In the West Warm Pavilion of Qianqing Palace, the high-grade charcoal fire emitted bursts of scorching warmth in the furnace, but Xingzhen's heart was extremely cold, Peng Yulin did not answer her words, but continued to bow to the ground, and finally Xingzhen had to ask: "Peng Aiqing, do you also think that there is no way forward in the Qing Dynasty?" ”

Peng Yulin gritted his teeth, didn't raise his head, but said in a deep voice: "Please forgive the Queen Mother, so that the criminal can dare to speak his mind." ”

Xingzhen waved her hand and said: "There are only two people in this room, and this palace is now discussing with you from the bottom of my heart, so naturally I will not judge you for anything if I have anything to say." ”

Peng Yulin raised his head and hugged his fists and said: "Queen Mother, it's not that the ministers are unwilling to be loyal, but that the imperial court has never regarded the Han people as one. Since the rise of the Taiping, although the imperial court agreed to let the Hanchen help to organize the group training, but everywhere to guard against the Hanchen, Xiangdi Zeng Guofan has Zhang Liangji and other people in the court to restrain each other, Huanghuai Yuan Jiasan, Li Hongzhang and others have the new army of the imperial court to monitor, in addition to the monk Lingqin Wang Ye soldiers and horses to assist in supervision, the court has never fully believed in these Hanchen. ”

Xingzhen sighed lightly and asked, "Peng Aiqing, it's you who want to be replaced, can you fully believe it?" ”

Peng Yulin was silent for a long time before he said: "Queen Mother, this is the crux of the stubborn disease of the Qing Dynasty. During the Kangqian period, the world was still able to have food and clothing, but if there were internal and external troubles today, although the imperial court had the intention of opening the ban and closing the customs, it would take five years to see the results, and it depended on whether there were some people in the court who were in the yang and yin and disobeyed. ”

Xingzhen bowed slightly and said: "Peng Aiqing, you have to see things more thoroughly than others, and this palace also knows." You go on to say, how can we get out of this crisis? ”

Peng Yulin hugged his fists and said: "King Taiping Xi, this person is very wise. You don't need to use those conspiracies to act, but any strategy is a conspiracy. This conspiracy is placed in the open, which makes people irresistible, so they have to drill into it. This time, the King of Taiping Xi saw the fate of the imperial court and wanted to make a final blow to disperse the last cohesion of the people's hearts in the imperial court. In this way, the court will no longer have the power to fight back. ”

Speaking of this, Peng Yulin paused and then said: "The criminal minister thinks that if the imperial court wants to get rid of the current crisis, it has to give up something. may give the imperial court a glimmer of life. ”

Xingzhen became interested and asked, "Give up what?" ”

Peng Yulin hesitated again and again, and finally gritted his teeth and said: "The strategy of the criminal minister is these twenty-five words: implement a new policy, follow the example of the British, establish a constitution for the royal family, return the government to the Han Dynasty, and reunite the five ethnic groups!" What the imperial court must give up is in the four words of the royal constitution! ”

Xingzhen's heart was shocked, why did Peng Yulin effectively imitate the British and the idea of a royal constitution? It must be known that this is not the era when the future world is for them. The Westernization Movement has been going on for more than 20 years. The people who open their eyes to see the world are not limited to those few people, and now the Westernization movement has just emerged. The foreign affairs have begun, but Xingzhen thinks Yi? There should be no such appalling idea as a royal constitution.

At that moment, Xingzhen frowned and asked, "Does Peng Aiqing know the British very well?" ”

Peng Yulin said without hesitation: "Queen Mother, the criminal minister knows everything today, and he has said everything he should say and what he shouldn't say anyway, and he won't hide anything anymore." In the Battle of Wuchang that year, our Hunan official army and Hunan army had the advantage. Taking advantage of the civil strife in Taiping, the sailors sailed no less than a thousand ships. It's really a momentary mood. But then several foreign warships and more than 100 red single ships of the Guangyue Navy Division were captured, and the thousands of warships of our navy were completely beaten, and the criminals were really dumbfounded at that time, and they couldn't believe that this was the truth. ”

Later, I inquired in many ways to learn the origin of the Taiping naval division, and it became clear that the main warships came from the Western British, so the criminal ministers began to send detailed work to infiltrate the Taiping region to investigate, and at the same time sent people south to Guangzhou to contact the foreigners, hoping to raise silver taels to buy one or two foreign ships and change the decline of our navy. Unfortunately, it backfired, and the British later became hostile to our court, so they no longer even opened the arms trade, and the arms used by the Hunan officials and troops were all from the black market and smuggling, and the prices were extremely expensive. ”

"Over the years, the criminal has been wondering, why Taiping was not an opponent of the official army back then, and once there were foreigner ships, they were so sharp? Could it be that Taiping really took advantage of the equipment? Therefore, the criminal has been asking the fine to collect information in the Taiping region. Not to mention, under the rule of the Taiping, there were government-run bookstores in various places, called the Imperial Decree Office, and all kinds of Chinese and foreign books were published, and these meticulous works collected some British books to bring back to the guilty ministers, including a book called "Magna Carta". This book is ......"

Hearing this, Xingzhen hurriedly interrupted: "I have also read this book, you don't need to repeat the content, it is about a declaration signed by the British nobles and their emperor, confirming that Britain is a constitutional monarchy. ”

Peng Yulin was slightly stunned, he didn't expect that the Queen Mother had also read this book, and said happily at the moment: "It's very good that the Queen Mother has read it, since the Queen Mother knows, the guilty minister has also saved a lot of tongues." ”

Xingzhen snorted and sighed lightly: "Peng Aiqing, although you have a second intention in your heart, you still retain a trace of loyalty to the Qing Dynasty, and you can come up with this method to save the Qing Dynasty regardless of your own safety." It's a pity that the Qing Dynasty is not Great Britain, the Qing Emperor is not the British Emperor, the Manchurian nobles are not British nobles, and the Han people today are not British commoners. The Glorious Revolution will not happen in our country, and it is really difficult to realize the New Deal reform and the establishment of the imperial constitution in our country. ”

Peng Yulin said: "Queen Mother, this is the last glimmer of hope for the Qing Dynasty, as long as we and other Hanchen can hold real power, we will definitely be able to deal with the Taiping, after all, the Taiping has not been established for a long time, and the Qing Dynasty still has more than 200 years of heritage here." As long as the imperial court can return to the Han Dynasty, the royal family can establish a constitution, and the republic of the five ethnic groups can be republiced, our Qing Dynasty can really be saved, Queen Mother! ”

Xingzhen shook her head slowly: "Who can guarantee that there really is a republic of the five clans?" Who can guarantee that after the constitution of the royal family, my Qing royal family will be able to enjoy the same peace as the British royal family? Who can guarantee that after returning to the Han Dynasty, the Manchus will not be liquidated? Who can guarantee that the Qing Dynasty will be able to implement a constitutional monarchy? ”

Peng Yulin was speechless, and after a while, he said weakly: "Naturally, it is guaranteed by the constitution of the country......" Speaking of this, Peng Yulin couldn't continue.

Xingzhen sighed lightly and said: "The constitution of the country, the authority of the country, and the major policies of the country, where does this come from?" Derived from the strong domination of the state's armed forces, if the imperial family renounced this strong domination, they would no longer enjoy the protection of the Constitution, and the same was true of the Manchurian aristocracy. For more than 200 years, the Qing Dynasty has relied on this force to dominate and rule the country. Even if the palace is now arbitrary, forcibly implementing a new policy, and forcibly promulgating a constitution, it will be useless, and it will only cause chaos in the world, and the Taiping has full wings, and there is even more opportunity to take advantage of it, and the Qing Dynasty still can't keep it. ”

Speaking of this, Xingzhen got up and quietly moved the lotus step, slowly walked out from behind the screen, and said to Peng Yulin: "This palace has read the British "Magna Carta" earlier than Peng Qing's family, and has also collected British books in many ways to understand, and has also studied the constitution. But it's a pity that I can't take this road in the Qing Dynasty, at least not at the moment. Originally, it took 20 years to improve the people's livelihood, so that the people of the world could have food and clothing first, and then the new policy constitutional reform was followed, and the people's wisdom must be opened first, and it was impossible to reverse it without thirty or fifty years of hard work. There is also a very important link, that is, the palace needs to set up a group of new nobles in the middle of the court to fight against the old Manchurian nobles in the court, with their support, the new policy or constitution can be guaranteed. And this group of new nobles originally thought that it was you Hanchen who had contributed to pacifying the peace! ”

Peng Yulin was slightly shocked when he saw Xingzhen actually walking out of the screen, and hurriedly lowered his head and didn't dare to look at her, but when he heard Xingzhen's words in his ears, his heart was even more agitated.

I only heard Xingzhen continue: "Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Hu Linyi, Yuan Jiasan, and you Peng Yulin, these Han feudal officials in Jiangnan and Huaishang are also characters who can accept Western affairs, and they are also the backbone of Prince Gong's Westernization faction. After twenty or thirty years of foreign affairs, you have a foundation in the foreign affairs you have done in various places, and a group of people have become new nobles in various places, and by that time I believe that the wisdom of the people has been opened, and the DPRK and China will launch this new policy and constitutionalism again, and it will surely be possible. Why doesn't this palace want a new constitution? Once the new policy is really constitutional, it will be returned to the Han people, there will be a cabinet to govern the country, the republic of the five ethnic groups, the royal family will enjoy dignity, and the palace can also be a good place, so why bother with the case every day? It's a pity, the time is not for me, the time is not for me. ”

Peng Yulin's heart was agitated, it seemed that the Queen Mother had already thought it through, instead of reading a few books like herself, and then she thought about it for a few days before she came up with such a strategy, and then bowed down to the ground and said: "The Queen Mother is painstaking and lonely, supporting the crisis alone, and the guilty minister is ashamed." Now I heard that the Queen Mother's long-term plan is indeed for the benefit of the country and the people, and it must be the Queen Mother's early plan to do foreign affairs and open the ban. ”

Xingzhen snorted and said slowly: "People have no long-term worries, they must have near-term worries, this palace has a long talk with you, and tells you everything in my heart, and I will put my heart in your heart." This palace only hopes that you can lift your spirits, and fight to be loyal to me in the Qing Dynasty, so I will go down this road with this palace, Peng Aiqing, can this palace still trust you? ”

Peng Yulin bowed his head and bowed: "Queen Mother, the criminal minister is willing to be loyal to the Queen Mother, but there is a sending, and he will not give up!" ”

Xingzhen paced a few steps and said: "Okay, the palace trusts you, now the foreigners are in a hurry to attack in Jintang, although the previous monk has already obtained the strategy of the palace, but the monk king is a great talent, but the subtleties are only afraid that there will be omissions, and there is still a force in my court surging in secret, the palace has a plan, ready to uproot this force in the court first, this matter has its own six princes?" and the Seventh Prince, Yiyi, to do it, and the monk king's side of the palace wants to send you to lead a new force to come to the aid and support the monk king to hold Jintang. ”

Peng Yulin hurriedly thanked him, Xingzhen sighed lightly and said slowly: "You go and remember, it doesn't matter if Jintang is lost, in the end, it doesn't matter if the palace is a decisive battle with foreigners in the capital, all in all, even if I fight the elite of the capital in this battle, I will not succumb to the foreigners!" As for the Taiping side, let's treat it as if nothing has happened, they will stop fighting if they love a truce, and if they love to fight, they will fight, and this palace would rather die standing than live on its knees! (To be continued......)