Chapter 45 Apologize (2)

As it got darker, Zeng Guofan's official sedan chair was lifted into the mansion. Zeng Jize hurriedly greeted him, "Dad, are you back? Is your son talking to you?"

"Why are you panicking?" Zeng Guofan was full of serious Taoist faces in front of the children. "Shizhao's weapon is aware of the weapon. Only when you know the weapon is aware of the weapon, can you see the true or false? Look at you in a panicked manner, what do you look like?"

Zeng Jize was scolded by his father head-on, and did not dare to refute it. He lowered his head and responded, "Yes, what my father taught me is that my son remembers it."

Zeng Guofan was served by Mrs. Ouyang and calmly changed into casual clothes. Then he called his son in front of him, "What big thing happened?"

"Eunuch Yang from the palace just now came to pass the emperor's handwriting instructions." As he said that, Zeng Jize took out the yellow satin cover and handed it over with both hands.

Zeng Guofan stood up and took it. Zhan looked at it and frowned. He did not expect that the emperor would make a decision so quickly. The words in the imperial edict were very short. Although there were many praises to his son, the meaning revealed between the lines and the imperial edict was issued to the mansion so quickly could be guessed. The emperor must be very unhappy in his heart. The emperor must have achieved such a result, probably because of his years of service and diligence in his work!

Thinking of this, the old man felt ashamed. His answer today was not very clever, but he had to do it for his homework. He only hoped that the emperor could see through his own heart, so he didn't think so? "Dad, dad?"

"Ah, what?"

"What does the emperor mean by this imperial edict?"

Zeng Guofan's eyes turned and stood up, "Change, I want to enter the palace and ask for it."

"Dad, it's dark now, and the palace gate has already set aside. You are entering the palace at this time, and I'm afraid you won't see the emperor even if you go?"

"No." Zeng Guofan shook his head stubbornly, "Dad must go to the palace today!"

Zeng Jize did not dare to disobey his father, so he personally served him to change his clothes, and rode with him in the same sedan chair. He rushed to the palace gate overnight and handed out the sign to get up.

Soon, Sula, who was on duty in the palace, took the green-headed sign he handed in, and they were both old acquaintances, which was actually a blessing. "Mr. Zeng, the emperor has given an order, it's too late. If there is no emergency military service, I will talk about everything after the yamen is opened next year."

"No. Please pass it on to me again, and I will say that Zeng Guofan has a secret matter and must meet the emperor today."

Liufu had no choice but to go again, but the emperor still disappeared. He refused in the name of sleeping late at night. Zeng Guofan knew that the emperor didn't say much on the surface, but he still held a grudge against him for this. If he didn't see him today, he wouldn't know how great a disaster would be in the future! He didn't say much now, gently slapped the horse's sleeves and knelt in front of the palace gate, "Sir, what are you doing?"

"Please ask my father-in-law to return the emperor, just say that the old minister is guilty. He cannot cover up his innocence if he apologizes to the emperor himself. If the emperor refuses to summon him, the old minister will kneel down and cannot stand up!"

Zeng Jize didn't know what was going on, but when he saw his father kneeling in the cold wind, he felt pity, "Dad, what's wrong with you?"

Zeng Guofan ignored him and said to Liufu, "Please work hard for Eunuch Lu, please give me more."

"Okay, that's fine. The elder brother invites you first, I'll go back for you." Zeng Guofan ignored it as usual, and Liufu had to step into the palace quickly and hand over the sign for the third time.

The emperor was talking to the queen. When Liufu came in for the third time, he didn't make a fuss, "Didn't he say it's gone? What are you doing?"

"Emperor, Lord Zeng couldn't stand up in front of the palace gate, saying that if you can't see the emperor today, you would rather die of cold!"

This move was something the emperor did not expect, and his anger increased, "I don't see you, I won't see you, I won't see you, I will kneel down if I want to kneel down, and kneel down to death!"

"Slow!" The queen stopped Liufu, who was going to pass the imperial edict, comforted her husband and asked softly, "Emperor, why is this? Zeng Guofan is an important official of the country. If he is really at fault, the emperor will deal with him. How can he be so humiliated in the cold wind? If he really gets frost sick, the emperor will feel sorry for him, right?"

"If there are so many ministers in the court, I will feel sorry for me if I get sick, then I might as well stop doing anything else! Just crying sympathy for them, I will lose my energy all day long."

"Others are others, Zeng Guofan will be Ling'er's future father-in-law. Even for the sake of his daughter, you have to tolerate it, right?"

The emperor sighed angrily, "Xiu'er, you don't know how inappropriate Zeng Guofan is! When he shouted today..." He said a few words to her, and finally said, "Listen, what else has it been done to threaten me with words?"

The queen was stunned. She didn't expect Zeng Guofan to be so unwise in doing things. But she also felt that this might be just the husband's guess, and it might not be the voice of Zeng. However, if not, why would he have to rush to the palace gate to apologize at this time? I am afraid that what her husband said is the truth! "Your Majesty, since you can see his heart and give an order to reward Zeng Jize for such an errand, it can be seen that you may not be dissatisfied with his words. Since this is the case, why should you be so harsh?"

Seeing that her husband was silent, the queen said again, "You are also a father, won't you consider the children?"

This last sentence finally touched the emperor's heart. As a father, it is a natural matter for his children. From the king to the pawns, no one can escape. "Six blessings are said to Zeng Guofan come in and I will see him in the Western Warehouse."

Liu Fu went to issue the order again, but poor that the chief military officer of a country was frozen and tired, and could not even stand up. Liu Fu and Zeng Jize helped the old man get up and enter the palace. Because they only asked Zeng Guofan to report, Zeng Jize had to wait outside the hall. Seeing his father slowly moving his body into the warm pavilion.

Zeng Guofan entered the hall and knelt down and performed a great ceremony for the monarch and ministers. The emperor rarely allowed him to stand up. He asked in a cold tone, "Zeng Guofan, please get up at night, what big thing is there to report?"

"I am guilty, so I will apologize to the emperor."

"I don't understand this. Now that the country is peaceful, you, Zeng Guofan, have you been around me for a long time, are there any crimes I don't know?"

"The sin of my minister is not in his actions, but in his heart."

"In the heart? This is even more ridiculous. After I went to the east, I inspected the six ministries. When I was in the Ministry of Justice, I had already issued an edict to discuss crimes in the future, and I would only treat them by stopping their actions, and I cannot be held accountable in my heart. The word "in the heart" has long been erased from my Qing laws. Why do you say that sin is not in the work, but in the heart?"

"The emperor ordered all the people under the Ministry of Justice and the Three Laws to revise the Qing Dynasty's rules, so that there will be no unfilial descendants in the future. If the king and father are angry, they will be criticized by the people. How can I not know the words of the saints? But I think that the emperor treats the ministers like brothers and brothers, and the ministers should serve the king like parents in the hall. The thoughts of being disrespectful and unfilial should not be kept at all. Otherwise, the future will be as filial as the saints say, "Filial piety is a disadvantage of being difficult to beautify."

The emperor was so angry that he laughed. When it comes to this kind of study of mind and nature, he asked himself why he could not compare to Zeng Guofan. "You really have such a sharp voice!" He said, "Okay, I have to listen to how you have sinned and how you judged yourself!"

"Yes." Zeng Guofan said, "There are two crimes for me. One is that I am not determined and I have speculated when encountering problems. This year, I am lucky to follow the emperor to go east to patrol the coastal defense. Seeing that the fifth prince or above the fifth prince grew up and worked hard for the emperor, I felt deeply...."

"Say, why not? Let's continue!"

Zeng Guofan gritted his teeth hard, feeling that he was working hard in his mouth. The following words were extremely hindering the defense of the ministers. It can be said that any sentence could bring disaster to him if he spread it! But when he was pushing a cart to hit the wall, he would not get out of this circle. "Yes! I saw that the princes were gradually gaining a fight for the emperor's favor and reward. I was really afraid of being involved in it and suffering an unexpected disaster!"

"... I am over 60 years old and have not been around for many days. I have made this bad plan for my back. After I returned home, I read the imperial edict and burst into tears. I felt that I was so dirty that I was really unquestionable..." Zeng Guofan felt that he was lying under the throne, sobbing and crying.

"You..." Seeing the old man trembling all over his feet, the emperor felt a soreness, and he felt his eyes tight. He waved his hand to Jingyu who was standing on the side, asking her to come forward to help him get up and sit down. "I don't know what you said? This time I changed my appointment to Zeng Jize to the General Administration Office, hoping that he would be allowed to go abroad after he had experienced it in the yamen, and he would be the minister of a country. In the future, there will be more and more communication with foreign countries. He is very talented, and he will serve me for two generations. He always wants to find a good place for him?"

"Your Majesty, don't say it anymore, don't say it anymore."

The emperor ignored him and said again, "Just as you said just now, even if you are over 60 years old, you will probably be ahead of me. In fact, you will never die. As a subordinate, as long as you hold the heart of serving the lord, what's the fear? But I... don't even have room to retreat!"

Even though Zeng Guofan was knowledgeable and talented, the emperor's words still made him confused. He opened his tears and looked blankly, "Do you not understand?" The emperor said with a wry smile, "After all, you are outsiders, you are amazing, just escape from the affairs and do not ask about the government. I always treat you with courtesy and give you Jinhuan Mountain - and what about me? I don't know how much energy it will take to get rid of these enemies? Where will I hide?"

Speaking of this, the emperor suddenly felt like he was burning inside, his chest was sore and swollen, and he had no idea to scold Zeng Guofan. He sat there alone in a daze, tears fell from his eyes.

Zeng Guofan suddenly realized, but there was no way to say anything. The king and his ministers cried and cried, and the night was leaking. "Forget it, you go back."

The emperor waved his hand and signaled Zeng Guofan to kneel down, "When the yamen is opened, let Zeng Jize go to the General Administration's yamen."
Chapter completed!