During this southern tour, Emperor Kangxi did not leave any princes in the capital to oversee the country. Except for the Eighth Prince, who was still under house arrest, he took all his sons with him.
Because it concerned matters of state, not a leisurely outing, Yinzhen did not bring any of his female relatives; he went with Kangxi alone.
Yunyi was happy to have some free time. Although the southern tour was interesting, the long journey was tiring. Staying in the Prince's mansion in the capital was at least more relaxing for her.
Honghui was already a thirteen-year-old boy, and Yinzhen took his eldest son with him on this trip.
The large contingent marched along the Yellow River, inspecting its management and checking on local officials to see if they were oppressing the people.
When the group arrived in Zhanggu County, the people there had been displaced and were living in misery due to the breach of the Yellow River.
Emperor Kangxi decisively ordered disaster relief, but due to time constraints, he needed to continue inspecting the surrounding areas and could not stay to oversee the officials' work. Therefore, he could only instruct the local officials not to embezzle the disaster relief funds for personal gain.
To prevent corrupt officials from disobeying his orders, Emperor Kangxi specifically appointed his pragmatic and capable fourth son, Yinzhen, to stay in the area and oversee disaster relief efforts.
This was a very good opportunity for him to gain experience, and Yinzhen, without any pity for his son, brought him along as well.
Honghui usually lives in the palace or mansion in the capital, and has never seen such a sight before. Letting Honghui see the outside world and broaden his horizons will be very beneficial to his growth.
Yinzhen did not want his son to be a rich kid who was ignorant of the hardships of life, nor did he want Honghui to grow up to be someone who would not eat meat.
With Prince Yinzhen overseeing them, these officials dared not do anything and could only obediently do their work, handling the disaster relief affairs very well. The people were extremely grateful to this Prince Yong from the capital, saying that he was a good prince.
Yinzhen spent almost a month in Zhanggu County before he finished all his business.
The flood victims were all properly resettled, with food and clothing provided, and they even received wages for participating in government-organized work every day, which made these people very happy.
Furthermore, sick people were not abandoned; they were taken to the wounded and sick camp, where doctors invited by the government would treat them, and they could leave once they were cured.
When Yinzhen left Zhanggu County, he was seen off by the local people with great reluctance. These simple people did not know what kind of high-ranking official or prince he was, but they knew that this Prince Yong from the capital was their savior.
By the time Yinzhen and Honghui left Zhanggu County and caught up with the main force at full speed, Kangxi and his entourage had already completed their inspection of the entire Yellow River basin.
The result was not good. Every year, the imperial court would allocate funds to various regions to repair and reinforce the dikes to prevent the river water from flooding villages and causing floods after the dikes broke.
However, judging from the results of this inspection, the flood control dikes in many places are very old and do not look like they have been repaired and reinforced every year.
This prompted Emperor Kangxi to question his ministers and sons: where did the allocated funds go, and whose pockets did they end up in?
Everyone below knelt in several rows, not daring to make a sound, for fear of angering the already furious emperor at this moment.
Crown Prince Yinreng felt nothing; he was merely a figurehead, possessing the title of Crown Prince but lacking the corresponding power and authority.
His younger brothers were not afraid of him; they only thought about how to defeat their rivals, overthrow him as the crown prince, and ascend to the throne.
Emperor Kangxi, as a father, only saw himself as a tool, a tool to temporarily stabilize the court.
In this situation, Yinreng had lost his former high spirits and was now just a dejected and listless person.
Although he was kneeling below, he remained indifferent, showing neither fear nor concern for the people, which further disappointed Emperor Kangxi, who was seated above him.
Among the people below, Prince Cheng, Yin Zhi, was the most guilty. In order to seize the throne, he amassed wealth on a large scale and embezzled an unknown amount of silver from the court. He even took a cut of the silver allocated to local governments.
At this moment, Kangxi was furious. Yinzhi felt extremely guilty and couldn't help but ask himself, "Is Father talking about me?"
After observing the behavior of the princes and ministers, Kangxi vented his anger but did not order an investigation into the previous events. Instead, he ordered a thorough investigation into the whereabouts of the silver to ensure that every penny was spent where it was due.
Privately, however, Emperor Kangxi secretly instructed his trusted confidants to investigate the matter and uncover all the corrupt officials.
Emperor Kangxi knew that this matter would have far-reaching implications, and if he had reacted immediately, it might have caused some unpleasant consequences. However, after investigating the matter privately, he could punish the offender separately later.
As the saying goes, retribution may be delayed, but it will come eventually. Emperor Kangxi remembered all these people's names and would not let these corrupt officials go unpunished.
With the mission of this trip nearly complete, Emperor Kangxi led everyone back to the capital.
Yinzhen met up with the main force halfway there. Seeing his son return after completing his mission, and having received advance notice of what his fourth son had done in Zhanggu County, Kangxi was very satisfied.
Back with the main force, Yinzhen received significantly more favor from Emperor Kangxi due to his meritorious service in disaster relief, making some of the princes extremely envious.
Halfway back, Yinzhen began to feel unwell. At first, he thought he was just sick from overwork, but later he thought he had caught a cold.
As his condition worsened, Yinzhen's health deteriorated, and he even developed a persistent high fever and fell into a coma.
It was only at this point that the accompanying imperial physicians diagnosed that Prince Yong had contracted an epidemic, which he believed to have brought from Zhanggu County.
When the disease was announced, everyone panicked. Epidemics are contagious. The fourth brother had contracted the disease, and they had all been in contact with him these past few days. Wouldn't they also get the disease?
Some even went so far as to advise Emperor Kangxi to separate Prince Yong from him, lest he also contract these diseases.
Emperor Kangxi knew that these ministers meant to prioritize the emperor's health, but the fourth prince was his own son, and he had stayed in Zhanggu County because of his orders, which led to him contracting the epidemic.
As a father who loved his children, Kangxi would not have done such a thing.
However, Yinzhen's health was not optimistic, and as his condition worsened, some members of the army also began to contract the disease.
The ministers couldn't sit still any longer and ordered them to persuade Emperor Kangxi, fearing that he might also contract the plague like Prince Yong.
In the end, Kangxi lost the argument and had no choice but to agree with the ministers, arranging for Prince Yong, Yinzhen, to stay temporarily at the nearest Rehe Imperial Palace and sending doctors there.
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