One day in December, the weather became cold, and the cold wind in the city of Xingyi Mansion in Guizhou Province made the city sparsely populated and a little desolate. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Inside the yamen of the Xingyi prefect's mansion, it is as warm as spring.

A young man who had not yet shed his vigor was standing respectfully in the east wing of the backyard of the prefect's yamen, next to him, there were two people sitting upright, both wearing Manchu official uniforms, but they were Zhang Qi, the prefect of Xingyi Prefecture, and his friend Han Chao, the governor of Dushan Prefecture. There is also a scholar in his thirties, standing beside Zhang Qiang, and at first glance he looks like a staff member or something.

The young man who has not yet gotten rid of his young spirit is the eldest son of Zhang Qiang, the prefect of Xingyi, and Zhang Zhidong, a prodigy who has become famous in Guizhou in the past two years.

Zhang Zhidong's ancestral home is Zhili Nanpi, he grew up with his father in Xingyi Mansion in Guizhou Province since he was a child, and studied under many famous teachers in Xingyi Mansion, Han Chao, the governor of Dushan Prefecture, is the longest one, this time he came to guide his studies, but a news that shocked them all came, everything changed!

As early as the age of thirteen, Zhang Zhidong returned to Nanpi to participate in the county examination and ranked first; The year before last, at the age of fifteen, he returned to Shuntianfu to participate in the township examination, and once again ranked first and became the Xie Yuan of Shuntianfu, the place of imperial lifting.

Zhang Zhidong, who only returned to Xingyi Mansion at the beginning of the year, was arranged by his father Zhang Qiang to prepare to study the scriptures and plan for the spring exam in two years. For this reason, Zhang Qiang also specially recruited his friend Han Chao and his staff Song Jie to Xingyi Mansion, but he did not expect that Han Chao, who came back from Zhili Province, and Song Jie, who came back from Guilin Mansion in Guangxi, arrived at Xingyi Mansion almost at the same time.

Han Chao said with a heavy heart: "Brother Youfu, my brother has returned from Zhili this time, and after several twists and turns, it's a long story!" The world is chaotic, thieves are everywhere, the Qing Dynasty has run out of gas, even if Zhuge is reincarnated, he will not be able to return to the sky! ”

Zhang Qiang is also solemn, he since Daoguang six years to serve as the county of Taozhi, successively served as Qingping, Anhua, Guizhu, Weining, Guzhou Zhuzhou county officials, clear and honest, diligent in political affairs, and served as the prefect of Xingyi Prefecture, Zunyi Prefecture, Guixi Daoyin, to the year before last and then returned to the prefect of Xingyi Prefecture, in this Guizhou for nearly 30 years, witnessed the poor life of the people in this poor countryside under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, there are constantly Miao, Hui and other villagers rebelled, although he was an official, sent troops to pacify, But I can't help but have some sympathy and understanding for these rioters in my heart.

"Brother Nanxi, you and I are both courtiers of the Qing Dynasty, the so-called food of the king, the matter of loyalty to the king, do your duty! It is not in vain that he reads the scriptures and receives the teachings of the saints. Zhang Qi sighed.

"Brother Youfu, my brother deliberately hurried and hurried over day and night to tell you a terrifying news from the Jingshi. Because my brother doesn't know the truth, Brother Youfu has always had a unique vision and came to ask for advice. Han Chao's eyes widened, and it was obvious that the news was very shocking.

Zhang Qiang has been in Xingyi Mansion for a long time, and naturally knows that this Guizhou is a remote place far away from the emperor of the mountain, and this Xingyi Prefecture is the southwesternmost tip of Guizhou, and the junction of Yunnan and Guangxi, it is even more difficult to travel, and the news is blocked, just like the death of the emperor a few years ago, until more than a month later, Xingyi Mansion did not learn the news, for this situation, he has become accustomed to it.

"But the Cantonese thieves in the south have captured the Jingshi?" Zhang Qi asked.

Han Chao's face was shocked, and he said in surprise: "How does Brother Youfu know?" But that's not all! ”

"The hole of analysis. He said that in this world, it is either the Qing Dynasty or the Cantonese thief. Now the south, except for Guizhou and Sichuan, has been occupied by the Cantonese thieves, and if the leader of the Cantonese thieves is smart enough, he will take the opportunity to wave his troops to the north. A while ago, didn't I hear that the Cantonese thieves sent troops from the sea to attack Tianjin? The Hole of Proof's argument makes a lot of sense. If so, I'm in danger! Zhang Qiang didn't know whether to be happy about his son's cleverness or to feel sad about the danger of the Qing Dynasty, he just asked: "What happened to the Qing Dynasty, has the Jingshi been captured by the Cantonese thieves?" Brother Nanxi, don't sell Guanzi! ”

"Sure enough, the news of Xingyi was blinded, and it was like this! Brother Youfu, Jingshi was conquered by Cantonese thieves as early as a month ago! The emperor hunted Rehe in the north, saying that he was in the north hunting, but in fact he led 5,000 guards to flee north, but he was intercepted by a force of Cantonese thieves halfway, and the princes and ministers and concubines, and even the queen were all captured. Han Chao smiled bitterly, he had completely lost the reverence of the previous courtiers for the emperor.

Zhang Qiang was silent.

"And a few days later, the emperor died in Rehe! Duanhua, Jingshou, Sushun, Ruilin, Wenqing and other five people were designated as auxiliary ministers, claiming that a famous concubine gave birth to a prince on the way to Rehe, succeeded to the throne, and established the era name 'Qixiang'. However, at the same time, the former emperor's younger brother Prince Gong Yixun also claimed to be the emperor in Suiyuan, claiming that he inherited the unification, but the era name was 'Qirui'. I have become two emperors in the Qing Dynasty, but there is no situation of the imperial city! Han Chao said with some sarcasm.

He was originally a native of Changli, with a brave and generous temperament, known as a bloody man, and he was already very dissatisfied with the arbitrary and heavy position of the Manqi nobles, rampant in the court, and bullying Han Chen. And this time, for the panicked escape of the Qing Emperor, his heart was even colder, and he was extremely disappointed. Coupled with the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the instability of the country, he, like many Hanchens, began to think about the way back.

"What?" Rao is always calm Zhang Qi, also stood up, his face changed greatly, and shouted: "Nanxi, what you said is true? ”

"It's true! The younger brother was also afraid that it would be a rumor, so he specially bought a copy of the "Southern Daily" of the Cantonese thief from Yongshun Mansion in Hunan Province, which was passing by, and there was a text on it that published the matter. Moreover, Brother Youfu, not only that, but Feng Yunshan, the leader of the Cantonese thieves, also ascended the throne and became the emperor in the city of Beijing, claiming what the Chinese Empire was. The Cantonese thieves gained momentum, and Qing officials in Zhili, Henan and other places surrendered one after another. Speaking of this, Han Chao glanced at Zhang Qiang, and said with a slight hesitation: "Brother Youfu, the younger brother came to see the elder brother, but there is another more important matter to refer to you in detail." ”

Zhang Qiang cried loudly: "My emperor died young, and Qiang is so sad and sad!" Although disappointed in the Qing court, but after all, it was the emperor, although he had only been on the throne for less than five years, he died, and Zhang Qi, who was a courtier, still cried when he heard this amazing news.

Zhang Zhidong on the side said: "Father, you have done enough for the Qing Dynasty, and you don't owe them anything." Let's listen to the amazing news from the teacher! ”

Zhang Qi stopped his tears, his face full of surprise: "Is there more shocking news than the emperor's death?" ”

Han Chao lowered his voice and said, "I heard this news halfway through, I don't know if it's true or not." It is said that it is the Yan Sheng Gong of Qufu, and in the name of the Yan Sheng Gong Mansion and the direct descendants of the Confucian Sage, he ordered all the Shi Lin and Confucian disciples in the world to rise up to betray the Manchu Qing Dynasty and submit to the Chinese Empire! He also said that Sage Kong had already spread a dream that the surname Feng was in accordance with the mandate of heaven, and he should be the master of the Han family and even the world, and ordered us scholars in the world to return to obedience. ”

"What? Did Yan Sheng Gong really say that? Zhang Qi was shocked and hurriedly asked.

Song Jie, a staff member on the side, was also full of disbelief, he was also a scholar, and regarded the Yan Sheng Gong Mansion in Qufu as a holy place, and as a saint, Yan Sheng Gong was the same weight as the Qing Emperor in his heart, and this recognized that the Manqi people were monarchs, or because Yan Sheng Gong said that the Qing Emperor was the co-ruler of the world.

And Zhang Zhidong on the side was even more shaken in his heart. Although he is young, as a lifter and a member of the scholars, he naturally knows the weight of Yan Shenggong in the hearts of scholars.

Moreover, every time there is a change of dynasty, Yan Shenggong will come forward to support the new emperor, and the people he supports often do win the world in the end. Zhang Zhidong had nothing to do, and he had also read a few previous issues of "Nanfang Daily", and he suddenly found that this thief who was originally claimed by the imperial court to be plundering in the south, burning and looting everywhere was not like that at all.

After verifying several events reported in the "Nanfang Daily", he found that what the newspaper said was basically true. Moreover, the various Western knowledge published on it amazed him and opened his eyes.

It was precisely because of this newspaper that he began to carefully analyze the so-called "Cantonese thief" and found that its leader was by no means a simple thief chieftain, but a wise man who was worried about the country and the people, and had a far-sighted plan, whose goal was not only to overthrow the rule of the Qing Dynasty, but also to sincerely seek benefits for the people and create a prosperous and happy world for the people. This is a rising hero of the people!

Therefore, as soon as he heard any news about this Feng leader, Zhang Zhidong was very concerned, although he knew that the other party was actually his opponent.