Li Zhangtong was very annoyed when he learned that the minister of the Qin Mission, Yin Zongtang, strongly opposed his approach, and resolutely could not let the "Jingchu Group Army" pursue the rebels, otherwise it would trigger a war between China and the Rus, so he bought off the eunuchs in the imperial study.

As a result, the joint recital between Yin Zongtang and Gong Jichang was suppressed by the eunuch who presented the recital, and he did not get a reply from the Military Aircraft Department for a long time, and Lala's did not know about it at all.

After waiting for half a month, Yin Zongtang couldn't sit still, he discussed with Gong Jichang and others, and asked to enter Beijing immediately to face the saint.

Some ministers of the Qing and Heguo countries are blind to the strategic significance of Xinjiang and have been obstructing it. The budget for the entire Xinjiang pacification was 10 million taels, and the household department gave 2 million taels of silver to the Western Expeditionary Army (with the Chu army as the main body), and the other counties contributed 3 million taels of silver, and the remaining 5 million were raised by General Yin Zongtang.

Li Zhangtong, the lord of Zhongtang, believed that Xinjiang was a barren land and not worth recovering it, blindly emphasizing coastal defense, abandoning blockade defense, and planning to give up thousands of miles of Xinjiang to the Rus' people.

"Gong Junmen, General Liu, we can't retreat now, we can't advance, there are a lot of bad people in the court." Yin Zongtang sighed.

Gong Jichang held down the Lock Dragon Divine Sword and was indignant: "Li Zhangtong, this bad old man, Xinjiang is a rich land, and mineral resources are everywhere, how can you say don't want it?" I think he was kicked in the brain by a donkey, and I really want to kill him with a knife! Otherwise, I would have taken a trip to Kyoto to meet the Empress Dowager in person and ask the Empress Dowager to continue to allocate silver taels to support our military operations in the later period of Xinjiang. ”

"Gong Junmen, the Queen Mother is not what you want to see, it's better to think carefully." Yin Zongtang said.

"Lord He, you don't have to worry about this, I don't know how to talk about it, but I have a great relationship with the Empress Dowager Xiaochen to recover southern Xinjiang. What was the Queen Mother's attitude towards the Western Expedition? Gong Jichang asked.

"At first, I was very supportive of fighting the rebels, but now I can't figure out why the war is suddenly stopped in the middle of the war. Someone stabbed in the back! Xu Zongtang said.

"Except for Li Zhangtong, no one should disregard the national righteousness and national dignity so much. How could Lord Zeng Fan recommend such an unprincipled person? Liu Jingtang said.

"Yes, Master Zeng is looking away. Li Zhangtong blindly compromised and retreated on foreign issues, and with a stroke of his pen, more than 400,000 square kilometers of Xinjiang were cut off. This bastard! Gong Jichang said.

"When the "Kyoto Treaty" was signed, Li Zhangtong was still exterminating the Blue Wolf Army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and it had nothing to do with Li Zhangtong." Yin Zongtang said that on this issue, he still understands Li Zhangtong's merits and demerits, and will not buckle his hat indiscriminately.

"By the way, I forgot that the Minister of Peace of the Kyoto Treaty was the devil Liuyixin." Gong Jichang smiled.

"The devil has assigned a total of more than 1.5 million territories in northern China to Urros, and he is not worthy of being the prince of the Ferro family! Li Zhangtong and Devil Six are not good things, they are all soft bones, they dare not fart in front of the Ouxi people, they are servile, and they will continue to betray the interests of the country in the future. Liu Jingtang slammed his fist on the table, "Seeing that the victory of recovering Xinjiang was in sight, Li Zhangtong jumped out again to make trouble, and I shot him in the head!" ”

"Brother Jingtang, why are you more impulsive than me. Li Zhangtong is also an important minister of the imperial court, and killing him will not solve the fundamental problem. Gong Jichang said with a smile.

"Gong Junmen, I heard that the Ouxi people are open-minded, and the state system adopted is a constitutional monarchy, which is more advanced than ours, although the emperor is ****, but he has to accept the supervision of the people's representatives, and has no real real power. Compared to our absolute monarchy, I don't know how much better. Liu Jingtang said.

"I don't understand these things, whether it's a constitutional monarchy or an absolute monarchy, the monarch hasn't been abolished anyway." Gong Jichang smiled slightly, "It seems that there is a man named Karl Marx in Prussia, and what kind of scientific communism did he found?" ”

"When?" Liu Jingtang frowned.

"It's been 30 years...... "Xu Zongtang picked up the conversation and told the story of the revolution in the commune.

…… In the first month of the 10th year of the celebration (1871 in the Western calendar), the Franco-French people opposed the occupation of Barri by the Prussian army, and under the guidance of Marxism, the Franco-French Commune Revolution broke out.

The workers and peasants of Barri, who had a high level of consciousness, formed an alliance of workers and peasants to implement the dictatorship of the proletariat, which lasted for more than two months, and in May of the same year, the reactionary troops such as Ti Yeer colluded with the Prussian army, and in May of the same year, they brutally suppressed the revolution of the Bari Commune, which is known as the "May Bloody Week......

"Lord Yin, what does the Workers' and Peasants' Alliance mean?" Gong Jichang asked.

"I am also not very familiar with the political form in France, and the workers' and peasants' alliance should be a joint government of workers and peasants to manage the affairs of the state." Yin Zongtang explained, "The old man just doesn't understand that the territory of our Qinghe Empire is more than thirty times that of Faranxi, and he dares to provoke us? ”

"The military and economic strength of the French are stronger than ours, which is why they have repeatedly attacked us...... Hey, let's not talk about the Ouxi people, let's get rid of Xinjiang first. Who is more appropriate to go to Beijing this time? Gong Jichang asked.

"Gong Junmen, Liu heard that you and the current Queen Mother had an indissoluble relationship, and it is most appropriate for you to go." Liu Jingtang said.

"That's all there is to it. General Yin Zongtang is old, so I will reluctantly make it difficult. Gong Jichang nodded slightly.

……

Gong Jichang returned to Beijing from Xinjiang and rode to Chongwenmen, and the little eunuchs begged for a reward, because it had become an unwritten rule to ask for tolls before, so after seeing Gong Jichang, the little eunuch stopped him: "Gong Junmen, if you want to pass Chongwenmen, you need tolls." ”

"Tolls? How much do you have to give? Gong Jichang asked.

"You are a first-class admiral, and according to your official title, you have to pay 40,000 taels of tolls." The eunuch Hai Ming for the head smiled.

"What? Forty thousand taels! Gong Jichang was stunned. Although Gong Jichang is a feudal official, he is very honest and thrifty, and the silver he got in Guimao County was basically used for righteous deeds, and there was no extra silver on his body.

"Gonggong Hai, you're not kidding, General Ben has entered this Chongwen Gate, and he has to pay for the toll. How daring! Do you think Kyoto is a den of bandits? Gong Jichang jumped off his horse and drew his musket.

"Gong Junmen, where did you say this, it's not easy for us to stand guard here. If you don't pay today, we won't let you in. Hemming threatened.

"Father-in-law Hai, when General Ben returned from Xinjiang, he brought some coils, and they were all used up. My Dragon Locking Sword is worth 40,000 taels of silver, so I will press it here first, and I will use it as a toll, how about it? After Gong Jichang finished speaking, he untied the sword at his waist.

Hai Ming took the Lock Dragon Divine Sword, looked at it over and over for a long time, couldn't put it down, and said with a sneer: "Lord Gong, your sword is worth at most 3,000 taels of silver, which is not enough for tolls." ”

Gong Jichang snatched the sword and glared at Haiming: "It's not enough, isn't it?" Then I'll take it back! ”

"My lord, as long as you give enough money, we will let you go immediately." The other little eunuch laughed.

"General Ben only has 20 taels of silver in his hand, do you want it?" Gong Jichang was forced to find out the only silver taels on his body.

"My lord, you see that there are four or five of us, and we divide twenty taels of silver equally, which is not enough to eat one egg......" Heming insisted on not compromising.

"There's no money, I'm not going in! Let's go back to the Northwest and the West! Gong Jichang turned his horse and was about to leave.

When Hai Ming saw Jichang's posture, he couldn't bear it, so he hurriedly compromised, returned the silver two to Gong Jichang, and smiled all over his face: "My lord, we will obey you, we don't want this silver tael, so as not to be charged with blackmail......

So, Gong Jichang didn't give a son, so he rode into Chongwenmen.

It is precisely because of such heroic toughness that the little eunuch will never ask Gong Jichang for tolls in the future. However, this also directly led to the fact that an iron backbone like him could not coexist with the corrupt imperial court, especially Li Zhangtong's Huai officials.

After Gong Jichang entered Beijing, he was personally received by the Empress Dowager Dong, he talked about the high spirits of his previous youth, and then looked back, he was already a gray-haired old man, because in ancient times, it was good for a man to live past fifty years old.

As the Empress Dowager of the East, Ci'an couldn't help crying, and when she saw Gong Jichang's tearful eyes under the encroachment of the desert wind and sand, she even rewarded him with the sunglasses of the first emperor.

What's even more shocking is that after Lala's illness recovered, he met Gong Jichang, and directly gave Jiang Cairen around him to Gong Jichang on the spot, and Jiang Cairen, who was only 15 years old, could be Gong Jichang's little granddaughter.

Subsequently, Lala prepared a bottle of Louis XVI and some delicacies for Gong Jichang in his bedroom. While eating, the two chatted about the way of health.

Lala warned Gong Jichang that when people reach middle age, their health is not as good as before, and they have experienced the baptism of various years, and there are gains and losses in life. In the face of all kinds of pressure, no matter what kind of big things happen, you have to bear it.

When people reach middle age, the most important thing is to pay attention to their physical health, maintain a healthy and regular lifestyle, balanced nutrition, light diet, maintain a comfortable mood, smile at life, exercise moderately, and ensure adequate sleep. When people reach middle age, they must remember not to sleep three times and not to go to three places.

"What does it mean not to sleep three times?" Gong Jichang put down the goblet.

Lala held his forehead, which was not wrinkled at all: "I haven't slept until I was a child." If you don't sleep after childhood, the quality of sleep cannot be guaranteed, and the worse your physical condition will be. Don't sleep too much. Don't go to bed more than nine o'clock in the morning, otherwise your head will hurt when you wake up. Don't sleep with worries, it will disrupt the quality of sleep, and over time it will lead to nerve problems and even depression......"

"What about not going to three places?" Gong Jichang asked.

"Don't go to the place of gambling, don't go to the land of wind and snow, don't go to the land of right and wrong." Lala took the wine bottle and poured Gong Jichang half a glass of red wine.