The swansong of the swansong

Chapter 198 You fight for it
Prince An Hua Qi was stripped of his title and imprisoned. This very special political signal, like a magnitude 13 earthquake, strongly shook the entire Qing officialdom.

"Master, Bai Huang is here and is waiting for you outside." Wu Lin reported a new situation.

Without even thinking about it, Yinyu said, "I'm busy."

"Whoo."

As Wu Lin walked out, he couldn't help but think of the old saying: There is no medicine for regret in the world!
Yinyou had already given Bai Huang a chance, but Bai Huang did not cherish it. Who can he blame?
Once the opportunity slips away, it will be hard to come back!
A few days ago was the first anniversary of Concubine Liang’s death.

Nian Gengyao sent his son Nian Xi, with generous gifts, to pay homage to the eighth brother's house.

Hehe, the fourth brother has been holding back on this, but he has written everything down in his little black book.

Yinyou clearly remembered that after the fourth brother looked at the list of generous gifts that Nian Gengyao gave to the eighth brother, he was stunned for a long time and remained speechless.

Some people claim to be smart, but instead of taking the straight and straight road, they choose to take the narrow and dead end road. There is really nothing you can do about them!

The three-year beauty pageant has begun again.

The fourth brother had long wanted to bring Nian Gengyao's youngest sister into Prince Yong's mansion, so he took the initiative to ask Concubine De for help.

After all, he was his own son and his request was not excessive, so Concubine De agreed.

However, I don’t know what was wrong with the Fourteenth Prince, he actually fell in love with Nian Gengyao’s youngest sister and went to ask Concubine De for help.

Concubine De sent the eunuch to tell the fourth prince to change the concubine.

When Yinyou walked in, the fourth brother was smashing things in the inner study room with a loud bang.

Hearing footsteps, the fourth brother looked up and saw that it was Yinyu coming, and cursed fiercely: "That bastard must have done it on purpose!"

The fourth brother can scold the fourteenth brother, but Yinyou cannot follow suit.

"Fourth brother, I'm afraid the night will be long and dreams will be many. Why don't you go to the garden now and ask Khan Ama directly!" Yinyu understood the fourth brother's thoughts very well.

Nian Gengyao’s position was too important, so even if the fourth brother disliked him, he had to tolerate him.

As a result, when the fourth brother rushed to Changchun Garden, he was surprised to find that the fourteenth brother was standing in front of Kangxi.

"Khan Father, it's just a Nian girl, please give her to me?" The fourteenth prince knelt on the ground and begged Kangxi for mercy.

The fourth brother was so angry that black smoke came out of his nostrils. Yinzhen, you really are my brother!

It is outrageous that two brothers are fighting for a concubine in front of the emperor.

If the fourth brother also wanted to ask the third sister of the Nian family for help, the furious Kangxi would probably just sentence him to death in order to maintain the dignity of the royal family.

Even though Old Fourteen took the lead, he is still young and a little immature after all.

The fourth brother calmly bowed and said, "Khan Ama, Nian Xialing and Nian Gengyao are both high-ranking officials."

After being reminded, Kangxi immediately realized that he could not treat Nian Gengyao, who was in an important position, unfairly.

According to the rules, Duolo Beile and Gushan Beile were not allowed to have concubines.

The fourteenth prince was a prince, and he enjoyed higher privileges than the rest of the royal family. Therefore, he already had a concubine in his Beizi Mansion.

If the third sister of the Nian family is awarded to the Fourteenth Prince as a concubine, it would be tantamount to slapping Nian Gengyao in the face, which is absolutely not acceptable!
More importantly, the Fourteenth Prince had always been following the Eighth Prince closely, and Kangxi wanted to weaken the Eighth Prince's party.

If the Fourteenth Prince is promoted to a Prince, it would be equivalent to greatly increasing the Eighth Prince's influence, which could easily send out the wrong political signal.

"Fourteenth prince, Irgen Jueluo, the daughter of Dianwei Xitai, is given to you as a reward." Kangxi thought about it and was reluctant to let the fourteenth prince suffer, so he rewarded him with a concubine.

"Han Ama..." The fourteenth brother was not giving up and still wanted to ask for help from the third sister of the Nian family.

Kangxi's face darkened, and he said coldly: "Kneel down and pay your respects."

"Khan Father, I want to..." The Fourteenth Prince was really unwilling to give up, and he bravely tried to fight for it again.

"Kneel down and pay your respects." Kangxi emphasized his tone and drove the Fourteenth Prince away.

A wise man never suffers a loss in front of him, so Old Fourteen had to leave in disappointment.

After the fourteenth brother was defeated, the fourth brother naturally did not dare to mention the matter of the third sister of the Nian family again, and pretended to report some official matters of the Ministry of Revenue.

After the fourth brother finished speaking, Kangxi realized that none of them had to be done immediately.

"Fourth Prince, tell me the truth, what exactly are you here for?" Kangxi was not a fool, so he simply asked the fourth prince directly.

The fourth brother knew that opportunities are rare and will never come back.

However, if the fourteenth brother had not done this, the fourth brother would naturally have dared to ask the third sister of the Nian family to come into the house.

Since the fourteenth brother had done something strange, if the fourth brother followed suit and asked for the third sister of the Nian family, Kangxi would easily associate it with Nian Gengyao's important position.

But if you don’t tell the truth, you will never have another chance!

In front of Kangxi, the fourth brother had no time to think, so he closed his eyes and said, "I want to marry the third sister of the Nian family as my concubine, but the fourteenth brother deliberately wanted to irritate me, so he made a fool of himself."

Kangxi smiled in silence, it was just as expected!

Compared with the fourth brother's attempt to win over Nian Gengyao, Kangxi valued the fourth brother's truthfulness more.

Serving the king with sincerity sounds simple, but how many people in the world can do it?
Yinyou counts as one, and the fourth prince also counts as one. There are only these two, that’s all! “Fourteenth prince, oh, let’s not talk about him.” Whenever Kangxi thought of the princes around the eighth prince, he would feel a headache.

If there were just a few empty-headed princes, it would be fine.

However, most of the flag-lord kings, flag-generals, cabinet ministers, six ministers, and vice ministers supported the Eighth Brother.

This is very fatal!

"Since you like Nian, I will appoint her as your concubine. Don't treat her badly."

Nian Gengyao was not the Minister of Six Ministries, but a slave under the Fourth Brother, and was far away in Shaanxi. This is very crucial.

"Thank you, Khan, for your grace. I will definitely treat her well." The fourth brother was overjoyed and quickly knelt down to express his gratitude.

"What is Little Fifteen doing?" Kangxi suddenly asked the Fourth Brother.

The fourth brother became alert and pretended to think for a while before answering, "Maybe he is busy in the Ministry of Personnel?"

Yinyou and the fourth prince had a very good relationship. Kangxi not only knew about it a long time ago, but also deliberately condoned it.

As long as they don't form cliques, expand their influence, or pose a serious threat to the imperial power, Kangxi will tolerate them.

As a mature emperor, he must have considered the candidates for the new crown prince before deposing the crown prince.

The eighth one is definitely out, and the third, fourth and fourteenth ones have been under observation.

It is worth mentioning that his biological mother, the twelfth brother, who was born in the upper three banners, was actually on the list of candidates!

As for Yinyou, the Sixteenth and Seventeenth sons, who were born to Han women, they were never within Kangxi's consideration.

It is necessary to continue to weaken the power of the banner kings, but at the same time, we cannot allow the Manchus, whose numbers are so small, to kill each other and cause rivers of bloodshed.

Kangxi was really worried!
The fourth brother left contentedly, but Kangxi called Yinyou into Changchun Garden.

"Li Guangdi suggested to me that I should appoint a new crown prince as soon as possible. What do you think?" Kangxi liked to listen to Yinyou's suggestions, but whether to adopt them or not depended on the situation.

Yinyu did not hesitate at all and answered immediately: "Khan Ama, if you ask me in private, I will tell you the truth. Of course, I hope that my fourth brother will be the crown prince."

"Then why don't you submit a petition to recommend the Fourth Prince to be the Crown Prince?" Kangxi asked Yinyou calmly.

Yinyu bent his waist and said honestly: "The title of crown prince is extremely precious. Only Khan Ama can make decisions arbitrarily. No minister dares to speak nonsense in public!"

Kangxi understood Yinyou's intention. Li Guangdi wanted to take credit for supporting the emperor, so the target would naturally be the eighth prince.

As long as one is a human being, he or she will have selfish desires!
Yinyou revealed all his selfish thoughts to Kangxi, so why would Kangxi still doubt him?
"Turichen sent a secret letter from Dongguk. He said that the Koreans agreed to cede Ganghwa Island, but the compensation of three million taels of silver is too much. He hopes that it can be paid in five years. What do you think?"

Kangxi had no experience in blackmailing small states, so this time, he was really enlightened and found everything new and interesting.

"Of course you can pay it off in installments. However, the annual interest rate cannot be less than five percent." Yinyu said something new that Kangxi had never heard of.

Kangxi opened his eyes wide and subconsciously asked Yinyu: "Is this okay?"

Yinyu smiled slightly and said, "It is only natural to pay off debts in installments and pay interest annually. This is what ordinary people do!"

In the Qing Dynasty, since there were no modern financial institutions such as banks, private lending mostly consisted of landlords lending money to self-employed farmers.

They agreed on the annual interest rate, when to pay off the loan, and what the collateral would be.

Generally speaking, interest is compounded, and if you are not careful, it can double in a few months!
"Khan Father, as long as the Koreans have not repaid their debts, they must pay 15 taels of interest every year." Yinyu's explanation confused Kangxi.

"Three million taels, to be paid off in five years, isn't the annual interest thirty thousand taels?" Kangxi asked Yinyou in confusion.

Yinyu chuckled and said, "Khan Ama, the annual interest should be calculated according to the total amount of silver owed! Even if the Koreans pay back 2.5 million taels, the interest must be calculated based on the total amount owed of 3 million taels."

Kangxi was stunned and said in astonishment: "How can this be? Are you going to give up the dignity of our Celestial Empire?"

Yinyou smiled in silence. Kangxi was always obsessed with the dignity of the Celestial Empire, but he overlooked one important thing.

In the context of the age of the jungle, it was only natural for the Qing dynasty to blackmail Korea.

Just by blackmailing with his mouth, he easily got Ganghwa Island and three million taels of silver.

When Kangxi looked at Yinyou again, his eyes lit up!

As we all know, Ganghwa Island is an important seaport to the Joseon capital. Whenever the Joseon king was in trouble, he would hide on Ganghwa Island.

Once the Qing Dynasty has stationed troops on the island, it can reach Seoul overnight. Will the Koreans still dare to despise the Qing Dynasty as barbarians?
At this moment, Kangxi was in a very good mood, so he simply asked Yinyou to stay and have dinner together.

Alas, Yinyou was really not happy to have meals with Kangxi, as the meal was mostly just cold dishes.

Because Kangxi's teeth were not very good, all the dishes were overcooked.

However, the old emperor gave the meal as a reward, so others were not qualified to eat it even if they wanted to.

Yinyou had no choice but to bite the bullet and accompany Kangxi to eat until he was only half full.

PS: This is the second update from yesterday. I am very busy today, so I will update the second one in the early morning.

(End of this chapter)