Chapter 423 Selecting People
“Longkodo…”
"no!"
"You seem to have a lot of opinions about him?"
Kangxi looked at his sons, who were all unanimously opposed, and was slightly surprised. But since they were the ones who had experienced the game firsthand, Kangxi calmly asked, "Why?"
Yinzhi sneered: "With his brute-like appearance..."
Before he could finish speaking, everyone, including Emperor Kangxi, turned to look at Yinzhi.
Yinzhi, enraged and embarrassed, asked, "What do you mean?"
Yinreng pressed him down: "It's nothing, calling Longkodo a brute is too much of an exaggeration."
Kangxi glanced at Yinreng with a hint of reproach. He should have just comforted Yinzhi instead of belittling Longkodo.
Yinreng sneered and continued, "That Longkodo is arrogant and disdainful of everyone. Father, if you want us to die quickly, you can just say so. There's no need to send him in."
"What nonsense are you spouting!"
Emperor Kangxi rebuked him, then asked hesitantly, "Is Longkodo really that bad?"
Yin Zhi smiled sarcastically: "That's Father Emperor's cousin, Lord Longkodo, who thinks he's more noble than all the princes and looks at us like we're nobodies."
Kangxi's expression twisted slightly; he knew that Longkodo wasn't as humble as he had appeared in front of him. But in the past, he had thought that it was normal for Longkodo, given his status, to be a little arrogant.
I never expected him to be so arrogant in front of the prince.
Kangxi was naturally angry, but he considered things more deeply. "Longkodo is highly skilled in martial arts and his identity is easy to control. I don't think he would dare to disobey my orders. He is sufficient as a spy."
If Kangxi's previous suggestion of Longkodo stemmed from trust, then his insistence on choosing Longkodo at this moment was purely a way of using him as a disposable tool.
Yinzhen coldly shook his head: "Disregarding human ethics, Longkodo has no shortage of courage."
Kangxi looked at him with surprise, while Yinreng and the others showed expressions of understanding and disgust.
Kangxi frowned. "What's going on?"
Yinreng rarely showed an expression of disgust: "Father, do you know that his wife is from the Hesheli clan?"
Kangxi nodded, naturally knowing that he had genuinely cared for this cousin in the past and even knew that Hesheli was Longkodo's cousin.
"Father, please send someone to check on her. Hopefully, nothing bad has happened to Lady Hesheli."
"What do you mean?" Kangxi asked, puzzled, but Yinreng and the others simply told him to investigate and he would find out.
In short, everyone unanimously opposed Longkodo's joining, so Kangxi did not insist, but kept in mind that he would investigate Longkodo thoroughly later.
"How is Orondai?"
Yinreng: "Stubborn and self-willed!"
Yin Zhi: "Arrogant and conceited!"
Yinzhen: "He never learns his lesson!"
Yinzhi: "Not as good as a brute."
"..." Kangxi couldn't help but press his brow. Does the game really change people this much? Everyone's speech has become so... straightforward.
Seeing their dissatisfaction, Kangxi pressed further, asking, "Who do you think is suitable?"
"If we absolutely had to choose one from the Tongjia clan..."
Yinreng and the others looked at Yinzhen in tacit agreement. He knew Tongjia well.
Yinzhen pondered for a moment, then said, "Fahai, Tong Guogang's second son."
"Fahai...okay."
"She's a good candidate."
Yinreng and the other two nodded, while Yinqi and Yinsi, the four of them, sat on chairs to the side as soon as the selection began, focusing on drinking tea and eating snacks, exchanging emojis in private, and openly slacking off.
Emperor Kangxi had no objections, after all, they were truly unfamiliar with the people of the previous dynasty. However… looking at his four eldest sons who had so easily chosen Fahai, Kangxi was utterly bewildered. When did they become so knowledgeable about Fahai?
His only impression of Fahai was that Orondai and he didn't get along.
The more they talked, the more problems seemed to arise, but there was no time to dwell on them now. Kangxi could only suppress his controlling nature and continue, "Now that Fahai has been chosen, what about the others? What about Suo'etu's son?"
It's clear that Emperor Kangxi was very nepotistic, and he liked to recruit people from his maternal relatives' families.
Yinreng commented without any mercy: "They're all brainless. My assessment is that they're not as good as the Great... not as good as a brute."
Yinzhi glared at him, thinking he really couldn't tell!
Yinreng smiled, looked up at Kangxi seriously, and said, "Perhaps, Father Emperor, you could consider my maternal uncle?"
"You mean Changtai?" Kangxi was somewhat surprised. Yinreng's maternal grandfather, Gabula, was in poor health. Therefore, the Hesheli family had always been headed by Suo'etu, and Gabula's sons, like him, were very low-key.
But when Yinreng made this suggestion, Kangxi thought about it and felt it was very appropriate.
Unfortunately, Yinreng refused, "No, I meant Lunbu. Changtai is the eldest son, it would be too conspicuous for him to get involved."
There was one more thing Yinreng didn't say: the game involved the possibility of death. If Changtai died, his maternal lineage would truly decline.
Although this is very unfair to Columbus, there is no absolute fairness under imperial power.
Yinreng's decision to reject the lineage of Suo'etu was based on public interest, while his decision to choose the lineage of Gabula was based on private interest, and his decision to choose Lunbu was based on his private interest within his private interest.
Kangxi clearly understood what he meant, and after a moment of silence, he did not refuse.
“Next, let’s choose Zhang Ying’s son, Zhang Tingyu,” Yin Zhi suggested.
Yinzhen nodded and told a lame joke: "Manchus and Han Chinese are one family."
Even Emperor Kangxi couldn't help but glance at Yinzhen. Was he serious? Perhaps the Han people didn't want to be allies with the Manchus at this time?
...
In his spare time, 15-year-old Zhang Tingyu also thought about how he would show his talent in the imperial court in the future, just like his father.
But he didn't expect the opportunity to meet the emperor to come so quickly.
When he entered the side hall of the Qianqing Palace with a belly full of doubts, and saw Tongjia Fahai and Hesheli Lunbu sitting inside, his doubts only increased.
He cautiously said nothing more, and after greeting the two men, he sat quietly in a chair and waited, guided by the young eunuch.
At this moment, after learning about the three men's performance from the eunuch, Kangxi nodded in satisfaction.
Although they were all relatively young, they all appeared quite composed. It was clear that when his sons chose their successors, they valued intelligence and character more than physical strength.
However, considering Yinzhi's previous description of the game's content, Kangxi could understand this choice; otherwise, he wouldn't have summoned these three people.
"Bring them in."
"Yes, sir."
The three boys bowed their heads respectfully as they entered the Qianqing Palace and knelt before Emperor Kangxi.
"Greetings, Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"
"Get up, everyone."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
The three of them stood up and remained silent, awaiting Kangxi's instructions.
Emperor Kangxi placed three bright red invitations on the table and said, "I have a task for you. If you do well, promotion and titles will be yours. But if you do poorly, you will lose your lives. Are you willing?"
The choices the emperor gave were always single-choice questions.
Zhang Tingyu understood this very well, so he was the first to kneel down and accept the order: "I am willing to be loyal to the Emperor and to the Qing Dynasty."
Fahai and Lunbu followed suit: "Be loyal to the Emperor, be loyal to the Qing Dynasty."
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