Chapter 53 Chapter Two

Gratitude and Resentment Li Hongzhang As the saying goes: no deal no deal.The relationship between Li Hongzhang and Li Lianying can be said to have been typed. Li Hongzhang, governor of Zhili and minister of Beiyang, can be said to be a generation of important ministers in the late Qing Dynasty.Within the scope of his jurisdiction, among the staff members, who doesn't know how powerful Li Zhongtang is, and who isn't afraid of him before seeing him?But in the early years of Guangxu (1875), Li Hongzhang was rectified by Li Lianying, a big celebrity next to Cixi, and people had to admire Li Lianying's ability.I'm afraid this is also the most disgraceful thing in Li Hongzhang's life.

In the early years of Guangxu (1875), Li Lianying was still the second general manager.Li Hongzhang heard that the Empress Dowager Cixi had a very trusted eunuch, but he didn't know how powerful it was. Once, Empress Dowager Cixi issued an order to urgently summon Li Hongzhang to Beijing to discuss matters.After receiving the order, Li Hongzhang immediately rushed to Beijing from Tianjin with several entourages.But after arriving in Beijing, Li Lianying refused to see the Queen Mother for several days without reason. Because Li Hongzhang had his life in his life, he couldn't think of any other way to see the Empress Dowager Cixi for a while, so he was in a hurry.I don't know how many good things I said, but Li Lianying just didn't let go.For three days in a row, Li Hongzhang couldn't even enter the palace gate of Empress Dowager Cixi, and Li Hongzhang was so angry that it didn't help.

On the fourth day after the Empress Dowager Cixi issued the decree, she was discussing matters with Prince Gong in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, when she suddenly remembered the matter of summoning Li Hongzhang, and asked why Li Hongzhang had not come to see him.Of course Prince Gong didn't dare to tell the truth, so he could only avoid the seriousness and say lightly that Li Hongzhang had been in Beijing for three days, and he had seen him outside the palace gate several times, but he just couldn't get in.Prince Gong was beating around the bush and saying that Li Lianying deliberately made things difficult for Li Hongzhang.

When the Empress Dowager Cixi heard this, she immediately understood what was going on.So, without saying anything, she immediately delivered an order for Li Hongzhang to have an audience.Seeing that Li Lianying could not stop him from seeing the queen mother, she had to immediately send a eunuch to tell the guards to let Li Hongzhang in. After waiting for three days, Li Hongzhang was finally able to see the Empress Dowager Cixi. He was going to tell the Empress Dowager Cixi all the difficulties that Li Lianying had made difficult for him in the past three days. After seeing the Queen Mother, I will play you a book first, so that you can also know how powerful I am, Li Hongzhang!

When the Empress Dowager Cixi saw Li Hongzhang coming in, she angrily asked Li Hongzhang why he resisted the decree and delayed before Li Hongzhang greeted her. Li Hongzhang was about to recount this matter. Now that the Empress Dowager Cixi mentioned it, he reported in detail how he was made things difficult by an eunuch, how Li Lianying refused to allow him to enter the palace gate, and how he waited outside the gate for three days. Unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager Cixi said in a joking tone after listening to it: Forget it, you must not be willing to pay.This made Li Hongzhang ashamed and speechless.The next day, Li Hongzhang returned to Tianjin, more and more angry about this matter.I thought that I, Li Hongzhang, had contributed to the Great Qing Dynasty, galloped across the battlefield, and became famous all over the world. How could I be swayed by a eunuch?

After making up his mind, Li Hongzhang wrote a letter to Li Lianying and sent someone to Beijing to invite Li Lianying to Tianjin for a while.The letter is to briefly describe the friendship in order to dispel Beijing's misunderstanding.After Li Lianying received the letter, she saw the sincerity in the letter and didn't know Li Zhongtang's intentions, so she believed it to be true, and was also planning to take the opportunity to go to Tianjin to make a fortune.So, he asked Empress Dowager Cixi for leave, saying that Li Zhongtang had an appointment to go to Tianjin to meet. Cixi felt that Li Hongzhang had indeed been teased by Li Lianying, and that the two should have a chance to communicate and clear up the misunderstanding, so she agreed.But the Empress Dowager Cixi is not an ordinary person after all. After Li Lianying left, I thought about it carefully and felt that something was wrong: Li Hongzhang was not an honest and easy-to-provoke person. This time he came to Beijing to be rejected by Li Lianying, but he didn’t come out. Why did he invite Li Lianying to Tianjin to meet her? will it?She was afraid that there was deceit inside, and Li Lianying might play the second role of An Dehai during this trip.So he immediately sent someone to chase Li Lianying back to avoid falling into Li Hongzhang's trap.At this time, Li Lianying's sedan chair had passed Tongzhou.When the guards caught up with her, Li Lianying didn't know what was going on, and felt very uncomfortable. After leaving the capital, she was recalled halfway.But he had to listen, so he had to go back to the palace to meet Cixi.When Cixi saw Li Lianying coming back, she was relieved.He said, "It's good that you can return to Beijing safe and sound. This time Li Zhongtang invited you to Tianjin. I was worried that it would be difficult if something went wrong, so I sent someone to chase you back."

The Empress Dowager Cixi told Li Lianying her worries, and Li Lianying just woke up like a dream. She was afraid after thinking about it, and her back felt numb for a while, so she knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the Empress Dowager Cixi to thank her. Li Hongzhang didn't see Li Lianying in Tianjin, and he waited impatiently, fearing that his strategy would be seen through, so he became more and more worried.Soon, the person sent to inquire about the news came back and said that after Li Lianying passed through Tongzhou, she was summoned back by the Empress Dowager Cixi.After hearing this, Li Hongzhang was startled with fright, and immediately became restless, knowing that his thoughts had been seen through by the Empress Dowager Cixi.If Li Lianying said a few more words in front of her, wouldn't it be too much for her to walk around.

Thinking of this, Li Hongzhang couldn't help gasping, and didn't speak for a while.Although it is not certain that the Empress Dowager Cixi has discovered her conspiracy, it is better to prepare early, and if the Empress Dowager Cixi pursues it, it is easy to deal with it. Li Hongzhang paced back and forth in the hall anxiously, thinking hard for a long time, and finally made up his mind.He hurriedly repaired a book, and sent someone to bring 200,000 taels of silver notes to Li Lianying's residence.When Li Lianying came home at night, she saw Li Hongzhang's letter to the effect that:

After the capital left, I originally wanted to invite Director Li to come to Jinmen for a meeting, to have a drink and talk about friendship.I recently heard that the court was busy with official duties and couldn't get away, so I couldn't get what I wanted, and I feel very sorry.Today, I sent someone to send two hundred thousand taels of silver, which is a meager amount. Please don't be offended. I hope the beggars will collect it.Although Hongzhang holds several positions, he is actually a foreign minister. In the palace and in front of the Queen Mother, I hope you will take care of him.When I go to Beijing in the future, I will definitely visit and ask for advice.Hongzhang nodded!

◇ After reading it, Li Lianying laughed out loud.I thought: Well you Li Hefei (Li Hongzhang is from Hefei), you finally lost to my hands.Li Lianying accepted two hundred thousand taels of silver contentedly.As the saying goes, if you don't fight, you don't know each other. From then on, Director Li and Li Zhongtang became closer friends, and Li Lianying really intervened in Li Hongzhang's affairs after taking advantage of others. Li Hongzhang, a dignified official of the first rank, disregarded being humiliated, but willingly bowed down, giving gold and silver, and visiting at the same time, what was his intention?As the saying goes, Xiang Zhuang's sword dance is aimed at Pei Gong. Since the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, he has always been wary of Han ministers.By making friends with Li Lianying, Li Hongzhang can achieve the goal of killing two birds with one stone: it not only dispels the Empress Dowager Cixi and Li Lianying's conspiracy against him, but also eliminates the worries of the Empress Dowager Cixi, avoiding his own innocent disasters, and thereby establishes a good relationship with Li Lianying and seeks Li Lianying. To gain a good impression in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi, this is a well-behaved move in accordance with the times.

In the 25th year of Guangxu (1899), Li Hongzhang had resigned from office and returned to Beijing, where he lived in Xianliang Temple (today's Dongfeng Market area).At that time, the court was in chaos, there were many gangs, and there were many conflicts among them.Prince Duan Zaiyi, University scholar Gang Yi, Zai Lan, Zai Xun, Qi Xiu, etc. are one of the factions, and Qing Prince Yi Kuang is fighting for power and fighting each other, making the government increasingly chaotic and the rules and disciplines in chaos. When the Empress Dowager Cixi summoned Li Hongzhang again, she once said to him face to face: You are fine now, stay in Beijing to handle the government affairs.After hearing this, Li Hongzhang broke out in a cold sweat, thinking that this was a wrong place, and of course he couldn't mess around at this time.At that time, he just kowtowed and did not speak. Fortunately, through Li Lianying's relationship, Li Hongzhang was replaced by a governor of Guangdong and fled this place of right and wrong.Before leaving, he visited Li's mansion in person, bid farewell to Li Lianying, and gave Li Lianying a large sum of silver and rare antiques as rewards.Since then, the relationship between the two has become more intense. In the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), due to the Gengzi Rebellion, the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing.Li Hongzhang participated in foreign affairs all the year round. After the discussion between Empress Dowager Cixi and Li Lianying, a meeting was held before the imperial court.After Li Hongzhang arrived in Beijing, Li Lianying had already fled to Xi'an with Empress Dowager Cixi for refuge.Li Hongzhang passed away not long after. From then on, Li Lianying lost a person who knew the truth among the ministers, and more importantly, he lost a cash machine that gave him money and things all the year round. Li Lianying also felt very sad.