"You pick and choose which photo works well." Guangxu, who had just taken the photo, summoned some important ministers to pick out photos for him.

The Qing Dynasty delayed its monetary restructuring for a year, and after Britain and the United States and other countries finally reached the gold exchange ratio, they began to put pressure on the Qing Dynasty. Since the banknote printing equipment has all been put in place, the banknote launch plan has officially entered the list of the Qing Dynasty. No matter how opposed by the conservative parties in the DPRK and China, Guangxu was forcibly pushing forward the plan. The gold standard is the general trend of this world, and there is no reason to give up because of the right of these people.

Therefore, Guangxu took a few pictures of himself after seeing the banknotes of other countries, and was ready to learn to print his own portrait on the banknotes. This also makes future generations remember that it is not. But when the photo is developed, I can't help but be disappointed. The effect of the photos of these years is too poor, and the photos do not reflect the wisdom and martial arts of the emperor. Guangxu, who was not satisfied with how he looked at it, summoned some of his courtiers, of course, in the name of discussing the style of the national banknotes of the Great Qing Kingdom. In order to show the emperor's fairness, even Xu Tong, who was resolutely opposed, was among the edicts.

The emperor's photo was circulated. The courtiers sitting below all stood up respectfully, bent down and held up the photo from Kou Liancai's hand with both hands. Then read them one by one, and then respectfully held them and handed them to Kou Liancai.

Finally, after the photo turned around, and after it was placed on the dragon case, Guangxu asked: "Which photo do you think should be better?" ”

After everyone looked around, Shi Duo, the foreman of the military aircraft, stood up first: "These emperor's dragon faces, Zhang Zhang is good." It is really difficult for the ministers to choose, and they ask the emperor to make a holy judgment. Then, there was a chorus of secondment.

Guangxu shook his head, and he didn't blame these people. Since ancient times, Chinese officialdom has paid attention to the golden mean, and does not want to be the first bird. What's more, these people don't know the way to issue currency, so they speak rashly, in case it doesn't go to the emperor's wishes. So, the best thing to do is not to take a stand. Echo the crowd, so that even if the holy will is not satisfied, the law does not blame the crowd.

Guangxu looked around and asked, "What does Uncle Sixth think?" ”

"Weichen thinks that it is better to be elected as a side photo." Prince Gong Yixin stood up: "Wei Chen has recently read the books of coins of Western countries, and Western countries have printed the head of the queen or king on the coin, indicating that they represent the country. The emperor imitated Western countries to reform to the gold standard and issued paper money, and Weichen thought that he could also follow the example of Western countries and print the emperor's side on the coin. ”

Guangxu frowned and thought about it, but still nodded. Instead, he asked, "What does Premier Li think?" ”

Li Hongzhang, who had just returned to Beijing from his inspection of Zhili, replied: "Weichen thinks what the sixth prince said is very true. ”

"Actually, I originally intended to use this side photo, but Uncle Sixth reminded me with a word. Look at our Qing Dynasty, the military system was learned from Germany, shipbuilding was learned from Britain, the currency system was learned from the United States, and so on. Isn't there anything left for me in the 5,000-year history of China, so why can't I keep a little of my own? Therefore, I decided not to imitate this currency model, because I should print something on the currency that represents the country that can epitomize the history of China. At this point, all the ministers go back and think about it more, and write an excerpt if you have any good ideas. Guangxu stood up: "Sixth Uncle, Li Hongzhang, and Shiduo stay, and the others will disperse first." ”

After the others retreated, Guangxu then asked: "Li Hongzhang, this time you went to Zhili, how did Zhang Zhidong do, how do you feel?" ”

"Congratulations to the emperor, Zhili is thriving everywhere." Li Hongzhang happily replied: "Since the emperor promulgated the new law, the large merchants in the local area of Zhili have set up a large number of factories. The emperor Shengming set up the Beijing Normal University Hall in advance. There are students from the university hall who coordinate everywhere, and each factory runs smoothly. When the emperor was dragged to Hongfu, when he sold alternator sets to foreigners, the profits of each factory were much higher than that of farming. The big businessmen all praised the emperor and the sage. In addition, the factories expanded production in order to make more profits, and then recruited a large number of unemployed homeless people to work in the factories, which also greatly improved local security. And Mr. Zhang's coordination is effective, and the situation that Zhili can have today is all the work of Mr. Zhang. ”

"Okay, that's it, let's talk about the bad ones."

Li Hongzhang smiled: "Many factories are newly built, although the big businessmen are active in running factories, but they must not understand." However, the number of students in the university hall is greatly insufficient, so it is inevitable that there will be extravagant moves. When Wechen inspected, everyone said that there were too many students in the University Hall in the land of the two rivers to take away, so that the Zhili place was not enough to use, so we asked Wechen to ask the emperor. I hope that the emperor can keep the next batch of students in Zhili, and ask the emperor to judge. ”

"Holy cut. At the beginning of this summer, when he graduated from the University Hall, Yan Fu brought the owner of the Liangjiang factory to the University Hall to recruit people in person. And what about Naoli? They all sit at home and wait, so naturally they can't recruit people. This year, Zhili can also come to the university hall to summon, if the factory of Zhili is high, why do people have to go to Liangjiang? He Zhang Zhidong can also organize it. After speaking, Guangxu's face changed: "Besides, is this not good?" ”

"Wechen is terrified." Li Hongzhang saw the emperor's face change, and hurriedly knelt down: "Weichen and Master Zhang are both at odds, and when it comes to Lord Zhang like this, it is inevitable that people will think that Weichen took the opportunity to participate in his colleagues." ”

Guangxu shook his head, Li Hongzhang has the ability, but he is too selfish. Always start from your own interests in everything, and how can you take on the major events related to the fortunes of the country in the long run. Looks like it's going to have to be beaten. Guangxu frowned and said, "Li Hongzhang, you are not a local official now. Remember who you are, you are the Prime Minister of the country, the Prime Minister of a country. Should everything be done in the light of the overall interests of the country, or do you think that once you offend too many people, so that all the ministers will take a copy of you in front of me, I will remove you from your official position? ”

"Wechen doesn't dare."

"Sit down and speak."

"Wow." Li Hongzhang sat down next to the edge of the stool: "Lord Zhang spared no effort to implement the emperor's will, but he interfered too much. Weichen has also discouraged him many times, and he should follow the example of Lord Liangjiang Yan, and leave professional things to professional people. But Lord Zhang didn't listen to me, so much so that he had to do it extravagantly. ”

"Zhang Zhidong made this mistake when he ran the Hanyang Iron Works, and I had a long talk with him. It doesn't seem to have worked. "This is the result of administrative intervention. If you can handle a problem that the market can handle, you have to add an executive order, so that good things can be done badly. Guangxu sighed: "When you became the prime minister, I didn't agree to transfer Sheng Huaixuan to the capital, just thinking that Sheng Huaixuan would help Zhang Zhidong. Since he didn't take your Li Hongzhang's words seriously, then Sheng Huaixuan didn't need to say anything. In that case, I intend to let Sheng Huaixuan take over the Hanyang Iron Works, what do you mean? ”

"The Hanyang Iron Works is the largest iron factory in the hinterland of Daqing. The emperor entrusted this important task to Sheng Huaixuan, which was the emperor's trust in him. How could Weichen have objections. ”

Let your people go, and you certainly won't have an opinion. Guangxu continued: "Then you tell Sheng Huaixuan that I want to merge the Hanyang Iron Works and its supporting material suppliers such as Pingxiang Coal Mine to form the Hanyang Group. You ask him to take over as soon as possible, and when he understands the situation, let him go straight to the next fold. ”

"Tsk. That Naoli is here......"

"Zhili is going to trouble Uncle Six here." Guangxu turned to Yixin and said: "The sixth uncle is the first person in my Qing Dynasty's foreign affairs, and he Zhang Zhidong can not listen to Li Hongzhang's opinions on this foreign affairs, and he will still listen to your sixth uncle's words." So Zhili is going to trouble Uncle Six. ”

Yi Xin hurriedly stood up: "Weichen Zun." ”

"Rites to the Fifth Priest. It can slow down the progress of the Northeast Railway and suspend the construction of the Beijing-Shanghai Railway. If we want the railway from Beijing to Guangzhou to be opened to traffic within two years, you must mobilize all resources to complete it. ”

Just when Guangxu was still discussing matters in the imperial study, the people who had just seen the emperor's photo from the imperial study walked the Qianqing Gate, and Xu Tong's words made the other ministers all stop.

"Colleagues, the emperor opened the port to foreigners for no reason, and inexplicably wanted to exchange gold. The emperor disregards the opposition of the ministers, but he insists on acting, how can the emperor be allowed to play such a child's play on national affairs. Now it is even more inexplicable to learn from the foreigner to print the dragon's face on that coin. How could such a ridiculous thing happen in China for thousands of years? The old man can't persuade the emperor, and now he wants to enter the palace to ask the queen mother Lafayette to give a decree, and ask the queen mother to come out and set aside the outline. Speaking of this, Xu Tong clenched his fists: "Which colleague is willing to go with the old man?" ”

Bookish Gas! The thought could not help but arise in the hearts of everyone present at the same time. Which of the people present has not been up and down for a long time, and now the emperor is in power and is in high spirits. At this time, go and ask the Queen Mother to come forward, not to mention whether you can invite it or not, you are doing this to make it clear that you are in opposition to the emperor, what good can this be. Even if you invite the Queen Mother, what can you do! The emperor held the most elite army of the Qing Dynasty, and controlled the country's finances through the Qing Bank, and the personnel were also arranged by the emperor. Military power, financial power, and personnel power are all in the hands of the emperor, even if the queen mother comes forward to oppose it, can she oppose it? Moreover, there is more than one queen mother in the court now, how can another queen mother oppose her own son at such a time.

Almost all of them were persuading Xu Tong: "Lord Xu doesn't have to be like this, the emperor is young and newly in charge of the government, and it is inevitable that there will be some inappropriate actions." It only takes a little more time for the emperor to understand the truth, and he will listen to the opinions of the ministers. It's inappropriate to oppose the emperor at this time. ”

"It is precisely that the Queen Mother has returned to power with the emperor in the first year of the First Wu Dynasty. At this time, wouldn't it be necessary to invite the Queen Mother to make trouble again. The dispute between the emperor and the queen may not be the blessing of the society. ”

"You, you ......" Xu Tong was so angry that he shouted: "Since the foreigners opened the door of my Qing Dynasty and forced the Qing Dynasty to open the port." Which of those foreigners who came in thought about leaving? It is easy to please God, but it is difficult to send God. Those foreigners who have already come in can't be sent away if you want to, and now the emperor has to take the initiative to let foreigners in, what is the reason? There is also the matter of exchanging gold, can you just watch the emperor give this white silver to foreigners? ”

"I said Lord Xu, no matter how the emperor tosses, this toss and tosses, and it is not his own world. Even if you want to give money to a foreigner, it is to give him his own money. The emperor didn't give you a penny, what kind of urgency are you doing. ”

At this moment, Xu Tong was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, and walked in the direction of Cining Palace with a sentence: "Jianzi is not enough to make a plan." ”

In the Cining Palace, Cixi listened quietly to Xu Tong below loudly denouncing the emperor's various deviant actions in the government since he was in power. What Xu Tong said was justified and well-founded, what he said was righteous indignation, what he said was righteous and awe-inspiring, and what he said was that there was nothing to say.

Xu Tong, who was talking about Xing, suddenly found that Cixi, who came forward, looked absent-minded, and his heart tightened. The words he had thought of were suddenly unable to speak, but he didn't know what to say for a while, so he just said stupidly: "I respectfully ask the Holy Mother and Queen Mother." ”

"Xu Tong, you are also an old man in the court. Why are you talking nonsense today, and after listening to it for a long time, the mourners don't understand what you're talking about. Just pick up some important ones and talk about them. "Cixi's speech is always tepid, which makes people wonder through.

"The emperor imposed additional taxes on land owners of more than 500 acres, and the taxes collected on more than 800 acres were even heavier. When Taizu was the emperor, he made a will never be given, and the emperor's move violated the ancestral teachings. ”

Zu Xun? It's a person who looks at the emperor's actions and knows when the emperor takes Zu Xun seriously? Cixi really couldn't understand how such a person could become a member of the court. I only heard Cixi say: "The taxes added by the emperor are just competing for the rich and big." Anyway, they don't lack this bit of silver, so they can also fill the treasury for our Great Qing Dynasty. This revitalization of the Qing Dynasty requires a lot of money. ”

Xu Tong was stunned, he really didn't expect Cixi to say this. He thought for a moment and then said: "The emperor abandoned the old school and welcomed the new one, and he intends to abolish the imperial examination. cut off the way for the world's scholars to learn to repay the country, and caused the indignation of the world's scholars. ”

"Then tell me, can one of the students of this Beijing Normal University enter the court as an official? I'm afraid not. Who said that the emperor wanted to abolish the imperial examination, and now the emperor is arranging the imperial examination next year, don't you know? ”

"The emperor relies on the strange silver skills of foreigners, but he doesn't think that learning from China and Zhu Li is the right way."

"If you want to build a warship, you can't use the strange silver skills of foreigners, could it be that Lord Xu thinks that I don't need a warship in the Qing Dynasty?"

……

No matter what Xu Tong said, Cixi could always find a reason to refute it, and she also left Xu Tong speechless. Even when the emperor opened the port, Cixi blocked it on the grounds that foreigners opened factories to recruit workers, which could make the people rich, and blocked it on the grounds that it would not cause the recurrence of Yang Hong's rebellion. Xu Tong said that there was nothing to say, and in the end he could only exchange the emperor for gold: "Weichen asked the queen mother to stop the emperor, why should I give my innocent silver to foreigners." ”

Speaking of silver, but speaking of Cixi's sore spots. Since the Empress Dowager Cihui entered the palace, the expenses in the Cixi Palace have gradually decreased. It was not the emperor who took the initiative to cut, but her Cixi herself who took the initiative to cut.

Before the First Wu Dynasty, the emperor built a university hall and a military academy, and everything that could be cut in the palace except for her Cixi's Cining Palace was reduced. After the first afternoon, the emperor welcomed back his biological mother, the Empress Dowager Cihui, but did not increase the use of the inner palace. After the Empress Dowager Cihui entered the palace, the two palaces were originally used in the same way. But the Empress Dowager Cihui saw that the emperor saved money for national construction, and naturally she could help with it, and this use gradually decreased. At this time, if Cixi, who is also the queen mother, does not follow suit, wouldn't it make people say that she is extravagant, and she has no choice but to reduce her expenses, but this is the boss's displeasure. Since she became the queen mother, who dares to use her less. Therefore, when Xu Tong mentioned that the emperor was going to give away the silver of Bai Huahua, the fire that pressed on his heart came up again. He turned his head to look at the Empress Dowager Cihui who was sitting on the side.

Cixi didn't speak for a while, but the Empress Dowager Cihui spoke: "The emperor's exchange of gold was originally disagreed with by the mourning family. But the emperor told the mourning family about such a thing, and he also felt that this was the reason. Now the ratio of gold to silver is about 1:15, which means that foreigners can buy our fifteen taels of silver with one tael of gold. However, once the gold to silver drops to one to twenty, so that foreigners can use one tael of gold to buy our twenty taels of silver, isn't this a loss of five taels of silver? Not to mention anything else, just say that the generator sold to the foreigners this time is the income of hundreds of millions of taels of silver, if the foreigners are allowed to reduce the price of the silver, our Daqing will actually lose more. ”

The reason is this reason, Cixi understood it, but Xu Tong didn't understand it. Let him write an article, he doesn't know how to calculate the account, anyway, he sees that the emperor wants to give away the silver, but he just doesn't agree. But the queen mother of the two palaces is here, and he has nothing to say to refute it. finally knelt on the ground and cried: "Queen Mother." Since the emperor took office, a number of measures of his new policy have touched the foundation of the imperial court, the emperor is more compromised and conceited to foreigners everywhere, the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty are angry but dare not speak, and the scholars of the world are all sideways to the emperor to abandon the old school and go to the new school. The emperor acted arbitrarily and did not listen to the advice of his courtiers. also asked the Queen Mother to leave the palace and support the court. ”

"Slap" Cixi slapped her palm on the case and shouted angrily: "He is the emperor, so he should naturally be a dictator." Do you want to be the emperor? Get lost! (To be continued.) )