In Zuo Zongtang's separate study next to the Political Affairs Courtyard of the West Palace, Xiao Yungui saw Zuo Zongtang who was handling official business. There are three courtyards in and three out of the Xiwangfu Political Affairs Courtyard, a total of more than 100 houses, the two phases of the Xiwangfu and the thirty-six divisions of the office are all here, and Zuo Zongtang's Zuo Xiang's study is on the left side of the political courtyard in the center.

At the beginning of the new policy, Xiao Yungui set up all the ministries and departments in order to facilitate the office of various ministries and departments. With the deepening of the new policy, the functions of various ministries and departments have become more and more perfect, and the number of officials has increased, the Xiwangfu Political Affairs Yuan has gradually begun to be unable to accommodate so many ministry and department personnel. At the beginning of Jiayin, Zuo Zongtang suggested that Xiao Yungui should move all the ministries out of the Xiwang Mansion and set up separate yamen for each ministry in the left of the Xiwang Mansion. Xiao Yungui also saw that with the expansion of the Xiwang Mansion, his Xiwang Mansion could no longer accommodate so many departments, so he agreed to Zuo Zongtang's suggestion. Now the six yamen are under construction, and after the completion of the end of the year, the ministries will gradually move out of the Xiwang Mansion to work.

Zuo Zongtang looked at Xiao Yungui's unfortunate face, and knew that in Suzhou, except for the Flower of Peace, he would not think about it as a second person. It is no secret that the Xiwang couple often quarrel in the Xiwang Mansion, and Zuo Zongtang is not good at doing the peace of the three aunts and six women, so he never talks about the affairs of the Xiwang Inner Courtyard, and immediately coughs and says: "Xiwang, I have prepared the charter for this Li Xiucheng, please take a look." ”

After Xiao Yungui took the paperwork handed over by Zuo Zongtang, he came back to his senses slightly, and sat up straight and looked at it carefully. Zuo Zongtang saw that the king of the west had something serious to do, so he swept away the gloomy face just now, and he was quite satisfied, this prince also had a clear distinction between public and private, and was not affected by private property.

After reading the charter, Xiao Yungui said slowly: "Let's do it in general, but Li Xiucheng's brother Li Mingcheng and Li Xiucheng's brother-in-law Song Yongqi have to do it again." These two people blatantly violated the new policy system of equalizing land, forcibly seized nearly 50,000 acres of land, and fabricated false testimony to frame local good families and big families for colluding with demons, and after killing more than 100 members of the family, they were really lawless, and they were only sentenced to a light hanging, and they were taken to light the sky lantern outside the ancestral hall of the clan! It's not an exaggeration for these two to light a sky lantern a hundred times! ”

Zuo Zongtang nodded and said: "Originally, my subordinates also meant this, but then I thought that Li Xiucheng has always been a person who is still useful to the King of the West, and Li Xiucheng has a lot of relatives and confidants this time, and he is afraid that Li Xiucheng will not look good on his face if he is too heavy." ”

Xiao Yungui snorted. Furious, he shouted, "What is this called? Is his Li Xiucheng's face bigger than the New Deal Law? There is no human face here in this king. There is only the law! Seeing Zuo Zongtang change color slightly, Xiao Yungui suppressed his anger and said gently: "Zuo Xiang, I remember that when I met you back then, you were a master who was not afraid of heaven and earth. Why is it that the official has become bigger now, but his courage has become smaller? ”

Zuo Zongtang bowed slightly and said: "I was depressed when I tried many times back then. Now that I am in a high position, I know that it is cold in high places. We should be cautious in everything we say and do, and we can't be nonsense by our own temperament, otherwise the difference in writing may hurt the people, and our subordinates are becoming more and more careful. ”

Xiao Yungui smiled when he heard this, stood up and saluted Zuo Zongtang, just when Zuo Zongtang was surprised. Xiao Yungui continued: "This king apologized to Zuo Xiang, just now this king was in a bad mood, so he said angrily to Zuo Xiang, is it this king's." Please leave the left and go to your heart. ”

Zuo Zongtang breathed a sigh of relief, it turned out that the West King was angry with him just now because he was angry with that person, and he smiled bitterly at the moment: "The West King is the welfare of the world, and the burden is also heavy, and some anger is common, so it's good to send it out." ”

Xiao Yungui smiled and said: "Zuo Xiang's sentence can no longer be made by his own temperament, it is exactly for this king, and this king will not affect political affairs because of his emotions in the future." After pacing Xiao Yungui for two steps, he continued: "The worry that Zuo Xiang said just now has also been thought about by this king, but Li Xiucheng's case is the first big case after our Sufu New Deal, although Li Xiucheng did not participate in it, but his relatives and confidants all relied on his strength to dare to act so nonsense." When this king saw the materials reported by Bai Zetang, this king also hesitated, and this king also wondered if Bai Zetang had made a mistake. But then the Intelligence Department and the Supervision Department found the same materials, and people had already come to Suzhou to complain, so the king made this decision. ”

Speaking of this, Xiao Yungui paused, sighed lightly, and said: "One person has attained the Tao, and the chicken and dog have ascended to heaven, our country has been so virtuous for thousands of years, and I always feel that when I have power in my hands, I should seek some personal interests for myself, and I always feel that I have made great contributions, and the country should give more, and if I don't give it, I will take it by myself." This time the king is going to use Li Xiucheng's case to beat the people below, this king wants to let them know that no matter who this king is, he will not show favoritism, and he will do what he wants, even if Li Xiucheng is my first favorite general. ”

Zuo Zongtang hummed and said: "What the King of the West said is very true, the new policy has a difficult start, and it must not be abandoned because someone is seeking personal gains. It's just that when Li Xiucheng is used again in the future, his subordinates are worried that he will have a grudge. ”

Xiao Yungui groaned: "Zuo Xiang, this king's re-handling of Li Mingcheng and Song Yongqi at this time is to protect Li Xiucheng to the greatest extent, although Li Xiucheng is mostly unaware of this case, but when the military and civilians talk about it, they will only say that he Li Xiucheng is not." Only by reorganizing his close confidants can this king keep Li Xiucheng as handsome, and also pave the way for him to be used again in the future. He Li Xiucheng will not be unaware of the hard work of this king, if he can't even think of this, it is not impossible for this king to leave him idle and scattered. ”

Zuo Zongtang smiled slightly: "It turns out that this is the true intention of King Xi, and his subordinates have also thought of it, but I don't know if I guessed it right, so I can only try it like this." Now his subordinates also have to use some tricks to hear the true intentions of the West King, and the Emperor of the West King's imperial mind has really advanced to another level. ”

Xiao Yungui was slightly surprised, why did he have to guess his mind? Do all his subordinates do things according to their own hearts? At that moment, Xiao Yungui said in a deep voice: "Zuo Xiang, this king doesn't want the relationship between our boss and subordinates to become so complicated, since we have taken the lead of the new policy, we will do things according to the rules in the future, don't care about what this king is not interested in." It is also one of our bad habits to see what people in power are willing to do, and power can only be used to limit power, otherwise absolute power will only bring absolute corruption. ”

Zuo Zongtang's eyes lit up and applauded: "Power can only be used to limit power, otherwise absolute power will only bring absolute corruption, this sentence is good." Later, when the case is widely announced, his subordinates will write it into a proclamation to warn the world. Then he stroked his palm and said: "But the king of the west, having said that, but human feelings have existed since ancient times, how can it be reversed overnight?" ”

Xiao Yungui said categorically: "Since this king has opened this head, he will not give up, this king will start from himself, I don't believe that it can't be reversed." ”

Zuo Zongtang stroked his beard and smiled and didn't speak again, Xiao Yungui looked at Zuo Zongtang, and suddenly realized how this old boy was full of red light today. At the moment, he asked: "Prime Minister Zuo seems to be in high spirits today." ”

Zuo Zongtang said with a smile: "My subordinates will go back to the house after handling official business as soon as possible." ”

Xiao Yungui sighed and said: "This king remembered, today Zuo Xiang's family has arrived in Suzhou." ”

When Zuo Zongtang threw himself into peace, he abandoned his wife and home, although it was a last resort, but Zuo Zongtang and his wife have never broken the news. After the Taiping Army defeated Xiangtan, Zuo Zongtang's wife Zhou Yiduan was forced to lead a pair of children and her family to hide in the countryside under pressure from her mother's family. But I didn't expect the Zhou family to live a stable life in the countryside. The Qing army came to extort money from the door, and it was better after the Taiping army came. The wealth of the family has become the treasure of the holy treasury. The Zhou family spent two years under the rule of the Taiping Army. As Zuo Zongtang's reputation in the West Hall became more and more famous, the Zhou family was protected by the name of the West Palace, and they were also quite taken care of by Lai Hanying, the town guard of Changsha.

However, recently Hengyang was lost, and the next Xiangtan became the front line, and the Zhou family was not stable in the countryside. I asked someone to bring a letter to Zuo Zongtang, wanting to bring his family to take refuge. In fact, at this time, the old man Zhou also saw that the Qing court seemed to be worse day by day, and it seemed that it was a matter of time before the dynasty changed, and the old and young masters of the family had their braids cut off. Moreover, the ex-son-in-law is a long-haired official, if the Qing soldiers really fight back, the family must be beheaded, so I remembered Zuo Zongtang again.

Zuo Zongtang was overjoyed after getting the letter from his father-in-law and his wife Zhou Yiduan, and after Xiao Yungui learned about it, he immediately sent a letter to Lai Hanying in Changsha, and sent a team of young guards to answer and escort the Zhou family to Suzhou. I got the news earlier, that is, the Zhou family will go to Suzhou today, so Zuo Zongtang is full of red.

Seeing that this old boy was so happy, Xiao Yungui said a little sourly: "Lao Zuo, don't be too happy, maybe your father-in-law doesn't live in your house, or he still has to set up his own door, and maybe he doesn't plan to recognize you as a son-in-law again." ”

As soon as Zuo Zongtang heard Xiao Yungui call himself Lao Zuo, he knew that he was joking, he and Xiao Yungui were both formal titles when talking about official affairs, and once they laughed in private, Xiao Yungui would call himself Lao Zuo. At that moment, Zuo Zongtang smiled slightly, and he didn't think it was angry, but said: "King Xi still cares about where he sleeps tonight, Zuo will go home to hug his wife and children after handling official business." ”

Xiao Yungui's face turned dark and said, "Why do you just say that I have no place to sleep tonight?" ”

Zuo Zongtang said: "The West King came in with a bad face, who can give you anger except for that one in the huge West Palace?" ”

Xiao Yungui gritted his teeth and said, "Lao Zuo, you are amazing." ”

Zuo Zongtang smiled slightly: "Admit it." "Let's do it myself, go back to the table, and go about my own business.

Xiao Yungui frowned and said, "Lao Zuo, you can help me take a closer look, do you say that this woman will become unreasonable if she is pregnant?" ”

Zuo Zongtang stopped his pen, raised his head slightly and said, "Could it be that they usually reason?" ”

Xiao Yungui was choked by this sentence, Zuo Zongtang smiled and said: "I don't know how other husbands and wives get along, but Zuo and his wife get along with each other by being honest and respectful." Xiwang, you and Xiwangniang are generally strong, maybe Xiwangniang can still let you in major matters, but do you still want to make your own decisions about a woman like Xiwangniang in the subsection? If the king of the west wants to be reconciled with the husband and wife, he should not let it be a big thing and ignore the small sections. Speaking of this, Zuo Zongtang paused and said: "However, it is difficult for Qing officials to cut off family affairs, and the bell must be tied to the bell, and the family affairs of the King of the West Zuo still can't share the worries of the King of the West, and everything has to rely on yourself." ”

Xiao Yungui sighed and said, "Is it a small section that she doesn't let this king take a concubine?" (To be continued......)