Chapter 231 Live Broadcast from the Sky (11)
"His innocence is in jeopardy"
These four words were all that were on Yinzhen's mind. Listening to the slurping sounds around him, Yinzhen sighed softly, "Laugh if you want to..." Anyway, the whole Qing Dynasty knew about his joke.
"Hahaha, Fourteenth, I'm not laughing at you..." Thirteen patted his shoulder, suppressing a laugh as he comforted him, "This 'sky curtain' isn't talking about you, don't worry, that virgin... pfft... not you... haha, not you..."
Yinzhen was already "as still as water." Laugh, laugh, who isn't a joke? He believed he wouldn't be the only joke; he wanted to see who would be next.
It's another Lunar New Year's Eve banquet, and historical records of this year's event are scarce. However, friends, if you look at it in conjunction with the "diaries" of the royal family's leaders, this year's banquet becomes particularly meaningful.
This was the first year of the eldest prince Yinzhi's decline, the beginning of the apparent estrangement between the crown prince Yinreng and Yongzheng, and also the first meeting between Yongzheng's seventeenth brother Yinli, a devoted fan of Yongzheng.
According to Prince Cheng's notes, at the New Year's banquet, the eldest prince, Yinzhi, had almost no close ministers around him, while the crown prince was surrounded by people.
When Yongzheng toasted the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince behaved in a rather humiliating manner, openly displaying his dissatisfaction with Yongzheng, a discontent that even the third prince's attempts to smooth things over could not quell.
As for why the Crown Prince's attitude changed so drastically, you can probably guess it: it was due to Suo'etujin's slander.
To be honest, with Songgotu's attitude of "the whole world wants to harm the Crown Prince, but I am loyal to the Crown Prince," he made enemies everywhere for the Crown Prince, wasting Kangxi's efforts and causing the Third Prince Yinzhi and Yongzheng, who originally followed the Crown Prince, to become estranged from him.
Prince Cheng, Yinzhi, who later became enthusiastic about compiling books, also solidified his decision to abdicate based on this New Year's banquet and the Crown Prince's attitude towards Yongzheng.
Suddenly brought up by Tianmu, Yinzhi gave an awkward smile as he faced the curious gazes of Kangxi and the others. Sure enough, even in a different time and space, he was still the same person. Tianmu seemed to be able to read his mind, seeing right through him. What was he going to do now?
Seeing the third prince's guilty conscience, Yinreng was taken aback. So the third prince really had such thoughts? Didn't he have any confidence in his own future? What a terrible way he was to be the crown prince…
Yinreng gave a self-deprecating laugh. Even if Tianmu said Suo'etu was involved, what could he say? Suo'etu had already been arrested, and everything was beyond repair. Besides, everything Suo'etu did was for him…
This banquet was also the first time that the seventeenth prince, Yinli, met his beloved fourth brother, according to his records. According to his description, this was his good brother. From that time on, the five-year-old Yinli was thinking about how to become the best brother in Yongzheng's heart.
And you know what? He actually succeeded in taking the throne in the end. His younger brother, Fourteen, really couldn't outmaneuver the little fox, Seventeen; he always ended up getting tricked by him. Of course, there's always someone who can overcome someone else—Seventeen could overcome Fourteen, but he was also completely controlled by Eighth Prince. The little fox ultimately couldn't outsmart the old fox. Otherwise, how could Fourteen and Eighth Prince be the dominant force, hahaha…
Yinzhi remained calm, extremely calm, and had already taken the teasing looks from others to heart. So be it, he was the Fourth Prince. In that era, he clearly did very well, something others could only envy. Let them laugh; let's see who's the real joke in the end.
In the 41st year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, a major event occurred that changed the political landscape of the court—the corruption case in Jiangnan, also known as "Bloody Jiangnan," which was triggered at the beginning of the year by Irali Asan, the Governor-General of Liangjiang.
Historians unanimously believe that this was a scheme orchestrated by Emperor Kangxi to weaken the power of the Crown Prince's faction. However, because it involved the Manchu-Han conflict, the situation escalated beyond Kangxi's control. Therefore, it was Kangxi who dispatched Emperor Yongzheng, and it was also due to the immense pressure he faced that he recalled Yongzheng.
The incident began when a Han Chinese official accused Ilari Ashan of embezzlement and bribery. Who did he bribe? Naturally, it was Suo'etu.
Therefore, Irali Ashan submitted a memorial refuting this, saying that the Han officials "find faults and arbitrarily frame others."
Then the entire court erupted in chaos. Han and Manchu officials argued fiercely. Irali Asan was truly outspoken and directly exposed the corruption case in Jiangnan, impeaching the Han officials in Jiangnan for colluding, embezzling, accepting bribes, and illegally selling salt.
This escalated the previous minor dispute into a major court matter, and the evidence prepared was also very substantial. Therefore, Emperor Kangxi issued an imperial edict appointing Emperor Yongzheng as imperial commissioner to investigate the case in Jiangnan.
Speaking of this, there's an interesting anecdote. Everyone knows that managing affairs in Jiangnan is difficult; one wrong move and you can easily offend a large group of people. So when Kangxi first asked everyone to recommend someone to take charge, Yongzheng was particularly popular.
Those who supported the third prince recommended the fourth and eighth princes, those who supported the eighth prince recommended the third and fourth princes, the existing generals of the First Prince's faction recommended the fourth prince, the Crown Prince's faction recommended the fourth prince... In short, this was the first time Yongzheng had such good "popularity," haha.
In reality, everyone was hoping to make Yongzheng a cannon fodder, but Kangxi also chose Yongzheng.
Yes, you can see it, right? Whether it was the Han official who initially impeached him or Irali Ashan, they were all Kangxi's men, their aim being Jiangnan. Because at this stage, under Songgotu's manipulation, Jiangnan had basically become the Crown Prince's money bag, and Kangxi wanted to remove the Crown Prince's control over Jiangnan.
He chose Yongzheng because he understood Yongzheng's abilities and character. In fact, Yongzheng did not disappoint Kangxi's expectations, and even far exceeded them; he truly aimed to clean up the officialdom.
From February to June, throughout the first half of the year, Prince Yongzheng (Yinzhen) practically went on a rampage in Jiangnan, earning him the reputation of being the "reincarnation of the Xie Zhi" in the region. Even today, one can still see many temples in Jiangsu and Anhui that enshrine the Xie Zhi version of Emperor Yongzheng.
Emperor Yongzheng was truly relentless in his investigations, relentlessly pursuing justice and eliminating threats. Even when faced with countless assassination attempts, he showed no sign of backing down. Many believe this was one of the reasons for his later poor health, as he had sustained too many injuries and exhausted too much energy during his investigations.
Neither Emperor Kangxi nor his officials expected that Yongzheng would be so resolute, so daring to investigate, and so capable. In the end, it was only when the entire court and the public stood up and petitioned Emperor Kangxi to summon Prince Yong back that the matter slowly came to an end.
It can be said that in less than six months, nearly half of the officials in the Jiangnan region were replaced, all thanks to Emperor Yongzheng. It is said that the execution platform at Caishikou in Jiangnan was covered in bloodstains that could not be washed off with water, which is the origin of the name "Bloody Jiangnan".
After single-handedly bringing down the Tongjia clan, Yongzheng became famous once again. However, this title of "reincarnation of the mythical beast Xie Zhi" also made him a "lone wolf" for a long time afterward; no official dared approach him, fearing for their life. This is one of the reasons why corruption among Qing officials was so rare after Yongzheng ascended the throne. After all, their superior was a ruthless "god of death" who tolerated no wrongdoing; naturally, they dared not embezzle for the sake of their own lives.
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