Could it be that he said that he was going to enter the palace, so who would he see after entering the palace? If the cabinet ministers want to see themselves, they shouldn't be in the palace.

Li Hongzhang was placed under house arrest in Nanjing for more than a year, and he knew that the official system of the Chinese Empire was different from the traditional Ming and Qing official systems, and there was no distinction between nine grades and six parts.

At the same time, he also knew that all the ministries in the Chinese Empire basically had their own office yamen, not that they worked in the Chinese Palace.

Now that he is in front of the Zhonghua Palace, could it be that someone in the palace hall wants to see him?

Until now, Li Hongzhang still didn't think that what he was going to see was not an ordinary official, but the emperor Lin Zhe.

If he had just arrived in Nanjing, if someone said that he was going to see Lin Zhe, then Li Hongzhang would not be surprised, but in the past year, Li Hongzhang has been under house arrest, and Lin Zhe has never seen him once, so this time he naturally would not think that the person he was going to see was Lin Zhe.

But after being brought into the Zhonghua Palace, Li Hongzhang felt a little abnormal, he was first taken to a small side hall, and then several officials of the palace affairs department actually told him the etiquette when he faced the saint, so that he knew that the person he was going to see was not an ordinary high-ranking official of the empire, but the emperor of the empire, Lin Zhe!

After coming to Nanjing for so long, is it finally time to meet this Lin Zhe who makes him feel countless curiosity?

Unlike other high-ranking Manchu officials who served in the south, Li Hongzhang had never met Lin Zhe from beginning to end, even if he had been to the trade zone several times, but he had never seen Lin Zhe once.

I haven't seen it, and there is naturally more curiosity in my heart!

Lin Zhe known to Li Hongzhang. Most of them were heard, for example, he knew that Lin Zhe was very young. It is said that like Shi Dakai in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he is only in his twenties. At this age, he can rule one side and build a huge empire, and he doesn't look like an ordinary person.

Then I heard that Lin Zhe is very good at the new military system, which has been confirmed, without Lin Zhe, there would be no Yu Shengjun, without Yu Shengjun, there would be no new army in China today, and even the Jianghuai New Army that he Li Hongzhang had trained before was imitated by Yu Shengjun.

When he was brought to Lin Zhe's office by the secretary of the palace affairs department, he saw Lin Zhe for the first time. found that this Lin Zhe was extremely young as rumored.

In fact, Lin Zhe is only twenty-eight years old this year, which is not a small age for ordinary people, and most men of this age in this era have already started a family, which is the age of prime and strength.

However, for an official or a businessman, this age is an out-and-out young man, even within the Chinese Empire, where there are many young people, except for a very few. Its main middle and high-level officials are generally over 30 years old, and they are generally around 40 or 50 years old.

If it is for a ruler, especially a self-made ruler, the age of twenty-eight can be said to be a miracle.

Although the Manchu Emperor Xianfeng was not older than Lin Zhe. Shi Dakai is even younger than Lin Zhe, but they all have a common characteristic, that is, their power is inherited. Even Shi Dakai does not mean that he created the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom by himself, before him there were Feng Yunshan, Xiao Chaogui, and Yang Xiuqing. And there is also a Hong Xiuquan from beginning to end.

Shi Dakai's rise is certainly related to his own ability, but the rise of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. But it was the foundation laid by the main commanders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in front of him, and he Shi Dakai just picked peaches after the infighting in Nanjing.

Not to mention Xianfeng, he inherited the throne from his own Laozi Daoguang Emperor.

If it is said that they have worked hard to achieve a force, like Zeng Guofan and Lin Chengting, they can be regarded as a relatively standard age.

However, Lin Zhe independently created the huge empire of China without the planting of trees by his predecessors, and he is still so young, which does not seem like a normal situation.

Li Hongzhang was looking at Lin Zhe, and Lin Zhe was also looking at this Li Hongzhang, the Li Hongzhang in front of him was different from the photos he imagined or saw from the history books.

Li Hongzhang in Lin Zhe's mind should be wearing a Manchu official robe, and then have a long beard, and his eyes reveal a wisdom that the world does not have.

But Li Hongzhang in front of him was wearing the same black velvet Chinese dress as the high-ranking officials of the empire, and he was still wearing a pair of shiny black leather shoes under his feet, without braids on his head, but clean and crisp short hair, and even his beard was not kept, and his smooth chin made him look completely not like a high-ranking minister in the late Qing Dynasty, but like those high-ranking officials of the empire under his command.

The only difference between the two is probably that Li Hongzhang's Chinese costume does not have a peony badge pinned to it.

Even Lin Zhe once wondered if this Li Hongzhang was the Li Hongzhang in history? Or was it dropped by someone?

Although there was a trace of doubt in his heart, Lin Zhe would not really think that the Li Hongzhang in front of him was not Li Hongzhang, but someone else.

I saw Lin Zhe get up from behind the desk, and then walked to the sofa in front, and the secretary of the secretariat who guided Li Hongzhang at this time also stretched out his hand to guide Li Hongzhang to the sofa.

Just when Li Hongzhang wanted to open his mouth and say, 'Qing ministers meet His Majesty the Emperor of China', Lin Zhe opened his mouth first: "Mr. Li sits!" ”

Lin Zhe's voice was very flat, but there was an irresistible tone in the blandness, this tone Li Hongzhang had heard, this is a tone that only people in an absolute high position would have, their tone may sound kind and plain, but it is with a majesty that others cannot resist.

After swallowing the words that had just come to his mouth, Li Hongzhang walked to the sofa silently, and then said: After Your Majesty Xie gave him a seat, he sat down!

Li Hongzhang did not dare to sit in front of Lin Zhe like other high-ranking officials of the empire when they saw Lin Zhe, and when he sits, he just touched his butt on the edge of the sofa, but Li Hongzhang sat on his ass, and this appearance was seen by the secretariat officials on the side. I couldn't help frowning.

Lin Zhe didn't care!

Instead, he said: "Mr. Li has also been in Nanjing for a year, and he is doing well." The people below are not embarrassed, sir! ”

"With His Majesty's concern, Hongzhang is okay!" When Li Hongzhang spoke. It is also to give up some of the superficial words that were originally prepared.

For example, he is ready to still boast of being the governor of Jiangsu in the Qing Dynasty, claiming that he should use Qing ministers to treat Lin Zhe, although Li Hongzhang does not think that Lin Zhe's throne is orthodox, but people are officially called emperors according to the ancient system, so it is also appropriate to call the emperor of China.

But now Li Hongzhang has removed the Qing ministers and the Chinese emperor, and directly called himself Hongzhang, calling Lin Zhe not the Chinese emperor. Of course, it is impossible to directly call him emperor like the courtiers of the Chinese Empire, but uses a common title: Your Majesty.

A simple title can reveal Li Hongzhang's positioning, he did not position himself as a Qing minister or a captive, but positioned himself as an ordinary person. At the same time, he did not regard Lin Zhe as the emperor of the enemy country, let alone his own emperor, but regarded him as the emperor of other countries.

Lin Zhe deals with the courtiers every day, and the monarch and the minister get along, which is nothing more than the courtiers pondering their intentions every day, and the Son of Heaven is pretending to be profound. It is easy not to let the courtiers see their true thoughts, and this back and forth is basically a mental game played every day.

This is a lot of fun, just by a few words or an expression, Lin Zhe can roughly guess what others think. Of course, this may also be a flaw deliberately exposed by others.

So just listening to Li Hongzhang's words, Lin Zhe's heart thought secretly, it seems that this Li Hongzhang has been imprisoned for more than a year. It's already changed, and maybe I can change the way I deal with him.

So this casually asked after a few words of gossip. Lin Zhe just said: "I don't know what Mr. Li thinks of my Chinese army!" ”

Li Hongzhang was slightly stunned when he heard this, this question seems to be an idiot problem. Because everyone knows that today's Chinese army is in full swing, there is no opponent in the country at all.

And such an obvious question even Li Hongzhang would not talk nonsense, but why did Lin Zhe ask?

Li Hongzhang couldn't guess a little, so he could only say: "In the opinion of foreign ministers, the Chinese army should be a century-old strong army!" ”

Lin Zhe continued: "Then Mr. Li thinks that with the strength of the Chinese army, how long will it take to unify Kyushu?" ”

Li Hongzhang pondered for a while, and then said: "The Central Plains can be pacified within two years, the northern provinces can be pacified within two years, the southwest can be pacified within three years, and Kyushu can be pacified in five years!" ”

Li Hongzhang's words were not deliberately flattering, but to tell the truth, he himself had trained the Jianghuai New Army and fought with the Chinese Army, and Li Hongzhang said that he was a conceited person, and the Jianghuai New Army he had trained himself could not defeat the Chinese Army, so he did not think that there were other people in China who could train an army that could always compete with the Chinese Army.

Because if someone really trains an army that can resist the Chinese army, doesn't that mean that he, Li Hongzhang, is incompetent than others?

Li Hongzhang doesn't think so!

So he thinks that he has been defeated, then there should be no one else in the country who can resist the attack of the Chinese army!

Sometimes, elevating an enemy is actually boasting!

Lin Zhe smiled when he heard this, and then said: "Then in Mr. Li's opinion, after I pacify Kyushu, what should I do next?" ”

Li Hongzhang was slightly surprised when he heard this, how could he feel like he had a countermeasure in Longzhong, Lao Tzu didn't plan to do it anyway!

Although Li Hongzhang still didn't plan to go anyway and then work for Lin Zhe or anything like that, since he was sitting in front of Lin Zhe, and Lin Zhe was a person who made him curious and admired, he didn't mind showing off.

Immediately, he said: "When Shenzhou is unified, it is naturally based on the restoration of people's livelihood and supplemented by the development ......of industry and commerce."

Li Hongzhang spoke for a quarter of an hour, during which he drank two sips of tea, many of which he said for the first time, and the main thing he talked about was industrial and commercial affairs.

Listening to Li Hongzhang talk about the importance of developing industry and commerce, Lin Zhe couldn't help but sigh that he was worthy of being the leader of foreign affairs in history, even if he changed the environment, he still had a great interest in the development of various industrial and mining industries. (To be continued......)