The swansong of the swansong

Chapter 161 Everyone has their own agenda
The Thirteenth Prince and Yinyou looked at each other calmly, and each understood the other's denial.

The fourth brother is old enough to lead troops into battle. Alas, the rooster can also lay eggs!

They are close relatives and brothers, who doesn’t know each other?

The Thirteenth Brother can draw a bow with ten forces, Yinyou can draw a bow with eleven forces, and the Fourth Brother can barely draw a bow with five forces!
As for riding skills, the fourth brother's was even worse. At best, he could just ride a horse.

So, the fourth brother is a stay-at-home guy and will never go out hunting unless it is necessary.

Among all the princes, the third one is a role model of both literary and martial arts, and his riding and archery skills are far superior to those of his brothers.

He can draw a twelve-force bow and always hit the bull's eye when riding and shooting. The third brother is really amazing!

The Thirteenth Brother also knew Yinyu's dilemma, so he stepped forward and said, "Fourth Brother, you can just let your Fifteenth Brother lead the troops to fight in your place. If anything goes wrong with you, who will support me and your Fifteenth Brother?"

Since the Thirteenth Brother had made a good start, Yinyu also took the opportunity to persuade him: "Fourth Brother, please forgive me for being frank, but Khan Ama has never considered letting you lead the troops to fight."

The fourth brother has a bit of a twisted temper. If you don't do what you promised him, he will definitely choose to endure it when he still needs you.

However, I will definitely make a note for you in the little black notebook and we will settle the score later.

So, Yinyou never lied to the fourth brother. No matter how unpleasant the words were, he would explain them to his face!
Even if the fourth prince was angry about this, Yinyou would still say the ugly words to his face.

The lesser of two evils.

The fourth brother was angry at the time, but later he found out that it was the truth and nothing happened.

In order to please the fourth child, you agreed to it in person, but didn't help. Hehe, the fourth child would get angrier and angrier, and the more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he would feel, and then he would write it down in his little black book.

To put it bluntly, anyone who is targeted by the Fourth Brother will eventually have no good ending!

"Fifteenth brother, won't you say a word for me?" The fourth brother really wanted to take control of the military power himself, and taking advantage of drinking some wine, he deliberately forced Yinyou to express his position.

Yinyou knew the fourth brother's temper very well and knew that the more angry he became, the more he should not lie to him.

"Fourth brother, if I speak up for you, Khan Ama will definitely get suspicious." Yinyu spread his hands and explained, "Khan Ama already knows that you and I are closer than brothers!"

The fourth brother was still a little angry, but he was really touched by the fact that they were closer than brothers.

As the saying goes, no one knows a son better than his father!
The fourth son really had no military talent. He was sent to lead troops to fight, but the entire army was wiped out and his own son died in battle. This was a psychological barrier that Kangxi had to overcome!
When the time was right, the Thirteenth Brother deliberately complained to Yinyu: "Fifteenth Brother, with such a good opportunity, you should have recommended yourself as the commander."

This means that Yinyou should take the initiative to lead the troops to fight, so as to prevent the fourth brother from having any inappropriate thoughts.

The fourth brother waved his hands and said, "Alas, I am too quiet to be active. I really want to show off in front of Khan Ama."

Normally, as long as the fourth child begins to sincerely blame himself, the anger in his heart will completely dissipate.

The Thirteenth Prince looked at Yinyu again, but Yinyu lowered his head and deliberately ignored him.

Well, the Thirteenth Old Man's heart sank. There would definitely be similar tacit cooperation between him and Yinyou in the future.

As the saying goes, if you walk by the river often, it is inevitable that you will get your feet wet.

If there are too many coincidences, it is likely to arouse the suspicion of the fourth brother.

The fourth brother's mind is not as broad as Kangxi's, and the thirteenth brother also knows it.

The next day, Kangxi summoned the third and fourth sons, Yinyu, Wenda, Zhang Yushu and Li Guangdi to discuss matters in the east warm pavilion of Qingxi Study.

Three princes, one important Manchu official, and two Han officials achieved a delicate balance.

Kangxi, who reigned for nearly fifty years, mastered the art of mixing up different opinions.

"Third brother, what do you think?"

The third brother is now the oldest prince besides the crown prince, and controls the seventeen Niulu snatched from the lower five banners.

Where's the boss? Hehe, although he can still breathe, Kangxi already treats him as a dead man!
The third brother not only has two more Niulu than the fourth brother, but all of them are Manchu Niulu.

From this we can see that the third brother’s position in Kangxi’s heart was indeed extraordinary.

Under Lao Si, there was only one Manchu Niulu, and the rest were Han Niulu. Therefore, Lao Si's old men in the mansion, such as Dai Duo, Dai Jin, Shen Zhu, Shen Tingzheng, Feng Guoxiang, Fu Min, Hu Fenghui, Feng Yi and Li Ying, were all from the Han army of the Bordered White Banner.

To sum up the political landscape in Kangxi's later years, it was as follows: the current emperor + the princes he trusted, together suppressed the kings who were the leaders of the banners.

The third brother thought for a moment and said very cautiously: "Khan Ama, if you think I am capable of doing this, I would also like to serve the court!"

The third brother also wants to seize military power!
Yinyou kept his head down, but he knew very well in his mind that the third brother had finally revealed his ambition to covet the throne!

During the fiftieth year since Emperor Kangxi entered the reign of Emperor Kangxi, rumors that the crown prince's position was shaky had spread more and more widely, and the more they spread, the closer they seemed to be to the truth.

The third brother had read more books than anyone else, so he naturally knew that it was only a matter of time before the prince was deposed again.

It is human instinct to seek benefits and avoid harm!

Since the crown prince was about to die and the eldest son was imprisoned, the third son became the de facto eldest son of the emperor.

At this time, the third brother thought that he could test Kangxi's attitude. If he had the opportunity to seize the military power, it would mean that he would have a chance to inherit the throne. Zhang Yushu didn't look at anyone else, but kept staring at Yinyu.

As the saying goes, the one who is close to the water gets the moon first!
Even if the third prince was favored by the emperor, he was not as good as Yinyou, who stayed in Changchun Garden every day and followed Kangxi around.

Zhang Yushu made up his mind that as long as Yinyou did not express his opinion, he would never do so.

Li Guangdi didn't look at Yinyou, he kept staring at Zhang Yushu.

If Li Guangdi still has any regret now, it is that he did not replace Zhang Yushu!
However, when the crown prince was deposed, Li Guangdi pretended to be stupid and did not pass on the message for Kangxi, and it was obvious that the emperor's favor was not as strong as before.

The Thirteenth Prince and Yinyou both disapproved of the Fourth Prince leading troops to fight, and the Fourth Prince could not convince them, so he had to accept it.

However, just because the fourth brother does not plan to lead the troops to attack does not mean that he will just watch the third brother seize the military power.

Back then, when the fourth brother was kicked down the stairs by the prince and fainted, it was because the third brother made false accusations in front of the prince.

A gentleman's revenge is never too late!
Even if Kangxi's head was stuck in the door, he would never let the fourth son lead the troops to fight.

The fourth brother himself really had no hope. However, he still had a say by holding back the third brother and preventing him from getting his hands on military power.

Kangxi did not express his opinion, but turned to ask Wenda: "What do you think?"

Wen Da bent his waist and whispered, "Your Majesty, I think the Third Prince is both civil and military, and is quite capable of great responsibility!"

The fourth brother's heart suddenly trembled. Oh my god, when did Wenda hook up with the third brother?

"Fourth Prince?" Kangxi still did not express his opinion and turned to ask the fourth prince.

The fourth brother's attitude was very clear, and he immediately said: "My father, the fifteenth brother once led the army on a long-distance raid, unexpectedly shocked the Tongzhou camp, and ensured the stability of the entire capital. I think that the fifteenth brother is a real commander!"

"Fifteenth prince, what do you think?" Kangxi asked Yinyou calmly.

Kangxi had a classic saying, which Yinyou always kept in mind, namely: If I don’t give it to you, you can’t take it away!
The key to sitting firmly on the throne is to firmly grasp the military power!
Anyone who dares to covet military power will naturally arouse Kangxi's vigilance!

So Yinyu bowed and said, "My Lord, if I lead the army to fight, who will take over the task at hand?"

This is a very clever statement!
As the chief steward of Changchun Garden, Yinyou was so busy every day that he had no time to drink water. It was no exaggeration to say that he did the work of five people.

If Yinyou took his troops away, who would fill the many vacancies left behind would become a very tricky problem.

After asking all the princes and Manchu ministers, Kangxi finally asked Zhang Yushu.

"Su Cun, what do you think?"

Zhang Yushu bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I think that quality is more important than quantity. To reinforce the strategically located Barkol, three thousand soldiers are enough."

The fourth brother looked at Zhang Yushu deeply. This old guy is really a fox.

Zhang Yushu's words seemed to be talking about the issue of reinforcements, but in fact, they indirectly denied the possibility of the prince leading the troops.

With only 3,000 soldiers, they had to be led by the prince himself. Does that mean the Qing Dynasty has no capable generals?

Li Guangdi saw that Kangxi's eyes were on him, so he said calmly: "Your Majesty, I think that the Fourth Prince can take on this task."

The fourth brother almost dropped his jaw in shock, because Li Guangdi was a well-known member of the Eighth Master’s Party!
Yinyou didn't understand at first, but after thinking about it carefully, he immediately understood Li Guangdi's twists and turns.

Among all the civil and military officials in the court, who doesn’t know that the fourth brother’s martial arts skills are not worth mentioning?
However, all the civil and military officials in the court knew that the fourth brother, the fourteenth brother, had been fond of military affairs since he was a child.

Li Guangdi also knew clearly that as long as he dared to directly recommend the Eighth Prince to lead the troops into battle, Kangxi would dare to give his beautiful daughter-in-law to Yinyou for his enjoyment.

However, recommending Old Fourteen is not so sensitive.

After everyone had asked, Kangxi did not make a decision on the spot, but said calmly: "Let's discuss it another day!"

When the fourth brother walked out of Qingxi Book House, he looked at Yinyou with great satisfaction.

Fifteenth brother, I really have no ambition, and I am not pretending to have no ambition!
From the fourth brother's point of view, he naturally hoped that Yinyou would lead the army to war and take the opportunity to help him gain control of the military power.

However, Yinyou's attitude of not being greedy for power made the fourth brother even more satisfied.

Before the fourth brother even walked out of the small east gate of Changchun Garden, he was called back by Liang Jiugong.

Kangxi asked the fourth prince: "There are no outsiders here, what do you think of the third prince?"

The fourth brother sneered secretly and said, "Third brother, stop dreaming. Anyone can seize military power except you!"
"My Lord Khan, I think that if my third brother leads troops to reinforce, the work of revising various classics will obviously be suspended for a long time." The fourth brother deliberately reminded Kangxi that the third brother's job was to revise books, not to lead troops to fight.

"Where is Yanxin?" Kangxi understood the fourth brother's attitude and asked him again.

The fourth elder thought about it carefully and said, "Yan Xin has been in the imperial court for many years and has always been very cautious in his duties, but he has never led troops in a major war."

Kangxi nodded and said, "Kneel down and pay your respects."

PS: The third update is in the early morning, please give me some monthly votes.

(End of this chapter)