Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

Liu Ye was ridiculed by Cixi and almost got angry and pushed Cixi down again! However, seeing that it was getting late, he could only give up in anger.

However, Liu Ye still found a way to hand over some of his private goods to Cixi. His brothers and cronies had to be promoted. If he wanted to fully control Shandong, he had to have someone. But now, apart from Li Junfeng and Guo Songtao, there were not many trusted people in Shandong's political arena who could be used. How could this be accomplished?

In the end, Cixi agreed. First, if Liu Ye wanted to accomplish anything, he needed to have his own circle. Zeng Guofan had a wealth of talented people under his command. Liu Ye's foundation was too poor. He had no peers, no family, and no disciples. What could he do? Second, given Liu Ye's personality, it was impossible for anyone he liked to have no talent. After all, he was selecting talents for the country, so it didn't matter who he selected.

In the next few days, after a heated debate in the court, the matter was finally settled.

In order to appease the Manchu nobles, Prince Gong gritted his teeth and gave Hebitha a generous funeral, and posthumously awarded him the title of First-Rank Minister of the Imperial Guard and Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. As for Hebitha's beloved son, Hebiko, forget it. He was just a second-generation rich man, not presentable enough. He was dead and no one would take him seriously.

As for Liu Ye, he was demoted three levels from the second-rank governor to the prefect of Dengzhou, and then to the admiral of Shandong Navy. At the same time, he was fined for three years' salary as a warning to others. Shandong Governor Guo Songtao took over as Shandong Governor, Shandong Censor Xing Mingtang was transferred to Henan Censor, Ding Baozhen was appointed as Shandong Censor, Dengzhou Prefect Li Junfeng was promoted to Shandong Governor, Baoding Town General Zuo Baogui was transferred to Shandong Admiral, Shandong Training Army Lieutenant Zhu Hai was promoted to commander of the seventh battalion of Shandong Training Army, Yan Chunyu was promoted to left wing general, Gao Qi was promoted to right wing general, Luo Bicheng was lieutenant of the cavalry battalion, Ding Ruchang was transferred to Shandong Navy Assistant Office, and Firearms Battalion President Wang Huanzhang was transferred to Baoding Town General.

A series of personnel changes had the court's top brass perplexed. What was going on? Normally, positions like the Vice Commander and the General were never brought to the court's attention, yet this time, the two palaces and the Prince Regent had simply confirmed them! What was going on?

However, some smart people also saw that Liu Ye was demoted from the second-rank governor to the fourth-rank prefect, a big step backward, in exchange for a series of trusted and direct descendants being promoted to positions. This was absolutely worth it!

Besides, is there any difference between Liu Ye being the governor and his best friend Guo Songtao being the governor? Everyone knows that these two are in cahoots. Liu Ye even beat up the famous prince for Guo Songtao! And that Li Junfeng, he was directly promoted to the governor. This is an extraordinary promotion. Li Junfeng was the first person Liu Ye publicly praised after arriving in Shandong! Also, Shandong originally didn't have the position of admiral, but now there is a separate admiral. Liu Ye's top general Zuo Baogui was transferred to Shandong. Now the whole of Shandong is Liu Ye's world. I'm afraid not even a needle can get in!

Is this what you call punishment? This is just blatantly emboldening Liu Ye!

Prince Gong's Palace.

Prince Chun Yihuan looked at Liu Ye with pride and laughed, "How's it going, Liu Ye? This time, it's all thanks to me for helping you. If I hadn't taken the trouble to suppress the Qing nobles for you, I'm afraid you'd be in such bad luck now."

Oh?

Liu Ye was stunned. He hadn't expected Yihuan to go to such lengths to help him. He had originally thought that if he killed Hebitha, the Manchu nobles would cause a huge uproar. However, the uproar lasted only a day before it vanished into thin air. Could it be that this useless prince before him had such great influence?

Yihuan looked at Liu Ye with some surprise and said smugly, "So what? Unexpected, huh? I'm afraid no one would have thought that our great prince would go back to support you, Liu Ye, and you're still my great enemy!"

Yi Xin on the side shouted, "Alright, Old Seven, stop talking nonsense! You're getting too far off the mark!"

Liu Ye laughed and said, "Your Highness, what's wrong? Did Prince Chun really do this?"

Yi Xin snorted in anger, "What do you think? The two Empress Dowagers are so high and mighty throughout the Qing Dynasty that they won't directly interfere with what's happening below. As the Prince Regent, I have to treat the Manchus and Han people equally, and I can't do anything about it. The only one who can deal with most of the nobles is the Seventh Prince. Do you think he's so arrogant in the capital because he's relying on the connections given to me by the late Emperor? What a joke! This brat has connections among the nobles, and he's more effective than me!"

Damn, even if Liu Ye were beaten to death, he would never have thought that the Manchu nobles had degenerated to this state. After all, Yixin was just a young master who fought cocks and walked dogs. He had no skills at all, but he could make all the nobles obey him. How useless were these people? The Qing Dynasty, supported by a bunch of termites, would be truly unjust if it didn't collapse. Even if Yixin was capable, there was absolutely no way to save it!

Liu Ye bowed to Yihuan and said with a smile, "In that case, Prince Chun, Liu Ye thanks you for your help!"

"Wait!"

Yihuan said, "I have helped you with this matter, but I have a condition!"

Liu Ye asked, "Your Majesty, what are the conditions?"

Yihuan replied, "The terms are very simple. I lost the bet we made, and I will follow your lead. No matter what you do, I will support you. I have fulfilled this promise, so the bet is now null and void, right?"

Liu Ye laughed and said, "Your Highness, you are too polite. It was just a joke. Why take it seriously? I don't take it seriously."

Yihuan nodded and replied, "Okay, Liu Ye, I respect you as a man of character. Anyone who can be appreciated by my sixth brother and the monk king is definitely not simple, but I am not a waste either. In the next twenty years, I will compete with you and let the world know that the Qing Dynasty not only has a Liu Ye, but also a Prince Chun!"

Liu Ye laughed inwardly. Just you? Any one of my brothers can beat you to pieces. You little brat, you still want to fight me?

Liu Ye smiled but didn't reply directly. Yi Xin, standing beside him, blushed. "You're overestimating yourself! You're overestimating yourself! Your brother is being foolish again. You're challenging Liu Ye! Don't you even consider your abilities? Even I'm nowhere near as good as you, let alone your skills. Compared to your abilities, you're not even worthy of carrying Liu Ye's shoes!"

What a fucking bastard!