Jingshi, Xicheng District, Zhao Gongfu.

Zhao Mansion is the residence of Zaizhao, the Duke of Feng'en Town, located on the south bank of Shicha Sea, not far from Prince Gong's Mansion, which was rewarded by Emperor Xianfeng when Zaizhao Jin sealed the town of Guogong.

Zaizhao himself is a noble status, is the fifth son of Emperor Qianlong, Prince Rongchun Aixin Jueluo Yongqi great-grandson, his grandfather is Rongke County King Aixin Jueluo Mianyi, and his father is Dorobelle Yihua. And he has a double identity, the eldest brother of King Zhennan.

At about eight o'clock in the morning, Zai Zhao, who was in his early forties, walked along the Shisil Chahai and returned to the mansion slowly, after being idle in Beijing, he rarely asked about political affairs, but life was very regular, running in the morning, playing the cloth library, and then going out to drink morning tea, returning to the mansion at about eight o'clock to read the newspaper and practice calligraphy, rarely going out to ask relatives and friends, and there were very few visitors in Pingsuri, and the days were leisurely and clean.

However, when he entered the door today, the housekeeper hurriedly greeted him and whispered: "Second master, someone asked to see ......" ”

Zaizhao glanced at him, someone asked to see someone who could use the mystery of God? Although there are few guests in his house, it is not that no one has come to the door, but when he entered the house, he didn't seem to see a sedan car outside the door, who was there?

Without waiting for him to ask, the housekeeper lowered his voice and said, "It's the old man in front of the third lady." ”

Carrier? Zaizhao was overjoyed, he was sure that it was definitely related to Yi Zhi's contentment, so he said, "Take him to my study." I went over there. ”

After washing up, Zai Zhao walked into the study unhurriedly, and Li Seventeen, who had been waiting for a long time, saw him come in, and hurriedly greeted a neat Qian'er and said, "Little Li Seventeen, please be safe with the second master." ”

This Li Seventeen is the little guy in front of Zaitong, Zai Zhao used to be quite familiar, for twenty years, the original thin little guy has also become a strong man in his thirties, but, if you look closely, you can vaguely see the original appearance, and after a little look, he bowed his head slightly and said: "Shuwen is okay?" ”

"Miss, everything is fine." Li Qiqi said obediently: "Miss also asked the little one to tell the second master that the prince has left for China and will be able to arrive in Shanghai in more than a month." ”

"Oh, that's good news." Zai Zhao said with a smile.

Li Qiqi didn't talk nonsense, took out a letter from his arms and presented it, and said, "This is written by Miss herself." ”

Zai Tong's handwriting was recognizable at a glance, and after reading the letter quickly, he looked up at Li Qiqi and said, "What else does Miss have to say?" It's no wonder that he asked, this letter written by Zaitong himself is an ordinary letter to his family, just a little verbose.

Listening to Zaizhao's question, Li Qiqi hesitated for a moment before saying, "Before leaving, Miss also read a poem..... Horizontally looked into a ridge..... Side peaks, far and near or something ........ ”

Hearing this, Zaizhao looked at the letter again, and looked at it horizontally, but when he looked at it obliquely, he saw that it was famous-King Gong was about to return to sell, return quickly!

What to do back in Tianjin? Zai Zhao even used his toes to guess the meaning of Yi Zhi, let him go back to Tianjin to control the Beiyang Naval Division, or let him control, or let him assist King Gong to control, the former is more likely!

With a slight groan, he raised his head and said, "Go down and rest first, and I'll write a letter for you to bring back." ”

Sending Li Seventeen away, Zaizhao couldn't hide the excitement in his heart, and walked back and forth in the room quickly, it was not difficult for him to control the Beiyang Naval Division, he had cultivated a lot of cronies in the Beiyang Naval Division over the years, and now Yizeng was not in Tianjin, and the main force of the Beiyang Naval Division was in the Wa Kingdom, in this case, it was easy for him to control the Beiyang Naval Division!

Yi Zhifen wants him to control the Beiyang Sailor Sailor? Naturally, in order to restrain the Eight Banners New Army of the Beijing Division, the period of preparing for the constitution is coming to an end, and Yuan Qi is to prevent the Queen Mother from breaking her word, preventing the imperial court from delaying or even regretting and refusing to implement the constitution.

Although he is also a child of the clan, he sees it very clearly that if the Qing Dynasty wants to extend the national ancestry, it must implement constitutional government, and the constitutional monarchy is the only way to continue to extend the national Zuo of the Qing Dynasty, otherwise it will force Yuanqi to rebel! Whether it is military strength, economic strength, financial strength, industrial strength, no matter from any aspect, the imperial court is far from being comparable to Yuan Qi, once Yuan Qi rebels, the Qing Dynasty will inevitably be the result of destruction!

As a disciple of the clan, he naturally did not want to see the fall of the Qing Dynasty, and he hoped that the Qing Dynasty could gradually become stronger under the guidance and promotion of Yuan Qi, and create a prosperous era comparable to the prosperous era of Kangqian! He also believes that Yuan Qi has this ability!

Li 17 did not go down to rest, but went straight out of the house, and hurried back near dusk, and when Zai Zhao heard the news, he was immediately called to the study, handed him the written reply, and said, "When do you plan to return to Shanghai?" ”

"Go back to the second master, the little one will rush back early tomorrow morning." Li Qiqi hesitated as he spoke, and then said: "Second master, King Gong has led more than 10,000 troops to set off from Osaka, escorted by the East China Sea Fleet, and is expected to arrive in Tianjin in about three days. ”

Hearing this, Zaizhao couldn't help but smile, "You kid seems to be out of luck." ”

"It's all the support of the young lady." Li Qiqi hurriedly said.

Zaizhao nodded and said, "Right now, Jingshi is a place of right and wrong, you can't stay for a long time, be smart all the way." ”

Before the words fell, the manager whispered outside the study: "Second master——。 ”

Seeing that the other party had something, Li Qiqi hurriedly bowed down and said, "Second master, don't worry, the little one will retire." Li Qiqi, who was waiting, hurriedly retreated, and the chief manager came in and reported softly: "Prime Minister Su is here to visit." ”

Sushun? What did he come to do? Zaizhao didn't think much about it, and ordered, "Please come over." He and Su Shun have a good relationship, both of them are the first batch of children of the clan to enter the Nanyang Navy, they have stayed together in the Dinghai camp for a few years, after returning to Beijing, because of the relationship of easy contentment, although the two have very little contact, but they are more and more intimate.

greeted Su Shun at the door of the courtyard of the study, and when he saw him dressed as a gentleman, he said: "It's not dark yet, aren't you afraid of being bumped into?" ”

Su Shun said disapprerovingly: "You have a lot of people here, who can you bump into?" ”

Hearing this, Zaizhao smiled, "Is this to disturb my purity?" ”

"At the moment, the situation in Jingshi, I am afraid that it will not be clean if I want to be clean." Su Shun said unhurriedly: "The war of the Japanese Kingdom is coming to an end, and King Gong's class is about to return to Beijing, and the Beijing division is afraid that there will be some turbulent ....... ”

Zai Zhao said: "I'm just an idler now, what does the turmoil in Beijing have to do with me?" ”

"You are idle in body and mind."

"How do you know I'm not idle?" Zai Zhao said: "To put it nicely, I'm full of food and have nothing to do all day long, to put it mildly, I'm eating and waiting for death, how can I be idle?" ”

Su Shun smiled: "These words are resentful, unwilling, how can you be idle?" ”

The two laughed all the way into the room, and after giving up their seats, Zaizhao washed the pot of tea with a thermos, and then sat down and said: "The best red robe, I am reluctant to use it to entertain guests." ”

Su Shun picked up the teacup and sniffed it gently, and said, "Thirty-year-old Da Hong Robe? No wonder it's reluctant. He took a shallow sip.

Zaizhao also sipped tea and was silent, quietly waiting for the other party to take the initiative to explain his intentions, he knew very well how busy he was as the chief military aircraft, at this time, there must be a large number of officials in the palace waiting to meet him, and it was impossible to come to him to talk about his teeth.

After sipping half a cup of tea, Su Shun put down the teacup and said, "I haven't been to Shanghai for a few years?" Shanghai has been the same as a year in recent years, and there is nothing to do around the world, so I didn't want to go to Shanghai to relax? ”

What do you mean? Zai Zhao glanced at him suspiciously, and said tentatively: "Could it be that you heard some rumors?" ”

"A few days ago, Baojun went to Fengtai Daying, have you heard about this?" Su Shun said softly: "You know the character of Yi Laosan, be cautious, and never get involved in party disputes. ”

Zaizhao refilled the tea for him, and then said: "The imperial court wants to firmly control the Beiyang Naval Division through Yizeng? ”

"How did King Gong's general come here, you should have heard of it?" Su Shun looked at him and said, "Even if the imperial court can't firmly control the Beiyang Naval Division, it must also guard against the repetition of King Gong's old tricks. ”

Zaizhao's heart sank, but he said, "What does this have to do with me?" ”

"Pretending to be confused, isn't it?" Su Shun said and picked up the teacup and tasted the tea slowly, Zaizhao has been the commander of the Beiyang Navy for several years, and his prestige in the Beiyang Navy is not low, and it will not be much worse than Yizeng, the current admiral, at least half of the Beiyang Navy Division's family background is fought for by him, and his relationship with Yi Zhizhi is also obvious, how can the court not prevent him from following King Gong?

He came to remind him to go to Shanghai, one is to sell personal favors, and secondly, he is also afraid of extraneous branches, the current Yuanqi is no longer comparable to the past, if Zaizhao, the eldest brother, has any mistakes in Beijing, Yi Zhishu will definitely not be as silent as burning the Nanhou Mansion in Zhennan, and now Yuanqi can be said to have been waiting for an opportunity.

Zaizhao really didn't expect that Li Seventeen would only leave on the front foot, and Su Shun would come on the back foot, and Yi Zhixiang and the Queen Mother would both want to go together? After a slight groan, he said, "Shouldn't you have come by order?" ”

"Where do you want to go? Don't be kind enough to be a donkey's liver and lungs! Su Shun rolled his eyes, "The Queen Mother thinks of this, will she let you go to Shanghai?" Wouldn't it be much simpler for you to think about it behind closed doors, or simply confine it down? ”

In other words, the Queen Mother didn't expect this, Zai Zhao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "The imperial court implements constitutional government, and King Gong has the highest call to form a cabinet, and now that King Gong is in charge of an army, you don't have any ideas?" ”

"King Gong is in charge of the army, if he is on the cusp, whether it is a pro or a con, it is difficult to say at present, why envy?" Su Shun said slowly, in his opinion, once the constitution is implemented, it is bound to integrate the constitution and the royalist faction, King Gong's move will be hated by the royalist faction, and the blessing and misfortune are unpredictable, he doesn't need to follow suit, but what does Zaizhao mean by this?

After a slight sigh, he said: "The Beiyang Naval Division will attract the attention of all parties, but don't wade into this troubled water, it is the best policy to go to Shanghai to relax." ”

Zaizhao said tentatively: "Will the imperial court allow me to go to Shanghai to relax?" ”

"You're just idle at home, and you're not confined, why not?" Su Shun said disapprerovingly: "Of course, if you want to ask for an order, the ironclad will not be allowed." ”

"Okay." Zaizhao said: "Jingshi has now become a place of right and wrong, so it's good to go to Shanghai to avoid it." ”

Sending Su Shun away, Zaizhao was a little undecided, Su Shun thought of this, the Queen Mother wouldn't have thought of it? However, as soon as he thought that King Gong led more than 10,000 troops to return to Tianjin under the escort of the East China Sea Fleet, he made up his mind that with the assistance of King Gong and the East China Sea Fleet, there was no risk in this matter, besides, even if there was any accident, Yi Zhishu would not stand idly by, and the Queen Mother did not dare to put him to death.

Early the next morning, Zaizhao got up early and went out of the house as usual to run along Shichahai in the morning, I don't know if it was an illusion, he always felt that someone was secretly watching, but after paying careful attention to observing a few times, he didn't find anything abnormal, and couldn't help but laugh at himself for being too sensitive.

In the morning, after the housekeeper who went out to arrange the carriage returned to the house to report the matter, he hesitated and said: "Second master, the slave doesn't know if it's an illusion, but I always feel that someone is secretly staring at ......." ”

Zaizhao's heart sank, he was sure that it was not an illusion, it was indeed secretly monitored, and he groaned slightly, before he ordered: "Arrange for one of your relatives to go to Tianjin tomorrow, so as not to make people suspicious." ”

The housekeeper left, and Zaizhao slowly paced back to the study, when did the imperial court start to spy on him? Is it all the time? Or has it only started in the past few days? Why didn't you notice it before? However, one thing is for sure, he wants to secretly leave Jingshi and go to Tianjin, which is almost impossible!

After thinking for a while, he simply ordered someone to go to the telegraph office to send a telegram to Zaitong - Jing Ji thought about it and went to Shanghai the day after tomorrow. And arrange for someone to go to the train station to buy tickets.

The telegram was sent out at noon, and at dusk, he heard that Yizeng came to visit, and Zaizhao only had a trace of luck in his heart, and when he met Yizeng at the second gate, he laughed loudly: "Yijunmen has been in Beijing for so many days, and he only remembered to come to see me today." ”

Yi Zeng smiled and arched his hand: "Forgive sins and forgive sins, I really can't pull away." ”

"Then how can you be free today?"

"Where is the ...... free?" Yizeng smiled bitterly and said, "You won't let me just stand here and say it." ”

"Please please please ——。" Zai Zhao smiled politely, and when the two entered the study, Yi Zengcai said, "I heard that you plan to go to Shanghai?" ”

"The train ticket I asked people to buy today actually reached your ears?" Zaizhao's face sank, "The imperial court has been sending people to spy on me in secret?" ”

"I think it's only recently been that people have been sent to monitor it." Yi Zeng said slowly: "The current situation, you also know, don't go to Shanghai for a while, stay in Beijing with peace of mind, and talk about it after this time." ”

"It's because of the current situation that I plan to go to Shanghai for refuge, but I didn't expect it to work!" Zaizhao said angrily: "Could it be that the imperial court wants to take me as a hostage?" ”

"Second Master Zhao, can you stop talking nonsense." Yi Zeng smiled bitterly and said, "What kind of hostage is the imperial court taking you hostage?" After a pause, he said: "The current situation is very tense, don't add to the chaos, the officers of the Beiyang Naval Division of the Fengtai Battalion have all returned to Tianjin, and in addition, Yiyun also went to Tianjin." ”

Yiyun also went to Tianjin? Zaizhao's heart sank, and he said, "What is Yiyun doing in Tianjin?" Succeed you as Admiral? ”