C619 Winter, the sky is not clear

Beijing's Dong Ri was very leisurely. The concept of winter leisure had been deeply rooted in the hearts of people in China for thousands of years. If one could sleep early in the winter, then they would not have to worry about nothing, after all, eating two meals a day was better than eating three meals a day.

Moreover, a warm bed did not only represent comfort. It also represented the fact that his family was able to burn a few pieces of coal less and use a few coppers less at home.

The leisure life of the citizens did not belong to the officials, as whether or not the officials of the Beijing were going to be tormented by the Grand Commission, especially in winter, was truly painful.

According to the Qing law, the emperor was in the 5th Dynasty, that is, in the middle of the morning, which was the equivalent of 05: 00 to 07: 00 in Beijing time. The chancellor, on the other hand, would be waiting outside the gate between 3: 00 and 05: 00 Beijing time.

Tongzhi's year was pretty good, but since the emperor did not have a personal authority, the assembly would only be held once every ten days. This was so when the emperor of the three dynasties was in high spirits, the people who held the assembly every day were all miserable beyond words.

However, the officials who were preparing to go to the imperial court were already fully dressed and prepared. After all, this was the largest Grand Commission in the country, and most likely, the local daoyin s had already arrived. Coupled with the topic of the assembly, it made all the officials frown. No one dared to speak carelessly.

"Aiya, isn't this the same year as Wang Tong? "We bros haven't met for a long time, we've missed each other ever since the Imperial examinations …"

"Hello Liu Tong …" Brother, you've been looking good lately. Why don't you meet another day? "Alright then, let's wait for old friend's post the day after tomorrow …"

Noon officials and officials from outside the capital took advantage of a one-year meeting to form a connection with each other. However, no one dared to discuss the chaos in the capital. Everyone had seen that half of the guards were from the imperial guards and the other half were from the new army.

Looking at the bright bayonets of the new army, all the foreign officials felt a chill down their spines. "Brothers, all of you tell me, how did Xiao Letian occupy all the power of our guards?" When the few officials heard that the topic was shifted to Xiao Letian, they immediately frowned and did not reply.

The foreign officials didn't know why, but the imperial officials were very clear that the Forbidden City had been split into two defensive systems with the Qian Qing Gate as its boundary. Behind the Qian Qing Gate was the emperor's imperial harem.

However, it had become a safe zone for the new army near the three great halls south of the Qian Qing sect. Only Grand Commission had arranged half of the imperial guards to support the new army under Ci Xi's argument, if not they would have thought that the Great Qing had been replaced with a new army.

At this time, Xiao Letian was not waiting outside the gates. He was calmly looking at the beasts and dressed in clothes on the walls of the Merchant City, and it was these people who were controlling the Great Qing Empire.

"If we were to throw away a grenade, Great Qing Dynasty would probably be finished immediately … Hehe, I was wondering what all these emperors were thinking. He had the officials wait until 6: 00 AM in the morning. By the time the court meeting was over, it would be 8: 00 am. If the topic was more serious, it would take more than half a day … "

"What are you thinking? People weren't made of iron, would they still have the energy to work in the city after tormenting themselves for so long? Why can't I go and get some sleep after lunch? A day has not been long? "

The one waiting upon Xiao Letian was Er Mao, his dry son smiled and said, "This is not the three dynasties of Kang Yong, the Emperor is actually already very lazy to govern, the hundred officials of the imperial court can still take this once every ten days. Furthermore, it's the Grand Commission that's opened under the cover of the year, there's no harm in getting tired … "

Just as the two of them were leaning against the city wall chatting, suddenly, a ruckus broke out at noon. It turned out that the sedan chair belonging to the Zeng Family's second brother had been carried over. Master and his master shouted at the top of their lungs.

It was not only the Zeng Family brothers, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang had actually followed closely behind. The s outside the gate suddenly shook, and the eyes of the Manchu s and Qing Liu that were intimidated by the appearance of the Chinese warlord immediately twitched.

Prince Kung, Prince of Alcohol, Prince Ching and the others stood closest to the noontime gate, watching this group of Han people flaunting their might and showing off their might. However, when they thought about the even more repulsive Han people above their heads, their hatred towards the Zeng Family brothers unconsciously lightened by a bit.

Ceng Guofan had long seen the few princes at the front of the procession, so he didn't bother to pay his respects to them. Instead, he quickly walked forward and clasped his fists, "Aiyah, princes, I, Ceng Guofan, offer my respects to the princes!" As he spoke, he prepared to give a thousand salutes.

No matter how pretentious they were, they would not dare to offend this great warlord. A little Xiao Letian warlord had already caused such a ruckus in the imperial government, how could they dare to offend Ceng Guofan? Yi Nan grabbed Ceng Guofan's arm.

"No way! Marshal has worked so hard and is our clear target. How can we allow him to greet us like this?" Little Wang should be the one treating the marshal to wine … "I wonder how many soldiers the marshal brought to the capital this time?"

The corner of Ceng Guofan's eyes twitched, he could tell at that time that he was being attacked, and it seems that the threat of his five hundred thousand Xiang Army s was even greater than Xiao Letian's.

"The empire is indeed troubled, this old official has killed too many people over the years, there are too many enemies!" He would not dare to travel far without some troops. Three thousand Hempins were stationed outside the city … "But don't worry, your highness. They definitely won't dare to enter the city unless I order them to. If something goes wrong, I won't even be able to chop off nine heads, hahaha …"

Prince Qing Yi Yong was impatient, he immediately slapped his thigh. "Aiya, my good Commander, why did you bring such a little? "Why didn't you say one hundred and eighty thousand, we're all counting on you …"

Before he finished, he leaned over and whispered, "Is the marshal hiding an ambush?" It must be, I say that I can't do this to Xiao Letian without a few tens of thousands of elites … "

The Prince Kung gave Yi Kuang a kick on the back, then glared at him fiercely. With an apologetic smile, he said, "Marshal should have returned to the capital to rest, it's not too late to talk about these chores after the assembly … Aiya, the East Crossing Folk Lane's Minister s are all here, let's go welcome them … "

The smell of gunpowder that had just accumulated vanished once again. However, everyone knew that this was just a small warm-up for the upcoming war.

Minister of France Ge Erdemi, Counsellor Borone. British Minister Sir Ai Liguo, Counsellor Sir Wei Tuoma. American Minister Hua Ruohan. Russian Minister Ulangeli... More than a dozen carriages appeared outside the gate. The Chinese people jumped off the carriages and immediately started chatting with the officials. It was as if they were talking about their own country.

Of course, their main focus was still Ceng Guofan. As the most powerful warlord in China, they believed that the Zeng Family might split up into a whole, and this kind of important person was of great concern to all the countries in Europe.

"Oh, Great Marshal Zeng! "Hello, it's been a while …" Hua Ruohan was the first to shake hands with Ceng Guofan, "I wonder if the General has ever gone to see the new sulcus longus in the capital city? "The construction of the commercial street is very beautiful and the delicacies of the restaurant are also very tasty. When you're free, you must go and have a taste …"

Then, British Minister Ai Liguo agreed and said, "That's right, there is a roast duck restaurant called Gemeinschaft that has a new store. The decorations are very high-end, if the marshal is interested, I would like to invite him to have a taste …"

"Hahaha, how can we waste money like this? I'll do the east, I'll do the east. When we get back, we'll send the invitation to the embassy …"

This was clearly showing that they were going to support Xiao Letian. sulcus longus was the most important political achievement of the Prime Minister Xiao, and the praises he gave to the sulcus longus was just a secret reminder to Ceng Guofan. We support Xiao Letian.

Russian and the Frenchman started snorting at the same time when they saw the group of foxes acting, but they turned back to look at each other. After all, Russian and the Frenchman had a grudge against each other.

The afternoon gate had yet to open, but a war of words had already begun. Those officials who knew the depth of the situation desperately wiped their sweat, thinking that something big was going to happen today.

"Time's up …" Open Door... "Everyone, please follow the sequence of orders …" Amidst the eunuchs' melodious roars, creaking sounds came from both sides of the gate. The Grand Commission had finally arrived.

Hundreds of civil and military officials lined up in two long lines according to their rank. They silently walked through the afternoon gate, crossed the Golden River, and the Gate of Supreme Harmony and arrived at the Taihe Temple's square.

There were two teams of officials with young eunuchs following them with lanterns in their hands. Standing at the top of the city walls, Xiao Letian could see two twisted centipedes.

Er Mao laughed and said: "godfather is Foreign ministers, so you should go kowtow, but Empress Dowager of the East's grace says that your waist is injured, so you don't need to kowtow. It's fine if you follow Xi Yang's ambassadors to watch the ceremony …"

Xiao Letian knew that this was Ci An trying to be nice to him. In any case, everyone in Manchu royal family knew that this Xiao Letian did not hold back and did not kowtow, no matter who it was, he would not listen.

Under the threat of a shining bayonet, only a fool would get involved with such unorthodox methods. Xiao Letian rubbed Hairy # 2's forehead and said with a smile, "Sooner or later, I will make you throw away this braid as well. "So ugly …"

Hairy Two said desolately, "My son won't be able to be a man for the rest of his life …"

"Who said anything? How could a eunuch not be a man? "Er Mao, remember this. When you were leading the fleet on a tour of the world, every coward in my son was a good man who could support both heaven and earth!"

"Come, let's go down and watch the show. I'll have to poke a hole in this damn silent sky to get some fresh air …" With that, he brought Er Mao and walked out of the city.

At this time, the officials were already standing along the stone steps. The whip was whipped by the strong eunuch into the ground. This was a sign that the Emperor was about to enter the Hall of Supreme Harmony. All of the officials were prepared to kneel down and kowtow.

"Your Majesty …" Empress Dowager... Drive To... Kneel... "Kowtow …" "Kowtow again …"

The entire Supreme Harmony Temple square was filled with a solemn atmosphere as hundreds of officials kowtowed in unison. On the third floor, the umbrella of the emperor was peeking out. The little emperor had already entered the Supreme Harmony Temple.

Everywhere was covered by the Qiluo umbrella canopy, and armor was flashing everywhere. Along with the mighty new army and the feminine eunuch, the entire ceremony felt like it was going to happen in an instant.

What the feudal dynasty was playing with was etiquette, she was using this kind of aura to prove her prestige as an emperor, and this was an important ceremony that was only second to being a sacrifice to the heaven and earth.

Hiding beside Zhao De Gate, Hua Ruohan sighed emotionally and said, "China, this five thousand years ancient civilization, although they have already fallen behind the world, the formless culture they left behind is still impressive!"