Chapter 73 The Divide Between the Manchus and the Han
The festive atmosphere of the New Year did not reach the Qianqing Palace. Emperor Kangxi left the banquet early and returned to his sleeping quarters, but he did not relax his attention to the banquet.
Kangxi knew everything about Yinzhi's despondency, Yinsi's social skills, and the fourteenth prince's ever-present smile. He even knew the trivial matter of Yinzhi and Yintang scaring Yinli together.
Naturally, he wouldn't miss Yinreng's glory, nor his public humiliation of Yinzhen.
“Baocheng…Suo'etu…”
In the brightly lit imperial bedchamber, Emperor Kangxi, dressed in a bright yellow nightgown, leaned back in his chair, rubbing his furrowed brows. A flash of murderous intent crossed his eyes as he looked at Suo'etu.
In Kangxi's mind, if Bao Cheng did poorly, it was all the fault of those around him. The reason he treated Yinzhen this way must be due to the slanderous words of Suo'etu. Kangxi had not forgotten Suo'etu's previous attempts to scheme against Yinzhen.
“Yinzhen…”
Kangxi's fingers tapped lightly on the table, his mind racing with thoughts. This was indeed a good opportunity...
"Your Highness, how is Fourteenth Brother?" After leaving the palace, seeing that Yinzhen was in a good mood, Yixiu couldn't help but think of Yinzhen and tentatively asked.
"Not bad." Yinzhen nodded, but in reality, he was thinking of his seventeenth brother, whom he had just met. He was still a child, and there was no sign of him becoming the "brother-in-law who would later take in his wife."
"That's good. These two days are the New Year's holidays, so why don't we bring our fourteenth brother out to rest at our residence for a couple of days? He's been confined for so long, it must be tough for him. Why not let him go out of the palace to change his mood?"
Yixiu offered sincere and kind advice, appearing like a good sister-in-law, showing no sign that the fourteenth prince's confinement was part of her scheming.
"Very well, let's invite Thirteen as well, so the two of them can keep each other company. Thank you for your hard work, Xiao Yi." Yinzhen held Yixiu's hand, looking very moved.
"It's no trouble at all. The two princes are your family, and so are my family." Yixiu's smile was gentle and genuine. Compared to Yinzhen, she actually had a better impression of the thirteenth prince, Yinxiang.
The couple agreed and sent someone to bring the thirteenth and fourteenth princes over the next day. During the New Year holiday, the palace was not strictly controlled, and the two had a chance to get out and breathe some fresh air.
Yinzhen took the two of them on a trip, and they would occasionally encounter groups of eighty, ninety, or thirteen people. Yintang and Yinzhen would always bicker and be pulled apart by the two groups, but they would still argue the next time they met.
As the argument raged on, the others got used to it and watched like spectators. Yinzhen and Yintang, however, were embarrassed and annoyed, and called a truce. This left the court officials and relatives who had been quietly "eating melons" (watching the drama unfold) deeply disappointed, feeling that the New Year celebrations had lost all their charm.
Compared to various banquets or the fawning over the Crown Prince's faction, the quarrels between the Ninth Prince and the Fourteenth Prince are much more interesting. The drama surrounding the imperial brothers is thrilling, and there's no risk of taking sides—who wouldn't love it?
Unfortunately, with Yinzhen returning to the palace, the two princes temporarily ceased hostilities, and the joyous New Year celebrations came to an end.
In the forty-first year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, the court officials, who were still drowsy and had not yet recovered from the New Year's atmosphere, were startled awake by a thunderclap from Irali Asan, the Governor-General of Liangjiang.
Irali Ashan, a Manchu of the Bordered Blue Banner, was the newly appointed Governor-General of Liangjiang in the thirty-ninth year of his reign. He was in charge of the military and civil affairs of Jiangsu, Anhui and Jiangxi provinces, and was a high-ranking official whose political status was second only to the Governor-General of Zhili.
He hadn't shown any particular talent before, but unexpectedly, he dropped a bombshell at the start of the year, leaving everyone in the court speechless.
This is the first time I've realized how brave Irali Ahsan is, bringing the conflict between Manchu and Han officials to the public's attention.
Listen to what he's saying. He claims that Han Chinese "collude and protect each other," and that although few Manchus hold official positions outside the capital, they "never act cunningly." He accuses Han officials of disliking Manchu officials for this reason, and of "finding faults and arbitrarily framing" them.
Because of Ashan's lawsuit in court, the Han officials perked up and began to argue with Ashan on the spot, accusing him of making baseless and unfounded claims.
The mouths of civil officials, especially Han Chinese civil officials, are not something ordinary people can withstand. The other Manchu officials watching the battle were all sweating for Ah Shan, unable to understand why he did this.
The princes attending court were also bewildered, but compared to his brothers who were watching the spectacle with curiosity, Crown Prince Yinreng was even more confused. Irali Ashan was practically one of their own, and he hadn't been told before that he was going to sue the Han officials.
Moreover, most of the Han officials were supporters of the orthodox tradition, essentially his supporters. Ah Shan's actions could be described as his own people fighting each other. Yinreng was very confused and wanted to know why Ah Shan did this.
"Irali Asan, do you have any evidence?" Kangxi, sitting on the dragon throne, seemed impatient with their bickering and asked in a cold voice.
In the eyes of the Han officials, this meant that the emperor was standing up for them, so they stopped arguing with Ah Shan and waited to hear his evidence.
“Your Majesty has evidence,” Irali Asan stepped forward and bowed, replying confidently, “The impeachment of Qi Shiwu, the Governor of Gansu, and Gali, the Governor of Shanxi, were both done by Han officials. Now, Han officials also want to impeach me. This is all because Han officials want to eliminate dissidents and abolish the Manchu governors and governors of the whole country. This is a treasonous act!”
After Ashan finished speaking, the court fell silent. Well, so he knew in advance he was going to be impeached by Han officials and acted on it prematurely? The reason he came up with was so far-fetched, who would believe it?
Yinreng was also quite astonished, never expecting that Irali Ashan was such a "talent," daring to get involved in the Manchu-Han conflict for his own selfish reasons. How did this guy become the Governor-General of Liangjiang? Is it too late to expel him from the Crown Prince's faction?
The Han officials in the court were both furious and amused; Irali Asan was absurd. However, the topic was sensitive, so they had to step forward to explain and prove that they had no selfish motives and had not engaged in any favoritism or corruption.
The censor who had originally only submitted a memorial to impeach Ashan privately had to come forward and say that he impeached Ashan only because he had sent a huge number of gifts to Hesheli’s residence during the New Year, and suspected him of “colluding with superiors and subordinates.”
The flames of war inexplicably spread to him, yet Yinreng remained unmoved under the curious and probing gazes of others. As long as he didn't admit it, Ashan had nothing to do with him. What did it have to do with Ilari Ashan sending gifts to the Hesheli residence? Could these censors really search his treasury?
In conclusion, the farce was eventually stopped by Kangxi, who appeased the Han officials, reprimanded Irali Asan for fabricating the story, and the court session came to an end.
However, the repercussions were far from over. The court officials were not fools and did not believe that Irali Ahsan would accuse a Han official without cause. Knowing Kangxi's attitude of "treating Manchus and Han equally," they still dared to stubbornly provoke a conflict between the Manchus and Han.
He's a high-ranking official, not a fool; there must be something going on here.
This was the unanimous opinion of everyone, but based on Ashan's behavior, they could only associate it with the content of the censor's accusation against him. Could it be...? Everyone's gaze unconsciously shifted to the Crown Prince's faction. Thinking of the magnificent Hesheli Mansion during the New Year, and the title of "Prime Minister Suo," everyone seemed to have a sudden realization.
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