readx; Chapter 471: The Tumbler and the Tinker

Although he was played by so many people, Li Hongzhang, who was standing in front of Wenchen at the moment, did not have the slightest panic on his face. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info still has his eyes down, his eyes look at his nose, his nose looks at his heart, and he is motionless, after half a century of ups and downs in the court, officialdom is overturned, but Li Hongzhang is still standing, and naturally has his way of being an official.

The reason why he insisted on peace at the beginning was not that he really wanted to negotiate with the French, but now he was sitting behind the bead curtain, and the person in power behind the Qing Dynasty did not want to fight, he just figured out his intentions and then said it.

And this ability to figure out the intention is also the root of Li Hongzhang's call to be a "court tumbler".

"Li Hongzhang, do you have anything to say?" Sure enough, not long after, a feminine voice with inexplicable majesty came from behind the bead curtain.

Hearing this, Li Hongzhang's eyes widened, strode out of the queue, bowed down and said: "Empress Dowager Qi, the reason why the minister made peace with the legal person in the first place and avoided the war was really forced to be helpless. Although Guy regained the territory of the Qing Dynasty from the Russians and greatly increased the prestige of the Qing Dynasty, the protracted war depleted the silver money and grain stored in the national treasury. ”

"In July last year, the Yellow River overflowed, affecting 18 prefectures and counties in five provinces, including Shaanzhou, Xin'an, Mianchi, Wuzhi, Zhengzhou, and Xingze, destroying more than 200,000 houses and affecting 1.5 million people.

"At the beginning of spring this year, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Changzhou, and other 12 prefectures and counties in Jiangsu and Zhejiang have not yet rained, and seeing that the drought has become a trend, the financial and taxation areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang will be hit hard, and the reduction of annual revenue is a foregone conclusion, and disaster relief is also an urgent matter, but the treasury is empty, and there is no silver to adjust! Jiangsu and Zhejiang are unstable, so how can they use swords and soldiers to the outside world. ”

"The ministers are in charge of the military, and they know that 'the soldiers and horses go first before the grain and grass are moved'. Now there is neither silver nor sufficient food, the minister is naturally opposed to war with the legal person, not the villain said that he is afraid of war and seeks peace, please let the Queen Mother know!"

After finishing speaking, Li Hongzhang bowed to the end, his expression extremely respectful.

"The Empress Dowager, what Master Li said is very true. There is a disaster in the Qing Dynasty now, and the military resources are not blocked, so we really shouldn't use force with legal persons!" Prince Gong, Minister of Military Aircraft, also echoed loudly.

As an old minister of the Xianfeng, Tongzhi, and Guangxu dynasties, and the head of the Westernization Movement, Prince Gong has a very high status above the court. He spoke for Li Hongzhang, and naturally brought out a large number of officials from the Li family and Prince Gong's family to exonerate Li Hongzhang.

At that moment, the courtiers who supported Li Hongzhang and those who were bent on moving to Li Hongzhang to replace him quarreled in this righteous and bright palace.

"Queen Mother, Li Hongzhang is cunning and fickle, the Queen Mother can't be gullible!"

"Fart, Lord Li is loyal to the country. Only a minister like you will tell right and wrong all day long, talk about misleading the country, and you really deserve to be killed!"

"You are talking nonsense, Li Hongzhang colluded with a legal person and betrayed my territory of the Qing Dynasty, he should be disgraced and dismissed and sentenced to death!"

......

"Alright, don't make any noise!" said from behind the beaded curtain. The court that made the boiling sky immediately return to calm.

"You are also my prince of the Qing Dynasty, Baylor, the minister of military aircraft and the scholar, a supreme minister, and a model for all the people in the world. But now look at your appearance, what is the difference between you and a bunch of shrews on the street. Don't think about the enemy's strategy, but for your own selfish interests, the face of the Qing Dynasty has been lost by you!"

"The ministers are guilty!"

As soon as the Empress Dowager Cixi's words fell, she 'banged'. The court was already full of ministers kneeling on the ground.

"Alright, get up!" After a few minutes of silence, the voice behind the bead curtain came out again.

"Empress Dowager Xie!" Hearing this, the officials' hearts were relieved. Hurriedly stood up, tidied up his court clothes, and stood up.

"The legal person is rude, offending our subordinate country Vietnam, and attacking my righteous army of the Qing Dynasty, which is really hateful!

"The minister is here!"

"As the head of the Military Aircraft Department, do you have a strategy to deal with the enemy?"

Hearing this, Prince Gong didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly said: "Empress Dowager Qiyu, there are few legal people, so you can let Guangxi Governor Su Yuanchun lead the troops to defend Vietnam and prevent the legal person from attacking!

"Well, let's do it!" Cixi behind the bead curtain nodded after a little silence.

"Li Aiqing!"

"The minister is here!" Hearing this, Li Hongzhang hurriedly lowered his head and responded.

"The mourning family heard that the warships you purchased for the imperial court from the foreigners have all returned, right?"

Hearing this, Li Hongzhang's heart tightened, the Beiyang Sailor was his lifeblood.

"Empress Dowager Qiyu, the two ships of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan have now returned to China and are assigned to the Beiyang Naval Division to protect the safety of the Beijing Division. Although he didn't know what Cixi was paying attention to, Li Hongzhang still replied respectfully.

"Hmm!"

After a half-silence, Cixi's feminine voice sounded again in the Jinluan Palace, "Last year, the rebels in the Nanyang took our Taiwan-Bay and Hai-Nan two islands, because their navy was very large, and our Qing Dynasty did not care about it. ”

Hearing this, Li Hongzhang, who was standing with his head down, frowned secretly, although the Beiyang Naval Division has repeatedly added new ships in recent years, it is still inferior to the Chinese People's Army Naval Fleet in Nanyang, which has experienced a hundred battles. Whether it is the total tonnage of the fleet or the actual combat experience, the Beiyang Naval Division is too far behind others.

Even if all the warships of the Qing Dynasty are counted, they are not the opponents of the Chinese People's Army and the Nanyang Fleet.

However, although Li Hongzhang knew this, he couldn't tell the truth, unless he didn't want the official position of Beiyang Minister and Governor of Zhili.

In addition to these reasons, who is the secret controller of the Chinese People's Army, Li Hongzhang knows in his heart that this is a back road he left for the Li family, and he does not want to offend.

"Empress Dowager Qi, the two ships of Ding and Zhen have indeed returned to China, and Weichen is willing to go out for the country and recapture Taiwan-Bay and Hai-Nan Island from the hands of the Nanyang traitors. ”

After first expressing his determination to be loyal to the Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang changed his tone, "However, now I, the Qing Dynasty, have fought with the legal person in Vietnam. However, the Far East Fleet of the legal person is strong, and in order to prevent the recurrence of the old incident in the Bingchen year, the ministers thought that the Beiyang Naval Division should focus on the safety of the Beijing Division, and it was really not appropriate to provoke the Nanyang rebels. ”

After listening to Li Hongzhang's words, there was no sound behind the bead curtain, and no one in the court dared to speak at this time.

They all know that the so-called Bingchen New Year in Li Hongzhang's mouth is the second Opium War that occurred in 1856, when Britain and France jointly invaded, broke through the capital, burned down the famous royal garden "Old Summer Palace", which is known as the "Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens", and left after wreaking havoc. The feeling is also very profound. They also deeply agree with Li Hongzhang's words.

"Li Aiqing's words for the country, the mourning family understands, so let's do it according to Li Aiqing's wishes!"

"Your Honor!"

"Okay, the mourning family is tired, if there is something to do, let's retreat if there is nothing to do!"

And at this moment, a middle-aged official with slightly chubby cheeks and two mustaches under his nose said loudly: "Qi Song Empress Dowager, Zhou Guigui, the left deputy capital of Chenjiang South Province, has a book to play!"

"Say it!"

"Yes, Queen Mother!"

"The minister reported Wu Shidi, the governor of Jiangsu, for ignoring the grace of the saints, as an official, and did not think of reporting to the king's grace and reassuring the people, resulting in many people in Jiangsu who were attached to the Nanyang rebels. The minister implores the Empress Dowager to issue a decree to remove Wu Shidi from the post of governor of Jiangsu, so as to prove the majesty of the laws of the Qing Dynasty!"

After listening to his words, Li Hongzhang, who was standing next to him, couldn't help frowning, Liangjiang (Jiangsu-Su, An-Hui, Jiang-Xi) is where he started, and most of the officials here are also from the Huai system, and Wu Shidi, the governor of Jiangsu, is also a cadre of the Huai department.

Although Zhou Guigui, the left deputy envoy of Jiangnan Province, supervised the officials of Jiangsu-Suzhou and An-Hui provinces, corrected the hundred divisions, identified wrongs, and supervised various provinces and should be unjust and lawless, as well as acting as the eyes and ears of the Son of Heaven, Li Hongzhang knew in his heart that the reason why this person was saying this at this time was actually for him.

"Zhou Guigui, what you said is true?" Cixi's anger could already be heard in her tone.

The empress dowager, who once said that "I would rather be with a foreigner than a domestic slave" and was infamous for a hundred years, was far more vigilant against Nanyang Chinese of the same language and race than Europeans with huge cultural differences.

"Empress Dowager Qi, what Wei Chen said is true, if there is half a lie, Wei Chen is willing to die under the knife!" After glancing at Li Hongzhang covertly, Zhou Guigui hurriedly assured in a loud voice.

As soon as Zhou Guigui's words fell, Li Hongzhang said loudly: "Start the Queen Mother, the minister Li Hongzhang has a plan to play!"

"You say?"

"Empress Dowager Xie...... After the prosperity of the Kangqian Dynasty, there were more and more people in the Qing Dynasty, and there were 40,000 people so far. The Jiangnan area is even more densely populated. However, the provinces south of the Yangtze River are mountainous and have little land, and land annexation is flourishing. As a result, the poor have no place to stand, and the number of displaced people is increasing day by day. So that there is a long-haired rebellion that swept half of the country in the Xinhai year. ”

"Now more than 20 years have passed after the pacification of the long-haired rebellion, the south of the Yangtze River is prosperous, the wind of land annexation is back to the past, and there are more and more displaced people. And those who belong to the short-haired are mostly homeless. ”

"For the sake of the Qing Dynasty, Wei Chen secretly thinks that the displaced people should be dismissed overseas, so that the short hair will not grow stronger because of this, this is a good strategy to protect the safety of my Qing Dynasty!"

"Therefore, Wu Shidi, the governor of Jiangsu, not only has no fault, but has merit!

After Li Hongzhang's voice fell, Prince Gong also hurriedly said beside him: "Empress Dowager, Weichen secretly thinks that what Master Li said is very true. The number of displaced people is increasing, and chaos will arise for a long time. When civil strife occurs, it will shake the country's foundation. ”

"And I have 40,000,000 people in the Qing Dynasty, and there is really no shortage of these people. Since they are willing to go to the South Seas, it is better to simply lift the sea ban and let these people who have nothing to do waste the money and food of the South China Sea traitors and slow down their development. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point () to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to M. to read. )9