August 15th is a day off.

Yinreng finally no longer had to get up early to attend morning readings, but before noon, Kangxi sent someone to deliver an oral order, asking him to go to Qingxi Study to accompany him.

What good can come from having a companion?

Yinreng's thoughts were turning back and forth in his mind.

I don’t remember what big things happened recently.

He had wanted to go to Danningju today to accompany Ukuma and Mama, but now it seems that his plan is going to be ruined.

In fact, Yinreng felt a sense of urgency as early as just after the Spring Festival.

Because he knew that this year's twelfth month would be the day when Empress Xiaozhuang would die.

So in the past six months, when he went to pay his respects, he would consciously stay a little longer and repeatedly ask about Su Malagu and Xiaozhuang's health, which moved Xiaozhuang and Su Malagu beyond words.

In Qingxi Study, Kangxi, who had just finished breakfast, sat in his study, frowning and thinking as he read the news from the northwest border.

Below him, Li Guangdi, Tong Guogang, Tong Guowei, Xiong Cilü, Soetu, Zhang Ying, Gao Shiqi and others sat in order. No one spoke and the atmosphere was a little stagnant.

As soon as Kangxi finished his breakfast, he summoned these trusted ministers to discuss the news he had received the previous night.

"What do you think of Galdan's meddling in the Khalkha civil strife?"

Kangxi stared for a while, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

The faces of several ministers were not looking good.

After all, our memory is still fresh in our minds as to Galdan's plan to gather troops to raid Khalkha Mongolia last year. This shows that Hun Taiji of the Junggar tribe is also a man with ulterior motives.

Tong Guogang said in a deep voice,

"Galdan is challenging the dignity of the Qing suzerain. He doesn't take the Qing seriously. He deserves to be taught a lesson!"

Li Guangdi frowned tightly and spoke carefully.

"What the uncle said is not without reason, but no one in Khalkha Mongolia has asked the Qing for help. If we rashly send troops, I am afraid it will cause resentment among the Khalkha tribes. Wouldn't that be more harm than good?"

Gao Shiqi said,

"I second your proposal. Even if we send troops to teach Galdan a lesson, we have to pass through Khalkha. With Khalkha's internal political situation so chaotic right now, there's no shortage of treacherous individuals leaking information. If Tushetu Khan receives word that the Qing is sending troops to attack, there's no guarantee he won't throw in the towel and ally completely with Galdan."

"But Lord Gao, don't forget that the Khalkha Mongols have more than just the Tushetu Khanate. There are two other tribes as well. If the Qing can win over these two tribes and take down the Tushetu Khanate, they can also take down Galdan at the same time."

This is Xiong Cili.

"Hmph, Lord Xiong, that's easy for you to say. The other two tribes are also in the midst of internal strife. Lord Xiong, are you planning to push someone to power before plotting against Galdan? Don't you think that would be too time-consuming and exhausting? By then, I'm afraid the Tushetu Khanate would have been completely subjugated by Galdan, right?"

Li Guangdi refuted it mercilessly.

"You can't say that..."

The pro-war faction and the wait-and-see faction were exchanging verbal attacks with each other, and Kangxi felt his head swelling from listening to them, but he did not stop the verbal battle.

This is a great opportunity for him.

After all, everyone looks at problems differently. Listening more will help him take all the pros and cons into consideration, and then analyze them one by one to figure out how to maximize the benefits.

Just then, Yinreng arrived.

The verbal battle in the room paused for a moment.

"Your Highness, I pay my respects to you."

Yinreng performed the ceremony of kneeling and bowing.

In a more formal occasion like this, Yinreng still had to pay his respects to Kangxi according to the rules, unlike in private where he would just kneel on one knee.

After Kangxi woke Yinreng up, he briefly told him about Galdan's interference in Khalkha's internal affairs, and then asked him for his opinion on the matter.

When Yinreng heard the reason why Kangxi called him, his expression suddenly became strange.

"Are you asking for my opinion on this? ? The old man doesn't have a fever, does he?!"

Kangxi: “…”

No fever!

Except for Soetu, the ministers sitting below also had strange expressions on their faces. They couldn't understand why Kangxi called Yinreng over to ask for his opinion.

At the prince's age, just attending court occasionally is enough for him to digest, so why is he still asked for his opinion?

Yinreng's mind was racing, trying to figure out whether he had experienced this in his previous life, but after thinking for a long time, he came to the conclusion - no.

So he was silent for a while and replied,

"I don't know..."

Kangxi didn't expect him to express his opinion directly, so after he replied that he didn't know, he asked Liang Jiugong to bring him a low stool and let him sit below him.

Then he asked the ministers to continue.

Everyone's faces suddenly became bright.

After exchanging several glances, they began to repeat the verbal battle just now.

But anyone with a discerning eye could see that Soetu couldn't suppress the smile on his face even in such a serious occasion.

However, the brothers Tong Guogang and Tong Guowei looked at Yinreng several times without leaving any trace.

Yinreng was watching the ministers arguing with great interest and didn't pay any attention.

"Li Guangdi's thinking is still too old-fashioned. He always talks about etiquette. But when people bully you and make you shit on them, they won't show you any courtesy."

"Oh, Mr. Xiong is still strong even at his old age. If it weren't for the wrong occasion, he would have wanted to fight Gao Shiqi!"

"Huh? Gao Shiqi is not a good guy. He actually cursed Mr. Xiong with his mouth!"

Kangxi's forehead was full of black lines when he heard this.

It didn't take long for him to stop the quarrel.

"Enough! I called you here to discuss matters, not to quarrel with you. If I weren't sitting here today, would you still want to fight?!"

When everyone heard this, they all lowered their heads.

Yinreng secretly criticized,

"If you don't invite them, I'm afraid they will never sit at the same table to eat in their lives."

"Galdan's ambitions are already clear to the public. If I do not take precautions, I am afraid that the Khoshut Khanate will not be spared.

My intention is to first contact the successors of Zasaktu Khan and Chechen Khan, and ask them to come to the Qing Dynasty and ask for assistance. This will then give the Qing Dynasty a pretext to send troops against the Khalkha tribe."

"I'm afraid it's useless..."

Yinreng sighed.

Although he did not participate in this meeting in his previous life, when Kangxi taught him afterwards, he also explained the whole story to Yinreng, so he also had a deep impression of this incident.