The night was already deep, and it was raining again.

The Joseon monarch Li Xi was busy all day, and at night he was still in the Kangning Hall reviewing the recitals of the court ministers, and in a certain way, he was not considered a diligent monarch, but now that the state situation was in danger, he could not help but be diligent in government affairs.

On the one hand, there is a real threat from the West, on the other hand, it wants to get rid of the self-reliance of the Qing court, and on the other hand, it has the Qing court's "comprehensive interference" in Korea in order to maintain its own interests and suzerain-vassal relations, and maintain the dignity of the "heavenly kingdom".

In recent months, Yuan Shikai has become more arbitrary than in the past, and it can be said that he is extremely domineering; in the early years, he imposed all kinds of restrictions on the DPRK's borrowing of foreign debts; three months ago, he even declared that "the DPRK is poor and wasteful, and it is difficult to repay the money, and it is not appropriate for the gentry and businessmen of various countries to conclude contracts with the DPRK and pay huge sums of money; if there is any debt failure to be repaid in the future, China will not guarantee it, and if any country resists the DPRK customs because of the arrears, China will never allow it." Such remarks can be said to have completely disregard for the dignity of the DPRK.

What's more, after Yuan Shikai made it clear that he would be transferred out of North Korea, he even mentioned the matter of Park Dingyang again, which was a thorn in the heart for the Qing court. As for the attempt to reclaim the tariffs, it is even more refused.

This is a dangerous situation, and Li Xi, who is the monarch, is always exhausted. However, it is not without results, through the continuous temptation of the past few years, Li Xi and the members of the DPRK and China have also found the life of the Qing court, one of them is afraid of foreigners to negotiate, so every time there is an incident, it will always introduce the Americans to protest, and this is precisely the policy of Li Hongzhang instructed to "raze and raze", but at that time the purpose was to "lead the United States to control Japan", not to counter the Qing court, the second is that the Qing court has no intention of causing trouble in Korea, Yuan Shikai's arbitrariness is more of a bluff, as long as North Korea is tough, it naturally has nothing to do.

Only those big parties will use "a small country cannot overpower a big country" as an excuse to oppose the Qing court, but they completely forget that the Manchu Qing Dynasty is "Yidi", and it is definitely not China! The only thing that happened in Korea was Zhonghuaer, not the Manchu "Yidi".

Complaining in his heart, he sat on the cushion, leaned sideways against the corner of the desk, picked up a notebook and folded it to the candlelight to read carefully. As a matter of fact, he didn't need to look at it to know that so many twists and turns were nothing more than one content, but the members of the major party in the DPRK and China had recently been overjoyed -- the Qing court had appointed Tang Haoran, who was known as the "Zhiyang," to come to Korea to help preside over the implementation of gradual reforms. I heard that he was stationed in Tianjin for two months to solicit 1.3 million taels of business capital for the establishment of factories and mines in North Korea.

In the past, the big party in the DPRK and the Kaihua party were constantly arguing over the opening of mines, and the big party was strongly opposed to the establishment of factories and mines, but now the minister stationed in the DPRK wants to set up factories and mines in order to increase the income of the Korean feudal treasury.

Now the partisan forces in the imperial court are intricate, and each faction wants to take this opportunity to fight for the best interests for itself. The Kaihua Party, led by the young scholars, wanted to take this opportunity to suppress the Shida Party and then seize their power position in the imperial court and even in the whole of Korea, while the Shida Party decided that the ruler could not lose its trust in the big countries and strongly advocated relying on the Qing court at this time of turmoil.

Thinking of the chaos in the court, Li Xi was full of expectations for the "knowledgeable" Tang Haoran, and the reason was simple - he was fed up with Yuan Shikai's domineering.

"Hey!"

Li Xi sighed heavily and closed the book he was reading, and then casually went to the desk.

Stay for a few more days, and you won't need to be bothered by the Yuan family anymore!

"Your Majesty, it's late at night, so you'd better go to bed."

The internal official stood aside and urged the king to rest early.

"What time is it?"

"Your Majesty, it's eleven o'clock, so go to bed!"

Li Xi looked at the old chamberlain in front of him, looked at the fold on the table, and finally sighed, and after walking out of the Kangning Palace, he looked at the heavy rain outside the corridor in the corridor, thinking of the dispute between the court, the sadness between the eyebrows became even stronger.

Although he was full of expectations for Tang Haoran's appointment, on the other hand, he was not without worries, so Tang Haoran would be as domineering as Yuan Shikai.

Li Xi, who had a sad face between his eyebrows, involuntarily came to the middle hall where Concubine Min's bedroom was located, compared to the past, the road to the dormitory was lit with electric lights, which was sent by the power plant founded by the Kaihua Party, and now the palace has been equipped with electric lights, although it is midnight, but the palace road is bright.

Luan drove to Concubine Min's bedroom, in the palace maid kneeling, Li Xi walked into the room, at this time Concubine Min had already slept, although Concubine Min was in the middle of the court, but she was good at government affairs, it was thanks to this, Fang was not afraid of the dictatorship of the courtyard, five years ago after the Qing court enlarged the monarch of the courtyard to return to the country, it was Concubine Min Tongguò hired Mu Linde as a personal adviser, let him lobby between European and American countries; He also closely monitored Daewonjun, and even killed more than a dozen of his retainers, and squeezed out pro-China factions such as Kim Yoon-sik, Yu Yun-jung, and Kim Hong-ji from the government. As a result, the Qing court's conspiracy to use Daewonjun to contain Korea went bankrupt.

And now, at this time, Li Xi, who has never had any opinions, naturally thought about Concubine Min and wanted to get some ideas from her, because it was already late at night, Li Xi did not let the palace maid pass it on, but went straight into the bed, the electric light in the bed was faintly bright, and in the soft light, Li Xi saw Concubine Min sleeping on the couch.

Looking at Concubine Min's sleeping face, under the upturned Qiong's nose, her rosy lips were slightly open, although she was in a dream, she showed a bit of majesty, and her mentality towards Concubine Min Li Xi was extremely complicated, although she was beautiful, but she was a jealous person, and her autocratic power had been for a long time, even as a monarch, she was also subject to it, and she could not make Li Xi have no resentment in her heart.

Concubine Min in her sleep may have felt that someone was watching her, and she turned around and opened her eyes when she was sleeping on the side of the couch, and when she saw the person clearly, her eyes were full of surprise, at this time, shouldn't the monarch go to the other concubines?

"The concubine has seen the king!"

When Concubine Min hurriedly got up to salute, through the neckline lined with white silk she was wearing, Li Xi only saw a piece of snow white with a hint of Xu Yanhong, thinking of Concubine Min's delicate body like a warm jade, she couldn't help but feel a wave of her soul, but then she saw the dignity and majesty in Concubine Min's expression, and those desires disappeared in an instant.

"Love the concubine and excuse me!"

Concubine Min, who was good at observing her face, hadn't noticed the change in Li Xi's demeanor, and she also had no intention of sleeping, and she knew that the king might be guilty of something now, so she asked in a gentle voice.

"The king does not spread between his eyebrows, why is he worried, why don't you come and listen to the concubines,"

"Hey......"

After a long sigh, Li Xi said what was worrying about his heart, and it still had a lot to do with the Qing court.

"That Tang Haoran, although on the surface as Jin Minggui said is indeed what North Korea thinks, but in the final analysis, the capital he recruited in Tianjin is the capital of the Qing people, this Qing businessman in North Korea, originally had the help of the Yuan family is extremely domineering, and now he wants to attract Chinese businessmen to set up factories and mines in North Korea, for a long time, what should this state affair be?"

Listening to the monarch's words, Concubine Min pondered for a moment before speaking.

"Tang Haoran introduced the capital of the Qing people, and it should indeed be the police of our country, but the king, the current treasury in the country is not abundant, and the use is insufficient, but it is also reasonable, and the Qing court refuses our country to borrow foreign debts, if it is to set up a factory and raise mines, it can enrich the treasury of the country, but it is not impossible, but without him Tang Haoran, there are more and more Chinese businessmen in this country, why can we wait?"

The helplessness in her words may only be understood by Concubine Min, who is the little princess, although she knows the "arbitrariness" of Chinese businessmen in North Korea, but now North Korea has no ability to stop it, just as she knows Japan's ambitions for North Korea, she can only sit back and watch it, and can only pin her hopes on "Russia and the United States" and other foreigners.

Taking advantage of the needs of Russia and the United States and other foreigners in Korea to contain the Qing court and Japan, it is precisely because of this that Concubine Min will send Park Zhengyang to visit and seek diplomatic autonomy through Guò, and then seek the independence of Korea step by step, but before that, she can only retreat.

"I heard that Tang Haoran is different from Yuan Shikai, Yuan Shikai was born in the army, not a scholar, he does things like a rough man, he is unreasonable, he treats the king as nothing, and the ministers as a servant, and his tyranny and domineering are all due to the army......"

Concubine Min said this in her heart, but she couldn't help but think of Yuan Shikai in her mind, thinking of the little closeness between the two, she could only sigh in her heart, and she could only do her own thing in her position.

"And Tang Haoran is different, although he has not studied Chinese studies, but he is also a character who has studied in the West, we have also seen some foreigners over the years, those foreigners are not also polite, think about it, it is the kind of Western-style reader, although the etiquette is a little worse, but no matter what, it is better than Yuan Shikai, it is not to be domineering, think about it, he Tang Haoran should be a reasonable person!"

Whether it is expectation or imagination, in Concubine Min's opinion, since Tang Haoran is a great sage who can write books, he will not be as rude as Yuan Shikai, but thinking of Yuan Shikai's rudeness, her heart is actually chaotic again, and even her heart is hot.

"What Concubine Ai said is very true, Jin Minggui also said the same, according to him, although Tang Haoran has not been educated by China, but he is also a person who knows etiquette, if this is the case, then some things may be able to talk about it on him!"

When he spoke, Li Xi didn't notice the change in Concubine Min's expression, but completely focused on Tang Haoran, who had been to North Korea.

"This counts the days, Tang Haoran should be in Incheon in the next two days! If that's the case, then in four or five days, he should arrive in the capital, concubine, and you should also attend the dinner party! ”