Chapter 202: The unexpected ending of Zhu Tianbao seemed like a clarion call...
Zhu Tianbao's end was like a clarion call. Throughout the first month of the lunar year, although the court seemed to be busy with the empress dowager's funeral, disputes continued behind the scenes. Countless officials were demoted and demoted due to mistakes in the empress dowager's funeral, including Grand Secretaries Ma Qi, Li Guangdi, Xiao Yongzao, Song Zhu and others.
On the one hand, he used the excuse to demote court officials, but on the other hand, he issued an edict, ordering the Grand Secretary, the Nine Ministers and other officials to investigate and decide on the dress of the Crown Prince in court and the etiquette he should follow.
Qi Buchen even wondered in his heart whether Kangxi had become mentally ill due to the stimulation?
Amidst all this turmoil, the Imperial Clan Court suddenly reported that Hongyu had died of a serious illness. Qi Buchen was somewhat bewildered upon hearing the news. How old was Hongyu? Only twenty-three, perhaps? How could he have died so suddenly in his prime?
Qi Buchen was like this, let alone Kangxi. Although he had many grandsons, many of whom died young, Hongyu was his eldest grandson after all, and he had been studying in the palace since he was a child. Kangxi was quite fond of him in his early years, and even when his father was imprisoned, he did not vent his anger on him. Now, how could Kangxi, who was still immersed in the grief of the empress dowager's death, suddenly see his young son die?
Just when things were getting better, on the first day of February, a noble lady named Chen gave birth to the 25th son of the emperor, but he died within two hours of birth. Under these successive blows, Kangxi's condition, which had been improving, became even worse, and he even stopped holding court meetings for two days.
When he went to court again, he issued an edict, dragging out the deposed crown prince and Zhu Tianbao and others and scolding them again. Hongxi apologized on behalf of his father, feeling even more desolate.
That day, Hongxi quietly left the mansion through the back door. A quarter of an hour later, he appeared in a courtyard and greeted the person who came out to greet him: "Second uncle."
Qingde returned the greeting: "You're welcome, brother."
To be honest, the two of them really have no blood relationship. Qingde is the brother of the deposed Crown Princess, and Hongxi is just the son of the deposed Crown Prince's concubine. If the Crown Prince had not been deposed and the Crown Princess had no children, it is possible that the two of them would have been enemies, and there was no way they could talk about relatives like they do now.
Speaking of the deposed prince's maternal family, it is the best preserved among the deposed prince's line. It was only because Shi Wenbing died early and Fu Dali, who inherited the title, was a mediocre person who only lived on his one and a half acres of land that the Guwalgiya family was not implicated in the previous catastrophe.
Qingde was ambitious, but his abilities were limited. At the time, the Crown Prince had many talented people under his command, so he didn't think highly of his brother-in-law and only gave him an official position. Later, when the Crown Prince fell from power, his subordinates died or dispersed, and Qingde's power became apparent. Now, under Hongxi, he is also responsible for liaisons between the inside and outside.
The two of them didn't waste any time talking. After sitting down, they got straight to the point: "What did Prince Cheng say?"
Although Hongxi suffered a blow recently, he did not fall into despair. After knowing that his father had no hope, he began to plan for the future. After checking several uncles, Hongxi was still more optimistic about his third uncle. Although his third uncle is not as powerful as his eighth uncle in the court now, in the heart of the emperor, his third uncle is obviously more important than his eighth uncle. Moreover, although it was his eldest uncle who masterminded the dethronement of his father, his eighth uncle also made a lot of efforts. In comparison, his third uncle has always supported his father. If it was his third uncle who came to power in the end, his father's ending might be better, and by the way, he would get more.
So, after Zhu Tianbao and others got into trouble, he contacted Qingde and asked him to contact his third uncle.
Qingde hesitated at this moment. After weighing the pros and cons, he said, "Please forgive me, my brother. I haven't been able to contact Prince Cheng yet."
"Hmm?" Hongxi was unhappy, but he also knew that things were different now, so he didn't lose his temper like before. "Why is this? What's the difficulty?"
"It's not that difficult." Qingde looked around and confirmed the secrecy of the place before approaching Hongxi and whispering, "Brother, do you know that the last time I met you, Third Master Tong was also here."
Hongxi's brows knitted together: "Longkodo?"
"Yes," Qingde said, "Last time, I left first, but I found something I had lost on the way, so I sent someone back to look for it. Who knew I would run into Master Tong San as he was leaving from Dongyi Gate."
Hongxi was a little confused: "What is he doing here?"
Qingde said, "I was curious too, so I sent someone to check. Master Tong San was meeting someone here." He looked mysterious. "Brother, do you know who he was meeting with?"
Hongxi was a little annoyed by his keeping things in suspense: "Who?"
"Fourteenth Master." Qingde's tone sounded as if he had discovered some shocking secret.
"Fourteenth Uncle," Hongxi murmured, his heart heavy. Could it be that Eighth Uncle had even taken Longkodo down? Wasn't he afraid of following in his father's footsteps?
Hong Xi pondered in his heart, but said on the surface: "What does this have to do with us?"
Qingde said, "My brother, you don't know this. My men weren't acting discreetly, and their inquiries were discovered by Third Master Tong. But Third Master Tong didn't come to see me. It was Fourteenth Master who came. Fourteenth Master sent someone to pass on a message, hoping to meet with my brother."
Honghui's face darkened. Did this good 'Second Uncle' even know what he was talking about? And was being inconsiderate something to be proud of? If he hadn't been completely alone, he really wouldn't have bothered with this 'Second Uncle'.
"You reply to the person and I won't see him." Hongxi's tone was already very bad.
Qingde was a little anxious: "What are you talking about, brother? There's nothing to lose by meeting him once. Why bother to cling to Prince Cheng? Although Prince Cheng is a prince, his influence is nothing compared to that of the Eighth Prince."
Hong Xi almost spat in his face. Not only was he stupid, but he was also self-righteous: "Needless to say, even for my own son, I would not beg for mercy from the Eighth Prince."
After saying that, he stood up and left.
This good 'second uncle' is really hopeless, he still has to make other plans.
He thought the matter would end there, but his fourteenth uncle actually sent someone to find him directly at his house. That day, the person stayed at Hongxi's house until late at night before leaving.
The issue of establishing a crown prince was in turmoil again, and the situation on the front line was not going well. Fu Ning'an led his troops all the way to Tibet, but did not even see the shadow of the rebels - Tsewang Arabtan had already fled.
After this escape, he disappeared without a trace and no trace could be found. Fu Ning'an could only stay there temporarily and send scouts to search everywhere.
The expenses of keeping a large army stationed away were not small, and the money of the Ministry of Revenue flowed out like water. In this situation, the Minister of Revenue Mu Helun was impeached by the censor for embezzling military funds. Emperor Kangxi dismissed him with an edict and replaced him with Sun Zhaqi.
Although Mu Helun did not openly support Yinsi, he had a good personal relationship with Xu Yuanmeng, and Xu Yuanmeng was a die-hard Yinsi party member, so it is difficult to say whether Mu Helun had a team.
However, based on Honghui's observation, the atmosphere in his eighth uncle's house next door was clearly quieter than before.
"Where is the Crown Prince's Consort?" Honghui came back from the yamen, but did not see Fan Zhengya coming to greet him, which made him feel a little strange.
The servant replied, "I heard that the Tenth Lady was unwell, and the Crown Prince's Consort went to visit her."
Honghui didn't ask any further questions. He waited until Fan Zhengya came back and asked, "How is Aunt Ten?"
Fan Zhengya sighed and said, "It's an old illness. The imperial physician only said that I should stay in bed and recuperate. I have to send someone to tell my mother tomorrow."
This is as it should be, Honghui nodded in agreement.
Fan Zhengya said something else: "When I went to visit Aunt Ten today, I also ran into my second uncle's eldest cousin's wife. She was very friendly to me and even invited me to her birthday party later."
Honghui reacted for a moment before realizing that this was referring to Hongxi's cousin's wife. He frowned slightly and asked, "Does the eldest cousin's wife have a good relationship with the tenth aunt?"
Since the crown prince was deposed, although Hongxi still exchanged gifts with various families, he seldom visited them in person. His wife was the same as him. Except for palace festivals, she rarely attended banquets outside the palace.
Fan Zhengya shook her head: "I don't know either." She had only been married for a short time, and she hadn't figured out the relationships among the royal family, let alone the Mongolian side.
Honghui didn't know much about the affairs of his elders. Although the two had little contact in the capital, who knew what the relationship between Aunt Ten and Aunt Duanjing was like in her early years.
"Ask my mother when she comes back."
Qi Buchen's opinion on this is: "Go if you want to. It's okay. It has nothing to do with you young people."
When Fan Zhengya was preparing to attend the banquet, the court received an urgent report from the Khoshut Khanate that Tsewang Arabtan had raided the Khoshut Khanate, killing Lazang Khan and his two sons, and taking □□ and □□ abducted.
Lazang wrote a letter to the Qing Dynasty requesting it to send troops to rescue.
The whole court was in an uproar. You have to know that Lazang Khan's wife was from the family of the Junggar leader. Although Lazang Khan sent people to pay tribute to show his loyalty when the Junggar tribe rebelled this time, because of this relationship, Funing'an's garrison was deliberately kept away from the Te Khanate, for fear of a sudden attack by the Te Khanate.
Who would have thought that Tsewang Arabtan did not go looking for trouble with Fu Ning'an, but instead wiped out his in-laws first.
What should be done? The Khoshut Khanate is right next to Qinghai. If Tsewang Arabtan conquers the Khoshut Khanate, will he march straight into Qinghai and fight all the way here?
This is very possible! Unfortunately, Fu Ning'an's army is far away. By the time he leads his troops to trek over, the Junggar people may have already reached Ningxia.
Although there are troops stationed in Qinghai, many of the elite have been transferred to Fu Ning'an. It is hard to say how long the remaining ones can hold off Tsewang Arabtan.
Tsewang Arabtan's unexpected military expedition disrupted the Qing Dynasty's military deployment. Emperor Kangxi urgently summoned his ministers to discuss how to respond. It was finally agreed that Shaanxi would first send troops to provide support. Fu Ning'an and Sichuan Governor Lu Zhenyang also led troops there.
However, the marching route for these two people is difficult, and it is unknown when they can arrive.
To make matters worse, when the Ministry of Revenue was worrying about the additional military expenditure, Henan was hit by floods, and all the spring seedlings that had just been planted were submerged.
Disaster relief is an old procedure. Although the Ministry of Revenue was a little slow in allocating money, fortunately it was not delayed for long. Who would have thought that just half a month after the relief team arrived in Henan, someone risked his life to go to Beijing to file a complaint with the emperor, accusing the imperial envoy Guo Zhengan of colluding with the Henan governor to embezzle disaster relief money, causing the Henan victims to riot.
Kangxi was furious and immediately ordered Zhao Shenqiao to go to Henan to arrest the gang.
Zhao Shenqiao was extremely efficient. Within a month of leaving Beijing, he not only got to the bottom of the matter, but also ensured that not a single person involved was left out.
However, although he had almost completed the investigation, the Ministry of Justice did not close the case and report it. Instead, it followed the procedures and interrogated the people again.
Unexpectedly, this trial revealed some unexpected news.
"This..." The executioner stammered, looking at his superior, "Sir, this... this needs to be reported...?"
The adult he was talking about was paler than him, with his eyes wide open, as if he had lost his soul.
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