Chapter 17: Cixi Sends Mei

  I was startled: "Damn it, did the old thing wake up from its dream?"

  I hastily told Yan'er and Fei'er: "You two take them out from the Houzai Gate, go to the military school there and wait for me!"

  The two of them hastily took Weng Tonghe and Zhang Zhidong away.

  A few people had just left when the old man came with a large crowd of people.

  I hastily knelt down and said: "Your son did not know that the Empress Dowager had arrived, and was late in greeting her. I hope the Empress Dowager will forgive my crime!"

  The old woman "pfft" laughed: "This kid, where did you learn such nonsense? Your mother didn't even think of letting you know what kind of carriage you're driving? Come, take a look, your aunt brought someone for you today!" As she pulled out a girl from behind her back, I took one look at that radiant face and couldn't help but exclaim: "Hehe!"

  He slightly squatted down, his face red, and said: "Tala has seen the Emperor! Long live my Emperor, forever and ever!"

  Cixi continued: "Don't call her anything else, since you cherish her so much, I'll make her a Zhen Pin! You serve the Emperor well, and if you do, I'll promote you further!"

  He hastily knelt down and kowtowed: "Zhen Niang thanks you, Old Ancestor!"

  Cixi pulled my hand and said, "Don't you also like those little maids of mine? Look, I've brought them all to you, but don't be too greedy, take care of your body!"

  I took a look and indeed, the three girls who helped me change clothes that day all came, plus another little girl who was even prettier than them.

  Cixi said to the four little girls: "Go and pay homage to your new master, from now on the Emperor and Zhen Fei are your masters! Come, this is Chun Tao, this is Xia Lian, this is Qiu Ju, this is Dong Mei! If you follow the Emperor and have a boy or girl, I will decide, and then support you as a concubine of the Emperor!"

  This made both me and the four little girls blush, and the four little girls busied themselves in pulling him away. I waved my hand and said: "Xiao Fuzi, take Zhen Zhu and them inside, help me arrange for Zhen Zhu, they are all serving Zhen Zhu, no need to make special arrangements!"

  Several women followed Xiaofuzi into the palace, but that little maid called Dongmei, with a pair of charming eyes, would take two steps and then turn back to smile at me. Dammit, this little crazy girl is not very well-behaved! She needs to be properly managed by Zhenfei!

  Cixi pulled my hand and said: "I heard you have a car now, it's big and beautiful, where did you get it?"

  "It was a gift from my friend Huang Fei to his son! It's a remote control car that runs on gasoline!"

  Cixi clapped her hands: "Hey, why didn't you prepare a small carriage for us to sit in?"

  I said: "It's just for the future, in case Empress Dowager needs a small car, otherwise what if her car runs out of oil?"

  As we arrived beside the automobile, Cixi kicked at the tire and said: "Isn't this thing too noisy when it moves? I saw the German ambassador's car making a big racket as it moved along, with smoke billowing out of its rear end!"

  I smiled and said, "His car is no good, this one is not bad, the sound is not loud! You watch, I'll drive it for you to see!" As I got in the car and started the engine, drove a few steps, Cixi's interest was greatly aroused: "Come on, let's take a look too!"

  I hastily said: "That's not going to work, Mother is a treasure worth ten thousand gold pieces, can't be taken lightly! This car just arrived in my hands, I have to take it out for a spin and see if there's no problem before letting Mother try sitting in it!"

  Cixi hastily said: "Then you go out and take a stroll, Auntie is waiting for you!" As she spoke, she ordered the large gate to be opened for me.

  I thought this was a good opportunity to send the guns to the military school, so I immediately said: "Then mother will wait in the house for a while, and the child will test the car!"

  I drove out of the Imperial City and arrived at the military academy.

  Swallows and Zhang Zidong, Weng Tonghe and Zheng Shizhang were together with soldiers learning combat skills from Fei. Seeing me drive up in a car, they all came over excitedly.

  I immediately jumped off the car and said: "Quickly find a few large buckets to hold oil, then quickly take out the weapons inside, my mother is still waiting for me over there!"

  Several large barrels of oil were opened, and from inside came out 300 Russian-made AK rifles, four heavy machine guns, thirty boxes of bullets and six boxes of hand grenades, ten Chinese-made handguns and two boxes of handgun ammunition.

  Zhang Zhidong looked at the gun with wide eyes and exclaimed after a long while: "This gun is too powerful, much stronger than our fire guns!"

  "This is a special production of an American arms factory based on my design. The factory had just finished producing it when a big explosion occurred, and the entire production line was destroyed. These guns have become a limited edition!"

  Zhang Zhidong understood and immediately said: "If we have a factory, can you produce this kind of gun again?"

  Swallow said: "In theory it is possible, unfortunately I don't have a factory in my hands!"

  Zhang Zhidong immediately said: "Why doesn't Wanxi give him an arsenal? We have a military equipment factory in Beijing, and the facilities are quite complete!"

  I sighed and said, "Didn't you see how I performed today? We don't have that right yet, so I'll let you help me practice these troops here first. When the time is ripe, we'll establish the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Military Industry! Let's equip our own troops with our own weapons and fight those invaders!"

  I poured the oil back into the oil pan and said: "I have to go back right away, you guys practice first, she's gone, I'll come over!"

  The carriage turned several bends before I drove back into the palace. Xiao Fu immediately ran over as soon as he saw me: "Old Buddha is getting a bit impatient, you'd better be careful!"

  I smiled and took out the newly bought velvet cushion to cover the car seat before getting off the car and walking into the house.

  As expected, the old man saw me and pulled a long face, saying: "Did you go to make a car or something? Why did it take so long?"

  I smiled and said: "The queen mother wants to take a ride, I'd better decorate you properly, after all, we can't go out on the streets, which would make us unfamiliar with everything. Come, let the emperor carry the queen mother onto the carriage!"

  As I carried her out, the old man put his arms around my neck and chuckled, saying: "The young master has really grown up, he can carry his mother now!"

  Li Lianying followed closely behind, running out with a giggle: "Old Buddha, I'll go try the car too!"

  I was just worried that I wouldn't have a chance to deal with this hooligan, and happily said: "Just right, you take care of the princess on the carriage!"

  Cixi sat in the carriage and looked at the silk cushion, laughing: "It's just a piece of silk, but it's so much trouble. You really don't know what the outside world is like if you don't leave the palace!"

  I sat in the driver's seat and started the car, which moved smoothly forward.

  Cixi watched as the car drove out of the palace gate and said with delight: "This car is quite stable, and it's not making any noise!"

  "I said: 'This is the latest product in the world, from here to Tianjin, just two stops away!'"

  Cixi became excited: "Imperial son, can't this carriage be altered a bit?"

  "What's changed?"

  "Turn the back into a carriage, with tables and beds, where one can eat and sleep on the train. And also a place for the attendants of Her Majesty to stay! The Empress Dowager wants to use it to leave the palace for inspection!" Cixi said wistfully.

  I laughed: "Then let's build another touring car for Mother!"

  Cixi immediately said: "Then why don't you build it right away?"

  I said: "I have a friend who returned from Germany, not only can he build this car, but also warships, small steamboats, and small cars! Germany was afraid that he would return and wanted to appoint him as the Minister of Military Industry, but he said: I am a subject of the Great Qing, I must return to the Great Qing. He was then put under house arrest by the German government, and later escaped back home under an assumed name. I asked him to stay with my children for now, and he has stayed behind! However, building cars is not an easy task, at least he needs a factory! Moreover, it's not something that one factory can handle alone, it requires coordination among dozens of factories, all listening to his command. How could he possibly achieve this in the Great Qing? If he could, our cannons, automobiles, and big guns would have crushed those Western devils, we wouldn't even need to buy small steamboats from abroad, and we could sell them to foreigners, earning their money! Let them come and kowtow to you before selling it to him!"

  Cixi burst out laughing and excitedly said: "That's great! We have so many factories, he can have whichever one he wants. If he wants to be an official, we'll also make him the Minister of Military Industry! Hmm, what does the Ministry of Military Industry oversee?"

  "If all those Suzhou Western-style cannon bureaus, Jiangnan manufacturing general bureaus, Fujian ship political bureaus, Tianjin machinery manufacturing bureaus, Sichuan machinery bureaus, Anqing military factories, Beijing land military factories, Guangzhou military factories, Hangzhou military factories, Hanyang military factories, Hunan military factories, Jilin military factories, Jinling military factories, Lanzhou military factories, Lushun naval military stations, Shandong military factories, Taiwan military factories, Weihaiwei shipyards, Yunnan military factories, and Xi'an military factories were all gathered together under his unified management, he would definitely be able to produce big cannon warships, good cars, small steam engines, trains, airplanes that fly in the sky. Those Western devils would have to come and kowtow to you! Old Buddha, sell us a Chinese car! Old Buddha, sell us a Chinese airplane! At that time, you can glare at them and say: 'Scram, you haven't even finished paying for the goods I sold you yet, go back and bring some better stuff!'"

  Cixi laughed until she was out of breath: "Then let's give him the position of Minister of Military Industry, and that Huang something... Oh, Huang Fei, listen to this name, if you don't know it, you'd think it's a concubine of the emperor! Like Huang Fei, from first rank, take all those departments and bureaus you mentioned and give them to him, let him make a beautiful car for me, and then build an airplane or something! Oh, airplane, I want to go up in the sky and show off a bit! Right, Little Li!"

  Li Lianying hastily replied: "Yes!"

  "You will drive a car and fly an airplane for me! I also cannot let other children be on an equal footing with me!" Cixi commanded.

  Li Lianying hesitated and said with difficulty: "This thing is more difficult to deal with than a horse, I'm afraid that if it gets out of control, I won't be able to hold the reins!"

  I hastily said: "Don't worry, I'll teach you, and guarantee that you can drive in a month!"

  You little brat, watch me teach you a lesson!