Capital, Xicheng District, Zhaogong Mansion.

Zhao Gong’s Mansion is the mansion of Duke Zhenguo Zaizhao, Fengen Zhenguo. It is located on the south bank of Shichahai, not far from Prince Gong’s Mansion. This was rewarded by Emperor Xianfeng when Zaizhao was promoted to Duke Zhenguo.

Zaizhao himself has a noble status and is the great grandson of Prince Rongchun, Prince Rongchun, Yongqi, the fifth son of Emperor Qianlong. His grandfather was Aixin Gioro Mianyi, Prince Rongke County, and his father was Dorobele Yihui. He also had a higher status and was the brother-in-law of King Zhennan Yi.

At around 8 o'clock in the morning, Zaizhao, who was in his forties, walked around Shishashahai and returned to his mansion slowly. After he was unemployed in Beijing, he rarely asked about political affairs, but his life was very regular. He ran in the morning, made a bunku, and then went out for a walk and had morning tea. After returning to the mansion at around 8 o'clock, he read newspapers and practiced calligraphy. He rarely went out to ask relatives and friends. He rarely visited guests and lived a leisurely and peaceful life.

However, just as he entered the door today, the housekeeper in the mansion hurriedly came up and reported softly: "Second Master, someone is asking for a meeting..."

Zai Zhao glanced at him. Someone asked for a mysterious and mysterious request. Although there were young guests in his house, no one came to the door. However, he didn't seem to see a car and sedan chair outside the door just now. Who was coming?

Before he could ask questions, the housekeeper lowered his voice and said, "It's the old man in front of Miss Three."

Zaitong? Zaitong was happy. He was sure it was definitely related to Yi Qunzu, so he immediately said, "Take him to my study. I'll go there later."

After washing up, Zaizhao walked into the study slowly. When Li Shiqi, who had been waiting for him, saw him coming in, he quickly met Qian'er who was neatly and said, "Little Li Shiqi asks the second master for help."

This Li Shiqi is the servant in front of Zaitong. Zaithao was quite familiar with him before. In a flash, twenty years, the thin servant had already become a strong man in his thirties. However, if you look closely, you can still vaguely see your original appearance. After a little look, he said slightly: "Is Shuwen okay?"

"Miss, everything is fine." Li Shiqi said obediently: "Miss, I asked Xiao to tell the second master that the prince had set off and returned to China and would arrive in Shanghai in more than a month."

"Oh, this is good news." Zai Zhao said with a smile.

Li Shiqi didn't say anything nonsense, took out a letter from his arms and submitted it, saying, "This is written by the lady."

Zaizhao could recognize Zaitong's handwriting at a glance. After reading the letter quickly, he looked up at Li Shiqi and said, "Miss, what else do you have to say?" It's not his fault for asking this. The letter written by Zaitong himself was just an ordinary letter from home, but it was just a bit long-winded.

After hearing Zai Zhao's question, Li Shiqi hesitated for a while before saying, "Before leaving, the lady read a poem... looking horizontally into a ridge... and looking side into peaks, far and near...."

After hearing this, Zai Zhao looked at the letter again. It was nothing to look horizontally, but he saw the reputation - King Gong is about to return, so he will return quickly!

What to do when going back to Tianjin? Zaizhao even uses his toes to guess Yishizu's meaning, so he can go back to Tianjin to control the Beiyang Navy, or let him control it, or let him assist King Gong to control it. The former is even more likely!

After pondering for a moment, he raised his head and said, "Go down and rest first, I'll send you a letter to me."

After sending Li Shiqi away, Zai Zhao couldn't hide his excitement and walked back and forth in the room quickly. It was not difficult for him to control the Beiyang Navy. He has cultivated many confidants in the Beiyang Navy over the years. Now Yi Zeng is not in Tianjin, and the main force of the Beiyang Navy is in Japan. In this case, it is easy for him to control the Beiyang Navy!

Why did Yi Zhizu want him to control the Beiyang Navy? Naturally, it was to suppress the Eight Banners New Army in the capital, and the preparation period for constitutionalization was about to end. Yuan Qi wanted to prevent the Empress Dowager from breaking her promise, to prevent the court from delaying or even repenting and refusing to implement constitutionalism.

Although he was also a clan of the royal family, he could see clearly that if the Qing Dynasty wanted to extend its national destiny, it would be necessary to implement constitutionalism. Constitutional monarchy was the only way to continue the national destiny, otherwise it would force Yuan Qi to rebel! No matter what military strength, economic strength, financial strength, and industrial strength, no matter what aspect, the court was far from comparable to Yuan Qi. Once Yuan Qi rebelled, the Qing Dynasty would inevitably be the result of its destruction!

As a clan of the royal family, he naturally did not want to see the fall of the Qing Dynasty. He hoped that the Qing Dynasty could gradually become stronger under the guidance and promotion of Yuan Qi, and create another prosperous era that was comparable to the Kanggan prosperous era! He also believed that Yuan Qi had this ability!

Li Shiqi did not go down to rest, but left the mansion and hurried back near dusk. When Zai Zhao heard the newspaper, he immediately called him to the study room and handed him the written reply, saying, "When will you plan to go back to Shanghai?"

"Go back to the second master, I will rush back tomorrow morning." Li Shiqi said and hesitated, before saying: "Second Master, King Gong has led more than 10,000 troops to set off from Osaka, escorted by the East China Sea Fleet, and is expected to arrive in Tianjin in about three days."

After hearing this, Zai Zhao couldn't help but smile, "You guy seems to be successful."

"It's all the support of the lady." Li Shiqi said hurriedly.

Zai Zhao nodded and said, "The capital is a place of right and wrong now, so you can't stay for a long time. Be smart all the way."

As soon as the words were finished, the manager whispered outside the study: "Second Master——."

Seeing that the other party had something to do, Li Shiqi hurriedly bowed and said, "Don't worry, second master, I'll leave." Li Shiqi hurriedly retreated, and the general manager came in and reported softly: "Prince Su is here to visit."

Sushun? What did he do? Zaizhao didn't think much about it and ordered, "Please come here." He and Sushun had a very good relationship. They were the first royal family members to enter the Nanyang Navy. They stayed together in Dinghai Camp for a few years. After returning to Beijing, due to Yishisu's relationship, although the two had very few contacts, they became more and more intimate.

At the entrance of the study yard, Su Shun met him, and saw him dressed in a gentleman, and said, "It's not dark yet, aren't you afraid of being caught?"

Sushun said dismissively: "You have nowhere to go, who can you catch up with?"

After hearing this, Zai Zhao smiled, "Is this a mess with me?"

"The current situation in the capital is not clean, but I am afraid it will not be clean." Sushun said slowly: "The war in Japan is coming to an end, and King Gong is about to return to the capital. I am afraid there will be some turmoil in the capital..."

Zai Zhao said: "I am just an idle person now. What does the turmoil in the capital have to do with me?"

"You are idle and not idle."

"How do you know that I am not idle?" Zai Zhao said: "To put it nicely, I am eating and doing nothing all day long. To put it bluntly, I am eating and waiting to die. How can I have some idleness?"

Su Shun smiled and said, "This is so resentful that I feel unwilling to accept it, how can I be idle?"

The two of them entered the room with laughter and gave up their seats. After Zaizhao used a thermos to make a pot of tea, then sat down and said, "I can't bear to use it to serve guests with the best Dahongpao."

Sushun picked up the teacup and sniffed it gently, saying, "Thirty years old, Dahongpao? No wonder he couldn't bear it." He said that, taking a sip.

Zaizhao also sipped tea without saying a word, waiting quietly for the other party to take the initiative to explain his purpose. He knew very well how busy he was as the chief military aircraft. At this time, there must be a large number of officials in the mansion waiting to meet him. It is impossible for him to come to him to slap his teeth freely.

After sucking half a cup of tea, Sushun put down the teacup and said, "How many years have you not been to Shanghai? Shanghai has been the same for all these years. You are idle, so you didn't want to go to Shanghai to relax?"

What does it mean? Zai Zhao looked at him suspiciously and tentatively said, "Can you just hear the news?"

"A few days ago, Bao Jing went to Fengtai Camp. Have you heard of this?" Su Shun said softly: "You know the character of the third son Yi, be cautious, and never get involved in party disputes."

Zai Zhao continued tea for him, and then said: "The court wants to firmly control the Beiyang Navy through Yizeng?"

"You should have heard of how King Gong's general attack on the Japanese?" Sushun looked at him and said, "Even if the court cannot firmly control the Beiyang Navy, it must be wary of King Gong's replay of the same trick."

Zai Zhao felt a little nervous, but said, "What does this matter have to do with me?"

"Pretend to be confused, right?" Sushun said as he picked up the tea cup and tasted tea slowly. Zaizhao has been the admiral of the Beiyang Navy for several years. He has a great reputation among the Beiyang Navy and will not be much more than Yizeng, the current admiral. At least half of the Beiyang Navy's family's wealth was won by him. His relationship with Yishizu is also obvious. How can the court not prevent him from imitating King Gong?

He came to remind him that he would go to Shanghai, one was to sell his favors, and the other was to be afraid of trouble. Yuan Qi is no longer comparable to the past. If Zai Zhao's elder brother-in-law had any mistakes in the capital, Yi Shizuo would never be as silent as the fire in Zhennan Hou Mansion. Yuan Qi can be said to have been waiting for the opportunity now.

Zai Zhao really didn't expect that Li Shiqi had just left and Su Shun came. Yi Zhizu and the Empress Dowager thought of going together. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Can you come by the order?"

"Where did you want to go? Don't be kind to treat it as a donkey's liver and lungs!" Su Shun glanced at him, "Will the Empress Dowager asks you to go to Shanghai when she thinks of this? A decree that will make you think about your mistakes behind closed doors or simply ban them, isn't it much simpler?"

In other words, the empress dowager hadn’t thought of this, Zai Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and said, “The court has promoted constitutionalism, and King Gong calls for the formation of the cabinet. Now King Gong is in charge of another army again, so you have no idea?”

"If King Gong is in charge of the army, it is a pro or a disadvantage if he is at the forefront of the storm. It is hard to say at present, why should he be envious?" Su Shun said slowly. In his opinion, once constitutionalism is implemented, the constitutionalism and the royalist faction will inevitably be integrated. King Gong's move will be jealous of the royalist faction, and the fortunes and fortunes are unpredictable. He does not need to imitate it. However, what does Zaizhao mean?

After pondering for a moment, he said: "The Beiyang Navy must be the attention of all parties. Don't go to this muddy water. Going to Shanghai to relax is the best strategy."

Zai Zhao said tentatively: "Will the imperial court allow me to go to Shanghai to relax?"

"You are just an idle home and have to be banned, so what's wrong?" Sushun said dismissively: "Of course, if you want to ask for an order, you will definitely not be allowed."

"Okay." Zai Zhaohe said first: "The capital has now become a place of right and wrong, so it's better to go to Shanghai to avoid it."

Zaizhao was in a state of confusion when he saw Sushun away, and he was a little undecided. Sushun thought of this, but the empress dowager would not have thought of it? However, when he thought of King Gong leading more than 10,000 troops back to Tianjin with the escort of the East China Sea Fleet, he calmed down. With King Gong and the East China Sea Fleet, there was no risk in this matter. Moreover, even if there was any accident, Yi Zhizu would not stand by and watch, and the empress dowager did not dare to kill him.

The next morning, Zai Zhao got up early and left the mansion to run along Shichahai in the morning. I don’t know if it was an illusion, but he always felt someone was secretly surveillance, but after careful observation, he observed it several times, but he didn’t find any abnormality. He couldn’t help but laugh at himself as being too sensitive.

In the morning, after the housekeeper who went out to arrange the carriage matters to come back to his house to report the matter, he hesitated and said: "Second Master, I don't know if it's an illusion, but I always feel that someone is staring at him in secret..."

Zai Zhao's heart sank. He was sure that it was not an illusion, but was indeed being secretly monitored. After pondering for a moment, he ordered: "Tomorrow, a relative will be arranged to travel to Tianjin, which will make people suspicious."

When the butler was waiting for him to leave, Zaizhao slowly walked back to the study. When did the court start to monitor him secretly? Is it always there? Or did it start these days? Why didn’t you notice it at all before? However, one thing is certain, he wanted to leave the capital secretly for Tianjin, which was almost impossible!

After thinking for a while, he simply ordered someone to go to the telegraph office to send a telegram to Zaitong - Jingji Sideng, and went to Shanghai the next day. He arranged for someone to go to the train station to buy tickets.

The telegram was sent out at noon. At dusk, Yi Zeng came to visit him. Zai Zhao felt a little lucky in his heart. When he arrived at the second gate to meet Yi Zeng, he laughed loudly and said, "Yi Junmen has been in the capital for so many days, and I remember to see me today."

Yi Zeng smiled and bowed, "I can't get rid of my sins."

"How come you have time today?"

"Where is time..." Yi Zeng smiled bitterly, "I won't let me stand here and say it."

"Please please--." Zai Zhao smiled and politely. When the two entered the study, Yi Zeng said, "I heard you are planning to go to Shanghai?"

"The train ticket I just bought today actually reached your ears?" Zai Zhao's face darkened, "The court has been sending people to secretly monitor me?"

"It should have been recently that people have been sent to monitor it." Yi Zengyan said, "You know the current situation, so don't go to Shanghai for the time being. Stay in the capital with peace of mind. I'll talk about it after this period of time."

"It is because of the current situation that I plan to go to Shanghai to avoid it. I didn't expect this to work!" Zai Zhao said angrily: "Can the court want to seize me as a hostage?"

"Second Master Zhao, can you stop talking nonsense?" Yi Zeng smiled bitterly, "Which family can hold you hostage?" After pausing, he said, "The current situation is very tense, so don't cause trouble. The Beiyang Navy officers from Fengtai Camp have all returned to Tianjin, and Yi Huan also followed him to Tianjin."
Chapter completed!