"This?" Prince Gong was slightly surprised, could it be that the Queen Mother had other ideas? He suddenly remembered a rumor in the Xianfeng period, and hurriedly said, "The first-class duke is already a big reward." ”

"It's definitely not a reward," the Empress Dowager Cixi said categorically, "Emperor Wen Zongxian once said: 'The king who breaks the Jinling! ’”

Everyone was taken aback, "Queen Mother," Prince Gong said fiercely, "this matter must not be done!" ”

"The Empress Dowager Shengjian," Wen Xiang was in charge of the Ministry of Rites, and he was very clear about the matter of the title, "The titles of this dynasty are divided into three types: clan, meritorious and Mongolian, and the lords of meritorious heroes are only below the prince and uncle, and the duke is also superb, above the duke, and then he is the lord." If the Queen Mother wants to add grace to Zeng Guofan, she can also use Xu Xianjue for several generations, and there is no need to add new examples. ”

"Zeng Guofan's great achievements cannot be appreciated if he is not a prince." Empress Dowager Cixi said.

"I am afraid that it will violate the rules of the ancestors and ancestors." Prince Gong said, "And above the duke, only the prince of the clan can be sealed, and Zeng Guofan is not in the flag, nor is it a clan, if he is treated as a prince, I am afraid that outsiders will laugh at China's lack of rules and regulations." ”

A hint of gloom appeared between the eyebrows of the Empress Dowager Cixi, "There were princes of the opposite sex in the founding of the country, but those people committed rebellion and lived up to the sacred virtues of their ancestors," the Empress Dowager thought of the rebellious three feudatories, and felt that it was a little bad, so she just said a word, and then brought it over, "It's not that I'm whimsical and make something out of nothing, this is one of them." Moreover, Emperor Wen Zongxian never forgot the Hongyang Rebellion during his lifetime, and until the Beijiare River, he was still restless, just to pacify the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so when appointing the governor of Liangjiang of Zeng Guofan, he once personally told me that as long as which one broke Jinling and quelled the Hongyang Rebellion, regardless of the Manchu and Han dynasties. Instant king! ”

"I know what you mean, it's nothing more than that if the external governor has a prince who has a high merit and shocks the lord, you can't sit in the middle of the court, and you can't say something good, I naturally have such concerns. So in the past, you discussed the reward for counterinsurgency military merits, I just didn't know about it, and it didn't hurt to break my word silently, but the great merit was not rewarded, not that the great merit could be ignored, this dynasty has no military merit to the king since Fukangan was posthumously crowned as the king of the county, why is this? All the ministers are humerus in the court, do you know what to say here? ”

Everyone was silent, only Hu Linyi was very excited. With red eyes, he kowtowed, and replied: "Fukangan has successively pacified the Gansu Huimin Tianwu Uprising, Taiwan's Lin Shuangwen Uprising, the Battle of Gurkha, and the Miaojiang Uprising, and achieved Emperor Gaozong's great martial arts. Until the present dynasty, although there were many wars. In addition to counterinsurgency, there were few victories in foreign wars. ”

"That's the truth," said Cezanne, "so since the Xianfeng Dynasty, there have been Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Twisting Army, the Hui Rebellion, Britain and France, and so on. The trouble at home and abroad is nothing more than the root of this uncultivated armament! "Saishan'a obviously thought of the tragic experience of being beaten and resting at home in the first year of Xianfeng, as the foreman of the military aircraft minister Qin sent military affairs to quell the rebellion against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and was robbed of all his titles and rested at home. I'm afraid that he is still raising flowers and walking birds at home now, naturally he is disgusted with these things about the relaxation of military equipment, although he also looks down on Zeng Guofan, but he will not worry about a dead man at this time, just thinking that if he can exterminate the rebellion of the current tiger and wolf division before, maybe there is also a prince to be the king, of course, the current Cheng'en Gong is also very good, Cezanne will naturally not forget whose grace it is, he hurriedly said, "If everyone moves forward bravely, and the court does not hesitate to reward the prince, how can he not dominate the world, Xiaoxiao doesn't dare to move? The world is naturally peaceful, and the cost of the court is nothing more than the prince and a little money. The Queen Mother Shengming, Zeng Guofan's merits, can be regarded as a king! ”

Prince Gong glanced at Sai Shang'a and felt a little uncomfortable, he was still not the foreman of the military plane? At this time, the people under him couldn't help but jump out? Wen Xiang wanted to speak and stopped, the world rumored that Fukangan was Qianlong's illegitimate son, so there was a Jiayong County King's posthumous seal, but such rumors naturally could not be said in the Shoukang Palace Military Aircraft Department and other people's deliberations, "But Zeng Guofan since the capture of Jinling, no longer have military merits, if the past merits are posthumously crowned the king, the minister is afraid that there will be discussions outside, after all, there are many military merits in recent years, if the prince rewards Zeng Guofan, people outside may have criticism." ”

"This prince, one is to appease the discussion, needless to say, it must be spread outside, Zeng Guofan is so great, and he died in office, failing to show the court's sympathy for the meritorious ministers, the second is to raise the merits of Zeng Guofan, and the third is to give a reward to those who fight for the country, as long as the soldiers kill the enemy for the country, the dynasty will not hesitate to reward the princes. Wouldn't it be beautiful to kill three birds with one stone? ”

The former ministers of the Imperial Palace, King Bo, King Dun, King Alcohol, King Fujun, Elu Jingshou, and Beile Yixuan, a few people just lowered their heads and did not speak, they were not in their positions and did not seek their own politics, they were not ministers of military aircraft, so naturally they did not have to worry about these things, unless the emperor asked, otherwise they would never easily open their mouths on military affairs. Except for a few people with old qualifications, the rest of Prince Gong's party, unless they are in charge of the affairs of the ministry, can not speak at will, only Hu Linyi mourned the death of Zeng Guofan at this time, seeing that the Queen Mother has a generous reward, is there any indisputable reason? Mingzhe, who is usually self-contained, is safe and secure, but he also threw it behind his head.

Saizan is the first time to play with the Queen Mother in front of the Emperor, knowing where his glory comes from, naturally he wants to help the Queen Mother speak, he is an old minister, relying on the old and selling the old, no one will say that he is not, although Prince Gong is opposed, but the reason is only that it is not in accordance with the rules, Bao Jun does not think so, it is nothing more than to do something for the dead to see, give a few more taels of silver, what is there to fight, and everyone has received all kinds of filial piety from Zeng Guofan in the past, and now this is pushing the boat down the river, icing on the cake, benefiting and not costly, why stop, So although Prince Gong objected, but just said a few words, and did not squeak, fortunately, the Empress Dowager Cixi also knew the severity, did not use the prince's title obsession, everyone discussed, posthumously crowned the prince of the county, the Empress Dowager Cixi immediately issued an order to Li Hongzao and Wen Xiang to prepare the name of the county king of the Zeng State Domain, which was originally an errand of the cabinet, the two are cabinet scholars, naturally can be taken, since the county king is set, this nickname can also be set down very conveniently, choose "humility" and "Zhuang Xian" two for the queen mother to choose, the queen mother circled the "Zhuang Xian" Two words, then issued an order, in the afternoon, posthumously named Zeng Guofan as "Zhuang Xian County King", embellished with the three days, the Minister of Military Aircraft to pay tribute to the holy decree has been issued. (To be continued.) )