The swansong of the swansong

Chapter 106: Infiltrating the Decision-making Circle

Whether he was managing the Imperial Household Department or the Ministry of War, Yinyou only held certain real power.

To be honest, up to now, Yinwei has not entered the core decision-making circle of the Qing Dynasty.

The people present today are the real top dignitaries of the Qing Dynasty, for example, Cabinet Grand Secretaries Ma Qi, Chen Tingjing, Xihana and Li Guangdi, Prince Yu Baotai, and Zhang Tingyu, a professional drafter of imperial edicts.

Of course, there is also the God of Wealth of the Qing Dynasty, Lao Si, who is far away in the capital.

The eighth brother was regent in Beijing, and the fourth brother squatted beside him, watching over him for Kangxi.

Now, Yinyou has appeared in the circle unprecedentedly, which will naturally attract the attention of those who are interested.

Li Guangdi had been secretly paying attention to Yinyu's every move. Based on his understanding of Kangxi's temper, Yinyu's public appearance must have had unusual significance.

Yinyu's mentality was always very upright. As long as Kangxi didn't ask him, he would never say a word.

Being in the position and doing the job is the way to fulfill one's duty.

"Li Guangdi." Kangxi's sudden call of the name made Li Guangdi excited. He immediately stepped out of the line, bowed and said, "I am here."

When discussing military and national affairs with his trusted ministers, Kangxi sat while everyone else stood and spoke freely.

"The matter of surrendering the captives will be left to you and the Fifteenth Prince."

With Kangxi's order, Li Guangdi and Yinyou, who had only known each other before, became temporary partners in the blink of an eye.

Yinyou had known Li Guangdi for a long time. This guy was a typical representative of the great scholars in Jiangnan who had talent but no morals.

Since Kangxi had given them the task, Li Guangdi and Yinyou must find a quiet place to discuss the etiquette of presenting captives and various miscellaneous matters.

In terms of influence on Kangxi, Li Guangdi, who was in the imperial presence almost every day, was actually slightly better than Yinyu.

However, Li Guangdi was a real shrewd man. He took the initiative to suggest: "I have heard that the tea and water from the Fifteenth Master are good. I have admired them for a long time."

Although the words were not said clearly, the meaning was very clear. Master Fifteen, I am very easy to talk to.

Yinyu understood immediately and smiled, saying, "Li Zhongtang's hometown is a well-known tea-producing area in the country. I'm afraid Li Zhongtang won't be able to get used to the tea from my hometown."

Li Guangdi was from Anxi, Fujian, which is the base camp of Tieguanyin.

"No, no, it's great to meet friends over tea!"

Li Guangdi was not considered to be marrying above his station by considering Yinyou as his friend, but Zhang Tingyu did not have such qualifications.

So Yinyou and Li Guangdi walked and talked as they walked out of Dehui Gate side by side.

After arriving at Yinwei's signing room, the host and the guest took their seats.

Li Guangdi took a sip of the fragrant tea and couldn't help but give a thumbs up and praise it highly.

"Alas, I am late and missed such a treasure!"

Seeing that Li Guangdi was crazy about tea, Yinyou secretly laughed. You old man, you are Beria hiding beside Kangxi, and you think I don’t know it?

Among all the important officials in the court, Li Guangdi was the best at disguise and never showed his true face to anyone.

It was not until he deposed the crown prince that Kangxi suddenly realized that Li Guangdi was actually the most hidden member of the Eighth Prince's party.

Let’s put it this way, anyone who trusts Li Guangdi cannot escape the word “betrayal”.

However, Yinyou had no intention of winning over Li Guangdi, let alone trusting him.

If there is really an opportunity for cooperation, Yinyu would not mind at all, as it would be mutually beneficial.

After all, who can go against interests?
They chatted for about half an hour, and until Li Guangdi said goodbye and left, he never mentioned the issue of surrendering prisoners.

Haha, even Li Guangdi didn’t mention it, so Yinyou would definitely not mention it.

Anything to mention?
There are old precedents from previous years. We just need to call up the old files. What is there to not understand?

Li Guangdi's failure to mention it was to hint to Yinyou that you should not interfere in the matters that this Zhongtang is in charge of.

Yinyou deliberately did not mention it, and also wanted to tell Li Guangdi that they should keep their distance and take credit and face, while he had important things to do.

These days, the world is big, but military power is the greatest.

After the collapse of the mausoleum in history, the fourth brother did not have the will of the late emperor in his hands. However, with Longkodo's protection, the eighth brother and his men had great strength but could only watch helplessly.

When a scholar meets a soldier, he can't explain his reason clearly. That's the truth!
At noon, Xu Yuan, the governor of the Green Camp of Shaanxi, came to the palace to pay his respects.

Because Yinyou was in charge of the Ministry of War, he was summoned by Kangxi.

"Your Majesty, in Shaanxi, different ethnic groups have lived together for a long time. Sometimes unruly people gather to cause trouble, and the governor always issues strict orders to suppress them. I have no choice but to run around in a hurry..."

When Yinyou entered the room, Xu Yuan was complaining to Kangxi.

"Your Majesty, in Fengxiang Prefecture alone, there were nearly a hundred fights over water last year..."

In fact, Kangxi also understood that the problem in Shaanxi, which seemed to be a problem of mixed ethnic groups living together, was actually a problem of water and land grabbing caused by the population explosion.

In the era of small peasant economy, water resources have extremely important strategic value for agricultural nations.

Throughout the Qing Empire, regardless of north or south, there were tens of thousands of bloody incidents every year caused by fights over water.

"Fifteenth Prince, what do you think?" Kangxi sighed and turned to ask Yinyou.

What do you think?
There is absolutely no solution in a peaceful way!

In order to pretend to be a benevolent monarch, Kangxi refused to agree to the unpeaceful way. "My dear Khan, I think that if Shaanxi is not peaceful, then Gansu will not be peaceful. If Gansu is not peaceful, then all the Khoshut tribes will not be peaceful." Yinyu had been waiting for this good opportunity to instill in Kangxi the way to long-term peace in the western border. "Please forgive me for speaking frankly. If we don't split it up, there will never be peace!"

"Alas, how can I bear to see my people leave their homeland?" Kangxi didn't really feel sorry for the people of Shaanxi, it was mainly because there were too few Bannermen and too many Han people.

The hatred among Shaanxi people was beneficial to the rule of the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, Kangxi's attitude towards the Northwest was not to allow any party to dominate and to deliberately allow mutual hatred.

However, what followed was a problem that gave Xu Yuan a headache. The army was exhausted and the cost of maintaining stability was increasing day by day.

Not to mention the northwestern border, even among the Hakka people in Guangdong and the local indigenous people, the number of casualties caused by bloody incidents over water every year is appalling.

The local government did not send troops to suppress the rebellion, which was actually intentional. Oh, if you all unite, then the masters will be unable to sleep.

Anyway, the conflicts that could not be resolved during the reign of Kangxi were resolved by Yinyu during the reign of Yongzheng.

For example, Qianlong and Zuo Zongtang handled it very well!

Yinyou and Xu Yuan withdrew together.

As soon as he walked out of the palace gate, Yinyou bowed and said, "Excuse me!" Then he mounted his horse and rode away surrounded by the Goshahas.

None of the senior Green Camp generals at the level of admiral and general were Yinyu's type. Since there was no possibility of winning them over, there was no need for personal relationships with them.

All of this was clearly seen by the guards and escorts in front of the door.

Not making friends with important court officials and provincial governors was both Kangxi's bottom line and Yinyou's duty.

When he returned to the gate of the villa, Yinyu unexpectedly found that a fifth-rank minor official was sitting on a long bench in front of the gatehouse, waiting for him to come back.

Seeing Yinyu coming back, the man quickly stood up, took the initiative to bow, and said respectfully: "I am Ortai, a Manchu of the Bordered Blue Banner, a candidate for the position of Deputy Director of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and wish you the best of the fifteenth master."

Yinyou looked at Ortai with great interest. Hey, what a coincidence.

This guy Ortai was unknown during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. But during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng, he soared to fame and became the most important minister after the death of the Thirteenth Emperor.

As a rule, all candidate officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs must pay their respects to the prince in charge before they have a chance to fill the actual vacancy.

Yinyou took a look at Ortai and saw that he had a fair complexion, a dignified appearance, and a tall stature. He was considered a standard handsome man of that era.

If it was someone else, it would be fine and I could just send him away.

However, Yinyou was really interested in Ortai, so he invited him into the palace.

After Yinyu sat down, he saw that Ortai was still standing, so he waved his hand and said, "There are no outsiders here, but you can sit down."

After saying a few humble words, Ortai sat sideways on the chair. However, he was very tactful and only sat on half of the chair.

After ordering tea to be served, Yinyu casually asked Ortai, "Are you working in the Wubeiyuan?"

"My Lord Fifteen, I work in the armory. I am involved in all kinds of military equipment including armor, swords, flags, instruments, etc..." Ortai was not a fool. He knew that the opportunity was rare, so he talked a lot and described the military equipment reserves in detail.

Seeing that Ortai knew everything about the Jiaku, Yinyou nodded secretly. This kid's characteristics were just what the fourth brother wanted.

The fourth brother is a man who works seriously and also likes his subordinates to work seriously.

Moreover, Lao Si has a distinctive characteristic: he only looks at the big picture and ignores the small details.

In other words, as long as you implement the policies set by the Fourth Elder, no matter how big the mistakes are, they can be ignored.

For example, Tian Wenjing, the cruel official, caused great resentment in Henan. However, the fourth brother did not see or hear anything, and continued to pamper Tian Wenjing.

Yinyou didn't want to change history by winning over Ortai, and he met him today just out of curiosity.

Just after sending Ortai away, Liang Jiugong came with a smile on his face.

"Fifteenth Master, His Majesty misses Eighteenth Master, and ordered me to come and take him to the palace."

There is no way, they are all Kangxi's sons, and Kangxi truly loves the Eighteenth Prince.

The saying "the palms and backs of the hands are all made of flesh" is just a cover-up for parents' favoritism.

Not long after seeing off Old Eighteen, Nian Gengyao came again.

"Master Fifteen, I'm thinking about your stir-fried pork tenderloin and cabbage heart, which are really delicious."

Yinyou couldn't help but smile slightly. Liang Gong, not only do you have a foul mouth, but you are also arrogant and have a bad drinking habit. You have almost all the taboos in making friends.

To be honest, Nian Gengyao's popularity was really bad. In the remote palace, there was not a single friend with whom he could sit down and drink.

"Come on, ask Guanyin to come out and pour wine for her brother." Yinyou didn't want to have a close relationship with Nian Gengyao, but he didn't drive him out either.

After all, Nian Guanyin was very well-behaved and obedient, and was very comfortable to serve, which made Yinyu very satisfied.

In the palace, Yinyou actually had no friends to drink with.

So, two lonely men naturally came together.

However, just after the third dish, the doorman suddenly came to announce, "Sir, the twelfth master is here."

Yinyou couldn't help but smile. The twelfth prince was also a guy without friends.

PS: Here is the first update of today. No nonsense, the monthly votes have exceeded 10300, so there will be more updates!

(End of this chapter)