Chapter 72: Giving Gifts - Chapter 73: Slaughtering Sheep

  Looking at Li Hongzhang's back, Tan Yankai also didn't know what to say. This might be the last day he intervened in Beiyang. If he were to face Beiyang again someday, it was unclear whether they would be friends or enemies. The feeling Li Hongzhang gave him was both clear and vague. For a moment, Tan thought this was history, and wondered what future generations would say about all this.

  "Can the affairs of the world be judged simply in black and white? I have been here, I have seen it, but I have not conquered it. Li Hongzhang, Beiyang..." Tan Yankai sighed, and the depression in his chest seemed to flow away with this sigh. He also turned around and left with a flick of his sleeve.

  After so many years of careful nurturing by Tan Zhonglin, Tan Yanxin was no longer the bookish and idealistic young man he once was. He had developed his own thoughts and judgment standards when it came to people and events. However, as he grew older, these standards became increasingly diluted, and he tended more towards going with the flow. Being in this circle, or even just on its periphery, he could sense that most of the time, events and historical figures were not simply black or white, but rather shades of gray - neither entirely right nor entirely wrong. Perhaps this was the survival rule of this era.

  When Tan Yanqian returned to Tan Zhonglin's room, the old man was holding a purple sandalwood box in his hands, looking at it with a mesmerized expression. Seeing the old man's infatuated appearance, Tan Yanqian smiled slightly and said: "Father, how is it?"

  Tan Zhonglin shifted his gaze away from the box with difficulty, nodded and smiled: "This is the real thing!"

  "Nature is genuine, how could you bring back such a fake with just a child's eyesight?"

  The old man put the purple sandalwood box aside with a smile, sighed and said: "This 'Da Guan Tie' is actually Qi Wenrui's treasure for protecting his house. After Shouyang Xiangguo died, the children and grandchildren at home actually declined to such an extent! Zuan, you must take this as a warning, the way of governing a family cannot be neglected!"

  "Qi Wenrui has been dead for decades. Among the descendants of Shouyang Xiangguo, only Qi Shichang's son had some talent; otherwise, he wouldn't have been stolen and sold by his grandson. This Qi Shichang was a bit troublesome, but when I bought it from Liulichang, I was an outsider, and with 5,000 taels of silver, the Qi family couldn't do anything about it! It's laughable that the shopkeeper didn't recognize the goods; clearly, it was genuine, but he thought it was fake. He openly tried to swindle me, asking for 150,000 taels, and I just happened to take advantage of the situation, pretending it was a fake, and haggling with the shopkeeper..."

  Tan Zhonglin shook his head regretfully: "It's actually only 5,000 taels?! This Qi family's collection of 'Da Guan Tie' is a rare treasure, although it's incomplete and only one volume, but its value is worth a city, how can it be bought with just 5,000 taels of silver? You young man have really picked up a great bargain, this is an opportunity that can't be sought after!"

  Tan Yanqian smiled slightly and said, "This 'Daguan Tie' is just an inanimate object. Father can put it up for himself to appreciate, there's no need to give it away. After all, the title of Shouyang Xiangguo is still quite troublesome."

  The old man smiled and said: "What's the use of this for your father? It's better for you to take it away and imitate it carefully... Have you talked to Li Heifei just now?"

  "Gongzhong comes out of the mountain to take charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs again, which is very beneficial for Li Hongzhang. At least he is much stronger than that corrupt and incompetent Prince Qing who only knows how to embezzle funds. I suppose he would be delighted to see this happen. However, reappointing Gongzhong might not pass the test with Empress Dowager Cixi..."

  "This is not the problem, King Qing has left his position and it needs to be taken over by a suitable person, especially in this situation, even more so, someone who can take charge needs to come out. Obviously, King Qing is not up to par, among these princes, only Gong Wang can cope with this situation..."

  "If it's Duke Gong coming out of the mountain, based on his experience over the past few decades, he would likely still be in favor of making peace..."

  "Hmph, Lord He and Lord He... Hmph, it's just that Weng Changshun is always thinking of fighting, he's good at plotting against Li Hefei! The imperial court from top to bottom is like rotten wood, not like Weng Changshun who is secretly thinking of ways to harm Li Hefei in the back. This is already not bad, how can such a battle be fought?!" The old man said coldly with a smile.

  Tan Yanqian sighed after hearing this, and Tan Zhonglin stood up and walked to his side, patting him on the shoulder and saying: "Qian'er, your father thinks you've grown a lot in these few months. Young people are like that, your father understands your feelings! You didn't instigate Li Hezhi to fight, but instead used the negotiations to advocate for war, this is very good! A great man must have many worries, and must be able to put things down when necessary. Li Hezhi is also a capable minister, and even the old empress dowager is like that. Those who can achieve great things are not narrow-minded people, and will not do things based on their own personal feelings. You really haven't disappointed your father!"

  Tan Yanqing nodded and said: "The national situation is getting more and more difficult, and Hefei often says that the Qing dynasty is now like a broken house. It's patched up by craftsmen from east to west, and it becomes a clean room. Although there are small storms from time to time, it can be repaired in time, but I have spent my whole life training troops and handling foreign affairs, yet I have never taken charge of anything."

  "Li is far superior to Weng, who is nothing but a petty clown. Although Li has his faults, he does not lose the demeanor of a great man. Time will tell, and after a hundred years, later generations will have their own evaluations. We are not in a position to interfere, but I must say that"

  "Outsiders want to pull Li Huifei together, then first take out Gong Wang as a substitute!"

  As Tan Zhonglin arrived in the capital, a massive political storm also broke out, with this time's target directly pointing at Prince Qing, who had always been in good luck. The old man swiftly submitted a memorial to impeach Wang Cunshan and Zhou Rongyang, which led to Yihe being implicated, and for a time, all high-ranking officials in the capital were waiting with bated breath.

  Because of the sudden arrest and capture of Zhou Rongyao, and the control of the channels for news to flow out, Prince Qing Yihe had not realized that his own Zhou Rongyao, who was planted in the Guangdong Customs, had been eliminated by others. Coincidentally, during this period, the government was busy with the Sino-Japanese War, and Yihe did not have time to deal with Zhou Rongyao, a package slave, until after Tan Zhonglin's memorial was submitted to the Emperor and Empress Dowager, he knew that he had been secretly calculated. Accompanying Tan Zhonglin's memorial was the report on anti-corruption in "Strong Learning Digest", where Shen Jing, Chen Fei, and several staff members wrote a number of articles calling for severe punishment of corrupt officials like Prince Qing Yihe.

  Tan Zhonglin's surface work was not enough, so he had to make sure that his impeachment of Yi Xiu was more secure. Taking advantage of the opportunity to meet Empress Dowager Cixi, he presented her with twelve exquisite glass cups made of agate, which were ordered from Italy and specially designed according to the specifications for celebrating birthdays. This can also be considered a product of Chinese-Western fusion. In itself, it's not particularly remarkable, just glass cups, but at that time China's glass manufacturing industry was underdeveloped, and the few glass products available were very monotonous and rough, far inferior to foreign high-quality glass products. Moreover, Tan Zhonglin deliberately tried to please Empress Dowager Cixi, so the patterns on the glass cups were carefully designed. Although they weren't worth much money, they won her over with their thoughtfulness, making Empress Dowager Cixi extremely pleased. Similarly, several of Empress Dowager Cixi's confidants, such as Li Lianying, Fucha and Na Tong, also received some, but the specifications were different.

  Tan Zhonglin tried his best to please Empress Dowager Cixi, in addition to the glass agate cup, there were large jade finger rings, snuff bottles, Western clocks... exquisite Western trinkets filled two big cars. What pleased Empress Dowager Cixi the most was a pair of pure white parrots, which opened their mouths and said: "Long live the Empress Dowager! Long live the Empress Dowager!" It made Empress Dowager Cixi's heart bloom with joy, her mouth couldn't close.

  —

  Many officials came to the capital to celebrate Empress Dowager Cixi's birthday, and they all prepared their own gifts. However, without a doubt, Tan Zhonglin was the most outstanding and generous one. The total value of these gifts, including those given to eunuchs and important officials, added up to at least 100,000 taels of silver. All this was part of Tan Zhonglin's plan to overthrow Yi Xuan, and it would be reasonable to do so only if Empress Dowager Cixi and the people around her who could speak on his behalf were pleased. However, overthrowing Yi Xuan didn't require such great effort, and Tan Zhonglin was worried that Empress Dowager Cixi might give Yi Xuan a light punishment, which would leave room for future trouble, something Tan Zhonglin wouldn't do.

  Although Tan Zhonglin is considered a high-ranking official of the Qing dynasty, it was still painful for him to take out 100,000 taels of silver to purchase longevity rituals for Empress Dowager Cixi. Fortunately, Tan Yanke's wool mill borrowed this fund for Tan Zhonglin, which was originally intended to be incorporated into Tan Yanke's dividend distribution and then repaid by Jianmin Pharmaceutical. As a result, the gains obtained from confiscating Zhou Rongyao and Wang Cunshan's mansions were enough to fill this big hole.

  "Father, what was the result of your visit to the Empress Dowager?!" Tan Yanqing hastily asked as soon as the old man returned home.

  The old man smiled mysteriously and shook his head, saying: "It should be about right. Kuai'er, you probably don't know the origin of Qingqin Wang yet?"

  Tan Yanqing said: "I heard that Queen Qing often enters and exits the inner court, pleasing Empress Dowager Cixi..."

  "Heh heh, you don't know that Yihui originally lived in Fangjia Garden, and was a neighbor of Empress Dowager Cixi's maternal family. In the past, he often wrote letters on behalf of Cixi's brother Zhaoshang to inquire about the empress dowager's well-being. Later, he also became acquainted with Prince Gong and gradually took on important positions. The most important thing is that he and another brother of the empress dowager, Guishang, were related by marriage, which was Yihui's most important trump card!"

  "Is this really happening?!" Tan Yanqing was shocked in his heart, he had not expected that Qingxi Emperor would have such a background. He originally thought that as a distant branch of the royal family, he shouldn't have the deep political capital like Gongwang and Sunwang, but rather took advantage of Gongwang being suppressed and Sunwang's death to get the fat job of managing foreign affairs. But he didn't expect him to be so closely related to Empress Dowager Cixi! In this era, Tan Yanqing knew best not to do anything that would provoke Empress Dowager Cixi, her strong power was written about too much in school textbooks, even the Guangxu Emperor was put under house arrest at her word. What couldn't she do on this land of China?!

  "What's wrong? Are you afraid?" Tan Zhonglin saw that Tan Yanqian's expression was not right, and he understood in his heart that his son was a little timid at this critical moment. However, he didn't look down on Tan Yanqian, but rather thought it was a good thing - now only a few people would realize who was in charge of the imperial court, and those officials who were eager to please the emperor might not even know how they died in the end. Being an official is not just about having connections; being well-connected means being a mediocre official, and such people can't accomplish great things, at most they are like him.

  Wrong. Tan Yanqing said somewhat awkwardly: "Since Father has such a kind heart...Yihe actually has such a powerful backer, which is something I didn't notice before, and only thought that Yihe was just an obedient old dog, so he could gain the Empress Dowager's favor..."

  "Haha, this is nothing. In fact, being an official is easy, the key is to observe who can be offended and who cannot be touched at all. Only in this way can you achieve your own career to the greatest extent. In this regard, I think Zhang Nanpi did the best. Li Hongzhang made too many enemies in his early years. These debts were all counted into his later years, which is why he has not been very smooth for more than a decade." The old man said with a smile.

  The old man paused for a moment before continuing, "As for preparation, I must say that as your father, I have some foundation to work with. After receiving your letter some time ago, I too had been thinking about it for a long time and finally decided to capture Zhou Rongyao and impeach Qing Wang Yi at the same time. On the one hand, it's because Yi is greedy and incompetent, and keeping him in an important position would definitely lead to disaster; on the other hand, getting rid of someone like Zhou Rongyao, a small fry in the front line, might make Qing Wang seek revenge against me in the future. But that doesn't matter to me. I'm old now, and becoming the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi is already a great honor. However, you're still young, and making an enemy out of Qing Wang will be very disadvantageous for your future..."

  Tan Yanqin said: "For the sake of the child, I really made my father worry..." This sentence was from his heart. The old man's strict requirements for him were also for his own good and to make him a capable person. The old man had lived an ordinary life until now, but he still wanted to pave the way for himself in his later years. Such arrangements, apart from the parent-child relationship, would not be made by anyone else.

  The old man waved his hand and said, "If I don't think for you, who can I think for? I just hope you grow up soon. Understand the situation, know when to advance and retreat, and be able to take care of yourself, then I can rest assured... Actually, you don't have to worry too much about offending Ci Xi, as long as you understand what she's thinking in her heart. Then go ahead and act, it may not be completely foolproof, but there won't be any major mistakes either. Back then, rescuing Gong Wang and confronting Wu Tang could be considered offending Ci Xi, but at that time, Su Shun and the other eight senior officials had just been dealt with, and the imperial court was unstable, so having a few more people speak up for Gong Wang wasn't a big deal; as for the Wu Tang incident, it was during the intense conflict between the Qing government and the foreign affairs faction...

  "But this time the relationship between Prince Qing and Empress Dowager Cixi is really too close..." Tan Yankai said with some disappointment.

  "Hmph, that's because you don't understand the Empress Dowager well enough! Don't think that just because Cixi spends millions of taels of silver to build the Summer Palace, she can tolerate others being so extravagant and wasteful. This woman can control the various factions of officials by selling official positions and titles, maintaining balance in the imperial court, but she won't tolerate her subordinates being corrupt and forming cliques. On the contrary, this is exactly what she dislikes most. Just look at how Zuo Zongtang and Weng Tonghe were dealt with back then because of the Yang Naiwu and Xiao Baicai case... What about the Jiangsu-Zhejiang clique and the Hunan-Hubei faction? In the end, they all disappeared in a puff of smoke with just one wave of her hand. Even the 'clear stream' was treated like a stinky sock by her, used once and then discarded..." Tan Zhonglin said coldly.

  "What does Father mean..."

  "Today, I entered the palace in the East Warm Pavilion to meet with Empress Dowager and the Emperor. Everything is roughly as Father thought, still the Empress Dowager's words count, the Emperor is just a figurehead, not even speaking. However, both the Empress Dowager and the Emperor are very concerned about Yi Xiu's corruption. Hmph, in just one of Zhou Rongyao's homes, evidence worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver can be easily found, let alone his backstage boss Yi Xiu. Yi Xiu's corruption must also be secretly sent to the Empress Dowager and some eunuchs in the inner court, but he was clever for a lifetime and foolish for a moment, actually being greedy and sending small things, naturally angering the Empress Dowager and those with connections..."

  "Now that the Qingliu people have heard the news, they are all taking action and submitting impeachment memorials one after another. However, if the Empress Dowager insists on protecting him, it's likely to end in nothing but a waste of effort..."

  Tan Zhonglin smiled and said: "Tonight, I'll take you to see someone. When you meet him, you will understand the truth about the palace!"

  Looking at the mysterious old man, Tan Yanqing couldn't say anything, he had always felt that the old man had planted his own eyes and ears in Beijing, but his time in the north was not short either, and he had been stuck in this Beiyang vortex for several months. Yet the old man still hadn't shown him his trump card, and that mole was undoubtedly of a very high level.

  Otherwise, last time Xu Zhi-xiang impeached Zhang Zhidong, how come the old man's news was faster than the imperial edict? Tan Yan-ke didn't believe that the old man had the ability to predict or calculate, but this channel for obtaining high-level court intelligence was undoubtedly a valuable intangible wealth. Imagine that with the old man's family background, he couldn't afford to raise someone like Li Lianying, who were all ruthless characters who spoke in units of tens of thousands of silver taels. The old man had some spare money but lacked such connections, so who could it be? However, this was both an opportunity and a challenge. Zhou Rongyao's backer was the head of the General Affairs Office for Foreign Affairs, Prince Qing Yi-xin. This guy didn't have any other skills, he just had a black heart. In this court, if you asked who was the most corrupt among all officials, Prince Qing Yi-xin would definitely be on the list. His level of corruption couldn't compare to that of the Imperial Household Department, which at least made some profit from the Empress Dowager's birthday celebrations by selling tiger skins. Prince Qing had no technique at all, he just directly asked for silver!

  As long as the old man is willing to show his face, Qingwang's official hat will definitely not be kept. The key is that during Cixi's 60th birthday, it was reported that it would be difficult to kill Qingwang with one stroke, and I'm afraid that the wildfire would not burn out and the spring breeze would blow again. Fortunately, Qingwang is far inferior to his predecessors Gong Wang and Xun Wang in terms of blood relationship, and is a marginal figure in the imperial family. It's unknown how he was so lucky back then, and this title of managing foreign affairs fell on his head. The military expenses of the Beiyang Army also had to go through his hands. If it is said that he did not take bribes, no one would believe it.

  "The benefits of getting rid of Zhou Rongyao are obvious. Even if he's just a small fry in the front, the amount of silver he has must be substantial. Moreover, this guy is openly smuggling opium and his profits are definitely not small. After deducting the bribes to be handed over to the back office, what's left would be around 500,000 taels. Whether it's for the sake of the silver or because of his opium smuggling, Zhou Rongyao must die. As for Prince Qing's fate, it might be slightly better, but being ousted from politics and falling out of favor is almost a certainty."

  "It's estimated that the old man didn't want to write this letter himself, and in his heart he wasn't very confident about it. Letting Shen Jing write it was just to see what her attitude would be like..."

  "What did the letter say?" Fang Qilong asked while continuing to rinse the tea.

  "It's nothing. Just investigating a few corrupt officials in Guangzhou. In over a month, the old man will personally go to Beijing to celebrate Empress Dowager Cixi's birthday, I reckon that's when I'll leave Beiyang too!" Tan Yankai said indifferently and handed the letter to Fang Duanqing.

  Tan Zhonglin's name was on the list of high-ranking officials who congratulated Empress Dowager Cixi on her birthday, all because he himself was a loyal supporter of Empress Dowager Cixi. Additionally, his repeated donations of silver during this period left a very good impression on Empress Dowager Cixi, which is why he received such an honor. The celebration of Empress Dowager Cixi's birthday was also an opportunity for officials to be promoted and awarded titles, almost all officials in the Qing Empire hoped to receive the treatment of entering the capital to congratulate the empress dowager on her birthday. However, this was not something that everyone could achieve, Empress Dowager Cixi naturally had her own plans, people like Ronglu who returned to Beijing to celebrate the birthday were mostly there to mend past rifts.

  The old man was naturally different from Ronglu, although he had offended Empress Dowager Cixi several times when he was young, but later the relationship between the two was very stable. The few "Fu" characters in the Xishu Hall of the old house in Hunan were not something that everyone around Empress Dowager Cixi could get, which is also a testament to their close relationship from another angle.

  If nothing unexpected happens, the decision to overthrow Prince Qing must be made within this month. Of course, adding the capture and interrogation of Zhou Rongyao, this month's time is definitely not enough, leaving Tan Yankai with even less time.

  "The wife of Prince Qing's brother, Yi Xuan, was said to be often in and out of the palace, with a very close relationship with Empress Dowager Cixi. If you want to move Zhou Rongyao...” Fang Guozhen looked at the letter and understood where the 500,000 taels of silver came from those days. The simplest way to get such a large sum of money is to confiscate it from corrupt officials, which is faster than smuggling opium."

  "Earlier, Wei Rugu had already caused widespread resentment. If the old thief's family background were to be exposed, no one would be able to protect him! This man is incompetent and useless, standing in the Premier's office without doing any real work, thinking every day about how to embezzle silver. Such an old thing should have been kicked out long ago! Most importantly, he condones his subordinates' rampant smuggling of opium, which will harm countless people. Compared to him, Wei Rugu is still a decent person!" Tan Yankai said with some indignation.

  Fang E's husband knew that his greatest hatred was opium, and she also knew that opium had harmed many people, causing families to be broken and lives to be lost. Unfortunately, this time the opponent was Prince Qing. If they clashed, it would be a disaster of unpredictable proportions, truly a difficult situation. She only said: "Prince Qing has been in power for many years, although his reputation is not good, he still has deep roots. Husband, you must plan carefully before acting, otherwise, there will be endless harm!"

  "Heh heh, this matter indeed needs to be carefully planned. Old Li still hopes that Old Zhang will help mediate from his side, but fortunately, in a month, the old man will arrive in Beijing and my role as a Beiyang staff officer will come to an end. Whether or not Old Li gets angry is no longer of any concern to me..." Tan Yankei said with a faint smile.

  The Sino-Japanese War started earlier than Tang Yanqian had imagined, and the situation afterwards was truly unpredictable. I did my best to help Li Hongzhang, and now it's up to him to decide what to do next.

  "Husband, last year Li Zhongtang had punished a eunuch from the Imperial Household Department. After the incident, not only did Empress Dowager not blame Li Zhongtang, but she also..."

  The Imperial Household Department also did not dare to take any action against Li Zhongtang. Now, Prince Qing and he are mentioned together, but there are still many commonalities between them, and with careful planning, it's not impossible that something will come of it, only the risks in between are a bit too great. The old master only wrote an envelope, the letter was written by Wen Yuan, which shows that the old master's attitude towards this matter is not opposed, he's just a bit embarrassed, this completely depends on your final attitude, perhaps the old master has already made arrangements...

  "The old man hasn't been in charge for many years, and this time he was able to move Wang Cunshan, which is already not easy. According to his previous temper, even Wu Tang couldn't do anything about him, and would even apologize with a gift. Now he won't be afraid of the Qing royal family at all. I estimate that he has already grasped the handle of Lao Gan's weakness!" Tan Yanqin said with a smile.

  "With a master like Qingpin Wang, Zhou Rongyang, this steward, will probably be even more unscrupulous in his corruption..."

  "Is it just being unscrupulous? It's simply lawless! Think about Li Zhongtang's elder brother, Li Hanzhang, when he was the Governor-General of Huguang, in three years, he only embezzled 3 million taels from the salt administration. This Zhou Rongyang is even more ruthless than Li Hanzhang, and in just one year, he managed to swindle 2 million taels! Is there a more capable corrupt official than him?!"

  "Fang Hongqiu smiled slightly and said, 'I'm afraid this was all planned by you from the very beginning? Just now, Master said 500,000 taels, but you quickly found a way to get it. You've been eyeing Zhou Rongyao for some time now. You were just waiting for the right moment to make your move.'"

  "Haha, you're really clever, I'm even a bit scared... Tonight in the study, I'll carefully consider this letter from Old Master. If I had an assistant like Sang Zhiping, Wang Kuan or Liang Dingfen by my side, it wouldn't be so troublesome..."

  "Shen Wenyuan, Chen Yusheng and Kou Zhongqing are not your advisors? I heard from the people in the government that these three men's talents are already quite good, but you're still not satisfied..."

  Although the difficulty is a bit greater, it's not impossible to achieve. In politics, it's impossible to have no opponents, and this time it's just that the provincial officials impeached the central officials, which is still relatively rare since the late Qing dynasty. From Zeng Guofan's era to now, the power in the hands of provincial officials has been growing, although the central government hasn't given up on trying to suppress these powerful provincial officials who control their own troops. Unfortunately, the core group of provincial officials who emerged from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement are all closely surrounding Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, with enormous influence. A most striking example is when Zeng Guofan was removed from office during his mourning period, which is unimaginable in a Qing dynasty that ruled by filial piety.

  Although the power of the vassals was very great, under the operation of Cixi and others, they also adopted a balancing strategy from time to time to suppress the local forces from expanding excessively. The prosperity of Qingliu is based on this balancing strategy, and the main force of Qingliu is almost all the officials. The political wind direction for decades has been proving that the officials impeached the vassals in this mode. The vassals basically will not take the initiative to provoke the officials, and if they counterattack, it is only after being impeached that they begin to operate. The political struggles of the past few decades have all revolved around the differences between the vassals and the officials, including the most famous case of Yang Naiwu and Xiao Baicai, which was once sensationalized nationwide. Behind this was the mutual struggle between the Jiangzhe faction led by Weng Tonghe and the Lianghu faction led by Zuo Zongtang, with the Lianghu faction suffering a severe blow in the end.

  Zuo Zongtang's defeat was not without reason, his subordinates were extremely corrupt, and the cases he judged were often black and white reversed, causing great public outrage, which can be described as heavenly resentment and human anger. Moreover, this madman had also fallen out with Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, although it is not ruled out that both sides were playing a double game, but on the surface, Zuo Zongtang's relationship with the core officials of Xinjiang had become distant, with suspicions of self-interest. The central government, centered around Empress Dowager Cixi, naturally did not want to see another Zeng Guofan grow up and oppose the center, regardless of whether it was a double game or a genuine deterioration in relations, a single blow could kill him off. After this defeat, Zuo Zongtang's faction was almost completely destroyed, which is considered one of the greatest losses for Xinjiang officials in decades.

  —

  Cixi thought that the era of dealing with Zuo Zongtang was completely different from hers. After killing Su Shun and demoting Prince Gong, there were almost no one who could threaten her position in the past decade or so. If she had to find someone, it would be only Guangxu Emperor left. Cixi liked officials who could please her and listen to her, these two standards are not high, and there are many such officials among the central government ministers. However, according to this standard, after searching through the local officials, there were too many people who were obedient on the surface but disobedient in secret, those who listened to her might not be able to please her, and those who pleased her might not listen to her.

  Tan Yanqing wants to turn against Prince Qing Yi, he must weigh the score outside the court - no doubt, the old man has grasped the small braid of Yi, and this braid is not small. On the moral high ground, it will never be a problem. The key is that if Yi and the old man are placed in front of Cixi, which one is heavier?

  Yi Xiu and the old man both met Cixi's two favorite minister standards, but the only difference is that the old man was one of the few people in the border areas who pleased Empress Dowager Cixi and listened to her words. Sacrificing the old man would be cutting off her own arm.

  She wouldn't do such a stupid thing. Once the case was put on the table, the outcome was already decided, and Cixi would not sacrifice the old man, so the person to be sacrificed must be Yi Xiu. After all, obedient and flattering officials were not scarce around Cixi, and Yi Xiu's taking over as the Minister of Foreign Affairs was also a dark horse at that time. There were many princes, and without Yi Xiu, there would be even more princes waiting for this position, and they would also listen to her!

  Tan Yanxin was not wrong, Tan Zhonglin indeed grasped the handle between Zhou Rongyang and Qingxiang Wang Yihuo. It's unexpected that this handle fell into Shen Jing's hands - Shen Jing just spent 50 taels of silver to bribe a Guangzhou telegraph office staff member. Let this guy keep his mouth shut, and leave a copy of all the telegrams sent or received by Zhou Rongyang.

  Originally, Shen Jing did not expect to gain anything valuable from this road, but the result was beyond his expectations. In less than half a month, there were 30-40 telegrams related to Zhou Rongyao, among which three were telegrams between Zhou Rongyao and Yi Xie. The flashing words in them told Tan Zhonglin that there were two account books at the Guangdong Customs, and through these telegrams, it was revealed that Zhou Rongyao had suspicions of smuggling opium.

  Chen Fei learned through several directors on the board of the wool textile mill that Zhou Rongyao openly demanded bribes when they conducted import and export trade, taking bribes according to the value of the goods. If not given, the goods would be detained by customs, and threats would also be made against Guangzhou merchants. Such things had become an open secret in the Guangzhou business community, and the only way to deal with Zhou Rongyao was to willingly offer him gold and silver. Moreover, the most heinous thing was that Zhou Rongyao had also learned from Yi Xian's example, and merchants who wanted to see him had to pay a meeting fee before they could meet him; otherwise, they would not even be able to find a way to bribe him.

  This is only what appears on the surface, but through telegraph clues, Zhou Rongyao's collusion with local merchants and foreign businessmen to smuggle opium has been confirmed. Several opium dens in the city are owned by Zhou Rongyao. The value of these opium dens alone exceeds the salary he would have earned as a customs agent for his entire life. Where did this money come from? Without a doubt, it is the result of corruption and nothing else.

  What Tan Zhonglin could not tolerate was the collusion between Wang Cunshan and Zhou Rongyang. They wanted to get close to Prince Gong Yi through Zhou Rongyang. What Wang Cunshan did was a betrayal of Tan Zhonglin, who had not yet died or vacated his position as Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi. Less than half a month after arriving in Guangdong, he provided Wang Cunshan with a lucrative vacancy, and this was how Wang Cunshan repaid Tan Zhonglin? Tan Zhonglin was furious...

  On May 25, in the morning, the main officials of Guangzhou came to the dock to see off Tang Zhonglin going north to celebrate the birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi. In the evening, Zhou Rongyang and Wang Cunshan returned home to rest respectively. At midnight, Shen Jing and Chen Fei led their troops separately, mobilizing the governor's guard team, plus 300 soldiers who could be mobilized by the governor's office, divided into two routes, surrounded Zhou Rongyang and Wang Cunshan's residences in Guangzhou, tied them up without saying a word, and conducted a thorough search of their residences.

  There's nothing much to investigate on Wang Cunshan's side, Chen Fei has already obtained most of the things he wanted during the secret investigation in the previous period, thanks to the help of Wang Zhichun. As for Zhou Rongyang's side, it was a different story - Shen Jing and Yang led 15 guards to strictly control Zhou Rongyang's study, bedroom and other key areas, and then began a thorough search, every book, every piece of cloth was turned over and searched carefully.

  It's possible that Zhou Rongyao felt secure with his backing from Prince Qing, and no one dared to touch him, so when hiding important documents, he didn't make much of an effort to conceal them. Shen Jing and Yang didn't have to work too hard to find what they thought was most important - the letters exchanged between Zhou Rongyao and Prince Qing Yihe. In comparison, the gold, silver, jewels, and 700,000 taels of silver found in Zhou Rongyao's mansion were relatively insignificant. If Zhou Rongyao had steeled himself to admit all the charges under Prince Qing's guarantee that his family would be spared, even if a mountain of gold was found in his home, it wouldn't have made much difference - Zhou Rongyao was just a small ant on the front stage, while the real big fish was Yihe behind the scenes.

  Tan Zhonglin's task to Shen Jing and Chen Fei was simple, which was to find evidence of the close exchanges between Zhou Rongyang and Yihe, especially evidence that Yihe directly instructed Zhou Rongyang to be corrupt and lawless. Only in this way could they overthrow Yihe at once. If not, then they would have to make do with Zhou Rongyang's identity as a package cloth in Yihe's mansion, but wanting to rely on these to overthrow Yihe might be a bit difficult, or even impossible. In that case, it would fall into being passive, and it would be necessary to put Tan Zhonglin and Yihe in front of Empress Dowager Cixi for her to make a choice.

  "Blindness to this group of slaves' dog eyes, do you know who I am?!" Zhou Rongyao loudly roared in the signing room of the Governor's Mansion. He had been drinking with a group of people until late at night and became dizzy, only to find himself being led back to the signing room with a hood over his head without knowing what was happening.