The swansong of the swansong

Chapter 26 Successfully Infiltrated the Fourth Master's Party

The fourth brother got up and went out to change his clothes. Yinyou rolled his eyes and followed him out.

After all, if Yinyu watched the fourteenth prince make a fool of himself, it would be easy for him to be criticized in the future.

Yinyou was not willing to do such a stupid thing as joining in the fun but ended up bringing trouble upon himself.

The fourth child went to the next room and started to change his clothes with the help of Su Peisheng.

Nowadays, when the rich and powerful go out, their servants carry several clothing bags with them in case of emergency.

While changing clothes, the fourth brother, who had his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes and asked Su Peisheng: "Little Su, what do you think of your fifteenth master?"

Su Peisheng has been serving the fourth brother since he was a child and is considered his most trusted confidant.

"Master, I can't read or write, what do I know?" Su Peisheng was very careful not to speak carelessly, because he was very familiar with the fourth brother's capricious nature.

The fourth brother has always been very clear about love and hate. When he dotes on you, he would like to share his wife with you. However, when he hates you, he will tear your tendons and skin you alive, cut you into pieces, grind your bones and scatter your ashes, only then can he dispel his hatred.

The fourth brother was unhappy and scolded him coldly: "I told you to speak, so just speak. Are you hesitating because you want to be whipped?"

Su Peisheng was waiting for this statement. He bent down and whispered, "In reply to your question, Master, I feel that although Master Fifteen is young, he is a very sensible person. At that time, you were the last one to enter the room, but Master Fifteen took the initiative to give you the seat on the kang closest to Master Fourteen."

Su Peisheng's reminder immediately aroused the fourth brother's association.

"Old Fifteen is indeed a man of sentimental character." Old Four couldn't help but think of that extremely humiliating incident.

Some time ago, he was caught off guard and was kicked unconscious by the prince. After being carried back to the mansion, the fourth brother collapsed on the kang, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

However, what the Fourth Prince never expected was that even though the Thirteenth Prince did not go to see him, Yinwei actually took the Sixteenth Prince to visit him as soon as possible.

There is no doubt that Yinyou is the adopted son of Concubine De. In fact, the Thirteenth Prince can also be considered as half-adopted son of Concubine De.

At that time, Yinxiang had just turned 13 years old when his biological mother, Concubine Min, passed away.

By Kangxi's designation, the underage Thirteenth Prince was raised by Concubine De.

However, Concubine De only had eyes for the Fourteenth Prince, so naturally, the Thirteenth Prince became friends with the equally unpopular Fourth Prince.

Although the Thirteenth Prince had never been granted a title or established a government office, he was appreciated by Crown Prince Yinreng because of his efficiency and generous character.

To be honest, the current Fourth and Thirteenth Brothers were both younger brothers of Crown Prince Yinreng. However, the Thirteenth Brother was far more important to Crown Prince Yinreng than the Fourth Brother.

Before this, if the fourth brother’s job was not going well, the thirteenth brother would often be needed to speak well of him in front of the prince.

The fourth brother changed his clothes and came out of the house, only to see Yinyu standing next to a strange rock on one side of the courtyard, silently admiring the view.

"Fifteenth brother, what are you looking at?" The fourth brother's heart moved slightly, and he deliberately walked to the side of Yinyou and asked him softly.

Hearing the voice of the fourth brother, Yinyu couldn't help but feel a slight movement in his heart. The good opportunity to get close to the fourth brother had finally come.

"Fourth brother, I think this strange rock, with its lonely and steep peak, is unique and outstanding, and is very much like your personality." Yinyu seized the opportunity to flatter the fourth brother.

Nowadays, there are many things that can be worn out, but flattery will never be worn out!
The fourth brother was so drunk that he couldn't help laughing!
The lonely peak is dangerous and arrogant. Yinyou's evaluation just hit the heart of the fourth brother!

"Fifteenth brother, why don't you agree to go to the Ministry of Revenue to help me?" The fourth brother pondered for a while, and while he was happy, he simply tested Yinyou.

When Yinyu heard this, he immediately understood that the fourth son had a spy hidden deep in the palace. However, Yinyu couldn't guess who the spy was for a while.
"To be honest with you, I am still young and have not completed my studies, so I dare not go over and cause trouble for you." The first half of Yinyu's answer was just perfunctory clichés, and the last sentence was the finishing touch.

The fourth brother was a very smart man. He understood it as soon as he heard it. Yinwei had just visited him and didn’t want to cause him trouble because of the Ministry of Revenue’s work.

"Fifteenth brother, it's okay. I'm not the eldest brother or the eighth brother." The fourth brother gave Yinyou a hint.

What this means is that, unlike the eldest and eighth brothers, he has no ambition to be on the throne. He just concentrates on doing his job and is not afraid of trouble.

Yinyou could tell that the fourth brother really wanted to help him and find him a good job.

Nowadays, unless you work for the imperial court, even if you are a prince, you will inevitably be short of money.

Of course, Lao Jiu is an exception. This guy is naturally good at business and is indeed good at making money.

Bannermen are not allowed to do business or farm, this is the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty!
However, rules are made by people, and Kangxi turned a blind eye and pretended to be ignorant. Who dared to interfere with the ninth brother's business affairs?
If it were an ordinary person, jealous of the good job in the Ministry of Revenue, he might have agreed readily.

However, Yinyou was not an ordinary person. He knew better than anyone that the Thirteenth Emperor, even though he became the Executive Vice Emperor, still spoke and acted cautiously and did not overstep the line.

If someone becomes weak in the knees or acts arrogantly when being rewarded with a bone, they are the types of people that the Fourth Brother hates.

This guy Lao Si is particularly good at playing hard to get. If you really believe the sweet talk he pours out, you will be wronged.

With Lao Si, he becomes arrogant when he succeeds, but he will get himself into trouble sooner or later!
"Fourth brother, it won't be too late to help you with your errands after I finish my studies!" Yinwei walked around the edge of the pit, refusing to close his eyes and jump in.

The fourth brother looked at Yinyou deeply and had already made a decision in his heart.

After the banquet, according to their rank and shift, the fifth brother sent the eldest and the third brother away first.

The fourteenth brother passed out drunk in the next room, and it would be unreasonable for the fourth brother not to stay and take care of him.

Yinyou and the Sixteenth Prince also wanted to return to the palace to visit the princes, and they happened to be going the same way as the Fourteenth Prince, so they stayed with the Fourth Prince.

The fourteenth prince was drunk and unconscious, so the fourth prince, Yinyou and the sixteenth prince were sitting in the next room drinking tea and chatting.

The Sixteenth Brother and the Fourth Brother had always been very close, and with him present, the atmosphere in the room was naturally harmonious. "Fourth Brother, I heard that you were chasing debts in the Ministry of Revenue, and you made those officials who didn't pay their debts cry like ghosts and wolves?" The Sixteenth Brother asked the Fourth Brother curiously.

The fourth brother just smiled but didn't say anything.

Yinyou also smiled and said, "Sixteenth brother, it won't be too late to ask after you leave the palace and start working in a different government office." He helped the fourth brother to smooth things over.

In the past, the fourth child had an extremely erratic temper, and he didn't control his mouth, always leaking things.

Later, when the fourth brother was called over by Kangxi and scolded bitterly, his temper suddenly changed and his mouth seemed to be locked, shut tightly.

After half a cup of tea, the fourth brother suddenly asked Yinyu: "Fifteenth brother, I heard that you like to study Western mathematics?"

Yinyu's heart was slightly moved, and he said very modestly: "Fourth brother, with my mediocre math level, how dare I call myself a researcher?"

"Hey, the numbers I calculated last night always don't match. Can you help me check?" The fourth brother took out a few pieces of paper from his sleeve like a magic trick, put them on the kang table, and pushed them in front of Yinyou without giving him any room to refuse.

This is simply forcing someone to do something they don't want to do!

Yinyu picked up the piece of paper and took a closer look. It was a statistical summary of the silver reserves in the Fourth Prince's Mansion, which was full of addition and subtraction, without even any multiplication or division.

For Yinyou, who once worked as a high school math teacher while teaching in remote areas, it was incredibly simple!

The fourth brother originally thought that Yinyou needed the help of "counting sticks".

Generally speaking, the act of using an abacus is reserved for crude and lowly merchants, and the Manchu Tianlong people simply disdain it.

However, in order to avoid being cheated by the accountants, the fourth brother secretly mastered the skills of using an abacus.

However, right under the fourth brother's nose, Yinwei used only mental arithmetic and spent less than half a cup of tea to quickly calculate the total number of hours that the fourth brother would need to calculate, and wrote the total at the end of the paper.

"Fourth brother, I just calculated blindly and don't know whether it is right or wrong. After you return home, ask the accountant to check carefully to see if the silver accounts match?" Yinyu clearly showed off his magical skills in mental arithmetic, but he was as low-key and humble as ever.

Pride brings harm, while humility brings benefit. For Lao Si, this is always the truth!
The fourth brother had already figured it out. After he took the piece of paper and looked carefully at the number written by Yinyou, he was shocked. It was the same exact number as he had calculated three times, without any difference at all!

As far as the fourth brother knew, in the capital city, even the foreign missionary with the highest level of arithmetic, Jean-Baptiste du Halde, was not as fast or as accurate as Yinyou!
The fourth prince is the head of the Ministry of Revenue, that is, the emperor of the Ministry of Revenue.

The Ministry of Revenue deals with silver, grain and account books all day long, and what it needs most is high-level talents like Yinyou who have unique accounting skills!

The fourth brother was very cunning. He suppressed his excitement and said calmly, "Okay, I'll find the accountant after I get back home and do a careful calculation."

On the way to send the fourteenth prince back to the palace, the fourth prince deliberately pulled Yinyou aside to chat, wanting to see Yinyou's knowledge and experience.

If it were an ordinary person, he would definitely show off all kinds of knowledge endlessly.

However, Yinyou was definitely not an ordinary person. He knew better than anyone that in front of the Fourth Prince, the only way to succeed was to hide one's shortcomings!

The fourth child especially likes to teach people, that is, he likes to be a know-it-all!
At this moment, if Yinyou is not allowed to satisfy his desire to be a master, then he would be a big fool!
"Fifteenth brother, there is some truth in what you said, but..." The fourth brother liked this tune.

Yinyou acted humble and eager to learn. The fourth child really enjoyed the feeling of being a teacher. It was a wonderful feeling!

The ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty is that only princes born to the daughters of bannermen have the right to inherit the throne!
This ancestral system was the collective consensus of all bannermen and was implemented extremely thoroughly during the two hundred years of the Qing Dynasty.

The underlying message is: Our Qing Dynasty is the world of the Bannermen!
Therefore, from the day he was born, Yinyou lost the opportunity to ascend the throne!
To put it bluntly, even if Yinyou tried every means to win over Nian Gengyao and Longkodo, he would have no hope of winning because of the collective opposition of the Manchu princes and ministers.

In similar situations are the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth and other princes born to Han women!

Among all the princes, the eldest is a scumbag, the second is destined to be deposed, the third does not have military power, the fifth, seventh and twelfth have no ambition to seize the throne, and the thirteenth helped the second to do bad things and was completely disliked by Kangxi.

The eighth, ninth, tenth and fourteenth brothers, according to Yinyou's close observation, were people with great ambitions but little talent, and could not accomplish anything great!
Besides, the Eighth Prince's party was full of talented people, including Manchu princes and nobles. Even if Yinyou managed to get in, he would not be able to get much benefit.

The fourth one is different. This guy is the number one master of disguise in the Qing Dynasty, and there is historical evidence to prove that he is the only one who has the last laugh.

This person is also emotional, just to different degrees.

When Emperor Gaozu of Han killed meritorious officials, he mainly targeted those heroes from the enemy camp who defected to him.

The fourth brother's meanness and ingratitude, his heartless nature, was directed at his mortal enemies, the third brother, the eighth brother, the ninth brother, the tenth brother, and the fourteenth brother.

Yinyou's maternal grandfather, Wang Guozheng, was a lowly Han craftsman in his early years. Even after he changed his social status, he was only a lowly county magistrate.

To put it bluntly, Yinyou had no maternal family support at all, so he posed no threat to the throne.

What is similar is that Old Thirteen does not have the support of his mother's family.

Lao Si is a man who is very clear about gratitude and resentment, and rewards and punishments. However, he does things casually and likes to go to extremes. Between love and hate, there is a world of ice and fire!

As long as he adapted to this characteristic, Yinyu felt it was not difficult to get by!

More importantly, although the Thirteenth Brother has a good relationship with the Fourth Brother, he is a die-hard supporter of the Second Brother.

If the Fourth Prince accepted Yinyu, then Yinyu would be the first influential member of the Fourth Prince's party!

Monarchs of all dynasties have attached great importance to pioneering achievements.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang, who killed without blinking an eye, did not kill Tang He!
However, the fourth brother is a very suspicious person. If Yinyu wants to really get into his heart, he must use some tricks and wait for the right opportunity!

With Lin Chong's powerful strength, if he wanted to join a gang of thieves, the scholar Wang Lun would force him to hand over his letter of surrender!
What's more, what about the suspicious Old Four?
(End of this chapter)