In August 1880, Zuo Zongtang carried the coffin west out of Yumen Pass, and the soldiers approached the city of Ili and posed a decisive battle position against the old Maozi of Tsarist Russia.
At the same time, relying on the military prestige of Zuo Dashuai, Zeng Jize, the eldest son of Zeng Guofan, was also aggressive at the negotiating table.
The old Maozi of Tsarist Russia was really afraid of Zuo Zongtang, and they were worried that this iron-blooded strongman would be killed by a thunderbolt, and the Western Expeditionary Army would be able to crush the border and drive straight into the Tsarist mainland.
Unfortunately, because the Qing court was always harmonious and noble, just when Zuo Dashuai's sword was almost sheathed, a piece of "Zuo Zongtang entered the Jing Majesty to see" was transmitted to the Western Expeditionary Army Marshal's account.
This is the result of the active intervention of Li Hongzhang, a veteran strategist, and of course, it is also in the heart of Cixi.
What a hero Zuo Zongtang was after he regained Xinjiang! Ci'an shed tears, King Gong laughed, and Cixi's performance was even rarer
Seeing such an edict, Zuo Zongtang naturally understood the meaning, the victory of recovering Xinjiang was decided, and the imperial court still had to take the old road of compromise and cowardice and incompetence with victory. Although he was extremely depressed, but the king's fate was difficult to violate, Zuo Zongtang could only finally regret the farewell to the northwest battlefield that had been conquered for five years.
Five years!
This is the bold ambition that Zuo Zongtang once made.
Five years ago, Cixi Zheng asked Zuo Zongtang: How long will it take to recover Xinjiang?
Zuo Zongtang replied: It will take five years to recover them all.
Today, the last eagle of the Qing court has fulfilled his promise, although he has not been able to attack Tsarist Russia under the city of Ili in the end, but this cannot erase his great feats in the northwest desert with his backbone.
Because of this feat, the triumphant return of Zuo Dashuai was of course bullish, but once he stepped into the temple that had long since decayed and drowsy, the old hero's bullish spirit was destined to be lonely and vicissitudes.
But this is precisely the most emotional.
Because there is a kind of vicissitudes and heroism in this world, although it cannot sweep the rules of the world's little ghosts, it is enough to make the oncoming conspiracy and calculation collapse without attack, make the iron heart become soft and warm, let the benevolent cry, let the inhuman become benevolent——
Several famous ministers of Zhongxing in the late Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan did not have such vicissitudes and heroism, like Li Hongzhang, only Zuo Zongtang, who returned from the northwest, had!
What we want to talk about today is the vicissitudes of heroism after Zuo Zongtang returned to Beijing.
On February 24, 1881, after more than three months of trekking, Zuo Zongtang finally arrived in Beijing.
However, just after arriving at Chongwen Gate, Zuo Zongtang's mule cart stopped the little eunuch guarding the door.
The little eunuch who guarded the door said: To enter the Chongwen Gate, you must pay the door fee, this is the rule, please ask Zuo Dashuai to pay the money first.
Zuo Zongtang thought that the little eunuch just wanted to knock a few pieces of loose silver, so he did not take it seriously and asked his entourage how much money he wanted to give?
As a result, the number reported by the little eunuch who guarded the door directly startled Zuo Zongtang from the mule cart.
The little eunuch said: Zuo Dashuai is a feudal official, and according to this level, he must pay at least 40,000 taels of silver to pass through Chongwenmen.
Forty thousand two silver!
Zuo Zongtang questioned the little eunuch who guarded the gate: This marshal is ordered to enter the capital, and if he enters the city to see the emperor and has to pay, then this money should also be paid by the imperial court.
As soon as these words came out, the little eunuch who guarded the door was both surprised and dissatisfied, and he said: When Zeng Guofan was awarded the title of Marquis of Yiyong of the First Rank, he paid a fee of 50,000 taels like Chongwen Gate, and this rule was established by the imperial court, and no one could break it.
The implication is that you cow, can you cow pass the Zeng Guofan, don't talk nonsense, hurry up and obediently take out the silver.
Taking Zeng Guofan to suppress Zuo Dashuai, that is, Hong Mao fell on his shoulders, and he couldn't stop Zuo Zongtang from throwing hard words, he said: It is so! Zuo Mou has no money, and today he can only break the rules to enter this Chongwen Gate.
But such a hard word to the little eunuch who guarded the door became a pale excuse, and the little eunuch said incomprehensibly and dismissively: The feudal officials have no money, who believes! So stingy and poor, Chongwen Menxia this is really the first encounter!
In other words, in the early years, in the face of such arbitrariness, Zuo Zongtang was very likely to raise his foot and kick, but at this time, Zuo Zongtang was already a 69-year-old man, and his hardness had become a kind of cold hardness.
Seeing that the little eunuch would not let him go, Zuo Zongtang said coldly: I came from the northwest, and if I was not allowed to enter, I would go back to the northwest.
After saying that, turn around and leave, the rules of your court are big, and the "positive" word is greater than that of Zuo Dashuai.
Knowing that Zuo Zongtang was at the top of the Chongwen Gate and was going to fight his way back to the palace, the eunuch chief Li Lianying could not hold back, and the whole court also felt that zuo Dashuai was a little neglected.
What to do?
After Prince Gong asked Cixi, Prince Shuo led the military chancellor and the six big men to the Yongding Gate at the same time to greet the triumph of The Left Grand Marshal.
The rules are broken.
After entering the Forbidden City with Prince Alcohol in a prominent palanquin, early the next morning, Zuo Zongtang came to the Taihe Palace to see the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces.
Unexpectedly, the little devil appeared again.
The eunuch on duty said to Zuo Zongtang: Lord Zuo, you ask to see the emperor and the empress, and I will inform you whether you want to give a red envelope. This is what the prince recognizes. Without this red packet, do you believe that you really can't enter the temple door today.
Again and again, again and again, Zuo Dashuai was completely furious at this time, and this was the famous Zuo Dashuai stomping his feet and scolding the temple -- I tasted into a million troops, no one dared to stop him, An Zhi Ru Cao junior!
After scolding, Zuo Dashuai roared angrily: Go!
The emperor and the empress dowager were on the palace, and The left marshal dared to whisk his sleeves away.
Where had Li Lianying seen such a hero tough, and she was suddenly frightened and overwhelmed.
This time summoned Zuo Zongtang, Cixi was ill, only the Eastern Empress Dowager Ci'an was in the temple, and after seeing Zuo Zongtang in the temple for a long time, Ci'an asked: Why hasn't Zuo Zongtang come to see him yet?
Li Lianying had no choice but to tell the truth: The slaves' men only asked him for silver according to the rules, and he was inevitably too stingy and arrogant.
After all, Ci'an was a benevolent woman, and after understanding the festival in front of the palace, she reprimanded Li Lianying and said: You are also too self-sufficient, Zuo Zongtang is highly skilled, and your temperament is straight, what qualifications do you have to ask him. Quickly send someone to go after him to apologize and beg for forgiveness, it really angered him, I'm afraid that no one can save your life!
With Ci'an laying down the soft steps, Zuo Zongtang turned around and walked into the main hall in a dignified manner.
The subsequent scene is extremely heroic and vicissitudes, which makes people feel infinitely emotional.
As soon as Ci'an first saw Zuo Zongtang, he said involuntarily: Zuo Zongtang, you get a little closer, raise your head, and let me see.
After looking at it for a while, Ci'an's eyes became moist, and she said to Zuo Zongtang: You are much older!
Hearing Ci'an's caring words, and recalling the desert wind and sand and the difficulties of the past five years, Zuo Zongtang couldn't help but be emotionally moved, and the tears fell down in big drops.
After feeling out of shape, Zuo Zongtang hurriedly took out a hand towel and kept wiping it.
Seeing such a scene, Ci'an's tears also fell, and she asked Zuo Zongtang: Zuo Zongtang, why do you always wipe your tears?
Zuo Zongtang said: The northwest wind and sand are great, the minister was blown out of the eye disease by the wind and sand, and he cried when he saw the wind and light, and he had to wear sunglasses to go out on weekdays.
Ci'an said: Then you put on your sunglasses now.
Zuo Zongtang hesitated, feeling that it was a great disrespect to see the empress dowager wearing sunglasses. But Ci'an insisted, he had to shake and take the sunglasses from his pocket, the old hero's inner waves were too big, and as a result, the sunglasses just took out and fell to the ground and shattered.
At this time, Ci'an hurriedly ordered the eunuch behind him: Go quickly, there are sunglasses used by the vice emperor next to my mirror table, and quickly bring them.
After the sunglasses were brought, Ci'an said: This is a gift from foreigners to the former emperor, the former emperor was often used before he died, it can cure eye diseases, Zuo Zongtang, you wear it to try.
Zuo Zongtang put on the pair of sunglasses like this.
After that, Ci'an asked in detail about Zuo Zongtang's family affairs and various hardships in Xinjiang, which was a rare heart-to-heart comparison in the temple, Ci'an listened to the tears, Zuo Zongtang was also an old tear, constantly hitting the ground with his forehead, prostrating his head.
It is said that all the princes and civil and military officers who were in the palace at that time were in tears.
After seeing Ci'an, the next day, the imperial court issued an edict, and Zuo Zongtang joined the military plane and walked in the prime minister's gate and was in charge of the military department.
This was Ci'an, and when Cixi summoned Zuo Zongtang again after she was well, she gave Zuo Zongtang, who was 17 years old next to her, to Zuo Zongtang.
The above is the heroic vicissitudes and rigidity of Zuo Dashuai before he took office, so what kind of style did Zuo Dashuai do after he took office as Minister of Military Discipline?
Above the temple, there is no bend, no smearing, such as the old horned hard cow, rampage, can not think of some scruples, and do not despise those official scruples.
On the first day of joining the military plane, Zuo Zongtang's first words were: I will repair the Sangqian River and the Yongding River in Beijing City.
At that time, which of the senior members of the DPRK and the Central Committee was not an official duckweed, they were all concerned about how to rise to the ranks and get rich, to preserve their own wealth, and who would really care about the sufferings of the people, the good or bad of the world, and play the official work of whitewashing to cope with.
Zuo Zongtang is good, he has to do practical things when he comes up, and this pole stabbing down is actually smoking a loud big ear scraper for lazy politicians at all levels.
There have been many such practical things, and it is conceivable that Zuo Zongtang has offended many people.
But Zuo Dashuai couldn't see this at all, not to mention the enemy, that is, those rules in the temple, he basically ignored it.
According to the rules of the court at that time, Prince Gong said first, Prince Shuo said again, and only when it was over could it be the turn of the Minister of Military Aircraft. But when it comes to Zuo Zongtang, no matter what kind of king you are, as long as you feel that your words stand up, he always opens his mouth and says it. A colleague reminded him that the rules here must follow Wang Ye, wang ye said, asked, you can say.
Zuo Zongtang listened, good!
From then on, he began to follow Prince Gong closely, wherever Prince Gong went, wherever he went, and when he went to the toilet, he followed. At first, Prince Gong didn't care, the number of times was more, Prince Gong asked, why do you always follow me?
Zuo Zongtang replied that this was the rule of the imperial court.
In fact, he was using spoofs to vent, and the rules of the imperial court were too ridiculous.
Crazy enough! But Prince Gong could only laugh.
On August 14, 1881, Guangxu was 10 years old.
According to the rules, the civil and military masters had to wait at the Qianqing Palace early in the morning, and then saluted Guangxu according to strict ranks and rules. There was no bigger day than this, but Zuo Dashuai was late again on this day, not only late, but also stipulated that he had to kowtow nine times, and he got up after seven prostrations.
Unfortunately, Libu Shangshu Yanxi accurately grasped this handle, and then impeached Zuo Zongtang for "being arrogant and arrogant, scorning etiquette and not being a subject", and using a clear fold. The reason why the purpose of doing this is obvious, this crime is not only big but also difficult to dispute, and your court must give an explanation.
In other words, ordinary people, on such charges, either death or injury, but because Zuo Zongtang's vicissitudes of heroism were there, this matter was finally not resolved.
Cixi clapped, Zuo Dashuai worked hard and worked hard, he was older, less than two bumps, two less bumps, he did not mean it. You Yanxi made a big fuss about what you wanted to do, quickly shut up, and stayed while going.
Zuo Zongtang stayed in the military plane for more than half a year, and there were more such impeachments, but Zuo Dashuai did not lose a feather.
Then some people will ask, if so, why did he not stay in the military plane in the end?
You can say that Zuo Dashuai was ostracized, but Cixi's heart was unbearable, and Zuo Dashuai's own heroic disdain was the key.
Look at what Cixi said when he summoned Zuo Zongtang in September 1881: Shanghai is full of merchants, the east is adjacent to the sea, foreigners occupy the concession, warships often come, and the imperial court borrows your prestige to deter. Moreover, you are old, you don't have to do everything personally, send someone to do it, Liangjiang is a rich land, your children and grandchildren are many, and you don't accumulate money on weekdays, how much money you leave for future generations to eat this time, but also for the country, leaving some shade.