Chapter 44 Guangxu has a grudge against him

Emperor Guangxu has been in power for many years in name. Although he is called in charge, he has no control over any major national affairs.In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1995, it was very difficult to be the master, but it happened to cede land and pay compensation. It is really frustrating.Later, Guangxu strongly advocated reforms to revitalize the court.But the reform is not easy, most of the DPRK and China are old-fashioned and stubborn bureaucrats, unable to accept new things.They bribed Li Lianying one after another, entrusting him to make a strong case in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi, absolutely not agreeing to the reform.The Empress Dowager Cixi also disliked Emperor Guangxu because of his own assertion, which caused the failure of the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War.It's not about how much money she lost, because she won't pay a penny, but because she messed up her birthday celebration, she couldn't hold it in a grand manner, and she missed a lot of gold and silver from officials.Due to various reasons, Cixi finally tightened her policy on Guangxu.

Cixi didn't get many good things, and Li Lianying didn't have much money. This is one reason why Li Lianying hated Emperor Guangxu.Also, as mentioned earlier, Li Lianying asked Cixi to be a matchmaker to ask her younger sister to become a concubine, but Guangxu refused. The grievances between Li Lianying and Guangxu are relatively long. In the eighteenth year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1892), Li Lianying added another outer house.The owner of a woodware shop on Meishi Street outside Qianmen offered to make a set of nanmu furniture for Li Lianying, which was not only exquisitely carved, simple and elegant, but also very harmonious with the living room.Li Lianying was very happy, and wanted to give the shopkeeper some more money, but the boss refused, saying that she came to Beijing to do business from Jiangnan, and would rely on Manager Li in the future, and this was for Li Lianying.

Li Lianying felt that this kind of favor was a bit big, and the boss seemed honest, so she deliberately recommended him for an official position.When the boss heard this, he quickly said that he couldn't read Sansheng, so he wasn't expected to be an official.But Li Lianying chuckled and assured him to wait to be an official. It happened that soon there was a vacancy in a county magistrate in Jiangsu. Li Lianying told the Empress Dowager Cixi about it, and Cixi agreed.But at this time, Cixi had already returned to power in name, at least through Guangxu's decree.It just so happened that Emperor Guangxu had agreed to send a relative of Concubine Zhen's teacher Wen Tingshi to act.Although he has not taken office yet, since he has promised, it is not easy to take it back.

Emperor Guangxu felt very embarrassed when he heard that Li Lianying would arrange for his own person to fill the post through Empress Dowager Cixi.Although Li Lianying was only an eunuch, he was so popular in front of Cixi that he couldn't offend him; but since he had already promised as the emperor, he must not break his promise.When he was in a dilemma, it happened that his teacher Weng Tonghe came to see him.So Guangxu asked him for advice. Weng Tonghe has a wealth of experience, is witty, and has always been very dissatisfied with Li Lianying's behavior. The people he would recommend are not educated.Therefore, he suggested that Guangxu adopt the method of palace examination. On the top of the golden palace, the questions will be set and answered on the spot. The two should use according to their talents.In this way, the emperor's selection of talents and appointments not only reflects the selflessness, but also does not hurt the face of all parties, which is the best of both worlds.

After hearing Weng Tonghe's approach, Emperor Guangxu couldn't help being overjoyed, so he acted according to his plan. Immediately, he ordered the woodware owner and Wen Ting's relatives to have an audience at the Golden Palace. Guangxu's topic on the spot was "Government".Wen Ting's relatives are juren, so of course it is not a problem to make a fuss.Especially "Wei Zheng" comes from "The Analects of Confucius". Anyone who has read "Four Books" will start with "The Analects of Confucius". The owner of the woodware was illiterate at first, and only thought that Li Lianying dared to praise Haikou for making him an official, but never thought of taking the exam.When the little eunuch brought the pen, ink, paper and inkstone in front of him, and moved him a low stool for him to write on, the woodware boss was really dumbfounded.After a while, beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.Wen Tingshi's relatives have already handed in the papers, and he doesn't know how to read a single word here.

Wen Tingshi knew that the person recommended by Li Lianying must be illiterate, how could such a person be an official, so he kicked him out without saying a word. Li Lianying didn't know this happened until the exam was over, so she hurriedly stopped the carpenter and asked about the cause and effect of the incident.He was very annoyed, and hated Guangxu even more.Only then did Wen Tingshi be dismissed later, Concubine Zhen was thrown into the cold palace, until she died in the octagonal glazed well, all of which had the shadow of Li Lianying behind it. In February of the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu (1908), Prince Gong Yixin died of illness in the mansion.Soon thereafter, Guangxu's biological mother, Prince Chun, became ill again, and Emperor Guangxu went to see the disease many times.While Cixi was away, Prince Jin Fujin asked Guangxu not to talk too much or take too much responsibility.If you want to be in charge, you have to make plans after Cixi's death.She also ordered that all the best jewels, hairpins, and the like in Prince Chun's Mansion be put into the coffin, not to leave half a point for Cixi. It can be seen that it is no wonder that she hates Cixi deeply. Serving the Empress Dowager Cixi is really useless.