Chapter 71 Before Departure (2)

Zeng Guofan sat aside, feeling a little anxious. He and Zhou Zupei guessed that the emperor insisted on recruiting the British to Beijing, and were not prepared to consider the details of the etiquette of the barbarians. Sun Ruizhen didn't know if she could not guess the emperor's intentions, so she kept making an appointment with etiquette. Now, the emperor had no way to argue. She wanted to take the conversation and explain a few words. She also considered that Sun Ruizhen was the right envoy for this trip and was in front of the king, so the people next to her could not interrupt rashly. She could only remain silent at the moment.

The emperor scratched his head in distress, gave Sun Ruizhen a blank look with dissatisfaction, and regretted it very much: If I had known this was the case, Jane would not have sent him as the imperial envoy at the beginning, even if he could find a prince who could more obey his intentions? Isn’t it much better than the current situation of not getting into the oil and salt?

Of course, Sun Ruizhen is not a fool. From the answers just now, he has fully understood the emperor's intentions. However, if the British and Japanese perform kneeling and worship rituals, they will cause criticism from the court and the people in the future, and the people will be criticized by minorities. The emperor will take this as an example in the future and will have any similar actions to destroy the ancestors' achievements. In the future, the original theory will be based on the responsibility, and he will be respected by the respect of etiquette and cannot advise and block it in time. He became a sinner of the Qing Dynasty for all eternity. This infamous for the ages cannot bear, so he always acted in a confusion and refused to make a heart-to-heart talk.

He continued to pretend to be ignorant here. The emperor really wanted to speak out to relieve him of his official responsibility for this trip. However, Sun Ruizhen was the Minister of Rites. He went to Jiangning to discuss the details of his visit with the barbarians. It was his duty to temporarily replace him. He clearly declared: Sun Ruizhen is not available! If he reached that point, he would never have another way to go except to ask for a tent.

The left and right had no idea, so the Qinzheng and Qinxian Palace fell into silence awkwardly. After a while, the emperor spoke: "Zeng Guofan?"

"I'm here."

"In July this year, I have issued an edict to you to seek talented people in Xiang Province and Liangjiang. I have never asked about this matter. How is it done?"

After hearing Zeng Guofan talk about the situation of Hu Linyi, Jiang Zhongyuan, and Zuo Zongtang, a rare smile appeared on the emperor's face: They are all celebrities! "Well, although I have never seen these people, I have also heard of them. They are all useful people. You did a good job this time!"

"I am ordered to be a virtuous person in the country, and it is also the emperor who is worried about the world and loves talents. I dare not do it without caution."

"That's not what it said. It's your credit. Others can't get rid of it. It's your fault. No one else can hide it. The emperor chuckled, stood up from the throne, and walked around the room with his hands behind his back and took a few steps: "It's fine, Jiang Zhongyuan, he will be given a kind decree to him in some time. Hu Linyi, as the Military Affairs Office, will keep a file and use it as a Taoist official. However, Zuo Zongtang, I have heard that this person is very arrogant, but some?"

Zeng Guofan was secretly happy for Hu Linyi. Keeping a name on the table is the most rare way to release the game, and he is even better than the tiger class! But now is not the time to be happy for him. He has a prejudice against Zuo Zongtang in his words. This is necessary to explain a few words to Zuo Zongtang. Otherwise, he will not have any benefit in the future: "The emperor is wise. Zuo Jigao is a poor man. He has been treating Zhuge Wuhou in his life. He is known to the whole world. However, he has been taking the exam for a while and is also a bit self-pity. I am a special visit in Xiang Province. Zuo Jigao was grateful to Dai Tianrong, but he asked himself that his talent was not good enough and did not dare to call him into the capital with a commoner. Therefore, he will temporarily stay in Lord Luo's mansion."

"Well, it's better to let him learn from Luo Bingzhang. Risky climbing the dragon will do more harm than good for yourself and others. It's not a way to be taken!"

Zeng Guofan's heart moved: Is the emperor's words pointing to something? Thinking of it, he answered vaguely: "The emperor is wise."

"That's it, you guys can rest assured."

"twitter!"

Sun Ruizhen and the other two left the Palace of Yangxin. As soon as they walked out of the porch, Liufu chased after him: "Mr. Zeng? Mr. Zeng?"

Zeng Guofan hurriedly stopped: "Eunuch Lu, what else does the emperor have to give?"

"Yes! The emperor asked Lord Zeng to stay for a while, and there are still some things to tell you."

Zeng Guofan looked at two colleagues who were as confused as him and replied, "Oh, then..."

"Please come in with me." As he said that, Liufu raised the curtain for him. Zeng Guofan did not dare to neglect, so he bowed to Sun Chen and the others and walked into the Hall of Heart.

After the salute was finished, the emperor asked Zeng Guofan to stand up: "Save you behind, there is something to ask you. Have you heard clearly what I said to you just now and understood it?"

"Yes! I understand that the emperor's intention is that when recruiting British envoys to the capital, the affairs of Emperor Gaozong should be taken as a way to achieve the law. In the details, the imperial edict of Emperor Gaozong was also cited as an example."

The emperor was very satisfied with his answer, and his tone became relaxed: "That's exactly what Sun Ruizhen said just now. Although I know that he was planning for the country, the times have changed. The Qing Dynasty has been the Qing Dynasty sixty years ago. Isn't it also stated in the "Three Things in the Pains of the People" you wrote?"

Zeng Guofan hurriedly knelt down, and he said, "Reply to the emperor's words, all the confessions I have made are absurd words. The emperor does not criticize him much. I have silently recited the holy grace."

"I know, I don't mean to blame you. In fact, even if you don't say it, I have long been seeking change. Liangjiang and the Cao Governor are now carrying out the matter of changing the water transport. By next year, at the latest to the second year of Xianfeng, I will see initial results in Liangjiang!" The emperor said a few simple words, and realized that the topic was a bit far off, so he pulled it back. He said: "I won't talk about these things today. As you think, may Sun Ruizhen understand my painstaking efforts?"

"I think Lord Sun also has a hidden secret."

As if one sentence was like finding a pearl, the emperor suddenly became enlightened! "You mean, Sun Ruizhen is just responsible and dare not express anything?"

"yes!"

"Yes, yes!" The emperor nodded with a sigh. Zeng Guofan reminded him with one sentence, and immediately made him understand: "He is a courtesy, if he is not able to compete in this section, hey! To be honest, it is still the word "name" that is at work."

Zeng Guofan didn't even dare to reply. He knew what the emperor meant: Sun Ruizhen didn't say anything about heart-to-heart talk in front of the king, so he would take care of his own reputation! Such heart-to-heart words came from the emperor... He put his big hat aside and met his head frequently.

"Since you can understand this level, Zeng Guofan?"

"I'm here!"

"I'm afraid you will have to work harder."

Zeng Guofan was angry that he was too talkative. The emperor asked him to work harder, but he was just to make decisions on behalf of the emperor, or even Sun Ruizhen. Naturally, the scolding would become himself. He was also worried about slander and ridicule, and he was even more upset. However, he could not express anything in front of the king, so he became even more depressed.

"Zeng Guofan? Do you think that after the British in the future, they will lose their court etiquette in the ceremony. As the deputy envoy, you are wronged in your heart, and you are the deputy envoy who has suffered the consequences?"

"Minist does not dare. Sharing worries for the king and father is the responsibility of the minister. I dare not place the emperor for his own sake, and the world's welfare will be ignored."

"Well said!" The emperor suddenly interrupted his words: "If you think like this, you will have good fortune!"

"yes!"

The emperor picked up the pen on the desk and drafted an edict in just a few strokes: Sun Ruizhen, the Minister of Rites, and Chen Huai, the Censor of the Censorate, and Zeng Guofan, the Left Minister of Revenue, was ordered to go to Jiangning to discuss with the British and Yi to the capital to pay a visit. If the barbarians were confused about etiquette and law, they would think that Zeng Guofan could do things at a cheap price. Impressed this.

After writing this edict, the emperor did not count the edict, and the imperial edict was not counted as the edict, and the emperor took out the small seal he carried with him. The Qianlong Dynasty engraved the word "Imperial Reward" on it. He pointed it in the cinnabar on the table, covered it on the paper, and handed it down: "You take this."

Zeng Guofan only saw what the emperor was writing, took it and looked at it, and hurriedly fell to his knees again: "Your Majesty, I dare not accept the order."

"What's wrong?"

"Emperor, if you have a secret order from the emperor in your hand, you will always be concerned about it, and you may be very arrogant and will not help the matter at all, but will hurt the emperor's wisdom of knowing people."

"I believe in your character. I wrote this thing just to prevent it. If the British were willing to bow their heads, I would just pretend that there was no such thing. Wouldn't it be enough? Moreover, if this thing is not used, it would be better not to use it. You know and I know this, and no third person will know it." The emperor nodded to the next, signaling Liufu to hold the decree in front of him again.

"Yes! I am going to receive the sage. I just hope that this journey will go well, and that sage will never see the light of the sky."

"Get up and talk." The emperor suddenly moved his feelings and signaled him to stand up: "Although you did have any faults in the last incident, my decision to deal with it was a little... When I think back on it, I can't hide my inability to bear it. Don't be angry!"

Zeng Guofan had not even stood firm yet, and knelt down with a thud and touched the ground with his head. He said, "Is the thunder, rain, dew, the thunder, rain, dew, the thunder, the dew, the minister is always very concerned about his work, his nature is poor, and he is grateful for the rewards of the emperor, and the emperor is responsible for the wise ruler! How dare the ministers be resentful and the intention of the king and father?" He was really excited, and a few words were said in pieces and almost nothing.

"Forget it, we won't say this." The emperor also felt that saying such words to his subordinates was a bit out of place, but since the topic was unfolding, there was no need to be obscure. He just took this opportunity to say a few more words to him: "This time, I sent you a few people to Jiangning to discuss the entry into Beijing with the British. I think that the British would definitely not succumb to my Celestial Etiquette and Law Agreement, so it may take a lot of energy and energy. It's fine, there is only one section. You must remember: If the British never bowed, I allow you to say to them, 'If this trip is completed, not only will the matter of entering the city in Guangdong be resolved, but I will also set up a blank space under the feet of the emperor, and will set up a consular venue in Beijing, thinking that we will use further communication with our Qing Dynasty in the future.'"

"Set up a consular venue?" Zeng Guofan was shocked: "This...? The emperor, won't he be even more... I mean,"

"Do you want to say that you were given a memorial to those censors? I thought of it, but, Disheng," the emperor called his words softly, and he said, "The story you wrote clearly on the three things that you have in the folk are suffering. My Qing Dynasty has reached a difficult situation. If you don't know how to work hard, hey! I'm afraid that what I can't bear to say is not far away."

The emperor actually said such words of the country's destruction made Zeng Guofan completely unable to communicate and had to remain silent next to him.

"So, I made up my mind that no matter how many difficulties and great resistance there were, I would still strive to implement the new policy. Inviting the British to Beijing is just the first step in this new policy." As a rare saying in my heart, the emperor's expression became much more relaxed. He continued: "Zeng Guofan, you will be a useful person in the future, so you must assist me."

Zeng Guofan knelt down again: "As long as it is beneficial to our Qing Dynasty and the emperor, I will be in a state of vain and will not refuse!"
Chapter completed!