"Serve tea and send it to the guests......" With a melodious shout from the steward, the two Hanlin scholars retreated from Zeng Dashuai's study, Zeng Guofan stood up and stopped at the door of the study after a few steps.

"Stay back, please stay...... Maybe Weng Zhongtang will also come to visit the marshal in the evening, please take care of your body, don't work too hard......"

After sending off the two Qingliu lobbyists, Zeng Guofan sat back in the chair with a tired face, and said to the nine handsome Zeng Guoquan with a wry smile, "Jingshi has never been my blessed land, I have met six groups of guests in one afternoon, and it is estimated that it will not be clean at night......"

"What did the eldest brother say, it is precisely because of this that the status of the eldest brother in the court has been proven, and now that the eldest brother has been cleared, who can stabilize the situation? But I really didn't expect that Xiao Lotian would become so powerful in just over two years, so difficult to deal with, and in the long run, it is our great enemy!"

Jiu Shuai began to instill his set of theories again, and Zeng Guofan's head tightened vigorously when he listened, "Forget it, I see that you are really enchanted, I will repeat it ten thousand times, don't dream of another day, it's not realistic at all!"

"Big brother, why are you so brainless? This is Song Taizu's career, right in front of you, a foot of water jumps lightly ......"

"That's enough!" Zeng Guofan roared in a low voice, "What is the cause of Song Taizu, is it a troubled time now? Are the people completely desperate for the Manchus? Have all the forces approved of it?"

"Even if everything is ready, what will we get? It's just a small bit of the territory of the Song Dynasty. Do the Mongols on the steppe have one mind with us? Do the Tibetans in Qinghai and Tibet have one mind with us? Do the Uyghurs in Xinjiang have one mind with us? Do the vast tracts of land outside the border have anything to do with us?"

"If what I do is nothing more than a remnant of the Song Dynasty in exchange for a civil war, then I, Zeng Guofan, am a sinner!"

"Big brother ......" Jiu Shuai was speechless for a while, he really couldn't resist Zeng Guofan's strange thoughts, and every time he talked about this topic, Zeng Guoquan didn't know how to answer.

In the eyes of conservatives, the traditional territory of the Han Chinese should be within the Great Wall, and the outside of the Saiwai, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Xinjiang are all wild places, which belong to the chicken ribs that are tasteless and discarded.

When the national strength of the Han people is strong, they will naturally expand outward, and the purpose of occupying some wild places is to obtain a little strategic buffer, and its purpose is just to maintain the land security of the Han people.

And the other kind of elite, like Zeng Guofan, belongs to the ambitious Han elite, who have a dream of a great power in their hearts and think of the heroic style of the Han and Tang Dynasties.

In their eyes, expanding the territory can not only expand the living space of the Han people, but also get full benefits, and the Han and Tang dynasties operated the Western Regions in exchange for countless wealth.

In the eyes of these elites, the wilderness may not be of much use for a while, but as time goes by, the hard-working Han people will not be able to build a land of fish and rice as long as they work hard for three or four generations.

I think that the two emperors of Yan and Huang were just a few small tribes on the side of the Yellow River, and during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Chu State, Jiangnan and Beijing were all barbarian lands, and in the end they also became the homes of the Han people.

In Zeng Guofan's heart, even the white-faced traitor Cao Cao knew that the expedition to Wuheng was terrifying, and Cao Cao did not dare to go south in his life. Could it be that he is not even as good as Cao Cao's mind and courage?

What's more, where is that Wuheng? Isn't it just that Rehe has crossed the current rising sun, where the Manchu and Han people live together, the number of Han people is already very considerable.

Zeng Guofan and Zeng Guoquan have a set of theories behind their ideas, and no one can convince anyone after so many years, and whenever this topic is raised, the brothers always break up unhappily.

"Hey...... Big brother, you should be so confused, sooner or later make a wedding dress for Xiao Letian's bastard boy! Now seeing that his rise momentum is unstoppable, if you don't correct your name early, wait for Xiao Letian to rescue the emergency, you just wait to regret it......" After speaking, Jiu Shuai turned his head and left.

Zeng Guofan shook his head and sighed and said, "You don't understand, that Xiao Letian and I are the same kind of people, he even looks farther than me, just look at the plan after entering Beijing this time, where is this the appearance of a young man, this is clearly an old thief who has accumulated years, and a big thief who has won people's hearts...... His mind is unimaginably big, you can't understand it......"

Jiu Shuai left, Zeng Guofan rested for a while and it was time for dinner, but as soon as the dinner was served, the evil guests came to the door, and Weng Tongyi, who was several years old, came to visit.

After all, Weng Tongrong is the leader of Qingliu, and his identity is different from that of ordinary scholars, Zeng Guofan invited him to the table to drink, but when he saw Weng Tongrong like that, he was stunned.

"Why is Changshu like this, why haven't you seen old like this for a few years? If I'm not mistaken, you're twenty years younger than me, right?"

Weng Tongyi bowed deeply and made a big gift to a junior, "Handsome has a good memory, the handsome older boy is nineteen years old, you watched me grow up......"

"Haha, sit down, sit down, I'm also friends with your father, so you should treat it as a family banquet today, you're welcome!"

The two sat down, and their own maid poured wine for Weng Tong's cloth dishes, the wine was the thirty-year-old daughter red, and the dishes were spicy and fragrant Hunan dishes, but the two of them were not thinking about eating and drinking, and after three glasses of wine, Weng Tonggong couldn't help but go straight to the topic.

"Dashuai, you are now the Dinghai Divine Needle in the court, and whether the dynasty can survive this catastrophe depends on your attitude...... That Xiao Lotian is simply frenzied, slaughtering the children of the Eight Banners, storming the city of Beijing, performing martial arts in the Taihe Palace, and even trying to kidnap His Majesty, a big rebellion......"

Weng Tongyi scolded Xiao Letian with oil and vinegar, and there was no trace of the bearing of a famous minister on his body, Zeng Guofan looked at a table of dishes that were sprayed with spit, and he couldn't cry or laugh angrily.

But he couldn't stop it, after all, he still had the brand of a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty, and he had to nod in response to Weng Tongyi's attack.

After spraying for a whole quarter of an hour, Weng Tonggong's complexion improved a little, he took a few mouthfuls of food with chopsticks, and drank a glass of fine wine, "Why don't you eat it?"

Zeng Guofan's nose was almost crooked, and he said in his heart, Lao Tzu, I won't eat your saliva.

"Shuping, your heart for the country, brother, I have already understood, you can tell me, what do you want me to do?"

"Dashuai is happy......," the old man cocked his thumb and praised, "Student, then make it clear, then Xiao Lotian must withdraw from the Beijing division and take his troops back to Tanggu and Ryukyu, and the foreign affairs of the dynasty cannot be handed over to him, and should be led by Dashuai...... And His Majesty's cranky thoughts must be rejected with righteous words, what is the matter with the dignified son of heaven going to travel the world?"

Zeng Guofan listened to the conditions in the old man's mouth, and sighed in his heart, isn't this a complete denial of what Xiao Letian has done?

This group of Qingliu is really an incompetent and shameless example, counting on these sour Qing Dynasty to be finished sooner or later.

After patiently listening to Weng Tongyi's nonsense, Zeng Guofan fell into deep thought, and the silent atmosphere made the old man a little weak-hearted, and after a long time, he finally couldn't bear it anymore.

"Dashuai...... You're going to say something......

Zeng Guofan looked at Weng Tongyi and said with a light smile: "Do you want to listen to the truth or lie?"

"What does this mean, of course, is it true?"

"Hehe, isn't the truth in your heart? Can Xiao Letian agree to your own conditions? You came to me to actually target the soldiers in my hands, right? Do you want our Hunan army to exterminate Xiao Letian?"

Weng Tongyi's old face flushed, "Hey...... Dashuai, who else can deal with Xiao Letian's appearance now? I knew that his new army was so capable of fighting, and the imperial court should have gone to Rehe to avoid the limelight before...... When the time comes, the whole country will be mobilized to drown him......"

"Hey...... It's good now, Sijiu City has been blocked by him, and the city is full of bayonets, and the imperial court really can't afford to take risks......"

"Hahaha, you don't have the strength anymore, you can't afford to take risks, are you going to push me to power? Let me be charged with starting a civil war?" Zeng Guofan's tears of laughter came out.

"Why did the marshal say this? Then Xiao Letian was already rebellious, how could it be said that it was a civil war?" said Weng Tongyi's old face with a slight red face.

"Hmph......" Zeng Guofan snorted coldly, "It doesn't matter if the old man fights bloodily with Changmao and twists the army, because they are all blatant rebels and careerists who want to build a country, it doesn't matter how many people I kill!"

"But what is Xiao Letian? The imperial court has repeatedly sent troops to attack him, but Xiao Letian has not overthrown the ruling system of the imperial court until now, has he ever killed an official in Tanggu? Has he ever raised a rebellion?"

"From beginning to end, Xiao Letian has been holding on to his identity as the prime minister of the vassal state, and he has always faced a qiē accusation as a wronged courtier, and even this time he came to Kyoto because of the edict of the Empress Dowager Dong, how can you let me clear such a person?"

"I can kill traitors and foreign races, but I just won't kill the ministers of the same palace...... The old man won't bear that eternal infamy!"

Weng Tongyi had already been scolded stupidly by Zeng Guofan, and he said in a daze, "Dashuai! The country cannot be shaken, Xiao Letian is a traitor, how can you say that he is also a courtier of the Qing Dynasty?"

"Why not?" Zeng Guofan's voice rose several degrees, "He didn't pull the flag to rebel, he followed the order of the Empress Dowager to lead troops into Beijing, protect the treasury in Beijing, and build the people's livelihood, is this also the act of a traitor?"

"Your Shuping is so powerful, may I ask why you didn't change the Longxugou greatly, why didn't you stabilize the price of Jingshi rice in 40 Wen? If such a courtier is rebellious, then I really hope that the entire Qing court is all rebellious!"

Weng Tongyi was scolded stupidly by the big handsome, he stood up and trembled his lips and said: "Dashuai, you have studied through the past and the present, can't you see this? Then Xiao Letian is inviting people to buy people's hearts! He wants to dig out the hearts of the people from the hands of the imperial court, he is a traitor...... Always a traitor!"

Zeng Guofan looked at Weng Tongyi coldly and said softly, "Even if he is a traitor, he is also a traitor who took out real money to settle the people...... Do the people want the price of 40 wen a liter of rice, or do they want your righteous name? This multiple-choice question doesn't seem to be difficult!"