Last night was the first rain after the Mid-Autumn Festival. The heat in the air seemed to have dissipated overnight, and people unconsciously put on an extra layer of clothing before going out.
After the palace gate opened, the officials waiting at the gate followed the order and walked towards the palace. When they reached the gate, some unfamiliar guards said coldly to everyone,
"My Lords, today's Imperial Court Session has been changed to a Grand Court Meeting. Officials below the rank of Third Grade are requested to report directly to the Yamen."
Soetu, Tong Guowei and others who were walking in the front frowned for a moment.
I keenly smelled something unusual.
They had also received the news yesterday about Kangxi breaking into Fucha Maska's house, but at that time they all thought that Maska had made a mistake and was caught by Kangxi, so they did not pay too much attention to it.
But yesterday afternoon until after the curfew, after hearing that the bondservant families of the upper three banners had basically been surrounded by officers and soldiers, they knew that the upper three banners were going to be in chaos.
The Tong, Hesheli, and Nalan families were all Manchu nobles from the upper three banners and were not baoyi.
Fucha Mazi's family is actually also aristocrats.
It’s just that because Maska served as the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department, his contacts with the bannerman families became more frequent.
So...what was the reason that made Kangxi break into Maska's house regardless of the consequences?
This is against the rules!
Officials above the third rank once again sensed the chill in the air.
Anyone who has been to the battlefield knows that the coldness is not caused by the low temperature, but by the murderous atmosphere that is everywhere in the palace.
Everyone walked towards the Hall of Supreme Harmony with gloomy faces.
After arriving at the place, everyone saw the boxes and shelves placed on both sides of the hall.
The originally spacious hall was now somewhat crowded.
Everyone breathed faster for a moment, and soon they figured out the reason. Most people were gloating.
The bondservants of the upper three banners were never easy to deal with.
Soon, all the princes arrived.
Except for the Prince of Zhi and the Seventh Beile who were far away in Fujian, all the other princes who came to the court to carry out official business were included.
Yinreng glanced at the pile of things and found a few familiar shelves, and the corners of his mouth instantly rose.
The old man is really fast.
Yinzhen, Yin'er and Yinsi knew the inside story. Yesterday, the second brother only said that he would discuss it with the emperor, but in the morning the emperor actually went to Maska's house in person. If the second brother had not instigated this, they would not believe it even if they were beaten to death.
After the princes took their seats, Kangxi also came to the Hall of Supreme Harmony surrounded by the crowd.
After kneeling and kowtow three times, Kangxi smiled and spoke.
"No need to report today. I invite you to enjoy the treasures."
As he spoke, he stood up from the dragon throne and walked towards the east side of the hall.
"Come and take a look. These treasures were acquired by me yesterday. Many of them are not even in my own private vault..."
Kangxi pointed at the exquisite huanghuali wood screen.
"This screen is much better than the one currently used in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. Look at the joints, they are clearly carefully polished by the carpenter. It is simply not comparable to my screen that is connected with mortise and tenon joints..."
Following Kangxi's explanation, Yinreng looked over and found that the joints were natural and there was no gap at all. It seemed that the huanghuali trees used to make this screen might be more than a thousand years old.
After observing carefully for a moment, Yinreng stared at the base of the screen, a wicked smile appeared on the corner of his lips.
"Father Emperor, the base of this screen seems to have been bumped."
Kangxi's boasting stopped abruptly, and the smile on his face faded.
After a moment of silence, Kangxi smiled.
"After being used for so many years, isn't it normal for it to have some bumps and bruises?"
Everyone present tensed up almost instantly.
Kangxi's hand fell on the screen, and he asked with an unclear expression,
"Do you know when this screen was made?"
No one dared to talk to him.
"Not sure?"
Kangxi thought for a moment, then slapped his forehead.
"Look at my memory. You haven't served as the Minister of Internal Affairs, so how could you possibly know the origin of this screen?"
"I will tell you today that this screen was a tribute sent by the Sulu Kingdom seven years ago."
Kangxi's words, without any emotion, rang in everyone's ears. Wherever his eyes passed, everyone lowered their heads at the same time.
"A tribute from seven years ago? Tsk tsk tsk, who intercepted it? How daring! I'm afraid those translators from the Lifanyuan can't escape the blame either."
Yinreng was not affected at all and looked at the screen in amazement.
Thousand-year-old huanghuali trees are actually rare in this era. After the golden nanmu wood that the royal family could choose became scarce, huanghuali became a substitute for golden nanmu.
However, due to the large-scale logging in the previous dynasty, the number of huanghuali trees has decreased sharply, and there are very few huanghuali trees that are thousands of years old.
Yinreng often saw the screen in Kangxi's bedroom. It was actually a rare treasure, but it was still a level lower than the one in front of him.
"Otherwise, these servants will make excuses for themselves. To keep the old man's hopes alive, the best things in the world will never enter the palace. Otherwise, if they can't find anything better than the previous one, then it would be their dereliction of duty."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, the old man probably hasn't checked the imperial kitchen yet, has he? If he knew that the fruit he had to share with the concubines and children was eaten by those parasites in the Imperial Household Department in advance, how angry would he be?"
Kangxi's breathing stopped for a moment, and then he glanced coldly at Tong Guowei who was standing in the front.
"Master Tong, please explain to me what tribute is."
Tong Guowei bowed,
"Your Majesty, tribute is a precious treasure presented to you by your subjects and vassal states."
"Oh……"
Kangxi laughed sarcastically and swept his eyes over everyone again.
"Did you hear clearly?"
"The tribute is something presented to me, but these slaves have taken it and enjoyed it for themselves. Tell me, how should I deal with them?"
Still no one dared to answer Kangxi's question.
"Of course they'll all be chopped down. Is there any need to ask? You're so reluctant to give Lao Jiu the three million taels of silver. If we sell all this stuff, it'll be worth tens of millions, right?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, you never thought that all the money you worked so hard to earn would be spent on someone else's son! Hahaha, how funny!"
Yinreng tried hard to suppress the corners of his mouth and not let himself laugh out loud.
Kangxi's nostrils were stretched out with anger.
"Prince, what do you think should be done with them?!"
Yinreng was startled, then he bowed his hands.
"Your Majesty, I believe their property should be confiscated and their entire family should be sent to the Xinzheku."
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