreign trade to explain it, but the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces only knows half of it. Li Hongzhang is worthy of being a long-time veteran of the government, and he used the simplest words that the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces could understand to explain the necessity and urgency of exchanging gold, which made the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces nod her head incessantly.

"The Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces, today only I, the Qing Dynasty, and a few countries are still using silver as coins. And the Western powers have long used gold as the basis for their coins. Silver has even been reduced to an industrial material in the homes of the Western powers. If I can't change it in the Qing Dynasty, the silver that I have worked so hard to earn in the Qing Dynasty can be easily taken away by foreigners as long as they manipulate the price of silver. Li Hongzhang said urgently: "Please ask the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces to see that the exchange of gold should not be delayed for a long time, and please make a decision as soon as possible." ”

"I didn't expect the intentions of foreigners to be so sinister." The Empress Dowager Cihui couldn't help wiping her sweat when she heard this: "Sister." According to my sister, the exchange of gold still has to be done. ”

"Foreigners have died in my heart, how have the hearts of the Qing Dynasty ever stopped." Cixi frowned and stood up, and Li Lianying on the side hurriedly stepped forward to help her, but was pushed away by Cixi: "There is still a problem with the mourning family." The emperor can understand this truth, and there is no reason why the foreigners will not know. Then why do foreigners still agree? ”

The foreigners were naturally unwilling, but they couldn't bear the emperor's desire to open a port for trade, so the foreigners agreed. Not only that, the emperor canceled the centigold in exchange for foreigners to pay transaction taxes to replenish the treasury. At the cost of opening the port to trade, in exchange for foreigners to pay off the investment. It is to ask foreigners to take money to set up factories in the Qing Dynasty, recruit Qing nationals to work, and issue silver to the Qing nationals. First, the people of the Qing Dynasty were supported with the money of foreigners, and the people had something to eat, so as not to overturn the rebellion of Yang Hong. Second, foreigners must also pay taxes and silver to the imperial court to open factories, and once again enrich the treasury. The court has discussed that the emperor's opening of the port for trade is to let the foreigners earn me a lot of money, but compared with the two, the advantages of opening the port for trade outweigh the disadvantages. With that, Li Hongzhang stepped aside.

If you say this in front of Guangxu, it is really full of loopholes, for example, the issue of the proportion of foreigners' investment has not been clarified, but it can be said here by the Queen Mother, because they don't understand.

But the priest who was standing aside was unhappy, and this case to sue the emperor was not successful, but it became a tribute to the emperor. Shi Duo, who had an opinion, stood up without waiting for the Queen Mother to speak: "Even if what the Prime Minister said is reasonable, the emperor wants to return the fire to the Daqing Bank without the court's proposal." Back then, the first emperor Yongzheng Ye also wanted to do this, at that time, the Qing Dynasty had no internal and external troubles and had not been able to do it, and now the emperor said that if he wanted to cancel it, he would cancel it. Your Excellency will not fail to understand the current situation in the Qing Dynasty, and such a change is too great, which is not conducive to the country's social welfare. After speaking, Shi Duo knelt down in front of the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces: "Please also ask the Queen Mother to make a clear decision." ”

Li Hongzhang looked at Shi Duo, his face was not shocked, but he couldn't help shaking his head in his heart. The fire consumption of centigold is the local government's own small treasury, and the reason why he took charge of Beiyang in the early years relied on these two things, which is also the capital of the local government to resist the imperial court. Only by bringing these all under the control of the imperial court can the imperial court truly command the whole country. And you keep saying that the state is social, but all you can think about is your own interests.

Suddenly, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but look at the young Guangxu again. The emperor took advantage of the great victory over Japan to induce the Western powers to subdue Japan and contribute to the reform of the Qing Dynasty. Tempting it again. In the name of reorganizing the army, Beiyang, the largest local force, was dismantled, and the emperor's military and political power was strengthened. With the righteousness of the imperial court in hand, the direct order to obtain information without the court discussion is to force the local governors to hand over their financial power, and then cut off their foundation. The emperor took the opportunity of the great victory over Japan, and promulgated new policies one after another, that is, to choose the right time, the emperor has a strong army in hand, the location is advantageous, and the emperor is the lord of the world. There is a favorable time and place, and no matter how much the governors of the world have ideas, they can only obediently obey the will of the court, and the emperor will exert his power and skills to the extreme. This emperor rose like the sun in just a few years. Is this still a person who was the only emperor when he was just in power?

But the Empress Dowager Cixi's questioning interrupted his thinking. The Queen Mother asked him what he thought about the matter. What else could he think now? It doesn't matter what a person who has lost his military power and roots thinks. So he said to the Queen Mother: "The old minister only acts according to the will of the court." ”

Li Hongzhang still kept a hand, and he said the will of the court rather than the will of the emperor. Cixi understood this meaning, so she nodded with satisfaction. Li Hongzhang understood that the abolition of fire consumption would be of great benefit to the imperial court. Li Hongzhang also persuaded the emperor to put this matter on hold for the time being, and only need to work hard to make the country prosperous, and it will be a matter of course if it is canceled in five years and ten years at most. But the emperor said that he didn't have so much time to wait, and he never understood that he Li Hongzhang was already seventy years old and could still wait, why did the emperor have no time in his early twenties?

Although the emperor's new policy may have some problems to a greater or lesser extent, it will not affect the final result, and Li Hongzhang insisted that it is necessary to do it. And Shiduo also insisted that the emperor was too young and acted in a hurry. I want to ask the Queen Mother to come forward to correct the dynasty. Li Hongzhang was talking about the emperor's new policy, and Shi Duo was talking about asking the Queen Mother to come forward, and because what Li Hongzhang and Shi Duo said was not the same thing, they couldn't get a result after fighting for a long time. But in the process of the dispute, Cixi finally understood something, that is, everything the emperor did had only one purpose - to take power back to the court.

The resumption of power to the imperial court Cixi was supported. She had wanted to do this for a long time, but how could such a big stall in the court be so easy to do. After pondering carefully for a while, she said: "I haven't understood what it means after listening to it for a long time, since the emperor wants to do it, you should do it with your heart." ”

"We're in command."

"What you want is the emperor's will. The mourning family just heard that the court has summoned a few of you to come in and ask questions. There is no will for the mourning family. After speaking, Cixi waved her hand and asked everyone to kneel and retreat. Cixi figured out a truth, the emperor went against the will of the world, and the world would definitely rise up and do the opposite. So she simply let the emperor do it, and the more the emperor does, the more people in the world will be more opposed. When the emperor returns the power to the imperial court, it is also the time when the people of the world rise up to attack, and then she, the queen mother, can stand up and speak and clean up the mess, so that the officials of the world who have been operating in the court for many years and arranged by her will also be attributed to her. At that time, the power of the world was collected by the imperial court, and the power of the imperial court was collected in the hands of her queen mother, Lafayette. Cixi's face, who wanted to understand this, was full of light. But she didn't know that the world in her concept was just those officials and nobles she arranged.

But before the ministers retreated, there was an urgent report outside the door: Kou Liancai, the former head of the imperial palace, had something important to report to the queen mother of the two palaces and the prime minister.

Outside the door, Kou Liancai was anxiously pacing back and forth. There is a big incident in the capital, and it must be dealt with quickly, otherwise the world will vibrate. When he learned the news, he immediately found the military aircraft department, and then learned that Li Hongzhang and a group of military ministers had been summoned to Cining Palace for questioning, and he immediately transferred to Cining Palace. Kou Liancai must have been the head of the palace, so the doorman immediately reported and soon passed him into the palace.

After a simple salute, Kou Liancai hurriedly said: "The slave just learned the news that thousands of bannermen gathered in the direction of the University Hall in the capital and threatened to take revenge. The slave felt that things were about to change, so he came to report urgently to the queen mother of the two palaces and the adults without listening carefully. ”

The hall of Jingshi University was almost entirely Han Chinese, and thousands of bannermen gathered to take revenge. Since the founding of the Great Qing Dynasty, the defense of the Manchu and Han Dynasty has always been the top priority, and the dispute between the Manchu and Han Dynasty has always been the first time that the Han people succumbed to it, and it was the first time that the Great Qing Dynasty had suffered from this kind of thousands of banner people who took the initiative to go to the Han people to make trouble. If this matter is handled improperly, it may lead to chaos in the world. Even when Kangqian was in trouble, he had to deal with it carefully, not to mention that the imperial court was already suffering from internal and external troubles. Just when the emperor was implementing a new policy, such a major event came out, which made the ministers present not panic.

Cixi was also shocked: "What is this, so that there is some fanfare? ”

"The slave just heard the rumors, a few days ago, a student from the Beijing Normal University had an argument with a Manchurian person for some reason. Afterwards, the Manchu man felt humiliated and gathered dozens of people early yesterday morning to go to the hall of Beijing Normal University. Somehow, the Manchurians who came back went around saying that Rong Hong, the president of the University Hall, was disrespectful, and then he scolded and beat them. The banner people were indignant and gathered more than 1,000 people to seek revenge. It's just a rumor heard by a minion, and it's impossible to tell whether it's true or not. The slave felt that it was a big matter, so he took it upon himself to ask people to go and inform Lord Rong of the matter and ask him to stop the banner man first. hurriedly came to report to the two queen mothers. ”

"What about the emperor? Why didn't you report it to the emperor? Cixi asked.

Kou Liancai opened his mouth for a while, and the emperor couldn't hide the fact that he left the palace without permission. Kou Liancai said: "The emperor left the palace early in the morning and went to inspect the Great Wall. ”

"Did you go out with that fox girl surnamed Ann again? You can hide it from the mourning family for the emperor. Cixi's face was full of anger, every time the emperor went out of the palace in the past year to see that Anqian, no matter how they persuaded him, it was useless. Cixi turned to Li Hongzhang and said angrily: "Li Hongzhang, you are also an old man in the court, why don't you persuade the emperor." And your youngest daughter is also a close person to the emperor. You ask her to persuade the emperor more. The king of a country disregards the government. One mind is about the wind and snow, how is this? What's going on! ”

As soon as Li Hongzhang heard Cixi call his name, he immediately knelt down: "The old minister is guilty, and I ask the queen mother to calm her anger." ”

When it came to Kou Liancai, he hurriedly said: "The slave has sent the horse to report to the emperor, and asked the emperor to turn back quickly, but it may take too long to come and go." The slave knows that he deserves death. But the current matter is urgent, and how to deal with this matter is still up to the Queen Mother to decide. ”

"What else is there to decide. The banner people were furious, and Rong Lu must not be able to stop them. You should come to the university hall to comfort the good students, and you must not let the situation expand. No matter what, it will be delayed until the emperor returns. ”

"The ministers will receive the order, and the ministers will retire first." Li Hongzhang, Shi Duo and others turned around and were about to leave.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please slow down." Kou Liancai said: "The royal guard battalion in the palace has all been assembled. If you need it, you can go right away. ”

"It's okay to take it with you." The Empress Dowager Cihui, who has never spoken much, opened her mouth: "This matter must not be too big, there are these people who can treat the scene well." ”

Li Hongzhang turned around and replied: "Back to the Queen Mother, the minister thinks it's inappropriate." Originally, it was just an ordinary civil dispute, but if there were soldiers present at this time, the situation would be expanded. The minister thought that only three or five guards were enough. ”

"My sister is also the queen mother. How can you talk so child's play. This isn't a group fight. Cixi was a little pleased: "Besides, the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty have all gone, and there are still scenes where they can't be suppressed?" ”

Cixi's words are also true, when the officials of the first product of the dynasty are present, there is still a scene that cannot be suppressed. But Cihui always felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't say anything. I can only watch them leave.

The military planes of the Manchu Dynasty were careless, and the queen mothers of the two palaces were also careless. They still look at the Manchu and Han disputes with old eyes, but they don't know that the current situation is no longer the era of the Manchu power in the Kangqian period, and the Jingshi University Hall is not the kind of school under the ethical education of Zhu Xue. The Beijing Normal University Hall is the place where Chinese and Western cultures meet most fiercely in the Qing Dynasty today, and Western educational concepts have long been deeply implanted in Western concepts. Although the thousand-year-old idea of loyalty to the monarch is still there, the students in the university hall have long been unaccustomed to what the flag man has done.

So when thousands of bannermen gathered, they clashed with Ben before they could talk a few words. Before the ministers of military aircraft arrived, blood was already splattered on both sides.