Compared to the imperial palace, Changchun Garden is indeed a more relaxing place, but worries will not disappear just because you change your place of residence.
Not all court ministers are just there to do nothing. In recent memorials, they have begun to mention the impact of the long period of no rain around the capital.
Kangxi had been paying attention to this matter for a long time, and he became even more annoyed after seeing these memorials.
He is no longer young, and compared to the ambitions of his earlier years, he now prefers stability, which is why he is now a little more tolerant towards officials.
But now, God just won't let him have peace.
The hot weather is already irritating, and natural disasters are beyond human control. Kangxi's mood is obviously getting worse day by day, so much so that his ministers have been very cautious in front of him recently.
The only one who can still relax around him as usual is probably Cheng An.
Kangxi could only feel better when he saw his youngest son's carefree smile, and he was more willing to keep him by his side.
The little guy probably also noticed his emotions, and recently he often hugged him and rubbed him, as if he was comforting him with this intimate action.
Putting aside his identity as an emperor, Kangxi was just an ordinary person. He was somewhat moved by his son's comfort.
It was for this reason that when he was preparing to go on a private visit outside the capital to see the specific situation of the surrounding people, he hesitated for a moment and decided to take his youngest son with him, as he was sure he would want to go with him.
Sure enough, when Cheng'an heard that Kangxi wanted to take him out to play, he immediately became happy.
In addition to Cheng'an, Kangxi also brought along several of his older sons on this trip.
On the day of departure, the little guy who was riding in the same carriage with Kangxi was obviously excited.
"Sit still." Kangxi reminded him when he saw him jumping around in the carriage.
Cheng An smiled back at him, ran to the seat opposite him, and then stuck his little head out of the car window: "Brother~"
Outside the carriage, Yinzhen and others followed on horseback.
Seeing his little face glowing white in the sun, Yinzhen, who was afraid of exposing him to the sun, waved his hand to signal him to put his head back.
The group went out directly after breakfast. It was still early, but they could already feel the scorching heat of the sun.
The little guy smiled and looked at his brothers, then looked behind the horses they were riding, and then he retracted his head.
While he was talking to his brothers, Kangxi also lifted the curtain on his side of the carriage and looked outside.
Compared to the lush greenery and vitality of Changchun Garden, the scenery outside is filled with the twilight of autumn. The weeds and leaves on the roadside have all turned yellow due to the sun, and many have died directly due to lack of water.
If you look closely, you can see that the color of the land is also very dry, and some places without grass and trees are even slightly cracked.
The further they went out of the capital, the more serious the situation became, until they arrived outside a village and saw that the crops in the fields looked dying. The expressions of Kangxi and the princes became solemn.
Cheng'an, who had been chattering like a bird all the way, noticed something and gradually quieted down. He walked up to Kangxi and hugged him.
Kangxi withdrew his gaze and looked at his son beside him, then picked him up and said, "Come on, follow Father and go down to take a look."
As soon as he finished speaking, the carriage stopped at the right time, and then the father and son came out together.
When the carriage stopped, the princes got off the horses one after another.
Kangxi was an emperor who attached great importance to farming. He even opened up a piece of land in Changchun Garden and took his brothers to farm the land.
Therefore, he naturally felt sorry when he saw the crops in the roadside fields, which were supposed to be harvested in a few months, turned into this.
The crops in the surrounding fields are basically in the same condition. The better ones are dying, and the worse ones have been completely sun-dried to death.
The harvest from the fields is related to the people's food. Just looking at the growth of a large field of crops nearby, one can imagine that the people will not have an easy life in the future.
"Emperor...Father, let your son come and hold you." Yinzhen walked behind for a while and then came forward and said.
Kangxi's physical strength is indeed not as good as that of his prime years, so he followed his words and handed the child in his arms to him.
After Cheng'an fell into his fourth brother's arms, he bit his fingers and looked at the fields beside the road.
He had never seen such a desolate scene in Changchun Garden, and couldn't help but wonder: "What did Fourth Brother say?"
Yinzhen saw him pointing at the field with his little hand and told him in a heavy tone: "Those are crops. It hasn't rained for a long time. The crops in the field are dying."
After saying this, fearing that he didn't understand what crops were, Yinzhen gently taught him: "The food that Cheng'an eats every day comes from the fields..."
Crops equal food, so no crops equals no food.
After Cheng An understood what he meant, he immediately shook his head and said, "Zhuang, don't be so stupid."
Yin'e, who was standing by, heard this and reached out to touch his head and said, "That depends on God giving us face and making it rain quickly."
Hearing the word "rain", Cheng An couldn't help but remember that he had promised his father that it would rain for him.
The little guy really thought that he could make it rain, but he didn't know exactly how, so he couldn't help but raise his hand and pat his little head.
"Hey, why are you hitting yourself?" Yin'e quickly stopped him.
Yinzhen also looked at him worriedly, rubbed the place where he had just been hit, and then touched his forehead.
"An'an, ya'ya, Yuya." The worried little guy said in a baby voice.
Seeing that he didn't seem to be feeling unwell, Yinzhen responded casually and led him forward.
The weather was hot, and it was still uncomfortable even with servants holding umbrellas and fanning me.
When Cheng'an found that his fourth brother was sweating, he immediately twisted his body and tried to get down and walk by himself, and he refused to let his other brothers carry him.
Seeing that he insisted, Yinzhen had no choice but to let him go.
The little guy had either been riding in a car or being carried by someone all the way. He looked quite energetic at the moment, jumping and walking very steadily.
Continue along the fields and you will soon reach the village entrance.
Cheng'an noticed a few older children near the entrance of the village and ran over curiously.
The children were about eight or nine years old, and looked rather dark and thin. They were gathering together to share the wild fruits they had finally found on the mountain, when they suddenly heard a childish voice: "Is it delicious?"
The children looked up and found that a smaller child had appeared in front of them. They didn't know how to describe him, they just thought that the child was fair and tender and particularly cute.
"Do you want to try it?" One of the boys hesitated for a moment and gave him a few wild fruits.
This green wild fruit is very small, only the size of a fingernail.
Cheng'an wanted it a little, but he remembered that his father said that he should not just ask for things given by others, so he turned around to look for it.
As early as when he ran over, Kangxi and the princes immediately followed. At this moment, he turned his head and met Kangxi's eyes.
"Ama." Cheng An shouted as soon as he saw him.
Kangxi realized that he wanted the green-skinned fruit in the other person's hand. Seeing the anticipation of "wanting" written all over his eyes, Kangxi nodded slightly in agreement, considering that he knew to ask for his permission first.
The children were fine when they saw Cheng'an, but when they saw adults like Kangxi, they immediately stood up nervously.
However, when Cheng An stretched out his hand with a smile, the child quickly gave him the wild fruit.
Cheng An took the fruit and turned around and said with a smile: "Ama, give me the cake~"
When Kangxi heard what he said, he saw that he still knew how to reciprocate, so he ordered someone to get cakes out of the carriage and distribute them to the children.
The children were afraid to accept the cakes and pastries in the exquisite food boxes at first, but when Cheng'an held up the fruits in his hand and kept saying in a baby voice that he wanted to give them to them, they accepted them after thanking him.
After the children, who only ate half full every day, shared the snacks, they began to salivate at the aroma of the snacks, but they were reluctant to eat them. Instead, they turned around and ran to the village to give them to their families.
The reason why they were not able to eat enough was not because the village was so poorly hit by food shortages, but because the villagers, who depended on the weather for their livelihood, had developed a sense of crisis as soon as they discovered that the weather was wrong and had started saving food in advance.
After the children ran back home, Cheng'an immediately picked up a green-skinned fruit and was about to put it in his mouth.
"Wash it first." The children before had already eaten it, so Yinzhen was not afraid that the fruit was inedible, but he still stopped him.
After Liu Cai washed the fruit again and put it in a small plate, Cheng An continued to pick one up and put it into his mouth.
The children just now ate it with great care, which made people subconsciously think that the fruit must be delicious. However, Cheng An had just taken a bite when he immediately frowned because of the sour taste.
In fact, anyone with a little experience would think the fruit is sour when they see its green color, but he is still young and doesn't understand.
Seeing his jealous look, Kangxi, who had been frowning slightly, couldn't help but laugh.
The princes all laughed, but Yinsi squatted down and said, "If it's sour, spit it out."
The fruit was indeed very sour, but Cheng An still shook his head and swallowed it.
"See if you dare to be so greedy." After Kangxi finished speaking, he pinched another fruit and put it to his mouth.
The little guy pursed his lips, took the fruit, held it up to him and said, "Father, eat it!"
"Father won't eat it. Give it to your brother." Kangxi felt that he was not stupid. How could he eat it after seeing how jealous he was?
When Cheng'an heard his words, he couldn't help but look at his brothers.
Although Kangxi only said it casually, since he had given the order, the princes still consciously picked up the fruits from the plate.
As for the one in Cheng'an's hand, it was taken away directly by Yinzhen.
The brothers did not throw it into their mouths like him, but took small bites to taste it. Although it was sour, it was bearable.
When Cheng'an and his brothers finished sharing the fruit, a lot of people suddenly came out from the village. They were all the families of the children who had been there before.
Obviously, they were a little worried when they saw their children bringing back such expensive snacks.
Kangxi just wanted to know about the villagers' recent situation, so after calming down, he started chatting with them in a relatively gentle manner.
The villagers finally felt relieved when they learned that the snacks were exchanged by their own children with fruits from these nobles.
Wild fruits are certainly not as precious as snacks, but they also know that these nobles who look extraordinary at first glance will definitely not care, so they answer whatever they are asked.
After chatting with Kangxi for a while, the villagers couldn't help but sigh when thinking of the crops in the fields: "Now we are hoping for a quick rain, so that we can save some of the crops."
When Cheng'an heard them mention "rain" again, he couldn't help but blink.
After the village children came out with their parents again, they were all secretly looking at this particularly good-looking little brother. One of the children who had wild fruits even reached out and put the fruits in front of him.
When the little guy saw the wild fruit in his hand, a sour taste came up in his mouth, and he quickly shook his head to indicate that he didn't want it.
His brothers, who were watching from the corner of their eyes, saw this scene and smiled.
After Kangxi learned about the villagers' living conditions, he followed them into the village for a tour.
As a village near the capital, the conditions here are quite good. It's just that the situation has been bad recently and the villagers are trying to save food as much as possible, so they all look a little thin.
"What is this?" Cheng'an asked curiously when he saw an old man drying tree bark at the door of a house.
The children in the village probably liked him very much. They had been following him around since he entered the village. When they heard what he said, one of them said, "That's elm bark. After drying it, you can grind it into elm flour and make steamed buns."
Cheng An's eyes lit up slightly when he heard the word "eat". The next second, he heard another child say, "The elm flour steamed buns are not tasty."
Yin'e and Yinzhen, who were two steps behind, looked at each other in bewilderment when they heard this. Although they knew that during the disaster years, the refugees would eat not only tree bark but also grass roots, but knowing and seeing are not the same thing.
In fact, the current situation in the village has not reached the point where people have to eat tree bark, but the old man has lived long enough and seen a lot, so he always wants to prepare more edible things at times like this.
After coming out of the village, Kangxi's expression was even heavier than when he came.
Of course, this village was also lucky, because Kangxi and the princes later ordered people to send food over, so even if there was no rain afterwards, they didn't have to worry about going hungry.
The day after his incognito visit, Kangxi ordered the Ministry of Rites to prepare for the heavenly sacrifice.
Regardless of whether offering sacrifices to heaven could bring rain, this was the only thing Kangxi could do at that time.
The capital city is different from other places. If there is a disaster nearby, the situation will be much more serious than that in other places. Therefore, even if it is just to appease the people, this sacrifice to the heaven is imperative.
There are many things to prepare for the heaven sacrifice, including the sacrificial animals, the prayers for the sacrifice, etc. In addition, Kangxi also had to fast three days in advance.
He had not originally planned to bring Cheng'an with him when he went to the Sai Palace to fast, but the little guy was a bit clingy.
Kangxi met his exceptionally clear eyes, and for some reason he suddenly felt that it would be best to take him with him.
"Hello, Dad~" Cheng'an was still acting coquettishly, trying to get him to take him out to play.
Kangxi finally followed his heart and took him along, but he repeatedly told him to be a good boy.
The place for offering sacrifices to heaven is the Temple of Heaven outside the city. The Ministry of Rites had sent people to clean the roads along the way in advance.
On the day of the sacrifice, when it was still dawn, the civil and military officials and princes of the court with solemn faces were already waiting around the altar.
When the time came and the Taihe bell rang, Kangxi walked from the Zhai Palace to the altar. When the bell stopped and the drums and music sounded, the ceremony officially began.
Cheng'an also woke up early today. After he followed Kangxi out of the Zhai Palace, Liu Cai took him to watch the ceremony not far from the altar.
After looking up at the sacrificial ceremony being performed by his father, the little guy suddenly started running towards the altar.
Liu Cai, who was looking after him, was shocked. He wanted to stop him but it was too late and sweat immediately broke out on his forehead.
Kangxi didn't expect that, after he had repeatedly warned him before, he would suddenly come up.
Sacrifice is a major national event. It is impossible to stop the ceremony halfway after it has begun. Kangxi must teach him a lesson, but for now he can only ignore him.
Fortunately, the little guy didn't make any noise, but just followed him quietly.
Kangxi initially kept an eye on him, but later, seeing that he was staying quietly beside him, he focused on offering sacrifices to heaven.
During the sacrificial ceremony, the sun had already come out. Today was still a sunny day with a clear blue sky. It didn't look like it would rain at all.
Kangxi actually didn't hold out much hope for offering sacrifices to heaven and praying for rain. After all, if praying to God worked, he would have come to offer sacrifices every day.
The last step of the heavenly sacrifice was to look at the burning fire. Kangxi raised his head slightly as he watched the smoke from the burning sacrifice float up to the sky.
He said he had no hope, but after all he had been busy with, he still had some hope in his heart.
Seeing what his father did, Cheng'an also followed suit and looked up at the sky.
Because he knew that Ama wanted it to rain, he had been thinking about rain recently. Especially at this moment, the desire to help Ama make it rain was the strongest.
Perhaps his thought was too strong, which eventually aroused the dragon soul in his body. Before he even noticed, a golden dragon-shaped shadow appeared on his body.
The shadow was very small at first, and then gradually grew larger. The dragon head was located right on his head, the raised dragon horns were just on his forehead, and the circling dragon tail was just behind him.
Compared to the dragon tail robe, the dragon horns and tail of this phantom are more realistic and more imposing.
When Kangxi withdrew his gaze from the sky, he caught a glimpse of the dragon shadow on his youngest son out of the corner of his eye. For a moment, he almost thought that he was dazzled because he had been looking at the sky for too long.
However, the next second, he clearly saw the dragon shadow on his son's body let out a dragon roar and flew into the sky.
this--
After Kangxi followed the dragon shadow and looked up at the sky again, he almost couldn't maintain his serious expression.
The golden dragon shadow became even larger after flying into the sky, but if you look closely, you will find that the horns of this golden dragon are still very immature.
Of course, no one would pay attention to such details at this moment. Kangxi's mind was a little blank at this moment. It took him a while to react. His youngest son always said that he was a dragon.
Could he really be a dragon?
This shocking guess emerged in Kangxi's mind, and his eyes were fixed on the golden dragon shadow in the sky.
Cheng An also saw the moment the dragon shadow flew away from his body. He inexplicably knew it was his and he immediately smiled.
After circling in the sky for a few circles, the dragon suddenly opened its mouth and spit out a cloud of mist. As the cloud spread, its shape was obscured a lot.
At the same time, the sky began to darken and the wind began to blow.
Boom boom
After a burst of thunder, raindrops suddenly began to fall.
“It’s raining!”
The ministers under the altar became excited after feeling the rain hitting their faces. When they looked up at the sky, they saw the shadow of a dragon looming in the sky and immediately became agitated.
"Dragon! It's a dragon!"
While all the civil and military officials in the court were looking at the dragon in the sky in shock, the princes shifted their gaze from the sky to the small figure on the top of the Temple of Heaven.
The ministers did not dare to look directly at the emperor, so when Kangxi offered sacrifices to heaven, no one looked up, but bowed their heads and waited quietly.
The princes naturally would not look directly at their royal father, but when they found out that their younger brother Cheng'an had followed them, they were worried and kept paying attention to him secretly. As a result, they discovered something that stunned them.
"Myna, did you see that..." Yin'e couldn't help but speak, wanting to know if he was dazzled just now.
Before Yinsi could speak, Yinlu glared at him and signaled him to shut up.
Seeing their expressions, Yin'e didn't need to ask any more questions. It was obvious that he was not the only one who saw it just now.
Oh my God!
My brother is actually a dragon?
Is it really a dragon?
Is it a dragon?
That's a dragon!
Yin'e couldn't believe it and even wanted to shout a few times to express his shock.
Not only him, but other princes also found it difficult to describe their feelings at the moment. If they had to put it into words, it would probably be that it was unreal and felt like a dream.
Although Cheng'an had often told the brothers that he was a dragon, they had always treated it as childish talk. But who would have thought that they would be slapped in the face today, as a dragon really emerged from his body and it even rained!
The expression on Yinzhen's face at this moment was even colder than usual. It was not because he was in a bad mood, but he was trying to hide his shock.
At the same time, he did not forget to observe the people around him, wanting to see how many people besides their brothers saw the dragon flying out of Cheng'an.
At first glance, he didn't notice anyone else who might have seen the truth.
Come to think of it, there are railings around the altar, and Cheng'an's height is basically blocked by the railings. That means the brothers can only see him because they are facing the steps leading to the altar.
When the rain fell, the people inside and outside the capital city noticed it was raining at the first time. They rushed out of their houses excitedly and moved out all the water-holding containers in their homes to collect water.
"Great, it's finally raining!"
"Thank goodness, it finally rained..."
"Dragon, look, there's a dragon in the sky!"
"I heard that the emperor went to offer sacrifices to the heaven today. It must be the emperor who prayed for rain for us..."
"Long live the emperor!"
"There is a dragon. Come on, kowtow to it."
When the people saw the dragon shadow in the sky, they all knelt down, some thanking God, some thanking the dragon, and some who knew that the emperor was offering sacrifices to the sky today thanked Kangxi.
On the altar, Kangxi finally came to his senses after his face was wet by the rain.
After all, he was his beloved son. When Kangxi noticed that the rain was getting heavier, he didn't bother to think about anything else and quickly bent down to pick him up.
It was not until he held the child in his arms that Kangxi realized that no rain had reached the little guy at all. In fact, because he held the child in his arms, no rain was falling around him.
If Kangxi had suspected that he was dazzled before, now he was certain that the dragon in the sky really flew out from his son's body. After all, he did not see that the rain was falling on him alone.
"An An, give it to Ama, rain!" Cheng An said in a baby voice after being picked up by him.
When Kangxi heard his voice, he was touched by the fact that he had thought it was just childish talk before, but he actually did it.
"Thank you, Cheng'an." He touched the child whose eyes were full of him at this moment, and his voice was more gentle than ever before.
Cheng An rubbed his palm and smiled brightly.
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