Although it is midsummer, but Tianjin Weili, but it is the time of prosperity and liveliness, and the solemn and leisurely quiet at the feet of the Son of Heaven in the capital, Tianjin's market atmosphere and liveliness are far more than that, and compared with the mess of the capital, Tianjin seems to be more tidy, which is entirely thanks to the governance of the city by Li Hongzhang, the minister of Beiyang, although it is still not as good as the concession, but there is no dirty street in the city street, and the street is always cleaned by a clean man every day.

In addition to the people on the street, there are also wearing military uniforms, officers and soldiers with Huaidi accents are going around, since more than ten years ago, Li Hongzhang served as the minister of Beiyang, moved to Tianjin, this Tianjin has naturally become the Huai army garrison, since the Huai army stationed in Tianjin, many Huai army soldiers and their families from the surrounding Huai land stayed in Tianjin and brought many reforms to the city, and even changed the dialect of Tianjin in a certain way, and the Huai army wearing uniforms swaggered sideways on the street, all as if at home.

Not only the Huai officers and soldiers were like this, but also the foreigners in Tianjin, as a treaty port, there were far more foreigners in Tianjin than in the capital, among them were neatly dressed foreigners, and there were also tattered foreigners, they either sat in horse-drawn carriages to swagger through the city, or like ordinary people, walking on the streets, and Japanese people wearing kimonos, dragging less than five feet in the body, walking around in Tianjin to sell foreign goods such as matches, foreign oil lamps, etc., although the Oriental goods are cheap, but the quality is far inferior to the Western goods. But there are always ordinary people who want to be cheap, and this business is not bad.

Compared with the capital, there are many Chinese dressed in foreign clothes in Tianjin, most of them are compradors hired by foreign companies, and the uncut braids are either stuffed into hats or stuffed into clothes, if they were left twenty years ago, they would have been looked at by the people like monkeys, but now this is also taken for granted.

In the bustle of Tianjin, several Western-style carriages entered Tianjin Wei, and more than a dozen sturdy men followed by these Western-style carriages, looking at the appearance of a short fight, although they did not bring knives and guns, they knew that these people were from the Lian family.

"Sir, this time I came to Tianjin, did you come to see Master Li first, or did you ......?"

Looking at Tang Haoran thoughtfully, Han Che tried to ask, as his student, after he went to North Korea, he followed, and there were a few people in the Tongwen Hall who were willing to go to North Korea with him, but Han Che was the only one who could be qualified to sit in the same car with him.

And this will Han Che asked like this, naturally there is a reason for the incident, as we all know that Li Weng is not in harmony, and now Tang Haoran has long been labeled as the "imperial party", as for Li Hongzhang is the "back party", although it stands to reason that the two should meet, but this meeting is exquisite, according to the etiquette in the officialdom, Tang Haoran should live first, and then wait until the Beiyang minister Xingyuan sent someone to come before coming to the door, but according to another etiquette, he should abide by the rules of seeing the lower officials and the lower officials, and go to the door first to hand over the stickers to visit, and all the courtesies.

But the problem is here, Jingzhong has eyes looking at Tang Haoran, how to comply with this etiquette will become a matter, guarding the official etiquette will offend Li Hongzhang, but if you keep the rules, it will make Weng Changshu and others dissatisfied.

"Bye, of course pray!"

Tang Haoran said in a firm tone.

"This Lord Li, but the Minister of Beiyang, that North Korea is also his territory, of course we as subordinates must worship him first, not to mention ......"

After a slight pause, Tang Haoran said with a smile.

"It's not like we're worshipping him for no reason, aren't we going to poach some people from him! ...... over there in the capital"

sneered, I didn't expect that I did everything possible to find a backer, but in the end I still didn't succeed, although when I was about to leave Beijing, the "Emperor of the Two Dynasties" specially invited him to a banquet, saw him off, and also allocated a special fund of 100,000 taels, but this backer is unreliable, how can I not understand, but now I still need this backer.

Of course, in private, Tang Haoran was full of expectations for the meeting with Li Hongzhang, not for anything else, just for his mixed reputation in history, and of course, more importantly, what he could get from that Li Zhongtang.

"Ponto, pun, pun"

Three trumpets sounded in succession in the Beiyang minister's line, looking at the cannon, Tang Haoran felt a bit like the "three-eyed iron cannon" or three-eyed gun used in the wedding and funeral of later generations, this will be a welcome gift, which was completely unexpected by Tang Haoran, he never thought that he had just handed over a post, but after a moment's effort, he was ready to welcome the guests, and in the sound of the cannon, there were two ceremonial officers who were in front of them, bowing down in front to lead the way, and directly led Tang Haoran to the gate without taking a few steps, I saw a group of people standing neatly in official clothes in front of the second gate of the governor's mansion.

There is no acquaintance among them, this Tang Haoran feels that he has not traveled too widely, logically speaking, he has been in the capital for four months, but in this close Tianjin Beiyang minister's line, there is no one who is familiar, this is not good, you have to pay attention in the future.

Reflecting like this in his heart, Tang Haoran only saw these stars in the world surrounding a tall and thin old man. Don't look at the earl's supplement on him, and don't look at the three-eyed dazzle of the green sen. Just look at the old man's half-open and half-closed eyes, his bearing without a spare son, plus the height of more than 1.8 meters, who else can there be in the political arena of the late Qing Dynasty except Li Hongzhang?

In the late Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang was an inescapable figure, but the weak crown was Hanlin, and then he put pen to paper. Studied under Zeng Guofan. was called by this Qing Ji Bole as talented, introverted, bold and careful, and was regarded as the first person in the talented Zeng family. Later, he recruited the Huai Army to aid Shanghai, and began to train the modern army for the first time. set up a manufacturing bureau, a transcreation library, and led the Huai army to pacify the southeast. The meritorious deeds have caught up with the three Zeng Huzuo, who can be called predecessors. Later, after inheriting Zeng Guofan, he suppressed the Twist Army. In the decades that followed, the Manchu Empire was entirely supported by the Huai Army, which he had created.

is also the same person who signed the "New Treaty of Qing Law" and lost Vietnam, signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, ceded Taiwan, lost North Korea, and paid 250 million in compensation. After the old lady declared war like the eleven countries like crazy, it was she who dragged the old bones who were about to die of illness and signed the Xinchou Treaty.

What kind of person is this person? Even a hundred years later, it is still too complex to evaluate. But at least one thing is for sure, this is an old fox who is not easy to fool!

It was this old fox who, during the Sino-French War, lost both land and water, and at a negligible price, kept Taiwan and the southwest in the midst of a war in France.

This person...... Not easy to deal with!

When Tang Haoran looked at Li Hongzhang, Li Hongzhang's eyes also fell on him, with a little appreciation and a little pity, but after all, he still smiled. Tang Haoran didn't let him come up in person, so he hurriedly stepped forward a few times, and went down one by one.

"The new Minister of Prime Minister's Affairs in North Korea, Tang Haoran, see Lord Zhongtang!"

Tang Haoran took the initiative to see after arriving in Tianjin, which was somewhat unexpected by Li Hongzhang, since the other party had given him enough face, this face could not let him fall, so he hurriedly stepped forward and hugged him to avoid his kneeling. The hand was very strong, obviously not a false courtesy, and then I heard Li Hongzhang laugh:

"Handsome young man, rising star. I've already heard of Lord Tang's name, so don't do this ceremony. Although this line of affairs is now also in charge of the affairs of the DPRK, in the final analysis, the affairs of the DPRK will be fully controlled by the minister in the DPRK in the future, and the former status will not be mentioned, so the two of us will sit down and talk happily this time! ”

His words were cordial, but there was a faint layer of meaning in his words - this Beiyang can be important for the Korean minister, or not for the Korean minister, in other words, how to do it is all up to you Tang Haoran, although Li Hongzhang's official Huaiyin is very heavy, but he has also stayed in the provincial capital with Tang Haoran, so he naturally understands the meaning of his words.

"Although the lower official is not under the door of Lord Zhongtang, but the affairs of North Korea have been handled by the Minister of Beiyang in the past, this time the envoy to North Korea, although it is said that "full power", but it is necessary to ask Lord Zhongtang to take care of and guide. ”

In the words, Tang Haoran softened, and pointed out the meaning behind this "full power", hearing him say this, Li Hongzhang laughed, took Tang Haoran's hand and walked towards the inner hall, looking very affectionate.

After entering the inner hall, the guests and hosts sat down. Li Hongzhang just looked at Tang Haoran with a smile.

Tang Haoran also smiled.

"The lower official is ...... this messenger"

Li Hongzhang didn't answer, but asked with a smile.

"Lord Tang is also from Huaidi?"

Tang Haoran hurriedly got up and replied.

"Yes, the ancestral home is Huaidi, and the ancestors did business in Wuchang, but they did not settle down......"

Anyway, since I recognized the relatives of the Tang family, I have roots in this year, and I will talk about the relationship first.

Li Hongzhang nodded, looked at the people in the room and said.

"That's it, the small half of the people sitting in this room are all fellow villagers, and you should be closer and closer in the future."

The people sitting with him agreed one after another, and they all arched their horseshoe sleeves and greeted Tang Haoran with a fist. He had to return the salute one by one. It took another good meeting before taking a seat.

After sitting down again, Tang Haoran sat up straight again, still smiling.

"This envoy is ...... It's very difficult to do, and it shouldn't have bothered the middle hall. But since he is in his position, he can only seek his own government, this new policy is unprecedented in the country, and the only person who the lower officials ask is the lord of the middle hall. ”

The room was quiet for a moment, and the originally enthusiastic attachés turned their faces one after another, drinking tea and talking lightly. No one looked at Tang Haoran. Li Hongzhang was still smiling, picked up the teacup and stroked the tea leaves with the lid of the cup, and took a sip slowly.

"Lord Tang is the emperor's personal special purpose, this North Korea is connected to the Kwantung Longxing land, although it is a foreign domain, but it is a major land in, the emperor's personal decree is handed over to the Tang Lord with full authority, so naturally there is a place to value the Tang Lord. What insight can Li have? How can you ask Lord Tang for help, since he is an official of the same dynasty, if Li is helpful to Lord Tang, Lord Tang can speak out. ”

This lukewarm attitude is completely different from the previous intimacy between the two people, only Tang Haoran secretly took a breath, and glanced at Li Guangguang, who was chatting softly with someone, with a smile, holding a cup and shaking his head slightly through the empty space of drinking tea.

Since he has already come, he can't go empty-handed, the smile on Tang Haoran's face did not decrease, but he was more respectful, got up and arched his hand:

"The envoy of the lower official is, firstly, to employ people, and secondly, to make money. Where is the money, the younger generation wants to raise it themselves. As for the people, Lord Zhongtang has run a school for so many years, and there are also many talents in the scene, so please send a few. ”