The swansong of the swansong

Chapter 85: As if I were here in person (10000 words, monthly ticket requested)
Being in a high position is like dancing on the edge of a knife!

Only fools would only see the little things in front of them, for example, Chao Cuo who was beheaded!
Being prepared and looking ten steps ahead, and making plans many years in advance without making any noise, are just the entry-level basic skills for the masters of political intrigue.

Sima Shi secretly raised 3,000 assassins, and even his own brother Sima Zhao was kept in the dark until the swords were drawn.

After the news that the third brother was demoted to Beile spread, there was an immediate uproar among the powerful circles in the capital.

Because of the palace maid's suicide, even Kangxi's own son was severely punished, let alone the royal family princes who were separated by grandfather?

Emperor Shunzhi had eight sons, five of whom died young.

Among the current imperial bloodline, the two nephews who are most closely related to Kangxi are Fuquan’s two sons, Prince Yu Baotai and his younger brother Baoshou.

After Prince Chun Fulhulun passed away, as he had no son, Kangxi wanted to adopt his third son to Fulhulun's father, Kangxi's younger brother Longxi, in order to let his own son get the title of prince for free.

Later, due to too much resistance from the royal princes, Kangxi had to give up.

He praised and killed Cheng Xiu De and forced the third brother to be demoted to Beile, and Yin Yu's prestige immediately increased.

Under the guidance of He Yi and Ling Pu, the unappreciated officials of the Imperial Household Department all moved closer to Yinyou.

After investigation and weighing the pros and cons, Yinyou promoted Qin Dena, a member of the falconry department, to be the director of the hall office and asked him to help wave the flag and cheer.

How can a hero be without wings?

However, a prince with too much power is likely to be envied!
Everything in the world has its limits.

There has always been a world of difference between being inside and outside the realm of possibility!
The Falconry and Kitesurfing Office was a specialized institution that raised Saker Falcons and hunting dogs for Emperor Kangxi.

Haha, the fourth brother is a dog lover, but Yinyou is an idiot when it comes to raising dogs. The two brothers must have a common hobby!

If Kangxi knew what Yinyou was thinking, he would be so angry that he would tremble all over and would imprison him until he died!

The Imperial Household Department was Kangxi's closely watched back garden. If Yinyou wanted to be well-informed and not be deceived, he had to have a few of his own people in key positions.

However, Yinyou could not openly place people everywhere, as that would be courting death!

In the early morning of that day, when Yinyou was about to leave the palace after his shift, he received shocking news.

In the guard camp of the upper three banners, a strange incident occurred in which the guard soldiers beat up the captain.

According to the Eight Banners Army system, the annual salary of a regular soldier in the Guard Camp of the Upper Three Banners was forty-eight taels of silver, plus an annual allowance of 22 shi and 2 dou of rice.

To be honest, in the early Qing Dynasty, the imperial court was willing to pay high salaries to support the army. In particular, the Eight Banners stationed near the capital were paid salaries so high that it would make people drool.

Yinyu waved his hand and said shamelessly: "I'm off duty now, why don't you go find Ling, the steward, to take over?"

After saying those irresponsible words, Yinyou, who had not yet officially left his post, actually swaggered out of the signing room and headed out of the palace.

Haha, the Upper Three Banners Guard Camp has always been Kangxi’s treasure and the apple of his eye.

Yinyou was neither drunk nor had a fever in his head, and he was unwilling to be involved in the taboo of gaining military power.

Since he wasn't getting any extra salary, why should Yinyou bother himself?
However, when Yinyou had already left Xihua Gate and was about to get on the carriage to return home, he was stopped by Wu Shi, who was panting heavily.

"Master Fifteen, the Emperor has summoned you to see him."

Yinyu pretended to be surprised and asked Wu Shi: "It's already this hour, isn't Khan Ama going to attend the court?"

The implication was that Kangxi was very busy and probably had no time to see him.

If it were in the past, even if Wu Shi knew the inside story, he would never tell a little-known prince like Yinyou.

However, Yinyu is now the extremely popular Fifteenth Prince, and it is worth making friends with him so that they can get along well in the future.

Whether in the world or in the government, others will respect you only if you have powerful strength.

Wu Shi looked around alertly. Well, they were all his confidants. He then deliberately lowered his voice and said, "Manager Ling was careless and alarmed the emperor."

This was a bit confusing, but Yinyou understood it as soon as he heard it.

Yinyou felt that the trouble in the Guard Camp was too much to handle, so he tried to avoid it by acting like a hooligan, but Kangxi insisted on asking him to go back to deal with it.

Ling Pu wanted to get his hands on the military power, but this touched Kangxi's sensitive nerves.

This is typical double standard!

Yinyou suppressed his smile, yawned all the way as he followed Wu Shi into the Qianqing Palace.

As soon as I entered the palace, I saw Kangxi's procession lined up.

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

Kangxi, sitting on the tiger-skin sedan chair, glanced at Yinyu and asked him coldly, "You are clearly not on duty yet, why are you not doing your job?"

Since Kangxi knew everything, Yinyou told the truth.

"My dear Khan, I am a prince and should abide by my duties. I should not enter the Upper Three Banners Guard Camp without permission!"

Kangxi was very pleased that Yinyou was not confused about important matters.

Seeing Ling Pu's ugly look of being so eager to interfere in the military power, Kangxi felt disgusted!

"Ask Zhang Tingyu to draft the decree."

"Liang Jiugong, go and give my golden decree to the fifteenth prince." After Kangxi instructed Liang Jiugong, he also reminded Yinyou, "Don't worry too much. I allow you to act at your own discretion."

Yinyou did not accept the order immediately, but muttered softly: "I have not slept all night, and my head is dizzy..."

"What did you say?" Kangxi, who was sitting on the sedan chair, looked down at Yinyou coldly, "I didn't hear it clearly!"

"Your servant obeys your order." Having to face a rogue father like Kangxi, Yinyou had no choice but to admit defeat and obey his orders.

"You're trying to avoid a job that others wouldn't even think of. Humph, it's time to ask the imperial physician to look at your head!"

Kangxi, this poisonous tongue, stomped his feet lightly after spitting out venom.

"Let's go!" With Liang Jiugong's light shout, the emperor's guard of honor set off immediately.

In fact, the imperial court was in the Qianqing Gate, and Kangxi's ceremonial guard only walked a few dozen steps away before leaving the sedan chair. Liang Jiugong quickly brought the golden order and held it in front of Yinyu with both hands.

Yinyou took the order and looked at it carefully. He found that there were only four words on it: As if I were here in person!
In the capital, anyone who wants to mobilize troops must have an order + an imperial decree, neither of which can be missing.

There was a strange inscription with messy strokes on Kangxi's golden order.

Yinyou had heard about this a long time ago. At critical moments, these secret documents must be exactly the same as the documents from the generals in charge of the troops in order to be a formal order to mobilize the troops.

After completing all the formalities, Yinyou encountered a problem.

According to the rules, Prince Yinyou could only enter and exit through the Qianqing Gate and was not allowed to enter and exit through other gates.

However, the imperial court session presided over by Kangxi himself had already started for more than half an hour.

This is mainly because the edict drafted by Zhang Tingyu had to go through a whole set of cumbersome signing and sealing procedures, and even a single step could not be missed.

If Yinyou went out from Qianqing Gate now, it would inevitably alarm Kangxi and the important officials of the court.

Let's leave this kind of stupid and show-off thing to the idiot boss!
The Qing Dynasty had thousands and thousands of tasks to do, and it was simply impossible to complete them all.

Yinyou was not in a hurry at all. He simply walked to the duty door of the Imperial Tea Room, deliberately did not go in, and stood at the door with his hands behind his back.

In theory, all the female officials, eunuchs and palace maids in the Qianqing Palace were under the jurisdiction of Yinyu.

In fact, Yinyu was only their boss in name only. Everyone in the Qianqing Palace was under the control of Kangxi himself.

How could Yinyou actually command the people who served in front of the emperor?
Don’t underestimate Yinyou’s casual stance, there is a lot of meaning behind it!

After a short while, the people inside could no longer sit still, and Aunt Qin, who was in charge, hurried out to pay her respects to Yinyou.

"I am Qin, your servant, and would like to greet the Fifteenth Master." Aunt Qin squatted down and bowed to greet him.

"Get up." Yinyu smiled slightly and said in a very gentle manner, "It's snowing heavily outside. I'll stand for a while to avoid the snow."

There is a lot of mystery in this statement.

Aunt Qin's eyes twinkled, and she smiled faintly, "My place is too simple, and it's not convenient to welcome you in. How about I bring you a stool, okay?"

The aunt in charge of the Qianqing Palace spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly, but with full confidence. Her meaning was very clear, even if it was the duty room of the Imperial Tea House, Yinyu was not qualified to enter.

Yinyu smiled and shook his head, saying, "I won't bother you, Aunt Qin."

The area within Qianqing Gate was a restricted area for ministers, and even though Yinyou was a prince, he still encountered many inconveniences.

When Aunt Qin saw that Yinyou had empty hands, she took the initiative to get a copper hand warmer for him.

This copper hand warmer is filled with silver frost charcoal and wrapped with thick cotton cloth on the outside.

Seeing that Aunt Qin was truly sincere, Yinyu took the hand warmer.

There are not many taboos about utensils, but it is different with food or tea. As long as Yinyou touches them, it can easily leave serious hidden dangers.

Yinyou only stood under the eaves of the palace for a while before Wei Zhu came running over in a hurry.

"Master Fifteen, the Emperor has ordered you to leave through the Rijing Gate."

The Rijing Gate is the eastern gate of the Qianqing Palace, and no prince had ever entered or exited it before.

The rules of the Qianqing Palace are very strict, and foreign officials must register when entering and leaving.

If the time when Yinyou entered and left was not clearly recorded for reference, the guards on duty would be in big trouble.

Soon, under the guidance of Wei Zhu, Yinyou walked out of Rijing Gate holding the hand warmer.

After leaving the Qianqing Palace, Yinyou led Wulin, Xiaojinzi, Li Ding and Yuzhu to the duty room of the Bordered Yellow Banner Guard Camp outside the Jingyun Gate.

On the way, Yinyu ordered Wulin: "Go back and check which relatives of Aunt Qin from the Imperial Tea Household work in the Ministry of Internal Affairs?"

"Yeah." Wu Lin is extremely rigorous and meticulous in his work, quite like Su Peisheng, which makes people feel at ease.

In the palace these days, is there any favor without reason?

The hand warmer given by Aunt Qin may seem insignificant, but its connotation is worth pondering.

When Yinyu and Aunt Qin talked, they didn't mention any sensitive topics. Even if someone heard it, they wouldn't think too much about it.

However, whether you can be a good person or not depends entirely on your own understanding.

Those who cannot understand the way can only watch others move from success to greater success.

In fact, without the appreciation of a good horse trainer, the so-called "thousand-mile horse" that pulls a cart every day is still a poor horse, no matter how pure its bloodline is!
The Bayala Camp set up by Huang Taiji was the predecessor of the Guard Camp.

The famous Oboi once served as the Zhangjing of Bayalahu of the Bordered Yellow Banner, which is now the commander of the Bordered Yellow Banner Guard.

There were three guard commanders for each of the three upper banners, one in total. They were not subordinate to each other and each took orders from Kangxi.

Today's Upper Three Banners Guard Camp is responsible for guarding the imperial carriage, opening and closing the forbidden gates, locking keys, and passing on chips.

In other words, the entire outer guard work of the Forbidden City was under the responsibility of the Guard Camp.

It is worth mentioning that there were no Han troops in the Upper Three Banners Guard Camp, only Manchu and Mongolian officers and soldiers.

The accident happened in the Bordered Yellow Banner Guard Camp.

At the gate of the duty court, Wu Lin raised his voice and shouted, "There is an order!"

Mu Tai, the commander of the Bordered Yellow Banner Guards, heard that Yinyou had come with an imperial decree. He ordered an incense table to be set up and led the guards to greet him outside the gate.

Before receiving the imperial edict, Mu Tai was extremely cautious in verifying the authenticity of the Golden Pi Order.

After Yinyou issued the decree, Mutai took it with both hands, read it three times very carefully, and after confirming that it was correct, he bowed his head and was willing to obey Yinyou's instructions.

If you are not careful while serving the emperor, you will be eliminated sooner or later.

Yinyou saw everything, remembered it all, but kept his mouth shut.

PS: 10000 words have been updated. The monthly votes have exceeded 5500. I will risk my life to write two more chapters!
(End of this chapter)