Rumors circulated that during the return journey from the northern tour to Beijing, the person spying outside the tent was not the Crown Prince, but the Thirteenth Prince. Although there is no evidence to prove this, Kangxi's actions indirectly suggest that the Thirteenth Prince must have done something to anger Kangxi, even if he didn't do it himself, it must have been related to him.
The once bustling Thirteenth Prince's mansion suddenly became quiet and even somewhat desolate.
After Kangxi recovered from his illness, his trust in the princes greatly decreased. On the contrary, he was more lenient towards the fifth prince and the seventh prince, who were destined to have no right to seize the throne and had always been invisible among the princes.
After the crown prince was deposed, the capital was relatively quiet for a while, but this was only on the surface. In secret, the princes were all eager to make their move.
People from Hezhuo's side also came to advise him on vying for the throne, but they were directly driven away by Hezhuo. The same thing happened with Yinzhi; he was also directly driven away. Yinzhi had already made up his mind to assist his father while he was alive, and to assist the next emperor after his father's death. This plan of Prince Zhi and his wife reached Kangxi's ears.
Emperor Kangxi hummed in agreement, pondered for a moment, and then that very night he summoned Consort Hui.
After the crown prince was deposed, the battle for the throne officially began, and Emperor Kangxi also realized the turbulent situation in the court.
In order to coordinate and balance the court, on November 14th of the 47th year of Kangxi's reign, Kangxi summoned his ministers at Changchun Garden and ordered them to select one of his princes to be the crown prince.
For a time, the capital was in turmoil.
Some recommended Prince Yinzhi, the eldest son of the emperor.
Yinti: (?Д?)ノ
? ? ?
Are you sure you're not an undercover agent sent from somewhere else?
Where's the knife? (╬◣д◢)
Where is my forty-meter-long sword?
Of course, there are also those who are not afraid of death and recommend deposing the crown prince. Most of those who recommend deposing the crown prince now are ministers who have been deeply poisoned by Confucianism.
In addition, there are very few, if any, recommendations for the Third Master from scholars.
The Fourth Prince also had one, after all, he was a prince who got things done.
However, to Kangxi's surprise, half of the court officials recommended the Eighth Prince, calling him the Eighth Wise Prince.
Kangxi then realized that his son, of humble origins, must have promised some benefit to have done something so good as to persuade half the court officials. Even if he were truly looking for a successor, he wouldn't choose this "Eighth Prince"—wouldn't he just be a puppet emperor after ascending the throne?
Aling'a, Orondai, Kuixu, Wang Hongxu, and others from the Eighth Prince's faction secretly plotted and communicated with other ministers to recommend the Eighth Prince, Yinzhi. However, Emperor Kangxi rejected their proposal and imprisoned them, but later released them.
Emperor Kangxi's assessment of the Eighth Prince was: "Yinsi is cunning and treacherous by nature, harbors great ambitions, and his cronies conspire to harm Yinreng. He should be arrested and punished." The Ninth Prince, Yintang, who had always been on very good terms with Yinsi, invited the Fourteenth Prince, Yinti, to bring poison to dissuade him.
Yinzhen offended Emperor Kangxi with his words, which enraged the emperor. He drew his sword and intended to execute Yinzhen.
Thanks to the fifth prince, Yinqi, kneeling and pleading to stop the fight, and the other princes kowtowing and begging, Kangxi finally put away his sword and ordered the princes to give Yinti twenty lashes and expel him from the palace, thus resolving a bloody conflict between father and son.
From then on, although the Eighth Prince was quickly released, he was stripped of his title of Beile and reduced to a sinecure member of the imperial clan. His position as the head of the Imperial Household Department, which he had barely begun to hold, was also revoked.
After this incident, Kangxi released the deposed crown prince from Xian'an Palace.
In the 47th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, three princes were executed, including the deposed crown prince. The other two were the Eighth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince.
The following year was the 48th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. Due to the failure of the princes to compete for the throne, the conflicts among the Kangxi Emperor's sons intensified.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
