Yan Jingming was from Chaoyi, Shaanxi. Because he was approaching the Yellow River, the terrain was low and flooded, he moved to Yuncheng, Shanxi. During the Chinese New Year, he would celebrate the New Year, but he set off on the sixth day of the Chinese New Year to return to Beijing. He walked for four days on the road and entered Beijing on the tenth day of the lunar month. At this time, the various yamen in the middle of the Beijing had not opened seals, so he had to study at home and prepare for all trivial matters after opening seals. The day before yesterday, he heard that Zeng Guofan had returned to Beijing, so he prepared a gift and visited the door. One was for visiting, and the other was for New Year's greetings.

Since Zeng Guofan entered the Ministry of Residence as a member of the Ministry of Residence, he has benefited a lot from Yan Jingming, and the two have become friends. After half a year, although they have not been able to enter the house, they are still unavoidable. The listener at the door has long recognized him. While smiling, he asked her to go down and said, "Please pay tribute to Mr. Yan."

"Get up." Yan Jingming, like Zeng Guofan, is a kind of Neo-Confucian scholar, a gentleman who is serious and serious. Even if you visit the mansion like this, you still remain unchanged. The poor man stood up and said, "It just so happened! The master and his wife were talking about Master Yan just now! You happened to be here, let me say "I'll say it."

"I'm here to get the housekeeper."

Zeng Guofan and Mrs. Ouyang were meeting guests. The guest was Zeng Guofan's student named Li Hongzhang. He was a Jinshi in the 27th year of Daoguang and from Anhui. This time he returned to his hometown for the New Year. After returning to Beijing, he also knew that his teacher was in the capital. He quickly prepared gifts and visited the palace.

He kowtowed to the teacher and the teacher's wife, presented the gift, the lady said a few words, turned around and entered the inner hall, and the two junior brothers sat together and chatted: "...The student has recently compiled the "Records of Xuanzong" with a group of colleagues, which is just a matter of hard work."

Zeng Guofan gave him a blank look: "Shaoquan, the record of the late emperor will be published in the world in the future. It is as careless as you, without any respect. Are you so hardworking in the king's affairs? If you have the opportunity to join the ministry or the responsibility to be released from the outside, should you face all official duties with a 'hard and arduous' attitude?"

A hard-headed nail was touched with a sentence, and Li Hongzhang swallowed hard: "What the teacher taught me is that the students are confused."

Zeng Guofan wanted to teach him a few more words, but when he thought that the other party came to greet him and his wife today, it was really not appropriate to have such a conversation, so he swallowed it back: "Shaoquan, there is no need to be a heavy hammer for the drum. I said this for your future consideration."

"Yes! The students understand."

Zeng Guofan was well aware of Ziping's skills, but he saw that although Li Hongzhang was down and looked down in front of him and was extremely small, he always contained a strong arrogance between his eyebrows! He knew that although Li Hongzhang was full of talent, he was too complicated and impure because he was too young, and was born with too easy to prepare for things and too eager to seek merit. Even if he could sluggish his false aura in front of him, he would be afraid that he would resurrect his old ways after leaving his eyes. It was really helpless to think about it. Can he still hold him by his side and keep his life in mind?

Then I thought, why didn’t I do this? The emperor picked up the rules and received a special letter from him. He went south to work and returned home to visit relatives with an order. He was so glorious, but because he couldn’t hide his arrogance, he made such a big mistake in the matter of thanking for his gratitude. If the emperor had not intended to save his fortune, he would have been disappointed at the moment! Or should he also let him taste the taste of setbacks?

Thinking randomly in his heart, Zeng Guofan asked, "Are there any poems recently?"

"This is because there are occasional graffiti, and I dare not show off my ugly face in front of the teacher."

"Where do you mean?" Zeng Guofan knew that Li Hongzhang was very talented in poetry and prose. He said that graffiti works were naturally humble words. He immediately pulled him into the study and ordered people to prepare pens and inks. Li Hongzhang was not polite, and picked up the pen and copied a seven-character poem he accidentally obtained a few days ago. The poem was like this: the army was in the military plan of the Jueyu, and the southeast was full of hatred. A flute and a sword were used to keep their business, and they had been famous for fifteen years.

Li Hongzhang was smart when he was young and was known as a child prodigy in his hometown, so he said that "I have the reputation of being crazy" in his poem. After writing the book, he felt a little arrogant: "Teacher, please correct me."

Zeng Guofan had already read it when he was writing it, and smiled helplessly in his heart: His guess was right. Li Hongzhang was indeed the one who was so arrogant. He didn't know whether it was a blessing or a disaster! He was just thinking, and he didn't listen to the other party's words. It was Li Hongzhang asked again before he realized: "Ah! What?"

Li Hongzhang was about to speak when the listener from his disciple stepped in: "Master, Master Yan is here."

"Oh? Please!"

They were both familiar with each other, but they met here and were the first time they met. They had greeted each other and asked Yan Jingming to sit down. Zeng Guofan looked at him with a smile: "During the New Year, Brother Danchu is getting more and more prosperous." He asked: "Is everything in the family safe?"

"Brother Duo Chengdisheng asked, everything is fine at home." Yan Jingming's face was extremely strange, and he took the tobacco pipe of the jade-mouthed square bamboo that he had given him, and caught fire from the paper media. He sat and sniffed each other: "This time I visited the mansion to pay New Year's greetings to Brother Disheng, and I also asked my sister-in-law's health, and the second was to do business."

"No rush." ​​Zeng Guofan waved his hand: "At the New Year, the emperor was given a piece of yellow lamb leg meat from Gansu to pay tribute and a little winter bamboo shoot from Anhui," he put down his cigarette mouth and said: "I asked the servants to go out to buy some wine. Today, Brother Danchu and Shaoquan arrived, so we will chat with the wine!"

Li Hongzhang smiled: "I know that the teacher has a rare tribute at home. The students came here recently with the idea of ​​disturbing them."

Zeng Guofan and Yan Jingming looked at each other and asked Zeng Guoquan to go out to buy wine. Here they prepared a big hot pot, which was to attract charcoal and make the chef busy. The three of them continued to sit there and chat: "Teacher, the student recently heard that before the teacher left Beijing to work, the emperor once wrote a secret decree and handed over to you to do it cheaply when you were discussing with the British, but some?"

Zeng Guofan was a typical square gentleman. He really didn't want to lie and couldn't speak in public, so he chose to remain silent, picked up his cigarette mouth and sucked it up.

Li Hongzhang and Yan Jingming knew why his attitude proved, and their hearts were moved. However, what the two of them thought were different. In Yan Jingming's opinion, this was naturally a proof that Zeng Guofan was deeply favored by the emperor. As a righteous envoy, Sun Ruizhen could not even give him the news, so he gave it to him?

Li Hongzhang heard that he had another thought: In this way, the emperor really intended to let the British Yi enter the capital? But he didn't know what to do after the British Yi enter the capital?

Putting down the pipe, Zeng Guofan smiled, "This time, the order was ordered. Although the British and British delayed the matter on the grounds of asking their court for instructions, I think that after they left and returned in June this year, there would still be a big dispute."

"Yes, the British are not in line with the etiquette and customs of our Celestial Dynasty. Just take the ceremony of kneeling and worship. In their opinion, it is the etiquette that cannot be tolerated. The emperor sent Brother Disheng to Jiangning this time, and I think there are also considerations in this regard?"

"Dan Chu and Shaoquan also went to the court meeting on the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, right?" After receiving the affirmative reply, Zeng Guofan spread his five fingers, climbed with his short beard under his chin, and said slowly: "When the emperor came to the court, did you hear that he had changed the old system of the previous dynasty, worked hard to promote the new policy?"

"Yes! We heard it too." Yan Jingming's appearance was very ugly, but his mind was extremely agile. He immediately thought of a section: "Every benefit will also cause another disadvantage. This time, the emperor's desire for reform is naturally a blessing for the court. However, what if someone misinterprets the saint's will and turns this technique of benefiting the people into a way to exhaust the people?"

"I think the emperor's holy heart is silent, and this matter has been decided long ago. If there is no such evil consequence, it is that the black-hearted officials are corrupt, there are governors from other provinces, and there are censors in the capital, let alone the glorious national law. Brother Danchu was too worried."

Yan Jingming was a little dissatisfied with Zeng Guofan's words, but he couldn't think of anything to refute, so he had to put aside the matter and not have a verbal debate with him. Instead, he looked at Li Hongzhang on the side: "Brother Shaoquan?"

Just as he was talking about this, a servant from the door ran in a hurry: "Master, Master Jiu has a quarrel with him."

"Where?" As he spoke, Zeng Guofan jumped up, and without even explaining to the two guests, he held the servant's hand and said loudly: "Take me there!"

"Ah, yes! Master, go here."

Yan Jingming and Li Hongzhang are both regular guests of the Zeng Mansion. They knew that the Ninth Master refers to Zeng Guofan's younger brother Zeng Guoquan. The two brothers had a very good relationship. Since Zeng Guofan issued a desperate decision to the emperor for giving thanks last year, Zeng Guofan was worried that his son would be imprisoned and his family would have no life in Beijing. He was especially desperate for Zeng Guoquan, the youngest, to go north and was in the imperial prison while his elder brother was in prison. During the period of his crime, he took care of the lives of his elder sister-in-law and nephews.

When Zeng Guofan was punished by the Ministry of Personnel, he was released from prison. Zeng Guoquan did not leave. He helped his elder brother to handle housework and studied in Beijing. He lived in the countryside of Hunan all year round. He suddenly came to this prosperous capital. He didn't even speak Bei, making a lot of jokes, but he finally didn't cause any trouble. Today...

Zeng Guofan ran all the way, sweating all the way. He left the street corner and could see a large group of people in front of him, pointing at the inside, and running to the front to separate the crowd. Sure enough, Zeng Guoquan stood there with a grievance on his face, distinguishing something from an old man in Hunan dialect: "I... will pay you back the money. As long as I ask me to go home to get it, isn't it okay?"

"No! You guys! Who knows if you're gone? "The old man is a vendor who set up a stall to sell Spring Festival couplets, stickers, hanging money, and firecrackers. He just set up a house for the other party to slim up the firecrackers. The firecrackers are fine. Spring Festival couplets, stickers and other things are stuck on the ground that have not completely melted. It's a red ball. How can I still ask for it? It's about to pay the money, so it's no wonder the old man is reluctant to give up: "You guys, young men, you have seen it. I am not bullying him from other people, right? This is the New Year, I don't want you to pay too much. Just pay me the capital, but I can't even get it out? Ask me, who has come out for the New Year, and doesn't have a few scattered silver on his body?"

Zeng Guoquan didn't understand very well, but he understood the word "金". It was a simple thing to break free from the old man's shackles with his strength, but this place is not as good as the countryside. He really started to take action. On the one hand, there were many people watching around, and he might not be able to get it well, as a foreigner. Secondly, he caused trouble for his elder brother, so he begged: "I... really have no money. Wait for a while to go home..."

"Ninth Brother!" A familiar call made Zeng Guoquan feel relieved, but he felt extremely aggrieved: "Brother!"

"Nothing, nothing." Zeng Guofan knew that his younger brother was wronged, patted his shoulder and turned to look at the old man: "Old man, this is my brother. There is something abrupt. I will apologize to you on his behalf."

"Hey! This is like something. Finally, someone can understand it." The old man who asked Zhou Yiyue let go of Zeng Guoquan's hand: "Are you his eldest brother?"

"Yes, yes, yes. It's right." Zeng Guofan laughed aggrievedly, took out a handful of scattered silver from his arms and stuffed it into Zhou Yiyue's hand: "Old man, my brother came from a foreign country and was unreasonable and disturbed your business. I apologize to you on his behalf. These taels of silver are not a compensation. During this New Year, I will just buy a few glasses of water and wine for the old man to eat."

"It's your elder brother who can speak." Zhou Yiyue got compensation and stopped, put the money in hand, put the Spring Festival couplets, stickers and firecrackers scattered on the ground, put them in the car he pushed. She didn't even do business and went home.

The people around saw that there was nothing lively to watch, and they also dispersed. After a while, the originally lively corner of the street returned to peace: "Brother Ninth, what did you do?"

"Brother, this time it's really not my fault. I'm going to hide from the carriage..." Zeng Guoquan looked up and pointed with his hand: "Brother, look, it's there!"

Zeng Guofan and others looked over and said, sure enough, a carriage was parked on the side of the road, with several very mighty men standing on the side of the carriage. It seemed that they didn't know which prince, the rich and wealthy family had finished traveling. He didn't care, and pulled Zeng Guoquan on the shoulder: "You always panic when you walk, and you can't blame others. Let's go back."

"yes."

Several people turned around and wanted to leave. Yan Jingming finally glanced at the carriage. Suddenly, a familiar face swept past the curtain. He couldn't help but think that he had read it wrong. He looked carefully. The curtain was raised, and a handsome servant was holding his master and stepping on the shoulders of a big man who was kneeling on the ground and walking out of the car.

When Yan Jingming saw the person clearly, he was shocked!

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