Chapter 26 of Part 3: Take over

The autumn wind and autumn rain are so sad! A true portrayal of the Governor's Office in Liangjiang, Jiangning!

None of the busy family members dared to speak loudly, for fear of clamoring Zuo Zongtang in the backyard.

After a violent cough, the sadness that could not be covered on the face of Zuo Zongtang's wife, and the bright red blood stains on the white juanpa were shocking. After rinsing her mouth with the tea brought by her wife, Zuo Zongtang raised his hand weakly and signaled her to get closer.

"Please...Snow Yan...come in!"

When the wife heard the voice, her face changed and she knew that her husband was going to explain the funeral. Mrs. Zuo, Yiduan, was in the same year as Zuo Zongtang. When she was young, Zuo Zongtang was poor and married into the Zhou family. After three times of going to Beijing to take the exam, her status in the Zhou family plummeted. During the 12 years of living in the Zhou family, the virtuous Zhou family was both a virtuous supporter and a person who was most confident in her husband. There was a folk song in Xiangtan that sang: "Zuo Zongtang, Xiangyin, came to Guizitang, ate five tracts of grain, and slept with a bed." This shows the situation of Zuo Zongtang at that time. It was in this situation that his wife Zhou had always had a hard time. Zuo Zongtang was a person who did big things, comforting and encouraging her husband to wait patiently for the opportunity to come. Later, Zuo Zongtang finally achieved great achievements, which was indeed inseparable from his wife's support.

Hu Xueyan, who had been waiting outside, had entered the pass after a pass. Hu Xueyan's face was full of sorrow, his eyes were red, showing his sorrow. Zuo Zongtang knew that Hu Xueyan was a person who valued love and righteousness, so he was unable to be polite at this moment, so he raised his hand to signal Hu Xueyan to sit by the bed.

"Xueyan! I'm leaving. I have something to say to you before leaving." Zuo Zongtang's face was pale and his words were intermittent. Hu Xueyan suppressed his grief and nodded and said, "Sir, please say it."

"I have been fighting in Hangzhou and received help from Xueyan, and I have no worries. I thanked me here. Now I am leaving, and there may be no one in the court who dares to do it in the future. Xueyan... south..." Speaking of this, Zuo Zongtang suddenly became excited, with a flush on his face. He struggled to sit up with his wife, and pointed to the desk.

The lady quickly signaled the maid to bring a memorial on the desk. Hu Xueyan took it and looked at it. Her face changed slightly, and then nodded to Zuo Zongtang with clarity.

After another violent cough, Zuo Zongtang waved at Hu Xueyan and said, "Go."

Hu Xueyan held back his tears, nodded gently, turned around and walked out slowly. After leaving the door, Hu Xueyan could no longer hold it back, and two lines of tears rushed out, standing at the door and watching inside.

"The small net is lightly decorated with green smoke, and the evening scenery of Xiaoxiang is spread throughout the morning; you are like a dream in the hometown, and you are vaguely waiting for your home, and you are in front of you." A gentle chanting came from the house. This was a small poem written by Zhou in his youth, embroidered on a pillowcase that Zuo Zongtang carried with him.

At this moment, Zuo Zongtang was lying quietly in the arms of the same old lady. Listening to the wife's vague tune, he slowly closed his eyes, as if he was back in his youth, and saw the scene of his wife leaning against the door to greet him when she came back from a foreign teacher.

"Bang!" The sound of the teacup falling to the ground, Zhou's little song stopped. "Master!" A sad cry broke through the miserable night sky.

When he was newly married, Zuo Zongtang, who wrote a couplet in front of the new house, "I have no acre of my body, I am worried about the world. I read thousands of books and I have a god with the ancients." After seeing each other, Zuo Zongtang, who wrote a couplet, "If you benefit the life and death of the country, how can you avoid it because of misfortune and good fortune?" Zuo Zongtang, who gave them to each other, left. When the mountains and rivers were broken, Zuo Zongtang, who carried a coffin into Xinjiang, left. In Shanghai, he rented it and destroyed the British sign "Chinese and dogs, no entry" sign, left. Zuo Zongtang, the only hard bone in the Qing Dynasty, among the Russians, left.

The stars were gone in the night sky with the continuous autumn rain, but in the dim lights, Hu Xueyan knelt in front of the door, crying in silence.

"Master Zuo! Let's go!" Hu Xueyan's heart-wrenching cry disappeared into the autumn rain.

Zuo Zongtang left, the position of the Governor of Liangjiang was empty, Zuo Zongtang left, and at the death, he wrote to the court: "Now, the important officials of the country are too polite, they have more to maintain their internal strength and are not strong enough to serve the post of Liangjiang. When I am dying, I will worship my emperor long live and the empress dowager a thousand years old. Guangxi Governor Chen Congyun, since he became an official, Vietnam has won a great victory and turned the tide soon, and he will be the best candidate to take over the position of Governor of Liangjiang at the table."

After receiving the mourning defeat, Cixi was in a complicated mood. Although Zuo Zongtang, who had a strong personality, did not please Cixi, she did not look around. She looked around and said that once there was something wrong with the border, which minister could stand up to share the worries for the king? Zuo Zongtang recommended Chen Congyun to take over the report on the table. Cixi had read it countless times and was still unsure of her mind.

Guangxu, opposite him, was still sitting carefully, and did not dare to express his opinion easily. He just looked at Cixi with anticipation.

"I posthumously awarded the title of Grand Tutor, and I was named Wenxiang. I was awarded three thousand taels of funeral silver from the inner treasury." Cixi's tone seemed a little weak, and she sighed softly: "Zuo Zongtang recommended Chen Congyun to take over the matter. What does the emperor and the Military Affairs Office mean?"

When Guangxu heard this, he wanted to speak. He saw Weng Tonghe winking at him from the corner of his eyes, and hurriedly sat down. Yihuan looked at Guangxu hesitantly and found that Cixi was looking at him. He gritted his teeth and said, "Empress Dowager, the Governor of Liangjiang is only a country's important minister. For such a major event, all the ministers of the Military Affairs Office think that they should ask the Empress Dowager for the emperor's will."

Cixi didn't say anything and looked at Guangxu. Sweat immediately appeared on Guangxu's forehead. This was autumn.

"Son, please make a decision, please do my dad."

Everyone dares to express their opinions on this issue because Chen Congyun has acted very differently since he became an official, and it is even better than Zuo Zongtang back then. The court gave him an air rank to train troops and could train 50,000 elite soldiers, colluded with foreigners to do business, started mining, built railways, built steel factories, manufacturing bureaus, and issued silver dollars circulated in the four provinces of southwest Guangdong and Guangxi. He was really brave enough, and the impeachment of Qingliu was piled up into mountains.

"Ask Li Hongzhang, what does Zhang Zhidong mean?" Cixi sighed softly. Guangxu was about to answer, and Cixi said again: "A few governors ask and see what they mean."

Zuo Zongtang recommended Chen Congyun's incident, and after it was posted, there was a reply soon. Zhang Zhidong from Huguang was the only one who supported Chen Congyun to take over. Li Hongzhang, Li Hanzhang and the two brothers called back and said, "You should ask for the sage!" The other governors held objections. The reason was nothing more than that Chen Congyun was young and was reckless in doing things.

When the call was returned to Guangxu, Guangxu naturally did not dare to make a decision. He came to Cixi with the call from various provinces and asked Cixi to get her last idea.

"Zhang Zhidong always said something straightforward, which is in line with his personality. However, this country's talent that has not been seen in decades, is the evaluation a little higher? Even if Li Hongzhang wants to agree, he dare not say it out loud. Others are like the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu..." Guangxu said carefully, constantly examining the changes of Cixi from the corner of his eyes.

"Enough, don't mention those mediocre people." Cixi's sudden birth interrupted Guangxu, reached out to rub her forehead, and said angrily: "Is there too few Shen Chen Congyun's memorable memorials? Do they still want them to say these words? If they can train a 50,000 strong soldier that the French are afraid of within a few years, the Ai family will let them be the governor of Liangjiang."

Cixi was angry, and Guangxu and the military aircraft knelt down and said, "Dad (the queen mother) calm down!"

"Hmph! Those who do things don't speak, and those who do things don't stop talking. The Ai family has returned to the emperor, so the emperor should decide this matter. Let's retreat, the Ai family is in short supply."

After Guangxu and others retreated, Cixi looked angry and sighed slightly, "Xiaojiu, come out."

Yu Xiu, wearing a black robe and bare-headed man, silently came out of the corner door, walked to Cixi, and reached out to gently rub Cixi's temples.

"You mean girl!" Cixi reached out to her hand and hit Yuxiu on the shoulder. Yuxiu suddenly knelt down, silently shed tears without saying anything.

"Ai's family was a bit cruel at the beginning, but the ancestral system was placed there. Even if Chen Congyun raised the flag, there were few people talking in the clan's mansion? But you, a girl, aren't you? She became a monk silently. How can the Ai family face her dead sister in the future?"

"Empress Dowager, Chen Xin is sorry for you, and she will be with you for the rest of her life. If you are... Chen Xin will accompany you."

When Chen Congyun pinched the urgent telegram from Shanghai, his expression was also sad, and Zuo Zongtang finally left. Looking around, if there was another person who Chen Congyun respected from the heart, it was Zuo Zongtang.

Chen Congyun never expected that Zuo Zongtang would recommend him to take over the position of governor of Liangjiang on his death. If the court was accurate, it would naturally be of great benefit to Chen Congyun's future development. After years of operation in Vietnam, even if it was replaced, it would have to pass the consent of Chen Congyun. Otherwise, these 50,000 tiger and wolf soldiers would be able to control them? However, it seems that this matter is still difficult to succeed. After Chen Congyun received the news, he was too lazy to deal with the situation. The court would not let Liangjiang take such an important position for him.

Chen Congyun thought in his heart, sighed and picked up his pen, and wrote on the paper: "Carrying the coffin out of the gate, shooting the sky wolf in the northwest, and his achievements are overwhelming the world. He heard the bad news, and the sad rain flew all over the sky, immortal for thousands of years."

After writing, Chen Congyun handed it to Ouyang Quan who was waiting in front of him and said, "Send it to Liangjiang, and notify Zheng Guanying by the way, and send 10,000 taels of silver. Lord Zuo has been honest all his life, so let's express his feelings."

Chen Congyun's judgment was still wrong. Almost as Shen Congyun sent a mourning telegram to Liangjiang, the telegram sent by Li Hongzhang from Tianjin also arrived, with four words on it "take over Liangjiang".

Chen Congyun was shocked again with the telegram. The favor of the God of Destiny caught Chen Congyun off guard.

The imperial court's imperial edict came down soon, and I would not mention the nonsense of the emperor's grace. The loyal content was that after Chen Congyun borrowed the imperial edict, he set off and went to Beijing to meet the saint. Liu Yongfu took over the Vietnamese matter.

The matter came too suddenly, and Chen Congyun was not prepared enough. In a hurry, he had to find a group of Liu Yongfu. After some explanation, he took Ruan Xiaozhen, Ouyang Quan and other staff members to hurry on the road.

When I rushed to Changsha, Hunan, a long-range friend with a long jacket and gold-rimmed glasses was waiting for Chen Congyun on the ten-mile pavilion outside the city.

"After leaving for several years, Lord Shen has always been nice?" Gu Hongming still looked extraordinary and did not have much respect for Chen Congyun, the upstart in Liangjiang. He seemed to have seen an old friend.

"Mr. Gu! How dare you do your best?" Chen Congyun respected Gu Hongming very much. After all, this is a real scholar, although he is a little conservative.

"Shishuai Xiang learned that Lord Shen went north and waited here for a long time."

"Xiang Shuai is so polite. How can Congyun behave?" Chen Congyun quickly became polite. Gu Hongming smiled discontently and said, "Why do you have to act like this? Everyone has been in the West. You don't have to be too polite in private."

Chen Congyun felt funny inside. This old master was full of foreign ink, but he was a very conservative person. Later, as a professor at Peking University, he was not a woman with small feet. What kind of good intentions could he have when he came to the West with Chen Congyun?

"In this way, Congyun dared to call Mr. Gu Brother Nian, can he?" Chen Congyun still politely held the junior courtesy, but he didn't dare to take Gu Hongming's polite words seriously. Although Chen Congyun's status is much higher than him, the old man was unhappy. He wrote an article in the newspaper to scold Chen Congyun, but Chen Congyun could not bear it.

"When the construction of the Luhan Railway has been in operation for two years, and when it was built in Xuzhou, a dispute with the local area, Xiangshuai did not dare to neglect and went there in person. It is rumored in the court that Zigui's brother was going to be the governor of Liangjiang. I will congratulate you first."

After hearing this, Chen Congyun thought to himself, I knew that Gu Hongming put down his airs and came to pick me up. There was nothing good about it. Look, is this happening?
Chapter completed!