Zhangjiawan City was the only small city in Tong State. With the end of the war, the small city returned to its former liveliness.
Near noon, a group of soldiers arrived at a restaurant under the lead of the general.
Seeing this, the shopkeeper quickly came up and bowed,"General, you're here. The private room upstairs has been reserved for you since early on!”
Sheng Bao said with an unfriendly expression,"Shopkeeper! Same old rules, but this time, give me an extra jug of wine!”Then, he led a few bodyguards and walked up.
Not long after, the dishes were all served. A plate of braised beef and two jars of wine with three meats and three vegetables.
They were drinking and enjoying themselves!
The depressed Sheng Bao slammed the table and knelt on the ground. "I am ashamed to be the emperor's trusted aide, I am a disloyal person!”
Seeing this, the personal guard hurriedly helped Sheng Bao up. "Commander Ke is loyal and righteous. He took the lead in the battle of Zhangjiawan and made great contributions to the country.”
Sheng Bao didn't feel better after hearing this. Instead, he blamed himself even more. He said," In the Battle of Baliqiao, the victory was concealed. Now, the peace talks have been completed, but the Gong Prince is still unwilling to report to the Emperor in Chengde. Moreover, he is using the name of establishing the capital's Aftermath Patrol Bureau to form a private army. This marshal is powerless.”
"You can't blame Commander Ke for this. We have no right to interfere with the matters of the royal family, but Commander Ke, you have the right to directly participate.”
Sheng Bao drank a cup of wine after hearing this.
"Alright, Hutabu, I'll write a memorial later. You can go to Chengde in the afternoon and submit it personally. Just say it's urgent."”
......
Prince Gong's Mansion.
"Wangye, what do you think of this memorial?”Wen Xiang put down his pen, picked up the memorial, blew on it, and brought it to Li Qing's side.
Li Qing took it from Wen Xiang's hands and looked at it. "Bochuan, your writing is becoming more and more experienced. If this king hadn't personally experienced this incident, I would have thought that I was defeated.”
"This is all thanks to your highness 'advice!”
After Li Qing heard this, he placed the memorial horizontally and said,"Fine, I didn't teach you the ability to flatter others.”
Wen Xiang smiled after hearing that. "Your Highness, are you sure that His Majesty will not return to the capital after receiving this memorial?”
"Of course. If he could accept it, he wouldn't have had to create friction with the western countries again and again two years ago. My fourth brother is arrogant and suspicious.”
"But wangye, we have already written the matter of building an embassy in the capital into the treaty. If His Majesty finds out about this and insists on punishing wangye, what should we do?”
"Don't worry, our memorial isn't written clearly in black and white. We only did this because we were ordered by the emperor to sign the contract as soon as possible. Even if it's not right, this king will still fight for it. If it wasn't for us racking our brains and trying our best to turn the tide, how could we not lose an inch of land or a tael of silver when signing the contract?”
Wen Xiang shook his head and said,""Then Wangye, this official will immediately send someone to Chengde!”
After Li Qing heard this, he smiled." There's no hurry. We'll send it after Sheng Bao takes action. With Sheng Bao, the Emperor's trusted aide, reporting, wouldn't it be better for the Emperor to understand our difficulties!?"”
After saying that, the two of them looked at each other and smiled.
......
Chengde Rehe Palace
Ever since Noble Consort Yi sent An Dehai to report the Emperor's current situation to the Empress, the Empress, who had been chanting scriptures and praying for blessings every day, followed Xianfeng around every day, making Xianfeng not know what to do.
He had no choice but to stop his life of conquering day and night. However, Xianfeng, who had been devastated by reality, did not make great efforts to govern. Since the day he ascended the throne, the internal and external troubles of the Qing Dynasty increased day by day. After being the emperor for ten years, there was not a single day of peace in the world. The internal and external situation was getting worse day by day, and the official style was getting worse and worse. Soon, Xianfeng's spirit of working hard to revitalize the Qing Dynasty was worn out.
Just like people nowadays, when they encountered setbacks and found it difficult to get out of trouble, some people still persisted, while others gave up on themselves. Xianfeng obviously chose the second option. He was dispirited and bowed to fate.
He began to indulge in sensual pleasures and a drunken life to escape the harsh reality. After the Anglo-French coalition forces forced him to abandon his country and flee, Xianfeng's spirit almost collapsed. He was unable to change anything, so he only wanted to escape from reality, even to the point of committing suicide as a drunken woman.
Now that he was being nagged by the Empress every day, he naturally could not hunt for women. He could only find other entertainment. This was why he was addicted to drama again.
The Shengping Department was almost taking turns to serve Xianfeng. In the Hall of Smoke and Waves, the big play would be performed every three days, and it would last for nearly three days.
Xianfeng, which used to stay indoors, was now a place that never returned.
In order to better watch the show, he had specially ordered people to build a bed in the Smoky Waves Refreshing Palace for him to rest at any time.
"Emperor, when are we going back to the capital? They had been out for a month and a half. If they didn't go back soon, the weather would get cold.”Empress Niu Gulu said as she sat beside Xianfeng and listened to the play.
Xian Feng lay on his side on the couch and watched the show leisurely. He shook his head and said,"Sixth Elder is really capable. He actually defeated the foreign devil. Noble Consort Yi also showed me the memorial he sent last time. The Beijing Aftermath Patrol Bureau he set up is not bad either. It can simplify the department and reduce the expenses of the imperial court. Now that the south is in trouble, the damn foreign devils in the north are not stopping either. They want silver everywhere, but there are only so many taxes in the world. How can it be enough? As she spoke, she started crying and pulled on Niu Gulu's clothes. It's all because I'm not capable. The clothes you're wearing now were bought for you by me in the seventh year of Xianfeng!”
The Empress looked at the tearful Xianfeng and her heart softened. She threw the words she wanted to say to the back of her mind and cried with Xianfeng.
After crying for a while, Xianfeng's mood improved a little. He said,"Empress, go and rest first. Let's put aside the matter of returning to the imperial palace for now. The contract has not been decided yet. Although Sixth Brother won the battle, we can't be blindly optimistic. The lesson of Dagu Kou is right in front of us.”
"But who knows when the Gong Prince will be able to finish his business. There have been many rumors about the Gong Prince recently.”Niu Gulu said softly.
Xianfeng's face turned ugly after hearing this. Since childhood, Daoguang had doted on Xi Xin. Although he had finally obtained the throne, Xianfeng had never let go of his jealousy towards the Gong Prince. Now that the Empress had said this, the suspicious him was not in the mood to watch the show.
He sat up and said,"I will let the imperial guard, Minister Duan Hua, return to the capital in a few days!" At the same time, he asked Sheng Bao if the capital's Aftermath Patrol Bureau that the Gong Prince was in charge of was a different world.”
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。