Chapter 153 Teaching a Tour of the Garden

When Emperor Kangxi was not busy with state affairs, he often enjoyed visiting the Imperial Garden to admire the scenery. Sometimes he would be accompanied by his concubines, sometimes by the Empress Dowager, and sometimes he would want to enjoy family time by strolling in the garden with his princes or princesses.

When Emperor Kangxi took his sons to tour the garden, in addition to enjoying the beautiful scenery, he would often test their literary skills by asking them to compose poems about the scenery of the Imperial Garden at different times and in different places. At the very least, they should be able to recite one or two poems that were appropriate for the occasion, so that their literary skills would not be too poor.

However, this visit to the garden was a sudden idea of ​​Emperor Kangxi, without prior notice, and was essentially a surprise inspection.

The Ninth Prince, the Fifth Prince, and the Ninth Prince, who usually relied on reciting poems to suit their occasions, had not prepared in advance and were now at a loss. They were sweating profusely on their way to the Imperial Garden and felt a sense of unease.

"Tenth Brother, Father Khan will order us to compose poems later. What should we do?" Ninth Prince's face was pale, and his phoenix eyes were about to burst into tears. "I didn't memorize any poems beforehand. My mind is a mess right now. I can't think of a single poem that's appropriate for the occasion."

Yin'e was equally flustered. He took a deep breath and leaned closer to the Ninth Prince, whispering, "Ninth Brother, I haven't prepared any poems to recite later. But that's not the most troublesome thing. The most troublesome thing is that I don't know which poems are appropriate for the occasion."

"Today is the Awakening of Insects, and Khan Father says it's time to welcome spring..."

Stumbling, the Ninth Prince closed his eyes in despair, his heart filled with utter despair. He muttered under his breath, filled with resentment, "How long will Father Khan be staying in the palace this time? In previous years, Father Khan only stayed in the capital for a maximum of half a year."

The Ninth Prince couldn't help but groan in his heart: Whether it's going hunting outside the capital, going to the Rehe Imperial Palace, going to Mount Wutai, or even going hunting beyond the Great Wall or personally leading an expedition against the Dzungars, whatever the matter, Father, please leave the capital quickly and stop torturing them in the Forbidden City!

Not only was the Ninth Prince annoyed, but Yin'e was also overwhelmed. It was bad enough that Kangxi would come to the Imperial Study once a day to inspect it, but he also kept taking over the riding and archery lessons, taking them to the garden, and making them compose poems on the spot. It was so annoying.

Isn't this just like taking up PE class to go on a spring outing and then having to write a book report? It would be better not to go on the outing at all and stay for the riding and archery class, which would be more interesting and you wouldn't have to rack your brains to memorize poems.

Trailing at the back of the group, Yin'e stepped into the Imperial Garden and looked around. What greeted his eyes was a sea of ​​green, the snow-covered landscape of a month ago nowhere to be seen. Spring's footsteps were light and quiet, and all things were reviving silently. The exotic flowers and rare herbs planted throughout the Imperial Garden were awakening in the spring breeze.

If you don't think about Kangxi's upcoming tests, then it's quite nice to stroll around the Imperial Garden.

After the start of spring, the Imperial Garden is beautiful and the air is fresh. Strolling through it, one feels relaxed and refreshed. The dust that lingers in one's heart is wiped away by the spring breeze, and the fatigue and weariness accumulated in one's body are swept away.

"After the start of spring, spring returns to the earth, the weather gradually warms up, and the capital city is already in full bloom."

As Emperor Kangxi strolled through the scenic Imperial Garden, he led his princes up a hillside. From the pavilion atop the hill, gazing into the distance, he suddenly sighed with a melancholy expression: "But the Mongolian lands beyond the Great Wall are still covered in ice and snow, without a trace of green."

Following behind the other princes and lagging behind, Yin'e mainly kept a low profile. As long as Kangxi did not ask him or specifically ask him to come forward to answer questions, he would hide in the back and pretend to be dead, trying to minimize his presence and become invisible.

At this moment, Kangxi was filled with emotion, but Yin'e had no intention of speaking up. He did not try to share Kangxi's worries or relieve his anxieties. He was just wondering why Kangxi suddenly mentioned Mongolia and was expressing his feelings about these things.

Was he feeling compassion and a desire to help the Khalkha tribe, who had barely survived the winter only to be plundered by the Dzungars? Or had he already made up his mind to personally lead the campaign, and was now sharpening his sword, ready to strike the Dzungars? Or perhaps, Kangxi's words were just casual remarks, without any deeper meaning?

His memories and experiences from his past life made Yin'e far more mature than his peers, but they also left him with a weakness.

That is, Yin'e's political sensitivity is not high. Even though he has seen a lot of intrigue and scheming in the palace, he just doesn't suffer losses. Most of the time, he only passively defends and never takes the initiative to attack. This can be seen from his choice to play dumb and do nothing in order to deal with the struggle for the throne.

For the other shrewd people in the palace, figuring out what their superiors were thinking and actively responding to please them had become instinctive. But Yin'e was neither too lazy to please Kangxi nor could he accurately grasp Kangxi's thoughts.

From a certain perspective, Yin'e was actually quite straightforward, just like the Fifth Prince, and didn't have as many hidden agendas.

Faced with Kangxi's lament, the Crown Prince, who was standing right behind him on his left, spoke first: "The Mongols suffered a devastating snowstorm last winter, and even though it snowed again in the spring, they haven't recovered. The northern tribes suffered the most, especially the Khalkha tribes."

"Although the Khan has already distributed grain and relief, the Dzungars are entrenched on the sidelines, watching us with predatory eyes. The disaster has not been completely eliminated, and there are still many hidden dangers." The Crown Prince, dressed in an apricot-yellow four-clawed python robe, had an elegant and aloof demeanor. "The Khalkha people are not at peace and need to be appeased."

Seeing Kangxi's attentive gaze, with encouragement in his eyes awaiting his next words, the Crown Prince smiled slightly, exuding elegance, and spoke eloquently: "Your subject believes that this white disaster in Mongolia is an opportunity, a good opportunity to bring the Mongolian people of Outer Mongolia closer to the Qing Dynasty and deepen their dependence on the court."

The harsh environment on the grasslands makes most nomadic peoples very realistic—or rather, most nomadic peoples are down-to-earth, realistic, and don't have unrealistic dreams or entrust their fate to others.

After all, nomadic peoples have to fight against the cruel nature from birth. In order to survive in harsh and difficult environments, they have long been accustomed to seizing all the help around them and making use of all available resources.

When faced with survival, no means or actions can be considered beautiful or ugly.

When the Mongol tribes realized they needed the help of the Qing Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty was willing to lend a helping hand and could actually help them, the pragmatic and unpretentious Mongols would not bow their heads, nor would they refuse to submit to the Qing Dynasty for ridiculous reasons such as saving face.

Emperor Kangxi frowned slightly, but quickly relaxed.

The Crown Prince's view was correct, and he agreed with it, but he still felt it was not enough and was dissatisfied, believing that the Crown Prince's considerations were not comprehensive enough and there were still oversights.

Emperor Kangxi personally raised the Crown Prince and took full responsibility for his upbringing. He spent a great deal of time and effort on the Crown Prince and had extremely high expectations for him, hoping that the Crown Prince would grow up to be a pair of "holy father and holy son" who would be remembered in history.

There is a saying that goes, "The deeper the love, the harsher the criticism." Emperor Kangxi cherished and valued the Crown Prince the most, and of course, he also hoped that the Crown Prince would give him enough in return for his efforts.

The Crown Prince did not disappoint Kangxi. He was indeed the most outstanding among Kangxi's many sons. He surpassed the Third Prince in academics and was not much inferior to the First Prince in horsemanship and martial arts. He was excellent in all aspects and could be described as a well-rounded talent with no weaknesses.

However, the Crown Prince was still too young, lacked a broad perspective, and did not consider things comprehensively enough. In addition, the Crown Prince was too arrogant, and his relationship with his other brothers and sisters was cold and distant. As Kangxi grew older and the Crown Prince gradually came of age, Kangxi gradually developed some criticism and dissatisfaction with the Crown Prince.

These negative emotions that Kangxi felt towards the Crown Prince were still few and slight, insufficient to affect his attitude towards the Crown Prince, nor could they shake his affection and care for him. However, it is undeniable that Kangxi had begun to feel some dissatisfaction with the Crown Prince.

"Yinreng is right. It is indeed necessary for the Qing Dynasty to strengthen its relationship with the Mongols in the north." Kangxi praised the Crown Prince with a smile, his smile genuine and slightly approving.

Although he felt that the Crown Prince's considerations were not comprehensive enough, Kangxi still regarded him as the heir apparent.

Given Kangxi's current feelings for the Crown Prince and his oversights, he would not directly point out the Crown Prince's mistakes and reprimand him. Instead, he would patiently teach the Crown Prince, use words to guide him to think deeply, and explain things to him in a gentle and earnest manner, as if he wanted to feed the Crown Prince directly.

Even now, Emperor Kangxi still earnestly hopes that the Crown Prince can grow into a qualified heir apparent who can assist in governing and share the burden on his shoulders.

"The Mongolia beyond the Great Wall is divided into Southern Mongolia, Northern Mongolia, Western Mongolia, and Qinghai Mongolia." Kangxi sat down in the pavilion on the mountaintop, pointing north as he calmly instructed the Crown Prince and other princes, "Among them, Southern Mongolia has the closest ties with the Qing Dynasty."

Southern Mongolia, led by the Khorchin tribe, was the first to surrender to the Qing Dynasty and had the closest relationship with the Qing. The most frequent Manchu-Mongol intermarriages were also the most recent one. The most recent marriage was that of Princess Heshuo Chunxi, who was ranked as the eldest princess, to Borjigit Bandi, a Taiji of the Khorchin tribe.

Secondly, there were the Mongolians of Outer Mongolia and the Oirat Mongols of Qinghai. After the Mongols of Southern Mongolia, they successively submitted to the Qing Dynasty and sent envoys to pay tribute to the Qing Dynasty every year. However, their contact with the Qing Dynasty was not as frequent as that of the Mongols of Southern Mongolia, and their relationship was relatively distant, with few marriage alliances.

The Western Mongols are the most rebellious and have been quite active recently. The Dzungar tribe, which has caused a great stir in the Mongolian steppes, belongs to the Western Mongols. The unruly and rebellious nature of the Western Mongols is also closely related to their geographical location.

The four tribes of Western Mongolia—Dzungar, Dörbet, Khoshut, and Torgut—were originally the powerful Oirat Mongols during the Ming Dynasty.

During the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty, the Oirat Mongols were forced to abandon the eastern part of the Mongolian Plateau and migrate westward under the attack of Dayan Khan of the Eastern Mongols. Over a long period of development, they split into four major tribes, including the Dzungars.

After the Oirat split, the relationship between the four major tribes gradually became distant, and they were no longer as close as family. The other three tribes of Western Mongolia did not participate in this Dzungar rebellion—at least not openly.

The territories of the four major tribes of Western Mongolia were located far away from the Ejil River basin (now the lower reaches of the Volga River), the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the areas north and south of the Tianshan Mountains. They were very far from the Qing Dynasty, but very close to Tsarist Russia, making them easy targets for Tsarist Russia's influence and alliance.

The Dzungars' intention to invade the Qing Dynasty was undoubtedly influenced by Tsarist Russia. Their raids on the Khalkha and other tribes in Outer Mongolia were merely the first step in their campaign against the Qing.