After that, Zeng Guoquan came to see, this is the first time the Empress Dowager Cixi saw Zeng Guoquan, only to see Zeng Guoquan with hanging eyebrows, wolf eyes and eagles, although kneeling on the ground also has a heroic spirit, in the end, it is a veteran who has crawled out of the sea of blood in the corpse mountain of corpses on the battlefield, the emperor who was originally full of care also put away his casual expression, solemnly straightened his back, the Queen Mother asked about the situation in Hunan, and said in particular: "Hunan is the first road for Hong Xiuquan to go out of Guangxi, which has been raging for a long time, and all industries are withering, you are in charge of Hunan, you must recuperate, and it is convenient for the people, Don't disturb the people in everything," the Queen Mother said meaningfully, the way of employing people is not what you say, but what you say and what your subordinates can understand, "Zeng Guofan and you have made great contributions to Sheji, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the pillar of Zhongxing, so I specially ordered you to return to your hometown of Hunan to serve as the governor." , the hero is like an overlord, and it is also said that wealth does not return to his hometown, such as a brocade at night. There are many children of Xiangjiang who have sacrificed their lives for the country, and the dignity of your Zeng family is the dignity of the Hunan army. ”

"Yes, Weichen enlightened the Queen Mother, since Weichen returned to his hometown to serve, he has always been grateful to the Queen Mother and the emperor's Longen, broke the example, let Weichen return to Hunan to serve, and entrusted the post of Hunan to Weichen, Weichen did not dare to derelict his duties, but there is one thing," Zeng Guoquan was very sincere, "I returned to my hometown in the old days, renovated and rebuilt the ancestral house, and now I think about it is indeed too much disturbance to the people, please ask the Queen Mother to condemn." ”

"What's so big about this, you have silver, how much you build, what else is there to blame," the Queen Mother smiled, "You heroes who pacified the Hongyang Rebellion, you must be decent, in order to show the truth that the country will be rewarded for meritorious service, and great merit will be rewarded, your house, if you repair it, you will repair it, what is the matter, now Zeng Guofan is still in the field, and he will go back to live in the future, your two brothers are super princesses, what does it matter if the house you live in is a little bigger, the local officials folded the bullet and impeached you and said that you exceeded the system, and the house was repaired nine times," Zeng Guoquan's backbone suddenly straightened, "It's okay, when is it now, there are more people wearing apricot yellow or even bright yellow clothes on the street, and there are those dragon and phoenix patterns, don't say anything about the house, the rich businessmen in Shanghai and Tianjin, the house is up, I'm afraid it's so big that Changchun Garden, and it doesn't matter if it exceeds the system, Zeng Guoquan, in fact, as long as there is respect in my heart, it doesn't matter if I do it on the surface or not, don't you say?" ”

The Queen Mother said with a smile, Zeng Guoquan's back was dripping with cold sweat, "This house is not in the way, in order to show the loyalty of your Zeng family, the emperor," the Queen Mother said to Emperor Tongzhi, "You write a few words to Zeng Guoquan, let him frame it in front of their house, always have the civil official get off the sedan chair, and the military attache can only show the merits of the Zeng family." ”

Emperor Zeng Guoquan glanced at it and nodded yes, Zeng Guoquan hurriedly thanked him again, and the Queen Mother continued to ask: "Peng Yulin's matter, you are also on the fold, you are here now, the palace has to ask again, what about Peng Yulin."

At this time, the military department had already returned from Weihai and reported the matter, Zeng Guoquan also knew that he had not found anything Hong Xuanjiao, in fact, it was not a person from the Criminal Department or the Metropolitan Procuratorate, this matter must be over, the Queen Mother asked, Zeng Guoquan remembered Hu Linyi's words, and knew that Zeng Guofan would never be able to take charge of the Beiyang Naval Division for one day, and hurriedly replied: "Weichen was also a rumor before, and now it is indeed Meng Lang, but please forgive Weichen for the crime of worrying about the robe, Weichen and Peng Yulin were very deformed, Now I suddenly heard that he was so disloyal to the imperial court, and he was impeached for a while, and now the center has a public opinion, Wechen wanted to come to Meng Lang before, very ashamed, and felt guilty of Peng Yulin, wronged him for the country's management of the water master, if there is a chance in the future, Wechen is willing to apologize to Peng Yulin in person. ”

"It doesn't matter, you are the governor, and you also have a part-time job in the imperial history of the right capital, and it is natural to hear about it, Ruyi, write it down," the queen mother instructed Liang Ruyi, "Make a decree, if there is no concurrently imperial history in the governor, you are not allowed to impeach others at will, and those who violate the order will be handed over to the military aircraft department of the Ministry of Officials." ”

"Huh."

Zeng Guoquan felt that the cold sweat on his back was about to come out again, and the Queen Mother asked Zeng Guoquan about the opinion on the candidate for the commander of the Western Expedition, Zeng Guoquan tried his best to elect Zuo Zongtang, "Zuo Zongtang used to pacify Jinling, and pacify the heroes of Zhejiang and Fujian, and the vision means and strategies are all first-class, Weichen thinks that the matter of Xinjiang, I am afraid that the army will conquer a single way, it will be difficult to achieve results, and there must be miscellaneous cultural and educational household registration and other means, and those who are not strategizing can not do it, if it is only by military means, the monk will not die of defeat and sacrifice his life for the country, Weichen Baoju Zuo Zongtang, if Zuo Zongtang carried out the westward expedition, Agu Bai Yanhu would definitely be able to capture it, and Kokand Tsarist Russia would not dare to covet the land of Northwest China again. (To be continued......)