The swansong of the swansong

Chapter 133: The Deposed Crown Prince (7)

"Your Highness, I respectfully wish you the best!"

"Your servants and others respectfully greet the Holy Saint!"

"Your Highness, I respectfully wish you the best!"

Amid the congratulations, Kangxi slowly climbed up the Sumeru throne and sat steadily on the dragon throne.

Looking at his ministers lying on the ground, Kangxi couldn't help feeling a little proud.

At the last council meeting, Kangxi was caught off guard and collectively opposed by princes, royal family members and Manchu nobles.

The result was that the crown prince was forced to be deposed in disgrace!
This time, Kangxi thought he was well prepared because the Han officials who were not originally qualified to attend the meeting were also included in today's meeting.

The Council of State, which was originally ruled by Manchu nobles, was transformed into an enlarged meeting of ministers.

Adding sand to the mix is Kangxi’s unique privilege. He is confident that he can control everything in the Qing Dynasty!
"My fellow ministers, the country cannot live without a crown prince for even a day. Today..." After Kangxi had said a lot of nonsense, he finally made a formal announcement, "For the sake of fairness, come on, bring in a long table so that it will be clear who will be chosen and who will not!"

Yinyou, standing among the beiles, pursed his lips and smiled, "My Khan Father, you have been in power for decades and think you have everything under control. You should prepare quick-acting heart-saving pills as soon as possible!"

The eighth brother beside Yinyou stared at the long table under the Sumeru throne with his bright eyes and couldn't help clenching his fists.

Mother, from now on, you will be proud of your child!
One day in the future, all the women in the world, including Concubine De, will bow down at your feet!

Kangxi suddenly saw Ma Qi among the important ministers, and his mood immediately turned bad.

It's like, when you are enjoying a banquet, you suddenly find a huge rat dropping in the dish, and you feel so disgusted that you want to vomit!
This old fellow from the Fucha family, relying on the friendship they had grown up together, actually dared to disobey the emperor's order?

However, Kangxi was confident and felt that no matter how capable Ma Qi was, he was powerless to save the situation!

Ma Qi, now that you are here, just watch me and smoothly reinstate the crown prince, right?

Zhang Yushu, the chief cabinet minister among the Han officials, stood steadily in the first row of court officials, with Li Guangdi next to him.

These days, Li Guangdi has been running around looking for people to support Lao Ba, and Zhang Yushu has known about it for a long time.

However, Zhang Yushu just watched from the sidelines and did nothing.

Although Kangxi never talked to Zhang Yushu in private, Zhang Yushu knew very well that less than a quarter of the crown princes in history eventually ascended to the throne successfully.

Moreover, it was still possible for princes and ministers to jointly discuss the matter of appointing a crown prince during the reigns of Taizu, Taizong and Shizu.

By the time of this dynasty, the imperial power held by Kangxi had already surpassed the power of the banners.

Zhang Yushu almost dared to assert that the popular Old Eight would never accomplish anything!
The reason is simple. Dorgon killed Hauge, Emperor Taizu settled accounts with Dorgon, and the current emperor captured Oboi. They all had the last laugh after enduring for many years.

How could one be so cruel as to suddenly gain the country?

However, for the sake of future generations, Zhang Yushu still prepared two copies of the recommendation book, one for the left sleeve and one for the right sleeve.

If it is said that the fourth brother still had a trace of fantasy after entering the hall.

After entering the hall, the fourth brother witnessed with his own eyes the shocking scene where the eighth brother was like the moon surrounded by stars, surrounded by countless gems in the center, and there was no way out.

Alas, the fourth brother’s passionate heart turned completely cold almost in an instant!

Ma Qi stroked his beard and smiled, haha, today's great achievement will be enough to earn you the title of first-class duke one day, right?

There has always been a rumor in the court that the two Ma eat all the grass in the world!
The so-called two Ma refer to Ma Qi and his younger brother Ma Wu.

Ma Wu is not well-known in history, but in fact, he was also a minister of the Imperial Guard of the Bordered Yellow Banner who was highly trusted by Emperor Kangxi.

Originally, the two ministers in charge of the imperial guard of the Bordered Yellow Banner were Ma Wu and Orondei.

Orondai, this fool, actually fired a gun to hunt in the imperial garden. If he were an ordinary minister, he would have committed suicide. But Kangxi simply dismissed him from his post.

The Fucha family had no shortage of power, but they had never had a hereditary title.

Li Guangdi glanced at Zhang Yushu who was standing in front of him and sneered in his heart, "Old man, you have been blocking the way for so many years, isn't it time for you to give up the position of Prime Minister?"

After the long table with the memorial book was placed at Kangxi's feet, Kangxi immediately ordered: "Call Yinreng in!"

Wow, my goodness! The deposed prince was actually called into the Hall of Supreme Harmony again. This is absolutely ridiculous!
With rhythmic footsteps, the deposed Crown Prince Yinreng walked slowly past the crowd and knelt in front of the Sumeru throne.

"Your Majesty, I, Yinreng, respectfully greet you!"

"Stand up, someone, come and take a seat!" Kangxi's bold move stunned everyone.

Is this okay?

Under the gaze of countless eyes, Yinreng sat on the left side of the Sumeru throne.

Seeing that everyone was shocked, Kangxi's bad mood caused by Ma Qi gradually improved.

"My fellow ministers, please start submitting your memorials according to your ranks!" Kangxi deliberately said in a hypocritical tone, "Whoever submits the most memorials will be the new crown prince. I will obey your orders!" To be honest, if Kangxi had not bullied the banner princes and Manchu nobles so harshly, no one would have dared to resist.

However, since Kangxi ascended the throne, how many Niulu have been removed from the lower five banners?

Oh, I can’t even count them all!

Besides, once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. The question book has already been written. Can I take it back to revise it?
After hearing Kangxi's instructions, Ma Qi was not afraid of death. He was the first to stand up and hand the question book to Zhang Tingyu, who was responsible for counting the votes.

Zhang Tingyu opened the question book, automatically skipped the previous nonsense, and directly found out who was recommended.

"Ma Qi, the Grand Secretary of Baohe Hall, recommends the eighth prince, Prince Yinsi!"

"Prince Yu Baotai recommends the eighth prince, Prince Yinsi!"

"Heshuo Zhuang Prince Boguduo recommends the eighth prince, Prince Yinsi!"

"..."

"Pingjun Wang Narsu recommends the eighth prince, Prince Yinsi!"

"Ma Wu, the Minister of the Imperial Guard, recommends the eighth prince, Prince Yinsi!"

"The Minister of the Imperial Guards, Alinga, recommends the eighth prince, Prince Yinsi!"

In almost the blink of an eye, the petitions nominating the eighth prince to be the new crown prince had piled up like a mountain!
Kangxi, who had originally thought that the restoration of the crown prince was a natural outcome, now turned green with anger!
You dogs and slaves, you have become so bold that you are rebelling!
When it was the fourth brother's turn, he subconsciously looked at Yinyou.

Yinyou certainly couldn't say anything, so he could only nod slightly to encourage the fourth brother to be determined to restore the prince.

Based on Yinyou's understanding of the fourth brother, he must have two petitions in his sleeves, one nominating the eighth brother and the other nominating the crown prince.

No matter how shameless the fourth brother is, he would not dare to nominate himself as the new crown prince!

"The fourth prince, Prince of Yong, Yinzhen, recommends the eldest son, Yinreng, to be the crown prince again!"

When Yinyou heard the three words "eldest son", he knew that the fourth son was indeed no ordinary person. These words really touched Kangxi's heart.

The basic principle for Han officials in deciding on a crown prince has always been to appoint the eldest son as the heir if there is a legitimate heir, the eldest son as the heir if there is no legitimate heir, and the most capable among the rest.

However, although the Later Jin regime implemented the system of father-to-son succession, it had never established a legitimate heir, let alone the eldest son.

Kangxi saw the fourth son's notebook, which was placed alone on the side, and formed a very sharp contrast with the other side which was piled up like a small hill.

When Yinyou was leaving the class, he suddenly heard the Eighth Brother calling him softly, "Fifteenth Brother." The voice was so soft that if they were not standing side by side, it would be impossible to hear it clearly.

Alas, people with different ideals cannot work together!
Yinyu must know better than anyone what the Eighth Prince meant by calling him Yinyu.

That is to hope that Yinyou, the most powerful prince, can turn back and not support the fourth prince to be the crown prince!
When Zhang Tingyu saw Yinyou approaching him step by step, his spirits suddenly lifted.

To put it bluntly, Zhang Tingyu would not care no matter who was nominated as the crown prince by all the civil and military officials in the court.

Only Yinyou's choice made Zhang Tingyu full of curiosity and anticipation!

When Zhang Tingyu took over Yinyou's notebook and opened it, he immediately thought of an animal: a giant spider that is good at weaving webs!

"The fifteenth son of the Emperor, Prince Yinyu, recommends that Yinreng be reinstated as the Crown Prince!"

Ma Qi stroked his beard and smiled. This little fifteen is really still too young. In our Manchuria, the nomination of a new monarch has always been the result of collective consultation among all the princes and nobles!

In fact, what Ma Qi thought was absolutely correct.

From Huang Taiji, Shunzhi, to the current emperor, all were the result of joint discussions among the Eight Banners nobles.

This is also the natural power that the flag owners and kings possess!
Therefore, even if Kangxi personally greeted them, no one would be happy to listen. The fundamental reason was that I was also a shareholder and had the right to choose the new crown prince myself. Why should I listen to you?

Zhang Yushu looked at Yinyou deeply, made up his mind, took out the question book from his right sleeve, and walked up to Zhang Tingyu with firm steps.

Zhang Tingyu unfolded the petition and read aloud: "Zhang Yushu, the Grand Secretary of Wenhua Palace, recommends reinstating Yinreng as the Crown Prince."

So far, Yinreng has only received three votes, while the eighth prince has received more than a hundred votes.

Moreover, as time went by, the question books recommending Lao Ba piled up higher and higher, and the huge long table could hardly hold them all!

After the initial shock, Kangxi went from finding it hard to accept to being able to face the cruel reality rationally!
Even after greeting each of them one by one, the princes and nobles still refused to obey and insisted on nominating the eighth prince to be the crown prince!
Kangxi's nose, which had been crooked by anger, returned to normal.

As an extremely mature emperor, once he found that his political goals were thwarted, his first reaction was: seize the military power first!
Kangxi waved Liang Jiugong to his side and whispered a few words to him.

Liang Jiugong quickly walked down from the side of the Sumeru throne. Concerned that his own goal was too big, he asked his godson Liang Qi to go find Yinyou quietly!

While everyone was staring at the long table, Liang Qi quickly moved behind Yin Yu and whispered, "Fifteenth Master, the Emperor has a secret decree."

As the saying goes, there are no weak soldiers under a strong general!
If Liang Qi said that Liang Jiugong was looking for Yinyu, Yinyu would most likely ignore Liang Qi!
However, since Kangxi asked Yinyu to come over and there was a secret order, Yinyu dared not disobey!
PS: The second update is here. To thank you for your support and for helping me get into the top three of the monthly votes for the new book, I will add two more updates, one in the early morning and one before noon tomorrow! Sikong has worked so hard, it shouldn’t be too much to ask for a few monthly votes, right?
(End of this chapter)