Chapter 332: Preview of Usurping the Throne
Chapter 332: Preview of Usurping the Throne
In the capital, Hanjiatan Hutong, the Qing Yuanchun Qingyin Group.
The young emperor Aixinjuelu Zaichun and Duolo Beile Aixinjuelu Zaicheng, who were on a secret visit, walked out in black night clothes and swaggered.
The old man chased out of the door and said, "Um - two gentlemen, you haven't paid the reward yet."
Zai Cheng glared at us, "Do you know who we are? How dare you ask us for money?"
The two young masters were of extraordinary bearing, and there were several eunuchs following behind them. It was obvious at first glance that they were not to be trifled with. That was why the old man was so polite, otherwise he would have been caught and beaten half to death if he dared to take advantage of them for free.
Seeing that Mr. Gui was in a dilemma, the little emperor waved his hand and said, "Not bad, not bad. The girls here are proficient in playing the piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, reciting poems and composing couplets. They have bright eyes and affectionate smiles. They deserve to be appreciated."
The emperor said he would give a reward, but he would not take money out of his pocket. "Bring me paper and pen!"
The little emperor picked up his pen and wrote, "A reward of fifty thousand."
Without signing his name, he left with Zaicheng.
Oh, this young man is very generous. Qing Yuanchun's price here is 10,000 yuan for reward, 2,400 yuan in advance, and 8,000 yuan in reward. This young man made a move and directly got five times the reward. He became rich.
But there was no signature, and the old man chased after him and shouted, "Where are you going to get the reward?"
"The Ministry of Internal Affairs!"
The little emperor was very satisfied with the stroll, "Zaicheng, what is the teahouse over there?"
Zai Cheng understood, "Master, here in the Eight Great Hutongs, Qing Yuanchun's Qingyin Xiaoban is first-class, teahouses are second-class, and ordinary brothels in the future are third-class, and half-closed doors are the worst."
"Let's just visit the best ones. There's nothing to see in the inferior ones. I'll take you to the opera, my lord."
The little emperor shook his hand and said, "I'm tired of listening to operas in the palace. I won't go."
"Master, watching opera in the Eight Great Hutongs is different from the palace. The female roles here are elegant and graceful, and you can pay to order them. Those rabbit husbands are better at flattering than women..."
"Really? Let's go and take a look."
…………
In the Forbidden City, in the West Warm Pavilion, the chief eunuch An Dehai rushed in, "Old Buddha, something has happened."
"What's the rush?"
"My Lord, the Qing Yuanchun group from Hanjiatan Hutong went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to collect the debt, and they asked for five thousand coins."
"The Ministry of Internal Affairs owes money, so just pay them. Did they not pay during a party? Do we still need money from outside?"
"But look at this IOU—"
Cixi knew Tongzhi's handwriting, of course. She was furious after reading it and wanted to ask someone to call her son back to teach him a lesson. Suddenly, her heart softened and she said, "Alas, ever since Shao Quanzhong was named Prince Rui, this child has been unhappy. I feel very sorry for him. Let the Ministry of Internal Affairs settle the account."
"Well! But, Lord Buddha, don't you think it's not good for the emperor to always go to places like that?"
Cixi nodded and said, "It's time to find a wife for him to marry and let him settle down. Give orders to invite the eligible bannermen to the palace for selection tomorrow."
When he heard that the emperor was going to get married, he knew that he had to spend a lot of money. Thinking of the money, An Dehai felt itchy in his heart, "Old Buddha, the emperor's wedding must be a grand one. Let me go to Jiangnan to buy some dragon robes and festive items for the emperor's wedding."
"Go ahead. I don't feel comfortable with other people going there."
…………
August 2, the eighth year of the Tongzhi reign, Jinan.
The new Shandong governor Ding Baozhen was inspecting the Shandong Machinery Bureau. He relied on his encounter with Shao Quanzhong, who had just returned from the Japanese expedition, when he was in charge of the shipbuilding department in Fuzhou, and asked for a lot of aid from Taiwan and the United States.
The Shandong Machinery Bureau is thriving and has the look of a modern factory.
"Reporting to the Governor, Wang Xin, the governor of Dezhou, called."
Ding Baozhen received the telegram and said, "The Sixth-rank Blue Feather Eunuch An Dehai claimed that he was going to Jiangnan to buy things for the emperor's wedding. He passed by Dezhou and extorted a lot of money."
"He also brought along Ma Saihua, a female dan from the Anhui troupe, who was called 'Nine Years Old Red'. They paraded through the streets and attracted a lot of attention."
"He has neither a clear decree from the Grand Council nor a warrant from the Ministry of War. Eunuchs below the fourth rank have left the palace without permission, which is a serious violation of ancestral rules. I request his arrest."
Ding Baozhen was furious. "This court has long been disgusted with An Dehai's behavior. His colleagues all say that he takes money but does not do anything, and is greedy. Today he has committed an offense in our hands. I will not tolerate him. I will arrest him and escort him to Jinan!"
"Sir, An Dehai is a close confidant of the old Buddha and has a close relationship with Prince Rui. You see--"
Ding Baozhen glared, "He broke the law. It is in accordance with the rules of the Qing Dynasty for this court to arrest him. Do the old Buddha and Prince Rui dare to violate the law to protect him? Arrest him!"
Five days later, An Dehai was taken to Jinan.
Seeing Ding Baozhen interrogating him, An Dehai jumped up and cursed, "I am a close friend of the old Buddha, and I have the support of Prince Rui. If you dare to arrest me, old man, the Prince Rui's soldiers will immediately chop your head off as soon as they arrive!"
Ding Baozhen didn't dare to offend Shao Quanzhong. He thought for a while and said, "Master, please submit a memorial to the Military Affairs Office to ask for instructions on how to deal with this eunuch who broke the law." Humph, I don't believe that the Military Affairs Office dares to openly protect the eunuch who broke the law in front of the whole world. Shao Quanzhong's anger was left to his godfather.
"Reporting to the governor, Duoluo Beile Zaicheng is visiting."
Although Zaicheng was young, his surname was Aisin-Gioro, and Duoluo Beile was a title second only to the prince. Ding Baozhen hurried out to greet him, "My Lord Beile, you are here. What can I do for you?"
"Ding Baozhen is listening."
Ding Baozhen knelt down quickly, and a large group of people knelt down behind him.
"My dear minister, you did a great job in catching An Dehai. Kill this daring servant for me, and I will promote you."
Ahem, this kind of imperial edict has not appeared in my Qing Dynasty for a long time. Going back to the Yongzheng period, there were the most such imperial edicts, all of which were issued by the emperor himself.
Later, Qianlong boasted about his literary talent, and from then on, the imperial edicts were drafted by the Hanlin Academy, which were difficult for ordinary people to understand. The imperial edicts from the Grand Council were not written in the same tone.
When Ding Baozhen took the imperial edict, he knew that it was a private order issued by the young emperor without the approval of the Empress Dowager and the Military Affairs Council. He sent Zaicheng, his confidant, to deliver the order urgently, which showed that he hated An Dehai.
Ding Baozhen rolled his eyes and said, "The imperial edict is also an imperial edict. It's right for me to obey it anyway."
I have already gotten into trouble by arresting An Dehai. If the Military Affairs Office is afraid of Shao Quanzhong and tries to smooth things over, this guy will definitely say bad things about me every day when he returns to the Empress Dowager. It is better to go all out. Anyway, the little emperor will take the blame, so you can fight.
"Come here, obey the imperial decree, and execute An Dehai immediately!"
…………
Ding Baozhen's killing of An Dehai caused a huge uproar and shocked the whole government and the public.
Prince Chun Yihuan ran into the West Warm Pavilion to ask for an audience.
"My Lord, my Lord, Ding Baozhen has killed An Dehai. This has caused a big disaster."
Cixi already knew about this. An Dehai had asked her permission to leave the palace, but An was too powerful to bother going to the Grand Council and the Ministry of War to go through the formalities of leaving Beijing, thinking that no one would dare to touch him. However, he happened to meet Ding Baozhen, who was a traitor.
She was originally very angry about the young emperor's order to kill An Dehai, but after weighing the pros and cons for a long time, she decided that her son was much more important than a slave, so she just killed him.
Cixi immediately promoted Li Lianying, the deputy chief steward of the internal affairs, to be her personal eunuch, and also made an exception and promoted him to the fourth-rank chief steward.
After being promoted to the fourth rank, it would not be illegal for Li Lianying to leave the capital, so he would be safe from the risk of accidentally running into someone like Ding Baozhen who was a stickler for details.
Ahem, An Dehai is spoiled and arrogant, not knowing that in the eyes of his masters, he is not that important.
Yihuan didn't care about Li Lianying's affairs. "Your Majesty, Shao Quanzhong gave An Dehai the title of 'Mergentaiqing'. An Dehai has made great contributions. What if Shao Quanzhong is dissatisfied?"
Cixi blushed and said, "You all know that An Dehai introduced me to Shao Quanzhong, right?"
"Prince Rui has always been loyal to the court and knows the greater good. He shouldn't get angry about this. Let's wait and see."
…………
Guangzhou, Changzhou Island immigrant camp.
Shao Quanzhong was not training his troops in Beijiaochang, but came here to inspect Deng Shichang's escort fleet.
Deng Shichang led a part of the Nanyang Navy and joined the South China Sea Fleet led by Xu Bangdao stationed on Natuna Island to jointly escort Du Wenxiu's group of immigrants to Chittagong. The first batch of 60,000 people had already been sent back.
"report!"
Isabel came over and said, "Concubine Ping'er brought the Huiban Troupe and the newly established song and dance troupe to Guangzhou to entertain the troops and invited you, Shao, to go and listen to the opera and observe it."
Huiban? Visiting the troops? What the hell is Ping'er doing? I'll go check it out.
"report!"
A guard came running over, panting. "The Intelligence Department called from Texas. An Dehai was killed."
Shao Quanzhong took the intelligence and sighed after reading it. "An Dehai is courting death. However, Ding Baozhen is too disrespectful to me. He killed people without informing me. This won't do. Isabel! Draft a memorial to impeach Ding Baozhen."
As soon as the prince's memorial was submitted, Ding Baozhen was immediately suspended from his post and awaited investigation.
Shao Quanzhong did not mention whether An Dehai should be killed or not. He impeached Ding Baozhen for killing people without the approval of the Grand Council and using the imperial edict which had no legal effect, which violated the Qing system.
A day later, news came from the capital that Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang jointly submitted a memorial to protect Ding Baozhen, saying that An Dehai had committed a crime, and even without an imperial edict, it was legal for Ding Baozhen to kill him.
Wow, the three old warlords, the Hunan Army, the Chu Army, and the Shanghai Army, are joining forces to attack the Huai Army. Lao Zeng, didn't the Hunan and Huai Army merge? Why are you running over there again? Did they change their minds after seeing that I didn't want to rebel?
Master Shao couldn't lose face. "Fuck you, I came to Guangdong and Guangxi, and you thought everything was peaceful. You want to test whether Shao, the Prince of Rui, is still okay, and see if I dare to touch you, right? Just try it!"
"Come here! Let the South China Sea Fleet escort the next batch of immigrants. Liao Rong, you lead the Nanyang Fleet to Dagukou. The name is to conduct joint exercises with the Beiyang Fleet stationed at the Sasebo base and invite the emperor to Dagukou to review the fleet."
"Telegram to Dong Jun of Fengtai Camp and Jin Shun, the governor of Jiumen, that I will send three battalions of the Imperial Guard Brigade to Beijing to escort the emperor to Dagukou for the fleet review. Ask them to cooperate."
"Send a telegram to Hai Qing tomorrow and ask him to take the eunuch Ji Yong and his imperial guards to prepare to escort the emperor out of the capital. Send a telegram to Tong Lin tomorrow and ask him to protect his younger brother and prepare to supervise the country while the emperor is out of the capital."
At Shao Quanzhong's command, three battalions of the Guards Brigade boarded the ship. The Nanyang Fleet set sail and headed for Dagukou.
(End of this chapter)