When Li Hongzhang took the "Ping'an" ship from Shanghai to Tianjin. Long Qian took Situ Jun back to Taiyuan. He was immediately summoned by Cixi.

Summoned to Cixi's dormitory, Li Lianying led Long Qian into the dormitory in small steps, and Long Qian, who was walking behind Li Lianying, was amused by Li Lianying's graceful steps on the stage, but he still narrowed his stride and followed behind the hot head of the inner court. Outside the Hanging Flower Gate, Long Qian saw that there was no one around, took Li Lianying's hand, and stuffed a silver ticket of Da Deheng into the hand of the great eunuch, "A little heart, I hope the chief manager will accept it with a smile." If it weren't for the Governor's attention, he wouldn't be able to fight this battle with his humble position. ”

"Huh?" Li Lianying glanced at it and saw that it was a big ticket of 10,000 taels of silver, and immediately smiled, "General Long is polite." Li has no merit and is not subject to Lu__"

"There, if it weren't for the care of the chief manager, the ticket number of the Shanxi people would not be so happy to lend the lowly silver."

"Ha Luha, maybe it's to see your countryman's face."

Long Qian knew it in his heart. In the future, I hope that the manager will give me more advice. I don't know what happened when the Queen Mother saw her humble position? ”

"Well said, well said." Li Lianying skillfully stuffed the silver ticket into her sleeve, "You have made great achievements several times, and the Queen Mother praised you very much." Don't worry, the Queen Mother is in a good mood, come with me. ”

Entered the weeping flower gate, "Lafayette, Long Qian has arrived." Li Lianying's tone also has the charm of Peking Opera recitation.

"Oh, let him in."

"Huh." Li Lianying agreed, and turned around to look at Long Qian. "Visiting with the Dragon"

Long Qian stepped into the dimly lit "dormitory" and knelt down near the door, "Weichen Long Qian knocks to see the Queen Mother." ”

"Well, look up."

Long Qian slowly raised his head, and the sunlight shone in through the four small glasses installed in the window, allowing him to see Cixi sitting on a chair large enough to sit three people side by side, and he didn't even see Cixi's face clearly, so he lowered his head.

"Long Qian, have all the foreigners in Niangziguan really retreated?" The standard Beijing accent is very good.

"To the Empress Dowager Hongfu. The foreign soldiers have retreated. ”

"You're doing a good job. Don't kneel. Get up and speak. "Cixi has long known about the battle situation in Niangzi Pass.

"Empress Dowager Xie." Long Qian kowtowed again and stood up.

"Long Qianna, Li Hongzhang sent a telegram from Shanghai, asking you to go to Beijing to help him. You should return to Beijing with King Qing. ”

"Empress Dowager. Wechen is a reckless man. If the battle is fierce, Weichen is not afraid of foreigners, if it is a diplomacy. We're afraid it won't work. Long Qian said in a deep voice.

"Wu Yongzuo reported your views on the peace talks, which is very insightful. After all, you grew up overseas, and you know a lot about the situation in Western countries. Lianying, give Xiaolongzi a seat. ”

This little dragon called out, which surprised Li Lianying, who was standing on the side, and moved a small stool over after a while.

"Empress Dowager Xie. Weichen is young, let's stand and reply. Long Qian saw clearly that in addition to Guangxu, who was dejected and sickly, there were also three military planes, Rong Lu, Wang Wenshao and Zhao Shuqiao. In addition, the one with a white beard and a slender face is none other than Prince Qing Yixuan, who came from Beijing.

The lineup is strong enough.

"Sit down, let's have a good talk today. Tell me, what will be the outcome of this peace talks? You say it casually, and this palace will never blame you for saying it wrong. ”

Long Qian sat on the small stool, frowning and pretending to think for a long time, "Empress Dowager Qiyu," since entering the room, Long Qian didn't mention the emperor at all, this attitude made Guangxu annoyed, but it satisfied Cixi, "Weichen thinks that what foreigners want is nothing more than two points. One is the goods, in the name of war reparations, asking for silver taels, and the other is to demand that the culprits be punished. They have killed quite a few people in Beijing and Tianjin, and if they don't do this, they won't be able to save face. As for the rest, Wechen thinks it doesn't matter. Arms like Russia and Japan, which have long coveted the land of Manchuria, if China only treats one country, it will inevitably worry about ceding land. Now that there are eight countries, things are much easier__"

"Oh, tell me, how do they punish the culprit?" Cixi's body leaned forward, staring at Long Qian and asked.

The word "culprit" is inappropriate, but Long Qian couldn't find a more suitable word for a while, but fortunately, Cixi didn't care, "Weichen thinks, this peace talks, the bottom line that our side adheres to is that the status quo of the imperial court cannot be changed, if the foreigners try to be unfavorable to the queen mother, they can only turn their faces and beat them to the end." In fact, the Queen Mother did not condone the Boxers to make trouble, but issued several orders to strictly prohibit the boxers from causing trouble. This point must be explained to foreigners. As for the rest, I think we can only block it with soldiers, and the water can come to the earth, rather than grinding slowly. ”

Li Lianying and Rong Lu secretly praised each other, they can speak! Sure enough, Cixi was happy, and she didn't care that Long Qian didn't answer her question directly at all, "I'll just say, Xiaolongzi is a knower!" Wu Yong recommended people properly and kept records. ”

"Huh." Li Lianying agreed.

"It's good that you think so. I went to Beijing to assist King Qing and Li Hongzhang well, and earn some face for the imperial court. Your merits are remembered by the palace and the emperor, and when this matter is done, the court will reward you. ”

"Empress Dowager Xie, Emperor Xie. Weichen returned to China, originally trying to serve the court, and now he has to taste what he wants, and Weichen is happy and tight, not trying to reward. ”

"That's right, if you're all like you, this palace will be worry-free. I wonder why your soldiers are so good at fighting. And Nie Shicheng and Ma Yukun are both generals, but they will collapse at the touch of a button? Xiaolongzi, what is your secret to leading troops? ”

"There's no special secret either. Weichen thinks that the first is to educate the soldiers to be loyal to the court and the country, and the second is to take the lead in setting an example, there are only generals who can't fight, and there are no soldiers who can't fight. Third, the equipment is excellent and the training is good. Foreigners are not three-headed and six-armed, nothing remarkable. ”

"Hmm, Rong Luna, you are also leading soldiers to bring the old, what do you think of what Xiaolongzi said?"

"What Long Qian played was very good. It is the main way to lead troops. Rong Lu was grateful to Long Qian for saving his life, and he knew that Cixi liked this person very much, so of course he would not say anything to correct him. Let alone. The three things Long Qian said are all general, not so novel, but they are also right.

"Hmm, Long Qian, you talk to this palace, this matter has subsided. What do you want to do? ”

"Weichen has no other skills, and he is confident that he can train a strong army for the imperial court."

The training of the army has broken Cixi's heart, and the purpose of doing foreign affairs is to enrich the country and strengthen the army, and how much money has been invested in it. Asia's first fleet was also built. But the result? In the First Sino-Japanese War, the fleet built of white silver sank into the sea, and Taiwan was ceded to Japan, almost losing even the hometown of Manchuria. The court learned from the pain. It is another new round of military reorganization. The silver of the white flowers piled up the new army. But the result? Even the capital is still occupied by people.

"Soldiers are trained to be trained, but this time, they are down. I'm afraid that the finances of the imperial court are about to poke a big hole again. If you don't have money, what do you take to train your troops? Guangxu, who had never been angry, said this. Long Qian's contempt for the emperor was almost on the surface, and Guangxu's words were full of emotion.

"When my father was alive, I liked to study the history of the Ming Dynasty, and I once told the story of the late Ming Dynasty to Weichen, and my father said that Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was actually not very bad__" Long Qian did not answer the emperor's culture positively, but told the story.

Cixi smiled slightly, after all, she is an overseas remnant, she does not know the history of the country, and strictly speaking, Chongzhen is not the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty was taken from the hands of the Ming Dynasty, and what killed Li Chuang to avenge Emperor Chongzhen was something that even children could not deceive, and without Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong's troubles, the Manchu cavalry would also enter Shanhaiguan. The Ming Dynasty has been in decline for a long time, and the anti-Qing slogan that once caused headaches for the Qing rulers has long since disappeared, and it is not taboo to talk about the past of the Ming Dynasty.

"That's it, so let's enter the customs in the Qing Dynasty and bury Emperor Zhuang Lie with imperial rites." It was rare that Cixi was in a good mood and answered as if chatting.

"Li Zicheng Zhang Xianzhong and a group of people made trouble, the officials and soldiers had nothing to do with them, Emperor Chongzhen thought that his soldiers were weak and few, and wanted to increase taxes to train soldiers and suppress bandits, and he was afraid that the tax increase would increase the burden on the people, so he asked the minister's opinion__"

Rong Lu kicked in his heart, and said in his heart, "Good boy, I caught the sore spot of Lafayette all of a sudden." Hurriedly peeked at Cixi, and saw that Cixi did not have a look of uncertainty. These days, in addition to the diplomatic mediation that Li Hongzhang and the foreigners are about to launch, Cixi's most important thing is how to clean up the mess that will be faced, the country has lost in a row, the wealth has dried up, the places where the money comes such as the customs, the two Huai salt taxes are gradually controlled by the foreigners, and the normal expenses can no longer be supported, how to rebuild national defense? Levy taxes? They are also worried about provoking popular uprisings.

Long Qian continued, "Yang Sichang, the secretary of the Ministry of War, said that it doesn't matter, the tax increase will not harm the people. Because the tax is levied according to the land, those who own too much land are Haoqiang, and the tax increase is not only not harmful, but also allows Haoqiang to increase the burden and reduce land annexation. The emperor heard it and felt that it made sense__"

"Well, that's a good point, keep talking." Cixi glanced at Guangxu, who was sitting on another chair with a bitter face.

The emperor also consulted the opinions of other important ministers, and everyone thought that Yang Shangshu's words were good. So he levied a levy for training. ”

"That's a good story, keep talking." Cixi said with a smile.

Five years later, instead of solving the problem that he had tried to solve, the situation deteriorated, and Li Zicheng turned from wandering to a strategic offensive, killing even the emperor's uncle Fuwang, and Li Chuang's army came from Xi'an to Beijing. Yang Sichang himself also committed suicide due to the failure of the bandits. The emperor thought, what is going on? Is it wrong to increase the salary, so I asked for the opinions of the following, and a petty official next to the emperor said that the salary training is a bad policy that will bring disaster to the country and the people, and the initiator should be held responsible. ”

Cixi glanced at Rong Lu, and Rong Lu replied, "This is indeed the case, this person's name is Guang Shiheng, and he is a man." ”

"Oh, my lord is so knowledgeable." Long Qian lost no time in patting Rong Lu's ass. Rong Lu snorted, not knowing what it meant.

"One of the ministers in the cabinet drafted an edict for the emperor, but the minister accidentally wrote something that displeased the emperor, saying that it was a villain to increase the salary. The emperor was very angry, so he asked him who the villain was......"

"Wait, I know the rest of the story. Emperor Chongzhen stopped practicing, but the Ming Dynasty also died. Cixi's vision sharpened, what Long Qian said is similar to today, since the end of Daoguang, the income of the imperial court has been defeated by expenditure, and the old foundation accumulated by several British lords has been eaten up, from the flood chaos, to the Sino-French war, and then to the defeat of the First Sino-Japanese War, the financial deficit is getting bigger and bigger, and the reparations are pressing on the imperial court like a mountain......

"The Queen Mother. Later it was said. Emperor Chongzhen encountered a dead end, and he couldn't turn around. But the minister thought that it could still be solved. ”

"Dead end?"

"It's just a bend that can't be turned. Tax increases provoke civil unrest and die in civil strife, and if taxes are not raised, the country will have no defense, and will die in foreign enemies. ”

"Oh, tell me about it."

"Without him, only change the law."

"Are you in favor of changing the law?" Cixi's gaze at Long Qian changed.

"Yes." Long Qian raised his eyes and looked at Cixi, far away, he couldn't see the expression of the old thief clearly, a person like Cixi who had been in the conspiracy circle for decades. I have already cultivated to the essence. Even if there are thoughts in his heart, he will not write them on his face, Long Qian lowered his head, "The change of the minister is different from Kang Liang. It's a mess. Non-variable law also. ”

This sentence is a slap in Guangxu's face. But it was in line with Cixi's heart, "It's a good thing, it's a mess." Non-variable law also. Long Qian, tell me, how to change the law? ”

Li Lianying and Rong Lu exchanged a look, feeling that this kid was not simple, the two of them put down their initial worries, and if they continued to play it right, Lafayette would not be angry.

"Weichen was stimulated by the foreigners' attack on Beijing and Tianjin. We have more than 100,000 people, how can we not beat 20,000 or 30,000 foreigners? In such a situation, how can it be rectified and innovated? But I don't know how to change Weichen, but no matter how much it changes, the outline of eternal hardship often cannot be changed. We, the common people of China, have recognized this principle for thousands of years. ”

These words scratched Cixi's itch again, "Hmph, a group of ministers, it's not as clear as Xiaolongzi." Sit down and speak slowly. ”

"Empress Dowager Xie. Weichen thinks so, the purpose of changing the law is to enrich the country and strengthen the army, to eliminate external troubles, and to restore the glory of the ancestors. How to change the law, the court naturally has a big idea, however, things are often bad at the executive level, so __"

"Wait, what is the execution layer?"

"The Queen Mother. The executive level means that those who have received the imperial decree to undertake it, in fact, are not only the high-ranking officials such as the governor and governor, but also the prefects and counties, who will inevitably recite the scriptures crooked__"

"Well said! This palace sees that your talent is not limited to training and fighting, and you are bold enough to say that this palace will not blame you. These words are very much in line with Cixi's spleen and stomach, she has always believed that she has never been wrong, and she is all the incompetent guys below who are making mistakes. This is also a common problem of the supreme ruler, and it is by no means just Cixi.

"Queen Mother, Weichen has the courage to speak. Weichen has lived overseas for a long time, and not long after returning to China, he doesn't know much about the system of the Qing Dynasty, he said the wrong thing, and he hopes that the Queen Mother will forgive him. ”

"Well, I just wanted to hear from you. You speak boldly. ”

Weichen thinks that although the way of governing the country is difficult, it still has something in common with governing the family. The ancient sages once said, 'Cang Liao is honest and knows etiquette', the family is too poor, the children will inevitably do illegal things, and the words of the parents will not be very effective. Therefore, the way to govern the country is to pay first attention to financial endowment. The state has money, and it is convenient to do anything. Kang Youwei started by reforming the official system, and he couldn't add a penny to the country, isn't it a violation of the law? Moreover, Weichen thinks that the ancestral system has variability and immutability. What is changeable? It's simple. For example, weapons, I used bows and horses to determine the world in the Qing Dynasty, but since the popularization of Western firearms, it is inevitable to replace bows and horses, of course, we must follow the trend, and we must use our brains to create sharper firearms than Westerners. What can't be changed? To put it simply, children are filial to their parents, and courtiers are loyal to the court, which cannot be changed, and if it changes, the world will be in chaos. Moreover, all major changes should be carried out cautiously, and one state and one government should be selected for trial implementation, summing up lessons and lessons, and then slowly promoting them. How can you start with the center? "This is another batch of Guangxu, two years ago, but the emperor in front of him who has more than a puppet presided over.

"Very well, keep talking." Cixi sighed slightly.

"Queen Mother, Weichen was born in the United States, and he knows the United States well, the United States was originally a British colony, and it has only been established for 200 years, and it is already a first-class power in the world. In terms of strength alone, the United States is still superior to Britain. Weichen believes that within 20 years, the United States will be able to surpass Britain and become the hero of the world. Weichen thought, then the land of the United States is not as good as my Qing Dynasty, the population is even more scarce, and the products may not be as rich as my Qing Dynasty, let alone the splendid civilization of China for thousands of years. But why has it become the world's leading industrial power in just 200 years? ”

"And what do you think is the reason?" Cixi interrupted Long Qian and asked.

"Back to the Queen Mother. On the surface, it is mainly the backwardness of education and science and technology. Because the American people have a high level of education, they can open mines, build factories, pay more taxes, and strengthen their armaments. What is the reason behind it, Weichen is stupid, and he can't say it for a while. However, after Weichen returned to China, he deeply felt the low scientific quality of the people, and he knew his private affairs but did not know the public, and he did not know his family but not the country. Guarding the treasure mountain without knowing how to use it. Therefore, Weichen thinks that it is still necessary to carry out reforms, dig out the country's wealth, run education, build factories, commerce, and collect more taxes, so as to strengthen the armed forces and build national defense, which is a shame. He paused for a while, and was ruthless, "If the queen mother can trust the ministers and give the ministers a place to the government, the ministers don't want a penny from the court, and they will train a strong army for the court." If the three years are invalid, the minister is willing to accept the guilt. ”

Cixi was moved, "Oh, you said you don't want a penny of silver from the imperial court?" Can you train a strong army to come out? It always costs money to train troops, so where does the money come from? ”

Wechen thinks that as long as the measures are appropriate. There are many ways to develop the local economy. To give an example, when Weichen gathered in Lunan with grass and grass, he organized his subordinate soldiers and local people to dig ditches to divert water, and changed the dry land that depended on the sky for food into paddy fields that were guaranteed by drought and flood, and this year it is expected that the yield per mu will increase by 150 catties. This alone can solve the problem of food and clothing for several villages. There are many ways to develop the economy, as long as you do it with your heart and think about the court and the people, you will naturally have a way to ......"

"It's a good one to do it with your heart. Long Qian, you go to Beijing to help King Qing and Li Hongzhang negotiate with foreigners. As soon as this matter is over, this palace will agree to your request. This summons made Cixi very happy. (To be continued......)