When it comes to the Tianjin lesson plan, there is one person who can't be avoided, that is, the sublime who has always been compromised. Since he took up his post as Minister of International Trade and Commerce, he has always been cautious and tolerant of everything, and has been praised by ministers and consuls of various countries. Although the people's opinion of him is not good, but the official face is still good, and the ministers of various countries are also very noble face, even if it is a good cause, it has always been referred to as Chonghou is a good person.

Chonghou was born in Manchuria with a yellow flag, his surname is Wanyan, and he is a descendant of Wanyan, the royal family of the Jin Dynasty. It can be said that he was born in a famous family, and he has been distinguished for many generations, and there have been five generations of Jinshi. Chonghou himself also has the title of lifting people, which is not easy for a son of a banner man. He really made his fortune from the Second Opium War. In the eighth year of Xianfeng, Chonghou assisted Seng Lingqin to manage Tianjin's coastal defense, and began to have frequent contact with people of all stripes in the West. Two years later, Xianfeng fled north, leaving Prince Gong Yixin to deal with the peace situation, and Prince Gong did not hesitate to recommend Chonghou, who was knowledgeable, meticulous and familiar with foreign affairs, as his right-hand man. You know, just a year ago, Xianfeng was still dissatisfied with Chonghou's ability, and once asked Yixin, "Chonghou people are not outstanding, I don't understand what kind of talent you like to use?" ”。 However, during the peace talks, he worked tirelessly, "when the Yi situation was rampant, he repeatedly went in and out of the Yi camp, prepared for danger, and was able to exchange the contract one after another." Naturally, this kind of performance was deeply appreciated by King Gong, and soon the imperial court issued an edict that "the alternate three or four grades of Jingtang are noble, and the title of squire is rewarded with grace", and the deputy bureau level cadre jumped into the minister's club, which can be described as a special opportunity.

Chonghou can be so smooth in his official career, and Prince Gong's support is inseparable, so he has since sacrificed his life to follow the backer, only his horse is the first to look forward. After Prince Gong came to power, he asked the imperial court to appoint several ministers of trade to handle maritime affairs. Chonghou was sponsored by Prince Gong and continued to stay in Tianjin as the Minister of Commerce and Commerce, where he stayed for ten years. As a descendant of King Gong, Chonghou became an urgent pioneer in implementing the strategy of Western-style reform after taking office. He first formulated the "Tianjin Trade Charter", established foreign institutions, and smoothed out foreign relations, and then received orders to revise the treaty with the Prussian minister in Tianjin. Later, Chongshi purchased a large number of Manchurian guns and munitions, and organized and trained a 5,000-strong army with the assistance of instructors from Northern Manchuria, which was the largest at that time. Of course, the most bullish move is the Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau, which took nearly five years to build in the ninth year of Tongzhi. It can be said that among the Xinjiang officials in various places, Chonghou is definitely the one who follows the new policy of the central government the most. In a word, the reform of foreign affairs depends on the gate of Tianjin, and the number of pacesetters in the reform is noble.

Moreover, in addition to Prince Gong's big backer, Chonghou also has some foreign aid, and he not only has a good relationship with the ministers of Western countries, but also has a very strong relationship with North Manchuria. Chonghou not only has a good relationship with Song Changqing, he is a person with the ability to reach the sky, and he can talk to Guo Xing'a directly. During the Beijing peace talks, Chonghou has been one of Yixin's special envoys, and he also participated in the talks with the Ministry of Rites. In the midst of the feathered roof, Guo Xing'a didn't notice the no-outstanding Chonghou, but Chonghou had a relationship with a person who scolded the street very well, and this person was Guo Xing'a's humerus staff Rong Hong. After Guo Xing'a came out of the customs and became self-reliant, Chonghou did not cut off contact with Rong Hong, and often exchanged letters, and his personal relationship was excellent.

Rong Hong now has a transcendent position in the ranks of the civil servants of North Manchuria, he ignores practice, but he is in charge of the most important 100 projects, and he has a great influence in the educational and scientific circles of North Manchuria. Pi Runmin and Zou Degui are the two major mountains, and they are also actively courting him, and they dare not offend him a little. There is such a great god who speaks for Chonghou in front of Guo Xing'a, and Chonghou naturally has an advantage that no one in the Qing Dynasty can match. Guoxing Aben felt that during the Second Opium War, he had choked Tianjin enough, and he felt a little guilty, and with Rong Hong's help to speak, North Manchuria's investment in Tianjin was also huge. Chonghou had been actively following the trend of imperial court reform, and Northern Manchu had given great assistance, so Tianjin's reform progress was naturally the best.

However, although dealing with foreign affairs all year round, Chongshi still has its own fatal shortcomings. Chonghou was a well-mannered gentleman with amiable qualities, but he was not a diplomat. The attitude of dealing with diplomatic issues, especially disputes, is in line with that of King Gong, that is, the typical dovish method, which is his usual method of forbearance, compromise, cold treatment, and procrastination. Therefore, Chonghou's performance of showing weakness to the outside world has long made the people of Tianjin dissatisfied, and the people regard him as a traitor.

Since the incident, the atmosphere in Tianjin has been so tense that it is about to collapse, and the common people are worried that the foreigners will retaliate and the government will arrest people to pay for their lives. Rumors spread from all walks of life, and all the water and fire clubs and gangsters were gathering the congregation, secretly sharpening their knives and guns, preparing to fight. When such a big thing happened, the merchants naturally ran away, the foreigners also hid, the foreign ships did not come, and even the transportation was not possible. There is no rice and grain in the city, there is no business in the tea shop and wine shop, and although the shops are open, there is no trade. The poor are unemployed, groups of people gather everywhere to plot, and rumors are getting more and more outrageous.

Due to the continuous disasters in Tianjin, thousands of victims and gangsters rely on the wharf to work as coolies, and their livelihoods have been cut off. The people's hearts are fluctuating, even the thousands of soldiers under the prefect and the county are mostly Tianjin natives, at this time there is a wind and grass, they can't be trusted, and the entire Tianjin city has become a very dangerous * barrel. At this time, the Tianjin government used another trick to deceive!

Zhang Guangzao, the prefect of Tianjin, has repeatedly issued announcements to reassure the people, and strictly investigate and deal with those who spread rumors. At the same time, he convened a symposium with the leaders of the Water and Fire Society, business tycoons, scholars and celebrities who caused trouble, at which he swore to the heavens that it was easy for foreigners to deal with it, and if they killed people, they could cope with it as long as they paid some silver taels, so there was no need to worry. Moreover, this incident is an emergency, and there is no premeditation and no mastermind, so you don't have to worry about your own safety. It's those gangsters who kill people and set fires, I will never hold you accountable, what should you do, it's okay! He also said that foreigners come to us mainly to do business and make money, so all of you should pay attention to protecting foreign businesses in other countries, and don't make things difficult for churches and parishioners. In this way, if the French can't get along with us, other foreigners will also make decisions for us. Even if the French don't give up, you people are not vegetarians, and I will take you to fight them. In the end, he also said, remember, what you think of, Master Ben will think of for you, what you don't think of, Master Ben will also think of for you, you just wait to listen!

With the prefect patting his chest, the Water and Fire Society and the characters from all walks of life all quieted down, waiting for the conclusion of this matter, they really thought it was okay. But where can things pass so easily, Zhang Guangzao has just finished fooling them, and the foreigners have already come to the door. French Minister Luo Shuya, together with the envoys of Britain, the United States, Russia, Germany, Belgium, and Spain, sent a note to the Qing government to strongly protest, demanding a thorough investigation of the case, severe punishment of the perpetrators, and efforts to protect foreigners and goods in various places.

As soon as the Tianjin teaching plan came out, the whole country was boiling, mainly those scholars and doctors, all of whom advocated a hard confrontation with the French. Because the reason for the Tianjin lesson plan is that it is rumored that the church uses children as medicine primers, whether it is true or not, whether others believe it or not, anyway, those readers seized this excuse to make a big fuss. At this time, there was also a lot of noise in the Forbidden City in Beijing, and the ministers were divided into two factions, one faction opposed to suppressing the people and serving outsiders, and the other faction advocated a proper peace agreement. Then the burden of ten thousand machines was thrown to Chonghou, you Chonghou is the Minister of International Trade and Commerce, Tianjin is the place you are in charge, you don't treat anyone, but unfortunately Chonghou really can't afford it.

After pondering and meditating, Chonghou came up with a trick to get rid of the golden cicada, saying that it was okay to pull people on their backs. Chonghou wrote a report to Prime Minister Yamen, explaining the circumstances of the incident, and at the same time explaining his embarrassment, although he was a messenger to deal with foreign affairs, but the military power was in the hands of the governor of Zhili, and the administrative power was in the Daotai, the prefect, and the county, so "he was responsible for managing trade affairs and had no responsibility for maintaining law and order", and he had to ask Zeng Guofan, the leader of Zhili, to preside over the overall situation. Tianjin belongs to Zhili, and Chonghou pulls the governor of Zhili to back, which can be regarded as the proper meaning. Moreover, the governor of Zhili in front of him, Zeng Guofan, is a figure that the whole country looks up to, and inviting this big Buddha can definitely be a good cover for Chonghou. Although Tianjin is a big pit, and it is very unkind to pull the Zeng State Domain, but the Chonghou who is eager to save himself can't take care of so much. Moreover, Zeng Guofan is old, and as a Manchurian nobleman, he is not afraid that this Zeng will seek revenge on himself after shaving his head.

If Prince Gong understands it, and at the same time, he also knows that Chonghou can't be uneven at all, and there must be a powerful person to go to Tianjin, so the next day he ordered "Zeng Guofan to go to Tianjin to investigate and handle the case". So the burden on Chonghou's body was immediately half lighter, but the self-help operation had to continue. Immediately afterwards, Chonghou folded up and asked the court to punish the crime. However, the content of this excerpt is really ingenious, for their own crimes, Chonghou only used the words "negative heavenly grace" to bring through, and the rest of the local officials, the pen can not be said to be ruthless, "Tianjin Dao Zhou Jiaxun has the responsibility of setting an example, can take precautions, Tianjin Prefecture Governor Zhang Guangzao, Tianjin County Governor Liu Jie, in handling the abduction case, acted in a hurry, so that the people's feelings fluctuated, gathering people to make trouble, all of which are to blame." According to the severity of the responsibility, "the slave will be punished according to the request, and the Tianjin government, province, and county will be strictly dismissed." To put it bluntly, he should be administratively punished one by one, and Zhou, Zhang, and Liu must lose their jobs.

In response to the lofty request, King Gong and the others once again pushed the boat down the river, "Zeng Guofan will be with Chonghou, thoroughly investigate, and handle it impartially." Don't be biased. Looking for the minister's council, Chonghou should be demoted one level to stay". The so-called punishment is only a light downgrade. The so-called retention is really reused, as long as the case is not handled too badly, Chonghou can land safely. Chonghou is of course beggar-thy-neighbor, but in fact, there is no way, the foreigners have bitten Zhou, Zhang, and Liu, and the note asked for severe punishment of the three of them, so that Chonghou's popularity is good, and no one is looking for trouble with him.

And Zeng Guofan fell into blood mold, he couldn't avoid this rotten thing, the old and sick Marquis Zeng, he could only go to Tianjin with the determination to die.