Emperor Tongzhi nodded, and said approvingly to the promoter, "You have spoken thoroughly, very well." The promoter's face was flushed with excitement, and Emperor Tongzhi had to bypass the podium, sit at the first table in the middle row, and smiled at the students on the left and right, "Today I am here to be a student, and I will study with you, what are you learning today?" Although the emperor had a whim, people were caught off guard, but there was an order from above, and the next must follow, Wen Xiang and Prince Gong sat on both sides of the emperor respectively, Baojun Cao Yuying and others sat down in order, and Zai Cheng Guixiang and other emperors' accompaniments also sat behind. The commissioner said: "Lord Hurd from the General Administration of Customs is here today, does the emperor want to invite Lord Hurd to come and give a lecture?" ”

"Yes!" The emperor nodded, the students from Guangzhou on the side trembled, and they didn't dare to come out, the eunuchs around the emperor sent paper and pencils, and Wen Xiang was extremely frightened when he saw those students - it's no wonder that in one day, the important ministers of the Military Aircraft Department and even the emperor saw it, and everyone was frightened, so they hurriedly joked and said, "Don't be nervous, today is a rare fate, to be able to be a student with the emperor, this is a classmate of the Son of Heaven." ”

Emperor Tongzhi grinned and said, "Yes, it's rare," after turning his head, those students who were not black and didn't slip away, although they felt that these people were a little ugly, but the emperor felt that they were still honest and tight, "Don't be nervous." ”

Everyone hurriedly smiled and said that they were not nervous, and after a while, Hurd arrived, and when he saw the emperor and the king of parliament sitting below, he hurriedly bowed, "Hello Your Majesty the Emperor." ”

"Hello Mr. Hurd." The emperor replied in English, this is still taught by the emperor's mother, Hurd listened to it, and the ministers of the student military aircraft department at the back, as well as the waiting promotion officials, were greatly shocked, this emperor, can actually speak the words of foreigners. "I wonder what Mr. Hurd said today?"

"Today I am going to talk about taxation, Your Majesty the Emperor."

"Oh, then please tell me." The Emperor picked up the pen, "Today I am your student, please Mr. Hurd do not need to be polite." ”

"Okay." Hurd opened the handouts and talked about taxation for about an hour, although the emperor didn't understand a little, but he still wrote and took notes very seriously, Prince Gong and others were deeply touched, and the tax matter was much more profound, Cao Yuying asked a few questions again and again, and Hurd also patiently answered. After a British teacher came to teach English, the students of the Tongwenguan at the back got the opportunity, and the instructor chattered in English for a while, and the instructor patiently taught the Tongzhi Emperor who did not understand English at all, the emperor was a little shy at first, and then became acquainted, so he also had a cheeky conversation with the instructor, which led to the applause of the room, so two classes down, and then it was lunch, everyone surrounded the emperor to the canteen, and now the Tongwenguan is empty, Seeing that there were only so many students waiting in the cafeteria, Emperor Tongzhi couldn't help frowning, Prince, "These are just a few people?" Or are some people already eating? ”

Prince Gong Wang Xiang, Wen Xiang replied with some shame, "Now there are only these people in the Tongwen Pavilion, and in half a year, there are a total of ninety-eight people who applied for the Tongwen Pavilion, none of whom were born on the right path for the imperial examination. During the examination, some people gave up, and only 72 people were reluctantly admitted. Later, due to the turbulence of the Shilin, 20 more dropped out, and in the end only 10 remained. The slave wants to ask the queen mother and the emperor for guilt. ”

This root is in his own master, Emperor Tongzhi is very clear, he is slightly annoyed, but he is not good to say anything, "Master Wu is confused, but I am not easy to embarrass him, the first is that he is a master, I only respect, moreover, his eldest son died in Ningguo, and it is also the home of martyrs," Fuxian, the eldest son of Wuren, is Yanfa Dao, Jiangsu, Anhui Huiningchi Taiguang Dao, Xianfeng ten years, the Taiping army besieged Ningguo, martyred and committed suicide. "I don't want to say much."

"Yes."

"Tell the emperor, the servants have heard of something," Bao Jun said, "When recruiting students this time, the Beijing officials of Hunan and Hubei first issued a notice saying: 'All my fellow villagers, if there are those who apply for the Tongwen Museum, the salary is better, and then they can be printed and knotted without separation, and the official affairs are more complicated, and the celebration can be ignored. It means that whoever applies for the exam will be cut off from whom! ”

In the Qing system, all people from other provinces who take the examination and donate to the official in Beijing must be in Beijing with the same township and Beijing official as a guarantee and stamped with six seals. The guarantee document is called the knot, and the sealed knot is called the seal knot. The emperor didn't know what the seal knot meant at first, Cao Yuying hurriedly explained, and the emperor was faintly angry, "It's ridiculous, the strategy set by the emperor's mother and the sixth uncle, these people dare to disobey and disrespect secretly, it's really damned," the emperor's murderous words came out, and everyone in the room was shocked, "Isn't that that no scholars from Hunan and Hubei signed up?" ”

"There were two or three before, and now there is only one left, and the homework is first-class, but recently." The promoter hurriedly said, and the emperor said, "Which one?" Call here. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for the recommendation ticket, your support is my biggest motivation. )

PS: Happy Valentine's Day everyone.