The swansong of the swansong

Chapter 175 The Second Deposed Crown Prince (1)

All dynasties have implemented the basic national policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce.

At the beginning of the founding of the country, the population was small, so there was indeed no problem.

However, once the population increases explosively, not only will there not be enough land to go around, but it will also be severely annexed by officials and gentry. The hungry people will then rise up in rebellion.

The root problem of the dynasty cycle is the huge contradiction between the limited land and the continuous increase in population.

Yinwei took advantage of Kangxi's shortcomings in knowledge and monopolized the right to collect tolls on the official road from Zhangjiakou to the capital. Hehe, he would never be short of money again.

You know, in later generations, the most profitable high-speed rail line is the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway.

On the Beijing-Shanghai line, every high-speed train is fully booked, so it is impossible to make a loss.

Yinyu's monopoly on the right to collect tolls on official roads brought him huge profits without any investment. At best, he only managed to support a group of officials who collected the tolls, but his profit margin was the highest of all businesses in the entire Qing Dynasty.

Of course, Yinyou never did anything bad like eating alone, so Kangxi’s small treasury had to continue to increase, which was the big premise.

When Kangxi mentioned the problem of the Guangzhou Customs Supervision Office collecting less and less taxes, Yinyou kept his mouth shut and refused to say anything.

Don't stretch your hands too long, and eat your meal one bite at a time!
In Gubeikou, Kangxi summoned Ma Jinliang, the governor of Zhili, and his eldest son Ma Long.

The Zhili Governor-General was stationed in Gubeikou, commanded four battalions, and controlled three towns and seven associations. He was in charge of guarding the dangerous passes of the capital, and his position was very important.

The current Zhili Governor-General, Ma Jinliang, has been in office for nearly twenty years.

Not only that, Ma Jinliang's eldest son, Ma Long, was actually appointed as the Lieutenant General of the Central Army.

The father and son, who were not members of the Eight Banners, actually led troops to guard the same city. It is conceivable how much trust Kangxi had in Ma Jinliang.
Of course, Ma Jinliang was born in Xining, Gansu, which was also an important basis for Kangxi's special favor towards him.

"I, Ma Jinliang, the governor of Zhili, am awarded the flowered feather and respectfully wishes His Majesty the best of health."

"I, Ma Long, the Lieutenant General of the Zhili Army, respectfully greet you, Your Majesty."

"Stand up." Kangxi said with a smile, "Dongyu has made great contributions to the court. Come, please give him a seat."

Yinyou, who was standing aside, looked at Ma Jinliang deeply.

Well, this old guy in front of me is definitely not an ordinary reckless soldier!

Ma Jinliang deliberately put the title bestowed by Kangxi at the front, obviously wanting to tell Kangxi that this old minister is a loyal dog promoted by you.

In the Qing Dynasty, peacock feathers were divided into single-eye, double-eye, and triple-eye. The "eye" here does not refer to a hole, but a circular pattern on the peacock feather that looks like an eye.

On the peacock feather, one circle counts as one eye, and three circles count as three eyes.

According to the rules, Beizi and Gulun Efu wore three-eyed peacock feathers. Zhenguogong, Fuguogong and Heshuo Efu wore double-eyed peacock feathers. In addition, court officials had to receive special orders to be eligible to wear single-eyed peacock feathers.

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, the princes, dukes and beile did not wear the flower feathers as a rule. It was not until the reign of Emperor Qianlong that the princes above the rank of beile began to wear the three-eyed flower feathers.

During the Daoguang reign, the national treasury was extremely empty due to the failure of the First Opium War.

At Cao Zhenyong's suggestion, the imperial court actually introduced a system of "donating feathers" in addition to donating official positions.

Donate 7000 taels of silver and you will be awarded a single-eyed peacock feather. Donate 5000 taels of silver and you will be awarded a blue feather.

The emperor and his minister had been together for decades, and Ma Jinliang was also very clear about Kangxi's temper.

If Yinyou was not present, Ma Jinliang would definitely dare to sit.

However, since Yinyou was standing, Ma Jinliang didn't have the courage to sit down and talk.

"Your Majesty, I am used to drawing the bow while standing. It is better to stand when riding and shooting." After Ma Jinliang said this, Yinwei couldn't help but look at him with admiration several times.

Although this old guy is a military commander, his emotional intelligence is much higher than that of Nian Gengyao, who was a Jinshi graduate. There is no comparison at all.

In his later years, Kangxi was old and talked a lot of repetitive nonsense, and Yinyou was no longer surprised by it.

Anyway, let it go in one ear and out the other, and just ignore it!
For more than half an hour, Kangxi was recalling the glorious past events of pacifying the Three Feudatories, recovering Taiwan, and the three expeditions against Galdan.

However, amidst Kangxi's repetitive words, Yinyou found the reason why Ma Jinliang was particularly favored.

Admiral Ma not only made outstanding military achievements in the wars to suppress the Three Feudatories and the three expeditions against Galdan, but he was also seriously injured many times and shed a lot of blood for the Qing Dynasty.

Kangxi was not senile yet, and the nonsense he said was indeed a bit of old-fashioned talk.

However, Yinyou could tell that there was something chilling hidden in Kangxi's nonsense.

"Dongyu, you are the one who protects the capital. I trust you!" After Kangxi said this, not to mention Yinyou, Ma Jinliang also understood it completely.

"Your Majesty, when the decree arrives, I will lead the army to defend the king." Ma Jinliang stated firmly that he absolutely supported Kangxi's attitude.

Before every major event, it was Kangxi's custom to summon the military commanders and the Green Camp generals without making any fuss.

Since ancient times, emperors have had to rely on the sword to make clear the hard truth that "the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit"!
After Kangxi comforted Ma Jinliang, he chatted with Ma Long for a while.

"Little Fifteen, your men are just in need of a good helper who has actually been on the battlefield. I think Ma Long is a suitable candidate." As soon as Kangxi said this, Yinyou understood instantly that he wanted Ma Long to stay by his side as a hostage.

Before deposing the crown prince for the second time, Kangxi, as the emperor who had been in power for decades, needed to consider the impact of all aspects.

Among them, Ma Jinliang, who controlled nearly 100,000 soldiers of the Zhili Green Camp, was the focus of attention.

Whether the so-called loyalty in the past is still reliable in the present is a big question mark! To put it bluntly, Ma Jinliang's previous loyalty has been reset to zero.

Now, whether you are still loyal or not depends on your performance!

Kangxi placed Ma Jinliang's most promising son under Yinwei's nose just in case something unexpected happened!

The first rule of an emperor’s mind is that trust is poison!

When Li Longji was on his way to escape to Shu, could he have imagined that his most trusted General Chen Xuanli, the Zuo Longwu, would actually force him to abdicate?
Not to mention now, if Kangxi had not doubted Yinyou's loyalty before he deposed the crown prince, he would not have been a qualified emperor!

Although Kangxi did not say it explicitly, his intention to spread the news before deposing the crown prince for the second time was obvious.

I and the prince, who are you going to go with?
If you choose the right one, you will be successful. If you choose the wrong one, you will die and your family will be destroyed!

Yinyou knew very well that Kangxi's frequent leaks and greetings were just an attempt to alert the enemy!
As the saying goes, you can judge a person by his face but not by his heart!
Among the important ministers and generals summoned by Kangxi, there were inevitably some people affiliated with the crown prince.

Think about it, if Jingxi had not made a private complaint, Kangxi would never have thought that the commander of the infantry, Tohezi, was actually the key figure of the prince's party.

Now that the news has been leaked, the next step will depend on how the prince responds!
Yinyou could see through Kangxi's thoughts. Before deposing the crown prince, Kangxi did not want to continue to act like a gangster and planned to occupy the highest point of righteousness.

Emperor Wu of Han dealt with Liu Ju by using Jiang Chong and deliberately forcing him into a desperate situation.

Either rebel or surrender, you have only two choices!

Before this, all the deposed princes had died!

After Ma Jinliang and his son knelt down to pay their respects, Kangxi asked Yinyu, "What would you do if you were him?"

Yinyu blinked and whispered, "The relationship between the ruler and his subjects, father and son, is the fundamental principle of human relations. I would rather die than disobey my ruler and father."

Kangxi looked at Yinyu deeply, and suddenly shouted, "Call Zhang Tingyu!"

When Zhang Tingyu arrived, he took out the imperial edict that he had prepared long ago and said in a deep voice, "Yes!"

Yinyou quickly knelt down and listened to the order.

"Imperial decree, the fifteenth son of the Emperor, Prince Yinyu, is to command the three imperial camps. This is my decree!"

The three camps in front of the emperor are the Vanguard Camp, the Cavalry Camp and the Guard Camp of the upper three flags, with a total strength of more than 30,000 people.

It is no exaggeration to say that once this decree was issued, Yinyou became the person with the most military power in the entire Qing Dynasty, except for Kangxi.

In the Qing Dynasty, there were four battalions of soldiers in front of the emperor. The largest number of soldiers was the Eight Banners Infantry Battalion.

The Eight Banners Infantry Camp, which is the office of the Infantry Commander.

Now, Longkodo, the infantry commander with more than 30,000 soldiers, was also under the control of Yinyou.

After the imperial carriage arrived at the Rehe Palace, Kangxi summoned five people a day to greet the Khorchin Mongolian kings and beiles one by one.

Yinyou, who had been accompanying Kangxi, saw clearly that Kangxi's attention was completely attracted by the crown prince, and he neglected the eighth brother and others who were accompanying him.

To put it bluntly, if Kangxi had died suddenly, the crown prince, whose strength was greatly weakened, would most likely not be a match for the eighth prince and the other kings who were leaders of the banners.

The core of this is that Tuoheqi was dethroned as the commander of the infantry by Lao Ba's uncle Jingxi.

Of course, Yinyou was very clear that even though he controlled the four imperial camps, his power was overwhelming!

God knows how many eyes are watching his every move in the dark.
Kangxi dared to put the four imperial camps under the command of Yinyou, so he was not afraid that he would do something weird!

If Yinyou obeyed orders obediently, the officers and soldiers of the four camps in front of the emperor would follow his orders.

If Yinyou had any evil intentions, he would be no different from a commander without troops.

Looking around, who among the commanders of the four imperial camps was not a trusted general promoted by Kangxi himself?

During the Seoul Spring, the total number of troops used by the young generals to carry out the coup was about four regiments.

With such a small number of people, capturing Zheng Shenghe and Zhang Tai is as easy as taking something out of a bag!

The root of the problem is that Zheng Shenghe and Zhang Taiwan have no regimental or battalion-level subordinates who would follow them at all costs, and they are all commanders without troops.

If Zheng Shenghe had one-tenth of Yinyou's cleverness and won over several regiments' close friends in advance, all the young generals would have been defeated without a doubt.

Kangxi was particularly afraid of heat, but the Rehe Palace was under expansion, and many places suitable for summer escape had not yet been fully built.

Therefore, Kangxi issued an order to continue heading north to Mulan Palace to escape the summer heat.

In the dead of night, Yinyou was leading his men to inspect the night defense of the three imperial camps.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Look, there's a fire over there!"

Yinyou turned his head and saw that in the dark night sky, there was a raging flame in the palace, with fire shooting up into the sky.

"Come here, pass the order down, the three camps in front of the emperor are on alert, and each of them is responsible for guarding their own defense area. Anyone who dares to leave the camp without my order will be charged with treason!"

Yinyou was no longer a novice in leading troops, and he knew very well that the more chaotic the situation was, the more the imperial guards protecting the emperor should not move without authorization.

At this time, if the three imperial battalions left their own defense zone and rushed to put out the fire in a disorderly manner, something really bad would happen!

PS: This is the second update to make up for yesterday. Today, the number of monthly votes exceeds 6000, so I will try my best to have a third update!
(End of this chapter)