"If you want to be a human, you must first learn to be a dog!"

This sentence may exhaust the heart of the Manchu officialdom, and the princes and ministers, civil and military officials, all have a deep understanding of this sentence, and it can even be said that to be a man, you must first be a dog, which is the "atmosphere" of the Manchu officialdom that takes ministers as slaves.

To be a slave, you must be as faithful as a dog. The dog's loyalty is to the master, but when the dog turns around, the dog can use the power of the dog, and be more ruthless and poisonous to others. In the officialdom of the late Qing Dynasty, there was a "dog" who was not very famous, but no one dared to ignore it, and Rong Lu, who had been "undiminished" for decades.

Although some people say that Rong Lu's descendants are not reduced because of some palace things, but those who know Rong Lu know that in the officialdom, this dog has always been a wild wolf, and the opponents who competed with him were kicked out one by one, and he had to do his best to get rid of anyone who threatened him. But he Ronglu is a meritorious escort and is even more reused.

Rong Lu is a child, but a very powerful dog, which is almost universally recognized, and it is also Cixi's most valued personal attendant, and this kind of grace may be difficult for others to reach.

Rong Lu is a dog, and the same Li Lianying is also a dog! The two dogs have a master, that is, Cixi, an internal servant, a foreign official, and sometimes there is also a need to communicate and communicate with dogs, especially when the master needs it.

At night, in the Ronglu Mansion, Li Lianying sat with a big grin, took a sip of tea, and then a shrill voice sounded in the hall.

"Scholar Rong University. The Queen Mother Lafayette is uneasy! ……”

It was just a sentence, but Rong Lu was shocked, "Gonggong Li, I don't know where to start with this!" ”

"Two rivers!"

was shocked, and when he was holding a teacup to invite tea, Rong Lu was thinking about the reason why Li Lianying said this.

After the death of Liu Kun, the governor of Liangjiang, the lack of the governor of Liangjiang was targeted by all parties, and when Zhang Zhidong Shuchen praised Liu Kun's loyalty to the monarch at this court meeting, he directly mentioned that "Liangjiang is really an important place of the country, and the minister of Nanyang trade must not be flawless." And he also thought that the governor of Huguang had belonged to Liangjiang at the same time, so he directly asked for the position of temporarily belonging to Liangjiang.

The wealth of the country is all out of the two rivers. The provinces under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Liangjiang were the main sources of wealth for the Qing court, so the position of the Governor of Liangjiang was only under the Zhili Governor of the nominal head of the Xinjiang ministers, but when it came to real power, the real power of the Governor of Liangjiang was the largest, and after the spontaneous rebellion, the two rivers were all controlled by Xianghuai.

At this court meeting, Zhang Zhidong mentioned this, first, because the practice after the banditry, and secondly, because the governor of Liangjiang has been vacant for more than a month, and naturally the minister of Nanyang trade is also missing.

As for what it was, Rong Lu knew, Cixi also knew, and the same Manchu Dynasty princes and ministers also knew, and Rong Lu naturally followed Zhang Nanpi's meaning and asked the Queen Mother to issue a decree to order Zhang Nanpi to belong to Liangjiang temporarily.

Is it for this? The life of Mian Mian is sincere, and Rong Lu, who is the queen mother, listened to Li Lianying mention Liangjiang, and naturally understood that the queen mother was unhappy, but the queen mother meant...... Then Li Lianying took a sip of tea, and looked at Rong Lu thinking about it carefully, and knew that half of what she should have said had already been said, and the rest was up to Scholar Rong to taste.

"Scholar Rong, Lafayette said that when Gengzi was in trouble, you were loyal, and you followed the Queen Mother all the way from the capital to Xi'an!"

Hearing Li Lianying say this, Rong Lu hurriedly smiled and said.

"For the safety of the country, Rong Lu's liver and brain are smeared, and he does not give up, the two palaces are hunting in the west, but it is Gonggong Li who is the ...... all the hardships"

Although the two of them are both dogs, they both understand each other, Rong Lu is favored and Li Lianying is also favored, people like eunuchs can only hold it, and they must not be offended, this kind of waste is the smallest in people's hearts, and it is easiest to hold grudges.

What's more, Lafayette's surname is changeable, and it is always good to have one more eyeliner in the palace, so Rong Lu has always been very stubborn to Li Lianying, and he gave a lot of silver, not to mention, he usually holds it and respects it.

was so praised by Rong Lu, Li Lianying looked at him and felt better.

"The Lu of the Eater, the matter of loyalty to the king, when Gengzi is in trouble, he sees loyalty, like Rong University Scholar is loyal, but not like some people, it is not as simple as not being loyal!"

Li Lianying's words almost didn't force Rong Lu's sweat out, although Rong Lu, who was not in good health after returning to Beijing, said that there was a German heating stove in this hall, but the cold sweat on his body almost soaked his clothes.

Isn't this Galeries Lafayette trying to get hysteria again? The year before last, his brain was hot, and he let the eight countries occupy the capital, and now he wants to start with those governors in the south, thinking so in his heart, but he doesn't dare to say it.

After thinking about it, Rong Lu said carefully.

"Father-in-law, in my opinion, sometimes, for some people, we have to endure it, just like that foreign devil, as soon as they start to be ruthless, they will occupy the capital!"

Li Lianying, who heard Rong Lu's words, was shocked, he naturally understood why Scholar Rong said this, and he also knew that he was not talking about those foreign devils.

Lafayette is very angry, none of the people recommended by the governor of Liangjiang so far are in line with Lafayette's heart, and even Rong Lu has sung against Lafayette today, how can she not be annoyed, but some words can't be understood.

Maybe his body was a little weak, or maybe he was a little panicked in his heart, Rong Lu put his elbow on the table and continued.

"Sometimes, for those people, we have to endure it, just like foreign devils, if it wasn't at the beginning, how could they occupy the capital, but when they occupied the capital, we didn't cut off the heads of those princes and ministers, and didn't lose money, how could they stop, father-in-law, think about it, if it was at the beginning, we really continued to carry it with the foreigners, isn't this obvious......"

When Rong Lu said this, Li Lianying nodded nervously.

"It makes sense, I've figured it out a little."

Seeing Li Lianying say this, Rong Lu laughed dryly.

"My father-in-law is naturally a smart person, so what do you say about the court and some people!"

Li Lianying squinted at Rong Lu, but sighed helplessly.

"Scholar, you always understand everything, and there are some things, as you said, you can't do them, but ...... Hurry up! ”

"Things are difficult here, father-in-law, there are some things that we can't do, at least not now, sometimes, it's better to drag it out, drag it on, and the matter will be solved!"

Li Lianying scratched her head.

"I'm all confused, it's good to drag, hasn't this dragged on for so many years? But what if it can't be delayed? And besides, you know it. ”

Since September, since these days, the question of the selection of the governor of Liangjiang has been bothering the Empress Dowager Cixi, calm down, she naturally knows that it is not appropriate to elect the governor of Liangjiang outside the candidates accepted by Hanchen, and it will force them, I am afraid that Zhou Fu, Zhang Zhidong, and Xu Ying may really raise troops for self-protection, and even Yuan Shikai may be involved in it at that time.

But if she gave up this opportunity to take back the power of the southeast in vain, but Cixi was unwilling, after the Gengzi disaster, when she was in Xi'an, she figured out that this loyal monarch still has to rely on his own family, at least those loyal ministers, like those in the southeast, none of them can rely on.

Although the decree was issued, Zhangzhidong temporarily belonged to Liangjiang, but in the past few months, the Empress Dowager Cixi summoned so many ministers and held several military meetings, and only this one issue was discussed, that is, the candidate for the governor of Liangjiang. And there are many different opinions, each with its own merits and pros and cons, and it is really difficult to come to a consistent conclusion.

Just as the Empress Dowager Cixi was thinking about it, and the Empress Dowager, who was difficult to decide, was pondering, Li Lianying suddenly sang outside the door.

"Scholar Rong has arrived!"

Li Lianying's words broke Cixi's contemplation.

Rong Lu entered the door and saluted, Cixi looked at Rong Lu's sick appearance, and felt some pity in her heart, but at this time, who can you ask without asking?

"Rong Lu, the candidate for the governor of these two rivers, what do you think?"

Hearing the Queen Mother mention this again, Rong Lu hesitated and his tone was a little heavy.

"Lafayette, the minister thinks that the position of the governor of Liangjiang should be put on hold for the time being, and let Zhang Zhidong compromise for the time being."

Rong Lu's words only shocked the Empress Dowager Cixi, who had always been difficult to decide, and opened her mouth, she didn't expect Rong Lu to think about it, and until now, it is still this suggestion.

Looking at Rong Lu, who was kneeling with his head bowed, Cixi sneered.

"What a great idea!"

"The Queen Mother's ......"

Rong Lu only shouted "Queen Mother" and was speechless, feeling that the Queen Mother was looking at him coldly, he gritted his teeth in his heart.

"Queen Mother...... I don't know if the Queen Mother still remembers the nine years of Tongzhi. ”

Rong Lu lowered his head and gritted his teeth and said.

Speechless in shock, Cixi glared at Rong Lu who was kneeling there, of course she knew what Rong Lu was talking about, and Li Lianying on the side was also stunned and looked at Rong Lu, how did Rong Lu mention this today.

Empress Dowager Cixi stared at Rong Lu with her eyes, waiting for his answer.

"In the opinion of a servant, there is no more suitable candidate than Zhang Zhidong to praise the Liangjiang, if you rashly choose others, I am afraid that there will be some unnecessary chaos at that time, I don't know what Lafayette thinks?"

Rong Lu knelt there, and did not raise his head, now the Great Qing Kingdom is not the Great Qing Kingdom of Tongzhi for nine years, when Tongzhi is nine years, they can stab horses, for now, I am afraid that it will not be as simple as just stabbing horses, maybe they will really come to the side of the Qing monarch, and it will be too late to get there.

The Empress Dowager Cixi stared at Rong Lu for a long time but was speechless, and when she finally opened her mouth to say something, she suddenly stopped. "That's all there is to it."

When she said this, Cixi seemed to have her strength drained, her backbone was round, and she didn't come back to her senses for a long time with her hands on the chair, did she really want to miss this opportunity? Let those rebels control the southeast?

She is unwilling, but even if she is unwilling, what is the use.

When Cixi was about to let Rong Lu withdraw, Rong Lu knelt there and continued.

"The slave thinks that for the time being, drag it first, let Zhang Zhidong belong to the two rivers, the position of the two rivers, is the first governor of the world, and people from all walks of life are now spying on this position, and after a long time, it will naturally be able to be replaced."

Dog eats dog! In the end, the bone still fell into someone else's house.

As soon as Rong Lu's words came out, Li Lianying, who was standing next to Cixi, came up with such a word, and in the same way, he seemed to see the big guy rushing to give him silver in order to get a message and change a few good words, although he was happy in his heart, Li Lianying didn't dare to show it.

"The slave heard that some people recommended Yuan Shikai to be the governor of Liangjiang, and some people said that he was promoted too quickly!"

Rong Lu still knelt down, but said something that surprised Cixi.

"The slave thinks, why don't Lafayettes bring Yuan Shikai, the governor of Zhili, and ask him what he means!"

"Yuan Shikai, Yuan Shikai!"

Listening to Rong Lu's words, Cixi naturally understood the meaning of his words, first used the bone of Liangjiang to let the group of dog slaves bite it by themselves, and when the dog bitten it, it was natural to think about the master, and in the end, when everyone bit about the same, the master could naturally arrange for other people to go.

At the beginning of the Boxer Rebellion, Yuan Shikai, who had just served as the governor of Shandong, pacified the Boxer Rebellion in Shandong with both soft and hard measures, and he did not participate in the activities of the Gengzi National Revolution, so when the whole north was tossing and turning, Shandong Province was calm.

After the Gengzi disaster, especially after Li Hongzhang reached peace with other countries, Yuan Shikai became the best candidate to take over Tianjin. The head of the palace believes that Yuan Shikai has 8,000 elite soldiers with equipment that is no worse than that of the coalition army, which is the material guarantee for him to complete the task, and Yuan Shikai's ability is the guarantee for completing the task. The people believe that Yuan Shikai is the best candidate to clean up the chaos and restore stability.

First of all, he recovered Tianjin with the post of governor of Shandong, and after Li Hongzhang vomited blood and died, Yuan Shikai, who had a good official reputation, popular voice, and foreign voice, naturally became the best candidate for the governor of Zhili, and after serving as the governor of Zhili, he first observed the situation in the officialdom, and then sent people to contact the governors of the southeast to seek assistance from the officialdom.

When he was about to go to Hubei and Jiangsu to inspect the two subway factories and factories, he contacted Zhang Zhidong, but he received an order to return to Beijing, and he didn't know what happened in Beijing, so he didn't dare to stop and hurriedly took the train back to Beijing.

When I arrived in Beijing, I rested for the night, and the next morning, I went to see the Empress Dowager Cixi.

The Empress Dowager Cixi seemed to have a bodhisattva-like smile on her face, first looked at it, and then enjoyed the tea before she opened her mouth.

"When did you arrive in Beijing?"

"Back to the Queen Mother, I arrived yesterday afternoon!"

"How's it going on the ground?"

"Thanks to the Queen Mother and the Emperor! Wind and rain! This year's crop harvest in the Naoli area! The common people are chattering, it is the blessing of the Queen Mother and the Emperor who returned Beijing! ”

Yuan Shikai, who was holding a teacup in his hand, cautiously patted Cixi's ass, this sentence only made Cixi show some smiles.

"In the chaos of the year of Gengzi, the people suffered. Now that the war has ceased, you, as a magistrate, must work hard to eliminate malpractices and benefit the people! ”

As soon as he heard the Queen Mother say this, Yuan Shikai hurriedly got up and knelt down.

"Wechen respects the decree of the Queen Mother! We must do our best to benefit the people! ”

This time, Cixi didn't let Yuan Shikai stand up, and continued to ask him.

"The civil and military of the Manchu Dynasty all know, you have always been able to train soldiers, last year when you took over the governor of Zhili, on the fold, only by training the new army soldiers, can we keep the Qing Dynasty, I am also approved, according to you, when will this new army be trained?"

Yuan Shikai, who was kneeling there, felt that this question was not easy to answer, so he was silent for a while and thought about it.

"The training of troops now is not as good as in the past, and all kinds of conditions must be met, first of all, grain, grass, and military salaries, and secondly, telegraphs, ships, railways, and so on. If you practice like this, you can practice it in as little as three years or as long as five years, and you can practice it well. ”

Saying that, Yuan Shikai, who was kneeling there, cried again.

Although the Empress Dowager of Our Lady of Our Lady promised to apportion military training expenses to the provinces, the silver is still not enough, and the salary is a major item, especially now according to the agreement and outline, within two years, the Qing Dynasty is not allowed to buy ordnance from various countries, and the weapons and ammunition used in military training are all old-style firearms, or foreign companies sell private goods, and the price is high and rare!"

"Oh! In the end, it's still silver! ”

Cixi nodded, and apportioned military expenses to the provinces, and first trained the six towns to build a new army, which was invited by Yuan Shikai, and she approved it.

"Training, naturally, requires silver, if there is no silver, you will be able to train soldiers, and it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice!"

"Empress Dowager Xie understands the good and hard work of Weichen, and the Empress Dowager can rest assured that Weichen will train this new army even if he is broken, and protect the country and society of the Qing Dynasty."

Listening to the words of the Queen Mother, Yuan Shikai hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed to thank him.

"No silver! Even if you are broken, I am afraid that you will not be able to train soldiers! ”

Cixi's words almost didn't knock Yuan Shikai into obscurity, this ...... What does that mean! While kneeling there in fear and pondering the meaning of the Empress Dowager's words, Cixi continued to speak.

"Originally, someone recommended you to be the governor of Liangjiang, thinking that these two rivers can be compared with the barren and barren of Zhili, if you are a Liangjiang, first, the foreigners will rest assured, and the people will also rest assured, and the taxes of the two rivers will be rich, and the training of the troops will not be fake......"

The queen mother said this, Yuan Shikai, who was kneeling there, almost didn't shed tears in excitement, although he was the governor of Zhili, although he was the leader of the Xinjiang ministers, but the land was close to Gyeonggi, there was a political axe, and there was Shuntian Mansion Yin below, and he was respected and light, so it was not a good thing. But the two rivers are different, the wealth of the country, out of the two rivers, if you get the position of the governor of the two rivers, let alone the new army of six towns, even if it is a new army of more than ten towns, can it be said that the queen mother intends to let herself be the reason for the two rivers!

Just when Yuan Shikai's heart was excited, but Cixi's next sentence suddenly poured a basin of cold water on his head.

"Hey, but others say that you were promoted too quickly? Moreover, the position of the two rivers involves a lot, so it will be suppressed...... Train your soldiers well now, and one day the court will be of great use to you and the new army. If there's nothing to do, go back first! ”

The Empress Dowager Cixi issued an eviction order. Yuan Shikai said goodbye to Cixi and went back to the Beiyang Mansion, but a seed was planted in Cixi's heart.

(To be continued)