It is difficult for the princes and ministers to see the emperor, and it is equally difficult for the queen and Concubine Yi to see the emperor.

Especially in the past two years, the emperor listened to the opera whenever he had some free time, or favored those who later entered the palace, often even agreed, and rarely played their cards. But a mother who respects the world, and a mother who values ​​her son, can be said to be what a woman dreams of.

Everything has been realized, and the two of them had no complaints. However, this "peace" was broken with the arrival of Ren Yu'er.

The queen, who never liked noisy things, went to accompany the emperor to the opera uncharacteristically. Concubine Yi took the young prince to greet the emperor. She even used the excuse that the emperor's complexion was not as good as before, and summoned several eunuchs around the emperor for questioning. After three days,

After snooping around, I actually found out a lot of bad news.

The harem is not allowed to interfere in politics. This is a rule left by our ancestors!

Concubine Yi couldn't believe anyone, so she asked Lian'er, who had followed Ren Yu'er into the palace to wait on her, to stay outside, closed the door, and talked to Ren Yu'er about what was going on outside.

"Why is there such chaos outside? Is it possible that no one dares to resist the order and disrespect it?"

"Empress, you mean..."

Concubine Yi frowned and asked puzzledly: "Although I haven't read a few books, I still understand the principle of not accepting the emperor's orders. But Hengfu went out to welcome the emperor before he got the order, and took the huge Tianjin away."

The city was surrendered to the foreigners, but the general was not accepting the orders of the foreign king. This was clearly begging for surrender!"

The queen also said worriedly: "I heard from Eunuch Liu that the emperor had ordered Monk Gelinqin to retreat to Tianjin. He also said that Tianjin is the gateway to Tongzhou, but they are not retreating at all. They are clearly retreating but not defending."

"Yu'er, you have seen a lot of things in the world, and you even went on errands for the imperial court with the Ministry of Internal Affairs' warrant. Tell me how it could have happened like this. Are they really not afraid of losing their heads?" Seeing that Ren Yu'er was about to speak, Concubine Yi stopped talking.

Then he asked: "Yu'er, didn't you just go see your adopted brother this morning? Does he know about these things?"

"My dear, my fourth brother knows something."

"Then tell me, how could it be like this? Why do those people in Tianjin dare to violate the law?"

Ren Yu'er was asked and had no choice but to say with a grimace: "My dear, Yu'er thinks that Master Hengfu is blameless for doing this."

"How can you be blameless?"

"As far as Yu'er knows, the emperor has appointed Lord Hengfu as the Imperial Envoy, with full authority to handle the Fu Bureau. The edict is clearly written, and he can act accordingly and handle it properly. The foreigners have all come to Tianjin City. If there is a fight, this Fu Bureau will

How to deal with it, in the eyes of foreigners, there is no sincerity at all. What's more... not to mention..."

"Besides what?" the queen asked eagerly.

"What's more, all the ordnance and food prepared to prevent the blockade have been lost, and the soldiers and civilians of Tianjin have low morale due to the loss of the Haikou fort. Even if they want to defend, there is a high probability that they will not be able to defend!"

Concubine Yi asked: "What about the peace negotiation? We will suffer more or less losses. Can the foreigners withdraw their troops?"

"Yu'er thinks it's a bit difficult."

"The foreigners are making such a big fuss, aren't they just trying to do business and make some money? Why is it so difficult?"

Ren Yu'er sighed softly and explained helplessly: "I don't know something, but our dealings with foreigners did not last for a day or two, nor a year or two, but from the 20th year of Daoguang's reign to today. The imperial court in those days

In order to settle the matter, I agreed to some conditions and signed some trade and peace treaties with the foreigners, but the foreigners took it seriously and insisted on the court honoring it."

"What happens next?"

"Later, the foreigners submitted notes again and again. Ye Mingchen and other five trade ministers not only ignored them, but even deceived the foreigners again and again. Anyway, the foreigners no longer believed them. They originally planned to send envoys to Beijing, but they felt that the people below

If you play tricks again, you can report to the emperor nearby."

"Foreigners want to come to the capital, and they also want to stay in the capital!" The queen was shocked.

"So other conditions are easy to negotiate, but this one is non-negotiable. Foreigners have no respect for superiors and inferiors. They don't even kneel down when they see their own king, let alone the emperor." Looking at the queen and Concubine Yi.

Looking thoughtful, Ren Yuer continued: "Foreigners don't believe us. This is one of the reasons."

"What about the second one?" Concubine Yi asked in a low voice.

"Furthermore, the emperor is the most powerful person in the world. We, the Qing Dynasty, are the emperor of heaven. How can we allow Yingfo and other barbarians to be so rampant? Therefore, the emperor publicly ordered Lord Guiliang and Lord Hengfu to negotiate with the foreigners, but secretly ordered Guanglu

Temple Minister Jiao Youying and Assistant Lecturer Zhang Zhiwan and others went to Tianjin to organize regiment training and ordered them to lead the regiment to attack and suppress it."

Concubine Yi couldn't believe this was true. She was stunned for a while and then murmured: "So many officers and soldiers can't defeat it, but a bunch of warriors can defeat it?"

Ren Yuer said with a bitter face: "The blame can only be blamed on Ye Mingchen and other officials who have failed to achieve anything but failed. In the past few days, they have been talking nonsense. When they report the barbarian sentiments, they say that the gentry and the people are afraid of officials, officials are afraid of foreigners, and foreigners."

I am also afraid of the gentry and the people. Naturally, the emperor will not believe what one person says, but if everyone says the same, the emperor, no matter how wise he is, will be deceived by them."

"Where is your adopted brother? Doesn't the Emperor think highly of your adopted brother? Why didn't he tell the truth?"

"Back to the Empress, my fourth brother reported to the Emperor more than once, and Mr. Wen Xiangwen who later took over the Houyi Hall also reported to the Emperor more than once, but together they only have two mouths, and they can't explain so many mediocre officials who are just getting along. What's more,

It's hard for the Emperor to have trouble with Changmao's troubles. At least at that moment, the Emperor has to think about his priorities."

"What kind of yamen is Houyitang? How come I haven't heard of it?"

Ren Yuer suddenly realized that she had let something slip. Seeing Concubine Yi's serious expression, she could only bite the bullet and explain the whole story.

The queen was stunned when she heard this.

Concubine Yi was also in disbelief. She was silent for a long time before she said quietly: "War is not like war, and peace is not like peace. War and peace are uncertain, and things will change sooner or later. I understand why you are so worried and why you have to go to the palace to serve me."

"Sister Lan'er, are you saying that foreigners are really going to kill you?" the queen asked in horror.

"Given the current situation, it will only happen sooner or later."

"What should I do?"

"Sister, what's the use of you and me being anxious? As of now, we can only wait and see what happens."

"How about... how about you go and persuade the emperor."

"Sister, the harem is not allowed to interfere with politics. This is a rule left by our ancestors. What's more, as Yu'er said, the emperor is also in trouble. If he really has to compromise, how will the emperor face his ancestors." Although Concubine Yi said this, but

Not to mention how anxious he was, he paused and turned around and said: "Yu'er, it's not appropriate for you to always stay at the Queen's place. How about you start from now on and come to talk to the Queen at noon to relieve the Queen's boredom?

, I’ll go back in the afternoon to avoid attracting criticism from others.”

How could Ren Yu'er not know that Concubine Yi was asking her to leave the palace to find out the news? She hurriedly said: "Yu'er obeys the order."

The queen reacted suddenly and said without thinking: "You can go back without any worries. I will explain to the servants outside. If anyone dares not to let you enter the palace, I will see if I don't break his legs!"

…

If others can't find Han Xiufeng, it doesn't mean that Wen Xiang can't be found.

While the Queen and Concubine Yi were talking to Ren Yu'er behind closed doors, Wen Xiang quietly came to the small courtyard where Han Xiufeng was staying temporarily, sat at the stone table under the tree, and talked about what happened in the past two days.

thing.

"Sushun didn't look for you again. It's not that he didn't want to look for you, but that he didn't care enough to look for you."

"how do I say this?"

"I heard from the father-in-law in the palace that the emperor has been in a bad mood these days. Not only did he not summon the civil and military ministers again, but Prince Zheng, Prince Yi and Sushun could only see the emperor once a day, and they could not say a few words after meeting.

.”

"Hiding is not an option!" Han Xiufeng said solemnly.

"It is indeed not a solution, but think about it, it is really not easy for the emperor. He ascended to the throne at a weak age, and encountered so many things as soon as he ascended to the throne." Wen Xiang sighed softly, and then changed the topic: "In short, most of the government orders these days come from Zheng Zheng.

Prince, Prince Yi and Sushun, they not only have to dispatch troops and generals to Tongzhou to prevent the blockage, but also raise food and pay. They are so busy that they can't even bother to find you."

"Deploy troops and generals. Are there any troops that can be dispatched? Are there any generals that can be dispatched?" Han Xiufeng put down his teacup and asked.

Wen Xiang looked back and said, "With so many officials in the Qing Dynasty, how could there be no generals to dispatch? First, he ordered Hengqi, Minister of the Military Academy, to serve in Tianjin as the assistant minister of Fuyi; then, he rewarded the university.

Shi Sai Shang A's top belt of the fifth rank was handed over to the Imperial Envoy Seng Gelinqin Military Envoy. He ordered Wu Zhuo, Xue Shutang, the imperial censor Yang Rongxu, Xu Qiwen, Guo Xiangrui, Liu Youming, Zhu Chao, Xue Chunli, Ren Zhaojian and Bai Enyou to assist in the matter.

City defense."

"Where are the soldiers?" Han Xiufeng asked.

"He ordered General Jing Chun of Jilin and General Tepuqin of Heilongjiang to each select a thousand horse teams and a thousand Orions, and assign personnel to take charge of them. He also ordered General Tuo Ming'a of Xi'an and Tan Tingxiang, governor of Shaanxi, to urge the original team to renew the team.

The officers and soldiers all rushed to Tongzhou and awaited dispatch. At noon today, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Le Bin, was ordered to select 2,000 hunters and send officers to take charge of them. They rushed to Tongzhou and awaited dispatch. Seng Gelinqin was also ordered to come if necessary.

Please send troops from each banner."

Han Xiufeng pondered and said: "Not to mention whether these temporarily recruited soldiers can go into battle, even if they are of great use, will there be so much arms, food and pay in a short time?"

"The emperor has ordered Wen Qian, the chief envoy of Zhili, to deposit more than 200,000 taels of salary silver in the vassal treasury in Tianjin, quickly liberate Tongzhou, remove the original grain station in Shuntian, and return it to Tianjin Dao Sunzhi Manager. He also allocated another 30,000 taels of silver.

Two, he handed over to Jiao Youying, the young minister of Guanglu Temple, to handle the regiment training. He ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to allocate an additional 100,000 taels of salary and sent him to Tongzhou Liangtai." Wen Xiang paused and then said: "As for armaments, the emperor has ordered Zhili, Henan, and Shanxi to

Governor, we will prepare spare ordnance and quickly liberate the capital."

"Sparse ordnance, do they have any spares?"

"It is said that it is in the Ministry of War's invoice."

"It's in the ledger, but it may not be in the armory, and even if it is, it may not be usable."

"You know this, I know this, others don't know. What's more, for others, as long as they issue orders and let the emperor know that they are doing their jobs sincerely, that's enough." Wen Xiang took a sip of water and said gloomily: "I'm afraid

The morale is not high, so people even asked the emperor to order Prince Hui to go to Tongzhou to deliver the decree."

"What is the message?" Han Xiufeng asked subconsciously.

"Seng Gelinqin is diligent in the affairs of the king and thinks deeply about all the arrangements in the capital. He must work hard day and night. With Prince Hui and others, he went to Tongzhou to inquire about the defense situation, and with Seng Gelinqin to encourage the troops to be prepared for any danger.

"

Han Xiufeng pondered: "Although it may not necessarily inspire soldiers' morale, compared with other arrangements, this thing is much more reliable."
To be continued...